Massage Magazine 2003 Sep/Oct Issue 105

Quantum Touch

Quantum- Touch is an energy technique using life-force energy, as is used in reiki, qigong and other energy-work techniques that use a light touch without physical manipulation. While Quantum-Touch can stand alone, it can also be used to enhance other energy and bodywork techniques.

Quantum-Touch and reiki practitioner Judy Hammer describes a typical Quantum-Touch session: "I worked on an elderly woman who had arthritis in all of her major joints. When 1 showed up at her home, her movements were slow, painful and cautious. She clearly was suffering Her daughter was present to translate, as this woman spoke little English. So, 1 applied Quantum-Touch starting at her head and worked my way around her body for nearly an hour. She would point to where pain was growing intense, and then wave to me when the pain was gone. When 1 was finished applying the technique, she stood up, walked with a smooth gait into her kitchen, walked down the front steps of her home into her flower garden, came back into the house and giggled like a child delighted with some new discovery. She sat down on her couch and crossed her legs. Her daughter had not seen her mother cross her legs in years."

According to Richard Gordon, who gave the practice its name and authored Quantum- Touch, The Power to Heal (North Atlantic Books, 1999), "In Quantum-Touch the practitioner learns to hold an extremely high vibrational field of life-force energy through body focusing and breathing techniques. Then, through biological entrainment and the power of life-force energy, the person receiving the session will simply resonate to the higher vibration of the practitioner."

When this happens, the client's own body intelligence uses the life- I force energy, according to Gordon. "The life-force energy goes where it needs to go and does whatever healing is called for by the client's own body."

Bodyworker Robert Rasmusson originated this healing technique. In the early 1950s, Rasmusson discovered within himself an ability to heal others. While trying to solve a young girl's bowed-leg problem, Rasmusson intuitively tried breathing and focusing techniques. Within moments, the child's legs straightened out. He practiced this work for the next 50 years, teaching it to others, including Gordon.

"I'd been doing bodywork since 1974," Gordon says. "I was originally trained in polarity therapy and thought it was absolutely the greatest thing on earth until I met Robert Rasmusson, who then introduced me to Quantum-Touch. I saw Quantum-Touch as a breakthrough that would uplift consciousness, reduce suffering and improve the well being of us earthlings. I couldn't think of a more fun and inspiring thing to do with my life."

Gordon took Rasmusson's first class in 1978. The two began working together, and Rasmusson eventually asked Gordon to take over at his retirement. Gordon has taught and evolved the work ever since, discovering ways to amplify its results.

 

A TYPICAL SESSION

During a Quantum-Touch session, the practitioner actively, pointedly focus on elevating the cellular frequency of a specific muscle, joint, organ or area of pain.

Breathwork is nothing new to massage; however, in Quantum-Touch, practitioners choose from an assortment of breathing techniques. They perform deep inhalations and exhalations to a chosen rhythm, some of which

have counting patterns, such as inhaling to the count of two and exhaling to the count of six. They maintain this breathing and focus throughout the session to obtain the desired results.

When using this technique, energy is obtained differently than it is with other energy techniques. For instance, to access the energy, there is no "attunement" process required, as in reiki. In fact, Quantum-Touch can be added to reiki. Gordon says reiki masters have even referred to Quantum-Touch as "turbo-charging the reiki" because it lets them move more universal life-force energy.

"The effect of amplifying the energy is so strong that bones will spontaneously move back into alignment with only a light touch, which is why I've taken my work to chiropractic colleges," he says. "If you brought reiki to a chiropractic college, the students and faculty would probably question what you had to offer. The good news is that reiki practitioners find Quantum-Touch a perfect vehicle to enhance and empower their practice."

Quantum-Touch also does not call for specific bodily positions to bring forth the energy, as in qigong and polarity. Gordon, who is also the author of the bestseller Your Healing Hands: The Polarity Experience (Wingbow, 1984), describes other differences: "As great as polarity therapy is, the practitioners are not trained in how to amplify their own energy. With Quantum-Touch, you can expect faster and more dramatic results. Besides this, the client does not have to remove jewelry, to uncross the legs, or even lie down. The practitioner does not have to worry about the polarity of his or her right or left hands since the energy does all the work. You can even work on people standing up, or sitting in chairs."

Massage therapist Lois L. Gray, of Menlo Park, California, was attracted to Quantum-Touch because she wanted to deepen her understanding of energy work. She eventually received results that impressed her. She shares the story of a client who had fallen and had terrible pain in her shoulder and neck: "Taking hold of her arm, I applied slight tension on the shoulder, directly to the side. Then I placed a hand between the shoulder joint and her neck along the trapezium and began Quantum-Touch. The client soon responded she was now fine, all pain was gone and she could move her shoulder again. "All of this took less than four to five minutes," Gray says.

Massage therapist and Quantum-Touch practitioner Darlene Marmer, of San Carlos, California, describes how she begins a Quantum-Touch session: "I always have the client remain fully dressed. They can either lay on the massage table or sit in a chair, whichever is more comfortable for both of us and can give me the easiest access to the part of the body they want me to work on."

Hammer's sessions also begin with client comfort. "I have the client sit on my massage chair or lay on the table, whichever is most comfortable for the client, and conducive to reaching the area of pain."

Once the client is comfortable, the practitioner begins to run energy, with a very light touch. "With the client's permission, I simply lay my hands gently over the area of pain, on top of any clothing. Direct skin contact is not necessary," says Hammer. Many clients report a sensation of warmth or energy. However, client Kathy Witt-Hill, of Camano Island, Washington, explains how different her Quantum-Touch session with Hammer felt. "At first I did not think it was doing anything at all, and I wished that I had decided to have my regular massage session," she says. "However, toward the end of the first session, I felt an incredible cold sensation coming from Hammer's hands, and the area she was working on tingled. As I stretched after the session I realized that my previous discomfort had completely disappeared. The results lasted for several days. I really felt great."

Some clients may need ongoing sessions before receiving any benefits. "Some of the best results I've seen have happened within just a few minutes, [while] others have taken several full sessions," says Marmer.

If clients feel more pain after a session, or if their original pain returns, Marmer runs more energy. If even

more pain is initially reported, this can mean a significant healing is taking place and the energy treatment should continue.

"Eventually," Marmer says, "the pain subsides along with the original symptom. If the pain returns again, I will just do another Quantum-Touch session. From my experience I have found that in some cases, the healing occurs in layers. Maybe that particular client's body can only take a certain amount of energy at anyone time for whatever reason. Then later on, it is ready to take more."

 

Explaining Quantum Touch to clients

IF a client has never been exposed to Quantum-Touch, massage therapists find it helpful to explain the energy work to them, especially if the client is used to treatments where the hands are moving.

"A little explanation goes a long way toward them being open to it," says Quantum-Touch practitioner, craniosacral therapist and Neuromuscular Therapy practitioner Jacqueline Ann Compton, of Lynnwood, Washington.

The very deep breathing that accompanies the light touch used in Quantum-Touch can be audible to the client, and Hammer also finds explanation helpful. She may describe it to her clients this way, "My experience with QuantumTouch is that it's rooted in the principles of quantum physics. Every cell in our body emits an electromagnetic pulse-a frequency." Clients can often understand that a lower frequency allows pain, and a higher one can heal it. If their bodies can reach a higher frequency, healing begins.

"With Quantum-Touch, I can manipulate that frequency using very specific breathing patterns and focused attention," Hammer says.

If clients are told that focusing and deep breathing help raise the, vibration and run the energy, which will help them heal, they will be more open to the idea that the practitioner really is doing something. "You want to be able to confidently explain to your clients why the technique works," Hammer says. "Trust between practitioner and client is a massage cornerstone.

"I take the time to explain and demonstrate this technique to my clients, so they know what to expect, know what types of physical sensations they might feel," she adds. "I don't push it on anyone. And I let them know that if they are uncomfortable with the technique, I will stop using it during the massage. It's important for clients to feel in control of what's happening to their bodies. So far, though, no one has asked me to stop using it."

Gray even finds it helpful to get the client's participation. "I always tell clients that I am going to do an energy-healing technique on them, and go through what they can expect and why I am doing it," she says. "I also enlist them to participate by following a deep-breathing pattern, which I teach them at that time. This eases anxiety over why my hands have stopped moving, as well as improves the Quantum-Touch results."

 

A humble technique

Massage therapists who use Quantum-Touch find it useful as a stand-alone menu item and as a technique that can be blended with massage.

"I offer Quantum-Touch separately in my private practice, and I also incorporate it into every massage that I do," says Marmer. "I find that it is a quick and powerful way to relax the client-and I use it also for more specific work, such as releasing tight muscles."

Whether Quantum-Touch is used as a stand-alone technique or blended into other hands-on work, it complements rather than competes with other techniques.

"The bottom line," Gordon says, "is that I've had chiropractors, acupuncturists, qigong instructors, cranio-sacral therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, massage practitioners-and just about every other kind of body-worker-in my workshops. I am told by people from all groups that Quantum-Touch enhances or tremendously improves upon what they are currently using. I think of it as a technique without a big ego, because you can combine it with whatever else you know."

 

Barbara Berst is a hands-on healer and free-lance writer for holistic health and sustainable living. She is author of Micro Eco- Farming: Prospering in Partnership with the Earth (New World Publishing), and conducts her healing practice from her home, Island Meadow Farm, in Washington