Another Envelope Experiment with the Bengston Method of Energy Healing: New Answers, More Questions

by Vernon Nicolas & Bernadette Doran

William Bengston conducted an “envelope experiment” to determine if a recipient’s need catalyzes a healing response in a therapist, even without conscious awareness about the recipient.

Previous research with Bengston demonstrated fMRI brain scans exhibit “on” and “off” states of healing. As he entered an enclosed MRI for measurement, different sealed envelopes were placed in Bengston’s left hand, some empty and others containing pictures and hair samples of animals with cancer. Despite no conscious knowledge of the contents within each envelope on Bengston’s part, the fMRI scans revealed two distinct patterns: the presence of a healing state when Bengston held the animal sample envelopes and the absence of a healing state when he held empty ones.

A similar experiment was conducted to identify an unconscious provocation of a healing response. However, Gas Discharge Visualization (GDV) energy assessments replaced MRI scans to measure the presence of a healing response. GDV scans have been previously used to measure Bengston Method of Energy Healing responses in more than 40 therapists and patients at Equilibrium Energy + Education in Chicago.

Nine individuals trained in the Bengston Method of Energy Healing participated in the experiment. Eight were trained by Bengston during a two-day in-person workshop while one was self-trained using Bengston’s CD program. All were instructed not to consciously “cycle” (the subjective means of initiating a healing energy flow) and were deliberately distracted during the experiment to direct their conscious attention elsewhere. Each was given a sealed envelope holding either a blank index card or a card with the names of three cancer patients currently undergoing Bengston Method treatments. The experimenters and all participants were blind to the contents within each envelope. Only one individual held an envelope at a time to minimize interaction effects. After holding the envelopes for ten minutes, the energetic state of each individual was captured using the GDV technology.

The energy fields of the individuals holding the cancer patient envelopes indicated a strong healing response, as expected. However, the energy fields of the individuals holding blank index card envelopes also indicated a response, at only a slightly lesser extent. While these results corroborate Bengston’s earlier findings, the experiment raises a new set of questions about a “group response” in healing and the nature of resonant bonding.

Bio: Vernon Nicolas is the Research Director and Bernadette Doran is the Director of Equilibrium Energy + Education, a Chicago wellness center dedicated exclusively to research- based energy therapies, classes and training workshops.

Recorded at the 31st annual SSE Conference in 2012 at the Millennium Hotel in Boulder, Colorado, USA.

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Published on November 14, 2018