Phenomena Podcast: The Science & Stories of Energy Healing

Healing as a Way of Life | Qigong, Meridians, and the Science of Qi at Harvard

For thousands of years, healers across cultures have described a life force that flows through the body — invisible, intelligent, and fundamental to health. In Chinese medicine, it's called Qi. And for centuries, western science has had no idea what to do with it. Now, that might be changing. At Harvard, researchers are finding physical evidence for something practitioners have mapped for millennia: pathways in the body that carry Qi called meridians. When scientists injected fluorescent dye at a specific acupuncture point on the wrist, it traveled up the arm through no known vessel — vein, artery, or lymphatic — and emerged exactly where ancient tradition said it would. The meridians, it turns out, may not be a metaphor. But understanding what Qi is might matter less than understanding what you can do with it. Anne Hering has practiced Qigong every day for decades — not as a treatment for a specific condition, but as what traditional Chinese medicine calls yang sheng: the art of nourishing life. The chronic pain she was told she'd carry forever is gone. And she'll tell you the most important thing she learned wasn't a technique. It was that the body already knows how to heal — if you give it the right conditions. Two Harvard scientists and a Qigong teacher in the Netherlands arrived at almost exactly the same definition of Qi — from completely different directions. What they converged on might change how you think about your own health. Music composed by Dan Baboulene. Be sure to visit us at https://www.phenomenahealing.com to find out the latest in biofield science.

Reiki versus Fakey | A Clinical Trial on Chronic Pain with Harvard and the University of Utah

Be sure to visit us at https://www.phenomenahealing.com to find out the latest in biofield science.

The Healer in the Lab: Studying Energy Healing and Cancer at MD Anderson

Original Airing: 5/12/2026 Produced by Sounds True Studios. Music composed by Dan Baboulene. Be sure to visit us at https://www.phenomenahealing.com to find out the latest in biofield science.

Phenomena: The Science & Stories of Energy Healing

Phenomena: The Science & Stories of Energy Healing is a documentary-style podcast series, hosted by artist and business innovator Ivy Ross, that investigates this and other quietly urgent questions at the intersection of modern medicine and ancient healing. Join Ivy as she shares the latest research findings and the incredible, inspirational stories of energy healers and those who have found relief with them from conditions ranging from chronic pain, PTSD, even cancer. Together, we’ll explore answers to questions like what is energy healing? How does it work? And how do we separate hard facts from hopeful fictions? Because if the answers are what the research suggests, the next frontier of medicine may turn out to be something we've known in our bodies all along. Be sure to visit us at https://www.phenomenahealing.com to find out the latest in biofield science.