While browsing the New Age section of your favorite bookstore, you have probably run across some exotic-sounding terms such as "chakra", "prana", "aura", and "tantra". These are terms that you would find in books dealing with energy healing.

Let's compare the different types of energy healing:

PRANIC: The word 'Chakra' or 'energy center' is used in an ancient Hindu system of energy healing called Pranic healing. "Prana" means life energy. So, Pranic healing is the healing of life energy. Another term used in Pranic healing is "Aura" An "Aura" is the energy which surrounds our physical bodies. That energy is said to be made up of seven layers. These seven layers consist of an individual's physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspectsand are manifested by energy.

There are six colors associated with aura. Each one of these colors also coincides with a different personality trait. All are present in everyone, but each person has one or two which are stronger and this is what gives you your own unique personality.

Green - ambitious achiever, Blue - spiritual peacemaker, White - unconventional chameleon, Red - activist,Orange - creative communicator, Violet - psychic )

TANTRA: Another method of energy healing, athough usually associated with the peculiar practice of sex and spirituality, is called Tantric healing. One recurring theme in Tantric writings on sex and spirituality is the concept of connectedness. That is to say, everything is connected to everything else. As a method of healing, the connectivity of spirituality and sex figure prominently. In sex, it is assumed that when a man and a woman achieve orgasm, they reach spiritual levels. Thus the body and mind can be rid of any impurities, and because these impurities are negative energies, they can in turn manifest as physical illnesses.

REIKI: A third type of energy healing is Reiki or Universal Energy. Universal energy is an energy brought forth by higher intelligence. Students of Reiki are taught how to tap this energy to heal physical, emotional, and mental illnesses. It is relatively younger than Pranic and Tantric healings, having been rediscovered in the early 1900's. Unlike Pranic and Tantric healings, which have Hindu origins, Reiki got it's start in Japan.

Pranic, Tantra, and Reiki are all similar systems of energy healing. However, they differ in the type of energy tapped for healing: life energy, sexual energy, and universal energy respectively.

About the Author

Michelle A. Hoffmann is a Work at Home mother of 4, author, website designer, internet marketer and ezine editor/publisher/owner. You can read more of her articles at www.24karatmarketer.com