May/June 2004 Alternative Health
Pranic Healing in Portland

by Paul J. Brown

Every Tuesday evening 25-35 people gather in a gym at the Multnomah Arts Center in Portland to practice a form of energy healing called Pranic Healing (from "Prana" as in "chi" or "life force"). Pranic Healing teaches easy-to-learn skills and techniques that can be used in specific, step-by-step treatments to produce repeatable results. The modern-day founder of Pranic Healing, Master Choa Kok Sui, is a chemical engineer by training; experimentation and verifiable results are hallmarks of the system.

No special abilities are required: anyone can learn the techniques. Students are taught to "scan" energy in the first course, but even those who do not feel the energy right away find that they can effectively treat simple ailments. Some students say Pranic Healing has provided them with practical skills for using the metaphysical abilities they already have like intuition, clairvoyance and moving energy.

Every practice session - Tuesday nights and Wednesday mornings in Portland, and Wednesday evenings in Vancouver - begins with the "Meditation on Twin Hearts." The spiritual presence is almost palpable. Pranic Healing makes a point of respecting all religions and spiritual teachers - including having no spiritual beliefs at all. Just the heartfelt generosity of the participants is enough to bring some people back each week.

After the meditation, the group divides into healers and "healees." Pranic Healing students work on each other and bring friends and loved ones. Two medical doctors often bring patients. And these "healees" experience changes.

  • The schizophrenic son of one student says he is no longer tormented by the voices in his head.
  • A first-time visitor fighting addiction and the deep fear left over from a rape was smiling as she told the group how much lighter she felt and how grateful she was.
  • One student's brother who was in intensive care with an untreatable post-operative infection is now recovering. He and his wife - and his normally taciturn sister - are deeply grateful.
  • A regular was delighted with himself when he was able to use regular Pranic Psychotherapy to help him lose 17 pounds in less than a month.

Healers from other professions find Pranic Healing enhances their work. A licensed Acupuncturist noticed greatly improved results when she added Pranic Healing to her treatments. She now encourages her patients to attend Pranic Healing courses so they can work on themselves.

When local promoter Tom Park took on Master Co's "Your Hands Can Heal You" class (based on the book by the same name), 130 people turned out. In February more than 50 took the Level 2 (Advanced Pranic Healing) and Level 3 (Pranic Psychotherapy) courses offered in a single weekend.

Teresa Evans is the senior Pranic Healing student in the Portland area. She is a Registered Nurse, a Certified Pranic Healer and Certified Pranic Healing Instructor. She moved here last year from Victoria, BC via Eugene. Teresa has offered follow-up classes for new and repeating students, and has organized and supported the practice sessions. She has started a private Pranic Healing practice.

Teresa sees a Pranic Healing community developing in Portland. She says she met people through Pranic Healing in Victoria that she would never otherwise have met, people who are now good friends.

"The same thing is happening here," she says. "The people who are attracted to Pranic Healing tend to be great people to hang out with!"

The Tuesday practice sessions usually end with people holding hands in a circle for a brief "thank you." At a recent practice several commented on the positive effects they had experienced. And then the group acknowledged the help of "healing angels" and the "open hearts and shining spirits" of the people in the circle.

More information on Pranic Healing is at www.pranichealing.com and www.pranichealing.org. Teresa Evans can be reached at 503-224-9401 or teresa@pranahealthservices.com.