*“I am very interested in knowing how CRA can be proven scientifically.* I have been to a CRA practitioner a few times. But as a Christian I was very concerned when I heard about the spiritual objections to CRA. And I will not go back unless someone can prove to me that it is not divination. I believe as a Christian that it is safer to refrain from a questionable practice than to do it just because you are ignorant.”

Over the years I have received such letters and emails on several occasions. Is CRA divination? Is CRA part of the New Age movement? Is CRA part of the occult? These questions do not bother me. In fact, I welcome them because I believe they are good questions and deserve an answer. I am bothered, however, by the assumption that scientific research will put a technique into a spiritually “safe” and “acceptable” category. Is science God’s perfect means of communication with man? I think not…especially since science is a creation of man.

Science changes as new discoveries are made. It is not unheard of to have a universally accepted scientific “truth” replaced with a new scientific “truth”. Just because everyone believes something doesn’t make it true and conversely, Truth does not change just because people do not believe it. The Enemy does not discriminate among the fields of healing. He will use every modality; conventional medicine, chiropractic, psychology, nutrition, counseling, massage, and yes, even CRA, when it is in the hands of someone not sold out to God. If one is using “scientific research” as the criteria by which the Enemy is “hands-off” thus rendering the healing method “safe”, such is the poor misguided soul. Beware; the Father of Lies has already deceived.

So, what is the truth about CRA? CRA is either true or it’s not. It either works or it doesn’t. CRA is a means of analysis. It analyzes the subtle-energy the flows through every organ, gland, cell, and structure of our body. It analyzes whether the energy is balanced or imbalanced. CRA isn’t nutrition, chiropractic, or energy manipulation. The health professional uses CRA to analyze the energy of the body and determine areas of imbalance—or dis-ease, which can and do cause a multitude of symptoms and syndromes. An individualized management or wellness plan can then be developed to assist the body on its path to healing and maintained wellness. The management plan can consist of many options such as nutrition, chiropractic adjustments, diet, prescription medicine, surgery, prayer, dancing, counseling, massage, or maybe even a self-prescribed vacation. It is not the intent here to discuss if, when, how, and why to use any one of these. The bottom line is there are many available options that are used to manage disease an/or manage wellness, and the effects of each of these options can be monitored with CRA. Did it work? Did the imbalanced energy become balanced? Does it remain balanced?

There is no dispute about whether or not research in CRA is important and necessary. To date, informal CRA research has been done on an individual basis. Dr. Versendaal and a variety of other health professionals have done thousands of case studies. These case studies helped to develop, grow, and change CRA. This informal research centered on developing testing sequences and correlating reflexes with corresponding micro nutrients. Individual case studies are still continuing today using nutrition and essential oils—many being done by chiropractors who use their skills to release subluxations.

Two CRA studies were done using the SF-36 outcomes measuring instrument. One measured the effect of CRA on Gulf War vets and the other measured the effect of CRA on the physical status and performance level of college athletes. Both studies showed a significant increase in health scores according to the SF-36 indicators. Further study is needed to continue to document this trend.

The book entitled, Body Electric by Robert O. Becker, MD includes research that supports the basis of CRA; the body is electrical, his term for the subtle energy that flows through every organ, gland, structural, and cell. Actually all living things are electrical, they have energy. Research on body electricity and body conductivity is going on continually in a variety of health fields. Over and over again we see studies that show that our body lives a dance in relation to its surroundings. Healthy foods deliver healthy energy to our body. Processed, refined, and/or old foods are dead or dying. Something that is dead has no energy, no life. Computers, microwaves, power lines are all forms of energy. Too much of this form of energy can skew the energy of our body. Doctors use light (an energy) to heal. MD’s recommend light therapy to treat SAD, seasonal affective disorder that can be severely incapacitating in extreme cases. The biorhythms of the body can be measured and charted. The rhythms vary according to surrounding stimuli.

Additionally simple observation shows that healthy relationships with people can improve a person’s physical and mental stage of being. Unhealthy relationships literally drain the energy right out of a person. Most of us can think of a time when we were around an unhealthy person or in an unhealthy relationship. It’s as if you are being sucked dry by an “energy vampire”. You have nothing left to give and the unhealthy person has nothing of any energy value to give in return. The resulting emptiness causes physical, mental, and spiritual exhaustion, which in turn hosts a multitude of other problems.

The dance by which we move and live in relationship to that which surrounds us and is in us is one of energy. We were created to live, not as individuals but as community, giving and receiving from the creation around us. The entire world around us gives and receives. We are a very special part of this creation.

Not too many people question the validity of our body having energy flowing through every cell. It seems to make sense to them. Yet, the technique of “arm pumping” and “pulsing” is foreign to those who haven’t been immersed in the field of alternative health. It is important for the CRA practitioner to be able to physiologically explain what is going on in the body when they are pushing on the patient’s arm. It is not some mystical routine or a calling on unseen spirits that causes the arm to go down. It is the movement of energy from a specific point (reflex) on the body to the deltoid muscle in your arm. Too much or too little energy resulting from a compromised organ or structure will travel to the deltoid muscle and cause a shift of energy, which results in the muscle responding with a weaker muscle. The arm drops.

So, is CRA grounded in the realm of mysticism, the occult? No. Is CRA grounded in the New Age movement? No. CRA is grounded in the fact that we were created to be healthy, growing, colorful, and vibrant beings. But to those who still question, I say, it’s not the technique that would concern me the most; it’s the practitioner. Be wary of any health practitioner, be it in traditional medicine or alternative, who says by either word, action, or attitude, “I am god, I will heal.” If you are a patient and visit your health practitioner, do you see your healing coming from the person or the Creator? If you are a health practitioner are you the healer or are you an instrument of healing that the Creator and Divine Healer can use? It’s not the research, but the answers to these questions, that are important to the spiritual aspect of any healing art, including CRA.