When people hear the word energy in the context of health, it often stirs mixed reactions. For some, it means fatigue or metabolism — how much “energy” you have in a day. For others, it sounds mystical, belonging more to spirituality than to science.

But in physics, energy is the most fundamental currency of reality. Every cell in your body generates an electrical charge.¹ Your heart produces an electromagnetic field measurable several feet beyond your skin.² Your brain communicates through rhythmic waves of frequency.³ Even the proteins inside your cells vibrate, folding and unfolding in patterns that sustain life.⁴

At the most fundamental level, everything exists as movement — waves of energy and information interacting in endlessly complex ways. And yet, our senses allow us to perceive only a fraction of this reality. Human eyes, for example, detect less than one percent of the electromagnetic spectrum.⁵

Health Beyond the Physical Body

This same limitation shapes how we’ve been taught to think about health. Health is often defined only in terms of the physical body — what can be measured, diagnosed, or seen under a microscope.

But what we can see and touch is not the whole story. Most of us sense there is more to who we are. Our emotions, thoughts, energy, and even the patterns we carry through life shape how we feel, heal, and grow.

One approach to making sense of this is the subtle body framework — a way of understanding the layers of being that extend beyond the physical. In my own work, I describe these layers as:

Physical Body – our physiology, biochemistry, and symptoms
Emotional Body – emotions and memories that influence health
Mental Body – beliefs, thought patterns, and perceptions shaping experience
Etheric Body – the energetic blueprint, including chakras and meridians
Astral Body – themes of relationship, connection, and soul experience
Causal & Light Bodies – higher layers of consciousness and purpose

Each of these bodies interrelates with the others. A shift in one layer often ripples into the rest, which is why addressing health from only the physical perspective can feel incomplete.

This way of understanding is not new. Ancient systems such as the Indian yogic tradition and Chinese medicine mapped layers of health that extend beyond the physical. Today, research suggests physiological correlates for these frameworks — studies link chakras to autonomic and endocrine centers in the body,⁶ and acupuncture meridians have been shown to display distinct electrical and connective tissue properties.⁷

Modern biophysics, neuroscience, and emerging fields like quantum biology continue to suggest that health is not simply the absence of disease, but the presence of coherence across multiple dimensions of being.⁸

The Science of Coherence

In physics, coherence describes when waves align in rhythm — moving together in harmony so that what emerges is stronger than the sum of its parts.⁹ The same principle runs through the body.

The heart depends on ordered electrical impulses,⁸ the brain on synchronized neural oscillations,⁹ and even cells rely on electrical potentials to exchange nutrients and signals. When these rhythms lose order, we feel it: brain fog, fatigue, palpitations, slower recovery.

These are not failures, but reminders that health itself depends on rhythm, resonance, and integration.

Research shows this coherence extends beyond physiology. Stress and trauma disrupt neural rhythms,¹⁰ while gratitude and compassion create ordered patterns that strengthen resilience.¹¹

Inner experience is not separate from biology — it is woven into it.¹²

This is why coherence matters: it bridges science with a more holistic view of health. My study of neuroscience and years of naturopathic medical training gave me deep respect for the precision of physiology, while also teaching me that no system operates in isolation.

The gut microbiome influences the brain and mood,¹³ hormones not only regulate reproduction but also shape immune defenses,¹⁴ and stress changes how the nervous system communicates¹⁵ and how tissues repair.¹⁶

And just as science demonstrates this interconnectedness, so does lived experience: a stomachache after grief, brain fog under stress, or the release that comes with tears.

The subtle body framework offers language for this reality.¹⁷ It reminds us that coherence is multidimensional — physical, emotional, mental, and energetic — and that disruptions at any layer ripple through the whole system.

Emotions Are Not the Enemy

When we begin to view health through this multidimensional lens, it can be tempting to point to emotions like anger, fear, or sadness as the source of the problem. But this overlooks what we’ve already seen — that health is about connection rather than separation.

These states are not obstacles to be eliminated — they are part of being human. When we label them as “bad,” we layer guilt and shame on top of what is already difficult, and in doing so, create even more fragmentation.

A more expansive understanding is needed. Just as health is shaped by the integration of systems in the body, coherence across our emotional and mental layers arises not from rejection but from inclusion.

Meeting each part of ourselves with patience and compassion allows what is stuck to begin moving again. This gentle presence — rather than force — is what creates the conditions for alignment.

Finding Your Own Entry Point

The way forward is not to fight with ourselves, but to tread gently. When space is made for every feeling, thought, and memory to be acknowledged, the layers of our being begin to move back into rhythm.

In this integration, coherence emerges — not as something we must create, but as the wholeness that has always been present within us.

There are many ways to enter this work, and no single place that is “right” to begin. If the body is an interconnected whole, then tending to any part of it can create shifts across the system.

Supporting the gut, for instance, can ease inflammation and help restore balance in the mind and immune system. If what feels most present is emotional, then therapy, trauma-informed care, or somatic practices may provide the opening.

For some, exploring the energetic dimension offers another path. In my own practice, I have begun offering energetic readings, which I call Inner Alignment Sessions, that attune to what may be happening across these layers — physical, emotional, mental, and energetic. This is simply one way of creating space for greater coherence to emerge. What matters most is not the method itself, but the capacity to listen within.

Healing Through Presence and Compassion

Whatever the doorway, every part of you is deserving of care. What keeps us stuck is not the presence of pain or difficulty, but the avoidance of it.

The way forward is through — turning gently toward the places that feel heavy, and allowing yourself to seek support when they feel like too much to carry alone. In that presence, movement begins to return.

And when movement returns, so does possibility. At every level — from cells to thoughts to emotions — we are patterns of energy in motion. This means that at any moment, there is the potential for greater alignment, for coherence to be restored across body, mind, and spirit.

At the most fundamental level, you are not broken. You are part of a larger rhythm that is always seeking balance. When you choose presence over resistance, you reconnect with that rhythm, and in doing so, open the door to healing and to the wholeness that has always lived within you.

Free Guide: Decode Your Symptoms with a Holistic Framework

If this way of seeing health resonates with you, I’d love to offer you a free resource: Decode Your Symptoms: A Holistic Framework for Understanding Your Body.

This guide helps you reframe common symptoms — things like bloating, fatigue, skin flares, or anxiety — through both a functional medicine lens and a multidimensional one. You’ll learn how to approach your symptoms with more clarity and compassion.

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The Science of the Subtle Body: Energy, Coherence, and Human Health