We've never been more obsessed with the state of our health. Thanks to the wonder of medical technology, we can figure out whether we're likely to develop breast cancer, osteoporosis, dementia or coronary heart disease - and prevent it ahead of time. We're lucky to have access to sophisticated screening methods such as genetic marker testing or total body scanning.
But speak to any of the practitioners who qualify as 'energy readers' and they'll tell you the ability to predict and remedy physical and mental problems has been practised for centuries. Whether it's acupuncturists using fine needles, pranic healers with crystals, or Yuen method practitioners using their minds, energy readers use perception and intuition to tune into the body's energy and clear blockages.
'We all have an energy body, which is a blueprint for the physical,' says pranic healer Roger McCaughey.
'If you have something in your energy body that's messed up, or something has upset you, eventually it will manifest itself in your physical body. This is why it's often said that much disease and sickness comes from the mind. By cleansing the energy body you're doing a certain amount of preventative work, which transfers to the physical body.'
So what exactly does this energy body look like? Artists have always depicted it as auras, halos and coronas around the heads of saints and holy deities, ranging from Jesus to Buddha. Scientists and photographers such as Semyon Kirlian have tried to capture images of the energy field with varying success. Scientists may have decried its existence, but energy readers insist they have always instinctively felt and seen the body's energy field in the form of vibrations, intense heat, light, colour and sometimes words or messages.
Jane Middleton sought help from a Yuen method practitioner to get over an acrimonious divorce. 'Anger had poisoned my whole life; I had become a sour and unhappy person. A naturopath suggested that I try the Yuen method, a type of energy healing and I was initially very sceptical.