I used to visit a Chinese energy healer in New York who liked to say: ‘Western doctor no good. Learn body by studying corpse. Not learn nothing. All energy gone.’ I think he was right. I am pretty sure the essence of life (and healing) is energy. Laura and I’s love affair was essentially well matched energy. We made each other happy just looking into each others eyes. It was something I felt rather than understood. When I struggled with my health in the 90s I took up Tai Chi and the gentle rocking energy soothed, calmed and energized me like nothing else. I teach it now in hopes of helping others grow their own energy reserves too.

According to life-between-lives expert Michael Newton, energy is the very essence of our soul. When we complete our earthly journey and return ‘home’, our energy is depleted and a mess. On arrival, we are shepherded first into what sounds like a spiritual spa, given vibrational treatments of sound, light and color. There is talk of regenerating ‘meridians of energy’ (doesn’t that sound like Chinese chi meridians?), use of crystal caves, vortexes and energy showers. ‘Blockages are removed..energy is rewoven…warped energy is softened’. It all sounds very New Age and familiar except one bit – we also get infusions of our own energy. Evidently we leave a majority of our energy behind when we come to earth. It seems we only bring 25-50% of our total with us. ‘Next time I’ll have to remember to pack more energy,’ my Tai Chi teacher joked when I told him this.