I came across a study this week that made me genuinely excited in the most nerdy way… and I immediately thought of many of my clients and readers.

Researchers worked with breast cancer survivors experiencing significant fatigue and divided them into three groups:

• real biofield healing,
• mock healing,
• and a waitlist group.

The really interesting part?

Both the real and mock healing groups experienced major improvements in fatigue.

Honestly, that alone says a lot about the power of rest, care, touch, nervous system support, and being deeply tended to in a world that often asks people to keep pushing through exhaustion.

But only the real biofield healing group showed significant improvements in cortisol variability — meaning their stress hormone rhythms became healthier and more regulated.

And even more interesting:
whether or not participants believed the healing would work did not predict who improved.

That’s the kind of thing I get very curious about.

Not because I feel a need to “prove” healing work to anyone… but because I love watching science slowly catch up to things many of us have felt, witnessed, or experienced for years.

I also appreciate that this study wasn’t simplistic.

It didn’t dismiss the importance of human presence, rest, touch, or compassionate attention. Those things matter deeply. The mock-healing group improved too.

But the cortisol findings suggest there may also be something more happening physiologically that deserves further exploration.

I love seeing researchers ask better and better questions around:

• the nervous system,
• stress physiology,
• human connection,
• energetic states,
• and how healing actually happens in the body.

Many people today are living with chronic stress, emotional overwhelm, burnout, grief, disrupted sleep, chronic illness, nervous system dysregulation, or simply the constant pressure of modern life.

And while healing is never as simple as “fixing cortisol,” I do think it’s fascinating to see research exploring how supportive, restorative healing experiences may influence the body in measurable ways.

For those who enjoy reading research themselves, click here to read the publication.

And if this blog happened to find you during a season when your own nervous system, energy, or stress levels have been feeling a little out of balance… support is here.

You’re always welcome to book a session with me.

Theresa