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The Four Dense Bodies: Layers of the Physiology

The Four Dense Bodies

The Dense Bodies are the four most concrete levels of our “physiology”.  (For a description of all the levels, please refer to the video: Underneath the Physical: Our Seven Subtle Energy Bodies.)

The four dense levels of the body are the:

  • Physical body
  • Etheric body
  • Mental body
  • Emotional body

It is important to note that the range of manifestation of the Self, from abstract to concrete, is actually a smooth continuum of Divinity expressing itself as form. However, for the sake of the energy healing process, this smooth continuum is divided into layers or bodies. This provides us with a road map for focusing attention concisely on the area required for most effective healing.

Just as we have a physical anatomy, we also have an “energy anatomy.” Thus, these four dense bodies—which we tend to identify with our present life—operate with different laws of nature, at different levels of intelligence. Let’s examine each:

Physical Body

The physical body could be thought of as the most dense, solid or manifest expression of a being’s energy anatomy. This is the aspect we are most familiar with. (Note that the energy field or “aura” surrounds and permeates the physical body.)

When we feel pain or physical discomfort, the body is drawing our attention to an area that requires healing. This is actually the starting point of the healing process — becoming aware of the imbalance.

Now, in energy healing, when examining a physical area that needs attention, we can look at the physical body from different angles. We can perceive it as three distinct areas: head, limbs and trunk. Or we can ‘divide’ it into systems such as circulatory, digestive, respiratory, etc. We can also look at healing specific organs, or we can go into the tissue level of the body, or the cellular, subcellular level, or molecular level and the DNA! 

Etheric Body

The next layer, the Etheric body, is slightly less manifest than the physical body. The Etheric Body is an energy map of the physical body and radiates outside the skin by a couple of inches. You can actually feel your Etheric Body if you put your hands up close to your face. (Mothers feel babies with their cheeks: cheeks are very sensitive.) Put your hands up about an inch from your cheeks and you can feel the energy radiating off your face, radiating out of your hands. If you put your hands together, you can feel the energy that way too

In energy healing, if a person is experiencing pain we work with the Etheric Body. Sometimes people get confused, thinking they are feeling some sensation in the physical body when they are actually feeling a sensation in the Etheric Body. In fact, long-term pain, which seems ‘locked’ into the body, is usually rooted in the etheric level. For this reason, it is good to check the Etheric Body if you, or someone you are helping is experiencing pain. It is far easier to move the pain from the subtle Etheric Body, than from the denser physical body. 

Mental Body

The third level of the physiology is the Mental body. In energy healing we may access the Mental Body to locate and release issues like:

  • troublesome belief systems,
  • fear, habits and vicious cycles,
  • contracts, agreements, vows, promises, covenants, etc. made earlier in this lifetime, or previously, that no longer serve our best interests.

Emotional Body

The fourth level is the Emotional body. The Emotional Body refers to the emotional level of the physiology and is the bridge between our denser and subtle energy bodies. I tend to associate the Emotional Body with the aura because all the colors and forms of the aura are essentially emotions. The aura is one of the ways in which our emotions manifest as fields of color around our body. They are subtle colors and subtle light, reflections of the Emotional Body, the Body of Desire. 

In energy healing we may access the Emotional Body to locate and release hidden feelings and beliefs that no longer serves us during this lifetime. We look at the Emotional Body when dealing with emotional imbalances. 


These are the four denser levels of the physiology. These four upper layers are associated with the present self, the present life, who we know ourselves to be now. The subtler levels, the deeper more abstract levels, we tend to associate with eternal self, collective self.

For a more complete understanding of the levels of physiology, please see the video below.


Video

Underneath the Physical: Our Seven Subtle Energy Bodies

(Estimated viewing time: 12 minutes)

Enjoyed the video? Check out Dorothy’s YouTube Channel for more free energy healing videos.