A healing touch therapy that anyone can learn has been quietly expanding globally. Formulated seven millennia ago in ancient Egypt, a healing touch utilizing the first two fingers of each hand on specific points of the body continues today. Experience and research have concluded that, over time, the combination of correct points and light touch enhances the body’s natural healing ability.

Passed on in modern times by a mining engineer in the back country of Colorado and carried to the Hawaiian Islands, spreading to Australia, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Mexico and North America, it has become to be known as Bio-Touch.

In the early 1990s, on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu, a group of healers and visionaries began a journey that spans decades and generations. They wanted to share with all people a way to relieve the suffering of the planet through a simple application of touch and emphasize the Golden Rule of, “Love thy neighbor.”

Rational and pragmatic in their approach, Cheryl Bucky, Paul Bucky and Joyzelle Beasley established a nonprofit entity to hold their vision. Now, in the second decade of the 21st century, their seed continues to spread globally through practitioners of the healing therapy of Bio-Touch.

As with all movements, the vision evolved from idealism to practicality, from establishing centers everywhere to spreading the healing touch by teaching others. The journey of growth in personal self-awareness remains present today. Bio-Touch is offered freely to the public, encouraging everyone to be receptive to their own healing capacity.

“The goal of the Foundation was to pass on the simple ideal of ‘Love thy neighbor’ and to make certain Bio-Touch was passed on with full integrity,” Paul, a co-founder and executive director, says, “It was started as a means of getting Bio-Touch into every hut on the planet.”

The pivotal point occurred in 1993, when co-founder Beasley established a center in Tucson. Another center opened in Yuba City, California, in 1996 with the help of Dr. Michael Blanchard. Certified practitioners Shahrzad Awyan in Egypt, Howard Chait in Australia, Elizabeth Roma in Mexico, Feriel Moelart of the Netherlands, who is also active in the Czech Republic, and the Tucson practitioners are among the many people offering Bio-Touch globally. The Tucson Center has been continually staffed for 20 years, providing education and delivering the Touch on a donation basis to thousands of recipients.

“After my heart transplant in 1998,” Chardonai, a woman in her early 60s declared, “I saw and felt a power in the simple action of the Touch in a demonstration. I had to know more.” A few days later, she visited the Tucson Bio-Touch Center. During her first session, she experienced being overwhelmed by the power of the touching she received. Chardonai was amazed to learn the practitioner was a volunteer and she could donate what she could afford for the service. Chardonai’s story has been repeated again and again by people that have experienced the healing touch, and many have become practitioners of Bio-Touch.

Research since 2002 by independent M.D.’s and Ph.D.’s reports benefits of the touch therapy. Most recently, the Northwestern Oklahoma State University (NWOSU) Senior Nursing Research study combined the research of Dr. Gary Schwartz, Ph.D., Kenna Stephensen, M.D. and others with hands-on experience. The researchers measured blood pressure before and after a session.

In August 2011, at NWOSU, senior nursing students were required to participate in a research project intended to validate the efficacy of Bio-Touch in managing stress, relaxation, pain and restlessness. Carole A. McKenzie, Ph.D., RN, CNM, a professor and chair of the nursing division at NWOSU, led the research. She states, “There were 247 subjects in the study. All the parameters showed significance at the less than .0001 level. Subjects reported feeling less stress, pain and restlessness and more cared for and more relaxed.”

The study was presented at the Sigma Theta Tau International Research Congress, in Brisbane, Australia, in August 2012. It was repeated last August with blood pressure and pulse readings added to the data collected, which will be analyzed in the 2012 semester.

Syliva McConico was referred to the Tucson Center seeking help for her exhaustion. She recounts, “While still on the table receiving treatment, I knew I would become a practitioner. It took me nine months, and in April 2011 I became a Bio-Touch certified practitioner.”

Now McConico, an advocate of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) says, “Time in the session rooms with recipients is precious. They share their recovery of health progress, appreciation of the non-invasive nature of Bio-Touch, and the welcoming atmosphere. Priceless!”

Shahrzad Awyan, an Egyptian certified practitioner, says, “This healing technique was practiced in Egypt 7,000 years ago, but contemporary Egyptian authorities refuse to allow it, calling it witchcraft because of the miraculous results of the healing method. I love giving and receiving the Touch and am grateful to the higher wisdom and to Paul for being guided to learn and teach this priceless gift of God.”

“In 2009, I came across and learned Bio-Touch in Egypt through Shahrzad Awyan,” says Feriel Moelart, of the Netherlands. “Since then, I am very grateful to have learned it and also grateful for the IFBM foundation for sustaining the teachings and spreading this knowledge.

“I introduced this method in two countries; the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. I’m happy the teachings are spreading. It offers humans a simple way to help themselves and others around them by triggering the self-healing capacity of the body. It gives people a strong sense of power and self-worth in any situation by just touching. Everyone can make a difference wherever they are. I see and experience around me the Touch empowers whoever uses it, no matter who they are or where they are.”

Moelart goes on to say, “I am grateful to Paul Bucky for giving me the opportunity to use the distance learning program to become a certified practitioner. This gives people all over the world the opportunity to learn and spread these teachings. Wonderful!”

The Tucson Center is staffed and the Touch is provided by interns and volunteers, supported by donations and Foundation memberships. The enterprise is similar to structured communities. Actively engaging the philosophical tenets of acceptance, self-awareness and community, it has become self-sustaining and continues to evolve.

The early years of the Tucson Center included a bold social movement of maintaining a Bio-Touch house. Practitioners lived together, and students and an extended community congregated in an Eastside residence. A lot of inspired activity was generated there and at the Center through the spirited commitments of the Bio-House residents.

People moved on; co-founder Cheryl moved to Denver, Beasley into retirement. Paul stayed on to be executive director of the Tucson Center. New practitioners provide the touch that enhances the body’s natural ability to heal. Every generational change builds on its ancestors. The structure of volunteers, Foundation support and consistent presence garners attention far and near. A common thread throughout is internal growth and development of awareness that attracts committed practitioners to the philosophy and the integrity of Bio-Touch.

Over time, the integrity of the method has remained intact. “We are very committed to making sure that everyone learns the points as they are recorded in the manual.” Paul says. “It is important as Bio-Touch passes from generation to generation that we keep it a simple technique that can be practiced by anyone.”

As interest spread globally, the parent company, the International Foundation of Bio-Magnetics (IFBM) invested in a distance learning approach of presenting the training and certification that maintains the integrity of the Bio-Touch delivery system. As knowledge of the Touch spreads across borders into other nations and far-flung countries, the manuals are translated into many languages, demonstrating the nimbleness of a mindful and healing movement.

These days, the population at the center includes the current generation of 24 practitioners and interns, accredited teachers and administrators. Practitioner training and certification continues to build the next generation locally and globally. The philosophical tenets of a volunteer culture remain in place, sustaining continuous growth and providing safe, peaceful places where one can find the healing therapy of Bio-Touch.

A Bio-Touch open house will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., October 27, to tour the facility, meet practitioners, and learn about Bio-Touch history and techniques from founder Paul Bucky at 11: a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

The Tucson Bio-Touch Center is located at 5634 E., Pima St. For more information, call 520-323-7951, email [email protected] or visit Justtouch.com.

Dale Bruder is a freelance writer based in Tucson. Connect at [email protected].