Signature Energy Work:
Accessing, Evaluating, and Transforming
the Personal Energy Field

By Dr. Cora B. Llera, D.C.

Reviewed by Jann Garitty

I believe that healing is an art. When you master the technical structure of any healing modality or system, you become a technician, but when you stand on that structure and leap from it into the unknown, you become an artist.

Signature Energy Work describes the original theory and clinical practice developed by Dr. Cora Llera and is meant to be a teaching tool for others to learn her system of healing work that includes the effective use of flower essences. The introductory material provides a summary of the wide range of scientific theories, historical cultural contexts and healing modalities which she has studied that have culminated in her concept of “Signature Energy Work.” This theory and practice diverges from the modern western medical model under which she received her training as a chiropractor:

“Years of clinical practice have proven to me that an objective physical examination of my patient is both necessary and valuable, but the information it provides is limited. In addition, my experience has shown me that a diagnosis and treatment based solely on objective modalities provides limited results.” This discovery of what lacked in her training led to the understanding and importance of incorporating “subjective reality” into her approach to providing care for her patients. “It’s my willingness to not know … to recognize the limitations of my objective knowledge, that allows me to relax my ego, expand outward beyond the limits of my five senses – beyond the limitations of objective physical reality – and connect to the subjective.”

Dr. Llera has found that her Signature Energy Work has been extremely useful for those with chronic pain or pain that has not been alleviated by traditional medical methods. Discovering the underlying cause of pain, whether the pain is physical or non-physical, is crucial to alleviating it. “Pain and illness are not our body betraying us, but rather attempting to assist us in growing. … If we trust that our body is trying to communicate with us, rather than hurt us, we will listen to it. It has been my experience, in 20 years of listening to bodies, that when we get the message, the body stops sounding the alarm.”

The book provides an overview and historical view of the mind-body connection and outlines the background from which her theory of Signature Energy Work has evolved. She illustrates this evolution with generously described clinical case studies and visual analogies that allow her intended audience, other practitioners, to make the leap from the scientific base she draws from to understanding the underpinnings of the actual clinical practice of Signature Energy Work.

“Research … indicates that we humans are composed of physical, as well as mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects, and that these aspects inter-relate. This means that for every physical condition we experience … there is the potential for an equally important emotional, mental, or even spiritual level of cause for that condition. … We can make alterations on any level: at the emotional level, by changing how we deal with our feelings, at the mental level, by changing beliefs and ideas, or at the spiritual level, by altering how we pursue the themes and purpose of our life. …

Our physical body lies within the energy body [which is composed of the emotional, mental and spiritual bodies] and is constantly influenced by its energies. And because these energies are not in physical form, they fluctuate and change as our thoughts, feelings, and self-understanding change. In addition, these energies have an effect on the people who come into contact with our field… . Research indicates that the human energy field extends anywhere from a few inches to several feet away from our physical body … each of our thoughts and beliefs, each of our habitual emotional reactions gives off its own characteristic energy frequency. Anyone who enters our energy field can feel it. These signature frequencies can be measured scientifically, and can be seen psychically. The sum total of all of the electromagnetic signatures of every thought, feeling, and belief that we have ever had, as well as the signature frequencies of every organ, tissue, cell, and molecule in our physical structure, are what make up our energy field. You can easily see that the result is a distinctly different energetic pattern for each human being, a pattern as unique as our fingerprint or our handwriting. This overall pattern is what identifies us as individuals; it’s our signature in the universal language of energy. I call it our signature energy .”

Most of Dr. Llera’s book is devoted to a detailed description of the protocol involved in utilizing Signature Energy Work. It begins with identifying the core question which the healing work will address: “what is the problem that needs to be solved, or the understanding that needs to be gained at this time?” Applied Kinesiology, used for decades to determine subjective truth, is central to the process of discovering the core answer to this question. To work with the various energy levels, one must have a communication technique to access the energetic qualities of the necessary information. Dr. Llera studied many muscle testing systems and questioning protocols and devised what she considers to be a simplified version that has worked efficiently for her: “The result is a comfortably simple, but reasonably comprehensive line of questions that I call the SEW (signature energy work) LINE (of questioning).”

Dr. Llera states: “The ‘work’ of Signature Energy Work is about moving and transforming energy. We can analyze the energy … with the SEWLINE questions, bringing to our conscious attention as many of the qualities of the answer’s energetic signature as possible [that is] … a habitual pattern (of thoughts, feelings, actions, and/or beliefs) that is limiting us in some way, and is presenting itself for change. We can literally change the form of this pattern, by replacing it with a new pattern, based on the energy of the core answer. If, according to our understanding of quantum physics, everything is energy, and takes on physical form only according to our observation of the energy – how we see it, how we feel about it, the meaning we attach to it – then we can actually change the physically manifesting form of an energy by changing how we observe it.”

Addressing the core answer to the presenting condition or problem is done either by indirect energy techniques applied externally (moving the energy for the patient) or direct techniques whereby the patient places her non-judgmental, conscious awareness on the problem. “Indirect/external techniques focus on restoring balance to the body-mind. Direct/internal techniques focus on creating growth of the body-mind.” Dr. Llera discusses in some detail various modalities and techniques, utilizing case studies to illustrate their applications. In addition, she discusses working with the different qualities of energy in respect to the levels of the signature energy field.

Dr. Llera presents several cases in detail, one of which is about a man who came to her initially for chiropractic adjustments for stiffness in his mid-back. Over the course of treatments, he also mentioned having digestive problems and “a sense of heaviness around the liver.” In addition, he often developed small ulcers in his mouth during times of stress. At one point, he asked Dr. Llera if she might be able to discover the source of his physical difficulties. Via the SEWLINE protocol, she was able to determine that the cause of the patient’s back pain was his liver that was deficient in energy. Further, his liver was deficient because its ability to intake energy was being blocked. Testing revealed that the block was physical in nature and had been in place since he was 7 years old. The energy needed in his liver was emotional, characterized by Mariposa Lily, and was related to his mother. In discussion with him, Dr. Llera learned about the history of his mother, his relationship with her, and more about his own childhood. The “active exploration of the nature of the Self-Limiting energy pattern” combined with the external hands-on energy work with Mariposa Lily flower essence on his back, resulted in almost complete alleviation of the mid-back spasms and mouth ulcers. At times, when the symptoms threaten to return, the patient examines his current circumstances and explores what it is he might learn; this allows his symptoms to fade.

Signature Energy Work is an important guide for those willing to do healing work with their patients on the various energy levels – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual – when it’s appropriate to do so. It is warmly subjective as well as carefully referenced and provides a clear, concise outline of a technique refined from years of clinical practice by Dr. Llera.

Read an edited version of the in-depth case study referenced above.

Signature Energy Work is available as an e-book or in print through Booklocker.com