Here at PeopleJam we see a fair bit of New Age gimmickry and alternative healing mumbo jumbo. You don't have to be a hardcore skeptic to find this hocus pocus offputting. Sometimes the claims are so outrageous and the marketing is so trippy that it takes heroic levels of fortitude not to recoil in horror.

Nevertheless, we keep an open mind. Hey, it's our mission at PeopleJam to make life better, and besides, somebody has to check this stuff out. Recently, I had an opportunity to do so.

I've been really sick during the past month and my regular medical doctor, by his own admission, has no clue. For two weeks I've been getting tested for everything from gallstones to diverticulitis. I've been scoped and scanned and probed with C-T and ultrasound and everything else that a battery of specialists could conceive of. All the tests came back negative, my organs are in perfect condition and yet I still have a sharp pain in my right side. The expert medical opinion: let's wait and see.

I'm not one to wait idly to recover, so I decided to take some action.

Actually, I was cajoled by one of our coaches to check out something I probably never would have under any other circumstances. He said, "Hey, I've been telling you about alternative remedies for so long, why not check it out and see for yourself?"

Like 50% of Americans, I consider myself open to alternative remedies. I used to live in Hong Kong, where during flu season there is never a wait to see a western medical doctor, but the line for the chinese medicine man in the herbal apocathary wraps around the block. I believe that some alternative remedies really do work.

So I said, "Sure thing, what do you recommend?" Anything seemed better than sitting around waiting for my next doctor's appointment.

He recommended the Lifestreams Generator. The what?

The Lifestreams Generator was invented right here in sunny Santa Monica by John Riley of Zero Point Research. It's a small, nondescript white box that kicks out one hell of a lot of DC power. The inventor claims that the technology behind is derived from the research of Nikola Tesla, George Lakhovsky, and George Van Tassel.

The inventor says on his web site that “The Lifestream Generator uses Radiant energy waves to send a Unified Field of Energy through the body and in the process raising the cell voltage of all parts of the body thus bringing back a balance to oneself and allowing the body and mind to bring itself back into well being. Your body and mind will detoxify on its own and will gain the youthful energy it once had. Your body will optimize and balance. This device is a Radiant Energy Device and has proven to show miraculous effects on all life on this planet.”

I can't verify any of these claims, of course. Who could? It's a fact that companies who market alternative remedies must steer clear of the FDA by avoiding the possibility of making any specific medical claims. Otherwise they could face massive lawsuits. As a result, these companies seem to have no choice but to market their wares by making claims about vaguely metaphysical, mystical bullshit.

Here's what I can tell you. This thing rocks. No kidding. The Lifestreams Generator was the most energizing and relaxing thing I've done in years. After 30 minutes, I felt incredibly well, and that feeling lasted for days. I had more energy, more alertness and -- get this -- a more positive attitude. Coming into the session after three weeks of illness and loads of high-dosage antiboitics, I was beat. Just a half hour with the Lifestream gizmo and I felt amazing well.

Okay, so you're probably thinking, how can this possibly be true?

There is nothing particular mystical about the treatment. It's like a massage, except the person administering the treatment barely touches you. The electric current does all the work. Leah, the therapist who administered my Lifestreams Generator treatment, placed one hand on the device and the other on my body. Her body acted like a conduit for the electrical current. She moved her hand lightly down my arm and it set my entire arm tingling with energy. My fingertips were buzzing.

She explained that certain places might react a bit more to the current than others: apparently this is where "blockages" have occurred that prevent the normal flow of energy in the body. If you are familiar with Indian mysticism or yoga, then you are familiar with the Chakras, and if you follow Chinese medicine, you will be familiar with the meridiens, which are meant to be pathways for energy within the body. Blockages in these chakras or meridiens are supposed to prevent the free flow of energy, and they can result in illness, muscle cramps, and other disease. I've had acupuncture in the past, so I was familiar with this theory. Other people would call it BS.

Whether or not you believe in this stuff or consider it mumbo-jumbo, here's what I found rather amazing. In each place where I had some muscle tension or an old injury, the electric current seemed to build up and then blast through until there was no more resistance. It got a little intense at times. I have my share of aches and pains because I do a lot of outdoor sports: I've got arthritis where I broke my hands, carpal tunnel in my wrists, tension in various places in my back and neck, an old rip in my rotator cuff, etc. In each spot, Leah would [pause to direct the flow the energy in a manner that was akin to the way a masseuse would work out a knot in a muscle. The electric charge made my fingers and shoulder twitch in funny ways, but after a few seconds they would relax and she moved on to another spot.

Then she moved her hands around my eyes. Intense! Man alive, did I get a shock. I guess I've had quite a bit of tension in my eyes. I felt immediate relief. It's funny how much tension you can store up without even noticing it.

The result: I felt pain free for days. I don't want to overhype this gizmo, but I can certainly say that nothing prescribed by my medical doctor has helped me with the pain from my current illness, but 30 minutes with the Lifestreams Generator made me feel great. More importantly, I felt like I had a different attitude: more relaxed, more energetic and a bit more clear-minded, as if some old emotional blockages had been swept away, too.

Placebo effect, you say? Maybe, but I felt limber and energized enough to get back to work, and that's all that mattered on this particular day. I am convinced that the treatment did something beneficial, even if it was just a novel way to achieve the same kind of tranquility that you get after a good old fashioned massage.

Coincidentally, I recently read Lynn McTaggart's book The Field, which expounds on the fringe science about the Zero Point Energy field. This author posits a theory that says all humans (and all matter) is linked by a unified energy field. The existence of the zero point field is a matter of scientific fact, but the theories presented in McTaggart's book fall outside of current mainstream science. If you find my experience with the Lifestreams Generator interesting, then you will probably find McTaggart's book a worthwhile read. Enjoy!