What Is Reiki

What is Reiki?

Reiki is not associated with any one religion or bound by any one culture, but is a healing tradition in its own right. As an oral tradition, it has been passed down from Master to student. Anyone may receive, or learn to practice Reiki.

Rei-ki literally translates into “universal life force energy”. This concept of such life energy is certainly not new, and is found in many different cultures, as in chi, qui, and prana. Reiki is believed to enhance the body’s natural ability to heal itself. Receiving Reiki can be deeply relaxing. It can feel like heat or coolness, tingling, or other tactile or energetic sensations.

A Scientific Explanation

Reiki, Therapeutic Touch, Polarity Therapy, Qi-Gong, and others are together in the field of Energy Medicine. As a new field, scientists are grappling to understand how this “energy” works, but evidence is growing that Energy Medicine has a measurable effect on the human body.

The first thing to understand is that the body has an energetic field. This field is measurable and real, and has been confirmed by modern science. From the heart to the brain, our body’s organs rely on electrical signals to function properly. From the basic principles of physics, electrical signals create a magnetic field in the surrounding space. The Human Energy Field can only be detected by the most sensitive of instruments, such as an electrocardiogram or electroencephalogram. These diagnostic instruments of modern science are used to detect disruptions in the electrical field of the heart and the brain respectively, and such disruptions indicate illness.

In experiments on energy healing, Healers have been shown to emit this same type of energy field from their hands. Further, their hands emit energy many times more powerful than the hands of non-healers mimicking their movement. Preliminary research on Reiki has shown that it reduces pain, reduces anxiety, and lowers blood pressure. It also stimulates wound healing.

Mainstream science still cannot explain what exactly is happening with Reiki and other energetic healing methods. Perhaps Reiki’s most profound effects are something that cannot easily be measured. Reiki is subtle. Its long-term effects include personal growth and well-being. Anecdotal evidence abounds on the healing power of Reiki and other energy modalities. Interested readers are encouraged to follow-up with the books and links listed below. Whether healing energy is electromagnetic in nature, or something more subtle is unclear at this point in our understanding. Whatever its source or nature, Reiki can profoundly affect emotional and physical health.

What is a Reiki session like?

During a Reiki session, the recipient lies fully clothed on massage table, while the practitioner holds hand positions over the body, especially at the energy centers known as the chakras. Touch is not necessary, though some practitioners may employ it with the recipient’s permission. A typical session may last from 30 minutes to an hour, but is variable depending on the needs of the individual. Time is allowed before and after the actual Reiki for discussion and questions about the experience.

Reiki feels different to everyone. It may feel like heat, cold, tingling, or a feeling that energy is moving through your body. The most common experience is deep relaxation. Like after a massage, it is important to take care of yourself and your body’s needs afterwards as you integrate the experience. Many people feel thirsty after Reiki, which is thought to be the body’s response to flush out toxins.

What Can Reiki do for Me?

Reiki is most often used for relaxation and as a boost for overall health. It can do no harm and will go where it needs to go. Anecdotal stories abound as to Reiki’s almost miraculous ability to heal, although no practitioner can claim to be able to cure disease: Reiki helps your body heal itself.

Most people experience a more subtle change in the way they feel. It is thought that Reiki can heal on all levels: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Some do think of it as a spiritual experience, although it is not tied to any religion or spiritual tradition. This experience can help you to reconnect with your self, as it promotes awareness of self and connection with all things.

For Further Information:

Further research is needed to help us understand Reiki’s clinical significance. There already is much research to show that Energy Medicine, focused intentions, and prayer have a measurable, positive effect on health, far beyond that of placebo. Reiki has been shown to promote wound healing, reduce pain, and improve quality of life.

Books

Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis by James L. Oschman, Ph.D.
Spiritual Healing: Scientific Validation of a Healing Revolution by Daniel J. Benor, M.D.
Works by Larry Dossey, M.D,. and Candace Pert
Reiki Energy Medicine: Bringing Healing Touch into Home, Hospital, and Hospice - Written by nurses and their experience with Reiki in a clinical setting.
Essential Reiki by Diane Stein – contains much information specifically on Reiki. Read with an open mind, as the author also brings in her own spiritual beliefs, which are not necessary for, or a part of Reiki.
Magick of Reiki by Christopher Penczak – A new age type book about Reiki, taking it further as a complement with other energy work.
Hands of Light by Barbara Brennan – A practical manual for healing, written by a former physicist turned healer, not specifically about Reiki, but contains great details about the Human Energy Field and chakra system.
Hand of Life by Julie Motz – An amazing story of a healer who went from skeptical curiosity, to working in concert with physicians in the operating room.

Links

This Information is from:  Healing Hands of Charleston, SC @ http://www.charlestonhealinghands.com/reiki.htm

Reiki.org
Christianreiki.org - Reiki is not Christian or non-Christian, but for everyone, no matter their faith or background.

*Disclaimer: The information on this page is informational in nature and is not intended to treat, diagnose, or cure disease. Reiki is not a replacement for the care of your doctor or other health professional.

Cancer, Surgery and . . . Reiki

By Kathie Lipinski, R.N.

Everyone knows someone who has experienced cancer. Most people have had to undergo surgery at least one time in their lives. In this article, I would like to share a different way to go through the experience of cancer and, or, surgery.

Both cancer and surgery (and even just the thought of them) can evoke feelings of fear . . . fear of death, fear of disfigurement, and fear of the loss of the lifestyle that one is currently living. The knowledge of having to undergo surgery, or receiving a diagnosis of cancer, is a total experience that involves feelings, thoughts, physical sensations, as well as questioning of one’s connection to a higher power.

The western medical way is to treat the symptoms or “cut out” the problem. These solutions put the body further out of balance because the body has to adjust to the new medicine and its side effects, or the removal of a part of the body thus changing the way it functions. The “cure” often creates more problems for the person to deal with then what they were first experiencing. For example, chemotherapy or radiation treatments are necessary poisons to the body and create their own miseries.

A different way to approach the experience of surgery or a cancer diagnosis and treatment is to consider the use of Reiki. As an ancient eastern healing technique, Reiki works to put the body back into balance. It works on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual realms of each experience. Reiki can calm the emotions, decrease or remove physical pain, calm the anxious and chattering mind and help one to reconnect with their spirituality. It also helps to cleanse the body of toxins and speed up and strengthen the body’s ability to heal itself. It can make the experience of chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery, more tolerable.

In my private practice I see many people with cancer: in the early stages, before surgery, during chemotherapy or radiation treatment, and after surgery. I also see people who are preparing for different types of surgery.

Several women have come to me in “preparing” for a hysterectomy with hopes of making it a better experience. How this works is that a person comes for several Reiki treatments before surgery. This puts the body in the best shape. It is like a cleansing or strengthening of the system before the “injury” of surgery.

People that have had “pre-op” Reiki treatments, have found that they have less pain, minimal blood loss during the surgery, and are up on their feet soon after surgery.

They also experience little or no pain. They then continue with Reiki treatments for several weeks after surgery, which speeds up and supports the healing process. On their follow-up doctors’ visits, their physicians often comment “how fast you healed. Whatever you did, keep it up.” The people I have worked with that are currently undergoing chemotherapy, or radiation treatment, have told me that the Reiki treatments help them feel better.

Reiki can help release the toxins of their treatment and lessen their discomfort. Reiki can also calm their emotions, help them to deal with the fatigue, and strengthen them so that they can “keep on keeping on” during the difficult time. Some people have even told me that after a Reiki treatment, the nausea and vomiting is less. A Reiki treatment is also good for the caregiver or support person. Reiki can help them stay strong for their loved ones.

The effect that energy healing can have on a person undergoing heart surgery or radical lifesaving procedures, was written about in the book “Hands of Life” by Julie Motz. Ms. Motz is an energy healer that has worked in the Operating Room in Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City with Dr. Metmet Oz, a heart surgeon. They were first written up in the New York Times in August of 1995, for the extraordinary “synthesis of high-tech medicine and ancient healing wisdom.”

In the book, Ms. Motz offers the prospective of how “totally unprepared the body seems to be for what is happening to it.” And, “no one has thanked the body, either in parts or as a whole, for its courage in undergoing this ordeal.” This is another way to look at the experience. So, if you are about to undergo surgery, or are preparing for the treatment of cancer, think about your body. How can you strengthen it, support it, and help it heal from the upcoming experience? Why not think about the ancient healing practice known as Reiki? Your body, your mind, and your spirit, will thank you for loving it enough to support it through the process.

Kathie Lipinski is a Center Licensed Reiki Master, and a registered nurse. She currently resides in Louisville, Kentucky

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