Reiki - The Healing Power of Touch

Human touch is almost as necessary to life as air, water and food. Some people might argue that it is as important. We need to be help by our parents or a caregiver when we are newborns and as children we look for hugs when we fall and scrape our knees. As adults, we still need to be touched. In fact, countless studies are demonstrating the healing power of touch, and conversely, the destructive consequences of inadequate or inappropriate touch.

Reiki (pronounced "ray-key") is a form of healing that addresses this integral need. It is a powerful healing art that involves laying-on of hands to channel universal healing energy through the practitioner to the recipient. The word "Reiki" is Japanese for "universal life energy" because it accesses the incredible healing energy of the universe.
While Reiki is believed to have been in practice for thousands of years,

Dr. Mikao Usui rediscovered Reiki in the 1800s. The stories about how Usui first discovered Reiki are many and conflicting, but most of them indicate that he was fasting and meditating on Mount Koriyama in Japan in an effort to find universal understanding of healing principles. On the twenty-first and final day of his retreat Usui experienced a powerful light between his eyes (the area commonly referred as the third eye or seat of intuition). He saw many bubbles in colours of the rainbow, together with ancient symbols. The symbols represented healing energies that Usui began accessing for powerful healing experiences, both for himself and for others.

His discoveries were passed down over generations and today therea re thousands of Reiki Masters worldwide. Each Master has received a series of attunements that have been passed down from Usui. Reiki is expanding at what seems to be the speed of light.

The practice has branched into many strains:

Traditional or Usui Reiki is the form of Reiki that is closest to Usui's teachings.

Tibetan Reiki is similar to Usui Reiki but has some roots in shamanism as well. Developed by William Lee Rand Karuna Reiki incorporates the healing power of sound. The word Karuna is a Sanskrit word meaning a compassionate action intended to relieve the suffering of all sentient beings.

Rainbow Reiki incorporates inner child work and some aspects of shamanism and was founded by Walter Lubeck.

Practitioners of Seichem Reiki claim that Usui did not pass down all of his teachings in the Usui form of Reiki.

Many other forms of Reiki and hands-on healing exist and more are popping up all the time. Reiki healing can be used for many purposes. Some of these purposes include: balancing chakras, healing injuries or disease, healing animals and plants, and energizing food or water. The uses of Reiki vary as much as a person's imagination will permit.
Because Reiki was discovered in Japan, it is often incorrectly considered part of Buddhism. Reiki is not affiliated with any religion or denomination. The principles and symbols used in Reiki are found in many ancient cultures.

While practitioners vary in their approach to Reiki sessions, there are some commonalities: a Reiki practitioner usually takes a moment to focus himself or herself and then places his or her hands on the area of discomfort or disease or follows a series of hand positions starting at the head and working down the body to the feet. Some practitioners will have soft music playing in the background while others choose silence for their sessions. There are no firm rules when it comes to Reiki except to send loving, healing energy to the person being treated.

Many hospitals worldwide now incorporate Reiki into hospice care. The Portsmouth Regional Hospital in New Hampshire provided 8,000 Reiki treatments to patients since 1995. The highly successful Reiki program, started by Patricia Alandydy, BSN, RN, offers Reiki treatments in every department of the hospital. Now, patients can have Reiki alongside more conventional surgeries, radiation, and other treatments.

Perhaps hospitals have integrated this powerful healing therapy because well over one hundred studies now document the positive healing effects of Reiki and healing touch on diseases like cancer, heart disease, endocrine disorders, immune disorders, orthopedic conditions and injuries, pain, post-operative recovery, and psychological disorders.
In one study at St. Clare's Center for Complementary Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Oncology Complementary Medicine Pilot Porgram, complementary therapies of meditation, healing touch, reflexology, Reiki, massage, and acupuncture were administered to outpatients. Patients who received Reiki or healing touch showed an average reduction in pain by 48%.

In another study, patients who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery and healing touch had a shorter hospital stay than those who only had the surgery.

In a study of 48 patients who had total knee replacement surgery, along with pain and mobility impairment, those who experienced healing touch showed 30.6% greater mobility only 2 days after the surgery than those who had only conventional therapy, and 27% greater mobility than those people who experienced a placebo-type version of healing touch therapy.

The power of touch to heal is immense. In a world driven primarily by work and responsibilities, touch therapy has the capacity to help us slow down, experience the compassion of another human being, and heal our bodies, minds, and spirits.

GET THE MOST FROM YOUR REIKI EXPERIENCE
Speak to the Reiki practitioner before going for a session; you want to be sure that you are comfortable with the person.

Consider whether you are more comfortable with a man or a woman…with someone who works from home or from a health centre.

Ask what approach the Reiki practitioner takes (hands on or off the body, chanting or silence) and decide whether you are comfortable with that approach.

Reiki treatments are carried out with the client fully clothed. You may want to ask for a blanket, though, because a slight drop in body temperature is common when healing is occurring.

If your Reiki treatment evokes an emotional response, do not suppress it. Most practitioners realize that a person may be moved to tears during a session.

Accept that it is perfectly normal to remember past traumas, to see images from your life, or to simply become deeply relaxed.

Go slowly when your session is finished. Take some time to integrate the therapy.

Drink plenty of water to help your body with any detoxification that may occur and to help hold the treatment.