The origins of energy and how forms of energy relate and interact are not clearly understood, yet there are many healing systems, both modern and ancient, that use energy for healing. Modern western medicine uses many energy based diagnostic and healing tools, including electrocardiograms, MRI's, pacemakers, X-rays and lasers. Some examples of ancient healing systems that use energy are Reiki, acupuncture, and Qi Gong.
Reiki healing is a gentle, non-invasive technique enhancing the body's own natural energy to help in the self-healing of the physical body, the emotions, the mind, and the spirit. Energy fields emitted from the hands of the Reiki practitioner have been measured by modern research tools. These energy fields correspond to the levels of energy impulses that science has shown can jump start the healing process in different kinds of bone, nerve, ligaments and capillaries.
Reiki works well with traditional western medicine to help restore balance to the body, to lessen or relieve pain, and to encourage the body’s own energy in the healing process. The list of hospitals with complementary programs that incorporate Reiki continues to grow.
A sampling of facilities that offer Reiki
Wentworth Douglas Hospital, Dover, NH; Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT, (see research on their website www.hartfordhospital.com); Mercy Hospital, Portland, ME; Willcox Memorial Hospital, Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii; Center for Integrative Medicine at George Washington University Hospital, Washington, DC; Tucson Medical Center, Tucson, AZ; Portsmouth Regional Hospital, NH; Marin General Hospital, CA; University of Michigan Hospital, MI; University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Ctr., Houston, TX; Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital, NY; and Kent Hospital, Warwick, R.I.
(Taken with permission from the website of Marilynn Carter, RM)
The Reiki Session
During the Reiki Session the recipient relaxes on a massage table, remaining fully clothed, and generally is further comforted by the warmth of a blanket, as the body temperature often falls during the Reiki session. The Reiki Practitioner channels energy by placing her hands on, or just above, areas of the recipient’s body associated with the Chakras (energy centers) and the major organs of the body, generally for about 5 minutes in each position. The recipient often enters a state of profound relaxation, similar to a meditative state, and may even fall asleep.
Sleeping or awake, Reiki will benefit the recipient in the same way, whether or not she or he believes in the process.
Some effects experienced by those who have had Reiki are:
• Improved healing of diseases
• Greater creativity
• More balance and less stress
• Relief from headache
• Less or no pain
• Increased awareness
• Deeper, more restful sleep
• Helps to release toxins from the body
• Eases side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatment
A Little Reiki History
"All over the world healers work with life energy, which can be compared to a family with many members. Every form of life energy has its own individuality, its own characteristics, but they are all made of the same fundamental material. Called 'prana' in India, 'elan vital' in Europe, 'Chi' in China, 'orgone' by W. Reich, and 'Ki' in Japan ... Reiki is the energy that pervades everything sentient and insentient."
Frank Arjava Petter, Reiki Fire
In Japanese the character for Rei stands for holy, spirit, rain; Ki means energy, talent, feeling; together they are usually translated Universal Life Force Energy. Reiki is an ancient healing practice rediscovered by Mikao Usui during his daily Buddhist meditations at Mount Kurama in Japan. Usui Sensei (teacher) was greatly revered as a warm, simple and humble teacher, and a great healer and scholar. Because of his teachings, and those of his many followers, there are thousands of Reiki practitioners in Japan, the United States, and throughout the world today.