I recently gave a talk about Reiki to an interesting audience: Medical Students.
I was excited to share with them that our worlds, Western medicine and holistic healing practices, are not far apart. In fact, many prominent hospitals have embraced Reiki. Northwestern Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins Medicine, to name a few.
A quick tour of their websites illuminates the value Reiki adds to the Western medical tool kit.
From Northwestern Medicine Osher Center for Integrative Medicine:
“At the simplest, most obvious level, it appears that Reiki treatment helps lessen the impact of stress, releasing tension from the entire system.
Not only does the person move toward his or her own unique balance in body, mind and spirit, but also, depending on the level of physical health when Reiki begins, the body’s own healing mechanisms often begin functioning more effectively.”
From the Cleveland Clinic’s website:
“According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, people use Reiki for relaxation, stress reduction and symptom relief, in efforts to improve overall health and well-being.
Reiki, which is used all over the world in places including hospitals and hospices, aids in healing by helping people become energetically balanced physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
A Reiki treatment may do the following:
- Bring about a peaceful, deep state of relaxation
- Dissolve energy blockages and tension
- Detoxify the body
- Support the well-being of a person receiving traditional medical treatment that are debilitating (e.g., chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, kidney dialysis)
- Supply universal life force energy to the body
- Stimulate the body’s immune system
- Help to relieve pain
- Stimulate tissue and bone healing after injury or surgery”.
You can actually book an appointment with a Reiki practitioner through the Johns Hopkins Medicine website. They include Reiki in a selection of therapeutic massage techniques and note that:
“Reiki: Light touch, accesses Universal Life Energy. Can speed healing, reduce pain, and decrease symptoms.
Research has shown that therapeutic massage techniques may be helpful in the following conditions:
- Stress, Anxiety, Depression: promotes relaxation response, enhances coping mechanisms in patients undergoing treatment for cancer, reduces symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress disorders
- Pain control: fibromyalgia, arthritis, sciatica, headaches, childbirth
- Chronic lung disease: increases respiratory function and decreases anxiety
- Digestive: adjunctive therapy to treatment of chronic constipation
- Injuries: overuse and repetitive strain injuries, workplace and athletic trauma, whiplash.”
A recent article in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Dec. 2019, noted that:
“Over 800 hospitals (15%) in the United States currently offer Reiki to patients. According to the latest information available, in a 2007 National Health Interview Survey, which included a comprehensive survey of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) use by Americans, more than 1.2 million adults and 161,000 children had used energy healing such as Reiki in the previous year.”
In 2022, Reiki will be celebrating 100 years of helping people release stress, find balance and heal naturally without any known negative side effects. The growing awareness, acceptance and popularity of Reiki is exciting.
If you have any questions about how Reiki can support your health and well-being, or to receive a session and feel the benefits for yourself, please be in touch.