Reiki: Therapy for the Mind and Body :

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As people consider their healthcare choices, alternative methods of practice in medicine are really starting to take shape. We are looking for other ways to restore, heal and energize ourselves without popping a pill.

Reiki therapy is taking hold as one of those forms of complementary medicine, not only in our homes, but also in our healthcare system. Never heard of it? Usui Shiki Ryoho (the Usui System of Natural Healing), known as Reiki, is a form of healing and spiritual awakening developed 100 years ago by a Japanese man, Mikao Usui, and brought to the West via Hawaii in 1937. It is passed on from one person to another through specific initiation rites, teachings and defined forms of practice. The Japanese word reiki can be translated as "universal or spiritually guided life force" and the Usui System is a way of working with reiki for healing of self and others. The word "healing" is used in the sense of regaining harmony and wholeness, and Usui Shiki Ryoho addresses the whole person -- physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.

Reiki practitioners channel this "universal life energy" to their patients in a form of massage – they position their hands in key areas, either directly on the clothed patient or just above their skin. Its benefits are not well-known, however, practitioners report lower heart rates and blood pressure, plus improved and stabilized hormone and hemoglobin levels in their patients.

More than 50 years ago, Dr. Francis Peabody wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association: “One of the essential qualities of the clinician is the interest in humanity, for the secret of the care of the patient is caring for the patient.” Our healthcare system is slowly beginning to focus on caring for the patient again, not like the days of old, where fundamentals were lost.

Now we understand that in order for a person to heal and be well, we must take into account the “whole” person. That includes his/her psychosocial factors, which play a significant role in health. Doctors are starting to pay attention to the patient’s consciousness, soul and spirit. These are positive changes.

Reiki therapy (medicine) shows us the path that has brought healing to the lives of many people and has given us a model for integrating complementary practices with the mainstream of health care. Libby Barnett, Maggie Chambers and Susan Davidson wrote Reiki Energy Medicine: Bringing Healing Touch into Home, Hospital and Hospice to offer the wisdom of Reiki, not as an absolute answer, but as a choice that many health-care professionals have found to be a beneficial adjunct in their encounters with illness, pain and suffering.

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