Reiki Spans Religions

Although Reiki IS spiritual in nature it does not hold any one specific religion. The religion of the practitioner does not affect the energy since Reiki energy is Universal Energy and not something coming from the practitioner themself. Many people of many religions practice Reiki. My hope is that in reading this short list of practitioners from various religions, you will be able to overcome any taboos you think you have that your religion does not allow you to receive the health benefits from visiting a Reiki practitioner.

Sister Anny Vogeizang - REIKI Centre DRIELUIK, member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Charles Boromeo. The Netherlands

Sister Mary Mebane, OSF -- member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, headquartered in Redwood City, CA

(The Revd Dr) Alan Sowerbutts -- St John's Read and St Peter's Simonstone, near Burnley, Lancashire, England.

Scott Wyman, M.Div., M.A. Marriage Family Therapist -- Center for Open-Hearted Living

Moshe Bush – Hasidic Jew, Israel -- Bush was introduced to Reiki when his Hasidic Rebbe sent him to a practitioner for healing

Reiki For Peace – Interfaith non profit in Israel designed to bring Reiki to Jews and Arabs

Sister Ann Mc Hugh -- Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk

Sister Laurentine Morgan -- Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk

Sister Hedwig Owsiak -- Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk

Understanding The Pathology Of Pain, Science Catches Up To Reiki

As those who suffer from chronic pain conditions know, there has been very little research thus far, into the methods which help to control or alleviate chronic pain and that most of what Western medicine has to offer does little or nothing to help us cope. That there are finally scientists who are researching the pathology of pain, is in and of itself a major breakthrough and to many nothing less than a miracle and answer to our prayers. Science has been sorely lacking in giving much needed credibility to the reality hundreds of thousands of women live with every day.

The May 2007 edition of Alternative Medicine has done an amazing job at reporting on the pathology of pain in regard to TMJD and reports on those who are studying and researching this disorder and pain in general.

In this edition they report the findings of Dr. William Maixner of the Center for Neurosensory Disorders at the University of North Carolina and Dr. Linda LeReshe, ScD of the University of Washington School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Dr. Maixner’s research has shown that women suffering from chronic sensory disorders (such as fibromyalgia, IBS, chronic fatigue, migraines, tension headaches, TMJD and Vulvodynia) may have “a genetically based “dis-regulation” in their body’s pain processing system which amplifies pain signals and pain perception.”

Dr. Maixner believes that pain is a disease which affects the nervous and immune system. His seven year clinical trial began in 2006 “to identify the risk determinants that predict the susceptibility to TMJD.” He is looking for genes and other biological factors. His study has already shown that women with a particular gene sequence linked to high pain threshold are less likely to develop TMJD.

Dr. Linda LeReshe is studying the link between pain and hormones. Through her research she notes that 80% of those with TMJD are women and that there are more cases reported during women’s childbearing years than before or after. The same has been found true in studies of migraine sufferers. Dr. LeReshe says that “low estrogen causes the perception of more pain.” She believes that “rapid fluctuation of hormones is a cause of increased pain, which is what happens around the time we menstruate.”

Alternative Medicine goes on to report that “emerging evidence suggest that some patients benefit from Acupuncture, herbs, and naturopathic treatment, which may involve hands-on healing techniques such as Reiki…a study of 160 women at Portland Oregon TMJD Specialty Clinic found that patients receiving traditional Chinese medicine and naturopathy experienced more pain relief than those with standard care.”

Also in the May 2007 edition of Alternative Medicine are the findings from the Journal of Alternative Medicine on how to treat Alzheimer’s disease. They found that receiving Reiki once a week for four weeks demonstrated significantly improved memory and reduction of behavioral problems.

The May edition of Alternative Medicine can be purchased for $4.95 and is sold at Barnes and Noble.

Statistics Don’t Lie

The safety of Reiki is 100%. There are no medical contraindications from receiving Reiki.

Not so for drugs, yet in the West we are quick to take them and seek them out from the doctors. Countless times I have heard “I just don’t believe in Reiki” or “sounds screwy to me” from the same people who will take pill after pill looking for a way to feel better.

Here are some interesting facts the pharmaceutical companies don’t want you to know:

According to a Time article written on February 2, 2004, “each year an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 people die as a result of adverse reactions from FDA-sanctioned pharmaceutical drugs sold in America. In fact, mistakes in administering drugs, often in hospitals, are the fourth- or sixth-leading cause of death in the U.S., depending on how the cases are counted.”
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,581399-3,00.html

According to the researchers at the University of Toronto, who studied harmful drug reactions from normal medical use, by looking at U.S. hospital studies dating 30 years back from 1998, 75,000-100,000 people die each year from prescribed medications.

And Mother Earth News reports “the General Accounting Office (GAO) reported in 1990 that more than half of the drugs newly approved by the FDA in one decade had "serious post-approval risks, including heart failure, birth defects, kidney failure, blindness and convulsions."

Currently only heart disease, cancer and stroke cause more deaths in the United States than harmful drug reactions from normal medical use.

Explaining The Unexplainable, The Science Behind Reiki

In researching the topic of the science behind Reiki I found a fantastic book by Barbara Ann Brennan, “Hands Of Light”. The scientific information I write about today I learned while reading her book. Hands Of Light is a great source of reference and I highly suggest it to those who wish to delve further into this topic.

Recently I felt incredibly pulled to write about this subject and while I had previously heard of Barbara Brennan I must admit that I didn't know much about her before picking up her book. I have never been one to follow people, as name dropping has NEVER impressed me and those who know me personally can tell you that most often when asked, "Do you know about such and such person?" my answer will almost definitely be no. What I do "know" is that I put the message out to the universe that I wished to find a source that gave information about the science behind Reiki energy and the very first book presented to me when starting my research was Ms. Brennan's. I only had a brief synopsis about the contents of the book, available to read online. My gut told me this was the source I needed, my head told me to go touch a copy and look first. I picked up her book at the store days later and thumbed through the table of contents and sure enough I had the information I had requested to complete today's article.

Have you ever known that the phone would ring right before it did? Have you ever had the experience of knowing who was on the other end of the ringing phone before you picked it up?

Many of us have lived these experiences but we do not have the words to explain how this happened for us. Does that make the experience any less real?

All beings have the ability to connect with one another through electromagnetic fields, just as a Reiki practitioner acts as the conduit for Universal Energy to connect to their client. A Reiki practitioner works with a being’s energy or electromagnetic field to balance the chakras and allow the being to free up “stuck” energy. When you knew who would be on the other end of the phone, it was because your energy was connecting with the energy field of the person calling you.

Science cannot explain how we tap into the energy fields and practice Reiki but what it can do is show us what it is that Reiki practitioners work with. Through the history of science we can help the rational mind understand and accept what the gut already knows to be true.

Every fiber of our being is made up of electrical currents. Today we have machines to measure and prove this to be true. The electrocardiogram is a machine that measures the currents in the heart. The electroencephalogram measures currents in the brain. There is even a machine to measure the electromagnetic fields around the body. It is called the SQUID. SQUID is an acronym for super conducting quantum interference device.

In 1979 Dr. Robert Becker “discovered” the direct current control system and found particles the size of atoms in the electromagnetic fields around the human body.

Dr. Victor Inyushin calls the electromagnetic fields around the body bioplasmic fields and calls this the fifth state of matter. The first four are solids, liquids, gases and plasma.

What many people refer to as “vibes” Michael Farady and James Clerk Maxwell coined the Field Theory. They believe that each electrical charge creates a disturbance in the space around it, causing the electrical currents around the original charge to feel a force, which create a domino effect. What this means is that the information in our energy fields send a message to the energy fields around our energy fields and so on and so on, as the old shampoo commercial goes, until it hits the energy fields of the people around us and automatically sends the initial information, without words said or for us to be present. The Field Theory gives scientific explanation to distance Reiki healings that Reiki practitioners provide to their clients.

The most famous person to study and explain energy is Albert Einstein. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity is that matter is just slowed down energy, therefore matter and energy are one and the same.

How And Why Reiki Works

You wanted to know how and why Reiki works. Before I begin this blog and all the subtopics that deal with the answering of this broad question I feel it is my duty to stress that all the reading and studying of this topic will NEVER give you the full understanding of Reiki and energy therapies in general. Reading about this topic to “learn” how Reiki works is analogous to reading about how to ride a bike. Just as you still will not know how to ride the bike until you actually get on it and attempt to ride, you need to experience Reiki to fully understand what it does and how it works.

To begin it is important that you know and understand the basic terms and ideas used in Reiki healing. Reiki works with the physical as well as the subtle body’s energy levels. It’s probably safe to say that if you are reading this blog you understand what the physical body is but just what is the subtle body?

The subtle body is an energetic psycho-spiritual body that all beings with a conscious mind possess. The subtle body is alongside, within and around the physical. Barbara Brennan the former NASA physicist, refers to the subtle bodies as "layers" in the "Human Energy Field" or aura, and gives the following sequence:

• Physical body
• Etheric body
• Emotional body
• Mental body
• Astral body
• Etheric template
• Celestial body
• Ketheric template or Causal

The energy travels from the Reiki practitioner’s hands to the client through nadis which are channels through which, in eastern medicine, the energies of the subtle body flow into the nervous/endocrine system. The nervous/endocrine system affects the entire body, mind and spirit.

The physical body also known as the tangible body has hundreds of energy centers. In Reiki we focus on seven of these centers referred to as chakras. Chakra is a Sanskrit word that means “circle of movement” and can be translated as “vortex of spinning energy” or “wheel”. Our earliest stages of human development take place in the cerebral-spinal system. It is in this system where the body receives life force energy. The seven major Chakras associated with Reiki are close to this system.

The Reiki practitioner acts as a channel for this energy to flow to the seven major chakras. The energy is neither the practitioner’s nor the client’s. It is Universal Life Force Energy that is being channeled.

If you would like to see some examples of what the subtle body’s field looks like there is a machine that can capture the subtle body or electromagnetic body, on film. It is called the Kirlian high voltage camera. I have seen some first-hand before and after shots from this machine and they are quite interesting.

About The Holistichic

I began the process of holistic healing after being diagnosed with my own illness in 1999. Finding almost no help from Western medicine I turned to acupuncture and nutrition and received Distance Reiki from a good friend who lived in another state.

When I began the process of healing my physical body from the trauma of the condition I was diagnosed with, I had no desire or understanding that this would be the beginning of a new path for me, a new understanding about not only my physical health and well-being but also my mental and spiritual health. I only knew I wanted relief from the condition. As my healing progressed I was able to relate to and understand how the mind and body are connected and how there is more to healing than meets the eye.

My initial experiences in holistic healing were more focused on acupuncture and nutrition. During this process many underlying emotional issues were able to come to the surface and I then decided to incorporate holistic talk therapy into my healing regimen as well. As I progressed in my healing, my desire to learn more about Reiki and to receive an attunement grew. Although I had the desire and had previously inquired about classes in many locations, for one reason or another the timing or the financial cost did not align with my needs.

In the fall of 2005 a continuing education booklet from Queensborough Community College/CUNY was mailed to me and in that course booklet was Reiki I and II being provided by the Nursing department. Although I am a graduate of Hunter College/CUNY and had taken animation courses at Queens College/CUNY, I had never received anything from Queensborough previously in all the years I have lived in New York City. I knew in my gut, that it was a sign that it was time to take the class and receive an attunement. The universe was telling me that I was now ready, because of the commitment I had made to my own healing, to begin the journey of becoming a holistic healer.

In October of 2005 I received my first Reiki attunement and in March of 2007 I became a Reiki Master. I have been blessed to work with two wonderful Reiki Masters and continue my studies with them. Healing is a life-long journey. It is important to understand that holistic healing is about making life-long changes and being committed to maintaining and improving your physical, emotional, and mental well-being through the therapies you choose, for the rest of your life. I continue to receive acupuncture, nutritional counseling, and Reiki treatments.