What is REIKI?
Reiki is an ancient healing art recognized by the National Institute of Health as a form of complementary medicine that does no harm. It is a type of energy therapy administered by the placement of a practitioner’s hands lightly on or just above a person, with the goal of facilitating the person’s own healing response. Energy therapy is based on the belief that an unseen energy flows through all living things and directly affects the quality of a person’s health. This belief has been part of the wisdom of many cultures since ancient times.
Benefits of REIKI
- Stress Reduction
- Relaxation
- Reduction in Muscle Tension
- Decreases Pain
- Reduces Nausea
- Sleep Improvement
- Accelerates Healing
- Psychological Healing
REIKI in Medicine
Reiki treatment benefits noted by the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic include:
- Supports the well-being of the client who is receiving medical treatments
- Helps to relieve pain
- Stimulates tissue and bone healing after injury or surgery
- Stimulates the body’s immune system
- Improves sleep
- Reduces nausea
- Reduces anxiety
- Initiates the feeling of security, peace and wellness
- Brings a peaceful, deep relaxation
- Promotes natural self-healing
The Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston has one of the largest Reiki volunteer programs in the country. The following is a quote from their website:
“Our data, based on feedback from patients, family members, and staff members who received Reiki sessions, as well as outside research show that Reiki promotes relaxation, relieves stress and anxiety, reduces pain and fatigue, and improves overall quality of life.”
Reiki During Surgery
The benefits of reiki during surgery include: patients require less anesthesia, less pain medication, have a shorter hospital stay, and recover faster.
“The highest profile advocate of complementary therapies, especially Reiki, continues to be Mehmet Oz, M.D., Professor and Vice Chairman of Surgery at Columbia University in New York City, Director of the Cardiovascular Institute, and Founder and Director for the Complementary Medicine Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Oz has used Reiki and Therapeutic Touch therapists in his cardiovascular surgeries for more than 10 years.
Dr. Oz has conducted research on the effects of Reiki on his surgical patients with Julie Motz, RN, a Reiki-trained therapist, who assisted Dr. Oz during 11 open heart surgeries and heart transplants. These 11 patients had no post-operative depression, pain or leg weakness; no organ rejection (in transplants); a better functioning immune system, and a positive attitude toward healing.”
The largest ongoing study of Reiki in the clinical setting continues to be conducted at Columbia/HCA Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Portsmouth, NH, where more than 8,000 surgical patients have been given pre- and post-surgery Reiki treatments. Reiki is incorporated into their admission procedure and is also administered during transport to surgery. Treatments are given by trained RNs, physical therapists, technicians and support staff.
Research results continue to be consistent. All the patients in this study who received Reiki had the need for less anesthesia, had less bleeding during surgery, used less pain medications, had shorter lengths of stay in the hospital, and indicated greater satisfaction with their hospital experience than other patients.
Medical Reiki in the Operating Room
Dr. Sheldon Feldman, MD, Head of Breast Surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University and President of the American Society of Breast Surgeons is heading a research study to prove the effectiveness of having REIKI during surgery.
Medical Reiki and You
My Journey to Reiki
More than 25 years ago I was an avid tennis player who sustained numerous musculoskeletal injuries due to training errors and accidents. After a particularly nasty case of tennis elbow, for which I had seen an orthopedist and undergone a lengthy course of physical therapy, I was still in pain and played with great difficulty. Out of sheer frustration, my doubles partner took me to my car one day and said she was going to share something with me and made me promise not to share it with anyone else as they would not understand. She spent several hours with me, teaching me how to heal myself and others with energy medicine. This was my first introduction to it, and I found it to be miraculous. My tennis elbow totally vanished and I have practiced energy medicine continuously ever since.
Many years later, my son gifted me and my husband with a trip to a spa in Sedona that he had recently returned from, which he said had a profound effect on his life. At this spa were many different types of specialty treatments, one of which was Reiki. I had heard of Reiki, and was very anxious to try it as I felt it was similar to the energy medicine my doubles partner had taught me. The practitioner asked me if I had anything I wanted her to work on, and I told her I had sciatica that I had been under medical treatment for for years, and it was particularly painful after the long flight to Arizona. She said that would be no problem. I had not been able to totally alleviate it with the energy medicine I had been practicing, and was very skeptical this would work. After the Reiki treatment, the pain was gone and has never returned. There was a distinct difference in the two types of energy treatments; the way the energy was sourced and the way it was delivered. Reiki was much more effective. I then made a subconscious decision to learn Reiki so I could share this amazing healing art with everyone I knew who might appreciate it.
Shortly after I arrived home, I found myself seeking out the very best nationally renowned Reiki Masters of Masters to study under and spent years, not just a few weekends, learning the ancient healing art. I became certified in Reiki Level I, Reiki Level II, Advanced Reiki, four Masters Programs, and two Reiki Master Teacher Programs. In addition, I became certified in Medical Reiki (CMRM) and Reiki Crystal Healing. I am a member of the International Association of Reiki Professionals, the Reiki Membership Association, and a past member of the Board of Directors of Medical Reiki Works, Inc., a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to raising money for Medical Reiki Research to prove the effectiveness of Medical Reiki and the dissemination of educational information. Also, I was a Reiki volunteer at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in pre-op.
Previously, I was the co-founder of the National Youth Sports Safety Foundation (a nonprofit that works to promote the safety of children and adolescents participating in sports), a member of the Joint Commission on Sports Medicine and Science, a member of the MA Governor’s Committee on Physical Fitness and Sports and have presented nationally at medical and sports medicine conferences.
– Rita Glassman
