By Alla Shafran

Reiki is an ancient healing method which once again became popular in our modern age. The scientific world is beginning to discover what metaphysical and spiritual teachers have known for centuries.  Physically, we are all energy and everything within and around us are made up of energy. Every living thing has its own energy field. Any intervention with a living system involves energy, in one form or another. The best scientific minds, including Albert Einstein struggled to understand what this kind of energy really is and how the various forms of energy relate to each other.

We are alive because Life Force Energy is flowing through us. Life Force flows within a physical body and it also flows around us in a Human Energy Field (Aura), which is the part of what is termed as “Universal Energy Field”. The knowledge that an unseen energy flows through all living things and is connected directly to quality of health has been part of the wisdom of many cultures since ancient times.

This energy nourishes the organs and cells of the body, supporting them in their vital functions. When this flow of life force is disrupted, it causes diminished function in one or more of the organs and tissues of the physical body. This Life Force Energy is given us at birth. When we can’t make up for our energy consumption for prolonged period, we may become physically or emotionally ill. If our supply of life force is very low and depleted, we suffer from physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion, and tend to be much more irritable, bed-tempered and more depressed as usual.

Reiki is a natural and simple healing method which allows you to absorb more life force energy. This natural healing energy flows in a powerful and concentrated form through the hands of the Reiki giver. The lying on of hands from Reiki giver directs the energy into the body of receiver. It is gentle and stimulates the body’s own innate wisdom to heal  the cause of the problem, promoting a holistic balancing of body, mind and spirit.

Reiki cleanses the body of built up toxins, relieves pain, soothes shock, calms the mind and emotions, and accelerates the body’s natural ability to heal itself at the same time promoting a state of total relaxation and well-being. Reiki is an amazingly simple technique to learn.  It does not take years of practice; it is simply passed on through a series of attunements from a qualified Reiki Master/Teacher to the student. As soon as this happens, one has and can do Reiki. Because of this, it is easily learned by anyone. Once a person has been opened up to become a "channel" for Reiki, concentrated universal life force energy will flow through the hands of its own accord and they will retain this ability for the rest of their life.

Reiki in no way conflicts with medical procedures and in fact supports and enhances all medical treatments. Reiki can be incorporated effectively into the healing arts practiced by health professionals from traditional and alternative medicine. Reiki is currently in use as a complementary therapy at the Tucson Medical Center in Arizona, the Portsmouth Regional Hospital in New Hampshire, and at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York. The Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) Medical School, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, Marian General Hospital, and the California Pacific Medical Center all offer Reiki to their patients.

In Cleveland, hospitals are considering setting up a Reiki clinic. In Vermont, there is already a Complementary Medicine clinic at Windsor Hospital where Reiki practitioners are working. A recent newspaper article indicates that there are at least 65 Reiki practitioners among the doctors and nurses at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. There are other hospitals in Vermont, New Jersey and California which have permitted Reiki as a stress-reduction modality. New hospitals are being added to this list almost daily. There is an increasing body of evidence through research that Reiki and other similar modalities are demonstrable through Western science. There has always been a theoretical basis for the validity of Reiki. Physics has always held that those phenomena which are not forbidden by the laws of physics can exist. Recently, rudimentary information transfer at speeds greater than the speed of light has been shown to exist. . In 1940 Kirlian photography was showing for the first time the human energy field (aura), getting the same results as reported by clairvoyant persons as to color and location of the field. The hands of psychic healers have been photographed, before, during, and after treatment.

Western physics has always noted the flow of electricity in the human body and demonstrated its variations through EKG and EEG tracings. The brain waves and heart waves thus demonstrated have been invaluable in the practice of medicine. Recently, in addition to the use of X-rays, medical research has popularized the use of CAT scans, PET scans, and MRI scans, all of which utilize detection of energy flows within the body as diagnostic aids. Modern researches have developed the magnetic biopsy, the electrical biopsy, and the optical biopsy. Energy medicine based on the use of medical equipment is alive and well in hospitals, clinics, and medical research centers. Reiki and other forms of hands-on healing are another form of energy medicine based on scientifically measurable energy fields emitted from the healer’s hands.

Alla Shafran, ND, Reiki Master-Teacher, Chicago
References:
Karen Mitchell. Reiki, a torch in Daylight
James l. Oschman, PhD. Reiki News Articles
Tamisha Sabrina. The UK Reiki federation