By Pamela Miles
How can Reiki healing support people with cancer?
Not surprisingly, people with cancer often experience some anxiety during different stages of the process starting before diagnosis and continuing when medical treatment is completed. Additionally, people affected by cancer may need other support along the way for conditions such as pain, fatigue, nausea, lack of focus, emotional vulnerability, and other ailments.
Reiki healing does not target disease or symptoms, but rather supports the person. That is why Reiki healing can be helpful not only for the patient, but also to support the family and other caregivers and engage them in a culture of wellness. In the best case scenario, not only the patient, but also family members and caregivers learn to practice Reiki so that they can support themselves and one another to maintain well-being through the process of treatment and regaining health.
Reiki healing can help with any malaise associated with cancer, whether the person chooses to learn Reiki self-treatment or to receive Reiki treatment from someone else (family, friend, or professional). You can learn to practice basic Reiki self-treatment in 10-12 hours of a group class. Reiki Classes: What’s Right for You? helps people identify a good local class.
What is Reiki?
Reiki is a subtle healing practice that encourages balance at every level: physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. It is practiced through light, non-invasive touch to a clothed recipient who lies on a treatment table or sits supported in a chair. Reiki healing is effective in self-treatment or when received from a trained Reiki practitioner.
Reiki is essentially a home care practice that promotes healthful lifestyle by helping people feel better and thus function better. When we feel better and are functioning well, we’re more likely to make healthy choices.
Since balance differs from person to person and time to time, the experience of Reiki treatment varies. However, most people find Reiki healing to be profoundly relaxing. After a Reiki treatment, people typically report feeling more comfortable, peaceful, and hopeful, and have greater mental clarity. Sleep often improves with even the first Reiki healing session. This is important because the body heals best when deeply rested.
What does a Reiki treatment involve?
Although different practitioners have different approaches, a Reiki treatment should be a comfortable, pleasant experience. Your practitioner will ask you to lie fully clothed on a treatment table, or you might sit well supported in a chair. The practitioner will place her hands lightly on or just above a series of placements on your head and torso (placements used vary somewhat among practitioners). Close your eyes if that is comfortable for you.
Be sure to let your practitioner know what you need to be comfortable. For example, specify that you would like her to place hands on your back. An experienced Reiki practitioner will take the time to accommodate any physical limitations you might have. There is no reason for you to be uncomfortable at all during the treatment.
Is learning to practice your self as effective as receiving a treatment from someone else?
Although a program evaluation of hospital-based Reiki classes for outpatients showed comparable effectiveness for reducing pain and anxiety, there are really not enough data available for comparison. That said, the advantages of learning to practice Reiki self-treatment are that you can practice as often as you want, whenever you want. People typically practice self-treatment as they go to sleep and/or as they awaken, but you can also use moments of Reiki touch throughout the day for centering and soothing even during infusion and other medical procedures.
Is there scientific evidence for Reiki treatment?
Research into the effectiveness of Reiki treatment is just beginning, and as yet, no large studies have been reported. However, a number of small studies suggest that Reiki treatment can be useful to manage pain and anxiety for people affected by cancer and other conditions. Other small studies have shown improvement in heart rate, blood pressure, and quality of life. A study reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found improvement in mood for patients in the cardiac ICU within three days after a heart attack. That study also showed improvement in heart rate variability (HRV). This is important because improved HRV is an indication that the body is regaining resilience and more likely to be able to heal. You can find information about scientific studies at Reiki Medical Papers, which you may want to share with your physician.
Where can I find Reiki treatment in conventional health care?
Many hospitals now offer Reiki treatment to inpatients and outpatients, including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital (NYC), Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (Boston), Yale-New Haven Hospital (New Haven), Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System (Baltimore), M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (Houston), George Washington University Hospital (Washington, DC), and California Pacific Medical Center (San Francisco). Reiki treatment and classes are also offered at many smaller community hospitals. Ask if your local hospital has an integrative medicine department or service, or a community wellness program. Some facilities actively promote Reiki treatment for patients and families. At others, you need to inquire.
How can I find a qualified practitioner in my area?
First decide if you want to learn to practice Reiki self-treatment, in which case you need to find a qualified Reiki master. You can also receive Reiki treatment from a Reiki master, but for treatment alone, you only need a Reiki practitioner trained to First or Second Degree Reiki. You can receive Reiki treatment from a professional or from a friend or family member who has been trained to practice Reiki and who practices daily Reiki self-treatment.
If you would like to work with a Reiki professional, you need to first find one and then evaluate her qualifications. Since there are no standards for Reiki education or practice, it’s important that you take the time to satisfy yourself that your practitioner is well qualified. Reiki practitioners often refer to themselves as certified, but there are no agreed upon standards for certification, nor any centralized certifying body.
If you would like to learn to practice Reiki self-treatment, read Reiki Classes: What’s Right for You? for help finding a suitable class near you. It is not necessary to receive Reiki treatment from someone else before learning to practice Reiki self-treatment.
Where does Reiki practice come from?
The practice of Reiki was first taught by Mikao Usui after he had a profound meditation experience during a spiritual retreat in Japan in the early 1920s. Reiki practice was brought to Hawaii by one of Usui’s direct students, Chujiro Hayashi and his student, Hawayo Takata in the late 1930s.
Reiki healing is now practiced around the world primarily as home care, but also offered increasingly to patients in hospitals and conventional care centers.
Since Reiki healing is fundamentally a practice for self, family and friends, and considered non-invasive, there has been no regulation of the practice. That means there are no widely accepted standards for Reiki education. Consequently, contemporary practices referred to as Reiki may bear little resemblance, or even have no connection, to the early practices of Usui, Hayashi, and Takata.
For More Information
References
1. Miles P. Reiki for Support of Cancer Patients. Advances in Mind-Body Medicine. Fall 2007;22(2):20-26.
2. Reiki Backgrounder by the National Institutes for Health/National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
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