Reiki in the News - Reiki Stories

Posted by Kaye Spector/Plain Dealer Reporter March 10, 2009 04:00AM

In a darkened room, used normally for chemotherapy, Reiki practitioner Anita Hayes works on client Fran Gonzalez. Many people, like Gonzalez, choose Reiki to relieve stress. "Reiki really helps to focus your mind, body, spirit and soul," she says.

The door closes. Shoes come off. Rolled-up towels go under the knees, soft pillows under the head. The clatter and conversations of the hospital fade away against a backdrop of delicate, harp like music and the sound of bubbling water.

The room is otherwise still and quiet as Reiki practitioners, one at either end of each table, lightly lay their hands on their clients' bodies: the neck, the collarbones, the forehead, the solar plexus, the instep.

A half-hour later, the clients of Hands to Heart Reiki Clinic emerge into the bright fluorescence of the MetroHealth Medical Center hallway feeling refreshed, relaxed and, for some, pain-free. . . . .

Read entire article:

http://blog.cleveland.com/health/2009/03/an_alternative_to_conventional.html

The National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)

NCCAM is the center in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that studies the safety and effectiveness of complementary and alternative therapies such as Reiki. Reiki has been use at NIH’s Palliative Care Unit since 2000.

JOHN CARPI was lying under a sage-colored blanket . . .The room smelled of lavender; soft, tinkling music played in the background. Integrative medicine — like aromatherapy, acupuncture, Reiki and guided imagery — are offered in conjunction with traditional medicine. ...

Weathers, 46, practices Reiki — a Japanese technique that channels energy to heal and reduce stress — and uses other Eastern techniques in treating clients. After two decades working in various sports, including Indy car racing, rodeo and the professional water ski tour, he met the PGA Tour player Ted Purdy five years ago at a motivational seminar in San Antonio and has been a fixture on the Tour since. In 2003, Jerry Kelly, a two-time PGA Tour winner, sought out Weathers at a tournament because he was experiencing pain in a shoulder joint.

Nearly 10 years ago, Portsmouth Regional Hospital in New Hampshire began offering Reiki, a gentle hands-on healing practice, as a way to ease anxiety in patients awaiting surgery. Feedback from patients was so positive that Reiki (pronounced RAY-key) was made available throughout the hospital. Ongoing program evaluations have shown patients who received Reiki treatment needed less pain medication and left the hospital sooner. Today, the hospital has a full-time Reiki practitioner and a volunteer corps that provide 2,000 Reiki treatments a year.