I have always felt the healing power in human hands, especially of those who love me. There is something indescribable about my husband’s touch on my arm or shoulder or my back or when he takes my hand in his. I feel immediate peace, comfort, reassurance, bliss. His hands are always very warm, and I know every time he touches me, I am healed in some way.
While visiting with our writer’s group last night, he was told that he probably had a very high ability to heal with his hands and probably always had. And I got to experience this healing hand technique from a Reiki (pronounced Ray-Key) massage practitioner. She is a friend and colleague of mine who is also a member of the writer’s group, and she has a multitude of healing gifts, including being a yoga master. She’s encouraged me to take one of her yoga classes at the college where we teach, but I’ve always shied away from that because I perceive my body as too injured to take yoga, which is probably the biggest reason I should take the classes! I did not know that she was a Reiki practitioner; in fact, I had never heard of Reiki massage until the subject came up last night.
My neck is a mess and has been for years now. I have had one surgery to repair a herniated disc and fuse the vertebra with a piece of my hip bone. I am afraid I need another surgery because I’m having the same pain as preceeded the first surgery, but I really would prefer not to have that done again. If there was another way to heal my neck, which sounds like a car tire crunching over gravel every time I move it, I would rather take that course. So, as we sat in a circle, sharing our writing last night, my neck began to bother me quite a bit. I don’t really complain about it, but I do stretch it and massage it and try to relieve the nerve pressure when it’s particularly bad. My friend asked me about it several times, and every time, I assured the group I was okay, just a little uncomfortable. Finally, she asked me if I would like some Reiki? Of course, I had to ask what it was before I consented. Here is how she explained it to me. There is healing energy in the Universe, which I already believe. Practioners who have been attuned to this healing energy can draw the energy through the top of their heads and have it come out of their hands and feet, directing it to any particular place they choose. This directed healing energy can relax and soothe the parts of the body being touched, thus causing a healing. I don’t think her intention was to permanently heal my neck, but I believe that if repeated enough, that might happen.
After I consented to the Reiki massage, she excused herself for a minute and went into another room. I am not sure what she did to prepare herself or attune herself, but I think it was some kind of quick meditation and perhaps a prayer of some kind. When she came back, she asked me exactly what my pain felt like and where it originated and where it radiated to. I explained, and she stood behind me and laid her hand on the origin of the pain. That was it. It’s called massage, but she didn’t actually manipulate my muscles, she just rested her hand on the pain source. She continued to participate in the normal conversation in the group as did I. Her touch felt extremely warm, and very soon, I began to feel a slight vibration in my neck. It felt just barely tingly as if the energy were humming inside my neck. After a moment or two, she moved her hand down further on my neck in just the location that my pain usually radiates. I felt the same warm vibration there and I began to feel complete relaxation in my neck. Finally she moved her hand down to the top of the back of my shoulder, again, exactly where the pain normally radiates. By the time she removed her hand from me, the whole process taking no more than five minutes, I felt no pain and a general wellness throughout my entire body and mind. I felt happy, for a lack of a better description. A few minutes later, I began to be aware of tension in the other side of my neck, which had probably been there all the while, but because of the pain on the other side, I hadn’t noticed it. So, she came back and placed her hand momentarily on that side, and the tension disappeared. My neck felt better than it had in weeks, and last night, I slept better than I have in a very long time. Even when I woke up this morning, I noticed how good my neck still felt. As I sit here typing now, I can feel some of the tension moving back into my neck, so I’m pretty sure my posture is aggravating the condition. I guess I need to work on that. Maybe the yoga would help with that!
After my Reiki massage last night, another member of the group asked her if she had accomplished what she intended to do with my neck, and she replied with a huge smile, “Oh, yes!” As I understand it, the healing energy that she directs from the Universe through me, does not leave her feeling depleted at all, but rather has the opposite effect of rejuvenating her, too. That’s how she knows that the healing has been effective.
I remember a scene from the movie “The Karate Kid,” in which Mr. Miyagi rubs his hands together and places them on Daniel to heal his karate injury. I believe this must be the same procedure I had done last night. My mind has been racing with this idea of healing since last night. So, this morning, I spent a few minutes Googling Reiki massage to find out more about it, and apparently there is no religious attachment to the method, although I imagine that the Christian concept of laying on of hands for healing comes from this same source. Reiki is older than Christianity, apparently originating in Tibet over 2500 years ago. The word Reiki is Japanese, and the “ki” part is the Japanese form of the Chinese word “chi,” which means Universal Life Force Energy. Reiki is one of the best known ways of directly applying this energy for healing purposes. The difference in Reiki massage and the other forms of this particular type of healing is, in Reiki, the practitioners can direct the energy into their own bodies for healing as well as into the bodies of others for personal healing.
I have been interested in alternative healing methods for a long time. I have considered taking some very expensive courses to get my certification in natural healing. But becoming a Reiki practitioner is available to anyone who becomes attuned through a ceremony with a Reiki master. One does not have to be particularly intelligent or subscribe to any particular religious or philosophical view; this seems to be one of those gifts that is available to all of us. And from a little further investigation, the training and attunement ceremony that follows the training is not very expensive either. And the thing that most intrigues me about this is that during my investigation of the technique, I saw pictures of Reiki practitioners using it on animals. There was one very sweet picture of a pet owner placing her hands on her dog to ease his pain. That picture and my own experience last night was what convinced me that this is something I need to be a part of.
Stumble It!