Studying Reiki

After decades of often disputed validity, the effectiveness of Reiki, a holistic energy treatment is gaining new respect within the medical community. Not only are highly reputable medical facilities throughout the world offering patients alternative healing programs such as Reiki, those facilities are analysing the benefits of their programs and are submitting them for review and compilation. The results of these Reiki research studies are nothing short of remarkable.

A Brief Explanation of Reiki

Reiki is an energy healing treatment that works holistically; on the whole body, mind and spirit. Not a system of religious beliefs, Reiki is simply a relaxing treatment whereas natural healing vibrations are transmitted through the hands of a Reiki practitioner (acting as a conduit) to the body of the recipient. The purpose of a Reiki treatment is to relieve stress and pain, induce relaxation, release emotional blockages, accelerate natural healing, balance subtle bodies energies and support other medical modalities including traditional therapies.

It is estimated that there are 4,000,000 people throughout the world who have taken at least one level of Reiki training. There are three traditional levels of expertise.

Today, Reiki education is offered free of charge in many Hospitals as a means to accelerate the healing process and to alleviate pain.

Why Reiki Has Been Discounted

For years Reiki, along with other methods of holistic therapies were looked upon with disdain, even contempt from medical associations, practitioners, mainstream scientists and clerics. The idea that the human body was permeated or surrounded by an invisible, etheric body of “life force energy” was considered to be no less than nonsense.

These negative conclusions were formulated on the premise that “life energy” fields such as those accepted in China as Chi or qi, in Japan as ki and in India as prana , were “unseen” and “immeasurable” by traditional research or scientific instrumentation.

But now all that is changing.

Reiki Clinical Studies, Improved Reporting

There’s never been a comprehensive list of controlled, evidence-based research that was accessible to the holistic, medical, and scientific communities. It wasn’t until 2005 when William Lee Rand, founder and president of the International Center for Reiki Training and a pioneer in worldwide Reiki awareness formed the Center For Reiki Research and developed what is now known as The Touchstone Process.

What is The Touchstone Process?

The Touchstone Process is actually a peer review method for analyzing the current state of scientific studies done on Reiki programs in hospitals, clinics and hospice facilities throughout the United States. The process of critique is rigorous, impartial, and consistent and incorporates the best practices for scientific review.

William Lee Rand began formulating The Touchstone Process after developing the Reiki In Hospitals website, considered to be the most comprehensive compilation of hospitals offering Reiki treatments throughout the world.

The Touchstone Process is unique. Never before have there been so many worthy studies of Reiki gathered, analysed and evaluated within a single source.

Reiki Case Studies

The most recent data analyzed (during 2008-9) shows strong evidence that Reiki is indeed responsible for a positive biological response in both humans and animals.

The strongest evidence (rated “excellent” in the Process) was reported in the most carefully controlled of all experiments; non other than laboratory rats. In both 2006 and 2008 stressed-out lab rats received Reiki treatments and they all showed significantly reduced stress, anxiety and depression responses. “Sham” or bogus Reiki treatments were given to the placebo group and they showed no reduction in stress, anxiety or depression.

Testing in humans performed between 1993 and 2006 showed ratings from Satisfactory to Excellent, all suggesting that the benefit of Reiki treatments were positive in controlling pain levels in humans. There were some “confounding variables”, which is typical in hospital (as opposed to laboratory) studies; however, the placebo Reiki treatments in this experiment were by contrast ineffective in controlling pain.

Vital Signs

New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Campus conducted one of the first studies ever performed to determine the effectiveness of Reiki treatments on the autonomic nervous system. This “blind, random study” included a Reiki treatment group, a “sham” treatment group and a “control” group. The testing began with all participants at “baseline” autonomic nervous systems levels. The results within the Reiki treatment group showed a lowering of these levels including heart rate, respiration and blood pressure. These positive results led the team to recommend further, larger studies to look at the biological effects of Reiki treatment.

It’s interesting to note that Columbia/Presbyterian was one of the first hospitals to offer Reiki as part of their Integrative Medicine Program (CIMP). The now famous cardiovascular surgeon, Dr. Mehmet Oz brought tremendous attention to Reiki when he invited Reiki practitioners to treat patients during open heart surgeries and heart transplant operations. Dr. Oz is often quoted as saying, “Reiki has become a sought-after healing art among patients and mainstream medical professionals.”

Words of wisdom from an internationally recognized Reiki Practioner and author who had been published in peer-reviewed medical journals

Reiki Passes Tests with Flying Colors

There have been many other controlled studies submitted to peer-journals and to The Touchstone Process for review. Ailments and disorders that tested favorably to Reiki treatment include:

1. Post operative pain after tooth extraction

2. Cognition in elderly, related to dementia/Alzheimers 

3. Pre-operative relaxation and post-op pain

4. Pain in chronically ill patients

5. Depression and stress

6. Well-being in Reiki practitioners

As of 2009, The Touchstone Process has evaluated 25 test studies that appeared in peer-review journals evaluating the merits of Reiki Treatments. Taking into consideration only the most rigorously controlled studies, the team reported that 83% showed moderate to strong evidence in support of Reiki as a viable, therapeutic healing modality.

Only one study proved solidly negative and that was for the treatment of fibromyalgia-associated pain levels. As is the case with conventional drug treatments, not all therapies prove to be effective.

Thinking Positively

Despite these findings and the impressive number of highly reputable hospitals offering Reiki Treatments to patients, there will be those who continue to deem Reiki and other forms of energy-medicine as being “nonsensical”.

As recently as 2009, reviews of randomised studies”of Reiki research conducted by Edzard Ernst, M.D., Ph.D. and his colleagues at the University of Exeter, concluded that most were poorly designed and presented insufficient evidence to suggest that Reiki was an effective method for healing any condition.

That same year, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops came out with a statement urging Catholic health-care facilities and clergy not to promote or support Reiki therapy. They issued a statement emphatically concluding that Reiki cannot be an effective method of healing “within the findings of natural science or in Christian belief”.

One can only look to the future of science and the evolution of scientific testing, evaluation and responsible reporting which began with The Touchstone Process to alter these perceptions.

Conclusion

A spokesperson from Columbia Integrative Medicine Program at the New York Presbyterian Hospital (CIMP) perhaps expresses it best, saying, “I find the practice of Reiki very rewarding, as a practitioner. Patients have reported deep relaxation and a sense of profound healing, after one session. I feel that Reiki is a huge asset for any hospital setting, because patients sense that they are in a truly caring environment.”

As Reiki continues to become “a huge asset” for the hospital setting, analytical reporting such as The Touchstone Process continues to add to the much needed pool of evidence that Reiki is indeed a worthy, effective method for facilitating the healing process; one that can contribute to the betterment of patients everywhere and to the betterment of our health care systems.

6 steps to Self Healing

Take a moment and check in with yourself. How is your body feeling right in this moment? If you’re generally healthy, check in for subtle symptoms. Is your neck feeling tense? Does your lower back ache? Do you have a headache? Are you exhausted — again? Or perhaps you’re battling a more serious health diagnosis and you’re experiencing symptoms from your health condition.

Whether you’re experiencing the nuisance of a minor physical symptom, the more concerning stress of a serious health condition, or simple curiosity about how you might maximise your vitality and longevity.

The Body Knows How To Heal Itself

Your body is beautifully equipped with natural self-repair mechanisms that are under the influence of thoughts, feelings and beliefs that originate in your mind. It knows how to kill cancer cells, fix broken proteins, slow aging, eliminate toxins, fight infections, get rid of foreign bodies, and otherwise keep you healthy. Things go awry and disease manifests when these self-repair mechanisms fail to function properly.

But here’s the kicker. Your nervous system has two operating systems, the “fight-or-flight” stress response dominated by the sympathetic nervous system and the relaxation response run by the parasympathetic nervous system. Only when your nervous system is in a relaxation response do your body’s self-repair mechanisms function!

The stress response is there to protect you in case a tiger chases you. But these days, we’re pretty safe from tigers, and yet our stress responses get triggered, on average, over 50 times per day. How? The amygdala in your lizard brains perceives negative thoughts, beliefs, and feelings, such as financial fears, relationship worries, work stress, loneliness, or pessimism, as threats equally scary as a tiger. Then BOOM. The scaredy-cat amygdala goes on red alert, and when this happens, our bodies can’t repair themselves. No wonder we get sick!

6 Simple Steps To Activate Your Body’s Self-Repair Mechanisms

You don’t have to be at the mercy of your stress responses. You can be proactive about activating your body’s natural self-healing. Try these scientifically-proven steps as a health prevention strategy or as treatment for any health condition you might be battling.

Step 1: Believe You Can Heal Yourself

Don’t believe that positive belief can cure the body? Think again! The medical establishment has been proving that the mind can cure the body for over 50 years. They call it “the placebo effect,” and it has been proven to cause resolution of symptoms, and real physiological change, in 18-80% of the patients in clinical trials who are treated with nothing more than sugar pills, saline injections, or fake surgeries.

As long as you believe your condition is “incurable” or “chronic,” it will be. Don’t believe your health condition could possibly resolve? Check out the Spontaneous Remission Project, a compilation of over 3,500 case studies proving that spontaneous remission has been reported for just about every illness out there, Stage 4 cancers, HIV, diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid disease, autoimmune diseases, even an untreated gunshot wound to the head!

Reading through all these case studies can be like a paradigm shift. It’s kind of like the story of the 4-minute mile. Exercise physiologists used to think the body was physiologically incapable of running a mile in less than 4 minutes, and so no athlete ever did it. Then in 1954, Roger Bannister ran a mile in three minutes and fifty-nine seconds. Once that limiting belief was shattered, virtually every athlete that competes in a world-class event has run the mile in under four minutes. Today’s world-record time for the mile is 3:43:15, more than 15 seconds under 4 minutes.

What if your belief that the body can’t heal itself is like the 4-minute mile? 

Scientific data proves that once you believe healing is possible, it can be. So what do you believe?

Step 2: Find The Right Support

To say that you can heal yourself is sort of a misnomer because the scientific data proves that, equally essential to positive belief is the nurturing care of a true healer, someone optimistic who shares your positive belief, includes you in true partnership, respects your intuition, cares for your wellbeing, and ensures you that you won’t be alone on your self-healing journey.

Do you have the right healers on your health care team, amongst your family or friends?

Step Three: Listen To Your Body & Your Intuition

Nobody knows your body better than you, not even a doctor. Doctors may know the arteries of the leg or the anatomy of your organs better than you, but you know what’s best for your own body better than anyone else. 

So listen to your intuition and trust what it tells you.

Not in touch with your intuition? Then listen to your body, which is one vehicle your intuition uses to speak to you. If you have a physical sensation in your body, pain, tightness, nausea, clenching, dizziness, ask your body what it is trying to communicate to you. Then listen up! This is the voice of your inner wisdom and it will always lead you directly to your true north.

Step Four: Diagnose The Root Causes Of Your Illness

Your doctor may give you one kind of diagnosis, migraines or irritable bowel syndrome or breast cancer, for example. But the kind of diagnosis I’m talking about gets at the root of what might have triggered stress responses in your body and deactivated your body’s self-healing mechanisms, thereby making your body vulnerable to illness.

What aspects of your life are activating your stress responses? What relaxation response, inducing activities, like meditation, creative expression, laughter, engaging in work you love, massage, yoga, or playing with animals, have you been neglecting?

Illness is often a wake up call, forcing us to get down and dirty with what’s really true in our lives. We can either play the victim or we can use illness as an opportunity to awaken.

If you’re struggling with a physical issue, what might lie at the root of it? 

Step Five: Write The Prescription For Yourself

This won’t be the kind of prescription you fill at a pharmacy, though it certainly may include elements of Western medicine. It’s more of a self-guided action plan intended to make your body ripe for optimal health and full recovery.

So ask yourself, “What does my body need in order to heal?” Your Prescription may include diet changes, an exercise regimen, and a conventional medical treatment plan. But it may also include getting out of a toxic relationship, quitting a soul-sucking job, adding a meditation practice, taking steps to get out of debt, or following a passion.

Be as specific as you can. Then muster up the courage to put your plan into action!

Step Six: Surrender Attachment To Outcomes

What if you’ve adopted a positive attitude, found the right healer, tapped into your intuition and your body, diagnosed the root cause of your health condition, written The Prescription for yourself and put it into action, but you’re still sick? Are you doing something wrong? Is it your fault you’re still sick?

Absolutely not, and any talk of guilt, blame, or shame for someone on a healing journey only activates more stress responses and harms the body.

So what’s the deal? This is where the art of surrender comes in. Some patients do everything “right” and spontaneous remission happens. But others are the proverbial choir, and they’re still sick. Why does this happen? Honestly, I don’t know. The only real answer is a spiritual one. Perhaps our souls come here on this earth to learn lessons, and illness can be a spiritual practice, a way to learn our life lessons and a part of our soul’s destiny.

What I can say is that if you’ve followed the 6 steps, you’ve done everything within your power to make your body ripe for miracles, and the rest is out of your hands. So take a deep breath, trust The Universe, surrender attachment to any particular health outcome, and let any health condition you face be an opportunity for spiritual awakening.

A little bit of sunshine

We all know that vegetation needs sunshine to grow and that sunshine melts the snow to fill our rivers and lakes with necessary water. Sunshine also warms us and the world so that life is possible. But over the past few years we have been warned of the dangers of sunshine to our health.

Recognizing that over exposure to the sun will cause damage to our skin and cause skin cancer, studies are now suggesting that regular exposure to the sun’s rays actually improves health. As little as 15 to 20 minutes of sunshine twice a week can make a difference.

What does Sunshine Do?

Sunshine stimulates the production of serotonin which promotes a good mental outlook and fights Seasonal Affective Disorder. It also stimulates the pineal gland which produces melatonin. Melatonin is one of the chemicals that operates our bodies clocks and helps with sleep function. Ninety percent of our vitamin D comes from exposure to the sun.

Vitamin D

We can get vitamin D from food, but not enough for optimal health which is why supplementing our intake is necessary. What does vitamin D do for our bodies? Most recent studies suggest that since vitamin D helps to lower blood cholesterol levels it is a factor in fighting heart disease. Vitamin D is necessary for strong bones and teeth as it aids in the absorption of calcium. It also helps prevent certain cancers including lung, prostate, and maybe even certain skin cancers.

Sufficient vitamin D also regulates the immune system One study saw a 70% reduction of colds in 3 years in participants given vitamin D supplements. Vitamin D may even help slow down the aging process. A study showed that the biological markers, called telomeres, were longer (a sign of being biologically younger and healthier) in participants with higher levels of vitamin D.

Miracle Cure?

No, sunshine is not a miracle cure-all. It is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Like all activities, taking in the sun must be done in moderation. The best way to absorb it is without sunscreen so limit your exposure to short periods of time. The body takes in the sun’s goodness through any exposed skin area. The body can only store vitamin D for 60 days so regular exposure is called for.

Dance yourself fit

Some of you already know that I am a bit of a dancer.. Salsa to be precise. But over the last few months due to injury and now illness, I have been unable to get up and boogie. I really miss it, so this article is as much for me as it is for you... maybe it will motivate us to get into the groove.

Get ready to hit the dance floor! Dancing is a whole-body workout that's actually fun.

It's good for your heart, it makes you stronger, and it will help with balance and coordination.

A 30-minute dance class burns between 130 and 250 calories, about the same as jogging.

Your dance teacher will lead you through a series of choreographed steps. The focus might be on the footwork, but the series of leaps, turns, shimmies, and cha-chas engage the entire body.

With dance-inspired workouts ranging from ballroom and latin to ballet and hip hop and club dance classes, you’ll never be bored!

The intensity depends on the type of dance you choose. Fast-moving dance styles like hip hop and salsa are more intense than slower dances like the tango or waltz. All of them will use your whole body and will challenge your brain as you learn the choreography and form.

Areas It Targets

Core: Depending on the type of dance you choose, some of the steps/moves will engage the core muscles.

Arms: Although most dances focus on your lower body, you're also using your arms.

Legs: The choreography will have you doing moves that work your lower body, including your quads and hamstrings.

Glutes: Hip hop dancing and ballet include moves that engage the glutes.

Back: Dance uses your core muscles, including those in your back.

Flexibility: Most dance classes and dance-inspired workouts include moves that improve flexibility.

Aerobic: Dancing raises your heart rate. The more up-tempo the dance style, the better it is for your heart.

Strength: You won't be lifting weights, but your body weight counts, helping to build muscle strength.

Low-Impact: Dancing can be a high-or low-impact workout depending on the style of dancing.

What Else Should I Know?

Cost: Free if you already know how, or the cost of classes if you want lessons at a studio or club.

Good for beginners? There are dance classes aimed at beginners. If you're just starting out, give yourself time to learn the moves. It doesn't happen overnight, but it will happen eventually! I can vouch for this :)

Outdoors:  Most dance classes are taught in studios. Although I used to have classes outdoors in the summer.

At home: You can dance anywhere. Depends how shy you are.

Equipment required? It depends. Some classes will require specific shoes; for others (like hip hop) all you need are trainers.

As a massage and physical therapist and sports trainer and dancer.. I can attest that...

Depending on the style, you can improve your heart health, joint mobility, strength, balance/coordination, and an overall sense of well-being, making dance good for most everyone. If you can't afford classes, try a dance workout DVD or follow an online video at home.

If you have a medical condition such as diabetes or high blood pressure, take note on how you feel before, during, and after dancing. If you're not feeling right or it takes more than a few minutes to get back to "normal," check with your doctor before continuing.

Is It Good for Me If I Have a Health Condition?

Dancing is a fantastic activity if you have medical conditions such as heart disease, high cholesterol, or diabetes.

Dancing more intensely, for a longer time, is more of a workout for your heart. You can choose the dance style and intensity level that meets your needs. Your doctor can let you know what's OK.

If you have an injury, let it heal before you start dancing. If you have other physical limitations, you may have more options than you think. Integrated, or inclusive dance, introduced in the 1960s, is for people with physical and mental limitations. There are dance companies that include dancers in wheelchairs, for instance.

Dancing is a great way to keep fit during pregnancy, especially if you were a dancer before getting pregnant. Be careful with your balance and stress to your back. Do pelvic floor exercises like and core activities to improve your abs, low back, and hip strength as a complement to your dance training.

8 Clues You Have A Kindred Spirit Connection

Knowing Kindred Spirit Connections

The Kindred Spirits met in life are truly much more than just best friends we make during our time here. We connect at different levels of the consciousness. These connections can run through many lifetimes and shared soul lessons. These people are the touchstone of our purposes, the ones who help to give us energy, light, unconditional love and compassion. Finding a Kindred Spirit can save your life. It can be a friend, family member or even a beloved pet. We have pieces of puzzles that fit together when we find each other. Their light in our lives make us shine a little brighter.

1. They can challenge you spiritually and make you reach higher.

Learn the difference between someone who challenges you and someone who is unhealthy for you. There can be a lot of missed opportunities for soul growth if we give up too soon! Some people really are here to teach us patience when we want to walk away. We many have a soul agreement with someone to help us on our spiritual journey, testing us in ways we have never been tested. Once we learn how to heal and evolve the situation; it morphs, we change, and we become unstuck. Our view of the next life task becomes much more positive with every soul accomplishment.

2. The positive energy field around them connects to yours. They emit the same frequencies.

Your inner self knows Kindred Spirits are important to your life here. The knowing says they have a purpose to fulfill in a positive way. You feel good around their energy. They have an outer compassion with integrity that treats everyone humanely and with respect. You can see future events with them and appreciate the experiences for the love it creates for all involved. You feel acceptance for who you are

3. You have shared knowing and intuition.

You understand each other with just eye contact and a smile when you are in the same room.

You get future messages about them that come true, knowing when they are going to contact you right before they do. Your senses can feel when they might need emotional support before they ever ask.

4. You share life themes and challenges.

You’ve been through some of the same life tests and themes. You have empathy and compassion for each other that reaches a deeper understanding. It has meaning you found them in your lifetimes and recognized their light because it matched your own.

5. You trust them and you know and feel they trust and respect you.

These are people you trust. Even if they had to earn it by apologizing for something they’ve done, making good on their promise to be a better friend and person. They won’t judge a similar situation you have been in yourself and had to learn the lesson in the same way. You see the trueness inside their heart.

6. Your talents fit together

While one of you plays piano, the other one can sing the notes. When one of you dances backward, the other is in forward motion. You are in sync. You line up and everything makes sense, it flows.

7. You see the World in the same colors

You have many common threads in the lives you have led. You see humanity and the bigger picture together. Sharing religious, spiritual and even political beliefs, Kindred Spirits join the disciplines for common good and to synergize new realities.

8. They look and feel like true family

Even if you are not related by blood here on Earth, you know your souls are meant to connect for a higher purpose. There is something about them that wakes you up. They may look like, act like and be like someone familiar to you throughout your life. Their name even has meaning. You both set and acknowledge clues out in the levels of consciousness to find each other in this Earthly adventure. You know you were meant to help each other is some way. It feels right to have this much trust in a soul who came here to meet you again.

Staying in Shape..... Don´t Stress

There are a lot of factors working against people who are trying to stay in shape in today’s world. Fast food restaurants litter the streets and gym memberships get more and more expensive by the day. Tight deadlines at work mean little time for worrying about proper nutrition during the day. And on top of that, busy family schedules make fixing a wholesome meal on a regular basis all the more difficult.

There’s also one other major underlying factor in weight gain: stress. Stress can creep in at any moment, and can be caused by almost anything in your life. Work, social events, even your family can cause stress.

Not only is the stress itself harmful to your mind and body, but it can also lead to other unhealthy habits. All too often, people turn to unhealthy things like food and drink rather than dealing with the stress itself.

We all know all too well just how easy it is to reach for some junk food when things get tough. Of course, you’ll feel better in the short term, but the long-term ramifications are just not worth it.

Below are five simple yet effective techniques for dealing with stress that can help you turn away from unhealthy habits and be more productive at the same time.

Go for a walk

Everyone needs the occasional break. Just 10 minutes away can do wonders for the mind and the body, and allow you to refresh and recharge. Not only will it clear your head, but walking is also very relaxing. Next time you feel overwhelmed, go outside, leave the office or just go somewhere you have some room, and take a walk.

Breathe it out

While it sounds like the most simplistic advice ever, just breathing can do wonders for your stress level. Simply taking deep breathes and counting to 10 is a great way to battle the feeling of being overwhelmed. Exhaling slowly can decrease your heart rate and in turn calm your body down.

Get some sleep

Do you get seven to eight hours of sleep on a nightly basis? Chances are you don’t, which can be a contributing factor to high levels of stress. Staying well rested can help keep the mind relaxed yet focused and able to take on whatever the day may hold. Even a short nap can help out on a stressful day.

Plan a fun activity

The next time you’re feeling overwhelmed, set aside some time down the line to do something fun. Whether it’s a trip to the bowling alley, a round of golf or a weekend getaway, as long as it’s something you enjoy it’ll help you battle the stress. Planning it while you’re stressed will also give you something to look forward to, which should almost instantly make you feel a bit better.

Play a game
Nothing reduces stress like a quick game. Not only can it take your mind off any issues, but it’ll also help you to relax by changing your focus to something fun. Chances are you have a game or two in your closet – even a deck of cards will do. Just a short bout of fun can refresh and re-energize your mind and body. Then you’ll be ready to take on anything.

3 Pillars of Reiki Part 2 – Reiji-Ho

Besides the five REIKI principles, Dr Usui taught his REIKI system, which is based on these pillars: GASSHO, REIJI-HO and CHIRYO.

REIJI-HO

Translated into English, REIJI means “indication of the REIKI power”, and HO means “methods” (In Hawayo Takata’s journal, this method was mentioned in an entry of May 1936).

REIJI-HO consists of three short rituals that are carried out before each treatment:-

• Fold your hands in front of your heart chakra in the Gassho posture 

And close your eyes. Now connect with the REIKI power. This is very simple: Ask the REIKI power to flow through you. Within a few seconds, you will notice how it flows. Perhaps you will feel it enter through your crown chakra or you may notice it first in your heart chakra or in your hands (it doesn’t matter in which part of your body the indication first occurs). You can also use the distance (Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen) Symbol to connect with the REIKI power. Repeat the wish three times in your mind that REIKI may flow, then send the Mental/Emotional (Sei He Ki) Symbol and seal it all with the Power (Cho Ku Rei) Symbol. As soon as you feel the energy, continue on to the next step.

• Pray for the recovery and/or health of the patient/client on all levels. 

Here it is important to remember that we do not know what is “good” or “bad” for our patients/clients, why they “need” or have a particular illness and so, put the terms “recovery” and “health” in the hands of the REIKI power and become a channel for it (dedicating it, of course, for their highest good) – they will receive whatever is right for them.

• Now hold your folded hands in front of your third eye and ask for 

The REIKI power to guide your hands to where the energy is needed.

At first glance, this technique may seem strange to you, contradicting what you have already learned about REIKI. However, your hands know what is happening, so learn to trust them. We are all basically intuitive – we just have to learn to listen to the inspiration that is already there and “translate” it correctly. How you get in touch with your intuition and in what area it manifests itself is different for each individual.

3 Pillars of Reiki Part 1 - Gassho

Besides the five REIKI principles, Dr Usui taught his REIKI system, which is based on these pillars: GASSHO, REIJI-HO and CHIRYO.

GASSHO literally means “two hands coming together” and Dr Usui taught a meditation by the name of GASSHO MEDITATION. This meditation was practised each time at the beginning of his REIKI workshops/meetings. It is meant to be practised for 20-30 minutes after getting up and/or in the evening before going to sleep. Gassho can be done alone or in a group. Group meditations are a wonderful experience since the energy increases far beyond the sum of the individual participant’s energies.

The Gassho Meditation is so simple that individuals of any age can do it. After three days of practise, you will know on the basis of feelings whether it is “right” for you. Then, if possible, you should practise it every day for at least three months.

However, if after one or two days you have a feeling of restlessness, irritability or some other form of annoyance, this mediation may possibly not be suitable for you. Not every medicine works for each patient. Then you can simply try it again after a few weeks.

• When doing Gassho, sit down with closed eyes and hands placed

together in front of your heart chakra. Focus your entire attention at the point where the two middle fingers meet.

• If it is painful for you to hold your hands folded together in this way for twenty minutes or so, then let your hands (keeping them together) slowly sink down to your lap into a comfortable position and continue to meditate.

• Energy phenomena may also occur, such as your hands or backbone becoming very warm: observe this but don’t let yourself be influenced by it. Always return your focus to the point where your two middle fingers meet.

• If you must change your sitting position, then move in slow motion: deliberately and consciously. It is easier to meditate when the spinal column is as straight as possible, and the head doesn’t tilt either forward, backward or to the side. Imagine that your head is attached to a balloon filled with helium, which gently keeps it in the perfect position. If you have back problems or are not used to sitting, you can sit on a chair with a back, with a cushion or pillow behind you, or with your back leaned against a wall. There are basically no objections to meditation while lying down, except that it invites us to fall asleep!

Feel the Force

Spiritual people, particularly those involved in what’s termed “spiritual arts,” use the word energy to explain the metaphysical, whether it’s healing, intuitive work, or shifting consciousness.

To the novice, it may seem an amorphous term, an umbrella of sorts to depict anything that happens on an unseen level, and to the skeptic, well, it is certainly the vocab of the New Age con artist.

If we can’t see it, and we can’t feel it, does it exist? 

Renowned mythological scholar Joseph Campbell emphasised humankind’s historical dependence upon that invisible world, stating very clearly in The Power of Myth, “The invisible plane supports the physical plane….What we don’t see supports we do know,” a theory which applies to everything from ancient Neanderthal burial rites to Cinderella’s transformation into ball spectacle.

Translating that into our ordinary lives doesn’t require magic or shamanic manifestation. All it takes is a couple of very simple physical exercises to lead doubters to recognize and respect those unseen elements. Opened and exercised, it is the palpable “ki” in Reiki, the “chi” in t’ai chi, flow of not just the life force but the spirit, and most deeply, that spark igniting the imagistic visions of our third eye.

BASIC FEELING ENERGY EXERCISE

Understanding energy as the core of all things becomes easier with hands-on energy experience. I always ask my students if they can see energy, the answer most usually “no.” We can see the effects of energy, feel energy, and comprehend energy on subtle levels. For example, we can’t see the wind but we certainly see the consequences of strong gusts on a tree with fallen branches and leaves as evidence. Or we feel the cooling effects of an ocean breeze on a hot, humid day. Likewise, we can feel the patterns of energy by exploring our own energy centre.

This basic feeling energy exercise will allow you to feel and control your own energy:

1. Sit in a relaxed position with your feet on the floor.

2. Place your hands together in Gassho position and gradually move them apart. That apparently empty space between your hands is energy,

3. Now bring your hands back together and rub them vigorously for a minute or two as if you were trying to make fire with sticks.

4. Slowly, very slowly pull your hands apart. What do you feel? Bring your hands back in and out gradually, stretching them and closing the space between them as if you were playing an invisible accordion. What sensation do you feel? If you feel nothing, try again. Relax. Even the slightest tingle or buzzing is the sensation of your own energy.

FEELING AN ENERGY CENTRE

The Chakra identifies seven major energy centres at the core of our being, the spinal column, that regulate our physical, emotional, and spiritual conditions. These centers are depicted as spinning disks, each with a corresponding color and sound used for healing. Yogis, Buddhist monks, indigenous people, and metaphysicians meditate on the chakra system to gain clarity and well being. When we begin exploring meditation and alternative healing we here. In addition to the major centers, the body has minor chakra centers, including centers in the palm of the hand and soles of the feet. Often we absorb energy through our hands and release energy through our feet. This exercise will acquaint you with the energy centres in the palm of your hand.

All reiki healing is conducted through the palms of the hand as is auric sweeping and smoothing.

PULLING ENERGY FROM YOUR PALM

Sit comfortably with both feet on the floor.

Open your left hand and face your palm upward.

Position the thumb and forefinger of your right hand so that they touch, but instead of holding your hand palm up, hold it palm down. Your thumb and forefinger position will serve as an imaginary “pen.”

Hold this “pen” about an inch above the centre of your left palm. Begin making rapid but very tight circular movements as if you were drawing tiny circles in the centre of your hand. 

Do this for close to a minute.

Now keeping your “pen” close to your palm, imagine it is attached to a taut string that runs through the center of your palm. Gradually pull upwards as if you were pulling the string. Do you feel the tension? Now bring your “pen” closer to the hand. Alternative pulling up and down, each time pulling a little farther away from the palm and then returning to the center. Keep repeating this, noting the strengthening of the magnetic pull you feel in the center of your palm.

This sensation is energy and your manipulation of it.

Again, if you don’t feel anything, it might be due to tension and anxiety or even fear.

Relax.

Take some deep breaths.

Try again.

You will feel your own energy.

Once you have identified your energy, you can begin working with it to discover its potency on many levels from healing to developing intuitive insight. If you take a yoga or meditation class, you will become even more energetically flexible. 

Do this, and expect miraculous journeys!

Yoga-rific Benefits

Here are a few reasons to Take Up Yoga. Western science is starting to provide some concrete clues as to how yoga works to improve health, heal aches and pains, and keep sickness at bay.

1. Improves your flexibility

Improved flexibility is one of the first and most obvious benefits of yoga. During your first class, you probably won’t be able to touch your toes, never mind do a backbend. But if you stick with it, you’ll notice a gradual loosening, and eventually, seemingly impossible poses will become possible. You’ll also probably notice that aches and pains start to disappear. That’s no coincidence. Tight hips can strain the knee joint due to improper alignment of the thigh and shinbones. Tight hamstrings can lead to a flattening of the lumbar spine, which can cause back pain. And inflexibility in muscles and connective tissue, such as fascia and ligaments, can cause poor posture.

2. Builds muscle strength

Strong muscles do more than look good. They also protect us from conditions like arthritis and back pain, and help prevent falls in elderly people. And when you build strength through yoga, you balance it with flexibility. If you just went to the gym and lifted weights, you might build strength at the expense of flexibility.

3. Perfects your posture

Your head is like a bowling ball, big, round, and heavy. When it’s balanced directly over an erect spine, it takes much less work for your neck and back muscles to support it. Move it several inches forward, however, and you start to strain those muscles. Hold up that forward-leaning bowling ball for eight or 12 hours a day and it’s no wonder you’re tired. And fatigue might not be your only problem. Poor posture can cause back, neck, and other muscle and joint problems. As you slump, your body may compensate by flattening the normal inward curves in your neck and lower back. This can cause pain and degenerative arthritis of the spine.

4. Prevents cartilage and joint breakdown 

Each time you practice yoga, you take your joints through their full range of motion. This can help prevent degenerative arthritis or mitigate disability by “squeezing and soaking” areas of cartilage that normally aren’t used. Joint cartilage is like a sponge; it receives fresh nutrients only when its fluid is squeezed out and a new supply can be soaked up. Without proper sustenance, neglected areas of cartilage can eventually wear out, exposing the underlying bone like worn-out brake pads.

5. Protects your spine

Spinal disks, the shock absorbers between the vertebrae that can herniate and compress nerves, crave movement. That’s the only way they get their nutrients. If you’ve got a well-balanced asana practice with plenty of backbends, forward bends, and twists, you’ll help keep your disks supple.

6. Improves your bone health

It’s well documented that weight-bearing exercise strengthens bones and helps ward off osteoporosis. Many postures in yoga require that you lift your own weight. And some, like Downward-Dog and Upward-Facing Dog, help strengthen the arm bones, which are particularly vulnerable to osteoporotic fractures. In an unpublished study, yoga practice increased bone density in the vertebrae. Yoga’s ability to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol may help keep calcium in the bones.

7. Increases your blood flow

Yoga gets your blood flowing. More specifically, the relaxation exercises you learn in yoga can help your circulation, especially in your hands and feet. Yoga also gets more oxygen to your cells, which function better as a result. Twisting poses are thought to wring out venous blood from internal organs and allow oxygenated blood to flow in once the twist is released. Inverted poses, such as Headstand, Handstand, and Shoulderstand, encourage venous blood from the legs and pelvis to flow back to the heart, where it can be pumped to the lungs to be freshly oxygenated. This can help if you have swelling in your legs from heart or kidney problems. Yoga also boosts levels of hemoglobin and red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the tissues. And it thins the blood by making platelets less sticky and by cutting the level of clot-promoting proteins in the blood. This can lead to a decrease in heart attacks and strokes since blood clots are often the cause of these killers.

8. Drains your lymph nodes and boosts immunity

When you contract and stretch muscles, move organs around, and come in and out of yoga postures, you increase the drainage of lymph (a viscous fluid rich in immune cells). This helps the lymphatic system fight infection, destroy cancerous cells, and dispose of the toxic waste products of cellular functioning.

9. Ups your heart rate

When you regularly get your heart rate into the aerobic range, you lower your risk of heart attack and can relieve depression. While not all yoga is aerobic, if you do it vigorously or take flow or Ashtanga classes, it can boost your heart rate into the aerobic range. But even yoga exercises that don’t get your heart rate up that high can improve cardiovascular conditioning. Studies have found that yoga practice lowers the resting heart rate, increases endurance, and can improve your maximum uptake of oxygen during exercise, all reflections of improved aerobic conditioning. One study found that subjects who were taught only pranayama could do more exercise with less oxygen.

10. Lowers your blood pressure

If you’ve got high blood pressure, you might benefit from yoga. Two studies of people with hypertension, published in the British medical journal "The Lancet", compared the effects of Savasana (Corpse Pose) with simply lying on a couch. After three months, Savasana was associated with a 26-point drop in systolic blood pressure (the top number) and a 15-point drop in diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number—and the higher the initial blood pressure, the bigger the drop.

11. Regulates your adrenal glands

Yoga lowers cortisol levels. If that doesn’t sound like much, consider this. Normally, the adrenal glands secrete cortisol in response to an acute crisis, which temporarily boosts immune function. If your cortisol levels stay high even after the crisis, they can compromise the immune system. Temporary boosts of cortisol help with long-term memory, but chronically high levels undermine memory and may lead to permanent changes in the brain. Additionally, excessive cortisol has been linked with major depression, osteoporosis (it extracts calcium and other minerals from bones and interferes with the laying down of new bone), high blood pressure, and insulin resistance. In rats, high cortisol levels lead to what researchers call “food-seeking behavior” (the kind that drives you to eat when you’re upset, angry, or stressed). The body takes those extra calories and distributes them as fat in the abdomen, contributing to weight gain and the risk of diabetes and heart attack.

12. Makes you happier

Feeling sad? Sit in Lotus. Better yet, rise up into a backbend or soar royally into King Dancer Pose. While it’s not as simple as that, one study found that a consistent yoga practice improved depression and led to a significant increase in serotonin levels and a decrease in the levels of monoamine oxidase (an enzyme that breaks down neurotransmitters) and cortisol. A Study found that the left prefrontal cortex showed heightened activity in meditators, a finding that has been correlated with greater levels of happiness and better immune function. More dramatic left-sided activation was found in dedicated, long-term practitioners.

13. Foundation for a healthy lifestyle

Move more, eat less, that’s the adage of many a dieter. Yoga can help on both fronts. A regular practice gets you moving and burns calories, and the spiritual and emotional dimensions of your practice may encourage you to address any eating and weight problems on a deeper level. Yoga may also inspire you to become a more conscious eater.

14. Lowers blood sugar

Yoga lowers blood sugar and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and boosts HDL (“good”) cholesterol. In people with diabetes, yoga has been found to lower blood sugar in several ways: by lowering cortisol and adrenaline levels, encouraging weight loss, and improving sensitivity to the effects of insulin. Get your blood sugar levels down, and you decrease your risk of diabetic complications such as heart attack, kidney failure, and blindness.

15. Helps you focus

An important component of yoga is focusing on the present. Studies have found that regular yoga practice improves coordination, reaction time, memory, and even IQ scores. People who practice Transcendental Meditation demonstrate the ability to solve problems and acquire and recall information better, probably because they’re less distracted by their thoughts, which can play over and over like an endless tape loop.

16. Relaxes your body systems

Yoga encourages you to relax, slow your breath, and focus on the present, shifting the balance from the sympathetic nervous system (or the fight-or-flight response) to the parasympathetic nervous system. The latter is calming and restorative; it lowers breathing and heart rates, decreases blood pressure, and increases blood flow to the intestines and reproductive organs.

17. Improves your balance

Regularly practicing yoga increases proprioception (the ability to feel what your body is doing and where it is in space) and improves balance. People with bad posture or dysfunctional movement patterns usually have poor proprioception, which has been linked to knee problems and back pain. Better balance could mean fewer falls. For the elderly, this translates into more independence and delayed admission to a nursing home or never entering one at all. For the rest of us, postures like Tree Pose can make us feel less wobbly on and off the mat.

18. Maintains your nervous system

Some advanced yogis can control their bodies in extraordinary ways, many of which are mediated by the nervous system. Scientists have monitored yogis who could induce unusual heart rhythms, generate specific brain-wave patterns, and, using a meditation technique, raise the temperature of their hands by 8 degrees Celsius. If they can use yoga to do that, perhaps you could learn to improve blood flow to your pelvis if you’re trying to get pregnant or induce relaxation when you’re having trouble falling asleep.

19. Releases tension in your limbs

Do you ever notice yourself holding the telephone or a steering wheel with a death grip or scrunching your face when staring at a computer screen? These unconscious habits can lead to chronic tension, muscle fatigue, and soreness in the wrists, arms, shoulders, neck, and face, which can increase stress and worsen your mood. As you practice yoga, you begin to notice where you hold tension: It might be in your tongue, your eyes, or the muscles of your face and neck. If you simply tune in, you may be able to release some tension in the tongue and eyes. With bigger muscles like the quadriceps, trapezius, and buttocks, it may take years of practice to learn how to relax them.

20. Helps you sleep deeper

Stimulation is good, but too much of it taxes the nervous system. Yoga can provide relief from the hustle and bustle of modern life. Restorative asana, yoga nidra (a form of guided relaxation), Savasana, pranayama, and meditation encourage pratyahara, a turning inward of the senses, which provides downtime for the nervous system. Another by-product of a regular yoga practice, studies suggest, is better sleep—which means you’ll be less tired and stressed and less likely to have accidents.

21. Boosts your immune system functionality

Asana and pranayama probably improve immune function, but, so far, meditation has the strongest scientific support in this area. It appears to have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the immune system, boosting it when needed (for example, raising antibody levels in response to a vaccine) and lowering it when needed (for instance, mitigating an inappropriately aggressive immune function in an autoimmune disease like psoriasis).

22. Gives your lungs room to breathe

Yogis tend to take fewer breaths of greater volume, which is both calming and more efficient. A 1998 study published in The Lancet taught a yogic technique known as “complete breathing” to people with lung problems due to congestive heart failure. After one month, their average respiratory rate decreased from 13.4 breaths per minute to 7.6. Meanwhile, their exercise capacity increased significantly, as did the oxygen saturation of their blood. In addition, yoga has been shown to improve various measures of lung function, including the maximum volume of the breath and the efficiency of the exhalation.

Yoga also promotes breathing through the nose, which filters the air, warms it (cold, dry air is more likely to trigger an asthma attack in people who are sensitive), and humidifies it, removing pollen and dirt and other things you’d rather not take into your lungs.

23. Prevents IBS and other digestive problems

Ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, all of these can be exacerbated by stress. So if you stress less, you’ll suffer less. Yoga, like any physical exercise, can ease constipation, and theoretically lower the risk of colon cancer, because moving the body facilitates more rapid transport of food and waste products through the bowels. And, although it has not been studied scientifically, yogis suspect that twisting poses may be beneficial in getting waste to move through the system.

24. Gives you peace of mind

Yoga quells the fluctuations of the mind, according to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra. In other words, it slows down the mental loops of frustration, regret, anger, fear, and desire that can cause stress. And since stress is implicated in so many health problems, from migraines and insomnia to lupus, MS, eczema, high blood pressure, and heart attacks, if you learn to quiet your mind, you’ll be likely to live longer and healthier.

25. Increases your self-esteem 

Many of us suffer from chronic low self-esteem. If you handle this negatively, take drugs, overeat, work too hard, sleep around, you may pay the price in poorer health physically, mentally, and spiritually. If you take a positive approach and practice yoga, you’ll sense, initially in brief glimpses and later in more sustained views, that you’re worthwhile or, as yogic philosophy teaches, that you are a manifestation of the Divine. If you practice regularly with an intention of self-examination and betterment, not just as a substitute for an aerobics class, you can access a different side of yourself. You’ll experience feelings of gratitude, empathy, and forgiveness, as well as a sense that you’re part of something bigger. While better health is not the goal of spirituality, it’s often a by-product, as documented by repeated scientific studies.

26. Eases your pain

Yoga can ease your pain. According to several studies, asana, meditation, or a combination of the two, reduced pain in people with arthritis, back pain, fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other chronic conditions. When you relieve your pain, your mood improves, you’re more inclined to be active, and you don’t need as much medication.

27. Gives you inner strength

Yoga can help you make changes in your life. In fact, that might be its greatest strength. Tapas, the Sanskrit word for “heat,” is the fire, the discipline that fuels yoga practice and that regular practice builds. The tapas you develop can be extended to the rest of your life to overcome inertia and change dysfunctional habits. You may find that without making a particular effort to change things, you start to eat better, exercise more, or finally quit smoking after years of failed attempts.

28. Connects you with guidance 

Good yoga teachers can do wonders for your health. Exceptional ones do more than guide you through the postures. They can adjust your posture, gauge when you should go deeper in poses or back off, deliver hard truths with compassion, help you relax, and enhance and personalize your practice. A respectful relationship with a teacher goes a long way toward promoting your health.

29. Helps keep you drug free

If your medicine cabinet looks like a pharmacy, maybe it’s time to try yoga. Studies of people with asthma, high blood pressure, Type II diabetes (formerly called adult-onset diabetes), and obsessive-compulsive disorder have shown that yoga helped them lower their dosage of medications and sometimes get off them entirely. The benefits of taking fewer drugs? You’ll spend less money, and you’re less likely to suffer side effects and risk dangerous drug interactions.

30. Builds awareness for transformation

Yoga and meditation build awareness. And the more aware you are, the easier it is to break free of destructive emotions like anger. Studies suggest that chronic anger and hostility are as strongly linked to heart attacks as are smoking, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol. Yoga appears to reduce anger by increasing feelings of compassion and interconnection and by calming the nervous system and the mind. It also increases your ability to step back from the drama of your own life, to remain steady in the face of bad news or unsettling events. You can still react quickly when you need to—and there’s evidence that yoga speeds reaction time—but you can take that split second to choose a more thoughtful approach, reducing suffering for yourself and others.

31. Benefits your relationships

Love may not conquer all, but it certainly can aid in healing. Cultivating the emotional support of friends, family, and community has been demonstrated repeatedly to improve health and healing. A regular yoga practice helps develop friendliness, compassion, and greater equanimity. Along with yogic philosophy’s emphasis on avoiding harm to others, telling the truth, and taking only what you need, this may improve many of your relationships.

32. Uses sounds to soothe your sinuses

The basics of yoga, asana, pranayama, and meditation, all work to improve your health, but there’s more in the yoga toolbox. Consider chanting. It tends to prolong exhalation, which shifts the balance toward the parasympathetic nervous system. When done in a group, chanting can be a particularly powerful physical and emotional experience. A recent study suggests that humming sounds, like those made while chanting Om, open the sinuses and facilitate drainage.

33. Guides your body’s healing in your mind’s eye

If you contemplate an image in your mind’s eye, as you do in yoga nidra and other practices, you can effect change in your body. Several studies have found that guided imagery reduced postoperative pain, decreased the frequency of headaches, and improved the quality of life for people with cancer and HIV.

34. Keeps allergies and viruses at bay

Kriyas, or cleansing practices, are another element of yoga. They include everything from rapid breathing exercises to elaborate internal cleansings of the intestines. Jala neti, which entails a gentle lavage of the nasal passages with salt water, removes pollen and viruses from the nose, keeps mucus from building up, and helps drains the sinuses.

35. Helps you serve others

Karma yoga (service to others) is integral to yogic philosophy. And while you may not be inclined to serve others, your health might improve if you do. A study found that older people who volunteered a little less than an hour per week were three times as likely to be alive seven years later. Serving others can give meaning to your life, and your problems may not seem so daunting when you see what other people are dealing with.

36. Encourages self care

In much of conventional medicine, most patients are passive recipients of care. In yoga, it’s what you do for yourself that matters. Yoga gives you the tools to help you change, and you might start to feel better the first time you try practicing. You may also notice that the more you commit to practice, the more you benefit. This results in three things: You get involved in your own care, you discover that your involvement gives you the power to effect change, and seeing that you can effect change gives you hope. And hope itself can be healing.

37. Supports your connective tissue

As you read all the ways yoga improves your health, you probably noticed a lot of overlap. That’s because they’re intensely interwoven. Change your posture and you change the way you breathe. Change your breathing and you change your nervous system. This is one of the great lessons of yoga: Everything is connected, your hipbone to your anklebone, you to your community, your community to the world. This interconnection is vital to understanding yoga. This holistic system simultaneously taps into many mechanisms that have additive and even multiplicative effects. This synergy may be the most important way of all that yoga heals.

38. Uses the placebo effect, to affect change

Just believing you will get better can make you better. Unfortunately, many conventional scientists believe that if something works by eliciting the placebo effect, it doesn’t count. But most patients just want to get better, so if chanting a mantra, like you might do at the beginning or end of yoga class or throughout a meditation or in the course of your day, facilitates healing, even if it’s just a placebo effect, why not do it?