Deborah Bowden, Loma Goddard, and John Gruzelier
This is a constructive replication of a previous trial conducted by Bowden et al. (2010), where students who had received Reiki demonstrated greater health and mood benefits than those who received no Reiki. The current study examined impact on anxiety/depression. 40 university students—half with high depression and/or anxiety and half with low depression and/or anxiety—were randomly assigned to receive Reiki or to a non-Reiki control group.
Participants experienced six 30-minute sessions over a period of two to eight weeks, where they were blind to whether noncontact Reiki was administered as their attention was absorbed in a guided relaxation. The efficacy of the intervention was assessed pre-post intervention and at five-week follow-up by self-report measures of mood, illness symptoms, and sleep. The participants with high anxiety and/or depression who received Reiki showed a progressive improvement in overall mood, which was significantly better at five-week follow-up, while no change was seen in the controls. While the Reiki group did not demonstrate the comparatively greater reduction in symptoms of illness seen in our earlier study, the findings of both studies suggest that Reiki may benefit mood.
In considering the hesitancy for wanting to do this practice, I offer one of the easiest techniques therapists use to monitor repeated thoughts patterns. Throughout random times in the course of the day, stop and write down the thought that they are having at that moment. You may want to set a timer for random times, than reset it after you jot down the thought.
There was a time when the Reiki levels were acquired over an extended period of time. Each level allowed for time to study, cultivate and integrate a new vibrational frequency that was actively applied to one’s life and work as a healer. Mikao Usui, the originator of this particular healing lineage, did not perform Reiki Level 2 until his students obtained empathic abilities. An empath is someone who has obtained the ability to feel the energetic patterns of other people. In others words, an empath has acquired the ability to share feelings and the internal experience of another.
Spiritual development served to establish a strong energetic foundation...
In order to obtain and fine tune this gift of empathy, Mikao Usui focused his teachings at Reiki Level 1 on personal spiritual development. Spiritual development was focused on clearing the mind; which, from a Buddhist perspective, is located within the heart. Spiritual development served to establish a strong energetic foundation as well as to break through the human ego defenses. In healing, these defenses shut off the flow of energy while allowing individuals to sustain an illusory disconnect from others. These defenses can be troublesome when rapid psychic openings occur, causing an individual to receive far greater amounts of energy within their being. Think of it in the way a tornado hits a building. If the building is completely solid and lacks the ability to bend and move about, it can be jarring and even cause enough damage to the structure that leads to its collapse.
Understanding this more in-depth, as an energy healer, your body is your instrument. There are no needles, manipulation techniques, electronic devices that an energy healer is using other than allowing their body to be a conduit for channeling light energy. The more energetically receptive and clearer the healer is, the stronger the healing energy can pass through that individual. As the practitioner is sending energy through an individual, there is an immersion of both their fields which allow for the shared state of experience. So, in understanding this concept, the clearer the healer, the clearer the perceptions become in doing the healing work and communicating the healing process with another.
For those who do not my "story", I spent the earlier years of my life undergoing numerous surgries which included 10 total hip replacements. One surgery left me with slight paralysis in my left hip and as a product of a few of those surgeries, I acquired viral and staph infections in the hospital settings that took years to overcome.
In 2005, I was in a car accident that again left me with severe hip pain. This time, I decided not to seek out an orthopedic physician because, quite frankly, I didn't want to put my body through trauma again that would take away another year of life to recover. After six treatments of acupuncture along with doing Reiki daily on myself, the pain resolved. This made me wonder-how necessary were some of these surgeries-if any?
I wondered about the amount of cost that could have been saved...
In addition, I wondered about the amount of cost that could have been saved since a hip replacement generally cost near $200,000.00. With the acupuncture and herb formulas, the total cost of treatment was approximately $700.00 and I was able to still work while being treated.
Because of the challenges and limitation I have faced with my hips, I chose early on not to live my life in a fog. I have learned to manage most of my pain issues with Reiki; and, at times, I have needed to add acupuncture. I don't need pot and I don't need pharmaceuticals- all of which ultimately causes the body's organs to be compromised and shut down- especially the liver. In considering the progression of taking these meds, its difficult to determine the actual amount of cost invovled in managing your pain because you also need to consider the cost of addressing future illnesses as a product of these meds.
I was prompted to write on this subject because, lately, I am seeing the drug Cymbalta being advertised as a pain reliever of muscular-skeletal pain, diabetic nerve pain, fibromyalgia and chronic low back pain. Cymbalta is an anti-depressant medication. It's difficutl to comprehend how this med has transitioned into a pain med. Many of my students know my concerns of using anti-depressant medications. In fact, historically, anti-depressants were dispensed extremely conservatively until about the late eighties.
Careful for What You Wish For is an exerpt from the ebook Energetics of Manifestation.
The focus of the book is to provide energetic exercises to overcome the obstacles that prevent our thoughts from creating what we really want.
Like many others, I have been fascinated with the concept of having personal power to manifest my desires. Many years ago, I spent some time in a coffee shop with a few others where we described in detail our desires after writing them down. We placed a candle in the center of the table, and while one person described their desire, the rest of us concentrated on visualizing that individual’s desires as well as we focusing on the candle’s flame. This added group energy into each person’s expressed desires.
Although it was a fun gathering, I didn’t take the exercise very seriously. I went on with my life, worked towards my goals, and actually achieved some pretty amazing accomplishments, which included getting my Masters degree in Social Work. At times, I thought this particular goal would never get accomplished. Later, I went on to integrate my education with my healing abilities, which was one of my ultimate vision for my future. That journal of my envisioned goals, however, went on the shelf and collected dust for almost five years. It was not until I was inspired by the DVD “The Secret” that I decided to review that journal again. To my surprise, all but one desire had manifested on my list.
Many practitioners and Reiki books claim that Reiki consist of a 21 day purification process, yet there is no actual evidence supporting this claim. Routinely, I have observed that many people experience physical problems typically in the first week of Reiki with a gradual diminishment of symptoms in the weeks to follow. Despite educating students on the physical manifestation of symptoms that can occur, it is not surprising for individuals to still discount these occurrences being related to Reiki. I believe this comes out of our cultural conditioning, which separates energetic movement and feeling from our physical health conditions.
