Posted on 12/27/2010 5:00:20 AM PST by joiful77
According to an article written by the “guru” of Reiki, William Lee Rand, the popularity of Reiki (and other energy healing techniques) is growing by leaps and bounds and is becoming common in many US hospitals. “At hospitals and clinics across America, Reiki is beginning to gain acceptance as a meaningful and cost-effective way to improve patient care,” Rand explains. “Personal interviews conducted with medical professionals corroborate this view,” (1) he adds.
Rand says that the general public is “turning with ever-increasing interest to complementary health care, including Reiki,” and according to one study, one in every three Americans has used this type of “care.” Another survey showed that “1.2 million adults and 161,000 children in the U.S. received one or more energy healing sessions such as Reiki.”
For those who understand the nature of Reiki and other energy healing methods (e.g: therapeutic touch, healing touch, quantum touch, Pranic healing, and Brennan Healing Science), these figures are alarming.
Researcher Ray Yungen explains that energy healing “is a force or energy pouring out of the practitioner’s hands into the client or subject. This energy always has a spiritual component and is supposed to alleviate a variety of ills and problems” (FMSC, p. 53). Yungen describes the nature of energy healing:
Occultists [i.e., New Agers] believe that man has more than one body, that there are other invisible bodies superimposed on the physical body. They refer to one of these as the etheric body and believe there lies within it energy centers called chakras (pronounced shock-ras). The term chakra means whirling wheel in Sanskrit, the ancient Hindu language. They were seen by those with clairvoyant powers as spinning balls of psychic energy. It is taught that there are seven chakras, which start at the base of the spine and end at the crown chakra at the top of the head.
Each chakra is supposed to have a different function corresponding to certain levels of awareness. The chakras act as conduits or conductors for what is called kundalini or serpent energy. They say this force lies coiled but dormant at the base of the spine like a snake. When awakened during meditation, it is supposed to travel up the spine activating each chakra as it surges upward. When the kundalini force hits the crown chakra, the person experiences enlightenment or Self-realization. This mystical current results in the person knowing himself to be God. That is why kundalini is sometimes referred to as the divine energy. According to New Age proponents, all meditative methods involve energy and power, and the greater the power, the greater the experience.
Basically, what all energy healing entails is opening up the chakras through meditation or transferring the kundalini power from someone already attuned to it. (FMSC, pp. 76-77).
While Reiki is clearly a “spiritual” practice, one involving New Age components, efforts to convince Christians, along with mainstream society, that Reiki is legitimate, religiously neutral (a person of any religion can practice it) and safe are being made. In an article titled “Explaining Reiki to Christians,” William Lee Rand tells readers to visit a website called Reiki for Christians. The website says that even Jesus practiced this kind of energy healing and suggests that we can become more compassionate if we practice Reiki.
Ray Yungen explains the “power” that is behind Reiki and how even children are being introduced to it.
“One practitioner describes the [Reiki] experience in the following way:
When doing it, I become a channel through which this force, this juice of the universe, comes pouring from my palms into the body of the person I am touching, sometimes lightly, almost imperceptibly, sometimes in famished sucking drafts. I get it even as I’m giving it. It surrounds the two of us, patient and practitioner.2
“One obtains this power to perform Reiki by being attuned by a Reiki master. This is done in four sessions in which the master activates the chakras, creating an open channel for the energy. The attunement process is not made known for general information, but is held in secrecy for only those being initiated. . . . New Age teaching is that once someone is attuned he or she can never lose the power; it is for life. Even distance is not a barrier for the Reiki energy, for the channeler may engage in something called absentee healing, in which the energy is sent over long distances, even thousands of miles. One master relates:
Just by having the name or an object of the person or perhaps even a picture in your hand, you can send Reiki to them to wherever they are in the world.3
“What Reiki is really about is using this power to transform others into New Age consciousness. As one Reiki leader states:
[I]t also makes a level of spiritual transformation available to non-meditators, that is usually reserved for those with a meditative path.4
“Statements like this reveal that Reiki is in line with all the other New Age transformation efforts. It changes the way people perceive reality. Most practitioners acknowledge the truth of this. A German Reiki channeler makes this comment:
It frequently happens that patients will come into contact with new ideas after a few Reiki treatments. Some will start doing yoga or autogenous training or start to meditate or practise [sic] some other kind of spiritual method. . . . Fundamental changes will set in and new things will start to develop. You will find it easier to cast off old, outlived structures and you will notice that you are being led and guided more and more.5
“What concerns me is that Reiki apparently can be combined with regular massage techniques without the recipient even knowing it. A letter in the Reiki Journal reveals:
Reiki is a whole new experience when used in my massage therapy practice. Massage, I thought, would be an excellent tool to spread the radiance of this universal energy and a client would benefit and really not realize what a wonderful growth was happening in his or her being .6
“Of all the New Age practices and modalities, Reiki holds the title to being the most intriguing and perhaps eerie one. This is brought out in the following observations made by one of the leading Reiki masters in the country. He reveals:
When I looked psychically at the energy, I could often see it as thousands of small particles of light, like “corpuscles” filled with radiant Reiki energy flowing through me and out of my hands. It was as though these Reiki “corpuscles” of light had a purpose and intelligence.7
“Since Reiki is not something taught intellectually even children can be brought into it. In one Reiki magazine, I found an ad that was offering aChildren’s Reiki Handbook: A Guide to Energy Healing for Kids. The book is described as a ‘guide that provides kids with what they need to prepare for their first Reiki Attunement.’”8 (from FMSC, Ray Yungen, chapter 6)
If you or someone you know will be staying in a hospital anytime soon, it would be a good idea to tell your doctor and nurses that you do not want Reiki performed on you during your stay. William Lee Rand says that there are over 1 million people in the US alone now practicing Reiki.9 This is not something that should be taken lightly. Sooner or later, you or family members will come across Reiki. And the results could be detrimental.
Notes: 2.”Healing Hands,” p. 78. 3. “Vincent J. Barra Psychic Healer Transmits Reiki Energy” (Meditation Magazine, Summer 1991), p. 31. 4. Paula Horan, Empowerment Through Reiki(Wilmot, WI: Lotus Light Publications, 1990), p. 9. 5. Bodo J. Baginski and Shalila Sharamon, Reiki Universal Life Energy (Mendocino, CA: Life Rhythm, 1988), pp. 33, 49-50. 6. “Sharings” (The Reiki Journal, Vol. VI, No. 4, October/December 1986), p. 17. 7. William Lee Rand, “The Nature of Reiki Energy” (The Reik News, Autumn 2000, p. 5. 8. The Reiki News, Spring 2006, p. 43. 9. William Lee Rand, “Keeping Reiki Free” (Reiki News Magazine, Spring 2005), p. 37
Where is the graphic of that hole with everyone just jumping into it?
Yes, I witnessed it myself - a young woman (assumed she was a therapist) came in and offered my Mom reiki. Mom was recovering from gall bladder removal surgery and had no idea what the girl was talking about. I told her no thanks and she went away. Don’t know if they would have billed Medicare or not or if it is already an allowable charge under Medicare.
Is Obamcare paying for this?
They deny proven breast cancer medicines but they will waste money on this nonsense?
I fail to how getting pummeled by a status-seeking former landscaper is therapeutic.
You may wish to review Vertebral Artery Syndrome and chiropractic.
Wow.
I see things like this, and fear we are losing the sort of rational, scientific thinking and critical analysis that allows the operation and maintenance of a techno-industrial civilization.
If it's the former (force), then that's also widely known as "boxing" or "karate".
It's New Age codswollop masquerading as medicine. Nevertheless, even those you'd assume have a modicum of common sense will show up to demand that it works just as well.
DOn't worry, though; did you hear they're doing new seasons of "American Idol," "Dancing with the Stars" and "Survivor?"
Prior to my first chiropractic visit, I was told to "just take more Tylenol."
You do have to be careful with chiropractic, since a lot of quacks do gravitate towards that field.
That said, I remember reading about a police department investigation into a chiropractic clinic they suspected was scamming patients. As part of their investigation, they sent in one of the officers undercover. The clinic diagnosed and treated her. With that proof of scamming, they took the clinic to court. Unfortunately (for the PD), their case against the clinic was thrown out when the undercover police officer testified that she had, in fact, been injured in a car accident a few weeks prior to going to the clinic. Oops.
When I was in my late-20's, I had severe sciatica and a neurologist diagnosed a bulging disc in my lower back. He said he would give me pain-killers and muscle-relaxants until I didn't want to deal w/ the pain any longer and then he would do surgery. When I asked about chiropractice, he said not to waste my time.
I decided I would try chiropractic before I had surgery. It took 3-4 months to get everything worked out the first time and I had periodic bouts of sciatica for about 10 years that I would have to go back for shorter rounds of treatment to alleviate, but I haven't been to the chiropractor for about 15 years and I don't have any back problems. That is compared to a co-worker who had similar back pain, had surgery and wound up worse-off than before.
I don't believe that chiropractic can cure everything that comes along like some claim, but if I had back, neck or limb nerve pain I would sure give chiropractic a try before I had spinal surgury.
I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. JMO. :-)
Theologically, I think there are different interpretations from different sorts of Christians. Some say it depends on what is being channeled. There are Christian healers who lay on hands in the name of Jesus, for example.
Our clients who have had acupuncture have had differing results. I have seen, for example, acupuncture done by an MD for a strained knee that left the client with a swollen, red, painful joint, worse than when he went in. The thing with a lot of modalities, and I include massage, is that the positive effects may be cumulative, may be transient, and may be effective until the next time the client experiences an aggravation of their condition, whatever that may be. OTOH, I have seen migraine sufferers improve tremendously to the point where they need nothing at all for months. Acute muscle injuries also respond well and some chronic conditions improve or resolve. I believe the ratios are about the same as for other physical or sports medicine. Most of our referring MDs/APRNs want to find modalities that lessen drug dependence and frequent ER visits and avoid surgery. Most use massage for themselves and their families and some have used acupuncture, as well.
I have not had acupuncture. I have experienced Reiki and it felt just like an electric heat source was applied to my sore muscle. It felt positive and eased the discomfort, but was not *curative*. I get more relief from knowledgeable massage based on Western anatomical principles. FWIW, it did not make me uncomfortable spiritually and I did not feel violated in any manner.
In my area, anyone can be certified in Reiki for around $100. So, there are a lot of practitioners and many don’t even charge. A majority of the massage therapists are middle-aged women who are experiencing a loss of hand strength and whose connective tissue is weaker than it was pre-menopause. They have all changed modalities and now the majority still practicing do energy work. My husband’s clients all express disappointment with the results and see him for anatomically-based work. I retired at 63 due to loss of hand strength. I have a hand-manufacturing business, as well, and that alone puts enough stress on my hands, but I can pace myself in that business better than I can in massage. And I have found ways to spare my hands and still achieve a satisfactory product.
Being brought into the medical system doesn’t mean being covered by insurance. Some institutions pay the therapists by the client or by the time worked. There is the prospect of a steady client stream, but income can be reduced and there is a difference in client compliance between being *told* to seek these modalities and choosing it for oneself. We have worked under insurance in the past and the payment schedule, both the reimbursement itself and the time it takes to receive it, is inferior to private practice with clients who pay out of pocket, while the workload can be punishing. Many of my husband’s clients do get some reimbursement from their carrier, but they pay out of pocket, up front, and then get reimbursed by the insurance carrier.
We had a client who experienced this from a cervical adjustment. Quite frightening and she immediately went to a physician for a check-up. Her problem is deteriorating disks. She is young and a dairy farmer. She has so far avoided surgery, stopped milking and gets massage infrequently. All of this, especially stopping the milking, has resulted in an improvement.
There are no quick fixes for some conditions. We always advise someone with chronic recurring disability to see their physician and get an image (MRI or CAT). Sometimes, it is something that can be fixed easily and quickly. Most resolve completely. A few do not. Often, after an image, the physician can better decide if surgery is absolutely necessary or if massage and a change of work can help.
We have referring chiropractors and chiropractor clients. The ones we work with are ethical and will not simply attempt a cervical adjustment, promising a cure. Some are scammers and are dangerous, but it is difficult to do anything at all about them. Unfortunately, they have to seriously injure someone before word of mouth ends their practice. I don’t know any who are former landscapers. Most have a Bachelor of Science and a 4-year chiropractic training. I have seen PTs do the same adjustments and manipulations. They also have a BS plus advanced clinical training.
Personally, I do not use chiro. I also have reservations about some massage techniques that target anterior cervical musculature. However, I have had that work and the results were positive and everyone I have seen who did the same had a good resolution. Some of us have too much knowledge of the areas of endangerment and it makes us tense up and subconsciously resist the treatment, which can be counterproductive, if not dangerous.
We all need to inform ourselves and make choices based on that knowledge. There are many failed vertebral surgeries, as well. People can also not improve from lidocaine/steroid shots or iontophoresis. Some very good physical medicine practices incorporate massage, acupuncture and adjustments/manipulations, usually performed by a DO and sometimes by a PT. IMO, the key is a gatekeeper physician who really is informed, and often trained, in complementary modalities. The key is understanding what to use, when and for how long. The physicians I have worked with will often prefer to avoid surgical intervention if at all possible and are extremely candid on the prognosis. Many require chronic pain patients to seek non-invasive therapies as an alternative to continuing opiate use. The entire field can be frustrating to all the clinical practitioners involved. There are conditions of the human musculo-skeletal system that sometimes just defy resolution.
My present doc is a lady who treats me, my 80 y.o. mom, my husband, two daughters and son-in-law.
this is placebo effect.
Some folks are easily hypnotized and respond to suggestion.
Most folks can be persuaded that something works.
But few of us think it’s any better or worse than sugar pills, faith healing, or acupuncture.
A warm blooded body will generate IR at a spectrum consistent with the internal temperature. A dead body will continue radiating at frequencies consistent with room temperature.
All stones generate IR consistent with its temperature. There is nothing mystical going on.
Wrapping magical thinking with technical jargon does not make it science.
Although some people do eventually need it, you can’t undo surgery.
Studies show that chiropractic, physical therapy and accupuncture all improve back pain. The interesting findings are that chiropractic and physical therapy are equally effective and that accupuncture works whether or not you actually use the accupunture maps or just randomly insert needles.
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