Reiki - Experiencing is Believing

March 4, 2010

I first heard about Reiki some time back in the late 1970s through some mentions of it in magazines or newspapers. This was the decade in which there was considerable interest in Eastern philosophy, religion and medical practices.

The Beatles played a role in this through their brief association with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi the leader of the Transcendental Medication or TM movement.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi had been introducing and establishing TM throughout the world before the Beatles came on the world scene and the first meeting between the Beatles and the Maharishi took place in Wales. However, the Beatles association with TM gave the movement a big boost.

President Richard Nixon was another big factor in the growing interest in Eastern practices. Arriving in China on July 8, 1971, the day before then National Security Adviser to President Nixon, Henry Kissinger was New York Times columnist James Reston.

Relations were beginning to thaw between the U.S and People's Republic of China and American reporters were starting to visit that nation years of no relations between the two nations. Kissinger was on a secret diplomatic mission to arrange the 1972 visit by President Nixon to China.

While in China, James Reston became ill with appendicitis and, following the removal of his appendix, was treated with acupuncture.

Upon his return home, Reston wrote an article for the New York Times about his experience which generated a lot of interest in acupuncture in the medical community.

Like many other people, especially other youth of my generation, I was influenced somewhat by these things.  

My younger brother introduced me to yoga and meditation which I have practiced off and on since then.  

Other friends introduced me to herb teas many of which I have continued to drink and enjoy over the years although more for their taste than their medicinal qualities.

However, Reiki, from what little I had read about it, never made sense. It didn't help when a priest who was assigned temporarily to the parish I belonged to and who I worked with on a few projects and became friends with during that period told me that he was training as a Reiki practitioner.

I listened politely and feigned interest as he excitedly explained some of the principles of Reiki to me but this only served to confirm my earlier conclusion that this was a passing fad with no basis in reality.

Years later my son Victor, who had been studying Taekwondo since he was ten or twelve and who had worked his way up to black belt status mentioned that his teacher had become a Reiki master and was expanding his training business to include Reiki training.

Victor told me that he had accepted an offer from his instructor to take the training in exchange for his help teaching some of the Taekwondo classes for younger children.

While I didn't have any faith in Reiki I saw no harm in encouraging Victor to explore his new area of interest. As he studied, he talked about it, I listened and learned more but still didn't think of it.

Massage I could understand, but I couldn't see how holding hands close but not touching the subject's body could accomplish anything.

Then I pulled a muscle in my back working in the yard one day and Victor offered to give me a Reiki treatment. I had lost the heating pad during our recent move and preferred to lay in bed rather than going out to get another one so I figured it couldn't hurt.

I took my shirt off and lay on my stomach and let Victor go to work on me. After a bit, I started to feel some heat on my back and the pain began to subside somewhat. The pain didn't abate entirely but I was able to get a good night's sleep and everything was fine within a day or so.

Sometime later my oldest son was in a serious automobile accident and, among other things, had to have hip surgery. Upon his release from the hospital he was transferred to a rehabilitation facility for therapy before being released. While in the rehab facility he some sort of a relapse that sent his temperature and blood pressure up causing him to be transferred by ambulance to a the emergency room of a nearby hospital.

He was about the only patient in the ER that evening but the doctor was busy and the staff refused to do anything other than monitor his condition until the doctor came. David was in a considerable pain and kept asking for some pain killers but was denied.

Finally Victor offered to try Reiki on him and was able to get the pain to subside temporarily until the doctor came and examined David and then allowed the staff to administer some pain killers.

As to the effectiveness of Reiki, I can't say.  Its effect on both my son David and me may have been due more to the power of suggestion than the theories behind Reiki.  I do know that the heat I felt on my back was real and it was hotter than Victor's hands so it wasn't being transferred from his hands.

Would I seek help from a Reiki practitioner in place of a traditional medical doctor?  No.  However, I might try Reiki first before turning to a pain killer if I ever need that as I am very cautious about taking medicines unless I am convinced they are really needed.  
Of course, if I ever feel the need, I can always have Victor try Reiki and if that doesn't help I can then pay a doctor for a more traditional treatment.