Reiki for Chronic Pain
Discovering Reiki for Chronic Pain: A Holistic Approach to Pain Relief
By Dennis Bluthardt at Namaste Studios
In recent years, the public has embraced medicine of the alternative kind as a remedy for the chronic pains that so many endure. It has also gained a much broader acceptability level. Options that once seemed dubious to many now appear to be quite valid. This is mainly due to the fine work done by the researchers and alternative health practitioners who have seriously tried to evaluate these remedies scientifically. The push towards personal holistic health has moved our culture from constantly searching for a silver bullet to an ‘in conjunction with’ mindset. The transition is highly evident in especially the chronic pain community where, for many, traditional ‘Western’ options (typically opioids) are cost-prohibitive, even if they can obtain a prescription.
Many people suffering from these types of chronic pain conditions have looked to solutions like Reiki. Reiki is a Japanese practice of energy therapy intended to help evoke relaxation, stress relief, and a (personal) sense of healing in the body. While I am not about to go out and say that you will cure your cancer through Reiki, I will tell you this: for those people dealing with chronic pain, this therapy is fantastic. It is so gentle on the body and usually involves exceptionally light touch: no deep tissue massages (which are also great) but pure light-touch relaxation. No pain. Relief relaxation. For those who have completed a distance Reiki, minor relaxation but full body care and minor pains no longer linger around the recipient for a time after the session.
For those of you who may be dealing with more than chronic pain, Reiki provides additional relief. A relaxed body is a body that will help to heal itself. Sleep can be a perfect side effect of this technique, as having a completely relaxed body can often trick the body into falling asleep. It is a great technique to try.
Understanding Chronic Pain
Generally, pain is classified as chronic if it lasts more than three months and longer than the “usual” course of time. It can interfere with almost every aspect of one’s life. It can weaken a
person physically it can, cause troublesome mental and emotional problems, and can undermine one’s quality of life. Such pain can make “normal” activities (working, spending time with loved ones, attending or taking part in social functions) extremely difficult, often resulting in a “leave me alone, I’m in pain” mentality and severe bouts of depression.
Many diseases or disorders result in chronic pain, but some of the most common are arthritis (the most common form of which is inflammation of the joints) and fibromyalgia. Arthritis can be so bad that the pain is almost unbearable, or at least unimaginable if you don’t have it. For others, say those who have fibromyalgia (a “bruised” nerve-ending disease), severe sharp pain can be widespread throughout the lower body, and that’s “all.”
Many traditional treatments include, but are not limited to, various medications, physical therapy, and home treatment procedures. After one is “identified” as having specific “pain characteristics,” they usually start various pain treatments and products that are available on the open market. But for many, these general products do very little as they simply “mask” the pain so you “don’t feel it.
What is Reiki?
“Reiki” is a form of energy healing and means “universal life energy.” This energy radiates from everything alive; some people have just learned how to use it more practically, and clients go to body workers to tap themselves back into that source. Specifically, Reiki students learn to do this by becoming attuned to universal life energy. Anxiety ensues when the body is blocked from or tuned out of this energy. The more anxiety, the worse you learn: your body goes into fight or flight, so you cannot hear subtleties, accurately perceive the world, or anticipate the consequences of your action. Thus, your body will innately return to greatness once you remove the blocks in your ears to hear the wisdom of life.
The Benefits of Reiki for Chronic Pain
Recognized for its ability to “heal,” “Reiki,” an energy healing method like laying hands, restores balance within the body to optimize comfort, sometimes drastically reducing chronic pain. But here’s the kicker. Reiki is a holistic type of healing that uses energy. It doesn’t just get funneled into you for the length of treatment and then stop. It teaches your body how to heal itself.
Reiki is not an alternative to modern medicine. Instead, it is a practice that can be used alongside or in concert with traditional medical treatments. It simultaneously heals the emotional and spiritual components of “you,” so true healing is possible. Rather than acting as a quick remedy,” a band-aid,” per se, Reiki, energy healing, permits the body to do what it was designed to do: “heal.”
How Reiki Sessions Work
An ordinary reiki session begins in an invitingly quiet room, often dimly lit and accompanied by soft music. What happens next is the client’s choice: to be supine or to have a seated position. Either way, the client is fully clothed, and the reiki practitioner is now ready to begin the hands-on hand-off techniques. The Reiki practitioner will have an open conversation about why they have sought Reiki and what areas or things they feel need to be worked through or on if they have chronic pain. During the session, the practitioner employs various hand positions above or on the body or specific energy centers (chakras). The hand is in contact with the body with no additional movement, such as sweeping or elongated periods. Hand positions depend on the intuition of both the practitioner and the receiver. Traditional hand placements include the eyes, ears, back and front of the head, throat, heart, solar plexus, sacral and root chakras. The session is typically 60-90 minutes. An entire reiki session might occur weekly or bi-weekly if the client has chronic pain. In the beginning, the number of sessions should be more frequent. Starting with four sessions will allow the person to tune out of everything else, switch off, and drift away. If you have chronic pain, four sessions are often added to for a while until there is more lasting relief, then once a month for as long as you like. For those who want to keep stuff away, a monthly 15-minute session is enough.
Integrating Reiki into Your Pain Management Plan
Reiki is a type of energy healing that works well with conventional or natural medicine. Unlike a medical procedure, most treatments aim to relax and reduce stress, which is the optimum healing condition. If all you are doing to treat your PCOS is taking birth control, for example, then you’re only addressing the physical symptoms. The steps necessary to ensure emotional and spiritual health aren’t being taken, which makes using this method to heal from physical disease quite nearly impossible. Similarly, incorporating Reiki healing into any existing medical treatments has been found to increase successful procedures simply by helping to reduce feelings of anxiety and pain, which makes the process of said medical procedure much more manageable.
You can perform Reiki on yourself! Here’s how:
Some straightforward, very traditional methods of self-reiki can be done independently at home. The hand placement technique is the easiest but the most effective. You know where you hold your tension or discomfort, so do so where you are naturally inclined to gently rest your hands on yourself. Leave them there and allow the energy to flow as you would if treating a client.
The second option is to close your eyes and allow your hand to be bathed in a warm light (or whatever color comes into your mind). In the presence of that color (without effort or trying to make it happen), alleviate any discomfort and leave a warm, soothing glow. Regularly practicing these techniques will provide ongoing pain relief. Still, importantly, they promote and nurture the ongoing relationship with your healing process (something we as practitioners show up to do, day after day).
Go with a professional, certified Reiki practitioner. Research and make sure reviews are good! An excellent practitioner will take the time (usually quite a bit of time, relatively speaking, before the session) to be sure to explain what the session will be like and to alleviate any questions or concerns, to allow you to comfortably relax fully, in an environment, you will be comfortable to relax within! Feeling comfortable with your practitioner (having a minimal talk connection with them) will make the session much more comfortable and better overall.
Reiki, an energy healing technique, has gained popularity in the chronic pain community for its excellent benefits. Reiki can encourage relaxation and relieve stress. For individuals with chronic pain, these two factors can be highly beneficial. Battling daily with pain, both physical and emotional, can wear a person down. Chronic pain can have not only physical but also profoundly felt mental effects. It can severely affect a person’s toll on emotional well-being and lead to (sometimes ignored but well-documented) dramatic mental health issues. The focus of Reiki is soft and gentle, non-invasive, which can be very relieving for those who have been through countless invasive procedures to find a cure for their chronic pain.
Using Reiki on your healing journey can help you understand other things that may be connected to your chronic pain. Figuring out how to enter a state of relaxation and reduce stress can reduce chronic pain. It is non-intrusive. You are simply practicing.
This is an excellent opportunity to test a natural remedy for your chronic pain. If you work with a practitioner, they can guide you through the process and tell you which ‘way’ is best for your first time. Please speak with your practitioner about this; they can most likely perform an overall healing for you during your session.
To learn more, visit Reiki at Namaste Studios to book a Reiki session. Additionally, you can find more of our Reiki Blogs here.
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