Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1174218
Ta k e 5 a n d t r y A B M P F i v e - M i n u t e M u s c l e s a t w w w. a b m p . c o m / f i v e - m i n u t e - m u s c l e s . 69 Eden, Barbara Brennan, or Rosalyn Bruyere's work—all valuable, beneficial therapies—the practitioner is actively trying to affect a change, a specific result, using specific pathways." Reiki, she says, is more passive. It's not trying to affect change. "It's a mere touch that gently engages the self-healing wisdom of the receiver's system." 2. REIKI TOUCH INVITES THE BODY TO DO WHAT IT KNOWS BEST HOW TO DO. "Reiki is an invitation to the system to re-find its balance. The body responds from deep within itself with a self- healing response, which shows up first as a change in the breath and a down-regulation of the nervous system, a shift from sympathetic fight-or-flight overdrive to parasympathetic rest/digest dominance. From there, the individual's system affects the change that is appropriate at that moment. The body's response determines the details of the change in any given reiki treatment." For example, Miles says someone who is very agitated will likely say after a reiki session, "I feel calmer; I feel more centered now," while someone who is depressed, lethargic, and unmotivated may get up from a reiki session and go clean a closet. They might feel empowered and motivated. "What those two people, with seemingly opposite responses, would have in common is they both feel more like themselves—they both feel better," Miles says. "When we feel better, we function better … and we make better choices." 3. REIKI PRACTICE DOESN'T BREACH BOUNDARIES. Because reiki is an "invitation" to self-healing, it does not "infiltrate" the system of another or use any external force. "We're not overriding the system or intervening. We're not breaching any boundaries," Miles says. "We're simply placing our hands and waiting." Energy healing, Miles says, has a different modus operandi. "Energy work follows the medical model— diagnose, create a treatment plan, implement the plan, and evaluate the change; energy healing is an intervention rather than a practice. Energy workers might say they are helping balance the body, and they likely are, but they take specific actions based on their diagnosis." SELF-PRACTICE TOOLS Want help deepening your reiki self-practice or just need a good protocol to follow? Read "How to Practice Reiki Self-Treatment" at https://bit.ly/2ps3Vfu. What's carried in reiki-trained hands evokes a "remembered wellness" ... from deep within the body. 4. REIKI PRACTICE ENCOURAGES BALANCE. Miles says a recent participant at one of her Reiki & Medicine Intensives, who had been going through a very tumultuous, painful time, shared these thoughts: "I don't think I've ever felt as safe as I felt on the table today." Reiki recipients typically report feeling centered and balanced after a session. "Of course, reiki practice is healing, but it's a spiritual practice in that it's not just healing the body—it heals the whole system." Miles says healing comes from the most subtle aspect of our being, the spiritual core of who we are. "It's a challenge to speak about that without it sounding like vitalism, which is where reiki practitioners typically go, especially if they come from a Judeo-Christian background, because that philosophy is dualistic—God and humanity are separate. Asian spirituality doesn't see it that way; it's a non-dual philosophy in which everything seen and unseen has arisen from the same, ever-present consciousness."