Try this Japanese Technique at Your Next Massage

Energy can stagnate in the body where there has been emotional or physical pain, over time these blockages can cause illness. By working with the energy fields around the body, a Reiki practitioner uses hands-on healing to release blockages. The energy flows where it needs to go for your Best Possible Outcome: Balanced Spirit, Mind and Body.

What is Reiki?

Reiki is a form of alternative therapy commonly referred to as energy healing, it’s built on the belief that the body is innately able to heal itself. It involves the transfer of universal energy from the practitioner’s palms to their patient . Reiki therapy is accepted by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine – under the United States National Institutes of Health as Energy Medicine Therapy.

What happens during a Reiki session?

At the beginning of the session your Reiki practitioner will check in with you to find out what you want from your session and ask if you have any sensitive areas (this could be from a surgery).
In a Reiki-only session a recipient is typically fully clothed while lying on a massage table (at Halcyon Bodyworks our massage tables are lined with an amethyst Biomat to promote a feeling of well-being).

Typically, Reiki is performed through light, non-invasive touch with the practitioner’s hands placed and held on a series of locations on the head and front and back of the torso. Placements can also be done on the extremities as needed.

During this process the transfer of energy takes place. Sometimes the practitioner’s hands become warm and tingly. Hand positions are held until the practitioner feels that the energy has stopped flowing, then they move to a different part of the body.
Depending on your Reiki practitioner she may hold her hands just off the body while others will use a light touch.

What can Reiki help treat?

• Stress
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Chronic pain
• Cancer (relieving side-effects from treatment)
• Heart disease
• Infertility
• Neurodegenerative disorders
• Fatigue syndromes
• Autism
• Crohn’s disease
• Pre- and Post-operative care

How many Reiki sessions do you need?

You decide how many sessions you receive but four sessions is a typical recommendation. This gives you and your body time to evaluate the benefits of Reiki. Each person and body is different so ask your practitioner how many sessions they recommend.

Patients who have undergone a Reiki session typically say (University of Minnesota):

“I feel very refreshed and seem to be thinking more clearly.”

“I think I fell asleep.”

“I can’t believe how hot your hands got!”

“I feel more relaxed than even after a massage.”

“My headache is gone.”

While many people leave feeling refreshed after a Reiki session, if you feel a bit tired later in the day this is probably your body’s natural healing response and nothing to be concerned about.

Reiki in Bend, Oregon at Halcyon Bodyworks

You can book a Reiki session with Pam McKenzie or Susan Holzem at Halcyon Bodyworks. Both therapists have been practicing Reiki for years. What you may not know is that both of these therapists often incorporate Reiki during therapeutic massage. It’s part of their personal style of bodywork and probably why client’s often say they have “magic hands.”

A very brief history of Reiki

Reiki has been around for thousands of years. Modern reiki started in Japan with Dr. Mikao Usui, who lived at the turn of the 20th century. Traditional Reiki history shares that sometime between 1914 and 1920, Dr. Usui experienced a profound enlightenment while meditating during a 21-day fasting retreat on Mount Kurama, in Japan. This is when he received the healing ability he named Reiki, as well as the knowledge and ability to impart Reiki to others.

Usui opened a Reiki practice in Harajuku, Tokyo, in 1921 and by the time of his death trained more than 2000 students. In less than a century, Reiki has emerged from Japan to become a standard complementary healing therapy worldwide.