Living with a chronic health condition can take its toll - physically, mentally and emotionally. Physical discomfort, pain and fatigue are common symptoms, and over time they can often lead to feeling stressed, anxious or depressed. Medications prescribed to treat the symptoms often add to the mix. Potential side effects such as fatigue, headaches or digestive upsets can be an additional nuisance. Additionally, your body’s liver and kidneys are under greater strain to metabolize and excrete the medications, which can also add to malaise and potentially decreased functioning over time.
The degenerative effects of stress
Increased stress levels activate the adrenal glands, producing a constant state of “fight or flight.” This is necessary when we are in a dangerous situation, as our body is gearing up our bodies to respond quickly to deal with whatever is confronting us. However, if this response is activated constantly in response to physical or emotional stress, it causes the levels of certain key hormones, such as cortisol, to rise in your body.
Cortisol is necessary for the regulation of blood pressure, supporting the immune function and raising the body’s inflammatory responses when needed. Normal secretions of cortisol are healthy, but chronically high secretions of cortisol can cause higher blood pressure, storage of fat around the waistline, increased amounts of insulin in the bloodstream, impaired immune function and elevated inflammatory responses to infection or injury. The effects of stress over time for healthy people can potentially lead to the development of a chronic health condition. However, if you’re already living with a chronic health condition, it is especially important to effectively manage stress and seek supportive, healing relief.
How Reiki can help
Reiki supports your body’s relaxation response to keep you feeling grounded and balanced. We all have “chi” or life-force energy flowing through us. Stress, illness and emotional turmoil eventually take their toll on our physical and etheric - human energy field - bodies, leading to a perpetual state of unwellness.
Reiki works to clear blockages in our human energy field that cause imbalances in the way our body operates. Our chakras are concentrated energy centers in our bodies and are considered the energetic manifestation of the roles played by our major and minor organs. If your physical functioning is compromised due to blockages, inflammation or disease, your physical capacity is diminished. Similarly, if your energy centers are blocked, your body will manifest the blockage as a physical or emotional symptom. A Reiki session is very relaxing. This is key because when your body is able to rest, your adrenals slow down and cortisol production drops, giving your digestive, respiratory, circulatory and metabolic functions a much-needed break.
People who experience chronic, or even acute pain benefit from receiving Reiki. A study published in 2006, entitled, “The Effect of Reiki on Pain and Anxiety in Women With Abdominal Hysterectomies: A Quasi-experimental Pilot Study” describes the use of Reiki in a controlled setting to assist with post-operative pain control. It concluded that Reiki positively affected the patients’ ability to manage post-operative pain with fewer medications. Reiki was also given to a control group prior to surgery, and those patients experienced less anxiety regarding their procedure and had shorter surgery times.
While channeling Reiki, I have seen how much it soothes my clients. They consistently report feeling calmer, more relaxed and gently energized at the end of their session. I have worked on people who were in acute pain and seen how it caused relief from their symptoms. Anyone who has experienced the therapeutic effects of massage therapy can benefit from receiving Reiki. I have worked on clients with cancer and who are HIV-positive, and they have told me how much better Reiki made them feel. Reiki is not a cure-all but like all holistic therapies, it helps to facilitate and support the healing process within the body.
Speaking from my own (healing) experience
While in India on business, I received energy healing that helped me recover from an inflammatory disease called Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder Syndrome. I had been taking four to five different medications a day for several years, and while I do credit them (and some lifestyle changes) with helping heal my bladder, the medications caused side effects such as fatigue, dry eyes/mouth, and memory loss. At one point, I was prescribed a medication for depression that interacted with one I was taking to combat nerve pain, causing near-toxic levels of the drug to flood through my system. I had to have my liver function tested periodically. It was a very difficult, painful and depressing time in my life.
By the time I went to India, I had gotten to where I was able to reduce the dosages of my medications, but I was still not what I considered ”normal.” After returning home, I decided to wean back further to see how I would do - and soon realized I no longer needed the medications. This was over three years ago and I consider myself to be back to normal. I even went through my pregnancy with far less discomfort than I had anticipated!
Interestingly enough, I received the energy healing in response to neck pain I was having after being on the plane for so many hours. I noticed a cessation of pain afterward when I was in the office sitting at my computer - an activity that would normally make me feel worse! What really cinched it for me was when I returned to the hotel that night and realized my entire back - which had been tight and aching for weeks - was relaxed, supple and ache-free.
Final thoughts
Reiki is increasingly being used in the clinical setting to provide relaxation and relief for a variety of acute and chronic conditions. However, it is not meant to be a substitute for examination and care from a qualified medical professional. If you are living with a chronic illness, I encourage you to partner with your physician or therapist to create a treatment plan that includes allopathic methods if needed, as well as other supportive, holistic approaches. Please contact me to discover how Reiki can augment your journey towards deep, complete healing.
