Reiki is a healing art from Japan that uses light touch on or just above the body to help facilitate deep relaxation, balance energy levels and promote an optimal state of well-being.  The gentle nature of this bodywork is especially beneficial for expectant and new mothers because it helps prepare women for the physical, emotional and spiritual changes necessary for a “centered” pregnancy, labor and post-partum recovery experience.

Reiki healing is especially useful for relieving the physical discomforts of pregnancy.  The hormones associated with pregnancy – human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and estrogen — contributes to gastric distress. Reiki relaxes the gastrointestinal walls and can reduce or alleviate the sensation of nausea.  It also provides relief from round ligament pain, as well as hip, back and nerve-based pain (sciatica and carpal tunnel are two common conditions) typically experienced as pregnancy progresses.  Reiki can be so deeply relaxing that people often drift off into asleep – and as any pregnant woman knows, sleep is a valuable commodity! 

Many pregnant women are juggling demands associated with careers, expectations from their families, changes in their relationships with their partners, and of course, in their bodies. These factors can exacerbate fatigue and mood swings.  Reiki can help expectant mothers reduce stress and remain more grounded emotionally.  A Reiki treatment is, first and foremost, time for women to reorient themselves and their bodies during a time when they may no longer feel like it belongs to them.  Reiki, along with other supportive practices such as chiropractic, prenatal massage and prenatal yoga, can have great benefits for a mother-to-be and her developing baby.

The soothing energy of Reiki provides a non-invasive comfort measure, relieving pain from contractions and reducing anxiety during labor.  The use of Reiki may reduce or eliminate the need for an epidural or other pharmaceutical pain relief.  Spouses, partners, doulas and other childbirth professionals trained in Reiki can be a valuable source of support for laboring women:

The birth partner has the very specific role during labor, delivery and post-birth of giving the mother and the baby Reiki, creating that Reiki space of peaceful, deep relaxation that assists the mother in flowing with her body and the baby throughout labor. – “Reiki and Sacred Childbirth”, Summer 2010 issue of Reiki News Magazine 

Assisting a laboring mother with Reiki can provide the space and support for her to experience a centered, empowered birth experience. It can be tremendously gratifying for the spouse or partner to be able to provide an additional source of loving and energetic support, creating a deep shared connection between the couple.

Reiki is also helpful for post-partum recovery.  Women’s bodies undergo tremendous change to support the new life growing inside them; it takes a while for the body’s organs and processes to return to a normal non-pregnancy state.  Healing is still occurring inside a mother’s body after her baby is born, even after an easy or uncomplicated birth. Reiki can help new mothers maintain energetic and emotional balance during those first weeks of adjustment.  This is especially important for the percentage of women who may experience post-partum depression. 

For those women who had a difficult labor, or had a cesarean birth, Reiki can help facilitate healing on physical and emotional levels.  Recent clinical studies show Reiki to be effective for reducing anxiety and post-surgical pain in hospitalized patients.  Women recovering from surgery or birth trauma can certainly benefit from this additional source of compassionate, palliative support. The medications used to relieve post-surgical pain often have unpleasant side effects, and the discomfort from the incision can make it difficult for women to hold or breastfeed their babies.  Reiki augments the physical healing process, enabling women to get back on their feet sooner.  Energy-based therapies, such as Reiki, emit extra low-frequency (ELF) signals, which have been shown to stimulate tissue repair and nerve regeneration:

[Dr. John] Zimmerman found that the pulsing field produced by the hands of practitioners is not steady in frequency, but varies from moment to moment.  The frequency sweeps up and down through the very same range of frequencies in the ELF band that medical researchers have identified as being effective for jump starting the healing process in the various tissues. –  Science and the Human Energy Field, Oschman, James L. Ph.D

Reiki also works on emotional levels, helping women integrate their experience, alleviate PTSD symptoms and allowing them to experience wholeness and well-being again.

Reiki honors the women we are: our bodies, our emotions and the spirit within that give us strength and purpose.  Please contact me if you are expecting a baby, and would like to find out more how Reiki can help support you in a healthy, happy and centered pregnancy. 

 Photo credit: Storyvillegirl