Reiki is an energy therapy, an energetic force, and can be used to help cancer patients. Here former expert Reiki Master Stewart Ivory explains more.
"May The Force Be With You...Always"
By Stewart Ivory
I’m pretty sure that we all remember these immortal words, uttered by OB-Wan to Luke Skywalker in the first of the Star Wars films way back in 1977 (and again 20 years later).
Fancy there being a force field that held everything in the entire universe together?
It certainly was a preposterous idea.
Little did I realise at the time (and for a long time to come for that matter), that one day I too would be plugging into the force, just as Luke had done in his battle against Darth Vader. Only my job description was slightly different!
Seeking a way of relieving the pain and discomfort my mother was experiencing in her lengthy battle with ovarian cancer, I was guided by a family friend to learn a Japanese healing technique called Reiki. The training was simple and on the day following the workshop I was able to place my hands on my mother, tap into an energy force, and let healing commence. Without realizing it, I had become an honorary Jedi Knight - using the force to combat the evil of cancer. And something happened. For about six whole months my mother’s heath was stabilized to such a point that she had a real quality of life - sitting listening to the birds in the garden, even taking in a week’s holiday in the Swiss Alps. Something was keeping her immune system from packing up completely - the Doctors and the Oncologists were amazed, not only that she was still alive but also that she had a real quality to her life. Something was naturalizing the toxic effects on her body and enabling healing to take place on all levels - physically, mentally, emotionally and, for those who believe we are more than a collection of moving parts, spiritually.
I have tried so often to put it into words, but I cannot - it was however, one of the few most powerful feelings I have come across in my life
Based upon my own experiences and those of others, I came to believe that Reiki certainly was a healing technique of immense power and have made it my career and life path. I have endeavored to get my head round the enormity and power of Reiki and to understand how it works during the course of my healing work at one of the world’s most renowned health resorts and at my own clinics.
Reiki, pronounced ray-Kee and meaning "divinely guided life force energy", is a Japanese form of spiritual healing that can be practiced hands-on, hands-off or from a distance - also known as absent healing. The practitioner becomes empowered to access Reiki - a certain vibration of lie force energy - by a Reiki Master, which has an almost instantaneous effect in connecting the student practitioner to the Reiki energy, rather like connecting to satellite television by bolting a satellite dish onto the side of your house. From this moment onwards they are able to tune into and connect to Reiki, like tuning into a radio station, which then flows through their body and out from their hands to facilitate healing in themselves, other people, animals and even plants.
Receiving Reiki brings about a state of profound relaxation, and relaxation in itself (regardless of now it is achieved) has been proven to aid healing and promote general well-being. In a state of hign anxiety, anger, fear or stress the body goes into its natural ’light or flight’ state, and is therefore not in tne right ’mood’ to heal itself. So relaxation and stress relief (even stress removal - i.e. leave work) must be the fiirst consideration for anybody fighting cancer.
I could physically feel the tingling on my tummy where the scar is - like a sewing machine stitching it up!
To get your body into the right ’mood’ for healing to take place, you can experience Reiki by visiting a Reiki Master, who will administer Reiki through their hands, or you can learn Reiki yourself as a self-healing tool - to empower and enable YOU to heal YOURSELF. You’ve heard the phrase "physician heal thyself" - with Reiki you can!
Ancient cultures the world over have long believed that man and his universe are interconnected, that we resonate with our world and are simply a part of everything around us. They cared for the their earth, their home land, their people and treated their food sources with gratitude and respect knowing that so long as they treated others as they would wish to be treated themselves, their every need would be met by an abundant universe.
These ancient cultures of Tibet, India, America, Australia, and so on are not so far fetched in their understanding of the world as you may at first think. Modern science, in particular Quantum Physics, supports their view - we are connected to everything and every one in the whole universe through an energy field called the Zero Point Field. A recent book entitled "The Field" by Lynne McTaggart (HarperCollins) contains a wealth of research into this phenomenon - including some very interesting scentific information about energy and healing.
Reiki goes very deep, it seems to touch the buried and hidden thoughts - it is as if an interior boil is lanced which allows the healing to begin
Fritz-Albert Popp, a German biophysicist together with his student Bernhard Ruth, who invented a machine capable of measuring light, photon by photon, were able to measure the light emitted from the hands of a person (in aosolute darKness) as well as that emitted by various animals and plants. Popp measured the light emitted by free-range eggs and compared it wth the light emitted by battery hen’s eggs. The light from the free-range eggs was far more coherent or ’in sync’ and was deemed to be healtnier. When a Reiki healer it focused on healing, light flows from their hands and can now be photographed using special Kirlian photography. Popp surmised that there must be an external source of energy that is constantiy charging your body’s internal energy reserves. He attributed this to the Zero Point Field, which can be compared to the force in Star Wars. This Zero Point Field may provide an explanation for healing techniques such as Reiki too, whereby a practitioner (also known as a channel or conduit for the energy) taps into an external energy to facilitate healing; a universal energy that is not dependent upon any sort of belief or faith in either the recipient or the practitioner.
As well as giving out energy, further tests carred out by Popp found that living beings also absorb energy from other beings, in the form of light. I’m sure you’ve felt the effects of being in the company of an ’energy vampire’ - an almost physical sensation that someone is draining your very own life force, leaving you feeling tired, drained, low or run down. Because we interact with our surroundings on an energetic level the old saying of "what goes around comes around" really holds true - we give out our own energy and at the same time receive energy from our surroundings. This energy exchange happens all the time.
This is one of the ways Reiki works too. Reiki enables a stressed, sick, tired, rundown or depressed person - whose energy resources are depleted, whose own light is getting dimmer, whose photon emissions are incoherent - to plug into a mains energy adaptor (a Reiki practitioner) for a recharge. As a result their energy is restored, photon coherence is improved and wellness ensues. Simple!
It did leave me with a profound sense of peace - the most relaxed and calm I have ever felt
It has been discovered through experimentation into Quantum Pnysics that an electron is not a precise entity, existing in a state of pure potentiality, until it is observed or measured, whence it freezes into a particular state according to the intent of the observer.
I find this piece of information quite mind blowing - not because it was a new concept to me, but because it was scientifically reinforcing what I already knew happened in the realms of healing: that our innermost intent is probably the most important aspect of healng, in maintaining wellness and in leading a happy, fulfilling and joyful life. If our intent can effect change in an electron, just think about all those negative thoughts we have each day, about ourselves, about other people, our boss, our work - how must they be affecting our very heath and shaping our future?
During a Reiki session people will often experience a sense of deep relaxation and inner calm. This is not a hypnotised state and is not induced through any other means than via energy transference througn the hands of the practitioner. It is a supporting, nurturing and safe feeling, rather than one of vulnerability.
Reiki begins to work by calming the mind, quietening the internal mental ’noise’, dissapating worries and anxieties, dissolving negative thoughts and attitudes ano replacing them with more positive ones. The recipient can boost their own healing process by beng actively involved - using mental imagery or visualisation is a powerful aid and amplifies the intent to be well. Remember - intent is your most powerfui ally and it is far more powerful than positive thinking. It is feeling too.
During my first session I felt calm and at
peace
Imagine all disease or un-wellness, whether physical, mental or emotional, as ice - it has a low frequency of vibration, its molecules are moving slowly and it appears solid and immovable. Reiki begins to raise the vibration of these molecules - flooding every cell of the body with positive, healing energy. This nflux of energy begins to create movement as the molecules begin to vibrate faster - the ice begins to melt. Disease begins to break down, negativity begins to change into positivity and wetness, joy, and happiness ensue. So just as the ice in your summer drink has no option but to melt, so too must disease when your own energy vibration is raised during Reiki sessions.
Reiki noes work on a very physcal level - it will relieve pain, reduce swelling and accelerate the healing of wounds, broken bones and scars after surgery. It can even help to reouce the size of tumours, making their removal easier and it actively helps the body restore itself to a state of wellness and balance after surgical operations.
Reiki is an extremely good alternative to tranquilisers and anti-depressants, as it works to raise self-esteem and, aided by a good counselor, allows the individual to work through the cause of their problems rather than dealing just witn their symptoms.
I felt that my wounded soul is somehow healed - I am at peace today
You do not have to be unwell to benefit from Reiki. It will boost your immune system and increase your energy leve!s and allow you to feel even better. Many people receive regular Reiki top-ups, just to keep balanced, well and vibrant. Whether you have cancer yourself or care for someone who has, Reiki will be of great benefit to you. Many nurses and care workers in Hospices and Hospitals are trained in Reiki. It enables them to administer healing whilst going about their duties and, at the end of the day; they can give Reiki to themselves and recharge their own batteries.
Stewart Ivory is a former professional trombonist, who began his reiki career in 1996 at the renowned Champneys health resort in Hertfordshire. He is now one of the most experienced reiki practitioners and teachers in the UK - his reiki work has been featured in many national magazine and newspaper articles as well as on BBC television. Stewart’s approach to teaching reiki is straightforward, down to earth and based on his own practical experience.
Stewart’s Reiki clinic in Berkhamsted, Herts can be contacted on 01296 682335 or he can be contacted via email at [email protected].
If you wish to find a local Reiki Master contact the Reiki Federation UK, P0 Box 261 Wembley, HAP 4FP or visit their web site at www.reikifed.co.uk.