Des Hynes - In Focus Reiki:Your Personal Guide

Ten years ago, I had never even heard of Reiki. I first came across it while my wife, Viv, was being treated for cancer. As you may know, the side effects of chemotherapy can be horrendous, which is not surprising considering that chemotherapy was developed from mustard gas, which was used extensively for chemical warfare during the First World War!

The hospital that was treating Viv offered Reiki to help combat the side effects of the chemotherapy, a common practice in many major hospitals in England, and I soon started to notice that after each Reiki session Viv was calmer and less stressed. She also felt better within herself. Viv fought against the cancer for four years and while she did succumb to it in the end, the Reiki healing that she been given made her life, and her death, much easier than it might otherwise have been.

THE ORIGINS OF CHEMOTHERAPY

Mustard gas was used again during World War II, when naval personnel were exposed to the gas during a Luftwaffe raid on allied ships in the naval base in Bari, Italy. Hundreds of sailors jumped into the water to escape from the sinking ships and when they emerged, they were covered with an oily substance that had leaked from the damaged ships. Many noticed a garlicky odor in the air and complained of a burning sensation on their skin. At first, they thought it must be the engine oil, but then blisters began to form. Among the twenty-eight destroyed ships was the SS John Harvey with a cargo that contained 120,000 pounds of mustard gas that had leaked into the harbor. It was only while testing tissue samples from the victims that doctors noticed the depletion of white blood cells, and it was from this that researchers developed nitrogen mustard, which proved therapeutic for people with leukemia and lymphomacancers that originate in white blood cells. From this, other chemicals were developed to target different types of cancer cells.

The Benefits of a Holistic Approach

I believe that medication should be used to assist the body to heal itself and not as a long-term solution, and it should be part of a holistic approach that treats the cause of the illness in the body, mind, and soul. The good news is that more and more people are looking to combine Western medicine with healing practices such as Reiki that aim to treat the whole of a person.

In ancient China, the village doctor got paid to prevent illness, so if nobody got ill he was doing his job well, but if too many people got sick, he was fired!

When we are ill we lose our appetite, which is a message from our bodies telling us to give our digestive system a chance to rest. Our bodies use energy to turn the food we eat into fuel to sustain life, but this energy can be redirected to help with our natural healing ability. Each one of us is equipped with amazing and sophisticated healing processes that make our bodies repair and maintain themselvesas long as we allow them to do so.

It is believed that the liver gradually replaces itself every few months, the skin is renewed every month, and the stomach lining every four days. Many things influence this natural regeneration. We need to eat a healthy, balanced diet and drink plenty of water. Keeping stress to a minimum, taking some exercise, and getting sufficient sleep are also important for maintaining health, while overcoming a serious illness demands even more from us. Reiki is a powerful means of helping us to attain good health by a holistic approach.

What Is Reiki?

Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing through using the energy of a higher, divine, guided life force. The word Reiki is used both for the name of the practice and for the healing energy involved. Reiki is noninvasive, and it doesnt require a person to remove their clothes to be treated, although people do typically take off their glasses and shoes before a treatment, to make themselves comfortable.

If you are interested in becoming a Reiki healer, you must be aware that Reiki can change your life. With regular Reiki treatments, you will be less stressed and more compassionatea different person. Since discovering Reiki, I rarely drink alcohol and I became a vegetarian, which are elements of a gradual change that took many years. Engaging in Reiki also helped me to become aware of my spiritual path.

A healer doesnt have to guide the healing energy he produces, because once he starts the healing process and feels the energy flow, he only needs to remember these five words:

Get out of the way.

The Reiki healer must back off and allow the energy to flow through him to the person who needs it.

Reiki can be used on its own or alongside conventional medicine to assist recovery.

Reiki is not a religion based on belief or faith. All that is required is love and compassion.

The energy generated is guided by a higher power, so the Reiki knows where to go and how to act on its own and because of this, Reiki can do no harm.

How Does Reiki Heal?

Reiki is a holistic form of energy healing. By holistic, we mean that it works on the mind, body, and spirit at the same time and success depends on a combination of conditions, such as the skill of the healer and the openness of the person receiving the healing. Reiki heals by balancing the bodys energy centers and removing blockages. We healers are the link between the universal, divine energy and the higher self of the person we are working with. It is this higher self that accepts the healing, and because we all have free will, that person may or may not accept the healing.