Holistic Medicine: Putting Healing Into Context with Reiki

While the east has known the secret for millennium, the West has come to a change in attitude and approach to the concept of health. Many individuals, and even medical practitioners, are turning to a holistic approach to medicine. Something our ancestors knew ages ago. And today, western cultures are finding inspiration in their ancestral roots, turning back to their old ways, and finding inspiration from modalities with their origins in the east. The concept of “holistic medicine”. A concept that promises valuable insight into a new age of health care.

How do we define “health” when we look at it from a holistic view?

Ironically, the World Health Organization, with all its controversy, created a definition that surprisingly, sums up holistic medicine quite well.

Their definition (for health) is as follows, and I quote: “Health is more than simply the absence of illness. It is the active state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being.”

The holistic approach means that health is an active and positive state, embodying the whole integrated being. A holistic approach does not see the individual as a patient with a disease syndrome, but rather as a whole being made up of the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and environmental aspects.

And this is where Reiki can make a huge impact on our well-being, our holistic health. A Reiki practitioner is a holistic healer, respects the individual’s capacity to heal themselves. It is a partnership of respect. A partnership in the healing process. Not one of an expert on one side, and a passive recipient on the other.

Reiki goes back to the tradition of the old ways, where the focus is not an attempt to treat a “disease entity” but rather considering the person as a whole being, and treating the whole being. That is, working on all levels that make up an individual: Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual.  

We are alive because the life force is flowing through us. And this Life force flows within the physical body through pathways called chakras, meridians and nadis. It also flows around us in a field of energy called the aura. It nourishes the organs and cells of the body and supports them in their vital functions. If, and when this flow of life force is disrupted, it causes diminished function in one or more of the organs and tissues of the physical body. Our life force is responsive to thoughts and feelings. It becomes disrupted when we accept, either consciously or unconsciously, negative thoughts or feelings about ourselves. These negative thoughts and feelings attach themselves to the energy field and cause a disruption in the flow and this, in turn, diminishes the vital function of the organs and cells of the physical body. This is where Reiki healing comes in.

Reiki highlights the deep, personal nature, of the healing process. The human being is a self-healing individual, and the practitioner merely facilitates this profound inner process. It is a non-invasive, light-touch technique of energy transfer, transmitted through the palms of the hands of the practitioner, as well as the eyes and breath. Reiki helps alleviate suffering on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level. And while it’s important to understand the difference between healing and cure (a topic for another day), when we speak of healing, we normally think first of the physical, but Reiki works on the whole. Sickness, disease, and illness happen when our mind, body, and spirit become unbalanced. And true wellness is reached by returning the entire being to harmony and balance with itself, and the universe around us.

A Reiki treatment enhances the body’s natural ability to heal itself and increases vitality and stamina. It works throughout the body, on the mind, emotions, spiritual essence, and aura. A Reiki treatment releases blocked energy, promotes relaxation, and reduces stress. Reiki energy goes wherever most needed in the body and helps to cleanse the body of energetic and physical toxins.

The first step, is for us, as individuals to recognize our need for healing, on all levels, and step forward with action. Step into our purpose. This comes by bringing our whole being into balance, and with that, we align ourselves with our original path, the reason we are here. We begin to discover our purpose. Our Soul Purposed Life and live the life we are meant to live.