I have created several pieces of content concerning chronic pain for the month of February 2021. As a practicing physician and Reiki master, I am fascinated with the ways that giving Reiki or receiving Reiki can help to relieve chronic pain. In this blog post I would like to discuss how I believe Reiki can help chronic pain of all kinds.
Types of Chronic Pain
Understanding the different types of chronic pain is the first step to alleviating the pain.
Completing the Gaps in Chronic Pain Treatment
Treating chronic pain takes more than a prescription. Discover additional options at this link:
Holistic Treatments for Chronic Pain
Dealing with chronic pain should occur with a holistic approach. Check out some ideas here
Preparing for Your Session
There are definitely challenges in using Reiki to deal with chronic pain. One of the biggest is maintaining comfort levels during the session. If you are considering receiving Reiki with a professional, make sure to let them know what your current limitations are. I am creating this post during the pandemic, so you may be receiving a Distance Reiki session. This is a very viable way to get Reiki and that you can make yourself comfortable at home. Often rides my own clients to consider lying down in bed and covering up with blankets during their session. Additionally, if you have opted to receive a distance session in your home consider recreating the environment your Reiki practitioner would have. You may want to set up a diffuser with essential oils. It may be nice to dim the lights as well. most of all, assure that you’re in a comfortable position that you can hold for an hour. I often advise my Reiki class to support their needs with the pillow to elevate the legs. This allows the back to relax. you may also want to gently support the back of your neck and head to keep your spine aligned.
Stress Relief
Most individuals feel a decline in stress at the very beginning of a Reiki session. The basic core of Reiki involves manipulation of energy. This has to be done by slowing down the mind and the breath. I found that even when I’m practicing on individuals that are very uncomfortable physically, the fact that I am in a mindful State helps the client. The Reiki practitioners’ calm state changes the environment completely, and allows for the recipient to relax. This is the initiation of lowering pain levels.
Stress, both acute and chronic, always worsens pain. Chronic stress in particular lower our threshold for pain and increases pain sensitivity. Receiving a Reiki session is relaxing in a similar fashion as a massage.
Delivery of Healing Energy
Reiki channels healing energy to where it’s needed most. This can be directly to the site that is hurting, but most people don’t realize that their chronic pain is usually affecting multiple sites. Many times in traditional medicine we have to focus our therapies to one site of chronic pain but it’s nice to address all of these in a full Reiki session.
One example of this is degenerative disc disease that leads to lumbar radiculopathy. This creates chronic low back pain as well as pain in one or both legs and feet. When I’m treating my patients in the clinic with chronic low back pain most of my therapies are aimed at relieving the pain in the back. There are things I can do to help with the radiculopathy, or pain that radiates down the legs but we primarily have to focus on pain in the lower back.
The energy healing of Reiki can be used directly on the lower back and someone with lumbar disc degeneration. It could also be applied to the legs and feet which are often affected in this type of pain. I’m always fascinated when I’m treating a client this way how they register their pain relief. Because the energy flowing and Reiki is self guided and will go where it’s needed the most often clients report feeling warmth and heat in other parts of their body that I’m not directly treating.
Self Awareness
I feel that the most powerful effect of using Reiki to treat chronic pain is that the receiver is very likely to develop some self-awareness of what’s leading to the chronic pain and what can make it better. The fundamental nature of Reiki treatment is to allow the body to heal itself. Someone that is open to receiving Reiki is often open to other healing modalities as well as what’s to really leading to the cause of their pain. In my Reiki practice, I like to have follow-up in the form of a text or an email. I’m often fascinated that my clients have insight into their pain a few days after their session. This does not mean that they have an immediate cure, but they often know what to do next to help heal themselves. As a practicing physician I know that it is very difficult for someone suffering from pain to be able to think above and beyond the pain you’re feeling. It is such a powerful thing that Reiki can open the door for this.
I am always grateful for your time on my site. If you find any of my resources have been helpful to you, please share with your friends or family.
I’m in the midst of creating much more content, including a book as well as some of my most exciting cornerstone courses for Healing Arts.
0 thoughts on “Using Reiki for Chronic Pain”