I was quite delighted to hear Dr. Oz tell his millions of viewers on his show that he, not only, promotes Reiki, but he also believes Reiki to be ,“Ultimately, the most important alternative medical treatment of all.”1 I knew this way before Dr. Oz espoused the healing powers of Reiki. As a practicing Reiki Master with over 20 years experience working in the field of holistic health, I thought it was great that Reiki was getting the recognition that it deserves. I have seen Reiki help people heal their various illnesses, accelerate their healing processes after surgery or recovery from an illness, release stress and blocked energy, reduce pain levels, assist those who have problems getting pregnant and increase energy levels. This is just a short list of what I have seen in practicing Reiki.
What is Reiki? Reiki is a form of energy medicine that balances the body’s energy resulting in healing. It was discovered and taught by Dr. Mikao Usui in Japan in the early 1920s. In the 1930s Hawayo Takata brought Reiki to the western world to her home in Hawaii and she began teaching Reiki in the 1970s.
Whereas, traditional Western medicine treats our biological and chemical body components; Reiki treats the energetic portion of our body. Every cell and the spaces between the cells in your body are filled with energy. When your energy becomes low or blocked in any area disease occurs. Many conditions impact your body’s energy these include diet, lack of exercise, too much stress, drug and alcohol use, anxiety, needing to control, and feeling helpless. Most of the time symptoms do not appear in the body until 2 to 3 years after the situation began. Over this time period when the person is engaged in unhealthy physical or emotional/mental activity the energy reserves diminish or become blocked. There is either no more energy left to support that area or the energy is blocked from flowing to the area. This results in illness. While many of the treatments offered by MDs, specialists, and surgeons treat only the symptoms not the cause of the disease or energy block, Reiki treats both the symptoms and the cause. Overtime, a person receiving Reiki treatments can be completely healed. Reiki has been compared to acupuncture in that it moves the chi (energy) through the body and removes the blocks. With Reiki there are no needles.
Reiki works very well along with traditional medical treatments and therapies. Dr. Oz believes in the healing power of Reiki so much that he allows a Julie Motz, a Reiki practitioner to do Reiki during some of his open heart surgeries. In the book Hands of Life by Julie Motz, she discusses her experiences of going into surgery with Dr. Oz to perform Reiki. She would treat the patient before, during and after surgery to assist their healing journey. I too have had the opportunity to see clients before or right after surgery to perform Reiki. One client was released three days earlier than planned after her surgery. Another client felt so good that she wanted to get up out of her hospital bed after a major surgery. I could see it in her eyes and asked her to just stay in bed and enjoy the energy. She later confirmed to me that she was planning to get up because she felt so energized but decided to follow my advice.
Reiki works really well with people dealing with pain. It has been known to lower pain levels or eliminate the pain altogether. I have seen people leave the hospital without pain medication when it was offered as an option. Reiki can relieve back pain, joint pain and those terrible sinus or migraine headaches. On the Dr. Oz show, Reiki Master Pamela Miles treated a woman with chronic headache issues. The woman who was treated by Pamela sent her an email 2 weeks later to say that her headaches had reduced in intensity and frequency since that one Reiki treatment.2
Most Reiki sessions last about an hour. The client lies comfortably on a massage table or sits in a chair fully dressed. As the client relaxes, the Reiki practitioner lightly touches various parts of the body to allow the Reiki energy to enter the client’s body. Reiki flows to the area that needs the energy. The client may experience heat as the energy flows into the body. Over time the energy will remove the blocks so that the energy can flow to the area that needs healing. When balance is restored, the energy is flowing freely to all parts of the body.
People will ask how many sessions they need in order to be well again. Many people experience benefits during or after their first session. More serious conditions require more time and sessions. Each situation is unique. Many seek Reiki as a part of their wellness plan. They receive a Reiki session once or twice a month to fortify their energetic body and to remove blocks so their body is not impacted by diminished energy. Reiki is a great anti-aging treatment. It works at the cellular level, feeding energy to supports the immune, nervous, cardiovascular, digestion, and all other systems.
In 1986, my 4 year old daughter had cataract surgery on her left eye. When the surgery was completed her vision was 20/400. The doctor promised that in a matter of a year or so her vision would improve and over time it would heal to 20/100 (the best if would ever be). We followed all of the doctor’s orders and my daughter’s vision was not improving. After a year the doctor seemed very concerned. Friends in my office asked me if they could do Reiki on my daughter. They were looking for someone to practice on since no one at that time knew what Reiki was. I gave them permission. At my daughter’s next doctor visit two months later her vision had shown great improvement with an improvement of over 50 points. That is when I chose to learn every that I could about energy medicine and Reiki. Within four years her eye site had improved to 20/50. Twenty-three years later, everyone in our family is a practicing Reiki master. Our lives overflow with Reiki to support our wellness goals, our animals and those we come into touch with. In the words of Dr. Oz, “Try Reiki - this alternative medicine treatment can manipulate your energy and cure what ails you.”
1 YouTube video of Dr. Oz’s talk on Reiki http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPj2uuiReds
2 http://www.reikitimes.com/reiki/video-of-pamela-miles-reiki-on-dr-oz

Author's Bio: 

Dawn Fleming, Energy Expert, Usui and Karuna Reiki Master, Medical Intuitive and Marconics Practitioner. She has been working in the field of energy medicine since 1989. Dawn has clients world-wide. Dawn teaches Reiki workshops and mentors students. She is the author of many books on Reiki. http://www.energytransformations.org