by Patty Nuovo, L.M.T., C.F.P.

"Reiki is a tool of personal transformation. Each time an individual gives or receives Reiki, or is attuned to Reiki, the shifts in that individual’s energy field and consciousness ultimately have an effect on the mass consciousness and the unified field.” —Francesca Fasano, Reiki Master

For the past 10 years of being a co-director and instructor at a massage school, I have a greater awareness that any form of bodywork is all about energy. There are techniques, positions, modalities, relaxation and healing. Yet, in the long run, the common denominator is that it’s all about the energy: the energy of the practitioner and the energy of the client.

There are so many similarities to the practitioner’s hand positions between reiki and Therapeutic Touch that I immediately saw the application for reiki in massage therapy. For those circumstances and areas for which massage therapy may be contraindicated, reiki can go where massage may not. Therefore, the use of reiki with massage therapy can greatly benefit clients.

I have recommended students to open and close their massage therapy sessions with reiki. Not only is it effective to the client, it is beneficial to helping the massage therapist recharge.

Reiki is a natural method of healing and self-improvement that can benefit everyone. It has shown to be effective in helping illnesses and maladies, and also works in conjunction with other medical or therapeutic techniques to relieve side effects and promote recovery. A recent article published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, titled "Effects of Reiki on Autonomic Activity Early After Acute Coronary Syndrome," by Rachel S.C. Friedman, Matthew M. Burg, Pamela Miles, Forrester Lee and Rachel Lampert, stated:

“In the above study, published in one of the most prestigious peer-reviewed conventional medical journals, patients who received a 20-minute Reiki treatment within three days after suffering a heart attack showed improved mood and heart rate variability (HRV).”

The ability to use reiki is not taught in the usual sense, but is transferred to the student during a reiki class. This ability is passed on during an “attunement” given by a Reiki Master and allows the student to tap into an unlimited supply of life-force energy to improve one's health and enhance

What sets reiki apart from other touch therapies is the attunement process. During attunements, there are various stages of energy amplification, which is why reiki is divided into three levels. Because each level of reiki increases a person’s vibratory rate, it is good to allow a sufficient period of time in order to adjust to the higher vibration and the sloughing off of the old patterns before progressing to the next level of reiki. The attunements affect each individual differently, depending upon that person’s vibratory rate at the time of the attunements. If you have already spent time on your inner wellness, personal growth and expanding your awareness, the attunements will provide a quantum leap in your personal and spiritual growth. However, the expansion of energy will be relative to the level you start from; therefore, you will never receive more than you can handle.

Reiki goes beyond the level of gross physiology and conventional medicine. It is able to access the power available at the quantum level of existence, which is much greater than that found at the grosser levels. We are all energetic beings vibrating at a level which manifests as physical density. However, since our true essence is energy, then we continually have energy running through us.

Deepak Chopra has helped people understand how Reiki truly works through his explanation of quantum healing. The difference between a person attuned to reiki and one who is not can be easily explained: A laser and a flashlight both utilize light; however, the laser takes the same light, and by organizing it into a coherent quantum vibration, boosts its power enough to cut through steel. Someone who is not attuned to reiki is like the flashlight whose band of light is much more spread out, and a person attuned to reiki is like the laser.

The combination of reiki and massage therapy provides a partnership toward wellness.

Patricia C. Nuovo, L.M.T., N.D., Reiki Master, C.F.P., is a business and ethics instructor at Sky Hill Institute in Petaluma, California. She is a financial wellness consultant and holds workshops on abundance, spirituality, health and wellness in the U.S. and Canada. She can be reached via e-mail at pcnuovo@yahoo.com or via her website, http://pattynuovo.googlepages.com.

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