Spiritual Healing and Reiki
This page aims to provide a basic introduction to spiritual healing and to reiki, and some useful contacts for people seeking either further information, or a practitioner. It is pretty much a UK-focused site.
What are they?
Both Reiki and Spiritual Healing are forms of energy healing. They have no connection
with any religion, and require no particular belief system to be held
to be effective. Spiritual Healing is called so because practitioners
see illness as being concerned with more than just the body- we treat
the whole person, and see our clients as spiritual beings. Reiki means 'life energy' and has pretty much the same ethos.
Energy healing is a complementary, rather than an alternative therapy, and can be used safely in conjunction with both homeopathic and traditional medicine. In some places in the UK, GP’s are able to refer patients to healers and reiki practitioners via the National Health Service.
One of the benefits of Energy Healing is that clients don’t actually need to visit a practitioner in person for it to be effective. ‘Distant’ or ‘remote’ treatment can be just as effective. Harry Edwards, one of the most well known and effective of spiritual healers and considered by many people to be the ‘founding father’ of modern healing in the UK, helped many people by this method. At his peak, he received up to nine thousand letters each week from people asking for his help.
How do they work?
Healing with energy is based on the fact that as well as our organic, physical body
we also have a complex energy system, which can become unbalanced or weakened.
Illness becomes apparent in the physical body when a person’s energy system
is ‘out of balance’.
The practitioner acts as a channel between the client and the source of universal energy, re-balancing the person’s energy field, and thus helping the body’s natural healing process to take place.
What happens during a hands-on session?
A session of treatment can last for any length of time between five minutes
and five hours, depending on circumstances. When a practitioner sees
a client, the session generally lasts somewhere between twenty minutes
and an hour; this will vary depending on the individual healer’s
methods and the needs of each client.
At the beginning of the appointment, the healer will note down some information about the client- their address, their doctor’s details, and perhaps any complaints the client is suffering from- the reason for them making the appointment. However, not all healers will take health details down, and clients are certainly not obliged to give any specific information about any conditions they may be suffering. The healing works whether the healer knows what is wrong with the client or not.
If you disclose a particular medical condition, the practitioner may ask whether or not you have seen a doctor. If you have not, they will probably advise you do so.
During the actual treatment, the client removes their shoes and their coat, and either lies on a couch, or sits on a chair. This again depends on the way the practitioner prefers to work, and the preference of the client. The healer then ‘tunes in’ to the healing energy and allows it to flow through them to the client. They may first talk the client through a relaxation exercise or a short visualization, to help them relax.
The treatment may involve placing their hands lightly on the person’s body, or they may work through the client’s energy field some distance from the body, not touching them at all. The client remains fully clothed, and, if lying on the couch, may also be covered by a blanket. During a treatment, clients sometimes remain awake and in a relaxed state and sometimes they drift off to sleep.
After the session
At the end of a treatment, the practitioner will wake the client up, and give
them time to ‘come round’. They may comment on sensations they felt
during the session, or ask for feedback, or if you felt anything in any
particular area. They may also offer you a glass of water to drink.
This helps to dispel any lingering sleepiness, and also helps the healing
process. Drinking more water than usual in the two or three days
after a healing treatment, or during a course of healing is recommended
to aid the process- it helps to flush out any impurities released
by the healing.
In some cases, a client can experience a ‘healing reaction’ after a healing session, when symptoms actually get worse for a few days before getting better. Some people occasionally feel a bit weepy during or directly after a healing session, or may feel very tired the day after a healing. These things are all part of the healing process- the body re-balancing itself if you like- and are nothing to worry about. If you experience anything like this in the two or three days after a session, rest as much as you need to, and drink plenty of water. If you do experience a reaction that you are worried about, don’t be afraid to get in touch with your healer and ask for their advice.
What happens during a distant session?
Distant healers work in a number of different ways. However, the
principles of the treatment are exactly the same as with a hands-on treatment,
in that the healer helps to balance the client’s energy system.
To do this, they ‘tune in’ to the client and send them energy. Some healers like to arrange a specific time with the client, when the client can lie down and relax for twenty minutes or so. Others simply send the energy and trust that the client will receive it at an appropriate time and place. Some healers tune in once a week, others tune in several times a day.
Many healers send energy to all their clients at once, perhaps writing their names on pieces of paper and putting them all in a jam jar or bowl. They then hold the jar and use it as a focus for the healing energies. It seems to make no difference to the strength of the healing when lots of people are sent energy at the same time- there is enough healing energy for everyone to have as much as they need.
Some healers only send distant healing to clients they see in person. Others work with a mixture of distant and hands-on clients, and still others only work with people distantly.
How successful is healing?
Healing is not a ‘miracle cure’, no-one can say whether or not healing
treatments will help a client. This is dependent on the condition,
and above all on the client themselves. If the condition is caused
by a long-term imbalance in the client’s energy field, then it may take
a number of sessions before improvement is seen. Sometimes, the
imbalance is of such long standing that the condition will never be completely
cleared.
On the other hand, some people notice significant and sustained improvement after one or two sessions. It is generally wise to have at least three or four sessions before deciding that the treatment isn’t working for you. It is also worth mentioning that people respond to different healers differently. If you feel that you are not ‘clicking’ with one healer, that you don’t have a comfortable rapport, then you might find that changing to a different healer would be beneficial.
What is it good for?
The results of treatment can be quite different from what the client expects
when they start on a series of sessions. I feel that people always
get something from healing, whether or not it is what they came for initially-
for example, they may come for arthritis, and find that although the healing
doesn’t help that complaint, their headaches clear up. I also feel
that healing can offer help to people with ‘incurable’ conditions;
although healers never promise ‘miracle cures', healing can help with pain
relief and the side effects of drug treatments and chemotherapy.
In addition, healing often seems to help people’s mental attitude to chronic
or terminal illness.
The range of conditions treated by healers is very wide, including M.E., irritable bowel, arthritis, migraine, depression, stress, sports injuries, back pain and insomnia. I feel that everybody can benefit from healing - one of it’s most profound effects is a sense of extreme relaxation, which means that it can be particularly good for stress related problems. Many people come to see a healer simply because they feel that they need to relax. At it’s most basic level, this regular relaxation provided by healing allows the body to heal itself.
Finding a Practitioner
Many healers belong to one of the various organisations for practitioners. These organisations should be able
to put you in touch with healers locally. Some healing organisations
run voluntary drop-in clinics or centres on a regular basis; many
have stands at local alternative health or living events.
However, many excellent healers do not belong to any of these organisations, and are very good at what they do. Ask around, and be guided by word of mouth; a few GP’s will be able to refer their patients to a healer; some will at least give contact details of local organisations. Alternative health and lifestyle magazines may have advertisements in them, as could new age or health food shops.
Cost of a treatment
Some healers work for free, particularly those who do distant work.
Others charge in the region of £100 a session.
Many healers take the view that although the source of the energy that they work with is free, their time has a value; and so they charge accordingly. Some will use a sliding scale of fees dependent on people’s ability to pay. As a rough guide, various healers I know of charge; £3 for a half hour session to people of low income; through £10 for a three quarter hour session; to £30 for an hour. I feel that these are all reasonable charges.
Reiki practitioners tend to believe that there should be an 'exchange' in return for reiki treatment. This is based on the feeling that people value something more if it has not come to them 'free'. The exchange can be monetary - ie, people pay for reiki, as above; or it can be for time or other services. For example, when I have needed treatment myself, I have swapped both typing and website design for reiki, on an hour-for-an-hour basis. A practitioner-friend of mine was once paid for treatment in home-made lemon curd.
Currently I ask people to donate a rough approximation of their hourly income in exchange for each session of treatment (or each week of distant healing). I feel that this allows people on a low income or sickness benefit not to feel that they cannot affort to come; it also puts a value on my time, which is important for me. I am also open to offers of non-monetary exchange.
Healing Organisations in the UK
There are a number of different healing organisations in the UK.
The largest of these is currently the National
Federation of Spiritual Healers (NFSH). There are
a number of other organisations which come under the auspices of the Confederation
of Healing Organisations (CHO) which is a body which aims to provide dialogue, co-ordination of information and standardisation of training.
Reiki practitioners are quite fragmented - reiki is quite a 'young' therapy in the UK, probably only fifteen or twenty years old. Regulatory bodies are therefore less establised and there are quite a few of them, with very slightly differing practices and procedures. The UK Reiki Regulatory Working Group is made up of quite a few organisations that are working towards common professional standards. They maintain a list of participating groups.
All organisations should provide a code of conduct and training and support for members. In many cases they also provide insurance for practitioners.
I'd like to learn!
Anyone can do healing and/or reiki. Some people are more immediately comfortable at it than others and the more you do it, the better you get at it.
If you'd like to learn about spiritual healing, the best place to start is probably the NationalFederation of Spiritual Healers (NFSH). I am happy to recommend them as I did my own training with them; although of course there are many other organisations who I am sure do equally well. The NFSH run regular courses, some over weekends, from 'absolute beginner level'.
Learning reiki is slightly different, in that there is a very clear structure of tuition. Students start with a 'Level 1' attunement and then spend some time practicing on friends, family and pets before they go on to do a 'Level 2', which is a practioner-level. They can then progress to a 'Level 3' attunement, which means that they are a 'Reiki Master' and can attune others. Sometimes the Level 3 is split in to two parts, a 'Master-Practitioner' and a 'Master-Teacher'.
There are also a lot of other variants of reiki. Some people perceive reiki as a very money-oriented practice, as sometimes the fees for attunements can be quite high. The principle of 'fair exchange' is one of the key principles, so DO expect to pay (or exchange something) for training; however, I personally would be wary about people who charge a great deal. I would also be wary of people who offer all the attunements at once; I think there is more benefit from doing them step-by-step and gaining experience as one goes along. However, that's just my opinion and as with all things in this area, it is important to do things in the right way for you. Basically, find someone you feel comfortable with and who will offer you post-attunement support if you need it. Personal recommendation is probably the best way, but The Reiki Association also offers a (non-accredited) list of their Master-Members offering attunements.
If you offer healing training or reiki attuments, please feel free to contact me and I will link to you.
©2001 and 2006
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