Reiki Healing and Cancer

If you are like most cancer patients, you are looking for hope, looking for relief, looking to partake in your plan of care and not just sit on the sidelines filled with worry between appointments. One of the best ways to participate in your cancer healing is to experience some Reiki treatments and learn how to do them for yourself.

There is a divine force through all things, and the Reiki technique taps into healing energy from that source and applies it through touch. It is a gift from God, just like the air in our lungs, the beautiful sunrise, etc. You can learn to feel this healing force with your hands and apply it through touch to promote health. Anyone may use this method for individualized healing and wellness.

This technique, particularly for cancer patients, comfortably soothes and supports healing, quiets anxiety, eases symptoms of pain, boosts energy levels, eases nausea and depressed mood, and reduces one’s feeling of hopelessness. The deep relaxation effect of touch alone conveys warmth and acceptance, boosts the immune system, and improves well-being in body-mind-spirit. I have found, most of all, Reiki gives one a meaningful spiritual tool to be empowered to take an active role in one’s own healing process and overall health. To help people reduce stress is valuable, but to help people feel the healing current through the hands is remarkable!

Even in the midst of a terrifying diagnosis of cancer and a treatment regimen that is hard to tolerate, even if one is not cured, one may be filled with integrity and with peace. I have found that marrying the component of one’s spiritual health to one’s overall wellness should always be nurtured and supported in all healthcare settings.

Reiki Benefit in Patients

Since 2008, I have worked with many clients, including those with cancer. I let them know Reiki is a health method that is complementary to traditional therapies for cancer, not a replacement. I do not diagnose, treat, prescribe or interfere with the treatment of a licensed medical professional. Because of U.S. HIPAA(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) laws that provide medical information privacy and because I am a registered nurse, I will only list first names of my clients for confidentiality purposes. Here are some of my cancer cases:

• I taught Reiki to Linda, a client with lung cancer. The healing effects she experienced were all of those listed above. In addition, she experienced a deepened spiritual connection, easier breathing and lung expansion, decreased stress and anxiety, better sleep and increased energy. She also performed Reiki on herself daily while undergoing radiation treatments. This helped to provide her with calm, ease and trust in the overall process.
• I taught Reiki to Joanne, a client with breast cancer. The healing effects she experienced were all of the above listed. In addition, she experienced a deepened spiritual connection, a feeling of acceptance for herself and others and greater well-being. Moreover, she experienced a heightened sense of self-worth which helped her take an active part in self-care and in her cancer treatments. She had less pain and irritability, more restful sleep, and greater clarity of what in her lifestyle was contributing to cancer.
• I performed Reiki sessions on Jonnie, a client with ovarian cancer. After her surgery, she experienced all the above benefits plus a dramatic effect of decreased pain at her incision site, better digestion, and a balance of emotions related to her cancer diagnosis. Before Reiki, she explained she was “a tornado of raw emotions, one minute crying, the other yelling at someone.” After Reiki, she explained her sessions as “feeling like being in the womb again, feeling safe, free of pain and balanced.”
• I taught Reiki to Jo, a former breast cancer patient. She explained Reiki as “flooding my body with God’s ray of love, healing, acceptance just for me. In that, I have accepted myself, others in their journey, my journey, recognizing and ridding the toxic in my life (people and things), helping me to relax, let go and trust more.”
• I performed Reiki on Carol. She came to me after breast cancer surgery because her family wanted her to. She only recognized this tool for relaxation, nothing else. After a few sessions over a period of a few weeks, she said she felt “deeply relaxed, nothing else.” While I trust she received all that she needed that felt comfortable to her, this reminded me to let all know that this therapy responds equally to the receptivity of the client, giving and resulting accordingly. A client is always in control of her/his own health process and the practitioner is a mere vessel.

I still continue to delight in providing gentle, nurturing sessions/classes for cancer patients (or anyone). Cancer involves being poked and prodded with needles, undergoing stressful tests and worry-filled days for patients and for family. This non-invasive therapy offers someone who walks in with fatigue, low mood, pain and anxiety an opportunity to leave with a sense of peace and a feeling of being refreshed and renewed. More importantly, when our bodies deeply relax and rest, healing can occur on a cellular level. That brings me peace!

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Missie Mellen, RN, BSN is a registered nurse and Reiki Master-Teacher from Clarkston, MI. She is also certified through BeatCancer.org as a Holistic Cancer Coach. Missie has offered reiki sessions to clients since 2008 and has been teaching reiki therapy since 2010. She can be reached on the web at missiemellenRN.weebly.com, by email at Missiemellen@gmail.com and by phone at 248.672.3527.

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