Laying on of hands is a widely practiced healing ritual in numerous religious and spiritual traditions, including Chinese therapies like acupuncture. Furthermore, it’s an integral component of several energy healing techniques that have been scientifically tested as being successful.
Healing Touch, a noninvasive energy therapy often used as an adjunctive medical treatment for pain and stress management, recognizes an energetic field surrounding the body as well as energy centers within.
Reiki
Reiki energy healing involves transmitting healing energy from practitioner to recipient through their hands, with their bodies then absorbing it and restoring balance. Practitioners believe there is an energy flow through all living things which disrupts when disease strikes, giving rise to illness as a result.
Reiki sessions typically last anywhere from 30 to 80 minutes and should be done while lying down. Hospital sessions tend to be shorter due to time restrictions and to avoid interfering with medical treatment plans. Reiki practitioners frequently combine it with other forms of energy medicine or therapies for maximum effect.
At each session, patients lie comfortably on a padded table topped with blankets and pillows, closing their eyes to relax as a practitioner moves his/her hands over various parts of their bodies to focus on areas of tension. Patients may feel warmth from his or her hand or energy moving through them as energy passes.
Reiki can do more than reduce stress and pain; it can also heal physical problems and enhance overall well-being. According to one 2015 study, researchers discovered that women receiving Reiki in addition to standard medical treatment experienced less post-cesarean section pain and anxiety as well as taking less analgesic painkillers and having lower heart rates and blood pressure than the control group.
Energy therapies like Reiki are increasingly being offered in hospital settings as gentle, noninvasive alternatives to medications with side effects that may include adverse reactions and potential risks. But patients must remember that Reiki does not treat diseases; rather it serves as an energy therapy practice and should never replace medical advice from medical providers.
The body is comprised of pathways and energy centers known as meridians and chakras that when out of balance can result in illness. Reiki practitioners use palms of their hands to move energy through meridians and chakras in order to rebalance them; studies conducted after receiving Reiki treatments reported decreased pain, anxiety and improved mood from receiving treatments.
Jin Shin Jyutsu
Jin Shin Jyutsu is an ancient Japanese healing art designed to harmonize and energize the body, using hands to release energy blockages and restore balance to health. Commonly referred to as “the gentle touch that heals”, its practitioner contacts 26 safety energy locks – energy pathways that concentrate and redirect vital energy – stimulating proper circulation; using specific finger and toe sequences called flows for each safety energy lock contact can awaken these pathways and revive them.
During a session, clients remain fully clothed and relaxed on a treatment table or mat. The practitioner starts by compassionately listening and asking some questions before taking their pulse before using light touches across 26 “Safety Energy Lock Points”, similar to Acupuncture Acupoints, to find areas of blocked energy and clear pathways and improve overall energy flow.
Example of Treatment Areas and Feet : Thumb, Stomach and Spleen) Forefinger Fear Middle Finger Anger Ring Finger Support Sadness Pinky Finger Nervousness The treatment also applies to Knuckles Wrist and Feet
Non-invasive work like massage therapy is extremely flexible, as it can be performed anywhere and at any time – even on intensive care patients and children. Massage can provide much-needed stress relief during chronic or terminal illness treatments and aid with general wellness goals.
Jin Shin Jyutsu is an integrative practice, harnessing an individual’s inherent ability to heal themselves while aiding them in finding balance across all areas of their life. With an emphasis on self-care and empowerment for greater responsibility and engagement in their own health and well-being, it serves as an invaluable complement to traditional medicine or alternative healing approaches and can provide holistic practitioners with invaluable tools in their healing practice. Creating regular self-care routines are an integral component of holistic approaches; Susie enjoys sharing this practice through teaching simple hand movements that anyone can perform.
Medical Qigong
Medical Qigong (pronounced chee-gong) is one of the most effective energy healing practices available and can support your own natural ability to heal. Through movements, breathing techniques, and visualization exercises it balances and improves the flow of Qi (life force energy), or vital energy circulating throughout all living things that regulates their function and regulates healing within them. When your Qi is in equilibrium it allows your body to heal itself and prevent disease.
Medical Qigong is founded on the idea of Yin and Yang, two opposing forces found everywhere in nature including yourself and your body. When these opposing forces are balanced, health benefits accrue, but when imbalanced can have detrimental consequences. When in balance, balance can lead to optimal physical and energetic wellbeing whereas any imbalance can have devastating results. Balance may be restored via various methods like acupuncture, herbs or Tuina bodywork; medical Qigong offers another effective means for directly impacting and channeling Qi for therapeutic benefit.
Medical Qigong sessions typically involve lying fully clothed on a comfortable couch while your practitioner uses various “off the body” techniques to balance and stimulate your energy systems and natural healing mechanisms. Your practitioner can also prescribe specific medical Qigong exercises designed specifically to address your health challenges.
Medical qigong practitioners can work with your energy anatomy to clear emotional/mental blocks and create new imprints that support healing. Many health problems stem from long-standing emotional suppression; symptoms often manifest physically as illness. Medical qigong practitioners utilize personal process therapy and exercises such as dry crying or beating the bag to address these emotional issues, as well as holistic approaches such as healing hands to provide effective energy medicine treatments.
Healing Touch
Healing touch is an alternative form of energy therapy that uses gentle hand techniques to create a more harmonious energy field in the body, supporting its inherent ability to self heal. It has proven successful as an adjunct therapy alongside conventional medical care.
Practitioners believe that people are born with natural, healthy energy fields; however, as time progresses physical or emotional ailments can disrupt this flow, and practitioners use their hands to direct healing energy away from any obstructions that block it and restore proper flow. Practitioners use healing touch as one method for doing this – their hands may move over the body or be held lightly above. One nurse theorist named Martha Rogers believed that all living things exchange energy between each other as well as with their environment to work toward an ideal world order.
While their client lies comfortably in their chair, a practitioner moves their hands over their energy field or body. The movement may feel nothing, or may cause heat or tingling sensations. Furthermore, the practitioner may press gently on specific energy centers known as chakras to clear and balance energies.
Healing touch sessions may help stimulate the immune system, reduce pain, and support natural body processes. According to the Healing Touch Foundation, sessions have proven successful at stimulating immunity, relieving nausea in cancer patients, soothing anxiety in children with behavioral issues, reducing symptoms of PTSD in military veterans and deepening spiritual connections for healthcare providers – as well as encouraging a more holistic approach.
Experts warn that healing touch should not replace traditional medical treatments, and may conflict with certain medications or energy therapies. Therefore, it is recommended that any prospective clients consult their physician prior to trying this therapy and it should also not be received while pregnant or breastfeeding.