Reiki Roundup

With more than 4,000 U.S. troops killed in Iraq in the past five years, and thousands more returning home injured and traumatized, the American military is beginning to consider what Wired magazine's Noah Shachtman calls "wild-sounding" therapies such as qigong and Reiki to help Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans deal with post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries. But first, they want to do some research, so the Army is offering $4 million, to start with, for preliminary clinical studies. The deadline for proposals is May 15.

Next stop, Warwickshire, U.K., where we find a wonderful story about a little boy who loves both Reiki and Star Wars and sees a connection between the two. When he's sick, he says, "Use the Force, Mummy," and his mother gives him Reiki. Too bad the article is marred by the all-too-common misinformation: it refers to Mikao Usui as a doctor (he wasn't) and says Reiki is an ancient healing art he "redeveloped."

For today only, do not anger: Also in the U.K., the Mental Health Foundation warns that anger leads to many serious health and societal problems, and asks for more research, education, and early intervention, the BBC reports.

"When I saw her, it was like the sun shining," says a recovering cancer patient in St. Albans, U.K., about her Reiki therapist.

And finally, Carver, Massachusetts, U.S.A., where a group of practitioners get a very nice writeup in the local paper on their wellness center grand opening. Here's something we haven't seen before in one of these articles: "Both are licensed massage therapists and are trained in Reiki principles." Nice to see some emphasis on the Reiki principles, however.