Reiki Roundup

We begin this week in India, where The Times of India features an article headlined "Reiki: Healing with a miracle touch." The feature is illustrated with a photo of a Reiki session on the floor, with practitioners sitting cross-legged around the recipient, and it includes many of the usual errors, referring to Reiki founder Mikao Usui as a doctor (he wasn't) and stating that "Reiki heals by balancing the chakras of the body." The chakra system, originally from India's ayurvedic medicine, was not originally part of the system of Reiki but was grafted onto some western branches in the late 20th century. Since the chakra system came from India, however, it seems natural for it to have returned there with Reiki. The article also includes this unfortunate whopper: "What is most important to let Reiki work on you and others is to have faith in the technique as your body reacts the way your mind accepts or rejects things." That directly contradicts the words of Usui himself in response to the question, "Does one need to believe in Usui Reiki Ryoho so that an illness can be cured?"

". . . it matters little whether you may doubt . . . For instance, there is a positive effect on those who lack consciousness, such as infants and/or seriously ill patients. Barely one out of ten people trust and esteem my art of healing before they experience it the first time. Most people come to trust suddenly after having received treatment once and acknowledged its effect."

(Translation by Hyakuten Inamoto)

And then of course there's animal Reiki, one of the fastest-growing areas of this practice. Do the animals need to believe in order to benefit?

Next stop: Middlesbrough, U.K., where we meet a civil servant-turned manicurist-turned Reiki practitioner in an article headlined "Healing Hands gain popularity in UK." Britons currently spend more than £130 million annually on alternative health care, the article states, and that number is expected to rise to more than £200 million annually in the next four years. And the UK's National Health Service now spends £50 million a year on complementary therapies, according to the article.

In Leeds, U.K., we find a Reiki practitioner in an article about a plan to help people on incapacity benefits go back to work.

Ode Magazine's web site features an article by Pamir Kiciman of the blog Reiki Help titled "Reiki as consciousness." Pamir sometimes contributes comments to The Reiki Digest as well: you may recall his suggestions about using Reiki to improve fuel efficiency.

In Limerick, Ireland, we meet Damhnait Ni Riordan, a "journeywoman" who practices Reiki, among other things.

And in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, we find Dr. Mary Ann Allison, an oncologist who is also a Reiki practitioner, in the pages of the Review-Journal.

The Chicago Tribune takes us to Bellmore, New York, where an Iraq war veteran who attempted suicide was punished by the U.S. Army for "malingering." The article, headlined "Army's battle: Mental illness," mentions that Reiki and yoga are among the modalities the U.S. military is experimenting with to help troops suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder -- something we featured here in a previous Reiki Roundup.