Reiki Roundup

Breaking news: Reiki was found to reduce anxiety and lessen the need for pain medication in colonoscopy patients, according to a study in the February 2010 issue of Gastroenterology Nursing magazine.

Rochester, New York: Women who came for free mammograms on Saturday at Highland Breast Imaging Center also got Reiki sessions.

Colorado Springs, Colorado: Hospital volunteers in the No One Dies Alone program bring human companionship to the dying, and one of them offers some Reiki as well.

Denver, Colorado: Reiki is among the modalities mentioned in a Denver Post article on dealing with back pain.

Portland, Maine: A local television station reports that "Cancer Patients benefit from Reiki Massage." Reiki is NOT massage, it isn't thousands of years old, it isn't from Tibet, and it doesn't involve the practitioner channeling her own energy -- but aside from those all-too-common errors, it's a good report, especially the part where the cancer patient talks about how Reiki has helped her.

Airdrie, Alberta, Canada: A skeptic gets a Reiki session, as well as these wise words, from a local Reiki practitioner: "You don't have to understand how it works for it to work."