I started working with cancer patients back during my Reiki Master Training in California. It included volunteering in the Breast Cancer Resource Center in Santa Barbara. A team of Reiki Masters and practitioners would offer relief, comfort, healing and hope to breast cancer battlers on an ongoing basis.
Patients were at all stages of cancer progression and some would come week after week, using Reiki integral to their overall recovery program.
Later on, cancer patients also entered my Reiki practice in Canada. It became increasingly clear that cancer patients have more access to Reiki when using distance healing treatment: they could receive it just before chemo, right after chemo, and any other time when they would feel weak and sick. Reiki would alleviate their side-effects of chemo and medication, and help strengthen their overall immune system to restore health and help restore balance.
Therefore, I was delighted when being approached by Emily Walsh, Outreach Director for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance, based in Connecticut, who wanted to share her experience & expertise of how Reiki works for cancer patients:
The Benefits of Reiki as a Complementary Cancer Therapy
Now regarded as a quality treatment program by such previous skeptics as the American Cancer Society, Reiki is getting the attention it deserves concerning its application as a panacea to a variety of bodily ills. Partially in thanks to the work and authority of Dr. Mehmet Oz, sufferers of cancer can now benefit from Reiki’s many effects on bodily dysfunction and stress reduction, to provide themselves a low key way of relieving their symptoms and suppressing cancer growth.
Previously seen in light of the predominance for cancer patients to require invasive, chemical, and highly technological methods of treatment, lack of touching and the idea behind Reiki barred its entry into the halls of higher medicine for quite some time.
Not surprisingly, however, it is this facet of the amazing healing tool that is perhaps the most appealing to cancer patients. Weeks, months, or even years of harsh treatments make the need for a non-invasive, relaxing and effective treatment regimen all the greater.
Combining these non-invasive qualities of Reiki with its ability to reduce the discomfort and suffering of cancer patients, makes it an easy choice when deciding on its use as a complementary treatment program.
Many patients find that Reiki eases their nausea, most especially after chemotherapy, and prefer it to addling their livers with another pill or medicine designed to reduce chemotherapy related sickness.
This advice is not to be taken lightly, as the often daunting amount of medication taken during cancer, whether it be for direct treatment or symptom relief, takes its toll on the liver after time, and many cancer survivors struggle with this reality even after remission.
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The benefits of Reiki on the body, and more acutely, on a cancer sufferer, do not hinge solely on comfort, however, and the real life efficacy of a qualified Reiki practitioner has been shown to consistently reduce inflammation in the body. From mesothelioma to even blood cancers such as lymphoma, the main culprit in contributing to the growth and spread of cancer is rampant inflammation.
Using Reiki to reduce the stress levels in the body, and to align the spiritual chakras, has been scientifically proven to stimulate the vagus nerve. This nerve is the often touted mind-body connection that has been tapped into by yogis and meditation masters for centuries, and vagus nerve stimulation, whether electrical or through holistic therapies such as Reiki, effectively reduces inflammation.
Reducing chronic levels of inflammation in the body influences life expectancy and quality of health in so many ways that one could easily fill a book on the subject. From overall quality of life, to the real age your body shows due to wear and tear, reduced levels of inflammation effectively control your overall health and can be the deciding factor in a number of other illnesses as well, such as heart disease and diabetes.
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Emily Walsh is a cancer advocate, freelance writer and Outreach Director for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance. She is passionate about helping cancer patients discover holistic methods to alleviate the emotional and physical distress that accompanies a serious illness.