Reiki - Energy As Medicine

With such a large categories as "energy" and "medicine" it's not surprising the Wikipedia definition has two different meanings: energy medicine that's known to humankind - "veritable" (with that they mean souped up that science has verified) as well as medicine which has not been confirmed by science - "putative". Energy such as electromagnetism would fall in the former category while Reiki energy and those of other complementary alternative medicines (CAM as defined through the National Institutes of Health) fall in the latter. There's no doubt that science defines us for all of us and helps us to make a sense the seemingly inexplicable in our lives. We need science and its particular smarts to stay discovering the as-yet-undiscoverable as we always evolve as a species on the earth. At the same time frame, considered one of my personal favorite quotes by among the world's most popular scientists leads me to think that humankind has to take a leap of faith where as-yet-unverifiable energy is involved:
"It is better to think than disbelieve; in doing so you bring everything on the realm of possibility." - Albert Einstein
Before science laid bare the intricate workings in the body system we treated ourselves with techniques including leeches (still used today) and blood-letting (thankfully anything with the past). We used plants along with their properties to treat our illnesses and injuries: honey for burns, birch bark for salicylic acid, compresses of arnica for healing list really is endless. Although some of the continue to be used today their use was subjugated from the emerging pharmaceutical industry and traditional medicine - read more about that later. The level of knowledge we have today about how precisely the physical body works is staggering and yet natural meats be moving our own selves towards extinction being a species because of such things as obesity. The World Health Organization offers these facts:
*Key facts


Worldwide obesity has a lot more than doubled since 1980.

In 2008, 1.5 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight. Of these over 200 million men and nearly 300 million women were obese.

65% of the world's population lives in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight.

Nearly 43 million children under the age of five were overweight this season.

Obesity is preventable.


How one thing we're a great deal smarter than our ancestors yet so dumb at the same time?! It seems as if the plethora of choices we've has succeeded in removing and insulating/isolating us from the very essence of ourselves. This essence along with the wisdom with the physical body has become removed from us when both of these things need most to be kept near and close by.
At the same time we were exploring and exploding certain myths regarding the body of a human - how can reproduction occur, what purpose does the mind serve whether it's the center that keeps blood circulating and the body physically functioning, how come we now have 2 of something (kidneys, lungs, ovaries, testes) and only considered one of other things (stomach, heart, liver) I have a very hunch we were moving further away in the essence from the physical body. That as-yet-unverified form of energy where our bodies depends to heal itself after a personal injury or illness remained elusive from our most probing scientists and tests although which may be changing. Depending upon what culture you prefer this essence or life force energy has different names: ki, chi, or prana for starters.
I think it's fascinating that the more something is invisible to humankind the harder we resist its existence. We are so influenced by your own five senses and science to describe to us via those five senses whatever we can't see, hear, smell, feel, or taste within our world. Heaven help a thing that isn't perceived through those senses - for example ki - because we doubt its existence. Moreover, when something profound and easy is discovered you will find there's rush to "technologize" whatever it is making it complex. When science was able to unlock the mysteries of why certain plants worked to aid the physical body in recovery from illness or injury there were a rush to isolate a very small piece - sometimes a few cells - from the active part in the plant and artificially replicate that part. The result being that we began treating our the signs of disease via non-organic means sufficient reason for drugs that could be produced in higher quantities having a large profit for drug companies as well as unintended side effects. This is the not-so-nice portion of science - if it works on this small way let's allow it to be bigger so that it can work in a greater way - better isn't necessarily part of this equation.
Fortunately, we are coming full circle although not quite returning to blood-letting in terms of science and medicine. **A 2007 study from the National Institutes of Health Complementary and Alternative Medicine states that 38% of adults inside the US had tried some form of CAM. That means 1.2 million folks who suffer from awakened on the idea that the physical body's capable of assisting traditional medicine while using self-healing process and in fact, the self-healing process begins and ends with the physical body. We would be foolish to overlook the quantity of knowledge gathered on the centuries about science and medicine and what works/what doesn't. That being said, it is time for science to yet again train it's microscope for the most elusive of all physical traits - life force energy - to confirm for humankind what we've already sensed and experienced: this self-healing energy is simply as real and valid because medicine given using a syringe and most times, much less painful. Certainly, energy medicine techniques like acupuncture have been established for thousands of years though haven't got into Western medicine like a viable treatment modality. Again, because with the allegedly invisible energy pathways - meridians - which might be the muse of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) the majority of scientists choose - yes, choose - to dismiss the substance and effect of acupuncture on the physical body. Those times are about to change in a big way, gentle reader.
There's so much research taking place in this area it's impossible to read all of it here. Suffice it to say where Reiki especially can be involved the US Army has made it section of its Warriors Resilience Program at Fort Bliss. Yale studied the end results of Reiki on cardiac event patients and found that Reiki improved heart rate variability -time between heart beats. Reiki is utilized in over 800 US hospitals today and the International Society for that Study of Subtle Energy and Energy Medicine has developed entire academic programs around the research into life force energy.
These advances in the two use of and research of "eden Energy Medicine practitioners medicine"will bring us full circle and time for our personal essence and wisdom from the body. It's only a matter of time before "ki"is verified by science and something more as-yet-undiscoverable item may be believed and moved into the realm of possibility. I fear that when science gets your hands on this effervescent spring of one's it may well attempt to clone it, develop alternatives and/or drugs that replicate its effects. Is it truly impossible for science to simply look for a lynchpin of humankind leave you choose?
I can't help but wonder, though, if we'll have a harder time relocating the trust that we once suffered from within our own bodies as well as inherent wisdom. We are so conditioned to seeking the answer away from ourselves and through below authentic means most of us stopped searching inward to the answers we as individuals seek in addition to healing paths for cultures and world. I do have hope that through individual Reiki sessions this trust will surface again. As many lots more people discover the life tool that's Reiki I have hope this rising tide of energetic body-centered medicine will swell and gently sweep away everything that doesn't serve our highest purpose. In its place will be peace, love and compassion for ourselves and to the rest of the world.
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