Reiki & Worry

Insomnia didn’t just take away sleep time—it added worry time. When I couldn’t sleep, I often would find someone or something to worry over. With my midwifery practice both insomnia and worry were easy pathways to follow.

Reiki helped me through both the worry and the insomnia. This energy healing system from Japan was originated by Dr. Usui in the late 1800’s. “Rei – Kei” means Universal Healing Energy. Through initiation, the channels that carry this energy are opened widely to allow it to flow more freely. It can be focused for specific uses as well—mental /emotional healing and distance healing.

It was the distance healing that came in handy during my night wakings. I promised myself that rather than worrying, which was counterproductive to both sleep and anyone’s well-being, I would send Reiki to the “worry-ee” instead. Permission is necessary for giving Reiki to someone—and my midwifery clients had given me implicit permission do what was helpful to for them and their pregnancy. So, I’d tune into Reiki, invoke the distance healing symbol for them, and send Reiki.

Did my night sessions help? It certainly helped me. While giving Reiki to others it flows through me, filling my energy body with that healing energy. So even if still half awake, I calmed and rested.

Reiki is like food. We take it in and our body does what it naturally does when nourished and working well. Reiki is like sleep. The deep relaxation often accompanying Reiki allows the body to go into deep healing mode. One of the things I like best about Reiki is that it can do no harm.

During prenatal visits, when massaging the woman’s pregnant belly and the baby inside, Reiki would be flowing to them. And at the births, Reiki was filling the room.

The other outstanding phenomenon in my practice after beginning to use Reiki was that babies didn’t have meconium staining in labor. “Mec”, the release of the baby’s bowels, can result from stress. It is not uncommon—except in my midwifery practice. It was so uncommon that, in fact, my apprentices had never practiced the standard procedure of deep suctioning of the baby to prevent aspiration of the meconium when breathing begins. When later my apprentices started attending births with other midwives I was accused of not performing this crucial procedure when needed, since the apprentices didn’t know how to do it. Babies simply didn’t need it. Whether it was the Reiki or some other factor in my practice is hard to discern.

Still, Reiki is such a convenient tool—nothing to carry; no supplies to buy; just initiated hands and the will to share some healing energy.