Reiki and Anxiety and Depression
By Karen J. Gordon

When we speak about Reiki in relationship to any medically or self diagnosed condition, it's important to remember that the essence of Reiki is about bringing balance to the whole person, and is not about treating a specific illness or state. Reiki practitioners are not trained to diagnose and therefore do not, by definition, treat a specific condition. The role of a practitioner is simply to make the connection with the Reiki, thereby allowing the energy to be effectively utilized by the client.

I emphasize the point in this particular article because clinical depression is not something to be taken lightly. Although we find the term depression used generically to define many emotional states including sadness, grieving, and mood swings-any of which might come and go-clinical depression is persistent and serious.

In this article we'll share stories and experiences from practitioners who've used Reiki with anxiety and depression. Reiki is often used in conjunction with conventional medicine, and these stories are not meant to take the place of medical consultation and/or intervention when indicated.

One of the most common experiences people have in a Reiki session is relaxation. They often say they feel less stressed out and more calm. Trish Phetteplace, a Second Degree practitioner in Eugene, Oregon, uses Reiki in the workplace in times of stress and anxiety. She utilizes the form of Reiki called self-treatment which is taught at the First Degree level.

"Before I go into a meeting," Phetteplace says, "I use Reiki to get to a place of relaxation and calm. The Reiki helps me to feel that everything is 'right with the world.' I try to remember to use Reiki in any situation that produces personal anxiety. I especially find it useful if I have to speak before a group. I find that the hand positions over my solar plexus and abdomen are relaxing.

The head positions help me focus and have clarity. By doing this, my breathing becomes slower and deeper, my anxiety decreases, and I can find the place within myself that allows me to release my illusion of 'control' and give over to the 'highest good' of the situation. I have used this technique with job interviews, facilitating meetings, talking with friends and family who are in crisis, and just about any situation that produces personal anxiety."

Pamela Pearce, a Second Degree practitioner currently living in Eugene, Oregon, believes that anxiety and depression are often the underlying causes of secondary physical illnesses and conditions. When clients have come to her with these pervasive issues, she's used Reiki with success. "I once had a client in Santiago who was sent to me by her sister after she had received four Reiki sessions herself. This client, who was suffering from a deep depression and also anxiety, began her first session by telling me that she had tried everything to relax; she said 'even Yoga did not work.'

"She then informed me that she would probably not be able to lie still for an hour and that she could not say if she would even stay for the entire session. I began, I must admit a little concerned, but I lowered my hands to the first position, then the second, and just as I began the third position, I heard that all too common sound during Reiki-Snoring! Yes, she was snoring and of course relaxed deeply for the entire session and all of the following sessions."

Reiki is often used as a complementary therapy to conventional medicine. Lucy Viamonte, a Reiki Master in Easton, Maryland, was recently asked about the use of Reiki for a young person diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and whether using Reiki would affect the medicine. "My answer was that Reiki wouldn't affect the medicine, it would complement it," Viamonte said. "Many times with the use of Reiki and conventional medicines what does occur is that the patient will need the medicine less, but then needs to be monitored because of that fact-Reiki is balancing the patient's system on all levels."

Viamonte continues, "I believe Reiki works very well with the mental and emotional bodies in a person due to the vast network of the nervous system which involves all the meridians within our entire circulatory system. Reiki can run through our physical body much like our life blood does, but it's within our energy system that the pure Reiki energy moves.

"What we must also realize is that oftentimes depression and anxiety disorders are mainly from a physical imbalance, not excluding by any means the mind/emotions/spiritual and environmental influences. It's usually a big combo of disorder in varying degrees. Through a treatment, Reiki affects all of it. Reiki can help us come to terms with any mental/emotional issue, no matter the severity or subtlety of it. But its use should be frequent until results are apparent."

Many people live with anxiety and depression for years. Upasana Grugan, a Reiki Master in Eugene, Oregon, says, "Reiki has brought back life and joy and hope to people who are hopeless." She tells a story about her own mother who was hospitalized for periodic depression. "The prescribed anti-depressants weren't working well, and she spiraled down into a dark hole. For ten days she was in the hospital; at one point she even underwent shock treatment.

Mother was a walking zombie. After her discharge, she was unable to function on her own. Because I was at the time teaching Reiki out of the country, I felt I needed to try and stabilize her condition before I left on my travels.

"I began a four-day series of treatments. On the second day, she was sleeping through the night, something she hadn't done for months before. On the third day, she was happy and expressive. On the fourth day, she seemed back to her normal self, was sleeping well, and was coherent and social. On the fifth day, after our Reiki sessions had ended, Mother was able to travel.

I took her to Mexico where she stayed with my in-laws and I continued on to Columbia to teach. I watched my mother change from a dependent, uninvolved, and unenthusiastic woman back to her independent, active, high-spirited self. It was a dramatic recovery and even though I'd already been practicing and teaching Reiki for many years, this was dramatic for me to witness."

People who suffer from anxiety and depression may find that Reiki helps to relieve their symptoms. Whether in self-treatment or through receiving treatments from a Reiki practitioner, this modality has been shown to be an effective form of natural healing.

© 2005 Karen J. Gordon