Caring Palms Massage and Reiki Newsletter

I have been saying for years that eastern medicine and western medicine need to come together. I think the most important part of that is that western medicine needs to look at eastern techniques and accept them, or at least study them so there is an understanding of what they are and can do.

Right now, there is a general acceptance of acupuncture (which is an ancient healing art). This was not true many years ago. In the 60s when we first saw acupuncture, we all just felt that it was crazy. We saw surgeons doing operations and using acupuncture to block nerves and eliminate pain instead of anesthesia and we did not believe it.

Over the past 30 - 40 years, acupuncture has grown to where it is accepted by most medical professionals. Many people still have their doubts, but for the most part, it is an accepted practice with proven results. But why stop there?

There are a lot of CAM (Complimentary Alternative Medicine) modalities out there. But they are being overlooked in a strange turf war between medical professionals and holistic healers. Many states are either working on, or fighting legislation that will allow people who practice CAM modalities to practice without having to have a medical license.

Part of the problem comes down to the doctors that have been trained to believe certain things and not accept anything other than what is in the textbooks which they take as scientific proof. You see, what is in the textbooks works, therefore it is proven fact. However, this line of thought does not take into consideration that even with specific medical procedures and diagnoses and medications, the same result does not occur all of the time. They work most of the time. If you take an aspirin, it will most likely get rid of your headache, but there are times when it will not. That is why medicine is called a practice. With all the scientific specifications and procedures around it, there is a good amount of times when it does not work. It is not like putting batteries in a flashlight and having the light come on (as long as the bulb is good and the batteries have power). There are times when it is hit or miss.

CAM modalities are the same way. And that includes energy work like Reiki. Sometimes what Reiki does is miraculous. Other times it is not. But it seems to work more times than not, just as modern, scientific medicine. the same can be said of many CAM modalities such as Reflexology, Color Therapy, or Aromatherapy as well as a host of other energy methods.

Because of the growing popularity of Reiki, some medical practitioners are starting to look into it as something that will help what they are doing. They see the benefits to their patients with it assisting the treatments they are prescribing. After all, no Reiki master with any brains is going to tell a client not to get proper medical care. After all Reiki is complimentary. Sometimes it can fix problems completely. But many times it will help a person going through medical care like chemotherapy.

Unfortunately, all too many doctors will tell their patients not to seek alternative means as they don't work. This is because they do not understand them, and do not want to understand them. They know their nitch in things and are happy with that. But breakthroughs in the medical field were not made by people happy with what they have. They were made by people willing to open their minds to other things, to explore, to test.

We are getting so locked into 'my turf' and 'your turf' that we are overlooking the benefits that can be gained by combining both practices. Because of Reiki's growing popularity, many massage boards are stating that Reiki practitioners have to be massage therapists simply because we touch our subjects. (All too many massage books that would not mention energy work 15 years ago because it was too 'out there' now include it as part of massage training.) In Florida, the Board of Health claims that one has to be a doctor to do such things as aromatherapy. (And how many doctors do you really think will do aromatherapy?)

Meanwhile, the one's that lose the most from this fight are the people seeking care. All too often, it is a combination of types of treatments that help someone out of their problems. Hopefully soon, these two sides will wise up and see that both offer something important and that by combining them, the quality of healthcare will improve dramatically.