Use Reiki to Aid the Elderly

Aging Health
As loved ones age, often they are plagued with health issues as a result of disease, chronic illness or simply as part of the natural aging process.

Ailments that the elderly may encounter are numerous, varying from high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, feebleness, broken bones, arthritis, emphysema, hepatitis, pneumonia, stroke and cancer or to memory loss due to age-related dementia or the slow devastation of Alzheimer.

Compassion Instead of Sympathy
It is very difficult to watch loved ones suffer or to see a once strong and independent person become helplessly dependent on others because they are unable to attend to their own personal needs.  The natural emotion given them is usually sympathy.  However, it is more important to extend compassion instead, which shouldn’t be confused with sympathy.

True compassion is unconditional.  It is having the ability to feel or to know another person’s predicament (as if you are walking in their shoes) without the need to maintain control of the situation, the person or their surrounding environment.  It is the ability to let go of feeling responsible, and to resist criticizing or making rash judgments.

Reiki can and does help the Elderly
For practitioners of Reiki, by applying the fundamentals of unconditional compassion through energy-based healing techniques, such as Reiki, you can.......

1. Help restore, energize or re-align the elderly to higher states of being – specifically the emotional, mental or spiritual levels, regardless of their declining physical condition.

2. Alleviate underlying fear or resistance.

3. Promote total relaxation.

4. Reduce pain or discomfort.

5. Promote peace of mind, plus inner harmony.

6. Increase their overall comfort level.

7. Stimulate better or more open communication.

8. Build or restore more love and trust with self and others.

9. Release old issues at the subconscious level, past or present, that may prevent improvement or may impede a peaceful transition.

10. Provide more clarity and understanding so that they come to peaceful terms with their inevitable transition.

Precautions for Reiki Practitioners
Most Reiki practitioners are super-sensitive to the energy of others or to their surrounding environment.  They easily absorb the emotions, pain or suffering of others and because of this, over time, they may also acquire lingering health conditions or experience overwhelming burnout of their own vitality.

Therefore, when caring for or assisting the elderly, it is crucial to acquire a daily habit of doing grounding, cleansing and protection techniques before leaving home.  Just practice a flexible and easy method that you find comfortable using.  It is also crucial to live a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

If you are ill (such as cold, flu, cancer or any other disease) or if you experience a decline in energy, avoid applying Reiki on the elderly (or anyone else) until you feel balanced or have recuperated back to your normal state.  During this time, only apply Reiki to yourself to stimulate faster healing.

For Reiki practitioners who are not just super-sensitive to energies, but instead are super-super-sensitive, it is equally important to monitor your over-all well-being throughout the day and to repeat grounding, cleansing and protection techniques as required.  Also, be sure to drink lots of water for re-hydration and to eat regular meals fortified with protein.

Look for tell-tale signs such as:

1. Oncoming headache

2. Feeling aches or pain that are not yours

3. Feeling worse coming out of a building than when going in (such as a hospital or care facility or large shopping mall)

4. Feeling stressed for no apparent reason

5. Unusual tiredness

6. Feeling overly-anxious or tense

7. Feeling suddenly overwhelmed or out-of-sorts

8. Getting grouchy or bad-tempered

9. Feeling spaced-out, light-headed or dizzy

Choose Appropriate Reiki Method
For the most beneficial results, Reiki treatment can be scaled as follows:

Best – Direct hands-on body placement
Better – No touch, hands-off body placement (hands held slightly above body)
Good – Distant/absentee treatment

Best – Lying down for complete hands-on treatment
Better – Chair method, partial treatment
Good - Distant/absentee treatment

But when treating the elderly it may be necessary to adapt and improvise to the specific needs or circumstances of each individual.  Follow the directive of your spirit healing team and pay attention to your intuition.

The elderly may be bed-ridden or bound to a wheelchair or may constantly suffer debilitating pain or discomfort.  It may be impossible to access all sides of the bed-ridden; therefore you will need to improvise your technique as required.  For situations involving pain or discomfort, it will be necessary to use the hands-off Reiki method in which the practitioner’s hands are always placed slightly above the body instead of using direct touch.

Permission
For the elderly who are mentally incapacitated or confined to a hospital, geriatric ward or an elderly care facility, it may be necessary to acquire consent from the attending physician despite receiving an invitation from family members.  Be sure to first check with the appropriate staff.

Set Focus and Intention
Reiki practitioners should never feel obligated, promise or assume that they can permanently heal or “fix” the elderly.  Instead, only offer assistance to alleviate pain or discomfort or to give added comfort and relaxation or in the case of imminent death, to support a peaceful transition.

1. Before doing a Reiki treatment on the elderly be sure to ground, cleanse and protect yourself.

2. Depending on the circumstances, decide on an appropriate method - E.g. hands-on, hands-off, distant/absentee, bed style or chair style.

3. Depending on the circumstances, decide on an appropriate time-line - E.g. 20 minutes, 45 minutes or 60 minutes.

4. Make no false promises or guarantees to the elderly, or to their family or friends, as to a specific outcome.

5. Then set your focus and say a prayer of intention to your spirit healing team such as the following example.

   E.g. “I ask my spirit healing team to assist and guide me during this Reiki treatment so that the healing energy of Reiki releases stuck or negative vibrations, releases all cancerous cells, and replaces them with only 100% healthy cellular structure, releases all toxins and impurities, as well as pain or discomfort and to promote ultimate peaceful relaxation and comfort.  Allow Reiki to flow on a timed-release basis to where it is most needed, as well as to all levels past or present, so that the healing energy can be utilized as long as it is needed and whenever it is needed.”

6. After saying your prayer of intention, and before giving the Reiki treatment, release any pre-conceived attachment to your intention; instead just allow the energy of it to flow as it should.

7. Release any expectation to the final outcome; instead, just trust and believe that everything will happen as it should.

8. After the treatment, be sure to ground, cleanse and protect yourself once more.

Acknowledge the Elderly
Our present society is the result from those who travelled first; who endured hardships so that a solid foundation could be established in order to pave the way for a brighter future for generations who follow.  So using Reiki to unconditionally help the elderly is an excellent form of giving back and is an admirable way to express thanks and gratitude for how we live today.

© Margaret I. Jang
www.onesourcelearn.com
October 23rd, 2011

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About the author: Margaret Jang is a spiritual poet and inspirational writer, as well as an intuitive arts teacher focusing on psychic/channelling development.  She also dedicates her time to soul numerology readings and is a Reiki Master Teacher and practitioner.  Margaret established One Source Learning Centre for Inner Healing in 2005 in Vancouver, BC, Canada.  She may be contacted via e-mail.

Note: Articles, poetry and soul inspiring expressions are © Copyright protected - all rights reserved. In order to copy, reprint, publish, quote, electronically transfer, post to websites or blogs, or reproduce in any manner, please obtain written permission from author Margaret I. Jang.

Disclaimer
The above information is not intended to replace, diagnose, prescribe or treat any ailment or to be used as a replacement for medical treatment or consultation.  It is only intended to enhance your knowledge or general interest and is offered as an alternative and complimentary source of information.   In all cases, it is recommended that you continue to follow medical treatment as prescribed by your medical physician.
 

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