What is Reiki?

 Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that can also promote healing. It is administered by lightly laying on hands and is based on the idea that an unseen life force energy flows around and through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one’s life force energy is low or out of balance, then we are more likely to feel stress or get sick, and if it is high and well balanced, we are more capable of being happy and healthy. The word Reiki is made of two Japanese words – Rei, which means “universal higher wisdom or power” and Ki, which is “life force energy.” So Reiki is actually guided life force energy.

A Reiki treatment can take place anywhere with the fully clothed recipient seated or lying down. The practitioner rests his/her hands on the body of the client, changing hand positions roughly every few minutes. A treatment feels like a wonderful glowing radiance that flows through and around you. Reiki treats the whole person including the physical body, emotions, mind and spirit, creating many beneficial effects that include relaxation and feelings of peace, security and wellbeing. Reiki can also be helpful in reducing pain, anxiety, depression,  stress,  and the side effects of treatments like radiation and chemotherapy.

Why Am I Offering Reiki at the Academy Building through Community Care and for  FREE?

An older man undergoing treatments for a recurrence of cancer once said to me that, to him, Reiki felt like being bathed with warm water, but from the inside out. I love that description. And this man’s sense of the gift he was being given was enough for me! I taught elementary school for 31 years, and when I planned to move on from that phase of my life, I wanted to be able to do something that would enable me to continue to meet new people and engage with them in ways that might be beneficial to both of us. In part to that end, since I retired thirteen years ago, I taught two weekly yoga classes in Lyme Center. One aspect of living a yogic lifestyle is the practice of seva.  Seva is a Sanskrit word meaning “selfless service” or work performed without any thought of reward or repayment. In ancient India, seva was believed to help one’s spiritual growth and at the same time contribute to the improvement of a community.

Since my retirement, prior to the pandemic, I volunteered weekly at DHMC in Same Day Surgery offering Reiki to patients pre- and post- procedures. As I became more aware of the number of ways Lyme’s Community Care is touching the lives of folks in our town, where I have now lived for 43 years, I thought, why not add my touch as well. For several years, one morning a week, I offered complimentary Reiki sessions by appointment. That is, until Covid came to visit, and town buildings were closed.

Beginning  on January 5, 2022, and on subsequent Wednesdays, I will be offering 15-20 minute Reiki sessions in the welcoming downstairs space of Community Care at the Academy Building in Lyme Center. By the way, you don’t have to be injured, sick, stressed, or sad to benefit from a relaxing few minutes of Reiki. If you’d like to give Reiki a try, you can make an appointment at 20 minute intervals beginning at noon. Contact me by email at carney.steph@gmail.com or by phone at 603-795-2419 to make an appointment. I look forward to meeting with you.

Stephanie Carney