Reiki Resources
Qigong (Chi Kung, Ki Work) Resources
Self-Massage Resources
Quotations
Reiki Lineage
Touching
Ki, Qi, Chi, Prana
The Vital Energy
that Sustains Living Beings, the Life Force
Universal Life Energy, Breath-Energy, Living Energy
Ki (Japan), Chi or Qi (China), Prana (India)
Karen Garofalo
Reiki Practitioner, Master
Level
(Third Degree) Certified
Valley Spirit Center
9102 NE 100th Street
Vancouver, Washington 98662
Phone: 530-200-0750
E-mail: kareng888@gmail.com
Reiki Practitioner Services by Appointment Only
Karen Garofalo
completed the
Third Degree, Master Level Reiki training on September 12, 2014.
Her Master teachers were Jessie Woods and Sherri Paisley
from the Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki tradition.
Karen continues her studies,
research, and practice with the Red Bluff Reiki Practice and Study Group at the
Gratitude Center in Red Bluff, California.
In April of 2015, Karen assisted Jessie Woods and Sherri Paisley with teaching
and certifying a group of Reiki First Degree and Reiki Second Degree students.
Karen Garofalo was certified for
completing the Second Degree in the
Usui Shiki Ryoho System of Natural Healing on June 23, 2007.
The Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki Master who taught her was Jessie Woods.
She was certified for
completing the First Degree in the Usui Shiki Ryoho System of Natural Healing on April 2, 2006.
The Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki Master who taught her was Susanna
Luebcke, M.D.
Karen Garofalo also practices
Yoga and
Qigong with her husband, Mike.
She was an active gardener
in the North Sacramento Valley of California and now in the Columbia River
Valley in Vancouver, Washington.
She retired in 2014 after working 16 years as an Special Education Instructional Aide for
the Tehama County Department of Education.
She prepared a brief biography
for interested persons.
 |
Just for today, here and now, I will strive to: Give thanks for my many blessings. Seek and speak the truth. Let go of my worries. Stop being angry. Do my work honestly. Be kind to my neighbors and every living thing. Honor my parents, teachers and elders. |
Reiki
Bibliography, Links and Resources
Persons with a serious medical condition should always consult a qualified physician for a diagnosis and recommended mode of treatment.
Self-help methods, complementary and alternative "medicine," and creative body-mind improvement and healing methods (e.g., qigong, reiki, yoga, massage, meditation, taijiquan, etc.) can be valuable tools in helping many persons to maintain good health, boost vitality, increase energy levels, improve their immune system, shed worries and fears, maintain calmness and relaxation, develop spiritually, and prevent or ameliorate more serious medical problems. True "healing" involves many dimensions of mind, body, and spirit. And, an ounce of inexpensive or free prevention is worth a pound of expensive conventional medical cures.
Books and documents in the personal library of Karen Garofalo at the Valley Spirit Center are listed below and marked "BKEG."
Abundance Through Reiki
By Paula Horan. Shangri-La Books, Lotus Press, 1995. 160 pages.
ISBN: 978-0914955252.
Alternative Healing Arts.
Webpage of Dr. Susanna Luebcke. Includes webpages on: Emotional Body Healing, Nadis Energy Treatment, Energy Essences, and Usui
Shiki
Ryoho Reiki. Dr. Luebcke was raised in Berlin, Germany. She trained and practiced medicine as a General Practitioner and Allergy specialist for 20 years. In 1993,
she moved to Eastern Oregon to focus on alternative healing arts. Susanna Luebcke:
P. O. Box 83,Sprague River, Oregon 97639. 541-892-2992. Email: harvsusi@earthlink.net.
Bodymind Practices, Somatics, Somaesthetics
Chico
Harmony Center. Chico, California.
Chi Kung, Qigong: Chinese Healing and Rejuvenation Arts
Cloud
Hands Blog Bodymind practices, Gardening, Esoterica,
Spirituality. By Mike Garofalo. Online since 2005.
Empowerment Through Reiki.
The Path to Personal and Global Transformation. By Paula Horan. Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Lotus Press, 2002. 157
pages. ISBN: 0941524841. BKEG.
Energy Psychology: Self-Healing Practices for Bodymind Health
Essential Reiki: A Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art
Essential Reiki Teaching Manual: A Companion Guide for Reiki Healers
The Ethics of Touch: The Hands-on Practitioner's Guide to Creating a Professional, Safe and Enduring Practice
15
Minute Reiki: Health and Healing at Your Fingertips. By Chris and
Penny Parkes. Hammersmith, London, Thorsons, 2004. Index, 208 pages.
ISBN: 0007158912. BKEG.
Gratitude Center
in Red Bluff located at the
Gold Exchange
Spiritual Traditions and Transitions Explored at the Gratitude Center have
included: Reiki, Drumming, Crystals, Rituals,
Demonstrations, Crone Circle Discussions, Sacred Sites' Visits, Meditation, Prayer, Lectures,
Blessings, Group Discussions, Playing Musical Instruments, Chakra Balancing, Fun
and Laughter.
Human
Connections Start with a Friendly Touch
Karen Garofalo
Reiki: Usui Shiki Ryoho Valley Spirit Center, Red Bluff, California.
Karen participates in activities at the Gratitude Center in Red Bluff, and
manages the email mailing list for this group.
Halls of Reiki
By Ed Bacon.
Hands, Touch, Haptics,
Feeling, Fingers Bibliography, Links, Resources, and an
Extensive Selection of Quotations. Research by Mike Garofalo.
Hands of Light: A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field
Hands
on Research: The Science of Touch
The Hayashi Reiki Manual: Traditional Japanese Healing Techniques from the Founder of the Western Reiki System.
Healing Touch by Andrew Weil, M.D.
How an Extra
Touch Can Improve Your Health
Inner Reiki: A Practical Guide for Healing and Meditation.
Introduction
to Reiki Ryoho. The Southwestern Reiki Ryoho Association.
Magick of Reiki: Focused Energy for Healing, Ritual, & Spiritual Development
Mohan Makkar's Reiki Magic: The Usui System. By Mohan Makkar.
One
Degree Beyond: A Reiki Journey into Energy Medicine. By Jane Anne
Narrin. 2nd Edition. Seattle, Washington, Little White Buffalo Publishing Cottage,
1998.
Appendices, index, 314 pages. ISBN: 096585454X. BKEG.
The Original Reiki Handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui
The Power of Reiki: An Ancient Hands-On Healing Technique. By Tanmaya Honervogt.
The
Power of Touch by Psychology Today
Quantum-Touch: The Power to Heal
Qigong, Chi Kung:
Chinese Healing and Rejuvenation Arts
Reiki.
Sandi Leir Shuffrey. England, Hodder & Stoughton, 2000. Index,
183 pages.
ISBN: 0658008994. BKEG.
Reiki
Alliance - Membership
Reiki Best Practices: Wonderful Tools of Healing. By Walter Luebeck and Frank Arjava Petter.
Reiki: Beyond the Usui System. By Karyn K. Mitchell.
Reiki Energy Medicine: Bringing Healing Touch into Home, Hospital, and Hospice.
By
Libby Barnett, Maggie Chambers, and Susan Davidson.
Reiki
for First Aid. By Walter Lubeck. Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Lotus
Light Publications,
1995. 154 pages. ISBN: 0914955268. BKEG.
Reiki for Life: The Complete Guide to Reiki Practice for Levels 1, 2 & 3
Reiki
Handbook: A Manual for Students and Therapists of the Usui Shiki Ryhoho System of Healing. By Larry Arnold and Sandy Nevius. PSI Press, 4th
Edition, 1992. 160 pages. ISBN: 0962550019. BKEG.
Reiki is
Nonsense by Stephen Barrett, M.D.. He quotes from the Catholic Council
of Bishops to support his argument against Reiki as having no value in healing
or helping people. Surely, however, touch, empathy, gentleness,
relaxation, concern, love, and belief all have a role in bringing a better state
of mind and spirit to troubled persons. Some medical doctors say prayer or
relics or sacred sites have no value in healing, but I am sure the Catholic
Bishops would disagree. "Healing" has a broader meaning than "curing" or
"eliminating" a specified disease by using scientific medical methods. On
the other side of the coin, very expensive modern medical procedures sometimes
fail to cure or heal, but we do not dismiss such "scientific" approaches overall
as "useless." Conventional medicine treatment is very expensive
in America, so many people seek inexpensive or free natural self-help and
"feel-good" alternatives.
Reiki Light: Reiki, Buddhism and the Medicine Buddha
The Reiki Manual: A Training Guide for Reiki Students, Practitioners, and Masters
Reiki
Plus Natural Healing. By David G. Jarrell. Celina, Tennessee,
Hibernia West, 1983, 1991.
Index, 79 pages. ISBN: 0963469002. BKEG. David Jarrell,
Reiki Master, founder of the Reiki
Plus System of Natural Healing and the Reiki Plus Institute.
Reiki
Plus Professional Practitioner's Manual for Second Degree. By David G.
Jarrell. Celina,
Tennessee, Hibernia West, 1992, 1994. 96 pages. ISBN:
0963469010. BKEG.
Reiki
Ryoho The Southwestern Reiki Ryoho Assocation.
Various informative webpages by Adonea.
Reiki Ryoho at
the Valley Spirit Center. Red Bluff, California. Karen
Garofalo.
Reiki: The Healing Touch. By William Lee Rand.
Reiki - The Legacy of Dr. Usui. By Frank Arjava Petter.
The Reiki Sourcebook, Revised and Expanded
The Reiki Touch: Complete Home Learning System
The
Reiki Threshold Vancouver, Canada
Reiki: The Usui System of Natural Healing. By Hawayo Takata and Paul David Mitchell.
The Soothing Power of Reiki by Karen A. Jamrog
Theraputic Touch: History and Philosophy
Theraputic Touch -
Wikipedia A highly critical and negative article about the role of
touching and "curing" serious diseases (e.g. cancer, hepatitis, diabetes) and
wound injuries. Discussion of the research by Emily Rosa and others.
Of course, no mention is made of the fact that many extremely expensive
conventional cancer treatments also have a high failure rate.
Touching, Hands, Touch,
Haptics, Feeling, Fingers Bibliography, Links, Resources, and an
Extensive Selection of Quotations. Research by Mike Garofalo.
Ushi
Reiki Reiki Touch.
Usui Reiki: Level One Manual. By Francine Milford.
Usui
Shiki Ryoho - An Interview with Paul Mitchell
Usui System of Reiki: Usui Shiki Ryoho
Valley Spirit
Center: Reiki, Qigong, Taijiquan
Working Winds
A retreat Center near Klamath Falls, Oregon. Robert and Sharon
Chinook. Chinook Aerie Retreat Center.
Yoga and Prana:
Principles and Practices
Your Hands Can Heal You:
Pranic Healing Energy Remedies to Boost Vitality and Speed Recovery from Common
Health Problems. By Stephen Co and Eric B. Robins, M.D.. Free
Press, 2003. 320 pages. ISBN: 9780743243056.
Return to the Top of this Webpage
Usui Reiki Lineage
Dr.
Mikao Usui, 1865-1926
Christian and Buddhist Scholar, Teacher, School Administrator
Founder of the Usui System of Reiki
1st Generation
Mr. Chujiro Hayashi, 1878-1940, Retired Naval
Officer,
Reiki Grand Master (1925) and Teacher
2nd Generation
Mrs. Hawayo Takata, 1900-1980 (Reiki
Grandmaster, 1938)
3rd Generation
Certified 22 Usui Reiki Masters
Mrs. Phyllis Lei Furumoto, Grand-daughter of Mrs.
Takata (Reiki Grandmaster, 1975)
4th Generation
Lore
Massar (Reiki Master, 1988) and Solveig Imlau (Reiki Master)
5th Generation
Dr. Susanna
Luebcke (Reiki Master)
5th Generation
Jessie Woods (Reiki Master)
5th Generation
Jessie Woods was certified as a Reiki
Master in 2006 by Dr. Susanna Luebcke.
Donna Robertson, Jessie Woods, and Karen Garofalo in April 2015
Donna, Jessie, Karen, and Diane in April 2015
Karen
Garofalo (Reiki Master, Third Degree, 2014)
5th Generation
Usui Shiki Ryoho
Reiki System of
Natural Healing
Return to the Top of this Webpage
Qigong (Chi Kung,
Kiko)
Bibliography, Links, Resources
"Qigong" refers to the many Chinese methods or disciplines for "discovering, gathering, circulating, purifying, directing, conserving, storing, transforming, dissolving, or transmitting" (Roger Jahnke) the vital life forces, or the energy, of the body. The
words Ki (Japanese) and Qi or Chi (Chinese) use the same ideographic
character.
Chi Kung, Qigong, Energy Work, Yang Sheng Gong, Dao Yin
Cloud
Hands: Qigong and T'ai Chi Chuan Bibliographies, links, resources,
guides, lessons.
The Complete Book of Chinese Health and Healing. By Daniel Reid.
Random House,
1994. 484 pages. ISBN: 0877739293.
Eight
Section Brocade Qigong By Michael Garofalo.
The Essential Qigong Training
Course. 100 Days to increase Energy, Physical Health, and Spiritual Well-Being. By Kenneth Cohen. Boulder, Colorado, Sounds
True, 2005. Includes a 59 page weekly workbook, a Qigong DVD, 5 audio CDs, and one Qi Healing DVD. ISBN: 1591790905.
BKEG
The Healing Promise of
Qi: Creating Extraordinary Wellness Through Qigong and Tai Chi.
By Roger Jahnke, O.M.D.. Chicago, Contemporary Books, 2002. Index, notes, extensive
recommended reading list, 316 pages. ISBN: 0809295288.
Healing Ways: The Teachings of Kenneth Cohen
Northern
California T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Qigong Directory
Qigong:
Bibliography, Links, Resources, Quotes and Notes
Relaxtion
(Sung): Loose, Open, Free, Yielding, Responsive
Secrets
to Living Younger Longer: The Self-Healing Path of Qigong Standing
Meditation
and Tai Chi. By Michael Mayer, Ph.D.. Orinda, California, Body Mind
Healing
Publications, 2004. Index, bibliography, 281 pages. ISBN:
0970431066.
This book has a companion instructional video/DVD called "Body Mind Healing
Qigong."
Website: Body Mind Healing.
BKEG.
Standing
Meditation (Zhan Shuang)
Valley Spirit Qigong (Chi Kung, Yang Sheng Gong, Dao Yin)
Valley Spirit
Center Red Bluff, California
The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy
Healing. By Kenneth S. Cohen.
Foreword by Larry Dossey. New York Ballantine Books, 1997. Index, notes, appendices, 427 pages. ISBN: 0345421094. One of our favorite books: comprehensive, informative, practical, and scientific. BKEG Collection.
Return to the Top of this Webpage
Reiki
Quotations
Quotes, Sayings,
Information, Ideas, Concepts
"The Usui System of Reiki can be a personal tool for healing and growth, a way to give energy to family and friends, or a gentle complementary therapy in holistic medicine.
A Reiki treatment supports the whole person — physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
It is simple to learn and can be applied in a clinical setting, given as self-treatments, or used as a "home remedy" to enhance health and emotional well-being.
When a Reiki practitioner places his/her hands on an area of their own or a client's clothed body, Reiki flows through the practitioner into the client. This transfer may be felt as any type of
sensation—
heat, cold, vibration, tingling, unusual heaviness, or somen documented to relax muscles, still the mind, and ease pain. Hands-on treatment has been scientifically proven to accelerate healing. Many health professionals are effectively incorporating the use of Reiki into their individual practices."
- The Reiki
Alliance
"Emerging research suggests that
touch therapy works: In one landmark study, 16 happily married women were
subjected to the threat of a mild electric shock; touching their husbands’ hands
brought immediate relief from the resulting
anxiety. Even a stranger’s touch was somewhat calming. “We know
that anxiety decreases immune function and makes you get sick more often,” says
study author Jim Coan, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at the University of Virginia.
“If touch can help you be less anxious, you’re more likely to stay well.” "
- Adrea Cooper,
The
Healing Power of Touch, WebMD,
"For optimal health, we need body and spirit, exercise and meditation, awareness of the inner world and the outer. In other words, health requires balance and moderation. The goal of qigong may be summarized as xing ming shuang xiu, "spirit and body equally refined and cultivated."
Cultivate your whole being, as you would cultivate a garden - with attention, care, and even love."
- Kenneth Cohen, Essential Qigong, 2005, p. 2
"Did you know that you have healing power, literally
at your fingertips? The simple act of touching is so powerful that it can slow
your heart rate, decrease your blood pressure, and strengthen your immune
system! Our culture is not very affectionate, and we are losing
out on the benefits of regular physical interaction with others. The
healing power of touch is so necessary for life that babies not touched
regularly don’t grow and develop normally, and children who are not lovingly
touched enough are more likely to be violent as adults."
- The
Healing Power of Touch, Bodyecology
"Usui Shiki Ryoho (the Usui System of Natural Healing), known as Reiki, is a form of healing and spiritual awakening, received and developed 100 years ago by a Japanese man, Mikao Usui, and brought to the West via Hawaii in 1937. It is passed on from one person to another through specific initiation rites, teachings and defined forms of practice. The Japanese word
reiki can be translated as 'universal or spiritually guided life force' and the Usui System is a way of working with reiki for healing of self and others. The word healing is used in the sense of regaining harmony and wholeness and Usui Shiki Ryoho addresses the whole person, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual."
- The
Usui System of Reiki The Reiki Association
Touching, Hands, Touch, Haptics, Feeling, Fingers Bibliography, Links, Resources, and an Extensive Selection of Quotations. Research by Mike Garofalo.
"As an energy transformation practitioner I
am dedicated to helping others bring their heart into harmony with their
divine nature by guiding them through their release of painful memories and
emotional trauma, as well as finding and changing limiting patterns and
false beliefs in order for them to move closer to their highest potential,
and the life they deserve."
- Chico Harmony Center
"Just trust life:
Life will bring you high,
I only you are careful in selecting
In the maze of events,
Those influences or those paths
Which can being you each time
A Little more upward.
Life has to be discovered
And build step by step
A great charm ..."
- Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
"Interestingly, one definition of the word 'Reiki' is 'a system that has come into being through a moment of enlightenment'. Originally, Usui referred to his system as 'Te-ate' (pronounced 'tee-ah-tay'), which means 'hand healing' or 'hand application'. According to the Japanese author Michio Kushi, Te-ate is a traditional Japanese form of healing that has been practised for centuries. He mentions that George Ohsawa, the founder of modern macrobiotics, taught this palm healing throughout Japan, the US and Europe. Kushi referred to Reiki as one of the modern forms of this art to emerge in Japan, and also mentions Johrei (Purification of Spirit) and Mahikari (True Light) as more recent developments.
Reiki is a technique or method that is based firmly on the esoteric principles that were represented in Japan in the early part of last century. Usui brought together, in a unique way, the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine, energy transfer techniques like Chi Kung (in its Japanese form of kiko), Tendai Buddhism in terms of energy exercises, empowerments and spiritual teachings, and Shintoism in terms of techniques used to control the energies. The symbols that came to be used later in Reiki's history also have their roots in Tendai Buddhism and Shintoism. This was done in a way that allows anyone to be connected permanently to a source of healing energy, and being able to channel it without having to undergo many years of practice, and they can learn to pass this ability on to other people very simply."
- Mikao Usui, ReikiJoy.net
"The Usui System of Reiki Healing is first a healing practice focusing on self-treatment.
Daily practice is ideal. The practice balances and strengthens the functions and health of the physical body, enhances relaxation and self-awareness, and quiets and nourishes the spirit. Out of the practice of self-treatment, it becomes natural to treat family and friends with the same benefits.
Applying Reiki is practical and useful. It accelerates and strengthens any healing process from bruising to chronic illness to mental/emotional imbalance. Reiki can be used at any time and in any situation when we can lay our hands on ourselves or another."
- The Reiki Touch
"The power of love to change bodies is legendary,
built into folklore, common sense, and everyday experience. Love moves the
flesh, it pushes matter around ... Throughout history, "tender loving care" has
uniformly been recognized as a valuable element in healing."
- Larry Dossey
“Gentle touch has been shown to
facilitate physical and psychological functioning, particularly in terms of
reducing stress, relieving pain, increasing the ability to cope, and general
health ratings. Participants in a study examining the effectiveness of
therapeutic touch as a treatment for managing pain due to fibromyalgia
experienced a significant decrease in pain and reported a significant
improvement in quality of life.”
- The Health Benefits
of Physical Touch
"The hand is the cutting edge of the mind."
- Jacob Bronowski
"The mind has exactly the same power as the hands: not merely to grasp the
world, but to change it."
- Colin Wilson
"The
upper limb is the lightning rod to the soul."
- Robert Markison
“We leave traces of ourselves wherever we go, on whatever we touch.”
- Lewis Thomas
"Emotional release and muscular release are interdependent - one does not occur
without the other."
- Elaine Mayland
"The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will
have."
- Norman Vincent Peale
“There are normally three levels of interaction
and interpretation found in a typical Reiki session. First, level 1, are
the expectations, intentions, sensations, feelings, reactions, and
experiences of the person being touched. Second, level 2, are the
intentions, actions, sensations, feelings, and experiences of the person
doing the touching. And, third, level 3, are the environment, backdrops,
sounds, context, actions of the participants, and setting where the touching
event is taking place. A third person observer would likely observe level
3, unless, after the session is over, the touched and the toucher spoke
about their experiences in levels 1 and 2. Both the touched and the toucher
might verbally report their Reiki session experiences of being relaxed,
emotionally or physically pleasured, relieved, having less pain or
discomfort, energized, or in some way improved in either body, mind,
emotions, or at spiritual levels. Or, the session experience might have a
neutral or uneventful characterization by the touched or toucher. Rarely,
negative experiences such as fear, discomfort, or unusual psychic or
physical sensations might be reported by the touched or toucher.”
- Mike Garofalo
"Those who say it cannot be done should not interfere with those of us who are doing
it."
- S. Hickman
“Therapeutic Touch was developed by
Dolores Krieger, PhD, RN and Dora Kunz in the 1970s. Krieger was a Professor of
Nursing at New York University’s Division of Nursing. Her friend Dora had
experienced unusual perceptual abilities since childhood, and had been following
the use of laying-on of hands to treat the ill. They both had the opportunity to
observe the work of world-renowned healer Oskar Estebani at a place called
Pumpkin Hollow Farm. It was the compassionate intent focused through his hands
and the “centering” of this healer that captured the attention of both Kunz and
Krieger. It would become a fundamental component of the healing modality Krieger
termed Therapeutic Touch.
The practice of TT revolves around the concept of a human energy field. In
an interview Krieger is quoted as saying, “your human energies are constantly
and dynamically interacting with the vital energy fields of others in a manner
not thought of in Biology 101.” There are numerous studies on such bio-fields.
This energy or “vital life force” can be compared to the Indian “prana” or
Chinese “Chi“. Martha Rogers, a world leader in nursing theory and research,
developed the “theory of the Human Energy Field” that was of great interest to
Krieger and Kunz. The Rogerian model theorized that every person is greater that
the sum of its parts, with a complex energy field that constantly interacts with
the environment. This is an open and dynamic interaction, maintained through
patterning and organization. When we are well, the flow within this system is
unhindered, but stress, injury and illness affect its order and openness. In
such an ordered universe, the conscious intent and compassion to heal of the TT
practitioner is believed to have powerful results, enabling the patient to
repattern their energy in the direction of health. Therapeutic Touch is seen as
a holistic process, treating the individual as a whole. Krieger also realized
the importance a person’s belief system plays in their response to illness and
their ability to heal, as in the power of “positive thinking” or the placebo
effect. Though many other healers practiced within the framework of a religious
belief, Krieger and Kunz believed it was not necessary for TT to be effective.
However, it could be done within such a context if a patient so desired. By
going beyond the framework of any system of religious belief, TT became
accessible to all.
Therapeutic Touch is believed to be an innate ability that can be developed
in anyone with dedication, commitment and a sense of compassion. It was
initially taught to graduate school nursing students at New York University
because they were in a position to spend time with the ill and their work
already predisposed them to a compassionate approach. TT is still primarily a
modality associated with nurses. And nurses are often TTs’ most vocal advocates,
witnessing firsthand how it can help comfort, facilitate healing, disperse
anxiety, and alleviate pain. Today, according to the North American Nursing
Diagnosis Association (NANDA), “energy field disturbance” is a nursing diagnosis
defined as a “disruption of the flow of energy surrounding a person’s being
which results in disharmony of the body, mind or spirit.” In addition to
stimulating the body’s own healing ability, TT promotes relaxation, reduces pain
and decreases anxiety. It has been shown to have a positive effect on the immune
system, and accelerates the healing of wounds. Nurses often use it pre- and
post-operatively as a means of identifying and reducing the anxiety, stress and
pain associated with the surgical process. It has also been used with premature
babies, in childbirth, as well as with the dying to calm and reduce pain. TT can
be effective when used alone or as an adjunct to traditional treatments and
medications. Initially Therapeutic Touch did involve actual touch but additional
studies convinced Krieger that touching was not necessary to heal, and since
that time, it has not usually been a part of the treatment.”
-
Theraputic Touch: History and Philosophy
"Love is like the sun: has its inner energy source that shines on you."
- Helene Largerberg
“Among men it is in virtue of fineness of touch, and not of any other sense, that we discriminate the mentally gifted from the rest.”
Touching, Hands, Touch,
Haptics, Feeling, Fingers Bibliography, Links, Resources, and an
Extensive Selection of Quotations. Research by Mike Garofalo.
“Until the eighteenth century at least, touch remained one of the master senses … It verified perception, giving solidity to the impressions provided by the other senses, which were not as reliable.”
“A world of meaning can lie with the simplest gesture, a kiss, or the touch of a hand.”
"It all starts in the bottom layer of our skin.
There, a series of informational conveyor belts, called
Merkel cells, feed data from the skin to the body’s central nervous system.
The body then responds with a surge of hormones. And, if you’re receiving the
right kind of touch — as opposed to a creepy one or a punch in the nose — you'll
get a dose of
oxytocin, the aptly named “cuddle hormone.” The results are palpable.
Spearheaded by labs throughout the country that are dedicated to the science of
touch, a slew of new studies are proving that touch — gentle, empathetic, and
supportive — comes with incredible emotional and physical health benefits.
“Touch is our body’s largest and the oldest sense," says Jeanne AbateMarco, MS,
RN, CNS, clinical nurse coordinator of the Department of Integrative Health
Programs at NYU Langone Medical Center. "It’s a channel of communication. It’s
integral to the human experience.” "
- You Feel
Me? The Science of Touch.
"When you are touched by something, it often is a
change for the better.
Being "untouchable" means isolation, aloofness, insensitivity, coldness,
superiority, authority, hardness ....
- Mike Garofalo, Pulling
Onions
"Too many of us are hung up on what we don't have, can't have, or won't ever have.
We spend too much energy being down, when we could use that same energy - if not less of it - doing, or at least trying to do, some of the things we really want to do."
- Terry McMilan
"To touch can be to give life."
- Michaelangelo
"In recent years, a wave of studies has
documented some incredible emotional and physical health benefits that come from
touch. This research is suggesting that touch is truly fundamental to human
communication, bonding, and health. From this frontier of touch research,
we know thanks to neuroscientist Edmund Rolls that touch activates the brain’s
orbitofrontal cortex, which is linked to feelings of reward and compassion.
We also know that touch builds up cooperative relationships—it reinforces
reciprocity between our primate relatives, who use grooming to build up
cooperative alliances. There are studies showing that touch signals safety
and trust, it soothes. Basic warm touch calms cardiovascular stress. It
activates the body’s vagus nerve, which is intimately involved with our
compassionate response, and a simple touch can trigger release of oxytocin, aka
“the love hormone.” In a study by Jim Coan and Richard Davidson,
participants laying in an fMRI brain scanner, anticipating a painful blast of
white noise, showed heightened brain activity in regions associated with threat
and stress. But participants whose romantic partner stroked their arm while they
waited didn’t show this reaction at all. Touch had turned off the threat switch.
Touch can even have economic effects, promoting trust and generosity. When
psychologist Robert Kurzban had participants play the “prisoner’s dilemma” game,
in which they could choose either to cooperate or compete with a partner for a
limited amount of money, an experimenter gently touched some of the participants
as they were starting to play the game—just a quick pat on the back. But it made
a big difference: Those who were touched were much more likely to cooperate and
share with their partner."
-
Hands on Research: The Science of Touch
"Free energy will promulgate a forward leap in human progress akin to the discovery of fire. It will bring the dawn of an entirely new civilization -- one based on freedom and
abundance."
- Sterling D. Allan
"Reiki (pronounced “ray-kee”) and other complementary approaches to wellness, such as art therapy, aromatherapy and meditation, might at first glance seem like strange bedfellows for modern medicine’s gadgets. But not only are integrative therapies now more accepted by doctors and patients, they have become sought-after treatments. Indeed, sometimes the morning list of patients who are waiting for Reiki grows so long, “we can’t get to everyone that day,” says Pauline MacKay, a therapeutic arts and activities assistant and facilitator of Reiki volunteers at Concord Hospital. “So many people want it.”
Reiki originated in Japan and is based on the idea that energy exists in everything and affects our body’s functioning. “Universal life energy is all around us,” MacKay says. “Everything has it. The ground, a light bulb, a stick — all have energy.” By placing their hands in positions that correlate to Reiki’s identified body energy centers or “chakras,” Reiki practitioners serve as conduits of sorts that channel universal energy to enhance and balance energy in the recipient’s body.
Reiki, which is offered free of charge at
many hospitals, can be performed hands-off or hands-on; patients who do not want
to be touched or whose condition precludes touching experience Reiki through a
practitioner whose hands hover but never make contact with the patient’s body.
Reiki recipients remain clothed — in fact, in hospitals, Reiki is often
performed over the patient’s bed blanket — and even when Reiki does involve
contact, the practitioner’s touch is extremely light. “Sometimes the patients
don’t even feel our hands on them, but they do feel the heat from our hands,”
says Sylvie St-Jean, a Reiki practitioner at Portsmouth Regional Hospital."
- Karen A. Jamrog,
The Soothing Power of Reiki
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Red Bluff, Tehama
County, North Sacramento Valley, California (1998-2017)
Vancouver, Clark County, Columbiaa River Valley, Washington (2017-)
Valley Spirit Mind-Body Center
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State of Washington: Vancouver, Salmon Creek,
Orchards, Camas, Washougal,
Ridgefield, Battleground, Woodland, Kalama, Longview, Kelso.
State of Oregon: Portland, Gresham, Troutdale, Oregon City, Hillsboro,
Beaverton,
Clackamas, Tigard, Lake Oswego, McMinville, Wisonville, Canby, Woodburn, Salem.
Columbia River Valley, Willamette River Valley
Hands On Healing, Healing with the Hands, Touch Healing,
Energy Touch,
Reiki Touch, Touching for Health
Paths to Fitness and Well Being
T'ai Chi Ch'uan - Internal Marital Art
Qigong (Chi Kung, Kiko) - Energy Cultivation
© Green
Way Research, Red Bluff, California, 1998-2017
Vancouver, Washington (2017- )
This webpage was last modified or updated on October 24, 2017.
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