When the Patient Becomes the Healer

In the first few years of teaching Reiki, my friend Will was diagnosed with leukemia.  Having just spent his 40^th birthday in the hospital, I invited him to take my Reiki 1 class thinking that the meditation and self-care practices would help him restore his energy.  A well-known New York street artist, Will carried a light with him that touched thousands of lives in his community.  It was hard for people to find out just how sick he had become because imagining him in any state other than his joy was almost impossible.

When Will took the Reiki class, it turned out that one of the other students was a cancer survivor and they had certain commonalities to share about the side effects of treatment.  Something that surprised Will as he learned the Reiki tools was that he found himself enjoying the hands-on healing for others even more than the self-care.  Being in flow of Reiki helped him feel even more at ease while simultaneously being a calming presence for his loved ones who were emotionally stressed by Will’s illness and the thought of losing him.

When we practice Reiki, in many ways there is no giver or receiver.  There is the flow of Reiki and as the flow increases, both parties are receiving.  Will’s experience is a beautiful lesson in this. 

I too had a similar experience to Will’s when I met with my own Reiki teacher, Margaret Ann Case, when she was undergoing treatment for stage 4 colon cancer.  I had stopped by her apartment to do a hands-on Reiki treatment for her but in many ways, I felt like I too was being treated.  Her state of receptivity to the flow of Reiki enabled me to also receive the flow for myself on a deeper level.  At one point, I couldn’t tell where my hands ended, and her body began.  I just kept experiencing this beautiful light flowing in and around us.  

In each of these experiences, I learned that whether you take on the role of the Reiki “recipient” or Reiki “giver”, if both parties are open to the flow, they both benefit from it.  Ultimately the patient becomes the healer just as much as the Reiki practitioner. 

When I finished the session with my teacher that day, what seemed like 1 hour was 2-1/2 hours that had passed!  I came away feeling the flow of Reiki amplified exponentially within me.  In many ways it was like an attunement only stronger. 

When I work with cancer patients, I find it helpful at times to not only offer them Reiki healing sessions, but to also teach them the Reiki tools to use for themselves.  In fact, when both the patient and their caregivers learn Reiki, they are empowered to experience its benefits on a deeper level even when they continue to receive hands-on treatments from a Reiki practitioner.

For myself, I found that to be true with my own healing process when I first studied Reiki with Margaret Ann.  Having been diagnosed with a precancerous condition, the combination of receiving sessions with my teacher and doing the personal practice for self-care are what boosted my immune system and restored my health. 

Each time I step into my Reiki practice, I remember Margaret Ann’s words, “Breathe, Receive, Relax and Let it Flow!”  In doing so, we allow for the best possible outcome in finding wholeness once again, even when facing a serious illness.