Reiki friend

I apologize to anyone I caught with my mile wide genero-brush.

I've had bad experiences with armor-headed woo-masters, and I find anyone that sells woo to be morally loathsome.

So while I suspect that 99% of such people will either ignore facts, or actually react aggressively to being questioned, there are rare people who can break free.

So, to anyone who stopped building their homemade UFO mid-way, I again apologize :)
 
Jekyll's Guest said:
I apologize to anyone I caught with my mile wide genero-brush.

I've had bad experiences with armor-headed woo-masters, and I find anyone that sells woo to be morally loathsome.

So while I suspect that 99% of such people will either ignore facts, or actually react aggressively to being questioned, there are rare people who can break free.

So, to anyone who stopped building their homemade UFO mid-way, I again apologize :)
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Apology accepted.
I can understand where you're coming from.
I've had plenty of encounters with New Age idiots, having been amoung them
(including that flaky ex-girlfriend).
I distance myself from the hucksters and those too blided by their delusion to carry on ordinary human interaction.
But there are some who are decent people, just misled, or lacking the intrellectual skill set to evaluate beyond something that makes a strong emotional attachment.

There are still a few fragments of my UFO project in my garage.
Would you like some free crystal antigrav struts? :wackywacko:
 
Apathia said:
Apology accepted.
I can understand where you're coming from.
I've had plenty of encounters with New Age idiots, having been amoung them
(including that flaky ex-girlfriend).
I distance myself from the hucksters and those too blided by their delusion to carry on ordinary human interaction.
But there are some who are decent people, just misled, or lacking the intrellectual skill set to evaluate beyond something that makes a strong emotional attachment.

There are still a few fragments of my UFO project in my garage.
Would you like some free crystal antigrav struts? :wackywacko:
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It depends, can they be converted into Amega Wands? :p
 
Soapy Sam said:
What Maia said, basically. I have known at least one Reiki "master" capable of recognising the more common musculoskeletal problems - fallen arches, plantar fascitis, arthritis - who will send patients to physios or doctors, but it's far too easy for anyone (at least in the UK) to set up as a Reiki "therapist". Some don't even bother taking the Reiki courses. I'm unsure if that makes them less dishonest, or more.
There are certainly many who genuinely believe they are doing good- but beyond a little destressing, it's hard to see what.
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The problem here is that the Reiki "master" is in the middle and taking money from someone to do it. Whether he/she understands what fallen arches or plantar fascitis are isn't the point is it? The person with one of those conditions could have easily gone to a real doctor and gotten the same diagnosis without paying the additional hundreds of dollars.

I have a similar issue. I have a dear friend that my wife and I graduated from college with and he was even in our wedding quite a few years ago. He went to a "Reiki School" and met the woman he eventually married. We were at his wedding a couple of years back and it was very woo-like. There were a lot of members from the "school" and reminded me of a coven. Strange. I have promised not to bring up my thoughts on Reiki, but I would be hard-pressed not to if he went into "practice".
 
After thinking about it a bit more, I decided that if a friend of mine told me they were opening a Reiki practice, I would encourage her to:

* clearly write out a list of professional ethics, consulting the codes of doctors, counselors, physical therapists, and massage therapists

* outline her intake and interviewing procedures, and know exactly under what circumstances she would deny service and refer to a licensed medical professional

* never diagnose, prescribe, or treat

* have her recipients sign consent forms stating, "I understand that this Reiki session is intended for the purpose of stress reduction and relaxation only, and is not a substitute for proper medical care by a licensed physcian or counselor..."

* use the words "recipient" instead of "client" and "session" instead of "treatment"

* take notes of the sessions, including what she did or perceived and whatever verbal feedback she gets from recipients

* think deeply about how she will advertise and describe her services

* determine what a fair price is

* investigate local touch laws and be sure she's in accordance with them (in some states you can only touch someone in a therapeutic context if you're licensed)

* define to herself what a "Master" is and what she will tell others it means

* ask herself WHY she wants to open a practice -- because she needs money? wants to help people? wants to bolster her ego?
 
If these people are truly sincere, why don't they just call themselves "Relaxation Experts" rather than the pompous Reiki Master?
 
openingmind said:
After thinking about it a bit more, I decided that if a friend of mine told me they were opening a Reiki practice, I would encourage her to:

* clearly write out a list of professional ethics, consulting the codes of doctors, counselors, physical therapists, and massage therapists

* outline her intake and interviewing procedures, and know exactly under what circumstances she would deny service and refer to a licensed medical professional

* never diagnose, prescribe, or treat

* have her recipients sign consent forms stating, "I understand that this Reiki session is intended for the purpose of stress reduction and relaxation only, and is not a substitute for proper medical care by a licensed physcian or counselor..."

* use the words "recipient" instead of "client" and "session" instead of "treatment"

* take notes of the sessions, including what she did or perceived and whatever verbal feedback she gets from recipients

* think deeply about how she will advertise and describe her services

* determine what a fair price is

* investigate local touch laws and be sure she's in accordance with them (in some states you can only touch someone in a therapeutic context if you're licensed)

* define to herself what a "Master" is and what she will tell others it means

* ask herself WHY she wants to open a practice -- because she needs money? wants to help people? wants to bolster her ego?
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Excellent list!
These are pretty much the protocols for the paractice of Massage Therapy.
 
Resume said:
If these people are truly sincere, why don't they just call themselves "Relaxation Experts" rather than the pompous Reiki Master?
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Reiki comes out of a context of Esoteric Buddhism (Tendai) and involves some ritual around some simplified religious symbols.

Of course there are people who promote more secular forms of "energy healing."
Therapeutic Touch is an example.
And Quantum-Touch

But they all claim curative results.
All I've ever seen is a temporary relief of unpleasant symptoms.
 
Apathia said:
Reiki comes out of a context of Esoteric Buddhism (Tendai) and involves some ritual around some simplified religious symbols.

Of course there are people who promote more secular forms of "energy healing."
Therapeutic Touch is an example.
And Quantum-Touch

But they all claim curative results.
All I've ever seen is a temporary relief of unpleasant symptoms.
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Placebo, in other words. Perhaps what is needed is Super-Nano-Quantum-Stealth-Reiki.
 
Resume said:
Placebo, in other words. Perhaps what is needed is Super-Nano-Quantum-Stealth-Reiki.
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Placebo, or what's likely happening is that Reiki recipients are experiencing the relaxation response as a part of the session.

(See the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine website. Benson is someone who has been studying the relaxation response -- as a completely physical, ordinary phenomenon that can be induced by "spiritual" practices.)

Mind you, what a Reiki practitioner believes he/she is doing is probably not causing the parasymthetic nervous system response, but the many factors of a (typical) session probably are causing it:

* the recipient is invited to lay down on a massage table
* soft music is played
* lights are dimmed
* the recipient is encouraged to breathe deeply and steadily, and clear the mind
* warm hards are placed on different parts of the body
* the practitioner speaks to the recipient in a soothing voice

...All these things, completely ordinary, can add up to a genuine, physical relaxation response that relaxes muscles, lowers blood pressure, and maybe even is accompanied by a release of endorpins.

Again, does that mean the Reiki practitioner is causing it? No, it just means they're assisting in creating it by providing a calm environment and some pacifying sensory stimulation.
 
openingmind said:
Placebo, or what's likely happening is that Reiki recipients are experiencing the relaxation response as a part of the session.

(See the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine website. Benson is someone who has been studying the relaxation response -- as a completely physical, ordinary phenomenon that can be induced by "spiritual" practices.)

Mind you, what a Reiki practitioner believes he/she is doing is probably not causing the parasymthetic nervous system response, but the many factors of a (typical) session probably are causing it:

* the recipient is invited to lay down on a massage table
* soft music is played
* lights are dimmed
* the recipient is encouraged to breathe deeply and steadily, and clear the mind
* warm hards are placed on different parts of the body
* the practitioner speaks to the recipient in a soothing voice

...All these things, completely ordinary, can add up to a genuine, physical relaxation response that relaxes muscles, lowers blood pressure, and maybe even is accompanied by a release of endorpins.

Again, does that mean the Reiki practitioner is causing it? No, it just means they're assisting in creating it by providing a calm environment and some pacifying sensory stimulation.
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Correctomondo!
I'd add personal attention as a piece of the faciltation, much the same way a mother sooths an owie with a kiss.
 
bumlet5 said:
One of my best friends is a firm believer in woo, and I have been ok with it so far. She doesn't spend a ton of money on woo-related products, and if something goes seriously wrong she does what needs to be done.

My current issue is that she is considered a Reiki Master (from way before knew her), and wants to open a 'practice'. I am usually supportive of my friends beliefs so long as they don't effect themselves or others detrimentally and they know where I stand on those topics, but I am torn here. I don't like the idea of her taking money and trying to 'heal' people who could potentially be very sick, but I want to be supportive of her life choices as a friend. This is a fine line I'm treading and am wondering if anyone else has had problems like this. I would appreciate any thoughts.

Thanks.
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This girl I dated for a while was well on her way to becoming a "Reiki master". She believed strongly in it and was obsessed with it. She was generally not into most other forms of woo though. She was nice and intelligent otherwise, except for those extreme mood swings of hers.

I was open and honest with her right away and told her I believed Reiki was nonsense or helped bring about nothing but a placebo response. She thought I was "closed-minded". At first it didn't seem like a big deal, but eventually that was one of the reasons we stopped seeing each other. Her training in Reiki also did nothing to help her overcome her nicotine addiction, which made her increasingly embarrassed as well(as well as increasingly hypocritical). Luckily the relationship ended before we got too close.
 
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Zelenius said:
Her training in Reiki also did nothing to help her overcome her nicotine addiction
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There's a misconception out there mainly amongst so called "skeptics" that any practitioner of what they would define as "woo" has to be perfect i.e. don't smoke, don't answer a question wrong, etc. I know Doctors who smoke and other doctors that have misdiagnosed symptons. It doesn't mean I don't believe in what doctors can do.
 
That's a good point, gerg. A lot of people tend to hold those they don't agree with to higher standards than they hold themselves.
 
Was the point of the nicotine mention that Reiki is supposed to help you cure addictions?

Not clear on what Reiki's claims are.
 
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