massage therapy

Healing Touch – Massage Therapy For Seniors

The healing touch provided by massage can be beneficial for many conditions, but is especially useful in senior care or if your loved one has limited mobility or is in a wheelchair. Lack of movement causes the circulation to diminish and nerve function to decline. As a result, muscles atrophy and shorten, resulting in tight joints that can’t straighten normally. Prolonged contraction of muscles due to inactivity can be helped with massage and gentle stretching. Massage also calms the central nervous system and reduces muscle tension, which eases chronic pain and improves sleep patterns.

Other benefits of massage for seniors and those with limited mobility:

Develop The Healing Power of Your Body Through Reiki Energy Techniques

Frequently you will see Reiki therapeutic massage which will logically make you think they are similar. Reiki is distinct from massage therapy, but it is usual to see them mixed into one approach. The translation of Reiki is, universal life force energy, and that can provide a clue about what this strategy is really all about. A specialist of this technique works with concepts found in other Eastern specialities such as yoga. To illustrate, the seven chakras, or energy centers, are involved with Reiki massage and treatment. The foundation for health with this and other therapies and procedures is determined by the healthy flow of life sustaining energy in the body.

The goal of Reiki is to enhance relaxation and the reduction of stress and anxiety. So it is easy to recognize why Reiki is often joined with massage therapy so the chakras may be more open and healthy. The idea is that your body is able to heal itself, but that’s only achievable when you’re able to stay relaxed. The human body has incredible healing powers in addition to being able to maintain good health. Reiki additionally places great emphasis on holding a sense of physical as well as spiritual balance. It is necessary to have balance in our life plus a balance of our life energies.

There are very many medical disorders and situations that originate from too much stress and anxiety. The way Reiki and other related practitioners feel is that the mind and body aren’t balanced along with the lifestyle. Naturally other habits may worsen these unbalanced states such as poor diet and using unhealthy substances. The intention of Reiki massage is to help the person to achieve greater relaxation. Massaging important areas of the body will assist the body to let go stress.

If you learn Reiki and acupuncture principles, then you will learn a few things in common. They each consider the healthy condition of our energy as particularly important to health. When a disease state occurs, or even an emotional or psychological problem, then it is a result of the disruption of this energy flow. In this circumstance we are not in balance with energy and life, and then the threat exists to become ill or have problems. It is instructive to consider the ways that many people imagine in negative terms. There are far too many points to cover such as anxiety, fanatical thoughts, being angry for any cause, low self-belief plus many more.

That is why the dual approach of encouraging relaxation through massage therapy plus the energy work from Reiki can be successful for many people. Naturally, not all individuals are open to Eastern philosophies as they concern overall health and treatment. But it is fascinating to note that Reiki massage has become widely acknowledged in Western countries. Reiki therapeutic massage presents a strategic solution which suggests you should do it on-going in your general pursuit of healthiness.

Reiki Massage Therapy

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; but spiritual beings having a human experience.” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Similar techniques of reiki have been tried and tested, but the true practice of this was made universal in the year 1922 and was developed by Mikao Usui, who when on a Buddhist training course held on Mount Kurama, performed what is called ‘isyu guo‘. It is a 21 day training and involves chanting, meditation, prayer and of course fasting.

He was able to use his body as a medium, specifically his crown chakra, to use the power of his mind both intellectually and spiritually to influence those around him. He coined this ability as reiki, and made it known in April 1922 where he instituted a society called Usui Reiki Ryōhō Gakkai, that translates into ‘Usui’s Spiritual Energy Therapy Method Society’.

Starting this society gave him a larger audience to channel his work through, using the reiki method to heal the masses. It is a slightly complex teaching that can only be passed down from a reiki practitioner to an apprentice, where practitioners can somehow pull in a force from the universe, saturate that energy and then use it for patients to alter their state of health and living.

It is a way of removing bad energy vibes from within a person, whilst replacing it with what is good, in order to help one heal over a period of time. A reiki massage (although not literally a hands-on massage) therapy involves pretty much the same concept, with many benefits that patients and people who want to try this method, receive.

Why Should One Seek Reiki Massage Therapy?

The purpose and results of reiki are plentiful, with practitioners passing along the message that the following can be changed or cured over a stipulated amount of time, although gradual. When it comes to reiki healing touch methods, the following conditions and problems can be solved with therapy.

  • Healing injuries
  • Soothes muscle aches and pains
  • Brings about balance in the body’s energies
  • Toxins are cleared from the body
  • Helps relieve stress and tension
  • Helps in the natural method of self-healing
  • Alleviates pain in the body
  • Can help treat lock jaws
  • Can treat other illnesses that the body is suffering from
  • Can increase one’s awareness
  • Can help relax one in mind and body
  • Keeps the body’s organs balanced
  • Can strengthen the immune system
  • Holistic healing
  • Encourages positive thinking
  • Boosts one’s creativity
  • Helps diffuse pent-up emotions and feelings
  • Meditative abilities are heightened

How is a Reiki Massage Performed?

When a reiki master starts off with a session, it involves first holding out one’s hands over the receiver’s body, and in some cases being in contact with the body, in order to send forth what will act upon them during the healing process.

I remember when one of these reiki masters, or an apprentice for the same, tried this out on my mom, and it involved the same process of course. The thing is that reiki probably needs one to be subjected to its effects over a period of time, and not over a short span to have to bare witness to results. In some reiki therapies, the placement of one’s hands differ, in that, it is either placed on certain points of the body to start with the healing treatment, or involves one’s hands hovering above the body and finding that perfect spot to have his/her hands concentrate their effects on.

This way one finds the area that is responsible for causing the imbalance, making the practitioner locate it, using his/her intuition. When the healing therapy begins, some people feel certain sensations that come through during the treatment. Some describe it as feelings of comfort, or extreme warmth. Some feel energy waves that radiate from the practitioner him/herself. It’s been used for many years as a way of channeling one’s inner energies to another and making it shift what is unbalanced in the other.

Reiki can be used once it is mastered, on not just people but on plants and animals as well. Once a person is trained to be a reiki master-teacher, he/she can use his means to treat anyone and anything during his/her time. People can take special classes to help themselves use their energies in a way that can help others who don’t strike a balance with their own. It all starts off with understanding the seven vital chakras of the body, and working one’s way through each to find out how to deal with each point’s complexities. A reiki master can impart his healing not just in person, but over distances as well; here’s how.

Distance Healing

Communicating from afar with the person that sits in another place, the practitioner tells him/her to sit in an environment that embodies peace and tranquility either in their home, or someplace outdoors. He/she then transfers their healing energies to them.

Contact Healing

One is asked to lie down, where a reiki massage is then performed, wherein there is no bodily contact, and the person is fully clothed. The surrounding area is turned into one of relaxation, using candles and calming music, making those who come for the massage, relax while giving way for the energy to shift and alter, thus changing it for his/her own good. The practitioner then gently places his/her hands on different points of the body, to help transfer their healing energies.

A reiki session would do people good, if they come with an open mind and the will to want to heal and get better. It doesn’t have to be used only for the sick, but for those who led chaotic and unhealthy lives, seeking peace and oneness among all things. Those considering this should go to known and trusted reiki practitioners. It is a painless method and all are invited to come and cleanse themselves from disturbing outside elements.