THE HEALING TOUCH
Treating injuries through Reiki
By SHARON KERR

REIKI AND HEALING TOUCH both manipulate energy points in the body. When you are properly attuned, you are better able to function, to heal, and to achieve happiness.

A Reiki master lives near Woodville, but she's only practicing on family and friends now that she has retired to a peaceful setting near a creek.

Reiki, pronounced raykee, is an ancient healing technique, a close cousin to acupuncture without needles, or more like meditation with company.

Ann Mouton (her maiden name) was a registered dietician working at a hospital in Louisiana when she first encountered Reiki.

"Reiki is not alternative medicine, it's meant to be used in conjunction with physicians," Mouton said, although she doubts many doctors here know what Reiki is.

"It's out of the realm of what we as westerners learn, but it has been practiced in Asia for thousands of years," she said.

In 1996, Mouton had a 16-year-old boy as a patient. He had been in an accident and had a cervical injury that should leave him paralyzed if he lived. Mouton had a son that age, and immediately bonded with the mother, who was staying in ICU around the clock.

Grasping at straws, the mother gave permission for a woman from Iberia to come and do Reiki.

"Changes were immediate. The boy came out of his coma, vitals started improving, the doctors were going through his charts in amazement," Mouton said.

Was she an instant believer? Not quite. There are none so skeptical as those trained in the medical profession and scientific methods.

Two weeks later, Mouton needed to take some Continuing Education Units (CEUs) and saw a course offered on alternative medicines. It included speakers on topics like acupuncture and herbal treatments.

The last speaker described her topic as energy based healing. She was an instructor at Tulane University specializing in Healing Touch. Far from being a feely-touchy hippy thing, it is a recognized and certified program:

"Healing Touch is a complementary or integrative energy therapy that can be used in conjunction with traditional therapies or as a stand-alone treatment," according to the Colorado Center for Healing Touch.

The program has been taught since 1989 and has more than 50 studies in universities and medical centers to back up their claims.

Still skeptical, but more open to such ideas, Mouton attended a cocktail party for the new neuro-psych resident, where she heard about a treatment for people suffering from side effects of chemotherapy and radiation. Reiki, it was claimed, reduced the nausea and vomiting, weight loss, weakness and even hair loss associated with aggressive cancer treatments.

Hearing about it three times in such a short span, it seemed to Mouton that Reiki was calling her.

"I'd had a shoulder that bothered me for three years. An occupational therapist worked on it, even a chiropractor, and the next step would be cortisone injections. I wanted to avoid that, so I got the name of a Reiki master and decided I'll try one session. What have I got to lose?

"It was the most transforming experience of my life. I got off the table and didn't feel any pain in my shoulder for the first time in years. And that pain never came back," Mouton says.

"I really can't explain it, but you feel it. You let go of stress. It's about aligning the energy centers in the body using nothing more than intention."

Mouton quickly mastered the three levels of Reiki and also studied the similar Healing Touch program.

She became part of the hospital "healing team" and often gave tired staff members a Reiki adjustment during lunch.

Reiki can be done anywhere and in any position, and in fact someone who is attuned can perform Reiki on themselves while watching television.

But a full adjustment takes more than an hour. You lie on a massage-type table in a dimly lit room with soothing music, eyes closed, while the Reiki master adjusts your Chakra points. This may involve a light touch, or may just be the master's hands moving over energy fields, unruffling and smoothing your chi.

The name Reiki is derived from two Japanese words: rei is the cosmic energy of the universe, and chi is your fundamental life force. When they are attuned and working together, you are physically and emotionally more able to function, to heal, to be happy.

Mouton says the process energizes both the giver and the receiver. It does not require any belief system.

"You can be Christian, Muslim, anything or nothing, a total non-believer. It does not require that you understand what it does," she says, "and I certainly can't explain how it works in words. You just have to feel it."