Using Reiki ....in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Alzheimer’s Disease

"Using Reiki to Decrease Memory and Behavior Problems in Mild
Cognitive Impairment and Mild Alzheimer’s Disease"

by STEPHEN E. CRAWFORD, M.Sc., V. WAYNE LEAVER, Ph.D. and SANDRA D. MAHONEY, Ph.D.


PDF File:
Using Reiki to Decrease Memory and Behavior Problems...

James, this report is so interesting, especially since I will be moving in with my elderly father and second cousin in a few weeks to provide live-in help. They're both in their eighties and my second cousin has been having memory problems for many years now. So I'm hoping they will both be open to hands-on treatments. Another thing I thought about when reading the report is how important touch is to human well-being. It's my guess that a lot of patients in these facilities don't experience a lot of touching, except for the administration of medication or medical procedures.

I have noticed since returning to my practice of Reiki that my own memory has improved. I was beginning to have some serious memory lapses beginning 2 to 3 years ago and progressively getting worse. I was blaming it on menopause, but since I've started doing self-treatments again, my memory problems have all but disappeared. Coincidence? Unless menopause goes into spontaneous remission and I suddenly get younger, I doubt it!

(By the way, I'm delighted to see you here! I have read your website for years now as part of my Reiki education. Thank you for providing such a useful website.)

dharmabytes wrote:James, this report is so interesting, especially since I will be moving in with my elderly father and second cousin in a few weeks to provide live-in help. They're both in their eighties and my second cousin has been having memory problems for many years now. So I'm hoping they will both be open to hands-on treatments. Another thing I thought about when reading the report is how important touch is to human well-being. It's my guess that a lot of patients in these facilities don't experience a lot of touching, except for the administration of medication or medical procedures.

I have noticed since returning to my practice of Reiki that my own memory has improved. I was beginning to have some serious memory lapses beginning 2 to 3 years ago and progressively getting worse. I was blaming it on menopause, but since I've started doing self-treatments again, my memory problems have all but disappeared. Coincidence? Unless menopause goes into spontaneous remission and I suddenly get younger, I doubt it!

(By the way, I'm delighted to see you here! I have read your website for years now as part of my Reiki education. Thank you for providing such a useful website.)

Mish that is quite a caregiving task that
you are taking on. I wish you Reiki Blessings
on this part of your journey. During my Reiki
volunteer services, elderly folks living alone
told me it was so good to feel a human touch.

Thank you, Chi Solas. My dad and cousin are really still quite active for their ages. They just need help with housework, driving and the tasks that are becoming a little too overwhelming for them right now. I have worried about them for years now living alone 2 states away. The other closest relative lives several hundred miles from them. Now that I'm officially retired and the opportunity has presented itself, I jumped at the opportunity to move there. I don't like the climate and freezing winters where I live now and will love being back on the West Coast.

I definitely do NOT want either of them going to a rest home and, frankly, I will enjoy their company as well. I've lived by myself for many years and, except for seeing my daughter and grandkids, have been pretty solitary. So it will be a welcome change and I can be there when they do become finally become incapacitated. Caregiving is not unfamiliar to me. I took care of my husband for several years before he passed away and know pretty much what to expect, the stages of decline, etc. I just hope my Reiki skills bring them comfort and that they are open to it. I know that people, when they are ill or dying, love to be touched. So many times, people back away from ill or dying patients or are afraid to touch them. I think that's a human characteristic, that we think we're going to somehow "catch" it or it somehow grosses us out. But dying is inevitable and something that we're all going to do sooner or later.

I think the West has a much more unhealthy attitude toward dying than many indigenous people in other parts of the world (and cultures in the East). Anyway, I'm getting off topic. I do think it's interesting that medical and scientific studies are finally catching up to what Reiki practitioners, herbal healers and shamans have know for thousands of years - everything has a "charge."

dharmabytes wrote:Thank you, Chi Solas. My dad and cousin are really still quite active for their ages. They just need help with housework, driving and the tasks that are becoming a little too overwhelming for them right now. I have worried about them for years now living alone 2 states away. The other closest relative lives several hundred miles from them. Now that I'm officially retired and the opportunity has presented itself, I jumped at the opportunity to move there. I don't like the climate and freezing winters where I live now and will love being back on the West Coast.

I definitely do NOT want either of them going to a rest home and, frankly, I will enjoy their company as well. I've lived by myself for many years and, except for seeing my daughter and grandkids, have been pretty solitary. So it will be a welcome change and I can be there when they do become finally become incapacitated. Caregiving is not unfamiliar to me. I took care of my husband for several years before he passed away and know pretty much what to expect, the stages of decline, etc. I just hope my Reiki skills bring them comfort and that they are open to it. I know that people, when they are ill or dying, love to be touched. So many times, people back away from ill or dying patients or are afraid to touch them. I think that's a human characteristic, that we think we're going to somehow "catch" it or it somehow grosses us out. But dying is inevitable and something that we're all going to do sooner or later.

I think the West has a much more unhealthy attitude toward dying than many indigenous people in other parts of the world (and cultures in the East). Anyway, I'm getting off topic. I do think it's interesting that medical and scientific studies are finally catching up to what Reiki practitioners, herbal healers and shamans have know for thousands of years - everything has a "charge."

Mish, Rest/nursing homes are a last resort
or the only choice for some. I always told
my students to consider volunteering in a
nursing/assisted living to gain experience.
In the Boston area we have organized groups
such as cambridgeathome.com to assist folks
who want to stay at home. The concept started
with a group of people from Beacon Hill in Boston.
I'm sure the concept is spreading. I did some
Reiki volunteering with the Cambridge group.

~ Bridget

Maybe I will volunteer some Reiki sessions at some of the local convalescent homes, hospices once I get settled. I'll be living in a retirement community, so hopefully there will be many opportunities for me there to bring comfort and companionship to the elderly. I've always liked older people and now that I'm older ("old" ) myself, I can really appreciate what older people are going through as the body ages and starts shutting down little-by-little. Sometimes it's not much fun, especially when "youngsters" start getting impatient with you when you can't move around as fast.