STRESS AND REIKI

Stress has become an almost unavoidable part of modern life. It is well known that exposure to chronic stress creates a hormonal feedback loop which, amongst other things, makes it physically impossible for the body to:

Digest food: Blood is forced away from the viscera into the extremities to prepare for flight.
Fight disease: The immune system shuts down, leaving all available energy ready to be accessed by the musculoskeletal system.
Access its full intelligence: Blood vessels in the forebrain (higher brain function, logical reasoning) constrict to allow more blood into the hindbrain (reflex behaviour).

Stress also often has a severe impact on our waistlines by making us prone to favouring foods high in sugar and fat. To make matters worse, it prompts the endocrine system to produce a hormone that precipitates weight gain.

These corollaries are accepted by many as the price we pay for living in today's frantic world. Yet, although stress itself is inescapable at times, the degenerative effects of chronic stress can be reduced significantly. Reiki is an invaluable tool in achieving this as one of its primary modes of action is found in immediate, profound relaxation. Thus, the hormonal feedback loop may be interrupted, giving the system a chance to re-calibrate.