The latest Blue Zones newsletter advises that getting outside to walk as little as two hours per week can prolong an individual’s life and reduce the risk of disease. This is good advice, but in today’s fractured world it appears that what millions of individuals really need counseling on methods they can use to cultivate a sense of connection and overcome the growing sense of isolation, disconnection, divisiveness and separation. The best life hack for this is learning about and experiencing reiki a simple, easy-to-use form of alternative medicine.

Previously called as energy healing, reiki is now recognized as a noninvasive biofield therapy that provides more than a placebo effect. In PubMed studies, evidence is provided for the immediate effects of reiki on heart rate variability, cortisol levels and body temperature in health care professionals suffering from burnout. It has also produced results for a number of different clinical conditions and is described in PubMed studies as a “safe and gentle complementary therapy that activates the parasympathetic nervous system to heal body and mind. It has potential for broader use in management of chronic health conditions and possibly in postoperative recovery.” 

Although the practice of biofield therapies has existed in Eastern and Western cultures for thousands of years, empirical research on the effectiveness is still relatively nascent. “It is unfortunate that our Western society has developed a high appreciation for academic intellectual knowledge. We prefer it over knowledge derived from experience, over wisdom transmitted orally through deeds,” says reiki master Silvia Casabianca, the founder of Eyes Wide Open in Naples and the author of Heartminded: Conscious Evolution From Fear to Solidarity. “Increased awareness of the body as multidimensional can lead to a sense of connection with others and with the planet. Shifting perspective helps us heal past trauma and rebuild relationships.”

If additional inspiration or motivation is needed for utilizing reiki as a life hack, we need look no further than Albert Einstein’s words of wisdom, “Our separation from each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.” 

As a psychotherapist, reiki practitioner and student of other vibrational therapies, Casabianca had many opportunities to perceive the existence of energy (or electromagnetic fields in the body prior to a meditative experience she had in 2005 while attending a healing mass with Father Richard McAlear, a charismatic priest. “I felt a sudden sensation that I can best describe by paraphrasing philosopher Alan Watts, ‘The others and I were all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean.’ Prior to that, I’d lived many years with a consciousness of a clear but arbitrary line existing between them and us, and I had echoed that illusion of separation that leads us to repeatedly compare ourselves with our neighbor and which makes us look at the other with distrust and judgement. In that moment, that I was watching the others receive energetic healing, I was overwhelmed by an emotion I can only describe as love. It was one of the moments that I write about in my book,” explains Casabianca. 

Interested in the laying on of hands since childhood, Rita Davis, reiki master and owner of Soul Sessions with Rita, in Estero, was drawn to learning reiki so that she could help individuals suffering from trauma. “My dad was career military and suffered terrible post-traumatic syndrome disorder long before that term was used. Seeing him suffer was the catalyst for me knowing that I wanted to help military and first responders. I volunteer my reiki services at the VA clinic in Cape Coral to give people a break from their trauma storm. My fiancé is in local law enforcement, and I give him reiki sessions. He doesn’t understand it, but he tells me that it works,” says Davis, who shares her meditative reiki insights with everyone that signs up on her website for Daily Whispers from the Universe. 

“I began practicing reiki in 2015 at the beginning of a tremendous spiritual transformation. In five years, I’ve witnessed the powerful and often at times life-changing effects of a reiki treatment. As my spiritual journey evolved, my connection with my higher self and spirit evolved along with my ability to sense the energy between people, connecting them. As part of this evolution, my reiki sessions include symbols I see in my mind’s eye and messages I get for clients I work with,” says the Lee county native.

There are other energy practices such as qigong and tai chi which help to improve health and vitality, in addition to the ability to sense and work with energy. While there are many benefits of reiki, it’s helpful to know before choosing the practice that it activates intuition and accelerates the ability to sense subtle energy.

Neil Armstrong’s words from the moon in July 1969, “One small step for a man and one giant leap for mankind,” continue to inspire millions of people. Perhaps when humans learn to understand themselves as multidimensional beings made up of mind, body, spirit and energy, that will be the next giant leap for mankind, one that finally convinces us that no one is separate. 

Eyes Wide Open, 239-948-9444. SilviaCasabiana.com

Soul Session With Rita, 941-275-2859. SoulSessionWithRita.com