Pregnancy, for most, is a life altering experience that brings about tremendous transformations in a person. These transformations span one’s emotional, physical and psychological states and binds a woman with her bundle of joy through ties of unconditional love, and abundant care and nurture. This journey of pregnancy is often riddled with anxiety, physical and physiological discomfort, insecurities and fears. Since medicines, our ailment-alleviating remedies, can potentially cross the blood-brain barrier and cause irreversible damage to the growing fetus, doctors refrain from prescribing them to pregnant women. Reiki, on the other hand, has been known to provide support beyond the physical and emotional relief, and bring a sense of positivity, stability and strength to both, the mother and the unborn child.

• What Is Reiki?
• 10 Amazing Benefits Of Reiki During Pregnancy
• Should And Can Pregnant Women Self-Practice Reiki?

What Is Reiki?

Reiki is a Japanese technique that reduces stress and relaxes one’s body and mind, thereby promoting healing. It relies on the principle in which a healer channels the unseen life-force energy within him by the means of touch to drive the natural healing mechanism within a patient. In a nutshell, Reiki is a spiritually guided life-force energy.

10 Amazing Benefits Of Reiki During Pregnancy

As a practice, Reiki is holistic and considers the entire individual – the body, mind and the unborn child – as one. As an alternative form of therapy, Reiki has demonstrated many positive outcomes, especially during pregnancy, when it is focused on the heart, abdomen and the solar plexus. Right from conception up to birth, this natural and safe healing practice restores the mind, body, spirit and emotions with health and happiness.
Let us list down some pronounced and many veiled benefits of Reiki during pregnancy:

1. When practiced right from the first trimester, Reiki is known to reduce nausea, morning sickness and exhaustion
2. As the fetus grows, and the center of mass shifts, women begin to experience lower back aches and pains. Reiki brings relief to every stressed muscle and aching part of the woman’s body
3. Reiki calms the mind, allays fears and anxieties, and eases the process of labor and childbirth. The calming effect of this ancient practice brings control, relaxes the pelvic muscles and reduces delivery pain. In fact, women who have been recommended a cesarean section and have practiced Reiki during their pregnancies, have reported lesser need for cesarean sections as their deliveries have drawn closer
4. When healing life-force energies are concentrated on the abdomen, Reiki has demonstrated a positive effect on the baby in the womb. Pregnant women using Reiki have reported positive movements and physical responses (in the form of sustained kicks) by the babies during the energy-transferring session. While Reiki can make the baby wriggle with pleasure in the womb, it can also calm the baby when the mother is stressed
5. Depression during pregnancy and post-partum depression are a reality today. In such a scenario, Reiki is known to provide emotional and psychological support
6. Not only during pregnancy and childbirth, Reiki has demonstrated visible benefits post-partum as well. Today doctors recommend breast milk and the world seems to have woken up to the advantages of nursing the baby. The pressure of this situation could lead to no or less amount of breast milk being produced by an anxious new mother. Reiki soothes these worries, calms the stressed mother, and helps her express the required amount of breast milk for her child or nurse her baby adequately. Also, Reiki can be concentrated on the breasts of new mothers to heal them of soreness arising from engorgement or feeding
7. Just as music and reading to the fetus have shown positive cognitive references after childbirth, Reiki has also demonstrated similar spiritual connections between the mother and the child
8. Reiki is known to help the father bond with the unborn fetus as well, with the help of spiritual energies. It thereby enhances the family’s experience of pregnancy and makes it a joyous experience for all
9. Reiki is known to relieve the emotional stress that occurs when a new baby comes into the family. Mothers who used Reiki during and after pregnancy are known to better adjust to the big change in their lives while looking after the newborn baby
10. Reiki has some amazing benefits for the newborn as well. It has shown fantastic results in improving the baby’s sleep, reducing colic problems and accelerating their motor skill development

Should And Can Pregnant Women Self-Practice Reiki?

While Reiki is given to a pregnant woman by practitioners and Reiki masters, pregnant women can be attuned by their masters to be able to use it on themselves. A self-session of Reiki, especially during pregnancy, is smaller than the one given generally. It must last not more than 30-40 minutes as opposed to the regular 50-60 minutes. Also, the trimester determines the position – lying down, seated or lying on the side. The right position of the palm of your hands will help you experience the effects better.
Women generally feel completely out of control of their own bodies during pregnancy. They also get intimidated with the innumerable changes taking place in their bodies, and it is at such times that the healing and calming power of Reiki comes to their rescue. Reiki provides an anchor to pregnant women that makes them feel in control of the situation and keeps them firmly rooted to the ground, no matter what surprises await them.
Did you practice Reiki during pregnancy? How did it help you? Do share your experience in the comments section below.