One of the most transformational moments in a woman's life is during her pregnancy. Yet, like all meaningful, transformative moments, pregnancy can create a litany of physical and emotional symptoms that can be difficult to endure.
Research Shows Reiki Can Reduce Adverse Pregnancy Symptoms
Research has proven that women who seek out Reiki healing during their pregnancy report a nearly 100 percent reduction in their anxiety, 78 percent reduced pain, and 80 percent reduction in morning sickness. The benefits have been so profound that major national health hospitals like Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic offer Reiki as a type of Complementary Alternative Medicine to women seeking additional support.
Emotional Benefits of Pre-Natal Reiki
There have been other profound studies that document how the emotional status of an expecting mother can influence the unborn baby. Intense emotions such as stress and anxiety increase stress hormones in a mother's body that can affect a baby's developing body and brain. These hormones can increase the risks of low birth weight and shortened gestational age at birth.
While it is reasonable to have fears while pregnant, pregnancy can often bring mothers a sense of worry or anxiety about bringing a new life into their already structured routines. "How will we manage the logistics of another baby?" "Can we afford another child?" "Oh, gosh, we'll be up all night!" These are just some thoughts that can cloud the joyous moments of early pregnancy.
Reiki can help balance these turbulent emotions and heal any emotional trauma before delivery by assisting the mother in regaining emotional strength to feel empowered, balanced, and centered. This helps the baby grow and develop in a calm womb and eases tension for the mother to relish in the beauty of her pregnancy.
Reiki During Pregnancy Can Ease Physical Discomfort
The body is a holistic system. When one area is off, it can affect us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
And pregnancy is often accompanied by many physical discomforts, such as morning sickness, swelling feet, backaches, and other unpleasant physical symptoms.
Reiki can help increase feelings of well-being in expecting mothers by providing a respite from feelings of exhaustion prevalent in pregnancy, helping reduce nausea and decrease the aches and pains that may be present during pregnancy (particularly in the lower back and feet pain many pregnant women find uncomfortable.)
Pre-Natal Reiki Sessions Can Also Help The Baby?!
Pre-natal Reiki doesn't only help mothers. Reiki can help the unborn baby as well! I had a pregnant client who would come see me to help with her fuzzy brain ("pregnancy brain"), lower back pain, and lack of sleep due to a very active baby happily kicking away in her belly. Each time, as soon as we would start the Reiki session, her baby's activity would quiet down, and she was able to relax, as well! This mother enjoyed Reiki so much because it gave her a deep relaxation and helped lessen her aches and pains. She also felt like she had so much more mental clarity afterward.
Please know every case is different, and Reiki can also make the baby more active. But at its core, what Reiki can do is help babies and mother-to-be feel wrapped in profoundly healing and loving energy.
Postpartum Relief with Reiki Sessions
Labor and delivery are sometimes the "easy" part of the pregnancy journey. Sleepless nights, endless caregiving, and physical body changes can take their toll on a new mother. Reiki in postpartum can help new mothers feel loved and valued in moments of healing and relaxation where they aren't tending to someone else's needs.
These sessions can help combat symptoms of postpartum depression and help decrease fears and anxieties that may arise in the postpartum phase by bringing feelings of calm and relaxation to the new mother. This is excellent news and incredibly empowering to hear if the mother is breastfeeding, as this helps keep her milk flowing.
Infant Reiki Sessions
Infants often respond positively to Reiki sessions, and they can help newborns and infants reduce colic and help with sleeping issues, as well as help increase relaxation in the infant (the delivery process is not easy for the baby either!). Likewise, Reiki can help with bonding between parents and newborns.
If you're struggling in any trimester of pregnancy and looking for relief, Reiki may be the alternative holistic healing you're searching for. Expecting and postpartum mothers deserve all the support they can get, and I am eager to help.
If you are interested in booking a Reiki session with me, click here or contact me (scroll to the bottom for the contact form) to schedule your appointment.