Englewood Hospital adds Reiki healing for patients
THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012
NORTHERN VALLEY SUBURBANITE
ENGLEWOOD – In response to growing demand, Englewood Hospital and Medical Center will offer cancer patients increased opportunities to experience Reiki, a 100-year-old Japanese healing art said to reduce stress and fatigue.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ENGLEWOOD HOSPITAL
A patient undergoing chemotherapy receives a free Reiki session during treatment at Englewood Hospital's Infusion Center courtesy of Reiki Master Practitioner Karen Lazarovic.
Reiki, which roughly translates to "universal life-force energy," is a type of Japanese healing art that originated in the 1920s. Instead of a traditional massage, Reiki focuses on lightly touching the skin as a way of infusing "energy from the universe" into the body. For cancer patients who may be in physical pain, Reiki can act as an effective method of relieving stress without adding pressure to the body.
"They might not want a massage, but the light hands during the touch healing are very beneficial," said Dr. Julie Taw, MD, Medical Director for The Center for Integrative Healing at Englewood Hospital. "It's a wonderful adjunct to the conventional therapy we provided for those with cancer and those at the end of life."
Not only does Reiki bring harmony to mind, body, and spirit, but the practice helps ease pain and inflammation, said Karen Lazarovic, Reiki Master Practitioner at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.
"It's very calming and restorative," said Lazarovic. "It's non-intrusive, which is why it's a wonderful treatment. Nothing is entering the body except energy."
A typical session at the hospital's Infusion Center, which lasts approximately 20 minutes, involves light touching of the body's "energy centers," starting with hands over eyes, ears, and head, eventually moving down the collarbone, solar plexus, and then down to knees and feet.
"Patients usually feel warm and wonder if it's my hands that are warm," said Lazarovic. "I tell them it's the energy flowing into them that's creating that warmth."
Cancer patients traditionally experience high levels of stress and fatigue, due to the effects of chemotherapy. Reiki has been very effective in bringing down these stress levels by a significant rate, said Lazarovic.
"We measure their stress on a 0 to10 scale with many saying they are at level 7 or 9, which is very high," said Lazarovic. "Once they go through Reiki, they'll say, 'My stress is gone.' Sometimes they say they're at 0, which is amazing."
Before her time at Englewood Hospital, Lazarovic previously worked primarily with "non-touch" Reiki, which is more commonly used for those with physical injuries. She was introduced to Reiki after dealing with a knee injury of her own.
"I just put my hand and worked circles [over the knee], feeling an electrical signal," said Lazarovic. "I told people about it, and they told me to study Reiki."
After becoming certified as a Reiki Master in 2008, Lazarovic would eventually begin practicing at Englewood Hospital as a volunteer in 2010, working two hours a week. She soon found this amount of time was not enough to reach all the patients in the center.
In order to fulfill the additional needs of these patients, Lazarovic was hired in May to work four days a week at the hospital, leading to increased access for cancer patients that wish to try Reiki as a way of combating stress.
"A lot of patients only come in on certain days of week," said Lazarovic. "I was always working as a volunteer on one day of the week, and I never saw Thursday patients [for instance]. Now, I see people from all the other days of the week."
Taw was proud to see Englewood Hospital moving in the direction of providing alternative forms of therapy, as many hospitals across the country are beginning to embrace such measures.
"This is a national movement and Englewood Hospital is in the forefront of providing such services, along with other leading institutions in the country," and Taw. "We're moving forward right along with them."
Email: noda@northjersey.com or call 201-894-6703
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