Harness the healing energy

Raheela Ahmad claims she's healed hundreds through reiki. What do patients and doctors say?

Raheela Ahmad has been an energy healer and practitioner for five years and claims to have healed hundreds of patients, 50 of who reside in the UAE. Another 30 have been trained and certified to practise reiki.

Reiki (pronounced ray-key) is a Japanese term consisting of two words, rei and ki, meaning spiritually guided life energy. This energy is commonly known as Universal Life Energy, an energy that animates and surrounds us.

Extensive practice

Raheela has been practising reiki extensively and is well versed with different types of diseases and their cures.

The diseases she says she has cured are insomnia, constipation, tension, depression, trauma, migraine, cervical pain, diabetes and arthritis.

She also says she has managed to eliminate the need for medicines from people's lives.

However, Dr Bashir Salih, chief of service obstetric medicine at the Al Corniche Hospital, finds it hard to believe that reiki can cure diseases such as diabetes or cancer.

“I heard about reiki and I think it probably plays an adjunctive complementary role in therapy with emotional or psychological conditions. In medicine, we call psychosomatic diseases.''

Part of Raheela's ritual when performing reiki involves candles, which helps improve a person's concentration span.

Curing process

When asked how energy healing cures people, she said healing is both a physical and mental process that works scientifically — as our body has millions of cells, where each cell has vibration.

When any part of our body is affected, energy in that area is either drained completely or lessened. Through reiki, energy is transmitted to that area, which then instantly reacts positively.

Raheela is also used for psychic surgeries to deal with health problems, emotional difficulties, addictions, mental problems and even career or money-related matters.

At all levels

Additionally, the practitioner conducts four-level reiki classes for interested candidates.

She teaches meditation exercises followed by attunement, which allows the person to enter an energy centre after which s/he is able to receive energy from the universe.

Then the candidates are taught to heal themselves and others.

“Any dedicated person can learn reiki, irrespective of age or gender. Even illiterate people can learn to perform reiki,'' Raheela said.

One of Raheela's patients, Rizwana, said that after reading and finding out about reiki, she decided to become a practitioner herself.

“I finished two levels of reiki. I was taught how to perform reiki on myself and on others and now I'm performing it on my family, specifically [on] my son, who's autistic. He used to be very sick and aggressive but reiki has helped make him much calmer,'' Rizwana said.

She added that her belief in reiki is increasing, as it helped her son become calmer and also created a healthier atmosphere at home.

“One day, my husband felt tired. While performing reiki on him, I felt a pricking sensation on my hand and discovered an infection he had carried since a long time ago that I was unaware of. I performed reiki on him and, surprisingly, the throbbing stomach pain was gone.''

From a psychologist's point of view, Isis Badawi of Shaikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) says that in many instances the belief that something will help does help.

She called this the “placebo effect''. New treatments are evaluated against such an effect.

“I must admit I don't know very much about the practice of reiki or the foundations on which it is based. I do know, however, that the claims have not been substantiated [in] a rigorous scientific manner. I, too, have heard of people who believe in, and have responded to, reiki as a method of healing,'' Badawi added.

Managing matters

Another reiki patient, Fadya Hamid, 31, claims she was suffering from severe insomnia, anxiety, depression and stress.

“I had major problems with my manager at work and I couldn't sleep for months. Raheela contacted my boss [with] healing candles. I can't go on to explain how different my boss's attitude was the very next day. Whatever problems I had at work were gone. Some issues with my husband were also sorted out and my overall health improved,'' Hamid said.

Hamid said the practitioner formed a mental link with her boss and husband and things were handled using positive energy flow.

A patient who wished to remain anonymous told Unwind that she's had serious insomnia, mental and emotional problems and always felt weak and ill.

She had consulted many doctors, was prescribed antibiotics and asked to see a psychologist.

“Through reiki, a flow of positive energy entered my soul, body and mind. I was not as disturbed and could sleep like a baby from just one therapy session.''

From patient to healer …

The reiki training programme has four levels:

Levels Course Duration