More Central Jersey hospitals offering reiki to treat breast cancer

• Reiki has become an increasingly popular complementary therapy for cancer patients, and it seems particularly effective in treating breast cancer
• Reiki is administered from the practitioner’s gentle, holistic hands to the patient
• Many practitioners lightly place their hands on various points of the body; others hold their hands just above the body
• People such as Franklin ’s Virginia Ganim swear by the power of Reiki; she believes it helped her discover her breast cancer in 2008.

Her hand glided over her heart and filled the area with heat. Then her hand started to move frantically side to side, and she knew something was not right. A visit to a cardiologist confirmed her heart was fine. However, the hand still moved over the chest, and that is when Virginia Ganim went for a mammogram.

The Franklin resident believes reiki helped to discover her breast cancer in 2008.

“It gave me the edge I needed to detect the cancer in my chest wall,” Ganim said. “I believe reiki saved my life.”

Ganim isn’t alone. The centuries-old practice of reiki is becoming an increasingly common complementary therapy in cancer centers across Central Jersey and the rest of the country. Reiki tables could someday become as synonymous of a symbol with the fight against cancer as pink-hued ribbons are with Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

What it does

The International Center for Reiki Training defines reiki as “a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing.” It is based on the principal that an unseen “life force energy flows through us and is what causes us to be alive.”

Reiki is administered from the practitioner’s gentle, holistic hands to the patient. Many practitioners lightly place their hands on various points of the body. Others hold their hands just above the body.

“We are energy beings, and reiki builds up the immune system to fight off disease energetically by pulling out blocks, and channeling in energy,” said Joey Stann, an Edison-based reiki master and teacher. “It is like charging a battery. Reiki is the jumper cables between the Source and the client, and once you are charged, that is when the healing can begin.”

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Although reiki has been deployed against everything from Alzheimer’s disease to arthritis, at least one of Stann’s clients swears by its effectiveness against breast cancer.

Dr. Karen Munkacy, board certified in anesthesiology and breast cancer survivor, left a message on Stann’s web site saying she could “never repay what you have done for me. I truly believe you have helped save my life. I had advanced breast cancer and now my (doctors) are telling me it has disappeared.”

Bunny Wilmore, breast cancer survivor and Bridgewater resident, practices reiki at The Steeplechase Cancer Center at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset, in Somerville. Wilmore first learned about this treatment when she was recovering from her mastectomy at Sloan Kettering in 2001.

“I found reiki in 2002 when I had my first session which led me to become a practitioner,” she said.

During a session, “the recipient lies comfortably on a table (or sitting on a chair) in a darkened room while a healing CD is playing in the background,” she said. “The session is an hour long and begins with eyes closed, focusing on the breath, and with a silent intention as a meditation. When the session ends, the client is very relaxed and does not want to leave the table.”

Breast Cancer Awareness Month events in Central Jersey

Reiki practitioner, Gioconda “Jackie” Chiera, from Annandale works at the Summit-based Overlook Medical Center, Carol G. Simon Cancer Center.  Chiera offers reiki to patients in the waiting room.

“We have a massage room, but many times we offer reiki to patients in the waiting room before their chemotherapy,” she said. “They say that it helps to make them feel calm, and reduces their anxiety before their conventional treatments.”

She recalls one patient who received reiki for insomnia and after one session, she had “the best sleep since being diagnosed.”

Reiki is a gift

Diagnosed in 2010, breast and colon cancer patient, Joyce Erikson, a resident of Bridgewater , who receives reiki and conventional treatment at the Steeplechase Cancer Center, feels that reiki is a “gift that melts away concerns, worries and pain.” Erikson, who has post-surgical, chemo-induced, peripheral neuropathy, (nerve damage in the hands and feet), said that after being treated by this complementary therapy, she has seen an enormous difference in the reduction of her pain due to this condition.

Nancy Cullinan, psychosocial program coordinator at Steeplechase, recruits and manages the complementary programs and encourages patients to have at least one reiki session.

“Initially, many patients are skeptical of trying reiki,” Cullinan said.  “Some have never heard of it before. However, once they try it, they love it. Patients report that it helps relieve tension, anxiety and fear.”

As a social worker, Cullinan explains that reiki, being a mind-body therapy helps restore the balance between the mind, body and soul and it creates in-depth healing on all levels.

“We see more complementary therapies at cancer centers because patients fighting for their life want to maximize their support,” she said. “The medical profession has acknowledged the connection between the body and mind, and its role in our overall health."

“I didn’t know much about it, until I observed one of my lung patients receiving treatment. He was going through anxiety, depression and difficulty sleeping. I could see that it was very helpful to him,” recalled Dr. Kathleen Toomey, medical director at the Steeplechase Cancer Center. “Reiki is a complementary therapy. It is not instead of or replacing standard care. It helps to support the adverse effects of treatment. Also, it instills a sense of hope, a sense of being proactive of doing everything possible to help and a sense of meaning in a tough situation.”

Take action

Complementary reiki sessions lasting 30 to 60 minutes are available at The Steeplechase Cancer Center at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset in Somerville (908-685-2200) and Overlook Medical Center, Carol G. Simon Cancer Center in Summit at (973-971-6100). The sessions are for cancer patients receiving treatment at the centers.

If you are a cancer patient, and would like to receive reiki as a complementary therapy, check with your treatment center for offerings.To book reiki sessions with Joey Stann, reiki master, visit his website at www.holisticlifemaster.com

To learn more about reiki, visit The International Center for Reiki Training at www.reiki.org