Adverse affect to pacemaker?

Hiya

I have worked with a Reiki master who learnt her Reiki in Australia, and she gives having a pacemaker as being a contra-indication for Reiki, and I must admit I've never heard of that.

To me, Reiki can only do good as it is the gift of a Buddha pledged only to do good for the human race (Maureen Kelly's Reiki and the Healing Buddha is the source for that one), and that means it cannot harm pacemakers. I too asked her for sources for that and she said that was the way she was taught. So I'd be interested in learning what the source is for this one.

Hi Chris,
Thank-you for your response. I have since found lots more Healthy Pages Reiki forum discussion under the title 'reiki and pacemaker' that links up to my question. In the discussion, it mentions a gentleman with a pacemaker who complained, and also a lady reiki practitioner with a pacemaker who checked with her clinic and the rep of the pace maker company who gave receiving and giving of reiki the all-clear to use. It answers a lot, I just didn't look in the right place to find an answer initially.
Springmoon

I was told by my Reiki masters (1 have 2!) that having a pacemaker is a contra-indication to Reiki. As Reiki can only do good, this has puzzled me. I'm also a bit worried about the whole "negative energy" thing that they talk about, but that's another story...

xxx

This is a really interesting question. As a Reiki teacher, I have a duty to instruct students to work in a safe and professional way. I teach students to avoid giving Reiki to clients with a pacemaker for the following reasons:

Pacemakers can be affected by external electromagnetic fields.

Reiki energy is electromagnetic in nature (this has been found in studies).

I do not know enough about pacemakers to know just how sensitive they are to EM fields, so I advise students to avoid giving Reiki to clients with pacemakers as a precaution. I cannot say whether Reiki will affect a pacemaker or not in a definitive way, but I prefer to err on the side of caution until such time Reiki has been scientifically tested with pacemakers.

I would be really interested to find some 'proof' that Reiki can effect the functioning of a pacemaker. One of my rellies has one (he is 72) and he has been told that he could expect some electromagnetic interference from things such as mobile phones (if kept in pocket to close to the implant); MRI or radiothearpy devices in clinics; more recently iPods have been found to cause interference - he doesn't know what they are, so little chance of it causing a problem! Some shops have security scanners at the door - these might cause a problem, but he has never experienced anything. He has had it in place, and been problem free for nearly 10 years.

It may be of interest for some to read this article.

[DLMURL] http://www.reiki-evolution.co.uk/taggart-king-reiki-articles-06.htm [/DLMURL]

I was taught this "myth"/"contraindictation" when I first learnt Reiki and, at the time, I too was confused as to how it could be.

I did a lot of searching and looking into it, and although many people spoke of being taught this by their master, it seems that there is no documented evidence of any case where a person with a pacemaker has experienced problems from a Reiki treatment.

I'd be interested if anyone does find any evidence, but to the best of my knowledge it is just a myth that has been introduced somewhere and come down the lineages.

From a purely technical standpoint, if pacemakers were that succeptible to EMF then people with them would not be able to go near many electrical goods, flourescent lights, electricity pylons etc., so I can't see any reason why Reiki would have any adverse effect.

All Love and Reiki Hugs

I have also heard it mentioned that Reiki can affect pacemakers, however I am also a practising nurse and given that in order to deactivate it you have to put a reasonable sized magnet right over it I'd say this is one of those myths that needs putting to bed but will persist until people actually question and check. As long as information is passed down verbatim without this there are those who could benefit who will be told "No, you can't because of x......."

Jabba the MRI thing relates to any piece of metal in the body as the field generated is strong enough to dislodge these and they will interfere with the images obtained. So anyone with metal plates etc (say in a leg as a result of a bad fracture) cannot have Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

As Energylz points out if they were that susceptible some people would have to remove all sorts of things from their normal living environment.

Healistic thanks for that link. The article looks very sensible and easy to read.

Sorry if that seems like a rant but unfounded and unquestioned repetition of things get me going.

Healistic thanks for that link. The article looks very sensible and easy to read.

Thanks from me to.

I have also heard it mentioned that Reiki can affect pacemakers, however I am also a practising nurse and given that in order to deactivate it you have to put a reasonable sized magnet right over it I'd say this is one of those myths that needs putting to bed

As a Reiki teacher, I really need to be sure about this issue...
Earthbabe, are you saying in your expert opinion as a nurse, that Reiki energy, regardless of what frequency the practitioner channels and how much energy the practitioner channels, this will in every case have no effect on any type/make of pacemaker? Also, what do you base this opinion on? Have you looked at any relevent scientific studies or is it your experience or opinion. I really want to make sure about this, as it is important to me to make sure I am teaching the correct information. Thanks!

I have just googled pacemakers and EMF and found some scientific studies that found using a mobile phone less than 20cm to certain pacemakers can have an effect:

[url] http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119953326/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 [/url]

[url] http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119953326/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 [/url]

Also, proximity to certain electric cables:

[url] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16012068?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum [/url]

And then I found this:

Dept. of Cardiology, School of Medicine, Trakya University, Turkey 7/2002

"External sources may interfere with the appropriate function of pacemakers which are being implanted all around the world in current medical practice. The patient and the physician who is responsible for follow-up of the pacing systems may be confronted with some specific problems regarding the various types of electromagnetic interference (EMI)…...Patients having unipolar pacemaker systems are prone to develop EMI because of pectoral muscle artefacts during vigorous active physical exercise”

I am not an expert on EMF and pacemakers, so maybe Earthbabe can help. Is the last sentence saying that the EMF created by the pectoral muscles during exercise can affect a pacemaker? Does that not mean some pacemakers are quite sensitive, even to low power EMF?

I know when I use a mobile phone I cannot feel the EMF it produces, yet when I am channelling Reiki energy my whole arm tingles with the energy. So is the energy I am channelling stronger than that produced by a mobile phone? If this is the case, is it beyond reason to suggest that channelling Reiki energy into the heart area of a client with a pacemaker could have an effect if it happens to be at a frequency that can cause EMI?

Thanks for the article, Healistic. Very interesting.

xxx

Brilliant article Healistic - thank you for the link. Makes me think that we need to be more open minded and why deny a person with a pace-maker this beautiful loving energy. My thoughts are - what if someone was attuned to Reiki before they had there pacemaker? How would it affect them during self-healing.

This is what will happen to my mom eventually and I plan to attune her to Master Level when I have attained Masters myself.

Thank-you, Healistic for the following advice to read the Taggart King article, as below.

The comments about 'evidence' and 'research' by other forum users question where is the evidence to prove reiki is safe in the vicinity of a pacemaker.
However, the evidence needed is to prove that it is unsafe to use.
The many comments on this and the other Reiki thread on pacemakers state that people have suffered no ill-effect from reiki. Also, a pacemaker rep stated that reiki would be safe to use with a pacemaker.
Where is the evidence either way, more importantly, Where is the evidence to prove that it is detrimental?
I have asked where the foundation of this belief may have stemmed from, but have no evidence to show any detrimental effect. Perhaps practictioners have erred on caution but without a precise understanding of the physics/ physiology and mechanics of a pacemaker, or indeed of reiki.
My belief that Reiki will never be explained fully by a human mind or research process. Because of this, I believe that Reiki can only be used for the highest good, with great respect and the trust that it will never cause harm.
Blessings
springmoon

As Taggart King states in the article below, 'Reiki is an intelligent energy'

from Healistic:
It may be of interest for some to read this article.

[DLMURL="http://www.reiki-evolution.co.uk/taggart-king-reiki-articles-06.htm"] http://www.reiki-evolution.co.uk/tag...rticles-06.htm [/DLMURL]
__________________
Once a word is spoken, it flies, you can't catch it.

<a class="go2wpf-bbcode" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="www.european-reikifederation.co.uk">www.european-reikifederation.co.uk

<a class="go2wpf-bbcode" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="www.healistic.co.uk">www.healistic.co.uk