cover image Reiki for Common Ailments: A Practical Guide to Healing More than 80 Common Health Problems

Reiki for Common Ailments: A Practical Guide to Healing More than 80 Common Health Problems

Mari Hall. Little, Brown UK/Piatkus (IPG, dist.), $15.95 trade paper (234p) ISBN 978-0-7499-4125-3

Hall (Practical Reiki), the founding director of the International Association of Reiki, effectively combines the Japanese practice with commonsense steps for healing health problems. For the uninitiated, she provides the basics, introducing needed vocabulary, describing the chakras and the endocrine system from a metaphysical perspective, and enumerating the Reiki positions. Pen and ink sketches throughout provide useful visual reinforcement for the text. The author shares her belief in the power of Reiki in a series of moving testimonials, or “sharing miracles.” Most of the book describes common health woes, first from an allopathic viewpoint, then from the Reiki perspective. For the initiated, this will likely become a dog-eared reference: it systematically characterizes ailments by organ systems, the glands affected, the chakra involved, the emotional causes, the Reiki treatment, and then recommends complementary practices to further aid with healing. Chakra-associated affirmations abound: “I am willing to define who I am and what is my reality.” The author’s passion for her subject is palpable throughout as is her view that Reiki and a little basic wisdom create a path to understanding “the mystery and beauty of life.” Illus. (Oct.)