In 1999 I took my first Traditional Usui Reiki class and continued to train through to the Master level in the original teachings as brought to America by Hawayo Takata. It has helped me to be a healthier more joyful version of myself. In these past 17 years I have had the honor of being part of many Reiki healing miracles. Since Reiki always works for the highest and best of the individual, the results may not always be what we want at the time, 

Note: In the past few years there have been events called an #icebucketchallenge to bring awareness to #ALS which is so wonderful! It helps those living with ALS to know that we are aware of their struggle and support the continued research to find remedies to prevent and or heal this Neuromuscular dis-ease.  

"Reiki practice is so wonderful for the treatment of ALS. If you had lost all functions of your body except for your brain function, wouldn't you want your doctor or caretakers to be able to offer you natural relief from the depression and anxiety that comes from living like that? Of course you would. The power of safe touch is so healing. Couple that with the energy coming from the hands of a well trained Reiki practitioner and you create peace in the body and a stimulation of the body's own healing process. This can also be accomplished by Remote treatment / Distance Reiki.

                                                                               -Marybeth M. Lang RN                    

* In April 2012 I started a study on the effects of Reiki on ALS (Lou Gherig's dis-ease) and MS ( Multiple Sclerosis) on residents in a residential nursing facility. The nurse on the unit is very good at giving feedback as to how she feels they are responding to our weekly treatments. We spend 20 minutes to 1/2 hour with each resident on this floor. I will be giving updates regularly.

As of January 2020, almost 8 years after the start of this volunteer Reiki study, the residents surviving ALS and MS look forward to their weekly treatments. A peace and emotional resilience that was not prevalent prior to the start of the Reiki sessions has moved into their lives. One resident on the ALS floor when asked how he feels Reiki has helped him he responded on his laptop activated voice " It gives me more hope". I have also observed that those residents with #ALS who are on respirators appeared to have less coughing spasms which most likely is a result of the calming effect that Reiki practice has on the autonomic nervous system. This decrease in alarms going off is not only good for the client it is good for other residents there. Alarms are alarming! Lack of alarms is calming.

The first week, we started with a man with Multiple Sclerosis (#MS) He was in a wheelchair and had trouble with his speech relaying what points bother him on his body. Fortunately we were able to tell with scanning that his neck was really sore and stiff. He confirmed this. We did a complete chair treatment on him and targeted his neck as well as his spine. A week later when we went to see him he said his neck was fine. He had previously required pain medicine to alleviate his neck pain, but, we were told that he had not asked for pain medicine for his neck. Four months later his neck was still comfortable. After 4 weeks of treatment he called my name across the large room when I walked in. His speech patterns had improved with the continued Reiki treatments.

I treated a man surviving ALS who has no movement of his muscles except for some facial and eye movement, he has a tracheotomy and is on a respirator. He welcomed the energy healing I could facilitate for him through Reiki practice. It was reported to me that after a few reiki sessions that he began sleeping better, this according to the charge nurse on the unit. When we first arrived it was difficult for me to communicate with him. He could respond to yes and no by lifting his eyebrows and he also has an amazing device that allows him to type his responses using his eyes. It takes patience to allow him to respond. As we did Reiki on him the first time, he took time to respond "WOW" on his visual computer. We could visibly see him relaxing as his face grimace abated. He smiled at me. With ALS the mind is intact the body just cannot respond physically. His mother is delighted that we started providing Reiki treatments for ALS and sees the positive difference it produces for her son. The people we are working with are highly successful in their respective fields, but, have been sidetracked due to the ALS. This particular man is a filmmaker and continues to produce films from his chair or bed. Reiki supports creativeness. 

were crossed at chest level when we started doing Reiki on her. She is more creative and is finishing up a children's book. She had a sore on her heal that we were able to heal with Reiki when it was taking to long with other methods being used. A new resident of this facility, another woman with MS, had started receiving Reiki treatments from a Reiki Master I have trained. She enjoys the relaxation and stress relief she receives from the sessions so much, that she makes sure her schedule for PT and OT do not make her miss Reiki day at the facility! 2018 marks 6 years that Nayda has continued to provide Reiki treatment to the ALS residents of a Chelsea Mass. living facility. Nayda is a retired hospice nurse who also provides Reiki at nearby Hospice home. She is a true Reiki Angel!

It is so amazing to be able to help these folks. It is such service to help others who are physically less fortunate relax and reach a new level of ability.

*Gunnar is a 11 year old boy (2019) who was born 3 months premature in 2008. He was given a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy at birth. His parents were told that chances were not very promising that he would have normal cognitive or motor functioning. I was assigned, as an RN home care nurse, to his case when he was 4 months old (9/2008), after he had spent the first 4 mos. of his little life in the intensive care unit of a local hospital. He was on oxygen via a nasal cannula, with a portable blood oxygen meter and had feeding problems. His parents were beside themselves wondering how their son would fare at home and if they would be able to care for him.

Seeing that I would be his home care nurse, and knowing how beneficial Reiki can be, I asked permission if I could start Reiki energy field healing on Gunnar.

They said yes, they did not understand what it was, but, were willing to give it a try. I told his parents that I would do everything I could to ensure growth for their son. I gave myself a goal to have Gunnar off oxygen by April of 2009 if not before which would have been 6 months after I started his medical care including Reiki. Gunnar was off supplemental oxygen by the end of January 2009, 4 months after starting Reiki.

Knowing that we could now gradually increase his physical endurance, I would do his prescribed exercises as well as channel Reiki to his brain and body for balance, also to relieve stress to the body from the increased time given to physical endurance. I had asked his visiting physical therapist if she had any tips on how to help Gunnar to crawl. His physical therapist said that crawling would be to difficult for him to do. Knowing how important crawling is to the development of both sides of the brain, I decided to try to get him to crawl anyway and set forth to teach him how with the help of his parents and other caregivers. Gunnar now not only crawls he can walk with the aide of a SWASH brace and is signing as well as learning to form syllables. He is very smart and just a joy to his parents and his nurses. He started going to school during the summer of 2011. and It now it is 2014 and he just started kindergarten the start of September.. He loves school, learns new signing words each day, has a computer he can navigate with his amazingly relaxed fingers to help him communicate his wants and needs better. Although he has a motorized wheelchair he maneuvers very well at school I am still working with him to walk to keep his legs mobile as well. Gunnar has just been evaluated for Botox shots to his legs to help relax them so it may be easier for him to walk. He is not a candidate just yet for a Baclofen pump since he does not have enough muscle/ fat on his body and they are to big for him right now. I have spoken to the MD who evaluated him for Botox in the meantime. I have asked her to look into development of a smaller pediatric Baclofen pump that would fit the smaller sized pediatric clients in need of it. Reiki practice has been an exceptional aid in helping Gunnar reach so much potential and will continue to help him. I will continue to provide updates on him. Gunnar is one more miracle of Reiki!

*January 2015 update: Gunnar has continued to have less tone in his legs as the result of the Botox injections he started receiving in October 2014. He is able to walk a little easier holding on to mine or another caretakers hands. He is very proud. He is also starting to be more consistent with vocalizing different consonants. It is so important to be a cheerleader for him and remind him that he is doing a great job. Positive reinforcement is so important for growth and courage to grow. In January 2015 I injured my right shoulder saving Gunnar from falling out of his wheelchair on an icy driveway. I had to cease doing nursing care of Gunnar because I could not lift him anymore, but, I am sure the Reiki and work that was done with him from 4 months old will carry on to help him be the best Gunnar he can be.

*Chris, is a very active guy who loves to golf and play softball. Unfortunately he had injured his knee and was scheduled to have knee surgery 6 weeks after he first contacted me to try Reiki. I suggested that he come once a week for 4 weeks to help him with mobility and to decrease discomfort which is what we succeeded in doing. What we did not expect as the result of his Reiki treatments was that he was able to cancel his surgery since his knee had healed itself with the application of Reiki. As was stated on my homepage Reiki has the ability to stimulate the body's own innate healing ability. This case with Chris is a wonderful example of that in action. 

*Kate had contacted me because she was scheduled to have half of her liver removed at a Boston Hospital. She had wanted to receive a Reiki treatment after her surgery while in the hospital. I asked her if she would like me to be with her in the recovery room and she said yes so I called the recovery room nurse manager, told her I was a nurse as well as a Reiki therapist, and asked her permission to be there when my client came out of surgery. I was given permission to be in the recovery room. While my client Kate was in surgery, I sent her distance Reiki from the waiting room. When Kate came to the recovery room she was in and out of consciousness and in discomfort. She had many tubes and I.V.'s. I started hands on Reiki right away and continued for 2 hours right up to her hospital room. The next morning I came to see Kate at 10:30 am, at the hospital, and I was amazed to know that she had already ambulated down the hall, had all tubes removed except for one I.V. and had required less medication than the nurses had expected. Another job well done with the application of Reiki energy healing. Reiki speeds the healing process and reduces the need for medication when surgery is indicated.

* Reiki is very good at reducing the side effects of chemotherapy. I have had many people contact me over the years to help them recover from the side

effects of chemotherapy and radiation. Peg was one of those people. She had a tumor on her thyroid and was receiving radiation treatments. Her daughter had contacted me to do sessions with her hands on as well as distance sessions. Peg did well during her course of radiation her energy level stayed high she and did not suffer any pain or nausea.

* A woman from the Northshore contacted me since she was having a course of radiation at a Boston Hospital and was concerned about the intense course causing burns and tenderness to her skin. I came to her room each day after the dose of radiation and she was so grateful that the Reiki kept her skin in good repair and she did not suffer any of the side effects that she was told would probably accompany the extensive radiation she was receiving. Reiki will go into the injured cells and start repairing them from the inside out which results in a better healing process.

* A personal story I have been able to heal myself with Reiki from different ailments during the time I have been involved in my practice of Reiki, since it is a daily part of my life. I will be sharing many of them in my book which I am writing, but, for now I will share with you my only surgical story that I have personally experienced since I started my Reiki journey .... In February 2011 I developed abdominal pain which at first I thought was indigestion. I had not been bothered by this for a long time and normally could alleviate this with self reiki and an antacid. For some reason this was not working which concerned me. I continued to do self-reiki and the intense pain settled in the lower right side of my abdomen and only hurt if I pressed on the area. I continued self reiki to my abdomen and rested. After 2 days of this, I then drove 2.5 hours to see my physician in Boston where I was diagnosed with appendicitis. Except for the pain in the lower right abdomen, I did not have the accompanying symptoms of appendicitis. I did not experience nausea nor did I end up with other accompanying symptoms of appendicitis. This I can attribute to all the Reiki I did to my abdomen. Reiki kept the symptoms from becoming debilitating and also maintained my physical body in a state where I could drive 2.5 hours to see my own physician. I had my appendix out the following morning and continued to do Reiki to the area of my surgery. I was discharged from the hospital the next morning 2/16 took my last pain medication (Motrin) on the morning of 2/18 and I was back in work at my nursing job 2 weeks to the day of my surgery. At first the doctors had told me no lifting over 10 pounds and no work for 6 weeks. I had always taught in my Reiki classes and told my clients that Reiki can cut the time for healing up to 50 percent and reduce the need for medication due to its ability to speed the healing process. Now I had personally experienced the truth of it and up until now had only observed these findings with my clients. It was proven to me once more how helpful the application of Reiki to any situation can be. So gentle and natural is this energy which enhances the body's ability to heal itself. 

Emotional Healing Journal:   

I have mentioned only some of the cases I have been involved in that have been helped with Reiki. What is very important to mention is the emotional

component to physical illness and how if we utilize Reiki therapy to address these issues that in many cases we can get to the cause of them so that the body can release them.

A woman had contacted me recently about her husband who had received a new kidney, and she was concerned that he was not doing what he should be doing to make sure he did not reject the kidney. She knew I did distance emotional healing and had asked if I could send a distance session to her husband to remind him of the importance of following post op instructions, so that he would have a better chance of success with the transplant. I sent a mental emotional Reiki treatment to him to remind him of things he needed to be reminded of in a spiritual way.

His wife reported to me that he did start doing a better job with his post op instructions and he has been doing very well. He also wanted more distance Reiki sessions when his blood work had not been where he wanted it to be. The Reiki treatments helped him for his highest and best. His blood levels are now fine and he survived the transplant very well!

It never ceases to amaze me how wonderfully effective Distance Reiki can be.

Linda came to see me because she had heard of my work with other people she knew. She appeared rather uptight and not grounded when I met her at her first session. I did an intake with her as I do with all my clients. I scanned her body and found congestion in her liver area. She had shared with me that she had been very angry and resentful of someone very important in her life and this had been a longstanding resentment. She talked about her feelings as I did Reiki to her body. She said that after the session she felt a peace that she had not expected to be able to feel in one session. She came back a week later for another session and the Linda who came through the door was much different than the one I first saw. She was calm and smiling. She told me that she had been writing in her journal as I had suggested and had been able to come to terms with some longstanding resentment. I scanned her liver area and the congestion had relieved itself. Anger and resentment can settle in the liver so knowing this helped me to help Linda. I am so grateful that I was introduced to Reiki 15 years ago so that I could in turn help others help themselves.

Janet was diagnosed with breast cancer over 10 years ago,

she had decided to undergo chemo and radiation. She also came to my Reiki clinic to give Reiki a try where I would channel Reiki to her breasts. I had been observing that there seemed to be a correlation between women who are always doing for others ( putting themselves last) and the incidence of breast cancer in these women. In Louise L. Hay's book "Heal your body A to Z" she mentions the relationship between breast problems and putting everyone else first. I mentioned to my friend what I had read about and told her to stop "breastfeeding the world" which is exactly what she needed to hear. This is what women do when they put everyone else before themselves and many times don't even get around to taking care of themselves. Janet said that she will always be grateful to me for telling her this and by channeling Reiki to her. She has been cancer free for over 10 years now.

We are here to be self caring to ourselves as well as helping others, but, not to the point where we neglect our own well being. This may be difficult when a woman has small children, just the same it is important to find the time to do something nice for ourselves every day and to remind ourselves each night before we go to sleep of all the wonderful things we accomplish each day. Jack Canfield would call this the mirror exercise. So mirror or say the things to yourself that you would say to a treasured friend if you were trying to help your friend see all the great things about her. You possess those qualities also!

Distance Healing Journal:

When my Reiki Master Teacher John Harvey Gray first taught me how he sent a Reiki treatment, I must admit that I was a little skeptical at first since I still had my western views thinking cap on from my nursing training. When I took second degree Reiki class with him and started sending Distance Reiki to people with needs, it was amazing to me how these people would call me and say Marybeth I don't know what you did, but, my back feels better or I feel more calm and the list goes on and on. John told me that sending Distance Reiki works just as well as hands on Reiki healing. For years now I have been convinced that he was so right! I facilitate Distance Reiki to clients several times a week with wonderful results. May I mention that anyone who is properly trained in Reiki and has reached the second level of Reiki can achieve good results doing distance Reiki. The key words are properly trained. By this I mean a qualified teacher who teaches their students to follow the Usui Principles and to channel Reiki to themselves and/or someone else everyday. The student has the responsibility to follow this advice if they want to maintain a good channel for self healing as well as healing of others. It is not rocket science one just has to be dedicated and willing.

   As I mentioned I do several distance Reiki sessions every week so the individual stories increase all the time here are a few: 

* A woman (who later trained with me in Reiki 1 and 2) had contacted me from my website to order some Reiki sessions for her boyfriend who had a longstanding bone infection in his lower leg. He had required multiple surgeries to remove the infection which took him to California to have the surgery. He had another upcoming surgery in California and his loving girlfriend wanted to see if distance Reiki would be helpful for the pain. I started distance Reiki on him and she emailed me that he was sleeping better and not waking up as much due to a decrease in the pain from the sessions. I also did some 2nd degree mental emotional healing with him since this man had been living in pain for quite sometime. The Reiki sessions would also help prepare him for the best outcome of his surgery. Well he had the surgery and less than a year later his leg was completely healed. His girlfriend who could not believe the wonderful effects that Reiki had on him emotionally as well as physically signed up to take a Reiki 1 class with me. She enjoyed her Reiki 1 class so much she moved to her second level of Reiki with me and told me how happy she is that she contacted me regarding Reiki. By the way after her first Reiki class they got married. I love Reiki practice it always brings gifts for the highest and best!

  * I have had many people contact me to send Reiki to their pets. One pet owner had contacted me after a referral to me from another person who had experienced distance healing for their pet. She was traveling on a plane for 4 hours with her cat in the animal cargo. Her cat did not travel well and she was concerned about the cat's hips and his emotional well being due to the plane travel. I sent Reiki to her cat for comfort in the hips as well as his emotional comfort. This woman was totally amazed that her cat had survived the travel very well without the usual traumatic aftermath. Also that her cat was moving better than she had been. Animals respond very well to distance Reiki treatment. Since her cat responded so well to Reiki, whenever there is a problem with her cat she will call me and the beautiful kitty responds so well it amazes the owner. I love the emails I get from her gushing at how well her cat does with Reiki treatment!

*Another Reiki client of mine had adopted a new dog into her home and not long after, the dog got in to some plastic tarp after exploring his new home. He chewed on the tarp and he became very ill with vomitting and diahrrhea. My client had called me to send Reiki to her daughter and while we were on the phone told me about the dog. I told her I could send Reiki to her new doggie and she did not even think about distance Reiki for the dog! I sent to the dog that very moment. The next day the dog had his energy back and started to eat and drink better. She was still concerned about the dog having a little residual diahrrhea so I suggested she try half strength Pedialyte to replenish the electrolytes the dog had lossed due to the vomitting and diahrrhea. As a pediatric nurse this is what we give babies who have vomitting and diaharrhea so why not try it for her dog. It worked well for her beautiful doggie.

*A gentleman who has contacted me several times from Japan for emotional healing is a classic example of how one can achieve emotional balance without having to be in person with the Reiki practitioner/therapist. A few years back this man had contacted me for a distance Reiki session since he had received one before and he found it helped him. He had found me on the internet and was drawn to me from my site. We developed a distance Reiki healing connection and he will contact me once or twice a year for what he calls his Reiki tune- up!

*A woman from New England contacts me whenever she wants Reiki sent to members of her family for various reasons and she will contact me whenever there is a crisis that needs spiritual,emotional or physical healing. She has hired me for in person as well as distance Reiki depending on the nature of the Reiki need. The fact that people will contact me for distance healing over the years when needed proves how effective distance Reiki is.

* A Man from Vermont who was coming to me for Reiki had also hired me to send him Reiki. He was surviving a diagnosis of Cancer and wanted to try Reiki to see if it helped him. It did. It gave him back energy he had been lacking due to chemo and he lived much longer than the doctors ever expected him to survive. During this time he was able to achieve relief from a pain in his back due to lung surgery that had plagued him for months before he started receiving Reiki. He received many Reiki treatments, but, 80% of them were distance sessions. John was right again! Thank you John.

* Another animal story: I live in an agricultural town in Vermont and there is a dairy farm near my home. The dairy farmer is a friend so whenever I visit him at the barn I will ask him if he is having any medical problems with his livestock. He told me my favorite sheep ( We call her 105 ) was limping around the barnyard and he thought her leg might be broken. I went up to the sheep barn and called to her she usually comes to me but this time she did not. I started a second degree distance treatment on her as I talked with her across the stall. Within minutes she came over to me and I was able to scan her legs, but, did not pick up a fracture. As I continued to scan her hoofs, I picked up some congestion in her left front hoof. When I pushed the fur away from her hoof I saw a bad infection. I did my energy healing with her and we bathed her foot and put anti infective lotion on her . I continued to distance Reiki and hands on Reiki for a few weeks with her and she recovered very well!

Distance Reiki is very important to know how to do when working with animals since they may not come to you right away so starting a distance Reiki treatment attracts them to you via the divine energy.

Thank you for visiting my Journal and please come back and visit anytime you wish for updates. Trust that you have a healing energy that surrounds you at all times and all you have to do is invite that energy to give you the abundance of health and peace you require.... 

Marybeth McKinnon Lang RN

Angelic Touch Reiki

781-771-7590