Reiki and the Stethoscope

I can remember very clearly the first time that i listened with a stethoscope. It was a great mystery to me. What was i listening to? And i suspect that as i have gotten older, my "hearing" has not improved, but my skills with using the stethoscope have improved with experience.

I appreciate more of the sounds, and in listening to the sounds, they mean more to me. I perceive more about the patient. It is not simply a process of "hearing," but a process of "filtering" and "perceiving" and "recognizing."

Musicians hear nuances of sound, and pitch, rhythym and resonance. And what does one say to someone who is listening with a stethoscope for the first time, and understands nothing about what they are hearing, or to someone hearing a string quartet, who cannot appreciate the intervals or the chords?

If we "listen" very carefully, we can perceive aspects of the universal life force that emanates from people. Sometimes, that is called their "aura." Or their "energy." As we become familiar with this "energy," we can appreciate qualities of the "energy."

To care for a "whole person," physicians are struggling with "integrating" the type of medicine that is "scientific" or "evidence based" or "traditional," with the type of Health Care that is "complimentary" or "alternative" or "intuitive."

And while many of us are trying to be "holistic," and work with both "scientific" and "intuitive" medicine this is "not so easy."

One of the reasons is that "scientific" medicine by it's nature uses left brain skills, and "intuitive" medicine" by its nature uses right brain skills. One creates "duality" as a way of "measuring" or "describing," and another seeks "unification," to treat the "whole person." One wears a "white coat," and creates "boundaries" between "patient" and "professional," and the other seeks "connection" through the common "life force" we share that connects all living beings.

It seems to me that in our best of worlds, we will use "evidence based medicine" wherever we can, since it is a skill we can "validate" and "measure." But we will keep in mind that sometimes, "scientific medicine" fails our patients, and we need the humility was physicians to "care" when we cannot "cure."

For both skills, listening with a stethoscope, and perceiving with our intuition, we need to listen, we need patience, we need to be open and we need time to learn.

This is especially so near the end of mortal life, when, "science" is often mute to the things that matter the most.

Reiki and the stethscope can both be valuable tools for the physician, and both are worth the time to learn.