Healing Touch
Stamford Hospital's Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness offers patient centered care that blends conventional and complementary medicine. We work with your physicians to incorporate appropriate healing modalities into your heart health plan.
» Go Reiki
The term Reiki refers to a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. Reiki practitioners are specially trained in the art of the healing touch, administered through gentle touch and based on the premise that an invisible energy (life force) must be able to flow freely through the body for optimal health. If the energy is low or blocked, people are fatigued and may become ill. If the energy is released to flow freely, it helps to support healing, health and wellness. Reiki is simple, natural and safe. The practitioner's light touch releases an energy that is described by many people as feeling like a "glowing radiance." Reiki has been helpful to patients suffering from a wide variety of illnesses and is used in conjunction with all other medical or therapeutic techniques to reduce stress, relieve side effects and promote recovery. A recent study indicates that in 2002, over one million adults in the US received one or more Reiki treatments, which can diminish anxiety, decrease the need for pain medication, improve sleep and appetite, and accelerate the healing process.
Massage Therapy
Massage is more than just a feel-good spa treatment. Increasingly, the benefits of massage are recognized to help patients heal better and faster and resume the activities of their lives more readily. At present, the National Institutes of Health is sponsoring several studies exploring the medical benefits of massage, while earlier studies have found that massage can help reduce chronic pain, diminish anxiety and depression, and enhance immune function. A new survey by the American Massage Therapy Association, a professional organization, shows that nearly half of Americans have used massage therapy as a way to manage and relieve pain.
