Barbara Carlton of Spencerport has brought her skills and training in the ancient Japanese form of healing known as Reiki with her from Edinburgh, Scotland. Barbara has lived in Spencerport since August of 2002 and finds the community quite friendly. She says everything here seems very new compared to the places she has lived in Scotland, England and her native Germany.

Reiki Healing in Spencerport, by way of Edinburgh, Scotland

Reiki Master Barbara Carlton of Spencerport came to know the ancient Japanese form of healing, Reiki, seven years ago when in a car accident, during an electric failure, on a rain soaked night in Edinburgh, Scotland, her life was changed.

“I really wasn’t injured badly, but I saw my life clearly after the accident. When I felt better again, I took action to correct things in my life,” Carlton says.

German born, Carlton moved to Scotland when she was 20 to “learn English” and for many years worked at the Community Health Project in Edinburgh, Scotland. The organization offers the community there a wide range of alternative therapies, including Reiki. She became especially interested in Reiki because it is a technique which helps clear mental and physical blocks to rebalance and accelerate the body’s own natural healing process.

Reiki means universal, invisible field of energy, or life force, that exists in all living things. The ancient healing method using Reiki was rediscovered in Japan in early 1900 by Dr. Mikao Usui and brought to the western world in 1936 by Mrs. Hawayo Takata, a Hawaiian woman of Japanese origin. Reiki healing has since spread worldwide, and is a widely accepted therapy in Europe, used in many hospitals. In the last few years, Reiki is becoming more well known and practiced in the United States as well.

Reiki therapy is an alternative healing method similar to acupuncture and massage. It is a holistic practice involving hands placed in a non-invasive manner on, or above, the client’s fully clothed body and connecting with seven known energy points or chakra. The recipient can lay down on a couch or can remain seated in a chair. The therapy is meditative and experienced by remaining in the moment, becoming conscious of breathing and acknowledging everything that is being felt in that moment.

Those receiving Reiki treatments are said to enjoy health, feel joy, vitality, contentment, inner harmony, relief from anxiety and realize the successes achieved, by remaining in an active state of being. Since the treatments help to tap into the body’s own natural healing process, Reiki is also known to help with aches and pains, allergies, emotions of guilt, grief and anger, fatigue, headaches/migraines, menopause, the side effects of chemotherapy, depression, insomnia and other symptoms. Individual concerns can be addressed with the practionier before therapy begins but it is not necessary to voice your need. Reiki goes to where healing is needed.

Barbara Carlton moved from Edinburgh, Scotland to Spencerport in August 2002, after meeting and marrying a man from Spencerport. She opened the Reiki Healing Center, 85 South Union Street, Suite 204, along side the canal in the village of Spencerport, during the summer of 2003. “I want to bring Reiki to the community where I live,” she says. Carlton is currently working with Continuing Education programs in Spencerport and Hilton to offer a course in Reiki healing. “Everyone can benefit from relaxation and meditation. Many illnesses begin in the mind when we feel anger, resentment or hatred. The source of these feelings is based in ignorance, not knowing where others are coming from. It is not up to us as individuals to judge what others do. We all come from a different set of life experiences and see things based on what we know from this. Once we realize there is an order to the universe and a reason for all that happens, we find an inner peace. Reiki helps us to achieve that,” Carlton says.

Barbara Carlton is a Master/Teacher of “the Usui and Karuna Reiki System of Natural Healing.” She was trained and initiated to Usui Reiki by Elspeth Walker, Reiki Master/Teacher, Edinburgh, Scotland. She began offering Reiki to family and friends, and at a greatly reduced price to those in need who couldn’t afford it. Seeing the good it was doing in others’ lives, her desire to learn more led her to attend classes of Reiki Master Walid Ghoneim. With his vast knowledge, Ghoneim taught Barbara the history, method and experiences of Reiki. In June 2002, Barbara Carlton was initiated to “Karuna Reiki Master” by William Lee Rand, the founder of Karuna Reiki. Karuna Reiki is a more highly evolved form of Reiki healing. During a Reiki session the Reiki Master attunes you to a language of sounds and symbols that engage your higher mind. Karuna (a Sanskrit word meaning compassionate action) Reiki has additional sounds and symbols that are said to help achieve greater healing powers.

In Barbara Carlton’s opinion, Reiki has one point: “To help people.” … “You must approach it with an open mind.” She also says Reiki is not a religion. Born and raised a Roman Catholic, Carlton encourages people to pray during sessions. “Reiki helps you deepen your beliefs, whatever they are,” she says.

Carlton offers private sessions by appointment only at The Reiki Healing Center in Spencerport, 349-3400. Future plans for the center include adding other holistic therapies including acupuncture, aromatherapy, reflexology and a homeopath and herbalist. This spring, she also plans to hold workshops at the center in studies such as Meditation, Chakras, Crystals, Dowsing, Angels and Reiki. You can get more information on Reiki at www.TheReikiHealingCenter.com.