Healing can prevent side effects of radiotherapy In the last year I have had the privilege of meeting healers from all over the country. Some of them have shared tales of their most profound healing experiences with me. My friend David recently shared a story that shows how intent and belief can turn even a simple exercise into a powerful healing tool. David is a Reiki master and Tai Chi instructor. For many years he has taught a Tai Chi class for cancer patients. In an effort to explain the concept of Chi (life force energy) to his students, David uses an exercise many of us learned in our first-degree Reiki classes. He has his patients move the palms of their hands together and apart until they can feel the energy between them, and then he has them form it into an energy ball or Tai Chi ball as he calls it. David began, One day after forming her energy ball, a woman who had just begun treatment for throat cancer asked, Now what shall I do with it? She caught me off guard, David told me. In those days, Id never thought about it being a healing tool; it was a parlor trick, a way of teaching people to feel their own energy, no more. Without a lot of thought, I glibly answered, Why dont you rub it onto the places on your face and neck where you are receiving your radiation treatments. It may help to reduce the side effects from the radiation. She obviously believed I knew what I was talking about even though I didnt myself. How often should I do that? she asked. Oh, at least 5 or 6 times a day. David continued, She took me at my word and started doing what I had suggested. After that she never needed to take any of her pain medicine and she never developed the burns and blisters they expected to come with her radiation treatments. The doctors couldnt understand what was happening. They were so concerned they began rechecking and recalibrating their equipment to be sure she was really receiving all the radiation she was supposed to get. The machines were all working just fine