Geoff Pope performs reiki on a hospice patient he visits regularly at the patient's home.
My journey to becoming a reiki volunteer began many years ago when I read an article in The Cricket about two sisters from my town who had taken volunteer training at the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers.
Having completed divinity school, I was encouraged by their story. If someone felt the call to walk with people at the end of life, they had a path to follow.
My path included some detours. Instead of ministry, I was drawn to human services. For many years I worked with adults who had intellectual disabilities. I also took introductory reiki training.
More recently, my parents both entered hospice within an 18-month period, and I became a part-time caregiver. The care they – and our family members – received was phenomenal and a great comfort to all of us. Another seed had been planted; I had seen the value of a committed and compassionate hospice team.
A year after my mom died, I sought more reiki training.
Reiki is a Japanese relaxation technique/complementary therapy thought to harmonize a person’s electromagnetic energy field with the energies of Nature -- some more subtle than others. Recipients often report a greater sense of calm and peacefulness after a session.
By chance, my reiki teacher, Karen Pischke, had another student who was offering reiki at the Kaplan Family Hospice House, so I simply followed in her footsteps. I received additional training at Care Dimensions and have been offering reiki to hospice patients in their homes for nearly five years.
As a hospice volunteer, I put my interests to greatest use in bringing comfort and relaxation to patients through reiki. Not every patient experiences reiki in the same way, but when a person feels more relaxed physically or emotionally after a session, it is extremely gratifying for both of us.
Providing reiki for hospice patients is one of many volunteer opportunities at Care Dimensions. Offering simple companionship can make a big difference for patients and families. Being one small part of a larger hospice care team is indeed life-altering. I suspect every Care Dimensions volunteer – in whatever activity they are engaged – has shared moments of joy and peace with patients that seem of another, more lasting world.
