Reiki - Spiritual Healing

By Alison Madison

Dr. Mikao Usui, (top) brought the ancient Tibetan healing style back from the brink

It's becoming increasingly more popular these days for people to rid themselves of all the toxicity of the modern world. From fatty foods to alcohol to sugars, to noxious fumes from industry and motor vehicles and even the pollution of the mind, humans are seeking alternative therapies more than ever before. 

But what are the options? 

What is real, and what is - for lack of a better phrase - simply providing a placebo effect?

Today we're looking at Reiki, a natural healing therapy, which has been traced back to ancient Tibet and was only rediscovered in the 19th century by Dr. Mikao Usui of Japan. 

According to the philosophy of Reiki, illnesses are caused by energy blockages in the body. In essence, the practitioner draws upon universal energy and lays their hands on or over the patient. Energy then flows from the practitioner’s hands through the patient’s body, which in turn moves the blockages that are causing the illness in question.

It is a simple philosophy, and one which may be thought to be "mumbo jumbo" to many. "How can you heal someone just by hovering your hands over their abdomen?" many may query. Indeed, it does sound somewhat preposterous, particularly in the face of modern medicine that tends to cut people open and physically them.

Reiki is to be considered as a spiritual ‘laying of hands’ style of treatment. It has yet to be studied in any depth by Western science, so most of its claims are medically unsupported. There is no manipulation, massage, acupressure or any other form of manual therapy performed on the patient which can both improve the procedures appeal, and also provide ammo for skeptics. 

However, some studies have shown that the temperature of a practitioner’s hands is considerably higher after performing Reiki, or is this simply yet another myth of alternative therapy?

The name Reiki comes from the Japanese pronunciation of two Chinese characters that are said to describe the energy itself: 'rei' (meaning 'soul', 'spirit' or 'ghost') and 'ki' (meaning 'life force energy'). 

Japanese speakers also use the term as a generic "ghostly power" or faith healing. Some Reiki practitioners, however, have expressed a preference for the term "spiritual healing" over "faith healing" because they object to the implication that "faith" is required for Reiki to work. No faith is required from either the client or the practitioner in order for Reiki treatment to be effective. The practitioner simply puts her or his hands on the client with the intention to heal. 

Indeed, part of Reiki's increasing popularity is that it's a neutral therapy -- it doesn't require patients to be believers; it doesn't impose a set of beliefs and for this reason, people of any religion, faith or culture can undergo Reiki healing.

But how do you heal?

In a Reiki session, the practitioner asks the recipient to lie down and relax. The practitioner then purports to act as a channel for Reiki energy, theoretically allowing "Reiki energy" to be channelled through the practitioner to wherever the patient is believed by them to require it. Usually the practitioner moves their hands close to or on various parts of the recipient's body. Some patients report feeling various subjective sensations: heat, tingling, cold, pressure, etc. Practitioners of Reiki attribute these sensations to Reiki energy filling energistic deficiencies in the body and aura of the recipient, repairing and opening their energy channels (meridians or nadis), pulling out "negativity" and dissolving the blockages of "stale" energy.

There are also claims that practitioners can also channel energy through other parts of their bodies (even their eyes or their breathing) if they wish. According to practitioners, intention is the primary method for directing the flow of the energy, and though it may sound hard to believe for some skeptics, it's also hard to disprove. 

It is said Reiki healers expunge the energey for healing from either a physical proximity or from a distance. Furthermore, many Reiki healers claim that the ability to share Reiki comes only after a "Reiki Master" performs an initiation or "attunement." So, if you plan on being treated, at least it's from a proffesional and not some 'shaman'. 

But is it all worth it? While Rieki certainly has it's critics, there are countless individuals who have found Reiki to be one of the most enlightening experiences in the healthy life. Positive effects of treatment have been documented in papers published in several peer-reviewed alternative medical journals over the last few years. The benefits center on biological indications of relaxation and increased immunity, reduced heart rate, improved blood pressure, plus reduced pain, anxiety and depression. [Miles P, True G. "Reiki: Review of a Biofield Therapy--History, Theory, Practice and Research," Altern Ther Health Med March/April 2003. (9)2 pp 62-72; Reiki: A Comprehensive Guide Miles,P. Tarcher/Penguin 2006].

At the end of the day, therapeutic and spiritual medicines will always be contested. However, if the power of Reiki or any other spiritual healing is simply enabling relaxation (which leads to the natural strengthening of immunites within the body) perhaps it's not as much of a waste of time as many may have first thought.