What is Reiki?
~ by Pamela Hipp, CMT, RMT
Reiki is a Japanese word (pronounced ray-key) that means "divinely guided life-force energy." Energy flow may become blocked because of stress, unhealthy habits or thought patterns, inactivity, or injury. This makes the body susceptible to illness. A Reiki treatment helps to balance energy flow, thereby encouraging relaxation and stimulating the innate healing capacity of the body. Reiki is a holistic modality which creates harmony between body, mind, spirit and emotions; which in turn promotes healing.
All varieties of physical and mental/emotional diseases and disturbances can benefit from this powerful, yet safe and gentle, healing technique. Reiki can be an effective treatment on its own or as an ally to any other medical treatment by reducing side effects and promoting relaxation. Recipients experience an amazing sense of serenity and often report feeling a warm, radiant energy spreading throughout the body. It is appropriate for all ages and fitness levels. Treatments are provided while the client is fully clothed.
What to Expect
Reiki treatments begin with setting an intention for healing. Physical, mental, emotional and spiritual concerns may be addressed during a session. After removing shoes and jewelry the client reclines on a massage table to relax. The therapist then places their hands in a series of intuitively-guided positions, often touching the body, but sometimes in the auric field surrounding the body. Clients report feeling heat , tingling sensations and energy movement throughout the body. Very often, memories, old traumas and emotions rise to the surface to be released.
Pressure points are often used to relieve blockages, and connect separate areas of the body to re-establish flow, taking care to create a pathway for excess energy to exit and opening the chakras to receive Reiki and redistribute it to the organs, glands and cells.
Clients are well-grounded before exiting and the healing energy is sealed in. Toxins are released during the session and occasionally detox symptoms are experienced in the day or two following. This is part of the healing process, and might be temporarily uncomfortable, but is necessary for the body to return to its optimal level of health. It's important to support this process with adequate rest and hydration.
Can Reiki Help Your Chronic Pain?
This ancient Japanese touch therapy similar to massage has shown real results for managing chronic pain
By Wyatt Myers
Medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH
The practice of Reiki sounds almost too good to be true. By "laying on hands" on specific parts of your body or even just positioning hands slightly above your body, a qualified Reiki practitioner can help bring relief to your chronic pain and make you feel better than you have in years. It is an ancient Japanese technique and a form of alternative medicine also sometimes referred to as a "biofield" therapy.
In alternative medicine, Reiki is a treatment in which healing energy is channeled from the practitioner to the patient to enhance energy and reduce stress, pain, and fatigue. Practitioners say that it works by opening up a channel between healer and patient to transfer energy — a Reiki healer restores the body both physically and mentally.
During a Reiki session, muscles are relaxed, and energy flow is unblocked. This helps reduce physical tension and pain. Anxiety and stress also are reduced, helping to unblock and release emotional pain. Although you may not be completely pain-free, you feel relaxed, refreshed, and better able to cope with your condition.
Reiki and Chronic Pain: What the Research Shows
Though Reiki may sound very "new-agey," the effectiveness of this ancient treatment has been shown in some studies. "A [recent] issue of the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine reviewed 66 clinical trials on biofield therapies," says Julie Kusiak, MA, a Reiki practitioner in the integrative medicine department at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich. The authors of the review concluded that there was strong evidence that biofield therapies help reduce the intensity of pain in general and moderate evidence that these therapies help reduce the intensity of pain for people who are hospitalized or who have cancer, Kusiak says.
In addition, Kusiak says, a separate review article of 24 studies also showed that touch therapies were successful in reducing pain. This review article noted that the studies involving Reiki therapy seemed to have the most success.
When Reiki is examined for its impact on more specific types of pain, the results seem to hold up equally well. "Recent studies on Reiki therapy reflect a broad spectrum of its benefit for pain relief," says Kusiak. "During colonoscopy, Reiki treatment resulted in decreased anxiety and pain. With abdominal hysterectomies, the women who had Reiki therapy both before and after their procedures experienced lower anxiety and pain. Cancer patients being treated with Reiki reported lower fatigue, less pain, less anxiety, and better quality of life. And in a community of older adults, those who received Reiki therapy were documented to have reduced pain, anxiety, and depression."
Another plus about Reiki, adds Kusiak, is that it seems to be effective with very few side effects. "No serious side effects or risks have been identified in the medical literature on Reiki, and it is considered to be a very low-risk intervention," she says. "Since Reiki is facilitated either with a very light touch or with no touch — slightly off the body — it provides a therapeutic option for those who are in pain or unable to be touched."