I wonder how seriously cardiovascular research papers would be received if their acknowledgements spoke of letting the love of cardiology shine in the world.) In fact, many studies of Reiki end with similar spiritual language. (The review ends with an acknowledgment of the “guidance and wisdom of his Reiki masters” and the support of his Reiki association “dedicated to letting the love of Reiki shine in the world”. Take this review published in 2017: “Reiki is better than placebo and has broad potential as a complementary health therapy.” Should we trust its conclusion? It was published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (which invites some skepticism) and written by a chemical engineer turned Reiki master. And the problem is that Reiki and its children are not content to stay within the bounds of spirituality they venture into medical territory by making health claims and by weaponizing the scientific literature. It is hard for me to take these energy healing choreographies seriously from a scientific point of view. Why can’t they regrow limbs?ĭeath by a thousand scientific paper cuts With such colossal powers at their disposal, it’s a wonder Reiki masters typically advertise lowering your stress and improving your mood.
Finally, Reiki traditionalists simply claim to channel their god’s divine energy. Others say the iron in our blood creates an electromagnetic field as it circulates, and this aura can be manipulated. Some believe trauma is stored in our cells and therapeutic touch can restore communication between cells (a claim cell biologists would definitely frown upon). Many highly theoretical mechanisms have been proposed to explain how hand waving could cure-I’m sorry, not cure but “help the body heal itself”-but none of these mechanisms make sense scientifically.
It does however help “get to the root cause of a condition” and create the best environment “for the body to heal.” Does that not sound like curing? “Granted,” the text continues, “dissolving the root cause of a condition can definitely alleviate symptoms and physical conditions, but they were ameliorated in a different manner than curing provides.” Is this “pretzel logic” convincing or does it sound like someone doesn’t want to get sued for practicing medicine without a license? Happy with the results, Krieger started teaching this method to other nurses.Īccording to the website of the International Association of Reiki Professionals (IARP), Reiki doesn’t cure anything. So she decided to try something she had been learning for the past few years: a laying-on of hands taught to her by two psychic healers, Dora Kunz and Oskar Estebany. The story goes that, in 1971, a nurse by the name of Dolores Krieger was dispirited at the sight of a young patient dying from a gallbladder condition. The history of therapeutic touch-essentially Reiki under a nursing hat-similarly hinges on an anecdote. If this story had taken place just a few years ago, I wonder if Reiki would be taken seriously by academic health centres. Born in 1865, Usui was a Japanese man who belonged to a group that wanted to develop psychic abilities and who climbed a mountain, starved himself for 21 days, and had a vision. While there have been many versions of Reiki in the past, the most common one is called Usui Shiki Ryoho after its founder, Mikao Usui.
Through hand placement above and on the client’s body, a Reiki master believes they are channeling their god’s energy to heal the client. It posits some sort of life force energy that, when low, makes us sick. Reiki is a Japanese technique whose adherents say can promote healing. A study on the effect of carbonated drinks on chakras, you say? A Reiki master using stuffed animals to practice distance healing, really? But I will dial down the sarcasm and focus on asking questions to see if the claims and history of Reiki-and its spiritual children like Therapeutic Touch-pass the sniff test. Its interventions, which are based on an energy not measured by scientific instruments, offer an unmissable punching bag to the skeptic who wants to pummel absurdity. The topic of Reiki can be approached with a fist or with a light touch.
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