Q: Is there scientific evidence that Reiki works?
A: That’s an interesting question, and one for which there is only indirect evidence at this point. That isn’t to say there is no evidence that Reiki works. Just ask someone who gives Reiki, or the clients who receive it. All will report many stories of significant improvements. I’m included in that – I have plenty of anecdotal evidence from my own experience both as a giver and a receiver of Reiki for me to know conclusively that Reiki works.
As far as scientific evidence, though…it’s tricky.
Reiki can’t be measured directly. But the effects can be seen in different ways.
For example, it’s understood scientifically that intention, Reiki and other thought-energy imprints itself on the state of water. Naturopaths know this. They often work with little vials of water that have been imprinted with the energy of different substances to muscle test for allergies and adverse reactions.
Also, a Random Event Generator, such as the Mind Lamp developed by Psyleron, shows visibly that a program that generates random numbers changes behavior in the presence of intention/ Reiki/ energy. I actually have a Mind Lamp, and it’s extremely fascinating. You can see how it changed behavior in this replay of the 11/11/11 distance healing that I recorded. During most of the time we were sharing energy, the lamp remained steadily white, rather than changing colors randomly as it usually does. Also, when someone participating suggested a color, the lamp changed to that color, as if on demand.
The effects of Reiki energy make a visible difference in the spoil rate and quality of cooked rice in experiments, like this one by one of my colleagues.
People who experience Reiki, and Reiki practitioners alike know what they feel. And there are many, many anecdotes about miraculous healings that occurred after one or several Reiki sessions. I have seen those I share Reiki with relax, feel relief from pain and stress, and even more. There are many testimonials such as this one that you could watch to hear it from the people themselves.
There are studies being conducted here and there, with varying results. Sometimes the results can’t be measured. But after a year of volunteering as a Reiki practitioner at The Cleveland Clinic, I can tell you that the patients rated their pain, anxiety and discomfort much lower after 10 minutes of Reiki than they had before. That’s measurable.
So ask yourself this – how do you decide what matters? Do you need some scientific evidence, or do you believe what you feel and experience? If you feel it, notice a difference, does that make it real enough for you? If Reiki could help you feel better when something was wrong, would that be enough? Or do you need scientific data to convince you to try it? Do you trust yourself enough to discern the truth in your own life?
If the answer is yes, come find me. I’ll be here ready to show you.
This just in! No really Reiki sister, I JUST read this.
http://greenlotus.hubpages.com/hub/Reiki_Really_Works-A_Groundbreaking_Scientific_Study
As my partner said when I read it aloud to him, “Yeah… But WE already knew that!”
LOL
What an excellent article, Scott! Thank you so much for enriching the discussion with more “proof” if people need that! It’s good to have this resource. Much love and light for all you do to share great energy! Alice
We all gotta stick together and boost the signals on these things.
Love and light. Scott
With all respect, Alice, you’re really stretching the science here, and so is the article Scott linked to. The question to ask yourself is: who are you trying to impress? If you want to get the Reiki community jazzed up, this version of science will do it. But if you want to get the attention of conventional medicine, this version of science will really cement the opinion that Reiki practitioners don’t understand and are not credible. For example, the word “evidence” in science means data from studies that has been statistically analyzed for significance and deemed worthy of publication by disinterested scientific colleagues.
The problem with the Touchstone process is that they’ve lowered the standards of scientific research. Again, Reiki practitioners who don’t understand science will be thrilled with the results, but if you want to demonstrate the viability of Reiki treatment in a real world medical environment, a more effective route is to meet the existing standards. The person who made the YouTube video about rice says himself that his experiment does not meet research standards.
If anyone is interested, Reiki papers published in peer-reviewed medical journals (meaning they have met existing standards for scientific evidence), including the prestigious Journal of the American College of Cardiology are available for download and personal use here http://reikiinmedicine.org/medical-papers/
Hi Pamela,
Thank you for commenting here. Absolutely you are well respected as an authority for credible scientific studies for Reiki, especially as it pertains to medicine. And I do appreciate your offering a resource for more accepted scientific studies, for readers who are interested in finding more.
Truly, though, my goal in writing this post was to present the thought that maybe it’s not all that important for us to find scientific “proof” to validate the power in what we do, when we feel the energy, those we share it with feel it, and those of us who practice Reiki mindfully and regularly will all have some story to share of powerful results for someone we’ve shared Reiki with. On some level, that could be enough to keep going and knowing that this is valid work.
It can take a lot of time and effort to “prove” that the energy is real by accepted scientific standards. I vote instead to let you do that (hee hee, I tease you a little!), and I’ll spend my time teaching and sharing energy with all who are interested in benefiting from Reiki. From now on, I’ll refer those interested in the science of it to your page. That way, all our bases are covered.
I know of course, that you also teach and offer Reiki, Pamela, and so I’m grateful to count you among my colleagues in this fascinating and meaningful work.
Blessings,
Alice
Alice, I completely agree with your comment “maybe it’s not all that important for us to find scientific “proof” to validate the power in what we do…” And it is definitely not my goal to “‘prove’ that the energy.”
The point of research is not to prove Reiki to us or anyone else. Proof is actually not even a research concept. Rather, scientific research documents effects and evaluates the likelihood that those effects are due to chance rather than the treatment offered.
What valid research documentation of the benefits of Reiki practice can do is start the conversation in health care, which is allegedly evidence-based. I write “allegedly” because doctors are very aware that there is little evidence for much of what they do, but it is done within the scientific paradigm. What we are offering is from the traditional healing paradigm, not the scientific paradigm, so whatever we can offer that is credible helps doctors to put it together in a way that is meaningful to them and defensible in their community. Doctors cannot advise people on the basis of their personal whim; they need a bit of credible evidence, and a reasonable argument, offered by a credible practitioner.
Pamela,
Thank you so much for enriching the discussion with your points. I absolutely agree that we need a credible voice for Reiki in the medical system so Eastern and Western medicine can work together for greater wellness. It IS important for doctors to be able to recognize the benefits of Reiki, and learning to speak the language is the key to making that possible. You are a pioneer in that effort, and thank you so much for all you do.
I’ve spent a year giving Reiki at The Cleveland Clinic, and am beginning to be involved in a program at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital which combines aromatherapy and Reiki for children dealing with cancer. I’m happy that there is the possibility of being involved, but also know that there is far to go. Both programs are excellent, yet both are volunteer. How many other treatment programs require the practitioner to volunteer?
In any case, Pamela, again, thank you so much for being an advocate and a resource. You set a lot of things straight for me and for my readers.
Love and light,
Alice
Alice, it’s wonderful that you have been at The Cleveland Clinic, which is one of the institutions that is pioneering the development of integrative medicine. They are fortunate to have you.
I know I push the envelope in the Reiki community, and I appreciate your patience. I do so because I have a vision in which there are no Reiki volunteers, but rather paid Reiki practitioners who first complete a Reiki internship in which they are mentored and supported to function effectively and healthfully amidst the profound suffering that exists in even the most elite conventional healthcare settings.
One of the private groups of spiritual folks I work with discussed the article. I want to say “proof” is by and large for those who want to believe. Research is not proof; I think the energy of the word proof wants validation. Research is for science AND spirituality, to study explore and understand the world and our human existence within it. Science and spirituality are paths to seek, to ask, to know, to bring understanding.
My friend teaches and explains that practitioners often categorize Reiki in two paths, “medical” Reiki and “Reiki as a spiritual path.” I fall into the latter without excluding the other, and not without both miraculous and mundane result. In my time I have seen fractures vanish in as little as 30 minutes (observable by x-ray day of, and following day); Sarcoma shrinking in a 24 hour Reiki intensives; aiding my little nieces with comfort; watching a client rise out of his body and go to the beach, and discussing the journey post session. Reiki… Energy and Spiritual healing can have a profound and practical influence in our life.
Reiki as an energy, not as one of the many systems, from Dainichi Nyorai the Great Sun Buddha, or the Great Light Within, The Spiritual Sun, God, Light has shown that it is wellness on all levels. Not just mending flesh and bone.
I want to make a few observations in light of the commentary. I don’t need to clout anything with my experience. Suffice to say it [my history] has time and with many extraordinary people and began as a conscious, learning exploration, in a little shop back in 1989 in Newark California. My original Reiki instruction was taught by women who were part of the free clinic in San Francisco, and later at St. Luke’s out-patient center in the 90′s. They were taught by one of the 22.
I am assuming we’ve all been bedside offering love, compassion and light for the ill, and the dying. When I take the measure of a healer it is in the demonstration of compassion, not the papers they have on their wall or the lists of achievements. I think the standard of giving and experience is established and that is the credential that matters. My “proof” is putting my hands on someone and demonstrating. To try to explain the experience of Reiki… Well I am sure you know that words often fail the actual reception.
It will take a lot of convincing for me to go the route of “official” accreditation on what I live as a spiritual path. I appreciate your insight and experience in that you are bringing forward a healing energy and applaud your compassion to bring love to suffering, very Buddha, but I am drawn to some of your words, specifically the internship and Vision you mentioned. I am sure both the international and American organizations for Reiki are as well, it’s an exciting thought. Although my concept of such a system of accreditation may be shortsighted, and it brings up certain thoughts with dirty words like Reiki “authority,” and “regulation” or what “the experts” define as Reiki.
Reiki is put into the hands of the people for the people by people in a very tangible sense. Those days of ridiculous $10,000.00 charges and lodge-like mentalities should be put to rest. Though there are valid points to dogmatic systems, and often higher level experiences can only be had within certain set parameters that cause one to lift out and up to the next level, I am wary of spiritual practices becoming mainstreamed and regulated. As a spiritual practitioner moving ever further along the path of representing Reiki as a Spiritual Path with integrity, this is one of my focuses, that the stewards of the healing energy might look more like the diversity of the Pagan and other earth focused spirituality communities with no “one standard.”
This brings me back around to practices of Reiki and ultimately the “scientific” expectation that medical practitioners may have about a spiritual practice used for clinical / laboratory purposes.
It is true that I have a high degree of excitement about these studies, because they are in the hands of doctors and we are, from my perspective, working with a broke system of medicine. Not to take a hammer to it, I am not a Doctor or a licensed medical practitioner but I am a spiritual functionary, a Reiki master and teacher. I believe in the happy unification of spirit and science, a being that has been broke apart for some time.
I use the word “broke” because the Spirit in Western Medicine is clinical to the body, without relation to the other parts (mind, soul) of the system. The unseen nature of medicine is removed. The practice is reduced to the body systems only. Then Reiki, or as often is the case something like “prayer” which requires no spiritual awakening, is used as a study and suddenly we have pseudo-spirituality in the operating room and it’s lumped together with every other practice and dissected in the same vein. I think the end result is often hopelessly set to fail because there is no well paved bridge where science is cut away from the spirit of medicine, religion is confused with spirituality, and spirituality is confused about our connection to nature and so no panacea. As if there is some holy grail of a cure all.
The hope is that the manifested work sinks through the math-of-scrutiny and the “Ma- (mother, the spirit) –Thematic (theme, root, source),” meaning of mathematics in the collaboration of spirit-of-understanding is practically applied and draws out the true nature of medicine in an over regulated, stressed, toxic system.
That is of course requiring medical science to make a metaphysical leap. It’s fortunate that we have light workers like you on the forefront. I’ve pointed clients and practitioners alike to your writing, as well as Williams, Walter Lübeck, Frank Peter-Ajvar, and try to avoid the fluff, the fast-track, and instant Reiki practitioner (obvious) traps. These pollute the system for everyone and serve no purpose but to create more confusion.
Here I think we find use for some level of Reiki policing in the form of corrective education. My Reiki masters called it “Reiki rescue.”
Seems like this conversation has happened over and over again, for many years, what say you? Do you think that the bigger purpose is in clarifying the message and the spiritual purity of the energy?
I believe our evolution is in expanding consciousness, education in its purest form. May the minds of all expand and the intelligence seat comfortably in the heart, with five paths body, mind, spirit, feeling, and soul.
To quote Star Trek*, “If you can see everything what is left to believe in?” In this instance we can see belief as the vehicle that brings us out of the past and into freely exploring the possibilities so that we can be present within the moment and express the expanding field of consciousness and free our minds (and those we encounter) from suffering.
By the way I wrote this while receiving healing.
I hope that translated clearly and well.
Scott~
*Voyager, Season 3, Ep. 7 “Sacred Ground.”
Scott,
I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your very thoughtful, poetic, and deep thinking response. I love what you wrote. Plain and simple, there is nothing I would add to it except only to say thank you for writing it.
Pamela, if you’re still following these comments, I believe that Scott directed some of his response to you directly.
Thank you all for sharing in the light,
Alice
Alice. I am happy to contribute!