Reiki Treatments – All Hype or The Real Deal?

There are many different holistic treatments available now to those who want to try some alternative therapy. One of the most popular being Reiki. The word “Reiki” combines two Japanese words: “rei,” which means “universal,” and “ki,” which means “life energy” or “vital force.” Those who practice Reiki believe there’s a life force energy that runs through all living beings. And that if someones energy gets lowered or blocked, it can lead to physical, emotional, or spiritual imbalances or illness.

During Reiki session, the practitioner channels this life force energy through their hands and transfers it to the recipient by placing their hands on or near specific areas of the body. The purpose is to promote relaxation, reduce stress, and facilitate healing. Reiki is often used as a complementary therapy alongside traditional medical treatments.

There is not one specific type of person that leads towards reiki treatments. That being said, there tends to be people who are suffering ailments such as cancer, chronic pain or parkinsons generally appear to look into the treatments slightly more than others and potentially opt to give it a go.

Reiki is at the centre of some debate due to the effectiveness of the practice. The perceived benefits of Reiki may be attributed to the placebo effect, where a person experiences a subjective improvement in their condition due to their belief in the treatment. Additionally, Reiki is generally considered safe and non-invasive, which may contribute to its popularity. Skeptics believe that the placebo may be the only the reason why people believe it work and that in fact the hollistic treatment does not work at all.

However, a 2017 study, appears to dispute that. The study looked at the effectiveness of Reiki and if it really is just a placebo. The study concluded that they found ‘reasonably strong evidence for Reiki being more effetice than placebo’ & suggested that ‘Reiki attunement leads to a quantifiable increase in healing ability.’

Whether it does have medicinal benefits or not, the fact that Reiki treatments appear to make those who have them feel better, could well be more important. The practice does not claim to medically improve the life of those who seek their treatments but those who do seem more than impressed with the results.