Reiki

Reiki, spiritual healing technique and form of alternative medicine first developed and popularized in early 20th-century Japan. It has since spread to other parts of the world. According to its acolytes, it is not a religion, and it can be utilized by members of any faith or spiritual orientation. Reiki is a Japanese word combining the terms rei, referring to supernatural, universal power or energy, and ki (related to the Chinese philosophical concept of qi), the localized energy found in each living organism. Reiki is concerned with restoring what adherents and practitioners consider the healthy distribution of life energy in the body, typically through the laying on of hands or the hovering of hands above a client’s body. Reiki has not yet been proved with any clarity or consistency by medical research trials to prevent or cure any health conditions. Many patients may use it as a form of complementary treatment alongside other forms of medical care.

History

Mikao Usui (1865–1926), a Japanese Buddhist lay monk, is widely credited as the founder of the most commonly practiced form of Reiki, eponymously called “Usui Reiki.” Usui’s form of Reiki is posited by practitioners as a modern revival of ancient Buddhist healing systems. As related in the accounts of professional Reiki associations and practitioners, Usui had long sought enlightenment regarding these supposedly lost techniques. While living in a Zen monastery outside Kyōto, he undertook a weeks-long, intensive regimen of meditation and fasting. Usui claimed that on the 21st day of his fasting retreat, he received a vision of ancient Sanskrit symbols in a cave in Mount Kurama. According to this telling, the vision served as the basis and impetus for Usui’s Reiki practice. These events supposedly took place about 1922, though reports vary on the date of his vision. Mount Kurama is a popular pilgrimage site for Reiki adherents in deference to this foundational legend.

Usui subsequently instructed pupils in the art of Reiki, training some as “Reiki masters” who could in turn teach others the techniques. One former student, retired naval officer Chujiro Hayashi, opened his own Reiki clinic in Tokyo. Hawayo Takata, a Japanese Hawaiian patient at the clinic, was reportedly so persuaded by the success of the Reiki treatment she received that she brought the practice to Hawaii in 1937. She proceeded to teach Reiki and to train Reiki masters across the United States, where it has become especially popular. The healing system has more recently been offered at hospitals, hospices, and mainstream medical institutions to be inclusive of alternative medicine practices.

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Techniques and principles

A standard Reiki treatment session lasts between 60 and 90 minutes. The recipient of Reiki healing remains fully clothed and in a relaxed position on a mat, chair, or massage table while the Reiki practitioner’s hands gingerly touch or hover directly above the client’s body in a series of up to 15 prescribed positions. Positions may be added to a session depending on the nature of the client’s medical conditions (e.g., feet and ankles are not always included in a typical session but may be addressed upon request). The movement of the Reiki practitioner’s hands is meant to redirect the balance of vital energy in the recipient’s body, clearing what the tradition considers blockages and debris thought to be injurious to health and psychic well-being. Unlike in massage, the Reiki practitioner’s touch is applied, if at all, lightly and nonmanipulatively.

During the treatment, some individuals report sensations such as bodily “warmth” or “tingling” when receiving Reiki. A profound sense of relaxation or even sleep may occur. Many patients regard Reiki as particularly effective at relieving stress, anxiety, depression, and pain. Since the energy targeted by Reiki is believed to reside in all living organisms, it can also be performed on plants and animals. Reiki can be performed on one’s own body after receiving proper training in the technique. This form of self-healing is considered an essential step that Reiki students must take before performing the technique on others.

Skepticism

While there are no known harms associated with the technique, Reiki has attracted skepticism from some members of the scientific community, particularly regarding claims about its ability to ameliorate various medical complaints and mental health conditions. Clinical studies tend to focus on the impact of Reiki on anxiety, depression, pain, and stress, but researchers largely view the studies to date to be inconsistent and insufficiently rigorous. Reiki practitioners have countered that quantitative medical trials geared toward the study of specific health conditions may be inadequate to the task of examining the more holistic benefits offered by the technique. Despite skepticism and inconclusive evidence, the practice has been incorporated into many mainstream medical settings as a form of complementary medicine offered alongside conventional medical treatments.