What heals us, what hurts us?
One of the questions we ask ourselves when we seek out any kind of treatment or healing is "Is this treatment actually effective?"
This is a very important question. We don't want to throw our money or our time away on something that doesn't work; and we don't want to allow ineffective treatments to distract us from treatments that have demonstrated effectiveness.
We also want to make sure a treatment will not hurt us. Thus we ask our provider all sorts of questions about the negative as well as the positive results or side effects we might expect whenever we consider our options; and our providers are required to tell us these things even if we do not ask.
Prescription and "over the counter" medications, all have potential negative side effects. Even an aspirin or a vitamin pill has the potential to harm us as well as help us. Some "natural" remedies carry the same dilemma. Sometimes people mistake "natural" for meaning harmless and this is not necessarily so.
We all know that surgical procedures are inherently risky. We weigh our options very carefully in these circumstances because the stakes may be high.
In all these cases, we rely on our provider to be educated and pass on state-of-the-art information to us as is appropriate. It is then up to us to make our choice.
Even in considering the nutrients we take in through food requires mindfulness. Some foods nourish and heal us while others actually create or support illness.
Taking in the company and spirit of healthy, happy people is healing, while spending time with a person with negative energy can effect our health and wellbeing. This is true of the provider we chose also.
All of our choices regarding what we take into our bodies, minds and spirits, are best made mindfully. Our bodies are the temple we reside in...our body is a precious gift that must be protected with mindfulness and care.
Empirical Research
Research on Reiki is in it's nascent stage. There have been studies done regarding the effectiveness of Reiki, and we can and should take a look at these; but we can not say that there exists broad and deep empirical evidence concerning Reiki's effectiveness or lack of it. We can say however, that early Reiki research is indicating that there are some positive results of Reiki that require further study. Some of the results indicate that patients require less pain medication, heal faster, have decreased heart rate, have improved immune function, less anxiety, reduced depression & improved memory. With these preliminary results, the medical community is starting to accept Reiki as a legitimate healing practice. There are over 100 hospitals in the United States alone that utilize Reiki as a complimentary treatment. (see list below*)