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.

 

 

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*) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are western treatments and

some eastern treatments (e.g. acupuncture, meditation) that have been studied extensively and are considered to be effective.  Yet, we all know that we can have one patient who has cancer who may die despite the fact that there will be another patient who has the same cancer, the same treatment, is the same age and general health, etc... and this patient survives.  Do we say this treatment is ineffective because it doesn't work every time?  No, we know it can work.  Sometimes. 

 

Research can help us learn how often we can expect it to work and under what conditions it is the most promising.  Yet their exists something that we humans have not been able to understand that makes one person respond differently than another to a healing intervention.

 

Science tells us we must be able to repeat a intervention and get the same results multiple times in order to show that it is an empirically valid research result.  Humans are not machines however; we accept less than perfect duplication in our studies of medicine and healing.  We are looking for statistical significance.

 

We have just begun to test Reiki healing with scientific methods and have much work to do to demonstrate its effectiveness.

 

I am only interested in presenting evidence based research studies to you that are rigorously well designed.  There is one excellent source of information that has compiled the best research available (rigorously designed).  It is presented in a way that is very reader friendly, yet presents the salient information.  This website also offers itself as a resource for assisting researchers who wish to conduct a well designed study of Reiki.

 

Click on the link below and then click on research studies.  There will be a number of studies listed, and I suggest you look at the first 12, which are considered to be the best designed and most valid studies to date.

 

 

There is no report of any kind that Reiki has ever caused harm to anyone in any way.  In this regard it is similar to meditation and mindfulness practices.

 

Watch this short video below to see how Reiki is being used with cancer patients. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home Mindfulness and Meditation

About Deirdre Services/Fees

Research on Reiki Testimonials 

Contact Deirdre Links