Reiki

To get answers tosome of the more popular questions about Reiki, just follow the links below

• What is Reiki?
• Who can it work for?
• What happens in a treatment?
• Will I find out what's wrong with me?
• What clothes should I wear?
• How many Reiki sessions will I need?
• What's the evidence?

What is Reiki?

Reiki is a system of healing which originated in Japan. It is a based on the concept of energetic medicine and aims to restore balance in body, mind and spirit. (Energetic medicine is common in Far Eastern therapies and other forms of energetic medicine include acupuncture.)

Who can it work for?

Reiki is suitable for everyone, whatever your age or state of health.

What happens in a treatment?

You will lie fully clothed on a treatment table. The Reiki practitioner will then lay his or her hands on or over the body and head in a series of different positions.

Each position will correspond to a different chakra (energy gateway). The practitioner is likely to touch positions on the head, and body. As the session proceeds it is common to feel different sensations these could include: heat, coolness, tingling, numbness and pressure. These sensations occur as the Reiki energy restores balance within the client.

Will I find out what's wrong with me?

Reiki is not a diagnostic tool, a Reiki practitioner will never diagnose a condition or a complaint. Reiki is a channeling treatment which aims to rebalance the body, mind and spirit.

For a medical diagnosis please visit your doctor.

What clothes should I wear?

It's best to wear loose comfortable clothes. You'll also remain fully clothed throughout the treatment.

How many Reiki sessions will I need?

Reiki is an individual treatment, so the exact number of treatments needed will depend upon you.

What's the evidence?

There are numerous anecdotal statements into the benefits of Reiki, with many thousands of people who have benefited from it.

Reiki is also used within the NHS in settings as diverse as pain management clinics, HIV and AIDS clinics and has been used in hospices and palliative care settings for many years.

In addition there are currently multiple scientific studies underway investigating Reiki and its affects on a whole host of conditions.

Previous studies have found Reiki (often also described as healing touch or therapeutic touch in medical literature) to be effective for reducing chronic burn pain, reducing agitation in Alzheimer's and dementia patients, and reducing pain in a whole host of conditions including advanced cancer and fibromyalgia. The Institute of Neurological Sciences, Glasgow completed a study which found that heart rate and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly in people who received 30 minutes of Reiki, as compared to a placebo intervention or 30 minutes of rest.

In common with other complementary therapies further research is still needed. There are several reasons for this lack of research, a significant barrier to research being the lack of available funding for CAM research projects. Another obstacle into Reiki research is the difficulty of devising an effective placebo to Reiki.