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What is Reiki?

Reiki energy is used to restore balance to your mind, physical body, and spirt which in turn, will allow you to return to your being's most natural state of harmony; thus unblocking the body's natural healing abilities.

During a session, whether in person or remote, a reiki practitioner who has been trained and attuned to work with energy, will connect to your energetic frequency in order to assess the current state, remove energy blockages, and provide healing treatment. This energy connection concept is similar to that of other energetic frequencies we cannot see such as radio, electricity, cell phones, etc.

The effects of Reiki are just recently starting to be seriously studied and considered in the western medical community so the studies available are all very recent and many more are needed with larger test groups. What has been discovered thus far, is compelling.

A study of 188 adolescents with depression were treated for 12-weeks either with CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) for 90-min twice a week or with Reiki for 20-min once weekly. Results showed that 4-hours of Reiki were just as effective as 36-hours of CBT in achieving reductions on the CDI (children’s depression inventory) scale and both achieved significantly greater reductions than SOC (standard of care).

In both 2006 and 2008 stressed-out lab rats received Reiki treatments and they all showed significantly reduced stress, anxiety and depression responses. “Sham” or bogus Reiki treatments were given to the placebo group and they showed no reduction in stress, anxiety or depression.

Testing in humans performed between 1993 and 2006 showed ratings from Satisfactory to Excellent, all suggesting that the benefit of Reiki treatments were positive in controlling pain levels in humans. There were some “confounding variables”, which is typical in hospital (as opposed to laboratory) studies; however, the placebo Reiki treatments in this experiment were by contrast ineffective in controlling pain.

New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Campus conducted one of the first studies ever performed to determine the effectiveness of Reiki treatments on the autonomic nervous system. This “blind, random study” included a Reiki treatment group, a “sham” treatment group and a “control” group. The testing began with all participants at “baseline” autonomic nervous systems levels. The results within the Reiki treatment group showed a lowering of these levels including heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure.

These positive results led the team to recommend further, larger studies to look at the biological effects of Reiki treatment. It’s interesting to note that Columbia/Presbyterian was one of the first hospitals to offer Reiki as part of their Integrative Medicine Program (CIMP). The now famous cardiovascular surgeon, Dr. Mehmet Oz brought tremendous attention to Reiki when he invited Reiki practitioners to treat patients during open heart surgeries and heart transplant operations. Dr. Oz is often quoted as saying, "Reiki has become a sought-after healing art among patients and mainstream medical professionals."

There have been many other controlled studies submitted to peer-journals and to The Touchstone Process for review. Ailments and disorders that tested favorably to Reiki treatment include: post-operative pain after tooth extraction, cognition in elderly, related to dementia/Alzheimer's, pre-operative relaxation and post-operative pain management, inflammation, pain in chronically ill patients, depression, and stress