Reiki Debunked?
Pseudoscience Or Science Untapped?
Reiki Debunked?
When one is just getting to know Reiki, one is likely to be doubtful about the scientific nature of Reiki Healing and that is understandable. Whether Reiki is a pseudoscience, often crosses our mind. Since it is based on something which cannot be seen but only is felt, it is often criticized. Rightly so because as a society, we are always told to move away from our own body and emotions. We are taught to always look outward. We live in a 3-D world and look for 3-D proofs for even something that is beyond the 3-D. Take, for example, the invisible radiation.
A lot of people in the scientific community have been trying to debunk Reiki. Although it is well-meant, it is as if they’re trying to debunk gravity. Instead, what is actually needed is to study Reiki from all aspects and develop scientific instrumentation and methods to measure its effects. I say this because as someone who was a hard-core skeptic about Reiki even after learning Past Life Regression Therapy, I EXPERIENCED and FELT the Reiki energy during my first Reiki attunement. This was when I wasn't expecting anything of this sort to happen. I prove things to myself by experiencing them and this is how I know that Reiki energy exists and has wonderful effects. (and the only reason I spent money when I was unemployed, to become a Reiki Master Teacher.)
Reiki has been studied all over the world with available equipment and most of the studies that are known to be credible discredit Reiki altogether. This is owing to the fact that no scientific instrument has been invented that can directly measure the life force energy, as yet. That which cannot be measured cannot be proven scientifically. However, this so-called life force energy has been noticed by many people around the world in history and present time. They have tried to understand it in their own ways and named it accordingly.
Theoretically, there is an invisible “force” that exists everywhere in the universe. It has been written about extensively in ancient texts but we hardly pay attention to them and that is why we don’t know much about it yet. In today's world, scientifically it is known that every quantum particle is "conscious" and is also connected to every other particle in the universe. In my opinion, this explains the effects of Reiki to a great extent.
About Chi/Ki:
Click here to know what is Chi energy?
At this time, the Ki can only be FELT and feelings are subjective. A significant factor – human experience – is not being accounted for as scientific evidence in favor of something that is purely based on the said factor. But we also cannot deny the fact that human experience can be easily faked and that humans can also be delusional.
Furthermore, the energy of Ki is not physical. Some even say that science will never be able to measure Ki, owing to its non-physical nature. Some have tried to study it as "biophotons", photons that living beings emit at all times. However, we can also record medical parameters and Reiki healing has been seen to improve them in a significant percentage of the population.
We can also test it for being or not being placebo but there is a lack of scientists who are also Reiki practitioners so that they can direct the studies more knowledgeably. I see a lack of knowledge of energy work in almost all studies and therefore the whole point of conducting the study gets refuted.
For example, all of us have Reiki energy flowing through us. Some have more, some less. An attunement increases the flow to the maximum possible for that person at that time. Therefore if you’re using an "unattuned" person as the control, the Reiki is still flowing, albeit lesser than the Reiki practitioner. If the control Reiki practitioner has good intentions while pretending to give Reiki during the test, positive effects are still going to be seen in the control cases, though it depends whether they’re of the same extent or not.
Again, who knows how much energy flow those controls have? We can't measure it. The word “control” doesn’t even apply to them here because of this reason. There cannot be any human-control in Reiki studies because every living being has Reiki energy flowing through them. Even non living things do, but they cannot direct it at something consciously. If we employ a mannequin to be a control, the patients are going to know that this is a control. The patients will have to be completely blinded and the control will have to be as human-like as possible.
This is just one example of how difficult it is to have a control in Reiki studies. I have seen multiple examples of these studies, even in reputed journals where they employ human "controls" when they are not controls at all.
However, recently scientists have been trying to find ways to measure the Reiki energy. Because people all over the world have experienced the effectiveness of Reiki healing, it is important that we study it and try to ascertain the actual nature of the energy. What we need to understand is that it is not a separate kind of “radiation” that can be given its own identity, like X-rays. Scientists have still tried to map it in a specific range in the Electromagnetic spectrum. It may not be accurate but this is an attempt to understand the nature of this mysterious energy. Instead of trying to debunk Reiki, let us try to understand it.
Here Are Some Studies Where They Have Tried To Measure The Chi Energy:
According to THIS page, Chi has been measured at The Rhine Research Lab Center as “Bioenergy & Biophotons”. In their experiment, they were able to measure Chi as a dramatic increase in the number of photons in a light-proof room where people were meditating or performing healings. These photons have been called “Biophotons”. It has been already proven that every living cell emits 100,000 photons per second.
In another experiment at the “Institut fur Angewandte Biokybernetik und Feedbackforschung (IBF)” of Vienna, the life force energy was measured. The subject practiced inner smile meditation while the experiment was being performed. The results were astonishingly interesting. Read more about it HERE.
There is another instrument available for measuring the supposed-Chi. It’s called a “TriField Natural EM Meter”. It measures changes in weak static, electric and magnetic fields. Living beings, particularly, humans and animals emit an electric field which is easily measurable by this meter. Drastic changes in the readings can further point to the discharge/ increase in Chi, i.e. if we attribute the Chi to be a combination of these fields.
Here Are A Few More Studies That Point To An Improvement In Medical Parameters After Reiki Healing:
Reiki Healing Reduces Oxidative Injury:
Reiki Healing Inhibits The Growth Of Cancer Cells:
Reiki not only inhibits the growth of cancer cells but also improves immune function as shown by the following study:
Effect Of Reiki Healing On The Autonomic Nervous System:
A Review Of Reiki/Biofield Therapy:
REIKI-REVIEW OF A BIOFIELD THERAPY, HISTORY, THEORY, PRACTICE, AND RESEARCH.
Is Reiki A Placebo?
Reiki healing doesn’t act as a placebo. For a placebo to be called a placebo, you have to have a strong belief that it works. But you don’t have to believe in Reiki for it to work.
Although, just like any other kind of medicine, belief makes it even more effective.
In my opinion, I understand when someone calls it pseudoscience because I know that they’re reasoned to think so by their logical minds. It’s natural to draw conclusions based on hard material evidence since that’s what our education systems and the scientific community train us to do. We are so accustomed to the 3D world that we forget our very ethereal nature which is beyond these 3 dimensions. The evidence is everywhere around us, only if we’re keen to look and experience it for ourselves.
I come from a scientific background. But Reiki is something which is beyond this realm. On a personal level, I have seen incredible recoveries happening, including myself. On top of that during my first experience with Reiki energy, I FELT the viscous, warm, smooth Reiki energy flowing from my teacher's hands into my head and shoulders, and releasing some sort of "energetic attachment" with a "POP" sound ON MY FACE. This is when my eyes were closed and I didn't know that my teacher was actually standing afar from me and not even touching me. This was just the beginning, I have experienced wonderful things with Reiki healing since then, not only with myself but also with my clients and students. I simply cannot deny it. You have to experience it to believe it.
Science cannot let go of the belief that the physical body creates consciousness. Whereas when you unfold the ultimate truth of human life, you realize that it is the other way around.
This consciousness is not that of the Id and ego that we know. It is the basic life force that “lives” in every “particle” of the universe’s being. It is the network of a mysterious “force” that interlaces the whole universe, even where atoms are not present.
As the number of experienced believers increases, studies and evidence have started to come up. More and more hospitals are hiring Reiki practitioners and other alternative healing modalities as an adjunct for the overall well-being of their patients. This is happening only because health care providers have come across Reiki being effectively helping their patients heal their illnesses, recover from trauma, surgery, terminal illness, or be pain-free in their terminal years. It has helped people heal physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. It helps to reduce stress and induce relaxation without antidepressants (which have their own side-effects). There are loads of other benefits which are out of the context of this article. You can read them here.
However, one must beware of conmen out there. The world has plenty of them in every sphere. In the field of Energy healing, it is easier to make a big buck out of someone’s suffering and people do that.
No genuine Reiki practitioner would claim it to be a miracle cure (I see this as the driving statement in many of the studies) because it is not. No medicine is a miracle. Although one might see a few miraculous cases here and there.
Keeping in mind all of this, my scientific knowledge, my personal experience and the experience of thousands of other people, it is only fair when I say that Reiki healing is a science that is still untapped.
[The views mentioned in this article are my personal opinion. I'm aware that most of the studies mentioned in this article are not peer-reviewed. Since there are only a few of them that exist, I cited those studies which I could find to be taking into account the knowledge of workings of Reiki healing. One can hardly find any peer-reviewed material on this topic, that too which doesn't employ the "useless controls". The studies lose all credibility when they say they had human controls.]