You or someone close may have considered choosing Reiki as an alternative treatment to conventional methods. There are plenty of accounts detailing how effective it can be for healing physical, mental and emotional health. But many are skeptical since this practice lacks a thorough scientific explanation for how it works.
There are zero findings of any harmful physical, mental or emotional effects happening during or after reiki. Any uncomfortable occurrences are usually the patient becoming receptive to the body and identifying the root causes of their pain, rather than directly resulting from a session.
In fact, official studies have shown just the opposite. The clearest results of this treatment are elevated mood, ease of tension and pain in the body, and settled emotions. Practitioners tap into a universal reserve of spiritual energy to clear the energy centers and expedite the body’s healing processes.
They don’t make deals with the devil in order to learn their craft.
What is Reiki
Reiki is a healing system devised by Mikao Usui, a Japanese Buddhist devoted to restoring the spiritual harmony and balance within. The word comes from the Japanese words “rei” meaning “spirit” or “soul” and “ki” which means “energy.” Practitioners channel this spiritual or universal energy through themselves to their patients, removing mental and emotional blockages and restoring their energetic equilibrium.
Most people report feeling calmer, less anxious and depressed, and less tension in their bodies. This is due to the blockages being removed, which allows them to be mindful of their entire body instead of focusing all their attention on one section.
Complimentary Use
Since practitioners do not dose their subjects with medication, this type of healing is extremely versatile. As a matter of fact, a person can have regular therapy sessions at the same time as many conventional treatments. It can safely complement surgery, medications, chiropractic treatment, homeopathic medicine, acupuncture, and more.
Just talk with your practitioner about implementing sessions into your routine.
Children and pregnant women can also benefit from this practice. Terminally ill patients, those soon to pass, and even animals and plants can also be healed.
So how might this approach actually be harmful to individuals?
Possible Side Effects
Honestly, there are no known physical side effects of using reiki. At its worst, a practitioner may not be well-trained enough for maximum benefit. But no person has ever reported adverse effects resulting from a session.
Compared to conventional medicinal procedures and medications, that’s miraculous.
That does not mean negative outcomes never happen, however. Obstacles may occur after a session, but not as you think. While the major source of pain may be alleviated for some patients, a few might observe a “new” pain erupting in a different part of the body.
Although it would seem that the spiritual method is the cause of this, the truth is more complicated.
A practitioner gently opens up channels in the body by soothing blockages so energy can travel around freely. All the negative energy caught up in one part of the body circulates to the others. This is what makes people feel more serene and less tense.
Yet it also frees up the attention put into the initial blockage, and now the person becomes more aware of other problems in the body that were masked by the stronger pain. In this way, they are alerted to the core health issues that need to be managed.
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Mental and Emotional Challenges
Another common issue that can arise from regular sessions is that of cognitive dissonance, though it is not as dramatic as it sounds. No mental instability nor neurotic tendencies have ever been reported by reiki patients. But a mental change does occur inside, especially for traumatized and grieving individuals.
When the mind experiences an intense event, specifically at a young age, it tends to repress the incident to shield the individual’s awareness from feeling the pain constantly. The memories and emotions tied to that powerful moment do not simply vanish; they melt into the subconsciousness, hiding in plain sight while still influencing decision making every day.
After a patient receives a regular treatment, those memories enter the flow and begin to arise more often in waking consciousness. Often childhood memories resurface or people recall traumatic experiences after a few sessions. They can then correspond to their current behavior and emotional urges to those stressful experiences.
The difference is now they can deal with the stress from a calmer, more mature angle.
Some recipients of treatment report feeling differently about themselves, as in their perspectives on who they are have changed significantly.
Religious Fervor
The major discussion surrounding this therapy comes mainly from religious dogma. A big concern in the Catholic and Christian circles is the rise of reiki practitioners among their faith. This alternative to conventional medicine has attracted many faithful persons so much that they actually begin to practice it in their own communities.
But religious authorities and layman alike tout that reiki is evil. The “spiritual energy” it claims to transfer is none other than the devil’s energy. Catholics and Christians believe that God is life, and for practitioners to claim to have the power to draw on universal energy is blasphemous.
Even when it is compared to Jesus’ laying of hands on the sick, they don’t budge on their views.
Thus, you may hear allegations that you will damage your soul and connection to God, or perhaps that you are making pacts with the devil in order to receive healing. If you are devoutly religious or have friends who are so, you may butt heads about the moral validity of this type of therapy.
If you have been curious about trying an alternative therapy, book a reiki session with an experienced practitioner and experience the benefits firsthand.
