Reiki: Up and Coming Alternative Therapy

Improvement of life, heightened awareness and good health are things that most people strive to obtain. Reiki therapy is an alternative, or complementary, medical practice that channels life force energy to promote health, healing, and well-being.

Many people in the modern world think of energy therapy as being ambiguous and, at worst, ineffective.However, in the mid-1800s while researching ancient sutras, Japanese Buddhist Dr. Mikao Usui, rediscovered the ancient practice of energy healing that was still in use. Usui named the energy work Reiki (pronounced ray-key) therapy, which he taught in Japan until 1893.

Reiki originated as a Japanese form of alternative medicine but since the 1970s it has been adopted by many practitioners in the U.S. and other countries. In English, the word Reiki is composed from two Japanese words—Rei, meaning“God’s wisdom,” and Ki which means“life force energy.”

Reiki therapy is a practice in which the therapist channels “life force energy” through himself to the patient by little to no physical touch and is said to promote natural healing and emotional well-being.

According to Reiki.org, “Reiki treats the whole person including body,emotions, mind, and spirit creating many beneficial effects that include relaxation and feelings of peace, security and well-being. Many have reported miraculous results.”

Although many people are at first skeptical of a treatment that uses energy as opposed to physical touch, many hospitals across the nation have began to recognize the effectiveness of energy work and the relaxation it seems to bring to patients who may be suffering from pain.

In a study done by Integrative Cancer Therapies, it was determined that within two groups of colon cancer patients, the group that received one Reiki therapy session a day experienced less fatigue and a higher quality of life as opposed to the group that did not receive the therapy.

Traditional Western medicine is embracing Reiki for a variety of therapeutic causes. According to Reconnecting to Nursing Through Reiki by Glenda Watson Natale, BS, BSN, RN, HNB-BC, “As a low-risk, non-invasive intervention,Reiki is offered in such university health care settings as Harvard University, Columbia University, Cornell University,Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Comprehensive Breast Program, and George Washington University Medical Center.”