Is There Science Behind Reiki?
Reiki is a really popular non-conventional treatment nowadays, but a lot of people that are unfamiliar with the method claim its a pseudoscience and it has no effects whatsoever.
But, there are multiple pieces of evidence that strongly suggests something very different. For instance, a 2018 meta-analysis of four randomized controlled trials took a deeper look into Reiki's benefits in reducing pain over a wide range of medical conditions. The results showed that the Reiki treatment produced a statistically significant reduction in pain in comparison to the participants who didn't have any Reiki treatment.
Another example of that would be a 2019 review done in the British Medical Journal Supportive & Palliative Care, which stated that Reiki therapy is quite useful in reducing pain, lowering the levels of anxiety, as well as depression, and overall increasing the quality of life in multiple conditions over numerous patients.
The results were so exceptional that soon after they decided to start introducing Reiki treatment within the hospital facility. They introduce a program where the nurses were trained and certified in Reiki to be able to perform the Reiki treatment as a complementary medical treatment. Patients that were treated with Reiki during this program also reported less pain and increased well-being.
Some people still might argue that Reiki is nothing but a placebo effect taking over. But once again, research has other things to say about that. According to a 2017 meta-analysis, Reiki is much more than just a placebo effect and has broad potential as a complementary health therapy. Out of the 13 suitable studies, 8 have demonstrated Reiki being far more effective than a placebo effect, 4 of those found no difference, but those 4 studies had questionable statistics regarding power, and only one of them provided clear evidence for not providing benefit.
When viewed collectively these studies provide us with reasonably strong support for Reiki being more effective than placebo and being a great option for a complementary therapy. It has the potential for broader use in the management of chronic health conditions, and possibly in postoperative recovery.
In the end, there is no scientific behind Reiki, it is just a physical process that most people have little to no knowledge about. The lack of awareness of most people about the available knowledge and research is the basis of this sort of thinking. We tend to not give credit to things we do not have much knowledge about, and because of that, we jump to wrong conclusions.
We need to analyze the studies and look for credible sources of information before assuming something is a "woo woo non-sense" as some would call it. To stay up to date with content regarding Reiki, its benefits, and its effects on your overall physical, mental, and spiritual health keep following our articles and social media contents!