What is Reiki?

Reiki is a simple, safe, health-promoting technique developed in Japan by Dr Mikao Usui. In a Reiki healing session, the practitioner “lays hands” on the patient and channels healing, universal energy (AKA Chi, Reiki, or life force) into the patient’s body. The practitioner will focus on various energy centers (chakras) in the patient’s body to remove energy blockages, revitalize depleted energy centers, and balance the patient’s energy field.

Does Reiki work?

Reiki has been well studied and is offered at many hospitals and clinics as a complementary therapy for a variety of conditions. Reiki has demonstrated efficacy improving symptoms of pain, depression, stress/anxiety, nausea, fatigue, and even memory, in both healthy patients and patients with serious illness such as cancer. In fact, Reiki has demonstrated such a profound effect on patients undergoing cancer treatment that the world-renowned Dana Farber Cancer Institute now has an integrative therapy center for healing modalities like Reiki.

How does Reiki work?

We don’t actually know! There are many different theories as to how Reiki works. One is that it increases your overall life-force (aka Chi or Reiki) and that your overall body is healed by strengthening your energy field. Another is that it balances your energy centers (chakras) and removes blockages in energy, which can be related to disease. Many people believe its benefits derive simply from entering an extremely relaxed state— a state difficult to achieve on one’s own in a high-stress society. I suspect that it is probably a combination of all of these things. All of that said, as the developer of Tong Ren healing, Tom Tam, always says, “Whatever… better is better!”

What can I expect from my Reiki session?

In a Reiki healing session, the patient remains fully clothed and usually lies on a massage table. The practitioner will place her hands over various energy centers on the patient’s body. Many people report feeling very relaxed, warm, “buzzy,” and/or tingly during their session. Sometimes these sensations will increase when the practitioner works on certain areas of the body that have energy blockages or depletion.

If at any point, a patient feels uncomfortable, the Reiki session can be stopped, or the practitioner can work differently, such as on a different area of the body, or via distance (non-contact) healing. Reiki can also be done sitting up, over the phone, even if you fall asleep, upside down, inside out… okay maybe not inside out! We can find a set-up that is comfortable and works for you.

How does distance Reiki work?

Again, we really don’t know! There are some theories that involve a lot of quantum physics, but I’m not qualified to even attempt to explain that aspect (if you want to start down that rabbit hole, here’s one resource). What it boils down to though, is that we understand less of the world than we would probably like to admit, and time, space, and the physical body are not as rigid or constant as we think.