Reiki healing with hands
The activity of healing with the hands (also known as 'Therapeutic Touch' in the US) has been known about for thousands of years, with the origins of it lost in the mists of time. In the early 20th century a Japanese doctor, Dr Mikao Usui, developed the art of 'healing hands' and named it 'Reiki'; - 'Rei' meaning 'universal' and 'ki' meaning energy. He saw the ability to heal as a benefit to mankind and documented it, whereupon his methods then became widespread.
Reiki and BioMagnetics
It is known that all particles, atoms, cells and bodies in the universe have their own electromagnetic field. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to conclude that the tissues and bodies of living things also have an electromagnetic field, however small [3,4]. This field is known as the BioMagnetic energy field, and it is this energy field that Reiki has been shown to work with.
Reiki and a persons aura
Following that each body has a BioMagnetic field, it is also referred to as someones 'Aura' [13]. Whilst still under scientific debate, there is also suggestion that the Aura can be photographed using Kirlian photography. People have reported being able to see the Aura with the naked eye [2]. As visible light is also a form of electromagnetic radiation, this concept isnt so strange to understand [2].
Measuring Reiki energy
In the early 1990's Dr John Zimmerman conducted an experiment at the University of Colorado to measure the amount of energy emitted from the hands of a Reiki therapist using a SQUID [1]. The results showed that the energy released was in the form of electromagnetic pulses at frequencies scanning between 0.5Hz and 30Hz with a strength of .0001 gauss [1]. Further research was performed by the Japanese in 1992 confirming the results [15]. Therefore we can conclude that Reiki energy contains electromagnetic pulses.
Electromagnetic energy as a therapy - PEMF
In medicine, devices that produce Electromagnetic Pulses are used in the field of orthopedics mainly to assist in bone growth and repair [16,17]. This therapy is referred to as 'Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy (PEMF)', or 'Pulsed Magnetic Therapy'[13,14].
History of PEMF
The use of electromagnetic fields in clinical applications was first documented over 500 years ago, by the Swiss physician Paracelsus. Serious research began in the 1950's with Fukada and Yasuda[18] culminating in the mid 1970's with Bassett and in 1979 the FDA of the US approved the first PEMF devices to stimulate bone growth.
PEMF healing frequencies
Although PEMF devices are used primarily in bone restructure, they are also known to promote healing when operating at the following frequencies:
2Hz - Nerve regeneration
7Hz - Bone growth
10Hz - Ligaments
15 & 20Hz - Decreased skin necrosis, Capillary formation, fibroblast proliferation
25Hz - Synergisitic effect with nerve re-growth
Reiki energy and PEMF
As Reiki energy is emitted on frequencies between 0.5Hz to 30Hz, it could be concluded that Reiki works in a very similar way to PEMF [6].
Source of Reiki energy
Energy being emitted from the hands of a Reiki therapist has been proven [1], but, how and where it comes from, is an issue that the scientific community is still debating; the practice of Reiki shows that it can increase the bodies ability to heal itself, but Science has yet to come up with a theory to prove it.
One of the biggest arguments in modern day physics is 'String Theory', it has caused uproar amongst physicists for decades as it cannot be proven with todays technology, so it remains just that - a theory. So, even in the 21st century, the most diplomatic answer to the question 'where does Reiki energy come from?', could be 'it uses areas of physics that we cannot yet prove'[20].
Distance healing with Reiki
Passing Reiki energy without the therapist being present with the recipient is known as 'Distance Healing' and shows similar improvements in the bodies healing ability to a 'hands on' Reiki treatment. However, it is probably the area of Reiki that causes the biggest disagreement between spiritual and scientific communities. Applying String Theory to how Distance Healing works does explain it, as it's all to do with multiple dimensions of time and space. [20]
Reiki and Wellbeing
The word 'wellbeing' is often used within alternative therapies; the Cambridge dictionary defines it as 'the state of feeling healthy and happy': a state in which the Body, Mind and Soul are working together in harmony. As Reiki energy covers many frequencies, it is well reported that it also has an excellent reputation as a relaxation therapy. As many medical physicians will qualify, the body is more than the sum of it's parts and therefore a healthy body leads to a healthy mind [7,13]. Therefore, we can conclude that as Reiki works on multiple electromagnetic frequencies it has the advantage of promoting healing on many levels, typically: Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual.
Reiki clinical trials
Many clinical trials on Reiki have been performed, but not all of them have been particularly good. The reason for this, like so many situations in the modern world, is money; it not easy to justify good quality research on a treatment that has little financial reimbursement to a large multinational pharmaceutical conglomerate, Therefore, it is unfortunate that investment and research, is limited. However, the majority of trials tend to conclude that Reiki is beneficial in promoting healing within the body. Therefore some very cost effective benefits are being found by those members of the medical community that are less concerned about how the healing works and more interested in improving the healing ability of a body.
A list of clinical trials and their results appears at the end of this page.
Conclusion of scientific research into Reiki
We can conclude that we understand how Reiki energy heals the body. Energy that is passed from a therapist to a patient is similar to that of a PEMF and the results are also similar. In addition to this, the Reiki energy that is emitted from the hands is not set to one frequency, but several. Therefore the effects of Reiki can be looked upon as having a multi-frequency PEMF device that assists the body to relax and heal.
In reality, some very cost effective benefits are being found by those members of the medical community that are less concerned about how the healing works and more interested in healing a patient.
References