Reiki: Why Should I Consider Using This In My Life?

Reiki is a biofield modality that is used in many hospitals to support oncology patients. But given the benefits, why aren't we incorporating this into our day-to day lives? Let's look at the data...

Reiki is one of the most common biofield therapies used therapeutically yet many people still have little to no awareness it. There is also still a perception that Reiki is "hippie dippy" with no scientific testing of any sort. However, Reiki has been utilized in the clinical setting in the United States for decades (1-3). Reiki is often used in the oncology setting, for example, Reiki treatments have been integrated into care of cancer patients at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a comprehensive cancer center here in Boston. Patients receiving standard and experimental cancer therapies are referred for Reiki treatments in two ways: by clinicians or self-referral. Treatments are delivered through the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrated Therapies or the Pain and Palliative Care Program (4).

From what I have seen, people react to Reiki with very consistent responses. This is best illustrated from a recent conversation I had with a woman who was going through her second round of cancer treatment for breast cancer. She said: "I was offered a Reiki session while I was at the clinic and I had absolutely no idea what it was. After it was explained to me, I thought sure, why not but honestly I was extremely skeptical about it. But let me tell you after the first treatment...I just can't explain it to you but it just felt so relaxing and from then on every time I went to the clinic I would always ask for a session! I still can't explain it but it's been great and it has really helped me through this journey with cancer."

Another personal example that I witnessed was when I treated a 39-year-old woman with longstanding depression and fatigue with Reiki. She had never heard of it before but was open to trying it. During our hands-on session, she told me that she had feelings of deep sadness coming up. At the end of the session, her demeanor seemed lighter and she thanked me repeatedly but the best part was the following day when she called me to tell me that she had the most amazing, restful sleep. She said it had been years since she had been able to have a deep sleep and was so thrilled with these initial results.

One of my personal favorite stories was treating a friend of mine. He is an oncologist and exceptionally grounded in science and research (which is why we both get along so well!) Anyhow, even though he had never had any experience himself with Reiki or any biofield therapy, he is a very open-minded practitioner and allowed me to give him a treatment. It was a short treatment, only about 15 minutes, and extremely informal. There was no music on, we were in a relatively quiet setting but nothing special. He didn't say much after the treatment as he was rushing off to the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting and I was off to a training myself but we met that night for dinner and he briefed me on what had happened. The first thing he said was that about an hour after the treatment he started feeling this deep emotion that he had a really hard time describing. He said it was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He told me that he had always been supportive of complementary modalities (especially given his patient population) but it was not until he himself experienced this treatment that he understood at a deeper level that there was something therapeutic going on.

Aside from my own experiences as a Reiki practitioner, there are many case reports in the literature of specific patient accounts of their experience with Reiki as well. One example is that of Virginia, a 57-year-old woman receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer. She described the feeling on the bottoms of her feet due to peripheral neuropathy as "walking on painful bubbles." After three Reiki treatments, she began to notice a decrease in this pain which allowed her to walk without difficulty. She continued her Reiki treatments, with eventual total relief of neuropathic pain (4).

Beyond case reports however, a growing body of research with Reiki demonstrates levels of efficacy for many aspects of quality of life including positive impact on pain, anxiety/depression, memory, overall wellbeing, behavioral problems, fatigue, nausea, sleep quality, general relaxation, mood/attitude , feelings of loneliness, burnout and more (3-20). In 2009, The Center for Reiki Research completed the Touchstone Project, which summarized Reiki studies published in peer-reviewed journals. The 25 studies examined were further evaluated to determine the effectiveness of Reiki. Taking into consideration only the most rigorously controlled studies, the team reported that 83% showed moderate to strong evidence in support of Reiki as a therapeutic healing modality." (21)

While additional research is always warranted for all conventional and alternative modalities, at minimum we can conservatively conclude two key points:

First, although the mechanism of action has yet to be fully elucidated, there is something happening during Reiki sessions that are causing beneficial therapeutic changes.

Reiki treatments are extremely safe, especially when you consider the risk-to-benefit equation.

And for those of you wondering when we may have data from large, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies (currently the gold standard in medical research), personally I am not holding my breath on that. First of all, while these studies would be extremely interesting to help with the appropriate application of Reiki treatments, there are some inherent limitations to biofield research in this manner. I am specifically thinking about how little we know about the mind-body connection and how intention and expectation play a role in observed research (22). Aside from that, funding and operational support for these kinds of large trials would need to come from somewhere and, at least in our current healthcare model, there are limited avenues to support this. Lastly, while outside the scope of this article, reliable measurements related to the biofield have been elusive and, because of these limitations, the biofield itself would not be able to be accurately measured directly.

The good news is that, even as direct measurement is not yet fully reliable, indirect measurements (such as impact of Reiki on patient-reported outcomes) are important and viable markers. While the scientific community cannot elaborate on the full mechanism of action yet, the literature has demonstrated benefits of Reiki use. Even with the lack of large, well-controlled trials, I go back to the two key points above: Reiki is a safe and effective modality and absolutely deserves a prominent place in the mainstream. At the Wellness Journey Club we have a whole new take on how to integrate wellness modalities, such as Reiki, as regular parts of our lives.

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References

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15. Rosada, R.M., Rubik, B., Mainguy, B., Plummer, J., & Mehl-Madrona, L. (2015, August). Reiki Reduces Burnout Among Community Mental Health Clinicians. Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)., 21(8), 489-495. doi:10.1089/acm.2014.0403

16. Díaz-Rodríguez, L., Arroyo-Morales, M., Fernández-de-las-Peñas, C., García-Lafuente, F., García-Royo, C., & Tomás-Rojas, I. (2011, October). Immediate effects of reiki on heart rate variability, cortisol levels, and body temperature in health care professionals with burnout. Biological research for nursing., 13(4), 376-382. doi:10.1177/1099800410389166

17. Díaz-Rodríguez, L., Arroyo-Morales, M., et al. (2011, Sep-Oct). The application of Reiki in nurses diagnosed with Burnout Syndrome has beneficial effects on concentration of salivary IgA and blood pressure. Rev Lat Am Enfermagem., 19(5), 1132-8. doi: 10.1590/s0104-11692011000500010

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21. The Center for Reiki Research, Touchstone Project, Conclusion, http://www.centerforreikiresearch.org/RRConclusion.aspx

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