New age spirituality: Stupid Yoga

Spirituality
#1

How many of you wear crystals to awaken intuition, for confidence or for love? How many of you had Reiki attunements and go for Reiki treatment to get your charkas balanced? How many get their “DNA activated” How many are waiting to pass through the stargate that opens in 2012 to ascend into the 5th dimension? How many of you make invocations to the fairies, ascended masters, unicorns and angels? How many of you talk to your Spirit guides? How many of you have photographs of your aura taken? How many douse with metal rods looking for leylines? How many get past life regressions done and find you had a past life in Atlantis, Lemuria or ancient Egypt? How many of you are Indigo/crystal/star seed children or have such children?

And how many of you believe in Santa clause and the boogeyman? I state this because this is exactly what level of childish fantasy all the above is at. I am going to answer almost all the questions above as YES, because I was a new ager at one time! Yes, I got Reiki treatments done. Yes I tried to speak with my spirit guide. Yes, I thought I was an Indigo child. Yes I made invocations to angels and ascended masters. Yes, I had a past life regression done and found out I was king Arthur in Middle Earth :smiley: Until, my intellect got the better of me which new age spirituality books had told me to turn off. I realised that all of this was nothing more than childish fantasy in order to escape from the challenges of real life.

I recently went with my friend to a new age mind-body fair in a local town(mainly for entertainment value) and attended a few talks. One of those talks was about a man who in his past life was from Sirius B and was telling us about the stargate that is opening in 2012 and we must all get ready and all of those who are “ready” will ascend. He also said interdimensional beings will come flooding into our planet! He said he does workshops to teach people how to enter the stargates by going through the Earth and into the sun and then portals out into other galaxies! He routinely travels to other galaxies and universes he says. Another said she works with diamond ki energy and heals people with it and then gave us all a healing by making us visualize a beautiful orb of light above our head sprikling diamond fairy dust on us! She also gave us a exercise where we can go into our Akashic records and get any file we want on anybody. Another told us about the Unicons that all drowned in the floods after the submerging of Atlantis and then made us do invocations to the angelic unicorns to help us in life.

The common denominator was of all the talks was the use of imagination literally. How do you enter the stargate? You close your eyes imagine going through the earth, into the sun and then out into another galaxies and you’re there. How do you use diamond ki energy? You you close your eyes and imagine diamond fairy dust being sprinkled on you. How do you access the Akashic records? You imagine going into the filing cabinets of your mind and pick the file you want to see and whatever comes to you is the information you need. And how do you work with the unicons? You close your eyes and imagine riding the unicorns into the angelic world.

Imagine, Imagine, imagine, imagine, imagine… This is new age spirituality. It is an imagined spirituality. It often attracts people who are depressed, lonely or need to feel special(Yep, I am putting my hands up for me in the past) It a substitute for reality - and what an enchanting reality it is; salamanders, mermaids, fairies, elves. In this substitute reality if you feeling groggy you can tune up your chakras with a distant Reiki healing and get on with your life. Easy as a carwash :smiley:

But alas. None of it is real. You are not really entering portals to other galaxies. You are not really working with healing univeral energy. You are not really accessing the Akashic plane. You are not really working with the elementals. All of this is possible actually, the Yoga lore is full of vivid descriptions of it - but to do any of this stuff you need not fantasy, but very hard spiritual practice i.e., Yoga. New age people want it easy so they pay some random guy on the internet $100 for them activate their DNA by sending DNA attunement energy or activate their Kundalini by attending a a tantric sex worshop. The truth is if you want to awaken your Kundalini you need to do years of hard work on yourself with Yoga. If you are looking at fancy stuff like entering the akasha and teleporting to other parts of the galaxy at least 80 years of constant Yoga and a minimum 6 hours of meditation a day :wink:

New age spirituality is basically stupid Yoga.

#2

Hey! Salamanders are real!

:wink:

#3

[QUOTE=Nila;60658]Hey! Salamanders are real!

;)[/QUOTE]

So are fairies!

#4

http://www.dragonorama.com/creatures/salamander/index.html

#5

Surya Deva,

I understand that the above is but your opinion. Some may agree and some may not. But you show your lack of understanding when you lump Reiki in the above mentioned. And what do you know of Reiki? You received a few treatments? Do you know how old Reiki is? It was being practiced well before the so called “new age movement.” There is no need to align oneself with a religion in Reiki. The Reiki practitioner is but the conduit of the healing itself.

I am a level II Reiki Practitioner and will be taking Master training this summer. And I already hear what you are thinking…Well, lotusgirl is a fluffy new ager, so it is only natural that she would do Reiki. Reiki has helped millions of people and is used in nursing homes and hospitals. I have done Reiki sessions with unbelievable results for several years now. While I believe, as in anything, there are fakes out there even with Reiki, most who are doing Reiki have been trained by a master and truly have a gift. There is nothing new age about it.

And honestly SD, what kind of response do you think you’ll get from people with this kind of thread title? Stupid yoga…? Luckily for most, your opinion is just that. An opinion and nothing more.

#6

I originally called this thread, “New age spirituality: the cult of fantasy” but then realised that a more apt title was stupid Yoga - because that is exactly what it is. The new age is almost entirely based on the framework of Yoga, but it is Yoga at the lowest common denominater. It is Yoga for the stupid - you know like the ones who heal themselves by imagining diamond fairy dust being sprinkled on them or getting a DNA activiation or pay somebody to tune up their chakras or console themselves by talking to their spirit guide.

This is not real spirituality and real spiritual development. It is a delusion of spirituality and spiritual development. It is all based on imagination - even Reiki dear. To have somebody make hand gestures around you and draw symbols in the air and blow them into you is not a step above talking to your spirit guide or imagining fairy dust being sprinkled on you. The new age is full of “healers” and “clairvoyants” and none of them have any healing ability or clairvoyant ability - they simply convince themselves they do. Then charge ?50-100 to give people sessions :smiley:

That is because these abilities are not easy to develop and require years if not decades of real Yoga, not a few months of Reiki attunements. If Reiki works, show me the scientific evidence and clinical trials of people who have been healed from it.

#7

By the way I have a friend who is a Reiki master(a step above her previous self-claimed title of ascended master) One time our boiler had broken down, and she came over to our house and we told her about the boiler not working. She said she can fix it for us by giving it Reiki! She went upstairs to the boiler and then raised her hands to it with the invocation, “I send you love and light, heal”

It was an entertaining display - but the boiler was still not working :smiley: Eventually, we had to get the boiler man to come in and fix it :wink:

#8

What Happens in a Treatment?
Independent research by Dr. Robert Becker and Dr. John Zimmerman during the 1980’s investigated what happens whilst people practice therapies like Reiki. They found that not only do the brain wave patterns of practitioner and receiver become synchronised in the alpha state, characteristic of deep relaxation and meditation, but they pulse in unison with the earth’s magnetic field, known as the Schuman Resonance. During these moments, the biomagnetic field of the practitioners’ hands is at least 1000 times greater than normal, and not as a result of internal body current. Toni Bunnell (1997) suggests that the linking of energy fields between practitioner and earth allows the practitioner to dr.aw on the ‘infinite energy source’ or ‘universal energy field’ via the Schuman Resonance. Prof. Paul Davies and Dr. John Gribben in The Matter Myth (1991), discuss the quantum physics view of a ‘living universe’ in which everything is connected in a ‘living web of interdependence’. All of this supports the subjective experience of ‘oneness’ and ‘expanded consciousness’ related by those who regularly receive or self-treat with Reiki.

Zimmerman (1990) in the USA and Seto (1992) in Japan further investigated the large pulsating biomagnetic field that is emitted from the hands of energy practitioners whilst they work. They discovered that the pulses are in the same frequencies as brain waves, and sweep up and down from 0.3 - 30 Hz, focusing mostly in 7 - 8 Hz, alpha state. Independent medical research has shown that this range of frequencies will stimulate healing in the body, with specific frequencies being suitable for different tissues. For example, 2 Hz encourages nerve regeneration, 7Hz bone growth, 10Hz ligament mending, and 15 Hz capillary formation. Physiotherapy equipment based on these principles has been designed to aid soft tissue regeneration, and ultra sound technology is commonly used to clear clogged arteries and disintegrate kidney stones. Also, it has been known for many years that placing an electrical coil around a fracture that refuses to mend will stimulate bone growth and repair.
Becker explains that ‘brain waves’ are not confined to the brain but travel throughout the body via the perineural system, the sheaths of connective tissue surrounding all nerves. During treatment, these waves begin as relatively weak pulses in the thalamus of the practitioner’s brain, and gather cumulative strength as they flow to the peripheral nerves of the body including the hands. The same effect is mirrored in the person receiving treatment, and Becker suggests that it is this system more than any other, that regulates injury repair and system rebalance. This highlights one of the special features of Reiki (and similar therapies) - that both practitioner and client receive the benefits of a treatment, which makes it very efficient.

It is interesting to note that Dr. Becker carried out his study on world-wide array of cross-cultural subjects, and no matter what their belief systems or customs, or how opposed to each other their customs were, all tested the same. Part of Reiki’s growing popularity is that it does not impose a set of beliefs, and can therefore be used by people of any background and faith, or none at all. This neutrality makes it particularly appropriate to a medical or prison setting.

Tamisha Sabrina - UK Reiki Federation

The above is one I was familiar with. There are many.

Let me ask you this SD. Can the Chakras be scientifically proven? Can you see them on an x-ray? Can you hold them in your hands? The answer is no. But you know they are there don’t you? Why do you know they are there? From writings in the Upanishads? But where is the proof that they actually exist? Sometimes proving something that is “not seen” is quite difficult. And it is equally as hard to prove they are not there. It is much the same with Reiki., which btw the chakras are quite important.

We all know the mind has great power over the body. Almost 70% of diseases are mind-oriented. Only 30% originate within the body. Look at Dr. Bach back in the 1930’s. He developed the Bach Flower Essences to harmonize conflicts in the mental-spiritual plane. He developed close to 40 remedies by capturing the energy frequencies of certain flowers. The key here is Energy. This is what Reiki uses. That energy can be effectively used for healing affected areas within the body as the body is energy. The Reiki practitioner does not “need” to do anything during a session. For me, I am very intuitive and I allow that to guide me to certain areas. I’ve laid my hands on someones midsection and felt such intense cold. After the session when they asked me what I felt I told her about the cold spot. She had a tumor frozen off a year before and has had residual pain as a result along with scar tissue. I knew nothing of this woman or her physical ailments. She returned weeks later to say the pain was totally gone.

Dr. Mikao Usui (system of Reiki I was trained in) helped during the Kanto earthquake that struck Japan in 1923 by using Reiki to heal some of the victims. He was honored by the Emperor for this. Usui was Buddhist and spent much of his life seeking enlightenment.

I could go on and on, but you can do your own google search or better yet, read a book on Reiki.

As far as your friend who thought she could heal the boiler, she was either pulling your leg or she slept through the training. And somehow I doubt that even happened.

#9

[QUOTE=Surya Deva;60665]http://www.dragonorama.com/creatures/salamander/index.html[/QUOTE]

That I understood.

#10

How many of you believe in levitation.

Is there a lot of BS and scams out there? Of course. I do not dispute that for a second.

But SD, where has your imagination gone, brother? What happened to that playful innocence? I remember being out in the middle of the jungle in Hawaii on my land last year cutting a trail with a machete and being in a rather sore mood. I’m not sure what happened, but I remember looking up and noticing the trees were dancing, there were evil fairies around me (mosquitoes) battling good fairies (birds eating them) and every time I cut down a Strawberry guava (a tree that infests Hawaii) the endemic Ohia trees would cheer. What changed but my perception?

Are attunements, Atlantis, dousing rods, auras, and all of that a load of BS? Maybe. But who cares? Would you tell your five year old that the fort he’s in is in fact NOT being attacked by savages and to grow up?

While it’s absolutely pivotal that we grow up on an emotional level, it’s also pivotal that we maintain our imagination and playfulness. If that’s all these things you mention are and it’s how people choose to make sense of the world and find comfort and joy in it, I see nothing wrong with that. Life can be so hard, so full of suffering, if playing with crystals and performing attunements allows someone to be more comfortable, that’s great. Of course, I also give care packages of unhealthy peanut butter crackers from Costco, cigarettes, and small amounts of money to homeless people knowing full well it’ll likely end up being used for drugs or alcohol. And I’m ok with that as I feel it’s not my place to judge how they interact with the world.

If we take life too seriously I wonder if we’re missing our chance to really enjoy every aspect of it. If we ever figure everything out and there’s no wonder or imagination or maybe’s, that would surely suck.

Of course, I still love and accept you even if this is how YOU choose to interact with the world :slight_smile:

#11

[QUOTE=David;60691]While it’s absolutely pivotal that we grow up on an emotional level, it’s also pivotal that we maintain our imagination and playfulness.[/QUOTE]

Yeaah! Less fear, more play! :slight_smile:

#12

[QUOTE=Surya Deva;60627]If you are looking at fancy stuff like entering the akasha and teleporting to other parts of the galaxy at least 80 years of constant Yoga and a minimum 6 hours of meditation a day ;)[/QUOTE]So after 175,200 hours of meditation I can teleport to other parts of the galaxy? :eek:

#13

There is much nonsense that is included even in the ancient traditions which is not different than that of the New Age fanaticism. This is simply an assumption, that whatever is ancient must be correct.

#14

sd;

what is a maya & what is a real

#15

[QUOTE=lotusgirl;60685]The above is one I was familiar with. There are many.

Let me ask you this SD. Can the Chakras be scientifically proven?[/quote]

Yes, there is significant evidence for the the Chakras from both biology and quantum physics. In biology we know the endocrine system corresponds almost perfectly to the chakras and the functions of the glands in the endocrine system correspond neatly to the functions of the chakras. In quantum physics we know that quantum networks exist via which energy/information travels and this quantum networks can be used to create quantum circuits. Chakras are simply very advanced quantum circuits.

I am not actually denying the validity of the abilities themselves such as the ability to heal somebody using energy or the other stuff even opening up portals and going to other galaxies. In fact I know they are possible(quantum physics allows it) What I am denying are people who claim to have these abilities. We know for example people with 180 IQ’s exist, but if millions of people started going around claiming they have 180 IQ’s, it is obvious that most of them are telling lies. Similarly, I know that healers exist, but when millions of people start going around clalming they are healers, it is obvious most of them are telling lies.

If Reiki works there should be credible peer reviewed clinical trials that it indeed can treat and/or cure diseases. There are none:

Wiki: Reiki

A 2008 systematic review of randomised clinical trials assessing the evidence basis of Reiki concluded that efficacy had not been demonstrated for any condition.[4] Nine studies fit the inclusion criteria; a modified Jadad score of methodological quality was used, taking into account the difficulty of blinding practitioners. Non-randomised studies were excluded, as the potential for intentional or unintentional bias in such studies is large, rendering the results un-interpretable. Overall, the methodological quality of the evidence base was poor as most of the studies suffered from flaws such as small sample size, inadequate study design and poor reporting, with even high-ranking studies failing fully to control for placebo effects."[4] As trials with such flaws are known to be likely to show exaggerated treatment effects, there is insufficient evidence to indicate that Reiki is effective as sole or adjuvant therapy for any medical condition, or that it has any benefits beyond possible placebo effects.[4][115] Placebo trials of Reiki are complicated by the difficulty of designing a realistic placebo,[116] although subsequent trials with adequate placebo or sham controls have shown no difference between the procedure and the control groups.[4]

Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The aim of this systematic review is to summarise and critically evaluate the evidence for the effectiveness of reiki.

METHODS: We searched the literature using 23 databases from their respective inceptions through to November 2007 (search again 23 January 2008) without language restrictions. Methodological quality was assessed using the Jadad score.

RESULTS: The searches identified 205 potentially relevant studies. Nine randomised clinical trials (RCTs) met our inclusion criteria. Two RCTs suggested beneficial effects of reiki compared with sham control on depression, while one RCT did not report intergroup differences. For pain and anxiety, one RCT showed intergroup differences compared with sham control. For stress and hopelessness a further RCT reported effects of reiki and distant reiki compared with distant sham control. For functional recovery after ischaemic stroke there were no intergroup differences compared with sham. There was also no difference for anxiety between groups of pregnant women undergoing amniocentesis. For diabetic neuropathy there were no effects of reiki on pain. A further RCT failed to show the effects of reiki for anxiety and depression in women undergoing breast biopsy compared with conventional care.

DISCUSSION: In total, the trial data for any one condition are scarce and independent replications are not available for each condition. Most trials suffered from methodological flaws such as small sample size, inadequate study design and poor reporting.

CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the evidence is insufficient to suggest that reiki is an effective treatment for any condition. Therefore the value of reiki remains unproven.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18410352?ordinalpos=39&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Look at Dr. Bach back in the 1930’s. He developed the Bach Flower Essences to harmonize conflicts in the mental-spiritual plane. He developed close to 40 remedies by capturing the energy frequencies of certain flowers. The key here is Energy.

Another sham medicine with no credible peer-reviewed scientific evidence to back it up.

Dr. Mikao Usui (system of Reiki I was trained in) helped during the Kanto earthquake that struck Japan in 1923 by using Reiki to heal some of the victims. He was honored by the Emperor for this. Usui was Buddhist and spent much of his life seeking enlightenment.

Were you there? So how can you be so sure Dr Mikao Usui healed them?

#16

Levitation is real, so it’s not a matter of belief: :stuck_out_tongue:

But SD, where has your imagination gone, brother? What happened to that playful innocence? I remember being out in the middle of the jungle in Hawaii on my land last year cutting a trail with a machete and being in a rather sore mood. I’m not sure what happened, but I remember looking up and noticing the trees were dancing, there were evil fairies around me (mosquitoes) battling good fairies (birds eating them) and every time I cut down a Strawberry guava (a tree that infests Hawaii) the endemic Ohia trees would cheer. What changed but my perception?

No, there were mosquitoes around you battling with birds eating them :smiley: Say what you see and you can never go wrong.

Are attunements, Atlantis, dousing rods, auras, and all of that a load of BS? Maybe. But who cares? Would you tell your five year old that the fort he’s in is in fact NOT being attacked by savages and to grow up?

While it’s absolutely pivotal that we grow up on an emotional level, it’s also pivotal that we maintain our imagination and playfulness. If that’s all these things you mention are and it’s how people choose to make sense of the world and find comfort and joy in it, I see nothing wrong with that. Life can be so hard, so full of suffering, if playing with crystals and performing attunements allows someone to be more comfortable, that’s great. Of course, I also give care packages of unhealthy peanut butter crackers from Costco, cigarettes, and small amounts of money to homeless people knowing full well it’ll likely end up being used for drugs or alcohol. And I’m ok with that as I feel it’s not my place to judge how they interact with the world.

There are many things wrong with it

  1. It is not true, it is fantasy. The more you enter into the fantasy, the further you are from the real world
  2. It is used to defraud and manipulate people. The new age is full of chatlatans who charge ?50-100 to give 45 min sessions to people where they tell them nonsense or play with their emotions.
  3. It makes people stupid. People stop relying on their intellect and when one allows their intellect to wither, they are vulnerable to manipulation and cannot make sound judgements in life.
  4. It breeds complacency. People start living an imaginary life and in their imaginary life they solve their problems. In real life they still have problems. For example a lot of new agers I know to do not believe in activism, rather they send “love and light” :wink:
  5. It is not real Yoga

If we take life too seriously I wonder if we’re missing our chance to really enjoy every aspect of it. If we ever figure everything out and there’s no wonder or imagination or maybe’s, that would surely suck.

Of course, I still love and accept you even if this is how YOU choose to interact with the world :slight_smile:

I love the imagination and the Romantic poets like Blake and Wordsworth are my favourite poets. However I don’t conflate imagination with reality. In my imagination I can create a hare with horns and square circles, but in reality nothing like this exists. Imagination is beautiful to create poetry, stories and mythology to inspire and enrichen human life - but as soon as you start conflating imagination with reality you start to lose the plot.

As I told Lg, I am not denying any of these things exist: ascended masters, elementals, healing energies, clairvoyance, akashic records exist. What I am denying is people who claim to have realised them. Why? Because the method they are using is not real yoga - they are simply imagining it. They are not actually really communing with ascended masters or spiritual beings from higher planes, they are imagining it. They are not really working with universal healing energies, they are imagining it.

If any of these new-agers had real abilities why do they fail to show them in scientific studies? It is pretty easy to show they have these abilities. If I had these abilities I would have summoned a press conference and proven to the entire world all of this is real. These new-agers have been exposed over and over again on television to be fakers.

#17

@Sd,

Reiki is not a form of yoga. It is not a “means” to enlightenment. Reiki has nothing to do with Yoga. I don’t know where you are getting this. Apples and oranges analogy.

Few Reiki practitioners go around bragging of their abilities. Why would you want to call a press conference to “prove” it works? To me this is ego driven. Some charge others do not. I do not charge. There is not always a need to "prove. You feel this need because you think more scientifically.

Prove to me that all those who claim to have these abilities such as healing do not have them and have imagined them. And while you showed me Wiki results about Reiki, I also showed you in my earlier post studies that have shown it works. So who is right then? Which "google " result is more accurate?

Quote:
Dr. Mikao Usui (system of Reiki I was trained in) helped during the Kanto earthquake that struck Japan in 1923 by using Reiki to heal some of the victims. He was honored by the Emperor for this. Usui was Buddhist and spent much of his life seeking enlightenment.
Were you there? So how can you be so sure Dr Mikao Usui healed them?

Nothing proves he did not. How can you prove that everything in Hindu texts are real and accurate? Like much of History, word of mouth has been the delivery system until it is finally written down. Do I know for certain that he healed these victims? No. It is how the story has been told. Again, like much of world history. But this is not necessary for me to know. I know it works, first hand. That’s enough for me.

You are far too young SD to be so cynical.

#18

Prove to me that all those who claim to have these abilities such as healing do not have them and have imagined them. And while you showed me Wiki results about Reiki, I also showed you in my earlier post studies that have shown it works. So who is right then? Which "google " result is more accurate?

The burden of proof is with the claimant.

Your study was from a Reiki web site not from an independent scientific peer review. It is quite easy to show Reiki works. Show clinical trials where a patient who had an ailment was treated or cured by Reiki. If you cannot show this the rest is just a load of hot air.

Nothing proves he did not. How can you prove that everything in Hindu texts are real and accurate? Like much of History, word of mouth has been the delivery system until it is finally written down. Do I know for certain that he healed these victims? No. It is how the story has been told. Again, like much of world history. But this is not necessary for me to know. I know it works, first hand.

History is shown through corroboration of events through multiple sources. There are multiple historical sources that corroborate the Mahabharata and Krishna for example and very detailed list of geneologies of kings. There is also archeaological evidence of Krishna’s city of Dwarika being found.

Now I do not doubt Dr Mikao existed, he evidently did exist. But I do doubt these stories you are telling me that he healed so many of the Japanese war victims. How do you know they were healed? Did you see medical reports of each of the victims before and after? No, you just believe stories you have been told uncritically.

It’s simple really - if Reiki works, show me independent and peer-reviewed scientific evidence and clincal trials of a sample group with an ailment undergoing Reiki therapy and getting better from it.

#19

And the burden of proof that Reiki does not work also lies with you SD.

Below are some studies published in various journals:

Usui Mikao is quoted saying in the Reiki Ry?h? Hikkei that the mind and body are one. Recent studies in the world of science are beginning to finally comprehend that statement. Brainwaves and body pulses and their role in stimulating healing can all be measured today allowing the concept of Reiki, as spiritual energy, to be more widely understood by the medical community. The growth of the system of Reiki is benefited by this community awareness and acceptance.

The introduction of Therapeutic Touch by Dolores Krieger into nursing in the 1970s has increased interest in other energetic systems such as Reiki. This in turn has boosted the amount of research that has recently been undertaken using Reiki and other forms of energetic work.

The system of Reiki is also being accepted into hospitals across the world. Patients can often either bring their Reiki practitioner with them or Reiki is made available to them.

The article ‘The first Reiki Practitioner in our O.R.’ by Jeanette Sawyer in 1988 in the AORN Journal describes the steps that were taken to allow a Reiki practitioner into the theatre at the request of a patient during a laparoscopy.

Also in 1988, patients were given the opportunity to experience a 15minute pre- and post- surgery Reiki treatment. More than 870 patients took part and as a result there was less use of pain medication, shorter stays in hospital and increased patient satisfaction. This was discussed in the article, ‘Using Reiki to Support Surgical patients’ by Patricia and Kristin Aladydy in the Journal of Nursing Care Quality.

Heart surgeon, Dr Mehmet Oz, has worked with Julie Motz who used Reiki on his patients. These patients had received heart transplants and had experienced open-heart surgery. She treated 11 patients in total and none of them had the usual post-operative depression. The bypass patients had no post-operative pain or leg weakness and the transplant patients experienced no organ rejection. Julie Motz has written about this experience in her book, ‘Hands of Life’.

Listed below are a number of trials tested on Reiki. For more research details there are some Reiki books with relevant research material, or personal observations, that have been written by both doctors and nurses. ‘Spiritual Healing’ by Daniel J. Benor has listed a number of Reiki trials as well as some very interesting trials on distant healing and healing through touch in general.

There are many aspects of Reiki that are being researched today. Some to see if Reiki speeds up healing, others to see if, how and whom it relaxes, to measure biomagnetic fields and to verify the concept of distant healing.

Here is a well-known trial completed using Reiki to examine its effect on human blood levels.

Human Hemoglobin Levels and Reiki Reiki Healing: a Physiologic Perspective Wetzel, Wendy (1989). Published in Journal of Holistic Nursing 7(1), 47-54.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of Reiki on human hemoglobin and hematocrit levels.

Procedure: The hemoglobin and hematocrit levels of 48 adults participating in a Level 1 course were measured. Demographics and motivation were also examined. An untreated control group was used to document the changes in hemoglobin and hematocrit under normal circumstances.

Findings: Using a t-test there was a statistically significant change between the pre- and post-course hemoglobin and hematocrit levels of the participants at the p 0.01 level. 28 % experiencing an increase and the remainder experiencing a decrease. There was no change for the untreated control group within an identical time frame.

Conclusions: That Reiki has a measurable physiologic effect. The data supports the premise that energy can be transferred between individuals for the purposes of healing, balancing, and increasing wellness. Some individuals found that their blood levels went up while others went down which is consistent with the concept that Reiki is balancing for each individual.

This trial tests Reiki on patients with chronic illnesses using electrodermal screening.

The Efficacy of Reiki Hands on Healing: Improvements in Adrenal, Spleen and Nervous Function as Quantified by Electro-Dermal Screening Betty Hartwell and Barbara Brewitt Published in Alternative Therapies Magazine, July 1997, Vol. 3, No. 4, p. 89

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the therapeutic effects of Reiki treatments on chronic illnesses using electrodermal screening. Procedure: This study was carried out on five patients with life-threatening and chronic illnesses: lupus, fibromyalgia, thyroid goiter, and multiple sclerosis. Eleven one-hour Reiki treatments using 4 different Level 2 practitioners and one Reiki Master were performed over a ten-week period. These Reiki practitioners systematically placed their hands over the same body positions including the neurovascular regions on the cranium, neurolymphatic points on the trunk and minor chakra points on the limbs. No new conventional or alternative medical treatments were given during this period. Initially, three consecutive treatments were given and then one treatment per week for eight weeks.

Findings: The patients were tested three times during the study. 1.Before the study commenced. 2.After their third treatment. 3.After their tenth treatment. Each individual was measured for skin electrical resistance at three acupuncture points on hands and feet. At the cervical/thoracic point the measurements went from 25% below normal to the normal range. The adrenal measurements went from 8.3% below normal to normal - some time between the middle and last measurements. The spleen measurements went from 7.8% below normal to normal after only three sessions. All the patients reported increased relaxation after Reiki treatments, a reduction in pain and an increase in mobility.

These trials are concerned with the effect of Reiki on pain relief and other symptoms.

Pain, Anxiety and Depression in Chronically Ill Patients with Reiki Healing Linda J. Dressen and Sangeeta Singg Published in Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1: 1998

Purpose: To measure the results of Reiki and its effect on pain, anxiety, and depression in chronically ill patients.

Procedure: 120 Patients who had been in pain for at least 1 year were trailed. Their complaints included: headaches, heart disease, cancer, arthritis, peptic ulcer, asthma, hypertension and HIV. Four different styles of treatment were performed on 3 groups of 20 people. The 4 styles of treatment were: Reiki, Progressive Muscle Relaxation, no treatment and false-Reiki. Each of the groups received 10 thirty-minute treatments, twice a week over 5 weeks. Patients were examined before and after the series of treatments. Reiki patients were examined 3 months after completion. Findings: Reiki proved significantly superior (p.0001-.04) to other treatments on 10 out of 12 variables. At the 3 month check up these changes were consistent and there were highly significant reductions in Total Pain Rating Index (p.0006) and in sensory (p.0003) and Affective (p.02) Qualities of Pain.

Conclusion: Significant effects of Reiki on anxiety, pain and depression are shown here. Some possible variables were not controlled.

Using Reiki to Manage Pain: a Preliminary Report alta.karino@cancerboard.ab.ca Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton, USA Published in Cancer Prev Control 1997;1(2):108-13

Purpose: To explore the usefulness of Reiki as an alternative to opioid therapy in the management of pain. This was a pilot study.

Procedure: 20 volunteers experienced pain at 55 sites for a variety of reasons, including cancer. A Level 2 practitioner provided all Reiki treatments. Pain was measured using both a visual analogue scale (VAS) and a Likert scale immediately before and after each Reiki treatment.

Findings: Both the instruments showed a highly significant (p 0.0001) reduction in pain following the Reiki treatments.

This trial is interested in finding out if it is possible to gauge the experience of a Reiki treatment using normal trialing procedures.

Experience of a Reiki Session Engebretson J, Wardell DW University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, USA Published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 8: 48-53, 2002

Purpose:To explore the experiences of Reiki recipients so as to contribute to understanding the popularity of touch therapies and possibly clarify variables for future studies.

Procedure: All Reiki treatments were 30 minutes long and performed in a sound proof windowless room by one Reiki Master. There were audio taped interviews immediately after the treatment in a quiet room adjoining the treatment room. The recipients were generally healthy volunteers who had not experienced Reiki previously.

Findings: The recipients described a conscious state of awareness during the treatment. At the same time, paradoxically, they experienced sensate and symbolic phenomena.

Conclusions: Conscious awareness and paradoxical experiences that occur in ritual healing vary according to the holistic nature and individual variation of the healing experience. These findings suggest that many linear models used in researching touch therapies are not complex enough to capture the experience of the recipients.

This particular trial is not specifically about Reiki but deals with the effectiveness of distant healing which is relevant to Reiki practitioners.

A Randomized Double-Blind Study of the Effect of Distant Healing in a Population with Advanced Aids Fred Sicher, Elizabeth Targ, Dan Moore II, and Helene.S. Smith Published in the Western Journal of Medicine, December 1998, Vol. 169, pp. 356-363.

Purpose: To find the effect of distance healing (DH) on AIDS patients during a six-month double-blind study.

Procedure: Forty patients with advanced AIDS were randomly divided into two groups. Half the patients received DH in addition to their usual medical care. They were not told they were being given DH. 40 healers from various locations throughout the U.S. with an average of 17 years of experience were used. The healers practiced a variety of healing methods including Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Native American, shamanism, meditative, and bioenergetics. Each of the treated subjects received DH for one hour a day for six days from each of a total of ten different healers, and this was performed over a period of ten weeks.

Findings: After six months, treated patients had significantly fewer outpatient visits and hospitalizations, less severe illnesses, fewer new illnesses, and improved mood.

Further Research This page is an excerpt from The Reiki Sourcebook.

(ArticlesBase SC #38454)

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#20

IMO, Reiki works just as much as pranic healing. It’s largely dependant on who’s applying the technique and not the technique per se.

Distance Reiki and the fancies begin to sound like a modernization made for commercial reasons, you know, why so presential in the age of mobile phones? :smiley:

However, I have direct experience with people who are true pranic healers and be it Reiki or their own personal potency that they apply, it works.

Surya Deva, a question: Is there a codified system of pranic healing in Hinduism? I’ve seen some Shaiva Siddhanta swamis mentioning it, but never heard a specific name, shastra, lineage for it.