Reiki Healing Sessions
More information about Reiki and its potential benefits
Reiki Is Better Than Placebo and Has Broad Potential as a Complementary Health Therapy
"The available English-language literature of Reiki was reviewed, specifically for peer-reviewed clinical studies with more than 20 participants in the Reiki treatment arm, controlling for a placebo effect. Of the 13 suitable studies, 8 demonstrated Reiki being more effective than placebo, 4 found no difference but had questionable statistical resolving power, and only one provided clear evidence for not providing benefit. Viewed collectively, these studies provide reasonably strong support for Reiki being more effective than placebo. From the information currently available, Reiki is a safe and gentle “complementary” therapy that activates the parasympathetic nervous system to heal body and mind. It has potential for broader use in management of chronic health conditions, and possibly in postoperative recovery. Research is needed to optimize the delivery of Reiki."
McManus DE. Reiki Is Better Than Placebo and Has Broad Potential as a Complementary Health Therapy. J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med. 2017 Oct;22(4):1051-1057. doi: 10.1177/2156587217728644. Epub 2017 Sep 5. PMID: 28874060; PMCID: PMC5871310.
Anxious Feeling Reduction
Stress Relief
Reduced Pain Perception
Enhanced Sense of Wellbeing
What is Reiki?
Reiki is an energy healing technique in which a Reiki master (who has undergone formal training in this healing art) uses gentle hand movements with the intention to guide the flow of healthy energy (what’s known in Reiki as life force energy) through the client's body to reduce stress and promote healing.
Reiki therapy is a way of guiding energy throughout the body to promote the recipient’s self-healing abilities, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). The Reiki belief system and that of the practitioner is that they don’t cause the healing, nor are they the source of that healing energy; they’re a channel for the energy — similar to the way a garden hose acts as a channel for water, according to a past review.
The word “Reiki” is a combination of two Japanese words: “rei,” which means “God’s wisdom,” or “the higher power,” and “ki,” which means “life force energy,” according to the International Center for Reiki Training.
“Ki is the life force energy that animates all living things,” says Joan Maute, a licensed Reiki master teacher who practices in Waikoloa, Hawaii, and Charlottesville, Virginia. Put together, and “rei” and “ki” mean “spiritually guided life force energy,” notes the International Center for Reiki Training.
Reiki is taught according to the Japanese tradition of the sensei (teacher), who passes the knowledge to the student through attunement, an initiation ceremony that is thought to help open the student’s energy channels to facilitate the flow of healing energy, and potentially help improve health, according to past research. Once opened, these channels remain accessible to the practitioner for the rest of their life, per the International Center for Reiki Training.
“[Reiki] is a spiritual practice, like meditation is a spiritual practice,” says Pamela Miles, a New York City–based Reiki master and researcher who has collaborated with the medical schools at Harvard and Yale universities to develop Reiki programs there. Reiki, despite its spiritual components and roots, may be and is often used therapeutically (more on this later), including in a secular way.
It’s not a religion and is not associated with religious practice.
Sound Healing
Where does Sound Healing Come From?
Sound healing can be traced back to the ancient cultures of Tibet, China, India, Latin America, Africa, and even Europe in ancient Greece. In these cultures, the sound was used for ceremonies and as a way to heal various physical, mental, and emotional ailments. Australian aboriginal tribes used the didgeridoo as a sound healing instrument for over 40,000 years. In Tibet, the singing bowl has been used for centuries in spiritual ceremonies.
Sound meditation is a form of focused awareness type of meditation. One kind that has become more popular is called “sound baths,” which uses Tibetan singing bowls, quartz bowls, and bells to guide the listener. These practices highlight themes of how the experience of sound manifests not only through hearing but through tactile physical vibrations and frequencies.
Does it Work?
Science is still catching up to understanding how sound heals, but the current research is promising. A review of 400 published scientific articles on music as medicine found strong evidence that music has mental and physical health benefits in improving mood and reducing stress. In fact, rhythm in particular (over melody) can provide physical pain relief.
One study published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine found that an hourlong sound meditation helped people reduce tension, anger, fatigue, anxiety, and depression while increasing a sense of spiritual well-being. People who had never done sound meditation experienced significantly less tension and anxiety afterward, as well as those who had done it before.
One study of people with fibromyalgia found that ten treatments (twice per week for five weeks) of low-frequency sound stimulation improved sleep and decreased pain, allowing nearly three-fourths of participants to reduce pain medication.
How Does It Work?
There are many different theories that attempt to explain why sound experiences can be linked with deep relaxation and physical pain relief:
One theory is that sound works through the vibrational tactile effects on the whole body. Sound could stimulate touch fibers that affect pain perception.
Another theory on the benefits of sound rests on the concept of “binaural beats” or “brain entrainment” which hypothesizes that listening to certain frequencies can synchronize and change one's brainwaves. Electrical activity in the brain is displayed in the form of brainwaves, or rhythmic, repetitive frequencies. These rhythms can be measured using a device called electroencephalogram (EEG).
There are four categories of brainwaves, which range from frequencies that occur during the most activity (beta) to the least activity (delta). Different states of alertness and consciousness in different parts of the brain generate varying frequencies of brainwaves.
What to expect during a Reiki and Sound Healing Session
I begin my sessions by introducing myself and answering any questions you might have. I will ask some questions about any conditions you want me to provide healing energy towards.
I will ask you to lay down on a massage table and ask you if your would prefer my hands placed on or above your body in specific locations to receive reiki energy.
I will then proceed to use tuning forks corresponding to each chakra to attune each chakra to the proper frequency. After that, I will use either a crystal singing bowl or a combination of chimes as is appropriate to your individual condition.
After that I will close the session and we can unpack anything you may have experienced.
What might I experience during a Session?
- Warming or Cooling Sensation
- Resonance
- Emotional Release
- Sense of Relaxation
- Feeling of Waves
- Meditative State
- Feeling Tired or Sleepy
- Clarity
- Sensation of Energy Movement
- Pain Reduction
- Reduced Muscle Tension
- Improved Circulation, Digestion, and Respiration
- Ability to Focus
- Increased Energy and Vitality
- Less Fatigue and Depression
- Intensification of All Senses
- Muscle twitching
- Shaking
- Tingling
- Buzzing
- Flushing and Blushing
- Visualization of colors or memories
- Lightness, floating sensations
- Itching
- Need to go to the bathroom
- Pins and needles sensations which can be an indication of stagnant energy.
- Yawning, and sighing.
- Sensations of physical, emotional, and energetic release.
- Unexpected Feelings or Thoughts
- Laughter
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