Reiki and science: what does the evidence say?

The short answer: it has not been scientifically shown that Reiki treats any illness. The long answer is more interesting than that.

In writing this page I chose to say what is accurate rather than what flatters my own work. Someone coming to Reiki knowing what they are getting matters more to me than their coming at all.

Is there research?

There is. Clinical studies on Reiki exist, most of them on pain, anxiety, sleep and general wellbeing. Some report positive results.

But most of these studies were carried out with small numbers of participants and carry methodological problems. Reviews that look at all the research together tend to arrive at the same place.

The summary from NCCIH, the US national centre for complementary and integrative health, is plain: Reiki has not been clearly shown to be effective for any health-related purpose. The same body also states that Reiki has not been shown to have any harmful effects.

The 2015 Cochrane review on anxiety and depression (Joyce and Herbison) could find only three trials and concluded that there was insufficient evidence.

Why is it so hard to measure?

Testing a drug is straightforward: half receive the drug, half a sugar pill, and nobody knows which is which. Setting up that arrangement for Reiki is very hard.

• The practitioner knows what they are doing. There is no way to blind them.
• How do you perform fake Reiki? Have someone unattuned place their hands in the same positions? That person is also touching, also sitting quietly beside you.
• Most of what is measured is self-reported: “it hurts less”, “I slept better”. Real, but not verifiable by blood test or scan.
• Most trials are small. A result from thirty people does not carry the weight of a drug tested in hundreds of thousands.

“Unproven” and “false” are not the same thing

These are often confused. What we have is the first: no conclusion can be drawn because well-designed, large enough studies have not been done. That does not mean Reiki has been shown not to work — but nor does it mean it has been shown to work.

The honest sentence is: we do not know.

So why do people feel better?

Part of this does have an explanation, and it is not a small one. Lying in a quiet place for an hour, an interval in which nobody wants anything from you, someone giving their attention solely to your wellbeing — these produce a measurable relaxation response in the body. Heart rate falls, breathing slows, muscular tension releases.

You could say “so it is only relaxation”. But in a body that lives permanently tense, relaxation itself is not a small thing.

Hospitals offer Reiki — isn't that an endorsement?

Some hospitals offer Reiki as a complementary programme for relaxation. That is true, but it says less than it appears to: the hospital offers it so the patient feels better, not because it has approved Reiki as a treatment for any illness.

Read the long lists of hospital names circulating online with that in mind. An institution appearing on a list does not mean that institution has established Reiki's efficacy.

Where I stand

I have taught Reiki for twenty-two years and I believe this: Reiki does people good. I have seen it in hundreds of people.

But I do not present what I have seen as evidence. I do not say Reiki cures an illness, I do not tell anyone to stop their medication, I do not diagnose. Reiki is a complementary practice — it stands alongside treatment, not in place of it.

If one day the laboratory becomes better able to measure this, I will be glad. Until then, what I can say is: try it, watch what happens in your own body, and be sceptical of anyone promising you more than that.