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R
E S E A R C H
Reiki Induces
Relaxation, Liminal State of Awareness
Reiki reduces anxiety
and blood pressure, and increases relaxation, according to recent
research.
"Experience of a Reiki Session"
was conducted by Joan Engebretson, R.N., Dr.Ph., and Diane Wind
Wardell, R.N.C., Ph.D., certified holistic nurses and associate
professors at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.
The study involved 23 participants,
ages 29 to 55, each of whom received a standardized reiki treatment
in a soundproof, windowless, softly lit room. A single reiki master
provided Reiki Touch, a form of the Usui Reiki System.
According the Usui System of Reiki
Healing's Web site, "The Usui System of Reiki Healing is a
hands-on healing practice. Reiki - universal life energy - is channeled
through the practitioner's hands for self-treatment or treatment
of others."
For this study, the practitioner's
hands were lightly placed on the subject's face and abdomen for
15 minutes each.
Before and after each session, quantitative
information was collected: Participants filled out questionnaires;
salivary specimens were gathered; and biofeedback and blood-pressure
data were recorded. "These were chosen as markers to explore
a physiological relaxation response," state the study's authors.
The measurements all changed in the
direction of relaxation. Participant anxiety and systolic blood
pressure decreased significantly following the session, while skin
temperature and salivary IgA levels rose after receiving reiki,
which indicates a physiological relaxation response.
Interviews were conducted and recorded
after each session by one of two investigators, who later transcribed
and analyzed them for persistent patterns. Participants were asked
to describe their experience and answer questions specific to the
session. This falls into the category of qualitative data.
"Consistent with other touch studies,
these recipients reported a holistic experience," state the
study's authors. "Touch therapies appear to engage the recipient
in an integrated experience that links body, mind and spirit in
a unique manner that allows the recipient to experience paradox."
Subjects described a change in their
state of awareness as liminal, or between two known states, such
as sleeping and waking, floating and sinking, hot and cold, fear
and safety.
"I knew my mind had thoughts,
but didn't know what they were," said one participant. The
word "threshold" was used by several subjects to describe
the reiki experience as bordering on two different states of being.
"Liminal states of consciousness,
by definition paradoxical, are frequently associated with profound
religious experiences and have been linked to ritual healing practices
across cultures," the authors reported.
Qualitative descriptions of the session
as peaceful, soothing, quiet and gentle were consistent with the
relaxation response indicated by the quantitative data.
However, besides this expected response,
the authors of the study noted that the effects of reiki may be
beyond the capacity of traditional research. "The narratives
suggest that the experience of Reiki is dynamic and incorporates
subtle fluctuations and variations; hence it may defy measurement."
- Source:
University of Texas Health Science Center. Authors: Joan Engebretson,
R.N., Dr.Ph., and Diane Wind Wardell, R.N.C., Ph.D. Originally published
in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2002, Vol. 8, No.
2, pp. 48-53.
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