What’s the Deal with Reiki?

You’ve probably heard of all the latest wellness and fitness trends. From meditation to juicing, it’s becoming more and more popular to take care of yourself and practice habits that are actually good for you. Who knew basic self care would become trendy?

Meditation is something that’s always been fairly well known, but what about reiki? Thanks to a few celebrities (like Christina Aguilera and Gwyneth Paltrow) and more health/wellness coaches hyping up the practice, reiki has become a new form of healing that has proven to be pretty incredible. A step up from meditation, reiki is a form of healing, originated in Japan, that involves a “reiki practitioner” transferring energy into a patients hands.

Before you write this off as a gimmick and a weird thing hippies are doing nowadays, hear us out.

How reiki is performed

The main goal of regularly practicing reiki is to balance and harmonize the energy fields in your body. This can help with things like depression, anxiety, weight loss, and other areas of one’s life where changes are hard to make. During a session, your practitioner will hold his or her hands over yours and transfer and channel “life force energy” into the chakras in your palms. Essentially, it’s an active meditation. You are consciously receiving good energy and releasing what no longer serves you. You can even learn how to do it on yourself.

It’s not just spiritual

The benefits of reiki can reach you physically as well. Apparently, the benefits of reiki can not only heal your soul, but your body as well. According to Mind Body Green, “Patient requests for Reiki as they undergo high-risk surgeries are slowly on the rise.” They feature an example of a woman who underwent a double mastectomy with a reiki master in the operating room. The reiki master, Raven Keyes, administers reiki before, during and after the surgery, which is thought to promote healing the entire time.

Since mind-body medicine has become more and more popular (things like nutrition and meditation), doctors have become much more accustomed to reiki being present in the operating room. After all, what harm could a little positive energy do? One study actually found that reiki greatly improved pain and recovery for patients after knee surgery.

Other benefits

Not only can getting in touch with your physical energy help you emotionally, it can help with your diet efforts. Huh? Believe it or not, regularly practicing reiki and being open with your reiki practitioner can help you pin point certain foods that are irritating your insides. You’d be surprised at what your reiki practitioner can pick up on.

Reiki can also help you realize the emotions you’re holding onto, and it can even help you release the negative ones from the past. Headache or stomach ache? Your reiki master can help you identify what’s causing it. Emotional baggage from a traumatic even in the past? Reiki can help you release that negative energy.