Saturday, June 2, 2018

Taking In The Universe With Reiki Healing

By Helen Hughes


Human bodies are small, frail things. Human psyches can be even worse than their physical counterparts. Evolution is funny like that. It created a mind perfect for conquering the planet and subjugating bigger, stronger animal species, but is also made that mind extremely vulnerable to trauma, and it made the body that housed that mind pretty pathetic, especially when compared to other great ape species. Now, using that perfect mind, humankind was able to think in the abstract, to see the world and wonder if there was more to it. Then it went out and saw that there was. But the universe is vast and it is cold and it is unfeeling. Of course, there are those who seek to find some measure of truth in its infinite vastness. Some believe that universe has an energy that can be harnessed by human hands, which leads to the practice of reiki healing.

The belief in the existence of universal energy and the belief in the ability to manipulate it is not new. Whether called enlightenment or magic, it has existed in some form or another through various human cultures and religions. But there is a belief to heal with it, that a person can channel chi or universal energy through their hands in order to encourage healing, whether in the physical or the emotional sense.

There are a number of reasons to choose such a treatment. For some people, they simply do not believe in conventional medical treatments. Other people have simply exhausted all other options. Then for others, such practices may have a cultural basis.

The truth of the matter is that there is not a lot of equipment involved. There are no needles, no pills, and no ointments. No, the only things involved are the patient, the practitioner, and the universal energy.

Also, unlike conventional medicine, there is no formal schooling necessary. There are no sanctioning bodies or certifications, so there are no exams or even any measuring sticks for qualification. Anyone can become a reiki healer, all they have to do is believe in themselves.

It should be noted that some people can feel a marked improvement after a session. Some people find that their emotional traumas weigh on them less after a session or a few. It should also be noted that there is no conclusive evidence that such practices consistently yield results.

Reiki is a pseudoscience. There is no evidence for its healing abilities other than a few flawed studies and isolated cases that can be explained by the placebo effect. But just because a person feels better does not necessarily mean that they are better.

While the placebo effect is all well and good for some emotional scars, it is by no means a substitute for actual physical maladies. In the event of serious illness, an actual doctor should always be the first option. Not the second, not the last, but the first. There is no proof that energy healing works at all. There is however a proven track record for actual medicine.

A huge part of human culture is the belief that there is something greater. That maybe existence is not some cold, lonely, and ultimately pointless thing to slog through. However, the need to find something to latch on to should not blind people to objective fact.




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