If you prefer to watch it.
Is Reiki scientifically proven? How will I know it is not a hoax?
If you want the short answer, you can refer to the article here, where they talk about reiki being 'better than placebo and has broad potential' based on all current studies.
And now... here's the long-winded answer from me.
I am not in any way scientifically-trained, I barely pass all my science subjects in school. I am not that great with languages either, but my strong suit has always been thinking things in a logical sense, and rationalizing things as I go.
So here are my thoughts.
So many people out there are almost implying when something is not scientifically-proven, then it must be a hoax. It's out there to cheat me of my money, and only naive people will fall for such trap. But I haven't heard much people questioning what exactly does "scientifically-proven" mean.
So I went down this rabbit hole, and I found this.
"What scientists typically mean by “scientifically proven” is that we have an overwhelming amount of current evidence that a single theory adequately explains. It also usually means that there are no other competing theories that can explain all the evidence nearly as well.
Yet historically, extremely few so-called scientifically-proven theories have turned out to be false. What does happen more often is that theories are incomplete, e.g. Newton’s theory of gravity is superseded by Einstein’s GR, which did not mean that Newton’s theory was wrong, it just didn’t work in all situations."
And also, asking the question of- who decides what to experiment on? To pour in a substantial amount of money to prove something works or not? Nothing is miraculously proven or not by itself. It is always driven by (1) someone being able to make a profit out of proving it, and (2) someone having ample fund to run such experiment.
When I was doing my assignment for psych theories, I was surprised that even though psychoanalysis, founded by Sigmund Freud in the 1890s, that supported me through so much of my healing journey, is still considered a pseudoscience. Whereas for CBT, the approach that was the most widely used now because it is scientifically-proven, was not effective for me.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, do you think something is effective just because it is proven, or because you tried it for yourself and you observed whether that thing is effective for you or not?
And even though something may have an "overwhelming amount of current evidence" that it works, it doesn't necessarily signifies you will definitely fall under the majority.
The only way, in my opinion, that something works for you or not, is to put your ego aside, go in with an open mind, and keep a keen observation both inwardly and outwards, and then assess.
For too long we have placed our trust on outwardly, so much so that we had lost our own intuition and inner compass. And this is the reason why, so many people makes assumptions about something based on if they are 'proven', and skip the step entirely on properly experiencing it, rather than letting your inner compass tell you.
Ok now... maybe I should try it out for myself. But there're so many practitioners out there.
How can I choose the right Reiki practitioner for me then?
As far as I've heard, I've heard two school of thoughts.
Reiki, which is the "universal life force energy", is pure, objective and neutral. The practitioner who channels the reiki energy to you, is just a channeler. It's akin to the wire that passes the electricity from the main plug socket to your electronic devices.
And here, I offer you another school of thoughts.
I believe the reiki energy will be infused with the channeller's energy whom you're receiving from. It's not good nor bad, but it will be infused with their flavour- their character, their personality, their frequency, their vibe.
You know how sometimes you vibe better with this person, while another person just rubs you the wrong way? When a practitioner channels their reiki energy to you, it will feel like that too, it's not unlike having a sense of which friend you'd rather spend your time with.
And here's another point to consider when you're choosing your practitioner. Remember in my previous video, I mention how committed a practitioner is to their own healing journey and self-care, whether is it through reiki, healing work, lifestyle, can affect the reiki channeled?
The lighter the body, the more a reiki practitioner can receive from "universal life force energy" from the Highest Source, and hence, the reiki energy channeled to you will also be stronger as well.
So... how do I choose my practitioner exactly?
First, I'll definitely ask you to lean into your intuition. Akin to choosing a friend you like to be around, check in with yourself when you're around the practitioner. Sometimes, it's not because one practitioner is better than another, but also it's more of what do you need at this moment?
Some feel like love and a warm hug, some people make you feel confident, others feel like they are willing to challenge you to bring up your fullest potential, and some are willing to go into the depth of the psyche with you. So check in with your body's intuition and ask yourself these few questions.
How does the practitioner make you feel?
Why do you feel drawn to them? Or why do they energy repel you?
Is this truly what I need at this moment? And why?
Also keeping in mind that not all the time the practitioner should make you feel in a positive way. Because at times, you may just need a little push to get you out of your comfort zone, and into your potential.
If a practitioner makes you feel a certain way when you're in their company, their reiki energy will be infused with their vibe as well. Moreover, you would actually be spending time with this practitioner. And this is the reason why I would recommend doing discovery call, just to get a sense of how this person is actually like, rather than just choosing it based on, say, the most affordable, and making it purely transaction.
Personally, I will too ask some questions too, or observe how committed a practitioner is to their own healing journey. So chat with the person, ask questions about their own healing work. For me, I definitely like to ask if they have any shadow work done, and how conscious are they of their own ego, and observe their level of awareness and ability to introspect. Because how they are as a person, will affect the reiki energy channeled to you.
I know it can be pretty abstract at times, because, after all, energy is a very abstract, and not something you can measure and put a structure on it. But the best advice I can give to anyone is, like how you decide if a certain friend belong to your inner circle, this is the way I would choose my reiki practitioner.
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This is going to be series of articles and videos to help you understand reiki, so watch this space, and subscribe to be kept in the loop when I release a new one :)
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