Reiki for back pain is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes full body healing. Modern Reiki was created by Dr. Mikao Usui in the early 1900s, although the exact date varies by source. Reiki therapy aims to treat the whole person including mind. body and spirit. Reiki is described as spiritual healing, since the curative power is said to come from a higher power than ourselves. Reiki is certainly one of the purest holistic treatments for back pain and can be a great addition to a health maintenance program.
This discussion focuses on the use of Reiki as a dedicated back pain therapy, as well as part of a combined care approach to treatment.
What is Reiki?
The idea behind using Reiki for back pain, or any pain, is similar to many Asian healing arts. The main idea is that proper qi / chi flow is important for the general health of a person. Reiki treatment seeks to balance the qi flow, so that the person is optimized for health.
Reiki is performed by light touch and there is no medicine or manipulation involved in the treatment. Many people liken it to the religious practice of “laying hands”. The Reiki practitioner may hover their hands over the recipient or may touch them lightly. However, nothing is actually being accomplished physically, except the possibility for direct human contact. Any benefit derived must come from some other source than pure anatomical efficacy.
Reiki for Back Pain Benefits
Reiki imparts many of the same benefits as Transcendental Meditation (TM). It creates a sense of calm and inner harmony. It also creates the sense of caring from the Reiki provider and the benefit of a friend to help fight the pain. Many Reiki recipients say that the biggest benefit of treatment was the feeling that they were not alone in their struggle with pain.
As far as actual healing, it does nothing anatomically that I have ever witnessed. Of course, if the recipient feels that Reiki is helping them, the chance of enjoying some relief from the painful symptoms is always possible. The power of the placebo reaction can be as strong as the real deal when it comes to treating chronic pain. Remember, the source of many ongoing symptomatic issues is the mind, not the body.
Reiki for Back Pain Evaluation
If you have an evolved spiritual side, then I would say to try Reiki to treat your back pain. It might help, it might not. It certainly won’t hurt and it will give you a nice warm fuzzy feeling, if nothing else. It might be a good addition to a combined treatment program.
Many Reiki circles are free to join and offer patients with limited budgets the chance to receive treatment without cost. If you are going to try this therapy option on for size, this is the path I highly recommend. Nothing ventured nothing gained and without financial cost, there really is no risk at all. However, be very wary of paying for Reiki services, especially until you are absolutely sure that they will provide some tangible benefit to you and your pain!
There is a growing movement in the Reiki community for expensive certification, instruction and fee-based client services. This should be no surprise, since even conceptually pure and innocent methods of care like this one can be bastardized by the unrealistic financial aspirations of greedy providers. I am sure that the purists are not happy with the way this system is propagating worldwide at this point.
