Is Stress Reducing the Effectiveness of Your Reiki Sessions?

Is stress keeping you from offering your best to your Reiki clients? An experiment conducted by Dr. Gary E. Schwartz and Dr. Beverly Rubik {found in The Energy Healing Experiments by Gary E. Schwartz. Pg. 139} presents evidence to suggest that Reiki practitioners who give sessions while under stress are not providing quality energy until their stress levels are reduced. The experiment involved applying a certain amount of heat to cultures of E. coli bacteria (bacteria found in the human digestive system) until the E. coli colony's growth had been reduced by 50% due to death or damage to the cells. Fourteen Reiki practitioners were asked to provide sessions to one set of E. coli test tubes over a period of three days, treating a separate set each day. As part of the procedure, they each filled out a standard wellness form every day. There were also matched sets of test tubes to act as a control. If the Reiki proved effective, the treated E. coli samples would show greater growth than the control sample.

Amazingly, almost half of the Reiki treated samples showed a decrease in growth and healing. After pondering the situation for a few days, the possibility of the Reiki practitioner's emotional state negatively impacting the test occurred to Dr. Schwartz. As he looked over the wellness forms, he found that the E. coli samples showing decreased growth were treated by practitioners that reported high levels of stress that day. It was also noted that those practitioners felt much better after flowing Reiki for fifteen minutes. This prompted Dr. Schwartz and Dr. Rubik to modify the experiment.

The fourteen Reiki practitioners were asked to return for another two days. They filled out the wellness forms, as before, but this time they were to give Reiki to another person for fifteen minutes before treating the E. coli samples. The results were interesting. The overall growth rate for the twenty-eight test tubes (fourteen practitioners times two sessions) showed significant statistical growth in almost three quarters of the samples. When examining the other one quarter that did not grow positively, it was discovered that the practitioners working with those test tubes were significantly more stressed than the others.

This experiment reveals the importance of considering our own health and mental state as Reiki practitioners. It is very easy to get caught up in taking care of others and ignoring our own needs but if we are not balanced, not only do we suffer but our clients do as well. William Lee Rand of the International Center for Reiki Training recommends giving yourself Reiki for a few minutes before every session and the E. coli experiment validates this practice. In the future, take the time to address your own needs before taking care of another's. You will be of far greater service that way.