The ‘Science’ of Healing Without Medicine For centuries, humans have been intrigued by their power to heal and have employed several methods to achieve that end. While conventional scientific medicine explicitly explains how the body is being cured, various practices of alternative healing seem to work without a conspicuous explanation. In her essay called Healing Touch: An Energetic Approach, Cynthia Poznanski Hutchison writes, “it was therapeutic touch that convinced me to stay in nursing. I completed my doctorate, and for the past several years I have practiced healing touch (HT), and have been active in HT research” (43). Hutchison here, stands as an example of someone who, despite having trained in the medical sciences, retains her faith
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However, the number of instances that demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique have proven to be compelling enough for even hospitals to adopt ‘Reiki’ treatment as complementary therapy. ‘Reiki’ has been recorded to have healed patients of illnesses like dementia and alzheimers. It is even known to have cured animals. In her article called Reiki Really Works:A Groundbreaking Scientific Study, Reiki master, Elizabeth Anne Hammond mentions an experiment meant to demonstrate beyond doubt, the effectiveness of the technique on animals. Conducted in both 2006 and 2008, this experiment was conducted by giving ‘Reiki’ treatment to stressed-out lab rats, all of which showed considerable reduction in stress and depression levels. At the same time, a control setup consisting of another set of stressed rats was provided a “sham” or “bogus” Reiki treatment. These rats exhibited no alteration in stress levels. Hammond also mentions similar testing performed on humans between 1993 and 2006. This also led to a marked difference in reduction of pain levels between the group given actual ‘Reiki' treatment and the group given the sham treatment. Multiple stories from daily life, of healing and cure through ‘Reiki’, have been told and
However, the number of instances that demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique have proven to be compelling enough for even hospitals to adopt ‘Reiki’ treatment as complementary therapy. ‘Reiki’ has been recorded to have healed patients of illnesses like dementia and alzheimers. It is even known to have cured animals. In her article called Reiki Really Works:A Groundbreaking Scientific Study, Reiki master, Elizabeth Anne Hammond mentions an experiment meant to demonstrate beyond doubt, the effectiveness of the technique on animals. Conducted in both 2006 and 2008, this experiment was conducted by giving ‘Reiki’ treatment to stressed-out lab rats, all of which showed considerable reduction in stress and depression levels. At the same time, a control setup consisting of another set of stressed rats was provided a “sham” or “bogus” Reiki treatment. These rats exhibited no alteration in stress levels. Hammond also mentions similar testing performed on humans between 1993 and 2006. This also led to a marked difference in reduction of pain levels between the group given actual ‘Reiki' treatment and the group given the sham treatment. Multiple stories from daily life, of healing and cure through ‘Reiki’, have been told and