A Reiki Experiment

I have worked with Reiki for 20 years and what I often come across is those who say “nothing happened” or “it is just someone waving their arms about while you fall asleep”. People often ask “What proof is there that this is real”? Isn’t it just the placebo effect or about belief?

So, is it possible to prove the existence of Reiki?

Just to see if I could, what follows are details of my experiences and observations of an experiment giving Reiki to sunflower seeds.

• Introduction

• Existing Research with Reiki

• Method

• Findings

• Analysis

• References

Contents:

If you have read my About page you will know I am a seasoned sceptic. When I started Reiki, I never thought I would experience the feeling of energy. I have experienced energy in many ways and understand it as something that cannot be seen, but is in everything. We know that energy vibrates at different levels and that it is only between certain frequencies that the human senses can perceive them. Other vibrations such as radio waves or x-rays we cannot perceive, but we can experience their effects.

Introduction

It means that for Reiki, we are left with relying on our experience to form our opinion. Such experience is reliant on many factors. During a session of Reiki these are the recipient, practitioner and the type of Reiki they advocate, the setting and how expectations are managed. As with any complementary practice, it is important that both the practitioner and recipient feel comfortable with each other. In turn, this influences the overall experience.

So why did I want to attempt a Reiki Experiment?

I firstly wanted to see for myself if I could show visual evidence of Reiki in some way. Secondly, I have started working with trees and I had intuitively picked up that, when working with plants, the soil should also be worked with. So I wanted to test to see if I could find evidence of the difference between giving Reiki to the soil or not.

I aimed to take as close to a scientific approach as possible with this experiment. It aimed to allow for variables and used 4 conditions, which were a seed/plant not given any Reiki, one where only the soil was given Reiki, one where only the seed or plant was given Reiki and one where the whole plant and soil were given Reiki.

Is it possible to provide evidence of Reiki? There have been many studies done using scientific methods.

• In 2006, Melinda Connor of the University of Arizona used an Extra Low Frequency meter to see if it could pick up heat changes in the body from practitioners. It was found to be more concentrated in the palms of the hands and in those who had been attuned to Reiki 3 (ref 1).

Existing research with Reiki

• In 2016, Torsten A, Lange conducted scientific research to provide evidence of the effects of Reiki. He applied Reiki to water from a tap. An independent laboratory tested the structure of the water before and after Reiki was given for 1 hour. The main findings were that the quality of the water improved and that there was an increase in negative ions. He highlights that negative ions are increased when healing occurs in the body (ref 4).

• A lot of studies have concentrated on measuring the effect of Reiki on heart rates or detail experiential evidence. They look at how Reiki can reduce stress, pain and depression (ref 2). For example, Baldwin et al (2006, 2008) compared the effects of applying Reiki to rats. Research on animals kept in laboratory conditions can be robust as the variables of the environment and nutrition can be controlled. They had 2 groups one receiving Reiki the other “sham Reiki” and showed that in the reiki group, the physiological effects of stress in rats was significantly reduced.

• In 2017, David McManus peer reviewed 13 studies of Reiki. He found that “of the 13 suitable studies, 8 demonstrated Reiki being more effective than placebo, 4 found no difference but had questionable statistical resolving power and only one provided clear evidence for not providing benefit. Viewed collectively, these studies provide reasonably strong support for Reiki being more effective than placebo.” (ref 3)

Procedure

If Reiki works in the ways it is believed, consideration has been made to allow for possible cross contamination between the conditions, from the environment and from the practitioner. The practices performed to mitigate this were:

1. The practitioner performed grounding and cleansing of themselves prior to each session given.

2. Reiki was applied to the room with the only the intention of cleansing the energies to create a clear space.

3. Reiki was applied to cleanse energies between applying Reiki to each pot/condition. The intention set for giving Reiki was specific: “for optimum health and wellbeing of *the condition being given Reiki * to be retained within the pot and not beyond its boundary” , so:

   • Pot 2 – intended for the soil structure and the microbes living within it.

   • Pot 3 – intended for the seed only or the plant only and its roots

   • Pot 4 – intended as for Pot 2 and 3.

4. All 3 Reiki symbols were applied to pots 2, 3 and 4 in each session

5. Eyes were closed so they did not direct energy.

6. Hand placements were intuitive to observe whether there was any difference between each condition.

7. Reiki was applied in the order of pot 2, pot 3 then pot 4 for 5 minutes each and away from pot 1.

Method

Design

Four conditions were used in the form of four plant pots and the way in which Reiki was applied, if at all:

• Pot 1 – No Reiki – the control condition·

• Pot 2 – Reiki applied to the soil only

• Pot 3 – Reiki applied to the seed and plant only

• Pot 4 – Reiki applied to All - Soil, seed/plant

Planting was during the New Moon to Waxing phase, which is reported to be the preferred time of planting seeds.

Materials

• 4 small plant pots of the same size with the same size, individual water drip tray.

• 4 large plant pots of the same size and 2 large same size drip trays.

• The soil used for the seedling was 2 compost pellets – this ensured the same amount and type of soil was used.

• The soil used on planting out was All Purpose Compost from the same bag.

• Dwarf Sunflower seeds from the same packet.

• Rain water from the same water butt

• One Reiki Practitioner trained to Usui Reiki 3.

• A Camera.

Each seed was planted at the first session.

Pot 2 - only the soil received Reiki prior to planting. Pot 3 - the seed received Reiki prior to planting. Pot 4 received Reiki once the seed had been planted.

They were placed on the same windowsill to provide the same amount of sunlight and watered with rain water. When all drip trays had dried out, each drip tray was filled to the brim.

Once potted out in to the same size pots, none received Reiki. They were left to the elements on the same size drip trays and again watered when the drip trays had dried out. They were placed on bark chip with the aim of eliminating the risk of snail and slug predators.

A photograph was taken after each session and then on four more occasions once potted out to monitor progress.

Hand Placement and Energy Experiences

Session 1 – 29/4/25

• Pot 2 – Sides (royal blue colour around changing to yellow). Top (no colour). Front only (red). Back only (pink)

• Pot 3 – Seed held in hands – (warm hands, pink) – then planted

• Pot 4 – Top briefly then back only (warm hands, green and yellow)

Findings

Other Observations

• The "No Reiki" pot drank the water the quickest. This was difficult to capture and it wasn't until the third session I had realised this was the case.

• Of interest is bananas springing to mind. This could be an indication of a nutrient deficiency or abundance. This was to Pot 2 the soil only pot in the third week. No additional nutrients were applied at any time. Growth at session 3 of this pot was stunted compared to the others.

The findings that follow detail my experience of giving Reiki in each session to pots 2, 3 and 4, analysis of the photographs taken of all 4 pots and anything else observed. Hand placements are given in order with any energetic experiences.

Session 4 – 19/5/25

• Pot 2 – over and around the pot, then sides and for a short time at the back (no colour)

• Pot 3 – only wanted to be positioned around the plant

• Pot 4 – started at sides and gradually moved to 3 inches away. Practitioner sighed, then hands wanted to extend to approximately 6 inches away. (blue colour at the end)

Session 2 – 6/5/25

• Pot 2 – sides then top, which had to be approximately 6 inches away. (no colour)

• Pot 3 – mainly above then directed up under the leaves. (no colour)

• Pot 4 – six inches away with middle fingers and thumbs slightly bent in. (white)

Session 3 – 13/5/25

• Pot 2 – top and sides, (no colour, bananas came to mind)

• Pot 3 – mainly around the top (pink, purple, white, blue light)

• Pot 4 – one hand over the plant, the other to the right side (yellow)

• Pot 2 – Reiki applied to the soil only

• Pot 3 – Reiki applied to the seed and plant only

• Pot 4 – Reiki applied to All - Soil, seed/plant

• Pot 3/Plant only - the roots were most abundant on planting out, yet it was smaller than the others.

Key

• At the end of the season:

  • the "No Reiki" plant had a smaller head than the others by approximately 1 cm in diameter

  • the "Plant only/Pot 3" Reiki had more than 1 sunflower head

  • the "No Reiki" plant started to wilt before the others.

Scientific method requires an allowance for all the possible variables. Those familiar with researching behaviour will know that such research can be tricky. This is because the researcher can aim to be an objective observer, but often they are subjective. They bring to the experiment variables such as opinion, belief and experience, some that they may be unaware of and could not account for. For example, it could be argued that my hope or curiosity that the findings would show something significant were an influence. Equally, knowledge of something can have an affect on intention. Even the findings are reliant on subjective interpretation. With all research or even information, the reader will take from it what they want at the time.

I have tried to detail what I observed, experienced and have questioned my expectations as I have gone along. Control of the variables in this experiment was aimed for through the use of the four conditions and the ways in which Reiki was applied. Within the parameters of this experiment, what I can really only ask and answer is “does the application of Reiki to a plant or its soil have an effect on the plant's growth behaviours?”

If I had a scientific laboratory, maybe I could have tested the soil for its nutritional content or pH. However, there is an argument to say that actually, if Reiki brings balance to all elements, then such testing could be immaterial. Maybe intuiting banana in session 2 only, indicates this.

For this experiment, that Pot 3/Plant Only grew extra heads is likely to be down to genetic variation of the seed. If it was solely Reiki , then Pot 4/All Reiki would have, in theory, responded the same. Maybe here there is further research required to test whether the soil and plant are considered different organisms. Reiki would therefore need to be applied on separate occasions. Consideration of the length of time Reiki was applied may also be a factor. Firstly, within the session so it was longer than 5 minutes and possibly for more than 4 weeks once potted out. With these factors considered, further research may show more significant results.

So did the application of Reiki have an effect on the growth behaviours of these sunflowers? I will let you interpret the findings in your own way.

The key findings were:

1. The "No Reiki" pot consumed water quicker in the first four sessions, yet ended up growing a smaller head and began to wilt before the others.

2. Applying Reiki differed between pots and between sessions.

3. Root and plant growth differed between the conditions.

4. Pot 3/Plant only - the roots were most abundant on planting out. The plant was initially smaller than the others and then grew more heads.

Analysis

1. The Reiki Council – Research Articles

2. Reiki, the Scientific Evidence

3. Reiki Is Better Than Placebo and Has Broad Potential as a Complementary Health Therapy.

4. The Reiki Academy, Scientific Research into Reiki

References

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