What is Reiki (霊気?, /ˈreɪkiː/) - alternative medicine ?

Reiki (霊気^?, /ˈreɪkiː/) is a form of alternative medicine developed in 1922 by Japanese Buddhist Mikao Usui. Since its beginning in Japan, Reiki has been adapted across varying cultural traditions. It uses a technique commonly called palm healing or hands-on-healing. Through the use of this technique, practitioners believe that they are transferring "universal energy" through the palms of the practitioner, which they believe encourages healing.

Reiki is considered pseudoscience.It is based on qi, which practitioners say is a universal life force, although there is no empirical evidence that such a life force exists.Surveys of the clinical research do not show Reiki effective as a medical treatment. The American Cancer Society,Cancer Research UK, and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health state that Reiki should not be a replacement for conventional treatment of diseases such as cancer, but that it may be used as a supplement to standard medical treatment.

The English reiki or Reiki is a Japanese loanword reiki (霊気, usually meaning "mysterious atmosphere; miraculous sign"), which in turn, is a Chinese loanword língqì (靈氣, "numinous atmosphere"). The earliest recorded English usage dates to 1975.

The Japanese reiki is commonly written as レイキ in katakana syllabary or as 霊気 in shinjitai "new character form" kanji. Itcompounds the words rei (霊: "spirit, miraculous, divine") and ki (気; qi: "gas, vital energy, breath of life, consciousness"). Somereiki translation equivalents from Japanese-English dictionaries are: "feeling of mystery", "an atmosphere (feeling) of mystery",and "an ethereal atmosphere (that prevails in the sacred precincts of a shrine); (feel, sense) a spiritual (divine) presence."Besides the usual Sino-Japanese pronunciation reiki, these kanji 霊気 have an alternate Japanese reading, namely ryōge, meaning "demon; ghost" (especially in spirit possession).

Chinese língqì 靈氣 was first recorded in the (ca. 320 BCE) Neiye "Inward Training" section of the Guanzi, describing early Daoist meditation techniques. "That mysterious vital energy within the mind: One moment it arrives, the next it departs. So fine, there is nothing within it; so vast, there is nothing outside it. We lose it because of the harm caused by mental agitation." Modern Standard Chinese língqì is translated by Chinese-English dictionaries as: "(of beautiful mountains) spiritual influence or atmosphere"; "1. intelligence; power of understanding; 2. supernatural power or force in fairy tales; miraculous power or force"; and "1. spiritual influence (of mountains/etc.); 2. ingeniousness; cleverness.

The existence of the proposed mechanism for Reiki – qi or "life force" energy – has not been established. Most research on Reiki is poorly designed and prone to bias and there is no reliable empirical evidence that Reiki is helpful for treating any medical condition, although some physicians have said it might help promote general wellbeing. In 2011, William T. Jarvis of The National Council Against Health Fraud stated that there "is no evidence that clinical reiki's effects are due to anything other than suggestion" or the placebo effect.

Reiki's teachings and adherents claim that qi is physiological and can be manipulated to treat a disease or condition. The existence of qi has not been established by medical research. As a result, some consider Reiki to be a pseudoscientific theory based on metaphysical concepts.Reiki is used as an illustrative example of pseudoscience in scholarly texts and academic journal articles.Rhonda McClenton states, "The reality is that Reiki, under the auspices of pseudo-science, has begun the process of becoming institutionalized in settings where people are already very vulnerable."In criticizing the State University of New York for offering a continuing education course on Reiki, Lilienfeld et al. (in Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology) state, "Reiki postulates the existence of a universal energy unknown to science and thus far undetectable surrounding the human body, which practitioners can learn to manipulate using their hands." Ferraresi et al. state, "In spite of its [Reiki] diffusion, the baseline mechanism of action has not been demonstrated..." Wendy Reiboldt states about Reiki, "Neither the forces involved nor the alleged therapeutic benefits have been demonstrated by scientific testing." Several authors have pointed to thevitalistic energy which Reiki is claimed to treat. Larry Sarner states (in The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience), "Ironically, the only thing that distinguishes Reiki from Therapeutic Touch is that it involves actual touch." Massimo Pigliucci and Maarten Boudry state (in Philosophy of Pseudoscience) that the International Center for Reiki Training "mimic[s] the institutional aspects of science" seeking legitimacy but holds no more promise than an alchemy society. An evidence based guideline published by the American Academy of Neurology, the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine, and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation states, "Reiki therapy should probably not be considered for the treatment of PDN [painful diabetic neuropathy]." Susan Palmer lists Reiki as among the pseudoscientific healing methods used by cults in France to attract members. David Gorski and Steven Novella have commented on the absurdity of clinical testing of implausible treatments.

Concerns about safety in Reiki are similar to those of other unproven alternative medicines.Some physicians and allied health care workers believe that patients might avoid clinically proven treatments for serious conditions in favour of unproven alternative medicines