Reiki

[Fanatic]

Has anyone tried Reiki? Could you tell me a little bit about it?

Reiki = placebo effect IMO.

ReindeerBollocks srry to hear about your husband and son. I agree entirely with your post.

I don't think any Big Pharma will be able to patent waving your hands over somebody in a prescribed way. Why would they bother researching it?

And I am a big fan of -conventional- medicine

"If they can patent it, they may pursue it"

It's more like "if they can make a profit, the will pursue it".

Nobody patented Arnica but quite a few pharma companies sell Arnica creams & gels. Why? Because it is cheap to produce and effective, so people buy it and pharma makes profit.

As RD says it becomes dangerous when unproven healers suggest not trying conventional medicine which is proven and people die as a result. If instead your NHS doctor is pretty busy and has no time for you and you can pay some convincing charlatan faith healer to spend 30 minutse with you rubbint your skin, telling you you are wonderful and will get better etc etc then go forth and spend it. It can make a big difference to some people.

If instead there is something that might actually help you too such as eating a healthy diet improves the immune system - doctors agree with that, lose the excess 4 stone and stop eating sweets and your diabetes might well hugely improve then that's fine. So my point is that some more natural stuff is a very good idea. Some is al oad of rubbish. Some hasn't properly been tested and might work but go carefully with it. Some may be positively harmful.

Not for the first time on MN, I find myself in broad agreement with Xenia's last post. Especially the last four sentences.

I presume you missed Xemia's earlier post about how she has never met anyone who believes in alternative medicine because she only mixes with intelligent professional women, not with mindless housewives........

No, I read that - hence the disclaimer, and the use of the word "broad". I note also what she says about "lose the excess 4 stone and stop eating sweets" - that would be lazy housewives, I should think, as opposed to slender, intelligent professional women.

I have made no comment about the weight of housewives.... laughing as I type. 50% opf British women are overweight and one of the best things they can do for their health is lose the extra weight and eat healthy foods.

What I did say though is I very rarely meet people who spend much time on alternative medicine of the very much not proven kind and I suggested that was because it tends to be better educated people who can tell what is rubbish and a waste of money from that isn't. Howevr I am not saying rich women with lots of time on their hands (usually those without children) don't spend pointless hours self indulgently at spas having a load of old rubbish told to them whilst they are rubbed and scraped about chakras and special rays. Even I occasionally am in that environment.About 90% of what the yoga teachers say at bikram yoga where I go is just total rubbish. If they woudl just concentrate on the movements and stop spouting forth stuff which clearly no one in their right mind can think is true they would do a lot better.

For some people alternative medicine has become almost a substitute religion now that so few go to church. It is also something to fill time if you are bored. It is also perhaps a way to have some time for yourself where someone external suggests you are of value rather than just taking you for granted at work or home. I can see why it has always been such a lucrative sector. The Victorians had their fair share of this kind of thing too. It can be quite lucrative so I suppose I am more interested in it from a business point of view.

I'm not hugely anti it. As I said above a lot of things like relaxing, eating good foods, exercise, sun are very good for people. Get a lot of sleep. The more sleep you get the better your health is likely to be. If the only time you can get extra sleep because you've 3 children under 4 is dropping off on a massage table that is likely to do you a lot of good.

Yet again, I'm in agreement with the basic common sense of what you say.

I'd say part of the problem is that GPs these days rarelyhave time to ask things like: what's your lifestyle like? How's your work-life balance? Are you as miserable as hell, sitting at home eating sweets? Why is that, then?

Whereas a complementary medicine approach will make you at least consider such factors.

It can help to be reminded that very basic things like sleep, sun, exercise and good nutrition (in the form of food) are the necessities of good health.

I guess Reiki attracts more charlatans than most areas of complentary medicine because of the pyramid selling in the early 90s and then the later free sharing of Reiki attunement. It's one where you can become a genuine Reikie master with no effort whatsoever. For the uninitiated, Reiki attunement involves the Reiki master attuning you, reiking (made up word sorry) the energy into you and showing you the mystical symbols that you need to draw in the air with your Reiki energy. Then you can go off and charge whatever you can get away with because you are now a genuine Reiki Master (TM).

Other areas of alternative therapy which have some sort of official bodies such as herbalism (NIMH), and even osteopathy, require much more study. I appreciate that anyone can call themselves an osteopath, but there are recognised training courses out there, so someone going to one of these will know that there has been a certain level of training and hasn't just woken up one day and decided to set themselves up as a 'healer'.

I stand corrected - I just went and googled and Osteopathy is one of the protected professions, so you do need to be registered in order to practice.

"Reiki attunement involves the Reiki master attuning you"

Does it, really?

What does "attuning" involve, out of curiosity?

You sit in a chair with your eyes shut, while the Master waves his hands in the air.

One of the reasons research into reiki is unlikely to be funded by the pharmaceutical industry is because it is fundamentally about "free sharing" (AFAIK - I don't know very much).

If just about any ordinary person can make any other person feel better, everyone is less likely to pitch up at Boots to buy paracetamol, Nytol, Buscopan et al. And that's not good for anyone's profits.

I hadn't heard about the pyramid selling in the 90s before this thread. That does sound crap.

Are you attuned, OldLady?

"I guess Reiki attracts more charlatans than most areas of complentary medicine because of the pyramid selling in the early 90s and then the later free sharing of Reiki attunement. It's one where you can become a genuine Reikie master with no effort whatsoever. For the uninitiated, Reiki attunement involves the Reiki master attuning you, reiking (made up word sorry) the energy into you and showing you the mystical symbols that you need to draw in the air with your Reiki energy. Then you can go off and charge whatever you can get away with because you are now a genuine Reiki Master (TM)." (Worldgonecrazy)

OMG what an utter con job!

"Call on your spirit guide. Draw the symbols in the air. Push them in. Blow on the chakra. Draw another symbol over his head. Push it in. Bla da bla."

Thanks to YouTube

Comfort, I am. It was some years ago now, but I am told it doesn't wear off.
A friend did it for free, my dh was interested as an add-on to his training as a massage therapist and friend travelled some distance so wanted at least three of us. Dh knew another therapist who was also interested, so I said "What the hell, why not?" and cooked vegetarian for the weekend. (Clears the souls of dead animals from your body, apparently.)

I think it "works" but only as a placebo. I don't know why we don't use placebos more often in conventional medicine, tbh, is it something to do with the ethics of lying to your patient?

Absolutely. Give me a placebo anytime over a drug with side effects.

Don't suppose your dh wants someone to practise massage on? I'm always available for free treatments from trainees.

He's no longer a trainee. And believe me, the trainee period is no fun at all.

He's much better with a bit of experience.

I've actually been a practice person for a couple of such trainees. I agree - it's a nuisance when they fiddle around with their notes, and swear a bit, but still worth it for a free massage.

Worth it in the long term. You're braver than me, I wouldn't do it again.

Wow, OldLady, I feel...amazing...

T'was nothing. :)