The Placebo Effect
'Placebo' is Latin for 'please me'. In medicine, it refers to the effectiveness of any treatment (usually drugs). When drugs are being trialed, it is practice to take two sets of patients (with their permission, but without them knowing whether they are getting the real or fake drug) and give one set the genuine drug and the other a 'dummy' i.e. placebo. The results are then compared. Did a 'significant' number of patients improve on the real drug, compared with the placebo ...?
It is very interesting to note that, whenever a placebo is given, there will almost always be some patients who improve and/or some who have 'side effects' . These side effects can even be as real and obvious as severe skin rash, headaches etc. And this while taking a pill that has no active constituents - apart from a sugar coating perhaps!
There is clearly a strong connection between what the patient believes about his treatment, and how that affects the outcome. Thus we come back to the notion that thoughts affect the body!
So, the term 'placebo effect', while it is universally recognised, the extent to which it affects the efficacy of any medication is very much a matter of debate.
We honestly have no scientific proof of how Reiki works, but the idea that thoughts are energy and energy can be directed is surely relevant.
That "the mind affects the body and the body affects the mind" has long been accepted in the world of Alternative/Complementary therapy. It seems that this ancient concept is being confirmed by today's science.
And this is where Reiki comes in. It simply taps into this infinite energy for the mental and physical well being of both the practitioner and recipient. As the practitioner is merely a conduit through whom the energy flows into the recipient, the practitioner has the happy advantage of benefiting from the session too!