Misconceptions About Energy Healing

There’s a lot of talk out there these days about energy healing, and (unfortunately) not all of it is true. While it’s exciting to see many people discover the benefits of reiki, the voices of skeptics can sometimes seem louder than those of us who practice or experience it.

Here are some of the most common myths about energy healing, and some key insights to begin understanding the truth.  

1. “It doesn’t work,” or “It only works because you want it to believe it does.”

If you doubt how well it works, chances are you have yet to try it for yourself.

Reiki, a form of energy healing, is often described as alternative medicine, much like acupuncture or herbalism. However, just because they are vastly different from Western medicine in today’s healthcare system, it doesn’t mean they are any less effective, or “phony.”

Others out there have said that energy healing is one example of the Placebo Effect: if you truly believe reiki will reduce your pain, it probably will. As an article by Harvard explains, the placebo effect is essentially the “idea that your brain can convince your body a fake treatment is the real thing.”

But energy healing is more than simply applying positive thinking to a healing process — it’s a way for us to open up pathways between mind, body, and energy in ways that modern medicine can’t.

2. “There’s no scientific data to back it up.”

Skeptics like to brush reiki off as a “joke” or something not based on scientific facts. Although research is relatively limited as compared to Western medicine, there is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates the effects of reiki and other energy healing modalities on the human body.

These studies have shown that it reduces the side effects of medication and medical treatments, and can even protect healthy cells from radiation therapy. It also reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory rate, relieves pain and discomfort, reduces bleeding, raises red blood cell count, and helps with insomnia. These are just a few researched benefits of energy healing.

At LunaVox, we’re REALLY passionate about this subject. If you’d like to learn more, head on over to How Reiki Works: A Guide for Newbies & Skeptics!

3. “Energy healing is strictly religious.”

Reiki is not a religion. It doesn’t require that you attend weekly sermons or believe in a higher being. Instead, it’s about energy.

Think about it this way: our world and all of the things in it are made up of energy. It’s what changes the weather, breathes life into animals and plants, and what we use to physically move around. This energy doesn’t have to be tied to any one religion, which means that people of all beliefs can benefit from reiki and other forms of energy healing.

4. “You can’t heal yourself.”

Reiki practitioners or energy healers can (and do!) help people with a variety of needs, but that’s not the only way. Your energy is transformed and impacted – for better or worse – by your own thoughts and actions, not just by external means.

Whether you attend yoga, practice meditation, focus on breathing patterns, set and visualize intentions, or work to release negative thoughts, there are many ways to work on healing your own energy outside of reiki sessions. In fact, we highly recommend it!

5. “Reiki is just another form of massage therapy.”

While some massage therapists may integrate energy healing into their work, reiki and massage are not one and the same.

In a reiki session, you lay your hands over certain chakras or points on the body. It’s a super light touch as compared to massage. Sometimes you hold your hands over the point and don’t even touch it. While a massage works on the physical body, with energy healing we’re working on the energetic body and indirectly working with the physical body (and also indirectly with the mental, emotional bodies). It feels completely different from a massage.

Interested in speaking with an energy healer in Longmont, CO?

At LunaVox Transformative Healing, we help transform the lives of women both near and far by working to uncover the source of their pain and personalize their journey towards healing. Learn more about our in-office chiropractic and reiki sessions, or our distance healing package to take the next step in your healing process!

2 Comments
  • Vince Taylor
    Posted at 10:54h, 21 January

    It is very true as you said that reiki and massage are not one and the same. I read at acupuncture is my life blog that massage is the movement of muscles and reiki is the transfer of energy.

    • Eryn Bradbury
      Posted at 18:12h, 27 January

      That’s exactly right, Vince! They’re totally different modalities, but both technically result in the transfer of energy. You’re taking stored energy (or potential energy) and turning it into kinetic energy in both cases. 🙂

LunaVox Healing