People are turning to Reiki for help with chronic pain, anxiety and sleep issues. Should we be taking it more seriously?

Alex Rainone has been a lifelong skeptic of Reiki, an energy-healing practice used to help people with a variety of health complications, including chronic pain, anxiety and insomnia. But Rainone’s experience with the practice changed her mind. “My first Reiki session shifted something deep within me,” Rainone, founder of Return Home Healing, tells Yahoo Life. “It was like my nervous system finally exhaled after years of running on empty. The more I worked with Reiki, the more I felt like myself again.”

Reiki had such an impact on Rainone’s life that she eventually became a Reiki master herself. “Before discovering Reiki, I was a workaholic tech employee at Google — burning out until my body forced me to stop. I tried everything: ER visits, neurologists, ENTs, you name it. Nothing worked. Reiki was the thing that finally got me back on my feet.”

Natalia Love Angelou, a Reiki master and founder of Sacred Breakthroughs, tells Yahoo Life that she originally turned to Reiki to help her cope with anxiety. “I felt a gentle yet powerful energy flow through me, like a warmth and glow, helping me let go of my anxiety and fear,” she says. Afterward, Angelou felt more peaceful. “It was as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and I carried that sense of calm with me long after the session ended.”

Despite its devoted fan base, there’s a lot the general public doesn’t know about Reiki. Here’s what practitioners and the research have to say about Reiki.

What is Reiki?

Reiki is a form of therapy rooted in Buddhism and Eastern traditions. The practice “works directly with the subtle energy systems in the body,” Darah Salmaggi, a certified Reiki master and program manager in the Department of Integrative Health at NYU Langone Health, tells Yahoo Life.

Reiki’s origins date back thousands of years, but it was rediscovered in the early 20th century by Mikao Usui, considered the father of modern Reiki. “It has become increasingly popular over the past decade,” Salmaggi says. Reiki is performed by practitioners who must receive training and be initiated by a Reiki master.

At its core, Reiki is viewed as an energy transfer. “The intention of the practice is to bring source energy into the body to induce relaxation, which will naturally bring harmony to the body, mind and spirit,” Salmaggi explains. Reiki’s trained practitioners work to gather chi, a vital energy that flows through all living things, according to traditional Chinese medicine. “We harness that vibration into our own bodies to then channel it and share with others or ourselves,” Salmaggi says. “The practitioner is essentially a conduit or straw for the energy to transmit through.”

In Reiki, practitioners hover their hands over the person or lightly place them on the recipient using different hand positions, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH).

Salmaggi compares Reiki to charging a device, with the practitioner serving as a wire to channel energy to the person. “Reiki really is one of the most natural ways a person can bring healing energy to themselves, others and the world around them,” Salmaggi says.

What does Reiki feel like?

Reiki involves gentle touch or no touch at all, depending on the session. While the experience varies for everyone, many describe feeling lighter after a session.

“Receiving Reiki feels like a combination of relaxation and gentle energetic movement,” Michelle Shlafman, a psychotherapist and founder of Origins Holistic Psychotherapy, tells Yahoo Life. “During sessions, I usually experience warmth, tingling or waves of emotion surfacing, as if my body is unwinding stored stress and energetic blockages.”

Shlafman also says she usually has a “sense of surrender” during Reiki, and feels calm afterward. “There’s a noticeable shift in my body, almost like the release after a long, grounding meditation,” she says. “My mind feels clearer, my breath flows more easily and any tension I was holding onto seems to somehow soften.” Shlafman says she also notices that she sleeps better after a Reiki session.

Salmaggi says that the way someone feels after a Reiki treatment is personal. “Sometimes I joke and say receiving a Reiki treatment feels like I just ran a marathon and my body is pulsing with strong energy while [it] simultaneously feels like I just took a Xanax and I’m ready for bed,” she says. “It’s kind of amazing that way.”

Reiki is used for several health conditions

Fans of Reiki use the practice for a range of issues, including to help manage chronic pain and anxiety. “Over the years, I’ve worked in hospice settings and have seen firsthand the profound benefits Reiki can offer individuals in managing pain, reducing anxiety and providing emotional and physical comfort during some of the most challenging moments of their lives,” Nicole Sylvia, a psychotherapist who specializes in anxiety disorders, tells Yahoo Life.

Sylvia also praises Reiki’s “ability to reduce fear and anxiety while promoting a sense of calm and comfort.”

But robust research to support the claims surrounding Reiki is lacking. One scientific review of 16 studies on Reiki concluded that, while energy transfer practices aren’t easy to analyze with traditional scientific research, Reiki allows for “compassionate connection” between providers and recipients.

Another scientific review found that it was difficult to clearly identify the benefits of Reiki, but noted that preliminary results suggest that it may be helpful in improving symptoms of depression and anxiety in people in palliative care. Another scientific review of studies on 212 people concluded that Reiki was an effective approach to reducing pain, depression and anxiety. But the pool of people was small (104 of them did Reiki).

Another study had 99 Reiki practitioners survey their clients to see how they felt before and after their sessions. The researchers concluded that the clients felt healthier overall and had better moods and less nausea after a Reiki session than before. But given that these people were already receiving Reiki and were given these questionnaires from their practitioners, there is a clear potential for bias here.

Based on the available evidence, Reiki hasn’t been definitively shown to be effective for any health purposes, according to the NCCIH. The center also notes this online: “There’s no scientific evidence supporting the existence of the energy field thought to play a role in Reiki.”

Who shouldn’t do Reiki?

Reiki hasn’t shown any harmful effects, and it’s generally considered low-risk, according to the NCCIH. “There are no known contraindications,” Salmaggi says.

But Reiki is not designed to replace other forms of treatment if you have a health issue, she says. “Reiki can be considered an integrative health treatment rather than just a complementary one,” Salmaggi says. “This means that it is used alongside conventional medical care, working in harmony with standard treatments to support overall well-being. While it should never replace traditional medical interventions, it can enhance healing by addressing emotional, mental and energetic aspects of health.”

If you’re interested in trying Reiki, Salmaggi recommends getting a practitioner recommendation from someone or an organization you trust. “Since there is really not one regulatory or governing body for Reiki, it's kind of the Wild West out there.” But she also says that the International Association of Reiki Professionals and the International Reiki Organization can be great places to start.

“Reiki is for everyone,” Salmaggi says. “Even a few minutes can make a big impact.”