RWP Episode #197: We Have to Believe in Reiki for it to Work?

This is one of the most common questions we receive, and in this episode, we answer it honestly.

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Your contribution helps us continue sharing grounded conversations about the system of Reiki, women’s voices, and the deeper questions people are often afraid to ask.

We explore whether belief is required in the system of Reiki, why it was designed to be accessible regardless of religion, and why this practice is experiential rather than faith-based. I share why I often suggest a “suspension of disbelief”, like watching a movie instead of trying to force sensations or outcomes during a session.

We also talk about:

✨ What “Ki” really means is life force energy and the body’s natural intelligence
✨ Why first sessions can feel uncertain
✨ The importance of multiple treatments and building trust
✨ Why looking for sensations can pull you out of the experience
✨ Parallels with acupuncture and integrative medicine
✨ Symptom flare-ups and why healing isn’t always linear
✨ Client stories from a broken toe to a kidney stone to unexpected shifts like improved hearing
✨ Placebo, skepticism, and why healthy questioning is welcome

The system of Reiki is not about blind belief. It’s about presence, balance, and allowing the body’s natural intelligence to respond.

If this episode resonates, please:
✔ Donate to support the podcast
✔ Comment with your questions or experiences
✔ Share with someone who has asked, “Do I have to believe in Reiki?”

Your support keeps these conversations alive.

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Chapters
00:00 Do You Have to Believe in Reiki? (Core Question & Universal Access)
02:50 Why This Question Comes Up
03:36 Belief vs. Religion: Why the System of Reiki Is Experiential
05:32 What ‘Ki’ Means: Life Force Energy & Body Intelligence
07:00 Open-Mindedness, Multiple Sessions & Letting the Experience Land
10:09 Suspension of Disbelief: The Movie Analogy
11:46 Wellbeing Over Sensations
15:08 Acupuncture, Science & the Power of Touch
19:46 Holistic Healing Stories & When Symptoms Flare
25:05 Placebo, Letting Go & Final Takeaways
31:38 Closing + How to Support the Podcast

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About the Podcast
Reiki Women Podcast shares the voices of women-identified Reiki practitioners from around the world. Through stories of healing, lineage, and spiritual practice, we explore the culture and community of Reiki practice.

Join hosts Bronwen Logan, Carrie Varela, and Michaela Daystar as they reflect on the system of Reiki and the women who shape its path.

Meet the Hosts
🌿 Bronwen Logan —  @reikiwithbronwen
🌿 Carrie Varela —  @reikihealingsociety
🌿 Michaela Daystar —  @heartscapesreiki1496  

🎧 Listen on Spotify, YouTube, and your favorite podcast platforms
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#ReikiHealing #WomenInReiki #ReikiPodcast #ReikiLineage #ReikiCommunity #SpiritualPractice

Transcript

0:00

Reiki was certainly created and like the real essence of the practice was to create, a system of energy healing that was open and accessible to everyone, no matter what your belief system is. So. It's a practice that's speaking to universal truths as opposed to a subjective, religious based truth around a specific relationship, a spiritual relationship that you might have with a religion. There is this terminology, which is suspension of disbelief. Which is this thing that allows you when we watch a movie for example, that we don't really know what's happening yet or how it's gonna go or whatever, but we hold back our judgment on that and we sit in that and we wait for the experience of what it's going to bring us. And, if we start looking for things in it too hard. Then it's going to take us out of the pleasure of that movie. Same with the treatment. If we spend our time looking for something, then we are actually putting ourselves outside of the experience rather than being in the experience and allowing whatever it is to happen and then learn from that. Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Reiki Women Podcast. Today we're gonna be talking about a topic that just often comes up in conversation with either people who are new to Reiki or, haven't had a whole lot of experiences yet with Reiki. One of the questions they often ask us is, do you have to believe in Reiki to get benefit from it? And, I also feel like this topic comes a lot up a lot in our inside of our Reiki trainings, too. It seems like always a healthy place for discussion. So I wanted to pass it over to you, Ms. Bronwyn, today, to talk a little bit about how you respond to that question on whether or not we need to believe in Reiki in order to get some benefit from it. It's interesting because we use certain words when we are describing how the system works, how the practice works, how a treatment works, but I would say belief isn't a word that we would often use. There could be reasons for that. One might be that if we use the word belief, it can sound like a religion and, I don't have the qualifications of what a religion is here with me, but, I think one of the main things is that you have this belief about something that, others might not. understand, see no, but that you believe. and, the system of Reiki does have an aspect of that, but because we actually consider it to be experiential. through the actual practice, then I guess we could maybe take that word belief out and sometimes we use words like flow the way that we might describe how energy works is not about belief. But I would say that once we are deeper into the practice and we have that experience of the practice, then maybe people might start to use the word belief. what do you think, Carrie? Yeah. Well, I mean, I think it's helpful to take, a step back from, a religious point of view. Yeah. Like what, Reiki was certainly created and like the real essence of the practice was to create, an energy healing, a system of energy healing that was open and accessible to everyone, no matter what your belief system is. So. It's a practice that's speaking to universal truths as opposed to a subjective, religious based truth around a specific, relationship, a spiritual relationship that you might have with a a, with a. A religion. so, when people ask me this question, I often just try to take it back to the root words of what Reiki is. So Reiki being, and I really end up trying to bring it back really to the Ki of Reiki. What is Qi Well, qi or Ki in Japanese is life force Energy. It's the vitality of our body. It's the invisible, yet palpable intelligence that's in every cell of our body. There's this communication happening between our brain and our liver and our stomach and our heart, and. that's even held within the cell of, within like the nucleus of cells in our body. So there's this just profound intelligence of the body and, Reiki is something that helps us tap into that or feel that and use and utilize that energy so well. I don't think it's necessary to believe in Reiki to get benefit from it. I think you have to be open-minded enough to it, and be open to receiving it, and somebody maybe who is really locked down in skepticism for whatever reason. Whether it be from a religious point of view or even a, a scientific point of view, the, there needs to be at least enough open-mindedness to like be open to an experience and also maybe even a more than one experience too, because I think as what I often do with my clients, my first time clients is I wanna encourage them to come see me for three sessions because I feel like after just. One session. There's just so much unknown. You don't know what to expect from the experience. You don't know Reiki, you are, we're learning together. We're creating rapport together. If you really wanna have, like a clear it. Experience of Reiki, that it's something that would be helpful to have a few experiences just so you can relax into it. So a lot of times people are like, I'm not sure. I mean, I felt something move. I felt some energy flowing, but I'm not really sure what that is. And so after a few treatments, I feel that they can really relax into the calm and nervous system, reset that. That energy of Reiki starts to feel a little bit more held within an experiential state as opposed to, thinking about Reiki. I also think it's really important to set up how you're talking about Reiki. So, we say Reiki is the energy of everything. It's in everything. So, there's this life force in our body. There's life force in the plants, there's life force in, Yeah, everything in the universe. So, but what does that really mean? is we're speaking to something that, it is mysterious. I don't know why I'm alive. Yeah. I'm breathing, but I am. and, we're our, our bodies are a product of just trillions of generations of evolution. Yeah. And what's guiding that? Well, I think from this point of view, it's that life force energy inside of us. So do you have to believe in life force energy to be alive? No, you don't. but the more we have experiences of Reiki. I think it's also important to have those moments where you don't deny those experiences either because we can second guess ourselves so much. and so there's sometimes in my own Reiki journey where I have to say like, I am having this sensation. I really can't deny that it's true for me in this experience. Like I'm having a feeling of energy movement or, Yeah. like really experiencing a benefit from my Reiki practice that day. And so that also grounds me in, in, yes, faith, but also faith built by experience. Hmm. Yeah, that's a good way to put it. I was just thinking of this word, because we're talking about belief, there is this terminology, which is suspension of disbelief. Which is this thing that allows you, when we watch a movie for example, we don't really know what's happening yet or how it's gonna go or whatever, but we hold back our judgment on that and we sit in that and we wait for the experience of what it's going to bring us. And, if we start looking for things in it too hard. Then it's going to take us out of the pleasure of that movie. But same with the treatment. If we spend our time looking for something, then we are actually putting ourselves outside of the experience rather than being in the experience and allowing whatever it is to happen and then learn from that. So I think. That's another way of seeing it. I was thinking of, Kaji Tam, who, wrote a book in 1933, he was a student of ISU and he is. claim was that after five days of the practices that he put forward, that you would start to feel rahar. So this wave of energy and, the bigness of it all that you'd start to understand. What that was. And once again, it's that movement into something. if we take treatments as an example, I think that the first time someone comes for a treatment that they don't know what it is. And as you said, Carrie, it's the setting up of that treatment for that person. So setting it up for them that they're going to maybe, or maybe not. have a visceral experience. but for me it's how do you feel at the end? And once again, it's that idea of wellbeing. So what state of wellbeing are we in from that treatment? And, setting the treatment up for someone that they're not going to be judging it, looking for specific experiences, but allowing themselves to move into a deep space where that intelligence that you are talking about, the natural intelligence of the body to find balance, that that is allowed. To happen without us, getting in the way. So if that were your first treatment,, I see people come out of that and they're like, wow, that was, like something they've never experienced before and it doesn't have to have specific words attached to it. but that sensation is something that, supports our sense of wholeness and wellbeing. So it does want us to have more treatments, and I think that the more treatments that we would have, for example, that the more that we then start to find. It's a space that we come to remember more easily. It's often been something that we've felt disconnected from in our lives, so. Sensing, you could call it home, you could call it all sorts of things. But going into that space and allowing that space to be there, more often in your life, getting to know it more. And from that, having a greater sense of wholeness and wellbeing. So you could call that once you get to know that space more, you could call that a belief. If you wanted to, because it's something that you've experienced. It's not something that someone said, oh, this is what you are going to experience. This is what you're going to know. It's something that you have that for yourself. Only you can, and as I said, you might not even have words for it, but it is an experience that you have and that could lead to, a belief I think if we do have a belief about what we are doing, it does make it easier for us to come back to that thing again and again and again. But it's something that. I think we don't begin with and it's something that we grow to learn about. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think, I think the more you grow to learn about it, it's easier to relax that thinking brain and be in the experience. Mm-hmm. yeah, and I mean, I, I really often reference acupuncture and kind of make some, parallels between Reiki and acupuncture. we, you might not believe in acupuncture, but you'd have to experience it enough to see if it benefits you. Yeah. and if in that experience of it benefiting you, you get to decide whether or not it becomes part of your, a support system for your wellness and health and wellbeing. I also think that, there's some nice parallels in terms of Reiki and scientific studies. So many scientific studies were done on acupuncture, and most of them, were, initially approached with a lot of skepticism about, acupuncture's efficacy and then, through doing, extensive. research studies on acupuncture, they've determined that it is actually very effective and now part of integrative medicine. So some people can charge their insurance to receive acupuncture sessions, and I really hope that Reiki we move in that parallel path with acupuncture. And we've seen some amazing scientific studies, on Reiki, a lot of which you've been talking about, through your channels. Bronwyn. Yeah. and so I think that's sometimes also really helpful. I mean, just even bringing it back to simple things like the benefits of hands-on healing, or just touch and what that does for our stress levels, our cortisol levels are, just lots of different systems in the body respond well to that. so I think the more information we have as practitioners, we can set up a space where people can be, I, I really like what you said, that suspend the disbelief, Mm. And just be open to an experience. And it's just challenging because I, I think a lot of my clients, I mean, they almost always say this, it's different every time. like, I never have the same experience, and that's also true for me. I, as a practitioner, I, I never can really anticipate what experience or what people will bring with them to the session. And sometimes I'm, basing it off of, well, we were at this place when we did our last session, so how are you today? And sometimes it's just like we're all over the map, like that was where we, what we, resolved or worked through in the last session. And now all the client comes with something else that they wanna work on in the context of their healing or energy work. So it's, it's, it's both that the, the practice meets us where we're at and there's not always the most consistent, experiences of it. Like, for example, just being like, oh, well I felt a lot of heat and tingling at my feet, and anticipating that they'll have that the second time, but it might happen. It might not happen. Yeah, I think it's such a, a learning. if we're talking about Reiki treatments specifically, as a practitioner, as you're saying it's such a great learning ground about ourselves because we, aren't promise something. Yeah. And because that leads to, specific expectations, which I can't tell you what's going on with that person. That is that person's life and energy and experience. But to be able to go. Or to not go there is such a great lesson in life for us. It's like it's got this mm domino effect into all the different aspects of my life as a human being and. Teaching us to be in one way, you could say hands off while being hands on. Right. So, because the hands off aspect is that we are not interfering in other people's lives and we, as you say, are being open. it's this, this lovely openness with others and, how we can then bring that to. Everything that we encounter in our world, without us having to have an expectation from them or that it needs to be the same each time or whatever, and know that, it's shifting sands beneath our feet, and that's okay. And that is the experience of this world. It's not a static experience. Hmm mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean, I like to say with energy work, you can never step in the same river twice, so it's just, it's always going to be shifting into where we are today, where we're at today. and it can be really helpful to have a consistent intention with Reiki. Like if you were seeking to heal a more physical oriented issue or, working energetically with a physical oriented issue like perimenopause, or if you have a specific illness that you're working on, that you have, and you'd want to receive Reiki for that. I think, I had a client who had really consistent, or she had a, a, a broken toe and a lot of pain in that broken toe that was, or, radiating through her whole leg and into her low back. And we did a, a long series of sessions overarchingly focused on that health issue and she claims that Reiki healed that health issue for her and she really hasn't had to experience it. And in any session, of course I treated that whole, area, because that was part of our session. But she also experienced a lot of benefits beyond that too. That really stemmed more into her emotional mental life and spiritual life as well. and so it was really a, it was a holistic experience. It was a physical, physical healing for her. Yeah, but also it moved be much, much beyond that, and she was really surprised how much it helped her shift, and just how she felt in her day-to-day life. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I would say I don't, I, I do ask people why they're there, and I think it's good for people to be aware of what's going on in their, I mean, on in their lives, the whole point of. The system of Reiki and working with it, I think is greater consciousness, greater awareness. So that's a part of us, but I don't, fixate on that, I guess is what I'm saying. because you want to allow. whatever needs to happen to happen. And as I said, I can't really guarantee anything if someone's got a broken toe, I would definitely work on the toe because the toe, that's where they want attention. The people are in pain, they want attention and we know that, it works well as a first aid as much as anything. And, so. Feeling the hands on the body where there is pain, gives relief. And it's a great tool for us to be able to use so intentionally. and then to have that sense of, I guess not to be limited by that. And that's, I think what you're saying too, Carrie, to allow whatever needs to happen to happen. And, that is a mystery and it's a mystery that we don't need to know the answer to. We just need to be able to feel free to sit in that mystery. Yeah, exactly. And I think, it's an example of something that Reiki really helped resolve for my client, which is great, and we all wanna have those positive feedback and experiences, and I think that's something maybe somebody says, does Reiki work? They want this kind of one to one correlation. Well, does Reiki work? Is it gonna work for this specific thing? There's been plenty of experiences where Reiki hasn't helped a health issue, necessarily, or like resolved it like this isn't happening for them or healed it. and. I think that that's just, it doesn't mean that the Reiki is not working. Sometimes. I had a client, it was really interesting, had some kidney stone issues and anytime she would, like, she kept trying to co like commit to some Reiki sessions with me. But anytime she did, her kidney stones would just flare up like crazy. And I could say that I think that was the Reikis just trying to help it move along. And yet like it was, just, a sensitive issue, obviously. Yeah. So, like, was she ready to pass those stones? I mean, it's painful. It's, you have to, it's like childbirth. I mean, you just have to be open to the issue, like moving through you, and it flared it up because I think Reiki wanted to help. Support the body to move that out of the body. so, with a lot of integrative medical, healing modalities, sometimes you actually have a flare of whatever it is, whether it's an autoimmune disorder or something like that. So then it becomes a little bit complicated to say, well, oh, did break you work for that or. Yeah. we don't wanna create stories around it. I mean, there's no point in creating a story around it. Right? No., We don't know things. We're not omnipresent or whatever, or what is it, omniscient. we don't know the, the ins and outs of every person's being, let alone our own. And, That is okay. And that's what I was saying before. It's all right just to let go into that, I think, and not to be too concerned about that. And yeah, you're right. Doesn't always work. But I mean, I've had a lot of acupuncture doesn't always work. it's okay. different times for different things and That idea about placebo. We did a whole thing on placebo, but I did see this show about placebo and. I think the placebo in this specific case, worked for like 60, 70% of the people. And the guy went to a person who sells, pharmaceuticals and said, if I had a drug that worked 60 to 70%. Someone's bad back, right? Like for 60 to 70% of the people that it worked for them for a bad back, would you, would you sell that drug? And they said, oh my God, do you have that drug? Because the drugs that we have for pain in the back are about work for about 30% of the people. It works for 30%. If that one doesn't work, we'll try a different drug. If that one doesn't work, we'll try a different drug and, and so on and so on. And they have side effects obviously, as well. We might think that you take a pill and it makes something better, but that's more a story I think that we've been told as well. It's not always the case. Oh, and those stories, they're just everywhere in our life, or we should be this or should be that. I posted a Monday mantra a while back, that's like said that healing is not a destination, it's my way of being. And I think that's such a much more healthy mindset to have, when we come to any practice because. like it's, it's like trying to say to a therapist, oh, I went to this therapist once and they didn't really help me heal my heartache or, or this challenge I was having in my life. Well. You went to them once. and it's really not their job to help you solve this area of your body life. it's there to help you work through your emotional reactions to life and how that's impacting your wellbeing. So it's just, it's, it's not a one-to-one correlation. It's not, hard science. It's much more into the depth of these subjective, experiential, inner world experiences that can be so different for anyone. depending on who they are and where they've come from and their own, things, sorry I'm not explaining this very well, but their own. Worldview and the things that shaped him. Yeah. Yeah. I was thinking before of a case there was a student and they'd got their father to come for a Reiki treatment because he had, he had cataracts and he'd had an operation on, the eye and so she said, come and have a Reiki treatment. It'll be good for you. And so, I did like this Reiki treatment on him. And then, he came out of the, the treatment and he said, nah, nah, I can't see any better. He said, Hmm, but, but I think I hear better. It was just hilarious because he also had tinnitus, right? He had these different things, but it was like what was working for him at that time and what he needed at that time. And I always thought that is just such the perfect example of how we. Need to let go of control and really, yes, be there for the person in whatever way that they need, but not try to determine what, as you say, the end goal is going to be. Allow whatever needs to happen in that moment to happen. Hmm. Yeah. And thanks for bringing it up to, back to two topics before, but the placebo effect. I think that's such an important thing because as many people might come to Reiki being like, well, did Reiki work? or is it effective? No matter if we believe in it or not. I also have a very healthy amount of clients who totally believe in it. I mean, they've drank the Kool-Aid. Yeah. I mean May, maybe it's not, not even something that, because they've experienced it on my table or through anything else, but they just. Yeah, like we can just go right there into that experience and that energy for them and like, have and experience some really profound healing, that doesn't need any ramp, doesn't need, it just is open to that session and, and that session might resolve some deep, challenge in their life. and that's been the case for me too. if you set a powerful intention inside of a Reiki. session or to receive Reiki for this specific thing. It's really cool to see how Reiki, responds to that laboratory of our own inner experience. if we're, we set those clear intentions and we're open to the experience, sometimes really miraculous things happen. Yeah, true. All right. Well, Bronwyn, any other thoughts you have in this conversation about whether or not you have to believe in Reiki to experience it, get some benefit from it? Yeah, for me, you don't have to believe in anything. take each moment as it comes. And, I think that, skepticism is a healthy thing and we should ask questions, but on the other hand, we also need to learn to be able to let go. And, letting go is, for me probably. The hardest thing. And I think for most people that I come across, it's the hardest thing letting go and allowing life to be what it needs to be. So give it a go and, see what comes out of that. It's like giving space to something. To happen, something magical to happen in your life and we don't ever need to label it as, belief if that's something that scares you. And I think that's probably coming back to what I started with about religion. I think that's what maybe scares people using the word belief is that it might feel religious and, why we probably avoid it totally. Well, thank you all so much for listening to our podcast. If you didn't know, we have, a fundraiser down. It's just a crowdsourcing fundraiser we're asking for. any time you've listened to, one of our episodes and maybe gotten some benefit from it, just an opportunity for you to give back for our time and the time it takes, and money it takes to produce this podcast. So there's a link in the comments below if you'd like to contribute to our fundraiser, and we totally appreciate all of you who've been contributing thus far. And we look forward to having a future conversation with you. So feel free to drop your, comments about this topic in the, comments below. And then please feel free to share with us some of your, questions about Reiki that you'd like for us to talk about on this podcast. And, we love you so much and, wish you a gorgeous week and look forward to seeing you on the next one. Bye bye.