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P01.56. Does practicing Reiki alter the electromagnetic field of heart and hands
of practitioners?

Article  in  BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine · June 2012

DOI: 10.1186/1472-6882-12-S1-P56

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THE JOURNAL OF ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE
Volume 19, Number 6, 2013, pp. 518–526
ª Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
DOI: 10.1089/acm.2012.0136

Practicing Reiki Does Not Appear to Routinely

Produce High-Intensity Electromagnetic Fields
from the Heart or Hands of Reiki Practitioners

Ann Linda Baldwin, PhD,1,2 William Lee Rand,3 and Gary E. Schwartz, PhD1

Abstract

Objectives: The study objective was to determine whether Reiki practice increases the electromagnetic field
strength from the heart and hands of Reiki practitioners.
Rationale: This study repeated experiments performed 20 years ago that detected exceptionally high-strength
electromagnetic fields (100 nT) from the hands of several energy healers. The equipment used was far more
sensitive than in the original studies.
Design: Using a Magnes 2500 WH SQUID, the electromagnetic field from the hands and heart of each of 3 Reiki
masters was measured when they were (1) not practicing Reiki, (2) sending Reiki to a distant person, and (3)
sending Reiki to a person in the room. Similar measurements were made on 4 Reiki-naı̈ve volunteers before and
after they received a Reiki training/attunement enabling them to self-administer Reiki.
Setting/location: The study setting was the Scripps Institute, San Diego, CA.
Outcome measures: Magnetic field intensity of hands and heart recorded over 5-minute sessions with corre-
sponding frequency spectra.
Results: For all subjects, under all conditions, sensors closest to the heart and the hands produced spikes of 2 pT
corresponding to the heartbeat. Recordings from 2 Masters and 1 volunteer showed a low-intensity sine wave
oscillation of 0.25–0.3 Hz (intensity 0.1–0.5 pT) whether or not they were practicing Reiki. This oscillation
probably reflected respiratory sinus arrhythmia, judged by comparison with recent previous studies. These
signals were not detected in the original studies. In the current study, no electromagnetic field intensities greater
than 3 pT were observed in any of the recordings.
Conclusions: Practicing Reiki does not appear to routinely produce high-intensity electromagnetic fields from
the heart or hands. Alternatively, it is possible that energy healing is stimulated by tuning into an external
environmental radiation, such as the Schumann resonance, which was blocked in the present study by the strong
magnetic shielding surrounding the SQUID.

Introduction only involve relatively small numbers of experimental sub-

jects and as yet there are only a few articles addressing each

R eiki, a form of energy healing developed in Japan at the

beginning of the 20th century, has been reported to re-
duce anxiety, depression, and chronic pain and promote
particular disease; second, no mechanism has been demon-
strated to account for Reiki-induced healing.
One hypothesis to explain energy healing was presented
general well being. Details of these effects can be found in a by Zimmerman.2 He proposed that the regular pulsing of the
review of peer-reviewed scientific studies involving Reiki.1 Earth’s magnetic field at a frequency of 7.8 Hz (Schumann
Although Reiki is gaining popularity as a healing modality frequency) entrains the brain waves of an experienced healer
among the general public, it has not become accepted as a when they are in a state of quiet relaxation while at the same
mainstream therapy in modern Western medicine. This time focusing their attention on the task of healing another
problem arises from two factors: first, the published studies being. He also hypothesized that the healer consciously or

1
Laboratory for the Advances in Consciousness and Health, Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
2
Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
3
Center for Reiki Research, Southfield, MI.

518
REIKI AND ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS 519

subconsciously adjusts their respiration rate to an exact finger and the base of the palm. According to basic electro-
subharmonic of the Schumann frequency to facilitate syn- magnetism, magnetic fields are created when current flows;
chronization of their brain waves and their body biofield thus, if a magnetic field were to be produced by the hand, a
with the Schumann frequency. It is not clear exactly what bioelectric current should also be detected in the hand.
Zimmerman2 means by ‘‘body biofield.’’ The person being However, Seto et al.8 could not detect a current in the hand,
healed then allows their brain waves to become synchro- suggesting that the electromagnetic field was not really
nized with the healer’s biofield. When this synchronization emanating from the subject but was from an external source.
occurs, effective healing energies from the healer’s hands are Four (4) years later, Seto and some of his colleagues re-
emitted, which then influence the biochemistry and cellular peated the experiment on two Qi Gong practitioners, one
physiology of the patient being healed. This last step is based who showed a positive response in the original study, and
on the idea that organic macromolecules respond to very one additional practitioner.10 As before, very intense elec-
weak levels of infrared and microwave radiation by chang- tromagnetic fields (2–3 mGauss) were detected from both
ing their conformation, thus influencing enzyme kinetics. In subjects as they performed Qi Gong. This time, a digital
fact it is well known that molecules absorb specific fre- measurement device was also used to detect the field from 1
quencies of radiation that are characteristic of their structure, of the subjects as they responded to an acupuncture point of
and this is the basis of infrared spectroscopy.3 There is also a recipient. Strangely, the digital device (designed to detect
evidence that application of extremely low-frequency (ELF) electromagnetic waves that leak from television sets) de-
frequencies can promote healing.4 For example, a frequency tected a field of 8–15 mGauss, compared to a field of 1
of 7 Hz can promote bone growth and 10 Hz, ligament mGauss detected by the gradiometer under the same cir-
healing. In addition, weak, ELF electromagnetic fields have cumstances. There was no evidence that the digital device
been shown to activate certain cell membrane enzymes5 and had been calibrated. In addition, errors were made in the
specifically alter DNA transcription.6 article in the conversion of Gauss to Tesla, casting some
To test his theory, Zimmerman used a superconducting doubt on the vigilance of the investigators.
quantum interference device (SQUID) to measure the elec- The purpose of this study was to repeat the experiments of
tromagnetic fields produced by the hands of Therapeutic Zimmerman,2 Seto et al.,8 and Hisamitsu et al.,10 using
Touch practitioners as they each healed a person in a room modern equipment and up-to-date magnetic shielding to
with magnetic shielding that was described as ‘‘moderately determine whether Reiki practitioners produce measurable
good.’’2 Magnetic shielding is essential to prevent the de- electromagnetic fields from their hands when healing. The
tection of confounding external electromagnetic sources that instrument also detected the field from the heart, and so
would interfere with the data collected from the experi- these measurements were included in the study. In this
mental subjects. Four (4) of 7 healers showed discernible study, as in the articles describing previous measure-
changes in the amplitude and/or frequency of their bio- ments,2,8,10 the authors consider electromagnetism in terms
magnetic fields as they attempted to heal the other person. of a ‘‘gauge theory’’ in which only electric and magnetic
However, no information was provided about the specifi- fields can produce observable effects, and thus electromag-
cations of the SQUID or the magnetic shielding. In addition, netic potentials are ignored.
the results consisted of just one figure showing the variation
in amplitude and frequency of the biofield from the hand of 1 Materials and Methods
practitioner before and during healing. Although no scales of
Subjects
amplitude or time are provided in the figure, it is cited in the
literature as a main piece of evidence to support electro- Participants included 3 Reiki Masters and 4 people unfa-
magnetic fields emanating from the hands of energy healers.7 miliar with energy healing who all gave consent to partici-
In another study, Seto et al.8 used a gradiometer to mea- pate in the study, approved by the Institutional Review
sure electromagnetic fields from the palms of 37 subjects who Board for the Protection of Human Subjects of the University
claimed to emit external Qi. More information on Qi and its of Arizona. The Reiki Masters had all trained under the In-
relationship to electromagnetic frequencies is provided by ternational School of Reiki Training and had more than
Smith.9 Magnetic gradiometers are pairs of magnetometers 10 years experience. For International Center for Reiki
with their sensors separated by a fixed distance. The reading Training practitioners, the most important part of a Reiki
of one is subtracted from the other in order to measure the practice is the quality and strength of their intention. Practi-
difference between the sensed magnetic fields and so deter- tioners are equally familiar with noncontact, or ‘‘hands off’’
mine the field gradients caused by the magnetic anomaly of Reiki as they are with ‘‘hands on’’ Reiki. During the experiment,
interest. This design was chosen to minimize external back- the participants removed any jewelry they were wearing.
ground noise and to detect the field from the human body,
since this signal was produced between the two coils. Setting
The gradiometer, despite its sensitivity of less than 100 pT,
Experiments were performed at The Scripps Research
could not measure the electromagnetic signal from the heart.
Institute, Molecular and Integrative Neurosciences Depart-
On the other hand, magnetic fields of 200–400 nT (an am-
ment, La Jolla, CA.
plitude that is 1000 times greater than that of the cardiac
biofield measured in humans) in a frequency range of
Equipment
4–10 Hz were detected, but only in 3 of the subjects. In 1
subject, the authors attempted concomitant measurement of The type of SQUID used to measure the human biofields
the corresponding bioelectric current in the hand using was a 148-channel whole head Magnes 2500 Biomagnet-
electroencephalogram electrodes attached to the tip of one ometer (4D NeuroImaging Technologies, Inc., San Diego,
520 BALDWIN ET AL.

FIG. 1. Effectiveness of magnetic shielding of room con- FIG. 2. Photograph showing how a person’s hands were
taining the superconducting quantum interference device placed over the part of the superconducting quantum inter-
(SQUID) as a function of frequency. ference device (SQUID) that housed the sensors.

CA). Each of the 148 sensors was 2 cm in diameter and the

practiced Reiki on themselves for 5 minutes while placing
average spacing between sensors was 2.9 cm. The Magnes
their palms over the part of the SQUID that housed the
system includes a sophisticated noise-cancellation package
sensors. Three (3) 5-minute recordings were made of back-
utilizing 14 reference detector coils. The signals from these
ground noise when no one was in the room.
reference coils are applied to the data, both online and off-
line, in such a way as to remove magnetic and vibrational
Data acquisition and analysis
noise while preserving signals from the subject. The result is
a dramatic reduction in the environmental noise contribution Signal acquisition was conducted at a sampling rate of 680
(to less than 10 fT/rtHz) at all frequencies down to 0.5 Hz. samples/second with a band-pass filter of 0.1–100 Hz. Data
The SQUID was housed in a Vacuumschmelze Model AK3b postprocessing for the offline analysis included digitization
magnetically shielded room. The structure consisted of two and a filtering of 1–30 Hz. Due to the large amount of data
mu-metal layers for magnetic shielding and one aluminum collected, instead of considering all the recorded channels, a
layer for electrical shielding. This combination of materials choice of channels was used, selected according to their
delivers optimum protection from magnetic noise. A high proximity to the subject’s heart and hands, respectively. The
shielding factor (60–100 dB attenuation) is an essential pre- sensor layout display of the SQUID is shown in Figure 3. The
requisite for the measurement of biomagnetic fields because left side of the image is the person’s right side, and vice
the ambient magnetic noise in the frequency range of interest versa, while the lower half of the display is where the per-
(0.1–1000 Hz) is often as high as several nT.11 The effective- son’s hands are resting. Channels 139–143 were selected for
ness of the magnetic shielding of the SQUID at the Scripps ‘‘heart’’ data (each channel outlined with a small oval) and
Research Institute as a function of frequency is shown in channels 120–123 for ‘‘hand’’ data (group of channels out-
Figure 1. The attenuation at 10 Hz is 60 dB, increasing to lined by large oval).
80 dB at a frequency of 1000 Hz. Offline data analysis was completed using the software,
MatLab. A computer program was written to transfer the
Experimental protocol raw data from the Magnes system to a format compatible
with MatLab. Magnetic field intensity was manually as-
The 3 Reiki Masters were seated in turn in the magneti-
sessed as a function of time in 10-second segments for all
cally shielded room containing the SQUID. Each subject was
5-minute sessions to determine the presence of any high
instructed to place their palms over the part of the SQUID
amplitude oscillations or of periodic patterns above back-
that housed the sensors while measurements were taken
ground noise such as would result from heartbeats or re-
under the following conditions, each for 5 minutes: (1)
spiratory sinus arrhythmia. The frequency spectrum of each
baseline, (2) sending Reiki to a distant person, (3) baseline,
session, averaged over all 148 channels, was also examined
and (4) sending nonphysical contact Reiki to another par-
in conjunction with the time plots to check for consistency.
ticipant in the same room. A photograph showing how a
person’s hands rested on the instrument is shown in Figure
Results
2. Measurements were then made on the 4 Reiki-naı̈ve vol-
unteers in turn as they sat with the sensor for 5 minutes each An example of a baseline measure of the electromagnetic
(baseline). Next, the volunteers were given Level 1 Reiki biofield of one of the Reiki-naı̈ve volunteers from sensors
training/attunement by one of the Reiki Masters to enable near the heart is shown in Figure 4A. The downward spikes
them to practice Reiki. The Reiki training/attunement and of about 2 pT every second reflect the electromagnetic man-
subsequent practice took about 60 minutes. The measure- ifestation of the RR pulse of the electrocardiogram. These
ment was then repeated on each of the 4 volunteers as they spikes were seen for all subjects under all conditions. Figure
REIKI AND ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS 521

FIG. 3. Sensor layout display of superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). Left side of image is person’s right
side and right side of image is person’s left side. Lower half of display is where person’s hands are resting. Large oval
surrounds sensors acquiring data from hands; small ovals show sensors acquiring data from heart. Horizontal scale:
200 mHz/cm, vertical scale: 5 pT/Hz/cm.

4B shows corresponding data from the same sensors without downward spikes reflecting the RR pulse of the electrocar-
anyone sitting at the SQUID or in the room. This recording diogram can be seen, but it is not clear whether these sensors
reflects the ambient electromagnetic noise. Note the absence are still detecting the signal directly from the heart, or
of the heartbeat spikes. An example of a baseline measure of whether the hands are replicating the signal, possibly by
the electromagnetic biofield of one of the Reiki Masters from transmission of the cardiac signal through the perineural
sensors near the heart is shown in Figure 5A. Once again, the sheaths to the hands. The corresponding frequency spectrum
heartbeat spikes are clearly visible. A frequency spectrum of (Fig. 6B, plot row 1) shows the cardiac signal and harmonics.
this same baseline plot, from 1 to 40 Hz, is shown in Figure In this figure, the plot in row 3 shows the frequency spec-
5B (plot row 1). The vertical axis is the power spectral den- trum from the same Master when they are sending Reiki to a
sity, related to the power stored in the signal over a certain distant person. No obvious differences are visible between
frequency range. In Figure 5B, the plot in row 3 shows the the two spectra.
frequency spectrum from the same Reiki Master when an- Analysis of all the data from the preselected channels from
other person is sitting in the same room but the Reiki Master all subjects under all conditions did not show any time
is not consciously sending them Reiki. No obvious differ- segments of electromagnetic fields with intensity greater
ences are visible between the two spectra. In both cases, the than 3 pT. Thus, using an instrument sensitive enough to
frequency peaks represent the cardiac signal (about 1 Hz) detect the electromagnetic field produced by a single heart-
and its harmonics. Data from the reference channels are beat and magnetic shielding that was adequate down to
shown in Figure 5B, plot rows 2 and 4. Even with a high frequencies of 1 Hz, the present study was not able to re-
degree of shielding and noise cancellation, some ambient produce the results of Zimmerman,2 Seto et al.,8 and Hisa-
noise exists at frequencies below 1 Hz. mitsu et al.10
Similar electromagnetic fields were measured from the Recordings from 2 Masters and 1 volunteer showed a low-
sensors nearest the hands of each person, compared to sen- intensity sine wave oscillation of 0.25–0.3 Hz (intensity 0.1–
sors nearest the heart. An example of the signals from the 0.5 pT) whether or not they were practicing Reiki. Figure 7
sensors nearest the hands of a Reiki Master as they send shows this pattern in the electromagnetic biofield baseline of
Reiki to a person in the room is shown in Figure 6A. The a Reiki Master recorded from channels nearest heart (A) and
522 BALDWIN ET AL.

FIG. 4. (A) Baseline measure of electromagnetic field intensity of volunteer from sensors near heart. See downward spikes
reflecting RR pulse of electrocardiogram. (B) Noise level. For A and B: vertical axis: 0.5 pT per division; horizontal axis: time, 1
second per division. Low-pass filter 30 Hz.
REIKI AND ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS 523

FIG. 5. (A) Baseline measure of electromagnetic field intensity of Master practitioner from sensors near heart. See down-
ward spikes reflecting RR pulse of electrocardiogram. Vertical axis: electromagnetic field intensity in Tesla. Horizontal axis:
time in seconds. (B) Frequency spectrum of baseline 1 Hz–40 Hz (5 Hz per division). Vertical axis is signal power spectral
density (fT/rtHz). Plot row 1: Baseline measure; Plot, rows 2 and 4: Reference channels. Plot row 3: Baseline measure with
another person in room as well as Master. Cardiac signal and harmonics are seen.
524 BALDWIN ET AL.

FIG. 6. (A) Measure of electromagnetic field intensity of Master practitioner from sensors near hands as he sends Reiki to
person in room. See downward spikes reflecting RR pulse of electrocardiogram. Vertical axis: electromagnetic field intensity
in Tesla. Horizontal axis: time in seconds. (B) Frequency spectrum of Master 1 Hz–40 Hz (5 Hz per division). Vertical axis is
signal power spectral density (fT/rtHz). Plot row 1: Master sends Reiki to person in room; Plot rows 2 and 4: Reference
channels; Plot row 3: Master sends distance Reiki. Cardiac signal and harmonics are seen.
REIKI AND ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS 525

FIG. 8. Electromagnetic field intensity of Reiki Master over

60 seconds from channels nearest hands as they send Reiki to
another person in room. Vertical axis: electromagnetic field
intensity in Tesla. Horizontal axis: time in seconds (10 sec-
onds per division).

ample, the equipment could easily record the hundred thou-

sand–fold smaller changes in electromagnetic field produced
by heartbeats. In addition, an even lower intensity sine wave
electromagnetic oscillation was detected from some of the
experimental subjects. This response was probably caused by
respiratory sinus arrhythmia, as judged by the frequency of
oscillation (equivalent to 15–18 breaths/minute) and com-
parison with results from previous studies.12,13 Respiratory
sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is a normal variation in heart rate,
synchronous, or coherent, with breathing that is mediated by
FIG. 7. Reiki Master electromagnetic field intensity baseline parasympathetic input to the heart. Wakai et al.12 demon-
measure over 60 seconds from channels nearest heart (A) and strated that RSA-like oscillations in fetal heart rate are often
hands (B). Vertical axis: electromagnetic field intensity in
accompanied by synchronous modulation of fetal cardiac
Tesla. Horizontal axis: time in seconds (10 seconds per di-
vision). electromagnetic field signal amplitude, implying strongly that
both are the result of fetal breathing movements.
At first sight it appears from this study that Reiki practi-
tioners do not produce high-intensity electromagnetic fields
hands (B). Figure 8 shows a similar pattern in another Reiki
from their hands when they are sending Reiki to themselves
Master, recorded from sensors nearest the hands, as they
or others. It could be argued that since only 3 Reiki Masters
send Reiki to another person in the room. Since 0.5 pT is
and 4 newly trained novices were tested, this claim is spe-
equivalent to one magnetic flux quantum per 40 cm2, or
cious; after all, Seto et al.8 only recorded the high-intensity
about 7-cm diameter, this defines the measurement area as
fields in 3 of 37 subjects. However, if as Zimmerman2 and
roughly the size of the palm of the hand or a region over the
Oschman7 hypothesize, energy healing is a modality that
heart, which must be functioning as a coherent entity. The
succeeds as a result of electromagnetic healing energies from
oscillations in Figures 6 and 7 must therefore be at the
the healer’s hands being emitted and influencing the bio-
quantum level. A physiologic interpretation of this finding
chemistry and cellular physiology of the patient being
will be addressed in the Discussion.
healed, one would expect that more than 10% of healers
would be able to produce a measurable field.
Discussion
Another possibility is that Reiki is different from other
This study has shown that using a highly sensitive detector forms of energy healing. High-intensity electromagnetic
of ELF electromagnetic fields in a room extremely well fields were previously observed in Therapeutic Touch heal-
shielded from external sources of electromagnetic radiation, ers2 and in healers from a range of traditions involving
the authors were not able to detect the exceptionally high emission of external Qi,8 but not specifically in Reiki practi-
intensity bioelectromagnetic fields from energy healers as re- tioners. However, it is unlikely that Reiki is a unique form of
ported two decades ago by Zimmerman,2 Seto et al.,8 and by energy that works through a totally different mechanism
Hisamitsu et al.10 There is no question that the instrument was from other forms of energy healing.
sensitive enough to detect signals of the intensity purported to Another interpretation of the data arises from Zimmer-
have been measured by the previous investigators. For ex- man’s hypothesis that healers first need to tune in to an
 526 BALDWIN ET AL.

external environmental radiation, such as the Schumann search, Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, for editing the
resonance (7.8 Hz), before high-intensity radiation is pro- article.
duced from the hands. Humans produce a weak 7.8-Hz
electromagnetic signal, known as alpha waves, from the Disclosure Statement
brain. Zimmerman proposed that this signal may resonate
None of the authors have any competing financial inter-
with the stronger 7.8-Hz oscillator signal produced by
ests.
Schumann radiation, resulting in a much stronger electro-
magnetic signal from the human that could travel from the
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Acknowledgments
quency tunability. Smart Mater Struct 2008;17:1–10.
We thank Dr. Jose Criado, who allowed us to use the
SQUID, and Lacey Kurelowech who operated the SQUID Address correspondence to:
and acquired the raw data, both from the Division of Neu- Ann Linda Baldwin, PhD
rology, Scripps Clinic. We also thank Dr. Timothy Secomb, Department of Physiology
Department of Physiology, University of Arizona, who College of Medicine
wrote a program to transfer the raw SQUID data to a format University of Arizona
compatible with MatLab. We are grateful to the Center for Tucson, AZ 85724
Reiki Research for partial funding of this study. Finally, we
thank Dr. Richard Hammerschlag, Emeritus Dean of Re- E-mail: [email protected]

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