Is AI strengthening the fake news around Reiki?

 A quick search on Chat GPT “help me write Reiki blogs that are AI search friendly” revealed that AI thinks Reiki is a therapy, done by others. Examples of what it suggested I write with its summary answer:

Example blog titles:

• What Does Reiki Feel Like During a Session?

• Is Reiki Safe for Anxiety and Stress?

• How Many Reiki Sessions Do You Need?

• What Happens During Your First Reiki Treatment?

Example structure

What is Reiki healing?

Reiki is a Japanese energy healing practice where a practitioner channels universal life energy through their hands to support relaxation, stress reduction, and emotional balance.

What is the impression you get here? That Reiki is something that requires an external practitioner. The example blog titles, only 1 out of 4 suggestions doesn’t involve the assumption it is a session or therapy given by someone else. This is very alarming!

As the world turns to AI for answers to every single query, misperceptions are solidified into fact. If I am new to Reiki and this is the assumption my AI is making, then this is the perception I will also end up with. And as teachers and practitioners such as myself turn to AI to help with marketing and making our websites more “AI friendly” we are also encouraged to write blogs and information to answer the questions that AI wants or is more likely to offer in search results. So, the misperception is fed and the circle tightens.

If this is happening to Reiki, it is happening to everything. Initial assumptions based on a broad search of articles and information forcing ever tightening circles of information until it is distilled into fact-like assumptions : “Reiki is a Japanese energy healing practice where a practitioner channels universal life energy through their hands”. This is true, we do channel energy through our hands. What is missing is the fact we should be doing this TO OURSELVES, and not the assumption that we need someone else to do it for us.

Of course it isn’t AIs fault, it is simply distilling information it is getting from internet searches, and the main marketing of Reiki seems to be more and more focused on gaining clients and less and less on self-empowerment. Reiki Masters are more likely to offer Reiki healing than Reiki classes, and even if they do offer Reiki classes, they seem to be focused on how you can heal others, rather than yourself.

I went to see a lovely new client yesterday who has Reiki Level 2 training. I was curious as to why she wanted a Reiki treatment from me, but I also love to receive Reiki from others from time to time, it can feel very supportive. However, I had an inkling she wasn’t doing Reiki for herself, and I was right. Even though she was now an advanced Reiki 2 practitioner, she had completely forgotten she was able to self-treat.

I know there is a lot of information to take in during class, and it is possible that the self-healing part of the course passed her by in both the beginners and advanced class. But it is equally possible that her teacher just didn’t put enough emphasis on it. Often at Reiki 1 we do the experiential exercises with each other, as giving and receiving Reiki from other students can be a real highlight of the class, so I can just about see why you might come away from class with the only lasting memory being how you gave and received healing from others. But at Reiki 2? At this level I would say 70% of the material is what you can do with the Reiki symbols to yourself, your environment, harmonising events and situations that are causing you stress. Reiki 2 is all about you. Or at least it should be.

I’m not sure what to do about this. I feel like voices like mine are becoming smaller, accelerated by the misperceptions amplified by AI search results. Maybe if you read this as a Reiki teacher you will take a look at your own information with a critical eye; "am I correcting this untruth, or am I complicit in propagating it in what I write and how I portray my services?" Every article that pops up for AI to search that includes the self-healing aspect will hopefully count?