Reiki and Diabetes
- Balance is Qi
- Jun 28, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Extract from article written by Kathie Lipinski
Diabetes is a chronic metabolic condition affecting millions worldwide. Alongside managing blood glucose levels, many people living with diabetes experience stress, anxiety, emotional strain, fatigue, and other symptoms that can affect their quality of life. In recent years, complementary approaches such as Reiki have drawn interest as supportive therapies. While Reiki should not replace medical treatment, research suggests it may offer benefits that support well-being for people with diabetes when used alongside conventional care.
Managing diabetes with Reiki can be thought of as balancing and healing all aspects of one’s being. The levels of being include physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.
Since Reiki heals on all levels, let us look at each of these to see how a person with diabetes can care for himself or herself with Reiki.
Reiki is a way to stay healthy and cope with the stresses of everyday life. Learning Reiki and daily self-treatments is one of the most powerful tools in the self-management toolbox for those with diabetes. Giving oneself Reiki is making a deposit in the bank account of life! With all the daily withdrawals of life, Reiki fills the account back up with life force energy.
Stress often throws the blood sugar out of balance and can cause higher than normal blood sugars. Receiving Reiki regularly through self-treatment or from a practitioner is the best way to help minimise the effects of stress on the physical body, especially the blood sugar.
Reiki helps with:
Coping with the stress of Diabetes
Reiki your food
Pain or ailments from Diabetes
Decrease anxiety or discomfort due to insulin injections
Helping you maintain a healthy diet
Helping deal with emotional and mental concerns - removing anger or shame
A person with diabetes who receives regular Reiki sessions or gives himself or herself Reiki on a regular basis, needs to be aware of the effect it may have on their blood sugar levels. Due to the relaxation response, insulin or diabetes medication requirements may decrease and a dose adjustment may be in order. Some persons with diabetes are also on medication for high blood pressure and may find that regular self-Reiki or Reiki sessions and the resultant relaxation response may reduce the amount they need of that medication as well.
In either case, it is important that they consult their physician to determine if an adjustment in medication is indicated.
What does the research say?
People living with diabetes frequently experience emotional distress. Chronic illness, glucose fluctuations, daily treatment burdens, and fear of complications can contribute to anxiety, stress, and depression — all of which negatively influence overall health.
A quasiexperimental study involving 200 adults with Type-2 diabetes. After eight structured sessions, researchers found that participants receiving Reiki had significant reductions in anxiety, depression, and stress scores. In fact, Reiki was a statistically significant predictor of improvements in all three emotional measures.
A 2024 meta-analysis including over 800 participants with chronic illnesses and healthy adults found that Reiki significantly lowered anxiety levels compared with control conditions.
Lower anxiety is meaningful for people with diabetes because stress hormones like cortisol can influence blood sugar regulation. Even without direct glucose effects, reducing stress can support overall metabolic balance and emotional well-being.
While this study did not directly examine blood glucose, reducing psychological distress can support healthier self-care behaviours (like medication adherence, diet, and sleep), which are important for diabetes management.
Reiki is not a replacement for your traditional medical care.
You can read the full article and research study: