Johrei and Science
Universal Energy
Johrei is a manifestation of healing energy that can be transmitted from one individual to another. It involved no physical contact. As this gentle healing is administered, the mind and body are uplifted. Johrei has its roots in Japan and is gaining recognition in the West as a non-invasive energy healing practice. Today, more than a million people worldwide are involved in this practice. The Johrei Institute was established in 1998 to study the effectiveness of this energy through standard clinical trials.
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Human Sleep Study
The purpose of this project is to compare the effectiveness of Johrei therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy in the treatment of sleep disturbances in survivors of critical illness. Subjects will be recruited following discharge from the intensive care unit and followed for 6 weeks. All subjects will undergo objective measurements of sleep quality and duration at baseline and at 6 weeks. Objective measurements will be made by portable (home-based) sleep studies and participants will wear a wrist device that measures sleep indicators. Subjective measurements will be performed by sleep questionnaires and logs evaluated at baseline, 2 and 6 weeks. A blood draw and urine collection will be done at both baseline and 6 weeks.
The central purpose of this proposal is to compare Johrei, an alternative approach, to cognitive behavioral therapy, a standard approach in the treatment of sleep disturbances in patients who have recently survived critical illness. Half of the patients will receive Johrei and half will undergo cognitive behavioral therapy. The investigators hypothesize that, in survivors of critical illness, Johrei therapy is superior or comparable to cognitive behavioral therapy in improving sleep quality (measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and sleep efficiency [measured by polysomnography]).
A secondary objective is to compare the effect of Johrei therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy on systemic markers of inflammation and urinary biomarkers of sleep and stress. The investigators hypothesize that, in survivors of critical illness, Johrei therapy is superior or comparable to cognitive behavioral therapy in reducing systemic markers of inflammation and urinary biomarkers of sleep and stress.
A third objective is to determine whether the presence of insomnia or other sleep characteristics is associated with hospital readmissions within 30 days.
Participants will receive three 30-minute Johrei sessions weekly from a senior administrator, at home, or at the University of Arizona. Johrei includes a prayer by the administrator and is given without physical contact.
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CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy) sessions will be conducted by a clinical psychologist using web-based video-conferencing software. Therapy sessions will include sleep restriction therapy, stimulus control instructions, and sleep hygiene education.
The enrollment target for this study is 60 patients over a two-year period. Patients of both genders between the ages of 18 and 85 are being accepted. Patients must have been discharged from ICU with recent critical illness and must be free of neurological impairment. Pregnant patients and nursing home residents are also excluded.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02059421
Research Grant by the National Institutes of Health
In 2000, The University of Arizona's Department of Integrative Medicine launched a study of Johrei under Dr. Gary E. Schwartz, Ph.D. Based on preliminary research results, The university received a grant from the Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant provides funds for researching various alternative healing therapies, including Johrei.
The first part of the study will document the effects of Johrei on patients recovering from cardiac bypass surgery. While other smaller studies have documented the positive effects of prayer and a spiritual support system, this is the first clinical study to scientifically document the effects of Johrei on physical healing.
Allan J. Hamilton, MD, a Harvard-trained neurosurgeon and chairman of the university's Department of Surgery, is currently leading the project. He says, "this scientific research on alternative medical practices mirrors a trend among medical schools all over the country to try to understand the mechanisms that lead to the connection between mind and body, and spirituality and healing."
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Current Research
Sleep deprivation is an underrecognized problem that ails our society, and nearly 8,000 preventable deaths per year are attributed to fatigue-related motor vehicle crashes compared with 13,000 attributable to drunken driving. In a national Gallup poll, it was estimated that nearly 70% of U.S. residents do not get adequate sleep. Sleep deprivation has been suggested to play a role in the causation and perpetuation of psychiatric disorders and has recently been labeled a carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Methods to improve sleep and vitality may ameliorate the effects of sleep deprivation and prevent diseases and deaths caused by accidents.
Photo by Akram Huseyn on Unsplash