The short answer, is YES, but NO - Reiki will never take away a person's growth, and sometimes the journey back to wellness is an unfoldment. There are actually many components of wellness we are always being guided to address. Let's go deeper.
One of the things that fascinates me most about life, is how diverse our experiences are and yet - no matter where you're coming from - everyone has challenges that push them to grow.
Sometimes our challenges take the shape of illness, but in ways, disease is no different than poverty, or abuse. I know that might sound strange, but those are all life challenges that we are developing awareness through (though certainly, some challenges are truly harder than others).
So with that said, sometimes we are learning through living that experience, and we also get to decide how we want to approach moving through it. This gets really interesting, because different people are working (on the soul level) on different things. For instance, a younger soul might be learning about compassion and releasing judgment. An older soul might be learning about boundaries and honoring themselves, and not giving all their energy away in the attempt to help others. Illness can cause us to change our approach, to grow in understanding, or at times illness may even be the path when a soul is ready to leave this planet. I know that can be hard for our minds to understand, but that also pushes us to know ourselves beyond our logical mind's perception.
There are many reasons we experience what we do.
If we can understand that we're being guided in our lives, and that our bodies are getting our attention, if you will, it helps to look at wellness with curiosity and a healthy balance of intention and surrender.
At times we don't know what we're fully learning until we've moved through an experience. It might even serve us most as a reminder to live with intention and listen to our bodies more. But the most important thing to understand, is that health has three main components, and like sand being polished into pearls (of wisdom), we are always working on these topics when it comes to health and well-being (and they are all interrelated).
Well-being Has 3 Main Components.
Physical Well-Being:
When I talk about physical well-being, this is about what we are doing externally and the ways we are taking action. (Often people associate this component the most with health). What food are you putting in your body? What drugs? What's happening with your hormones? Are you listening to your body's guidance, or on the verge of burnout? Are you overly focused on others - literally expending your energy on what you perceive to be best for others, but not honoring yourself? Are you continuing on with activities or people that are draining your energy, and ignoring your inner guidance to do other things instead? Are you over-exerting yourself, or straining when you need to be resting?
Mental Health:
This topic has only begun to be addressed as a necessary aspect of wellness, but that's interesting because it directly impacts us physically. When we are directing our energy towards unhealthy focuses (lack of self-worth, negative expectations, fear, etc) it's powerfully impacting our body, our experience of happiness, and our physical wellness. The easiest way to think about that is stress hormones clogging your system in various ways based on wherever we're out of alignment. As well, when we are stuck in the mind we're ignoring the guidance our body is offering that would better guide us to health. People often ignore or override impulses towards wellness, and replace them with stress, mentally trying to control situations or judgment, etc. And when our mental health is out of alignment, it negatively impacts our emotional well-being as well as our physical health.
Emotional Well-Being:
So our emotions and our minds are actually tied together (because emotions are caused by perspective and focus. An emotion is different than a feeling - emotions have a reason behind them. E.g. "I feel sad because...") But one of the most important things to understand is that emotions that aren't addressed get held in the body, and that makes us much more vulnerable to developing illness. Now, emotions in the body are often location specific. That is NOT to say that disease is about fault, or the mind, or that pain and health challenges aren't real. They are challenges that can be really confusing to move through when your physical health is already taxed and your mind is really busy trying to make sense of it. But what we want to understand is that health is about moving through a challenge, and most likely addressing all three components of health, INCLUDING emotions. (Addressing THIS component can often be the fastest way to move through a challenge, but can be pursued in whatever way you feel guided to.)
Being supported: Seeking Out Resources & Tools
In all 3 categories of health challenges, sometimes we need help taking a different approach. If we've experienced trauma, it can be really supportive to have help moving through it. Of course it helps to have tools for navigating mental & emotional health, and there are a million ways to approach that. Likewise, what we are doing on the physical level may benefit through a nutritionist, naturopath, or healer who can help us gain perspective about whatever our body is trying to get our attention on.
There's also nothing wrong with western medicine, if that feels like the right path for you. Our bodies are complex physical organisms and sometimes we can find immediate relief through a doctor helping us to bring something back into balance. But if that path is not working, it's probably because you're addressing only the physical level of health, and the body is still saying, "that's not the root cause of the issue."
About Skepticism
As I said above, Reiki will never take away our growth. At times people can be so cynical about energetic healing and it's always interesting to me because that is a self-reinforced belief system. Your wellbeing requires your participation - that is an incredibly important component of energy healing.
I think rather than worry about something "not having any valid impact," a better approach is to just pursue what you're guided to pursue and understand that different people need different things. Be curious about your wellness, and follow your internal prompts. Reiki does not HAVE TO be a necessary aspect of anyone's health journey, but well-being will always involve mental, emotional, and physical levels.
About Your Growth
The intangible in all of this, is your soul intention for experience, and the ways you want to grow. And we can resist our lessons, right? There are things that have been bothering us for years, that we might have been afraid to address. Often we all wait to address things until they get too uncomfortable to ignore. Sometimes that push for growth can take the shape of illness, or a challenge on the external level. (And sometimes a soul might even be ready for their journey back home.) But the good news is that ALL of it is ultimately pushing us to live with greater purpose, more love, and greater awareness.
Your body wants you to be happy. It does not want you to hold onto pain, guilt, shame, anger, mental approaches and activities that aren't serving you.
I will continue to discuss tools on this site, and as well, I want to finish by explaining that a chart reading helps you understand HOW your body holds onto energy & the emotions that are helping to guide you on your way.
I'm wishing you wellness, ease, happiness and love, pursuing wellness in whatever way feels right for you.