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Reiki - A Brief Introduction
Reiki is a Japanese form of healing that is becoming increasingly popular worldwide. What makes Reiki unique is that it incorporates elements of just about every other alternative healing practices such as spiritual healing, auras, crystals, chakra balancing, meditation, aromatherapy, naturopathy and homeopathy.
Reiki involves the transfer of energy from practitioner to patient to enhance the body’s natural ability to heal itself through the balancing of energy. Reiki utilizes specific techniques for restoring and balancing the natural life force energy within the body. It is holistic, natural, hands-on energy healing system that touches on all levels: body, mind and spirit.
Reiki (pronounced ray-key) is a Japanese word representing universal life force energy, the energy that is all around us. It is derived from rei, meaning “ free passage” or “transcendental spirit” and ki, meaning “vital life force energy” or “universal life energy”.
What is Reiki?
Reiki practitioners channel energy in a particular pattern to heal and harmonize. Unlike other healing therapies based on the premise of a human energy field, reiki seeks to restore order to the body whose vital energy has become unbalanced,
Reiki energy has several basic effects: it brings about deep relaxation, breaks down energy blockages, detoxifies the system, provides new vitality in the form of universal life force energy, and increases the vibrational frequency of the body.
The laying of hands is used in Reiki therapy also as in spiritual healing. There is a difference though. In Spiritual healing, a person with a strong energy field places his or her hands above a particular part of the recipient’s body in order to release the energy into it. So, here the healer is the one that is sending out the energy. In Reiki, however, the healer places the hands above the recipient; however, it is the recipient that draws the energy as needed. Thus, in this case, the individual being healed takes an active part in the healing. Normally unconsciously, the recipient identifies the needs and caters to them by drawing energy as needed
Although there are a few positions in which the practitioner is in contact with the patient (such as cradling the head), most reiki treatments do not involve actual touching. The practitioner holds his or her hands a few inches or farther away from the patient’s body and manipulates the energy field from there.
Who will benefit from treatment?
Amongst the conditions that may benefit are;
- Asthma
- Depression
- Migraine and headaches
- Discomforts of pregnancy
- Post-viral fatigue syndrome (ME)
- Self-confidence
- Sports injuries
- Stress and exhaustion
- Accelerating recovery after an operation
- Anxiety
What can I expect during a Reiki session?
Treatments are usually given lying down, fully clothed on a therapy couch. The hands of the practitioner are then placed very lightly on the client and moved to a number of different positions on both front and back of the body.
In each position, the practitioner connects with the life force energy and transmits this healing energy to the client. Through one or more sessions, restrictions in the person’s energy flow are broken down, enabling the release of tensions and blockages in the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels of the person.
By releasing and healing old hurts, wounds, stored emotions, stresses, tensions, negative behaviour patterns and physical ailments, balance and harmony can be restored and we can continue to grow and develop as human beings.
Reiki can be used in combination with conventional medical treatment and other complementary therapies.
Treatment time can range from 15mins to 1hr 30mins.
History of Reiki
Reiki is believed to have begun in Tibet several thousand years ago.
Seers in the Orient studied energies and developed a system of sounds and symbols for universal healing energies. Various healing systems, which crossed many different cultures, emerged from this single root system. Unfortunately, the original source itself was forgotten.
Dr. Mikao Usui, A Japanese Christian educator in Kyoto, Japan, rediscovered the root system in the mid- to late 1800s. He began an extensive 21-year study of the healing phenomena of history’s greatest spiritual leaders. He also studied ancient sutras (Buddhist teachings written in Sanskrit). He discovered ancient sounds and symbols that are linked directly to the human body and nervous system, which activate the universal life energy for healing.
Usui then underwent a metaphysical experience and became empowered to use these sounds and symbols to heal. He called this form of healing Reiki and taught it throughout Japan until his death in 1893.
The tradition was passed through several grandmasters of reiki such as Dr. Chujiro Hyashi, Hawayo Takata and Phyllis Lei Furumoto.
There are many forms of reiki being practiced now. The two principal ones are the Usui system of natural healing and the Radiance Technique.
The Usui System balances and strengthens the body’s natural energy and promoting it’s ability to heal itself.
Reiki is useful in treating serious illnesses as well as others. Examples are: sports injuries, cuts, burns, internal diseases, emotional disorders and stress–related illnesses.
Reiki was introduced to the Western world in the mid- 1970s. Since then its use has spread dramatically worldwide.
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