REIKI

Short Description: Transmission of Earth Energies to Heal and Revitalize

Type: Alternative Healing Modality

What Is Reiki?

Most forms of Asian medicine make use of the concept of Qi, a form of vital energy that flows through the body. Free-flowing, abundant Qi is said to create health, while stagnant or deficient Qi is thought to lead to illness. Reiki practitioners believe that they can improve this energy by holding their hands in certain positions over parts of the patient’s body; advanced practitioners believe they can produce this effect from a remote distance. The net result, according to the theory, is accelerated healing and increased wellness.

In many ways, Reiki resembles Therapeutic Touch, except that the instructions given to its practitioners are more specific. A certified practitioner of Reiki has spent time learning specified hand movements and positions and has also undergone an “attunement” to an already-certified Reiki practitioner. This chain of attunements goes back to Mikao Usui, the method’s founder.

In its most popular Western form, Reiki is learned in three stages. The first stage involves an attunement that permits physical healing. The second stage grants the ability to carry out healing over a distance. The third degree of training allows the practitioner to perform healing on a spiritual level and to give attunements to students. Generally, each level is obtained by paying a fee and completing a course.

Background: Reiki is an alternative healing modality continuously practiced since the 1800s. It is a Japanese word that means transfer (REI) of energy (KI, better known as CHI, the Chinese word). Reiki is a gentle healing modality which focuses on activating and stimulating the seven major energy chakras.

Reiki involves the transmission of healing Earth energies to dissolve blockages in an individual's energetic field by cleansing, revitalizing, and rebalancing it. Reiki is most often delivered hands on but works equally well long distance since at the levels of spirit and energy we all are one.

Helpful Information: Since Reiki works directly on your energy field, it is best to have it performed when you are free of items that would block the flow of the energy. These would include wearing anything metallic (like jewelry or watches) and anything that is not "natural" (like any synthetic garments). It is best to wear natural fibers like cotton that are color-free and non-restrictive (loose fitting).

Tips & Cautions: When done hands on, Reiki is not massage: no soft tissue is manipulated. In fact, it is delivered from the healer's hands which are normally in the individual's energy field and directly not touching the receiver's skin. However many practitioners incorporate relaxation massage prior to Reiki to promote maximum clearing of energies.

WHAT TO EXPECT

The most common responses to Reiki treatment are a very deep state of relaxation and an enhanced sense of well being. However, if your energy field is severely blocked by past life problems or by serious levels of disease and disorder, then your response may be vastly different.

To give an extreme example: the first time I received a Reiki treatment I thrashed around on the table violently. The past life traumas I had endured in many wars played themselves out in severe physical reactions (pain all over the body, heart racing, arms and legs flying around). Looking back, I would have been better off seeking past life treatment before doing Reiki (but live and learn).

The point is that Reiki is extremely powerful and it can literally transform your life.