What is Reiki?
What Does Reiki Do?
Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation which also promotes healing. It is a simple, natural and gentle method of spiritual healing and self-improvement that anyone can use. It is effective in virtually every illness and ailment and always has a beneficial effect. It involves the ‘laying of hands’ on different areas of the body and is based on the idea that a life force energy flows within our bodies. When this energy is low, it makes us more likely to become unwell or feel stressed.
A reiki treatment aims to restore the life force energy in order to help you heal and stay healthy. People usually find that a treatment makes them feel more relaxed and less stressed. It is a gentle yet powerful technique which works in conjunction with all other medical or therapeutic techniques to help promote recovery.
The popularity of alternative medicine is rapidly growing globally and reiki has become more popular, especially as science has confirmed the existence of the universal life energy that reiki is based on. Reiki is a powerful holistic healing system which heals on all levels; physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
What is Reiki?
The term reiki is the Japanese word for Universal Life Force Energy. It is a very simple and easily learned healing method that uses universal life energy. This is the energy which permeates our entire universe and all living things. This universal life energy is called qi or chi in China, prana in India, and ki in Japan and this is where the Reiki name comes from. It circulates throughout the body and in an energy field surrounding the body.
This energy field, which has long been known to healers and mystics, has now been verified by science. Recent studies have confirmed the existence of this life force energy. Scientists have proven that everything in the universe, at a sub-atomic level, is made up of energy.
Health is the harmonious flow of life energy, while imbalances in this flow, due to unhealthy habits or negative emotions lead to illness. This subtle energy is responsible for the processes in our body on all levels, physical, emotional and mental. Reiki channels universal life energy through the hands of the practitioner into the body of the receiver and balances the energy flow in the body.
Reiki is a holistic healing system, meaning that it addresses the whole person, the physical, mental, emotional and the spiritual levels. The body is not made up of isolated parts but everything is connected through an incredible web of energy. In order to truly return to health, all the levels of our being must be addressed.
How Does Reiki Work?
Reiki works on four different levels:
The Physical Level
At the physical level, reiki has the following effects:
- strengthens the immune system.
- helps to relieve pain.
- balances and harmonises the function of glands and organs.
- heals by opening the blocked energy channels, the meridians, and balances the chakras.
When performed regularly, toxins are removed from the body and good health and well-being is maintained.
The Emotional Level
One of the greatest benefits of reiki is that it reduces stress and induces relaxation which strengthen the immune system and maintain health. People who are depressed or do not feel emotionally balanced begin to feel more stable and relaxed because reiki clears energy blockages and suppressed emotions.
The Mental Level
Through reiki you gain more clarity and find it easier to overcome obstacles and achieve goals. You become more positive and develop a different outlook on life as you feel more empowered.
The Spiritual Level
Reiki enables you to go deeper within yourself and feel more connected to your higher self. It aids meditation, increases intuition and provides limitless benefits of spiritual growth.
Learning Reiki
Reiki is an incredibly simple technique to learn. It is not taught in the usual sense but is instead transferred from the master to the student during a reiki class. It is passed on during an “attunement” given by the reiki master. This allows the student to tap into an unlimited supply of life force energy to improve one’s health and enhance the quality of life.
It is available to everyone as its use is not dependent on one’s intellectual capacity or spiritual development. It has been successfully taught to thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds.
While reiki is spiritual in nature, it is not a religion and there is nothing you must believe in in order to learn and use reiki. While reiki is not a religion, it is important to live and act in a way that promotes harmony with others. Mikao Usui, the founder of the reiki system of natural healing, recommended that people should practice certain simple ethical ideals to promote peace and harmony, which are universal across almost all cultures.
Reiki Ideals
During a meditation several years after developing reiki, Mikao Usui decided to add the Reiki Ideals to the practice of reiki. The Ideals were developed to add spiritual balance to Usui Reiki. Their purpose is to help people realise that healing the spirit by consciously deciding to improve oneself is a necessary part of the reiki healing experience.
In order for the reiki healing energies to have lasting results, the patient must accept responsibility for his healing and take an active part in it. Therefore, the Usui system of Reiki is more than just the use of the reiki energy, but it must also include an active commitment to improve oneself in order for it to be a complete system. The ideals are both guidelines for living a gracious life and virtues worthy of practice for their inherent value.
Reiki is so simple yet so powerful, and this is what makes it a unique healing system that anyone can learn, because it does not require any previous experience or special ability. The benefits of reiki are infinite. It allows you to take an active part in your own wellness, and accelerates your growth on all levels.