If you could easily learn a healing technique that you could use to improve your own life and the lives of those around you; including your favorite pets, would you want to know about it?
If so, Reiki may be what you are looking for. First of all, what is Reiki? For centuries many cultures have recognized that an unseen energy is found in all living things and directly affects the quality of a person’s health. In China it is called Qi, Ki in Japan, and Prana in India. Science refers to this energy as bio-field energy. When our life force energy is low we find it difficult to sleep, ward off the effects of stress or effectively battle illness and disease. Regular Reiki treatments can help us rebuild and balance vital life force energy, thereby enabling us to live healthier and more peaceful lives.
Reiki is a natural healing method that focuses energy and helps the body replenish and rebalance itself. The practitioner places their hands on or above the client and energy flows through the client’s body. It is often experienced as a warm, glowing, peaceful sensation. There are many ways to practice Reiki: a client may lie upon a massage table and receive a hands-on treatment, Reiki can be ‘beamed’ or directed to a person’s body without direct contact or, Reiki can even be sent across significant geographic distances. All that is required is that the client consent to the treatment and be open to receiving Reiki’s healing energy.
Reiki was discovered in the early part of the 20th Century in Japan by Dr. Usui. There Usui established a healing clinic and school where Mrs. Takata came from the U.S. to receive treatments and study Reiki with him. It was Mrs. Takata who brought the Usui Reiki System of Natural Healing to the United States. Most Reiki Masters in the U.S. today can trace their Reiki lineage back to Mrs. Takata or one of her students.
Today there are many schools and forms of Reiki being practiced all over the world. Nearly all of them have their historical roots in Dr. Usui’s System of Natural Healing. Over the last few decades, Reiki has become a very popular complementary alternative therapy used in hundreds of hospitals in North America and around the world. The growth of Reiki is attributed to its ease of use and its effectiveness in promoting natural relaxation, wellbeing, and the body’s own healing capacity.
When Reiki energy flows into the body, the muscles relax. This in turn promotes increased blood flow to the treated areas. This improved circulation aids the body in healing itself more quickly. Many clients report that Reiki helps reduce their stress, anxiety or depression. Others indicate that chronic pain often decreases. Occasionally, more dramatic results are reported. Reiki also promotes psychological healing including release of fear, anger, worry, sadness and other troubling emotions. These are replaced with a sense of peace and tranquility.
The real beauty of Reiki is in its simplicity. Anyone, including children and the elderly can learn and ‘do’ Reiki. All that is needed is the desire to learn Reiki and receive Reiki attunements, and anyone can be practicing Reiki in a matter of a couple of days. Many Reiki Master Teachers offer Reiki workshops that are a day each for Reiki One and Reiki Two.
Learning Reiki is very straight forward. Typically there are four levels or degrees of Reiki. Level One is a beginner’s level that includes an attunement. This attunement allows the Reiki One Practitioner to effectively receive and channel universal life force energy through them to their client or recipient.
It is important to note that the energy is coming from a source of higher consciousness. It is NOT one person sharing or transferring their personal energy with another. All Reiki practitioners become channels of the energy. The attunement process makes this possible. The attunement looks and feels very ceremonious to us, and during the process the Reiki Master Teacher uses sacred symbols in the aura or energy body of the recipient to activate the new practitioner’s ability to channel Reiki energy through themselves and to their subject. The attunement is likened to tuning in a radio channel to clearly hear the sound coming from the receiver.
Reiki is a wonderful way for those with chronic illness and their caretakers to empower themselves with a natural healing tool that can provide comfort and peace. Many nurses and massage therapists are finding that adding Reiki to their professional skills greatly enriches their lives and the lives of those they care for. Animals also respond very favorably to Reiki energy, and often seek out the practitioner’s touch repeatedly.
A level one practitioner has the ability to treat self and others using hands on or beaming. There is nothing to memorize, just the desire to help others and their consent to receive is all that is needed for anyone to practice Reiki at this initial level. This is what makes it so easy for people of all ages and abilities to participate in and share the healing energy of Reiki.
Lisa Murray Machala, LMT
