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Writer's pictureAna Gabriela Accioly

Reiki

Updated: Sep 9, 2023

A japanese healing technique which directs life force - or in japanese "ki" - from higher realms to treat physical, emotional and psychological ailments.


The Japanese word Reiki is made up of the two characters rei, which means "universal spirit," and ki, which means "vital life force or energy." Reiki is a form of hands-on healing therapy that encourages the body's intrinsic ability to heal itself while also enhancing vitality and facilitating the transmission of universal energy to the patient. In order to refill and restore energy flow and balance, the Reiki practitioner's goal is to serve as a conduit for the delivery of universal energy.


“Reiki is a form of hands-on healing therapy that encourages the body's intrinsic ability to heal itself while also enhancing vitality and facilitating the transmission of universal energy to the patient.”

It requires one to concede the existence of a global life force or energy in order to comprehend Reiki as a therapeutic technique. The substance that underlies the vitality and intelligence of the cosmos and everything in it is this subtle energy, known as ki in Japanese, qi in Chinese, and prana in Sanskrit. As a ubiquitous and endless energy, ki is arranged into energy systems and fields that are permeable and interact with one another within people and between people and their surroundings, enabling the reception and exchange of universal energy. Sickness and emotional distress are related with insufficient life force or an imbalance of energy fields or flow, which implies that energetic patterns should be addressed to create an environment for health and well-being.


Mikao Usui, a Japanese scholar born in 1865, was the originator of the Usui Reiki Ryoho system. Usui examined old Japanese Tendai Buddhist literature, particularly those that had elements of Taoism, as well as Japanese Shinto materials. There are several different accounts of Reiki's history, and many of them have been reviewed and analyzed in publications by Petter and King. However, most people who are interested in the history of Reiki concur that Usui researched, fasted, and practiced meditation in order to gain a better understanding of life. Usui dramatically acquired the potent kind of energy that is now known as Reiki at some time during this journey, most likely near or on Mt. Kurama, a revered, spiritual location close to Tokyo.


He realized that this energy gave him a remarkable ability to heal and that he could easily transfer the ability to access and use this energy to anyone. Usui's personal experiences and observations about the healing effects of Reiki helped him to realize that healing the spirit was as important as healing the body. Persons who learned responsibility and gratitude through the energy exchange of Reiki were better prepared to achieve and maintain health than persons who were unable to give back for what they received. So, Usui set out to create a system that would assist a person's spiritual progression, healing the mind first. Five principles of Reiki emerged from Usui's studies, practice, and observations


“Usui set out to create a system that would assist a person's spiritual progression, healing the mind first.”

Before his passing in 1926, Usui trained numerous students and promoted 15 to 20 to the rank of master. Among them, naval officer and gifted healer Dr. Chujiro Hayashi who opened a healing facility in Tokyo. Hayashi had meticulously documented the lessons he was taught and the medical care he got. He also modified Usui's instructions to incorporate the three degrees and the attunement procedure. Over time, Dr. Hayashi proceeded to change his approach to training the system and started emphasizing on Reiki's capacity for physical healing rather than the system's initial spiritual components.


Other Usui master pupils, like Toshihiro Eguchi, did the same as Dr. Hayashi and taught both the original system and his own modified method. More information on other Reiki systems can be found in books about Reiki.


In 1937, Japanese immigrant Mrs. Hwayo Takata introduced Reiki to the West. Takata was born and raised on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, but she later moved back to Japan to tell her parents about the passing of her sister and get medical attention for a tumor, gallstones, and appendicitis. Takata chose daily Reiki treatments at Dr. Hayashi's Reiki clinic rather than consenting to surgery for her ailment. She was fully recovered after 4 months and persuaded Hayashi to teach her Reiki. The following year, he did teach and accompanied her to Hawaii, where he initiated her as a Reiki master. Takata initiated 22 Reiki masters before her passing in 1980, and these masters in turn have initiated Reiki masters across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and North and South America.


“She was fully recovered after 4 months and persuaded Hayashi to teach her Reiki.”

A complete Reiki treatment usually takes between 60 and 90 minutes. During this time, clients or receivers lie or sit in any position that is supported and comfortable. Practitioners then position their hands on or over several areas of the client's body, usually beginning at the head and ending at the feet. The intention of the practitioners is for Reiki energy to be pulled through their hands in direct proportion to the needs of the receiver at each area. The practitioner feels the rise and fall of the energy as it surges through their hands and is mindful when the energy is no longer flowing heavily so that the hands can move to the next position.


During a typical Reiki session 10 to 20 different hand positions may be applied. Some practitioners closely follow a prescribed course of hand positions, whereas advanced practitioners, who are able to intuitively determine areas of the client's body that require Reiki energy, may alter the order or the positions based on the client's needs. Although hand placement over the chakra centers was not in the original teaching of Reiki, many newer Reiki masters have added these positions to their practice. Reiki practitioners recommend persons with chronic conditions receive three to four Reiki treatments in a row so that their body can be energized to its fullest capacity.The frequency of therapy after the initial set of sessions is dependent upon the needs of the patient.


Although everyone has the ability to access Reiki energy, according to Reiki practitioners, the majority of people are unable to do so due to a history of trauma, which may have been mental, physical, emotional, or spiritual in origin. Energy channels have become obstructed as a result of this trauma or stress disease. These channels can be opened by a Reiki master who has been granted the authority to offer initiations, enabling access to and reception of Reiki energy.


“These channels can be opened by a Reiki master who has been granted the authority to offer initiations, enabling access to and reception of Reiki energy.”

There are three "degrees" or stages of Reiki training. Each level has a set of initiations or attunements designed to widen and improve the Reiki energy pathways within the practitioner.Typically, four 3-hour sessions make up the first degree of Reiki training. The students are given four attunements designed to access the higher energy centers, including the heart and mind, after reviewing the history and philosophy of Reiki. Reiki practitioners think that after these attunements are finished, the student is permanently attuned to the Reiki energy. The teaching of hand positions for working on oneself and others is also a part of level I training.


In order to learn the second-degree Reiki, or Reiki II, students must have completed the first level of Reiki and have maintained a consistent practice for several months to a year. Through additional attunements, training at the second level improves the practitioner's capacity for providing hands-on care. Practitioners are more equipped to help clients overcome their habits and addictions because to this training. The identification and use of three power symbols that can be utilized to communicate distant energy and healing intentions are also covered in Level II.


Third-degree attunement is used to initiate a Reiki master. A final, master symbol, is activated, which increases the power of the practitioner's treatment and is used by the practitioner to help teach Reiki to others. Reiki treatments do not have to be performed by a Reiki master or by a practitioner who has completed the third-level attunements to be effective. Persons who are interested in teaching Reiki to others, however, should seek well-qualified instructors and consider working with a Reiki master.


Three primary associations work to disseminate awareness about Reiki as a healing technique and make sure people around the world are taught its tenets and lessons. The Usui System of Natural Healing is the method used by the Reiki Alliance, which is led by Takata's granddaughter and includes a number of the original Reiki masters Takata trained. The majority of Reiki practitioners belong to this group. One of Takata's masters, Iris Ishikuro, taught Arthur Robinson, who later founded the American Reiki Masters Association (ARMA). Robinson pledged to endeavor to make Reiki broadly accessible through cost-effective education and training after she passed away in 1984. William Lee Rand is the director of the Center for Reiki Training, which provides practitioners and clients all over the world with Reiki classes and tools.


Reiki restores equilibrium to the person's subtle vibrational field, which improves immunity and health and is linked to an increase in endorphins, "nature's happy chemicals."

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