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Reiki is a form of therapy to reduce stress and pain plus to
improve your health.
that uses simple hands-on, no-touch,
and visualization techniques, with the goal of improving the
flow of life energy in a person. Reiki (pronounced ray-key)
means "universal life energy" in Japanese, and Reiki
practitioners are trained to detect and alleviate problems of
energy flow on the physical, emotional, and spiritual level.
Reiki touch therapy is used in much the same way to achieve
similar effects that traditional massage therapy is used--to
relieve stress and pain, and to improve the symptoms of various
health conditions.
Reiki
was developed in the mid-1800s by Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese
scholar of religion. According to the story that has been passed
down among Reiki teachers, Usui was a Christian who was
intrigued by the idea that Christ could heal sick people by
touching them with his hands. Searching for clues
that would explain the secrets
of healing with hands, Usui made
a long pilgrimage around the
world, visiting many ancient
religious sects and studying
ancient books. Some Reiki
teachers claim that Usui found
clues leading back nearly 10,000
years to healing arts that
originated in ancient Tibet.
During his intense studies, Usui
claimed he had a spiritual
experience, which enabled him to
heal with his own hands by
becoming aware of and tapping
into the universal life force.
After that, he dedicated his
life to helping the sick and
poor. His reputation grew as he
healed sick people for many
years in Kyoto, Japan. Before
his death, Usui passed on his
healing insights using universal
life energy to Dr. Chujiru
Hayashi, a close acquaintance.
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Hayashi, in turn, passed on the
healing techniques in 1938 to Hawayo Takata, a Japanese woman
from Hawaii, whom he had cured
of life-threatening illness
using reiki methods. Takata
became a firm believer and
proponent of reiki, and during
the 1970s formed an initiation
program for training reiki
masters to preserve Usui's
teachings. Before she died, she
prepared her granddaughter,
Phyllis Lei Furumoto, to
continue the lineage. Takata had
personally trained 21
practitioners before she died at
the age of 80 in 1980. Along
with other reiki masters
authorized by Takata, Furumoto
formed the reiki Alliance. A
faction led by Barbara Ray,
formed the American Reiki
Association, which was known as
Radiance Technique Association
International. Today, there are
over 1,000 reiki masters
practicing around the world,
whose methods can all be traced
back directly to Dr. Usui.
Reiki claims to provide many of
the same benefits as traditional
massage therapy, such as
reducing stress, stimulating the
immune system, increasing
energy, and relieving the pain
and symptoms of health
conditions. Practitioners have
reported success in helping
patients with acute and chronic
illnesses, from asthma and
arthritis to trauma and recovery
from surgery. Reiki is a gentle
and safe technique, and has been
used successfully in some
hospitals. It has been found to
be very calming and reassuring
for those suffering from severe
or fatal conditions. Reiki can
been used by doctors, nurses,
psychologists and other health
professionals to bring touch and
deeper caring into their healing
practices.
The basic idea of Reiki is that
the body has an energy field
that is central to its health
and proper functioning, and this
energy travels in certain
pathways that can become blocked
or weakened. This idea of energy
flow in the body is also a
central concept in Ayurvedic
medicine and traditional Chinese
medicine, including acupuncture.
Reiki practitioners
believe that everyone has the
potential to access the
universal life energy, but that
over time most people's systems
become blocked and the energy
becomes weakened in them. A
Reiki practitioner is trained to
be able to detect these
blockages, and practitioners
will use their hands, thoughts,
and own energy fields to improve
the energy flow in a patient.
Reiki is one of the more
esoteric alternative medical
practices, because no one is
sure exactly how it works on the
physiological level.
Practitioners claim that it
works on very subtle energy
levels, or possibly works on the
chakra system. The chakras are
the system of seven energy
centers along the middle of the
body believed to be connected
with the nervous and endocrine
systems, as defined by yoga and
Ayurvedic medicine. Reiki
masters claim that healing
energy can even be sent to a
person from far away, noting
that reiki works on the same
principles that enables praying
to work for some patients,
although a practitioner needs
advanced training to be able to
send energy from afar.
According to the original
principles of Usui, patients
must also have a proper attitude
for Reiki to work most
effectively. Patients must take
responsibility for their own
health, and must want to be
healed. Furthermore, when energy
is received from a reiki healer,
patients must be willing to give
back energy to others, and to
compensate the healer in some
way, as well. Finally, Usui
claimed that a healing attitude
was free from worry and fear,
was filled with gratitude for
life and for others, and placed
emphasis on each person finding
honest and meaningful work in
their lives--all this, in order
to complete the picture of
overall health.
Reiki sessions can take various
forms, but most commonly
resemble typical bodywork
appointments, where the receiver
lies clothed on his or her back
on a flat surface or massage
table. A session generally lasts
from an hour to an hour and a
half. Reiki is a simple
procedure, consisting of calm
and concentrated touching, with
the practitioner focusing on
healing and giving energy to
specific areas on the receiver's
body. Practitioners place their
hands over positions on the body
where the organs and endocrine
glands reside, and the areas
that correspond to the chakra
centers. Practitioners also use
mental visualization to send
healing energy to areas of the
receiver's body that need it. In
special cases or with injuries,
a no-touch technique is used,
where the practitioner's hands
are sometimes held just above
the body without touching it.
Advanced practitioners rely on
intuition and experience to
determine which areas of a body
need the most energy healing.
The Reiki practitioner's hands are
held flat against the receiver's
body, with the fingertips
touching. There can be over 20
positions on both sides of the
body where the hands are placed.
The positions begin at the crown
of the head and move towards the
feet. The receiver usually turns
over once during the session.
The practitioner's hands are
held in each position for a
usually five minutes, to allow
the transfer of energy and the
healing process to take place.
In each position, the hands are
kept stationary, unlike typical
massage where the hands move,
and both the giver and receiver
attempt to maintain an attitude
of awareness, openness, and
caring.
Reiki practitioners recommend
that those receiving Reiki for
the first time go through a
series of three to four initial
treatments over the course of
about a week, to allow for
cleansing and the initial
readjustment of energy. Reiki
sessions can cost from $30-100
per session. Insurance coverage
is rare, and consumers should
consult their individual
policies as to whether or not
such therapies are included.
Although Reiki practitioners
believe that formal training is
necessary to learn the proper
methods of energy channeling and
healing, individuals can still
use some of the basic positions
of reiki to relieve stress and
to stimulate healing on
themselves or another. The
positions can be performed
anywhere and for however long
they are needed. Positions
generally move from the top of
the body down, but positions can
be used wherever there is pain
or stress. Mental attitude is
important during reiki; the mind
should be cleared of all
stressful thoughts and
concentrated on compassion,
love, and peace as forms of
energy that are surrounding,
entering, and healing the body.
The following positions are
illustrated in Reiki: Energy
Medicine:
Position one: Hands are
placed on the top of the head,
with the wrists near the ears
and the fingertips touching on
the crown of the head. Eyes
should be closed. Hold for five
minutes or more, until the mind
feels clear and calm.
Position two: Cup the
hands slightly and place the
palms over the closed eyes, with
the fingers resting on the
forehead.
Position three: Place the
hands on the sides of the head,
with the thumbs behind the ear
and the palms over the lower
jaws, with the fingers covering
the temples.
Position four: Place one
hand on the back of the neck, at
the base of the skull, and put
the other hand on the head just
above it, parallel to it.
Position five: Wrap the
hands around the front of the
throat, and rest them there
gently with the heels of the
hands touching in front.
Position six: Place each
hand on top of a shoulder, close
to the side of neck, on top of
the trapezius muscle.
Position seven: Form a
T-shape with the hands over the
chest, with the left hand
covering the heart and the right
hand above it, covering the
upper part of the chest.
Position eight: The hands are
placed flat against the front of
the body with fingertips
touching. Hold for five minutes
or so, and repeat four or five
times, moving down a hand-width
each time until the pelvic
region is reached, which is
covered with a v-shape of the
hands. Then, for the final
position, repeat this technique
on the back, beginning as close
to the shoulders as the hands
can reach, and ending by forming
a T-shape with the hands at the
base of the spine.
Reiki generally has no side
effects, as it is a very low
impact and gentle procedure.
Some receivers report tingling
or sensations of heat or cold
during treatment. Others have
reported sadness or anxiety
during treatment, which
practitioners claim are buried
or repressed emotions being
released by the new energy flow.
Reiki has been used in major
clinics and hospitals as part of
alternative healing practice,
and doctors, dentists, nurses
and other health professionals
have been trained to use its
gentle touch techniques as part
of their practice. To date, the
little scientific research that
has been conducted with reiki
implies that its techniques
bring about the relaxation
response , in which stress
levels decrease, and immune
response increases. Reiki
practitioners claim that the
most important measurement of
their technique is whether the
individual feels better after
treatment. They also claim that
science cannot measure the
subtle energy changes that they
are attempting to make.
Reiki practitioners undergo a
series of attunements , which
are sessions with Reiki masters
that teach the basic methods of
energy healing. Several
organizations provide resources
for Reiki training. Reiki
practitioners believe these
attunements are necessary for
correct technique. The masters
teach each person how to
activate the universal life
energy in themselves before they
can pass it on to others. These
initiations often are held
during weekend workshops.
Trainees can achieve up to four
levels of attunements, until
they reach the level of master
themselves. The certification
process is not a formal one;
masters approve students when
they feel satisfied with their
progress.
Author Douglas Dupler
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