Reiki is a holistic healing practice that originated from Japan and is now widely successful across the globe due to its restorative and health promoting qualities. It is based on the principle of energy transfer through mind and body, helping to calm them which alleviates tension and allows for self healing to occur without the need of drugs.
This blog elaborates on the history, fundamental concepts, benefits, and the processes involved in Reiki.
### **The Fundamentals of Reiki Energy**
The name ‘Reiki’ is derived from the Japanese terms ‘Rei’, which means universal, and ‘Ki’ meaning life energy. Universal life force flows through every living entity and Reiki seeks to eliminate energy that causes blockages leading to stress, illness, and emotional distress. With the help of a practitioner, this energy can be channeled. The practitioner restores balance allowing for the body to heal naturally.
Reiki differs from conventional medicine, as it does not deal with symptoms. Reiki attempts to balance a person’s energy fields to enhance self healing.
### **Reiki’s Founding Principles**
Reiki is credited to Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japenese monk, who developed it in the first decade of 1900s. He claimed that while deeply meditating on Mount Kurama, he acquired the gift of healing with hands.
He subsequently created a method for training other people in Reiki.
In the 1930s, Hawayo Takata, a Japanese-American lady, was responsible for bringing Reiki to the West, thereby making this healing technique known all over the world.
### **How Does Reiki Work?**
Practitioners of Reiki believe that, everyone possesses a life force energy with their own flow, breaks in this flow can potentially cause illness or even stress. They begin the procedure by putting their hands on or above the body of the recipient, allowing them, through the power of their hands, to transfer energy. This dissolves the blockages of energy and restores equilibrium.
A typical session lasts anywhere from half an hour to an hour. The recipient of the treatment stays fully clothed and is asked to lie on a treatment table, while the practitioner’s hands cover important energy points. During treatment, a lot of people say that they experience feelings of warmth, tingling, or profound relaxation.
### **Benefits of Reiki**
Reiki helps people physically, emotionally, or even spiritually.
**Physical Benefits:**
– Pain relief (i.e., one suffers from migraines, arthritis, and back pain)
– Better functioning of the immune system
– More energy overall
– Improved quality of sleep
**Emotional and Mental Benefits:**
– Lessening stress, lessening anxiety, and overall feeling more relaxed
– More focus and concentration for everyday tasks
– Improved emotional strength and overall mental routine
**Spiritual Benefits:**
– More inner peace and feeling centered
– Enhanced understanding of oneself and one’s body
– Increased feeling of connection to the cosmos and universal energy
### **Common Reiki Techniques**
Reiki practitioners apply the following methods:
– **Hand Placement:** Channel energy into specific areas that require healing.
– **Distance Healing:** Transmit Reiki energy over long distances.
– **Self-Reiki:** Self-administered Reiki for self-healing purposes.
### **Reiki Misunderstandings**
**1. Reiki is not a religion.** It is a spiritual practice, but it does not force one to follow any specific faith.
**2. Reiki does not substitute for traditional medicine.** It assists and works alongside conventional medicine, but it should not be regarded as a replacement.
**3. Reiki is for everyone.** Anyone is free to receive Reiki irrespective of their belief system or culture.
### **How To Practice Reiki**
Reiki is taught in a form of progressive training in three levels:
– **Level I (Shoden):** Introduces self-healing and hands-on healing of other people.
– **Level II (Okuden):** Symbols are learned for distance Reiki healing and for more advanced energy work.
– **Level III (Shinpiden):** This is the Master level wherein one can teach and give attunements to students.
### **Conclusion**
Reiki is an effective method of promoting balance within the body, mind, and spirit. It provides a more positive way of achieving stress relief, emotional healing, or spiritual growth. In nearly all cases, a single attempt to perform Reiki can go a long way in aid of restoring balance and improving health.