Reiki – What is it ?
The Benefits of Reiki include:
* Support of the body’s natural ability to heal itself.
* Reduced sense of helplessness when facing disease or trauma.
* Return of harmony within the body.
* Relief from physical, spiritual and emotional blockages.
* More energy and vitality
* Accelerated healing
* Better overall health
Reiki is a Japanese word that translates as “universal life energy”, the power which resides in all living matter. The syllable Rei refers to the universal, boundless aspect of this energy, whereas ki is the life force, which flows through all living beings. Ki is named chi by the Chinese and prana by the Hindus.
Reiki, when activated and applied for the purpose of healing, addresses the body, mind, and spirit, as well as the relationships among them. Reiki accelerates the body’s ability to heal physical ailments and opens the mind and spirit to the causes of disease and pain. The emphasis in Reiki is on taking responsibility for your life and the joys of balanced wellness.
The Ideals of Reiki
Just for today
* I will let go of anger.
* I will let go of worry.
* I will give thanks for my many blessings.
* I will do my work honestly.
* I will be kind to my neighbor and every living being.
Reiki is a gentle hands-on approach that addresses your energy field as a means of healing wounds and pain on all levels – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual – so that you can feel healthy and free of blockages. The roots of Reiki go back to the ancient origins of natural healing. In fact, the origins of Reiki have been traced back more than twenty-five hundred years to the ancient Tibetan sutras.
The Rediscovery of Reiki
In other bodywork modalities, theories and techniques begin with ideas and talents that individuals have developed into cohesive systems over time. Reiki is differnet. Reiki was rediscovered.
Mikao Usui, Ph.D.is the recognized founder of Reiki as a healing method. He rediscovered the use of universally available forces to bring people into gentle contact with their sources of pain and disease. There is no known written record of Usui’s rediscovery of an ancient approach to healing. However, Hawayo Takata, the third Reiki Master, related the history orally to her students, who kept it alive throughout the generations.
Usui was born in Japan in the middle of the nineteenth century. He was fascinated with Buddhism and wanted to learn how to apply the Buddha’s ability to heal people suffering from illness. He became a doctor of philosophy and in the late 1800’s, a professor at Doshisha University, a Christian school in Kyoto, Japan. Challenged by his students to demonstrate the healing powers used by the great spiritual leaders of the world, Usui left the school to embark on an intensive search for the secrets of healing.
He spent time in the United States studying in Chicago, and he traveled throughout Japan, where he studied at Buddhist temples to find answers to his questions about healing. He spoke with Buddhist teachers, priests and monks, who all told him that there once was a system of Buddhist healing that was now lost, and that the Buddhist ability to heal was lost with the information. Along his journey, Usui learned Chinese and Sanskrit so that he could read the ancient documents. He eventually discovered the formula for healing in the Tibetan sutras, ancient Buddhist texts written in ‘Sanskrit’.
Knowing the formula was not enough. For Usui, obtaining healing power was a complex spiritual experience that included fasting and meditating for twenty-one days on top of a holy mountain. The healing power was presented to him as a vision of light entering his consciousness. Usui was initiated in this way as the first Reiki master, the Grand Master.
Usui returned home to Japan, where he practiced Reiki for the rest of his life. He had the perspective that unless he passed on the healing power, Reiki would be lost again.
THE SUCCESSION OF REIKI MASTERS
A Reiki master is an individual who has healing power through the unblocked access to universal life energy. The Reiki ,aster channels the universal life energy to the receiver of Reiki. You can only become a Reiki master through a series of attunements provided by a Reiki master. The series of attunements imparts the healing power of the master to the students in such a way that the student becomes a Reiki master who can then heal and teach others.
Usui chose Chujiro Hayashi in 1925 to succeed him as the Grand Master so that the healing power of Reiki could be preserved and taught to others. Through a series of attunements and by absorbing the teachings of Reiki, Hayashi became the second Reiki master. He opened the first Reiki clinic in Tokyo for the treatment of serverely ill individuals. In order to continue the preservation of Reiki, Hayashi initatied thirteen Reiki masters. The thirteenth was Hawayo Takata, who is known for introducing Reiki to the West.
It was Hawayo Takata’s desire to be cured of a serious illness that took her on a journey from her home in Hawaii to Hayashi’s Reiki clinic in Japan. She was treated by two Reiki practitioners each day. She reported that she could feel the heat of the energy coming from their hands so strongly that she thought it was generated by machine. She became familiar with Reiki as a receiver, and when she was cured of her illness, her strong desire to become a Reiki master was fulfilled.
In 1937, Takata returned to Hawaii, and Hayashi and his family helped her establish Reiki there. Between 1970 and 1980, Takata initaied twenty two Reiki masters. These twenty-two teachers have taught others throughout the world. It is estimated that there are currently about five thousand Reiki masters and half a million people practicing Reiki.
How Reiki Promotes Healing
Exactly how Reiki works from a scientific perspective is not really known. However, many receivers of Reiki have obtained significant relief.
The theory underlying how Reiki works places an emphasis on the intricate and reciprocal relationships among body,mind and spirit. According to the Reiki masters, we are alive because life force is flowing through our bodies by means of pathways called chakras, meridians, and nadis. The life energy also flows around each of us in a field of energy called the aura. The life force nourishes the organs and cells of the body, supporting them in their vital functions, by flowing through these pathways. When this flow is disrupted, the organs and tissues of the body become less efficient and badly affected.
According to the theory of Reiki, all of us are born with the potential to access this universal life energy, which maintains our health and a balanced internal state. The flow of the life force is influenced by our thoughts and feelings. As we go through life, we are influenced by experiences that disrupt and taint our thoughts and feelings about ourselves and the world. As we begin to accept these negative thoughts and feelings on both conscious and unconscious levels our systems become weakened, and our access to the universal life energy becomes blocked.
Reiki masters are empowered to unblock the energy pathways in others, allowing the universal life force to flow through them. The healing power of Reiki resides in the flow of Reiki energy through the channel (the giver) to the opened pathways of the receiver.
Once the energy is received, it must be empowered by the receiver in order to work effectively. In this sense, the receiver plays an active role in creating health, inner harmony, and balance. The conscious decision to participate in one’s self-improvement is the active commitment to Reiki that makes it a complete system. This commitment to one’s own healing is at the heart of the Reiki ideals. These ideals comprise the ethical principles of Reiki and serve as guidelines for a gracious, fulfilling life.
EXPERIENCING REIKI
Reiki is a gentle but powerful bodywork modality. A Reiki session lasts anywhere from sixty to ninety minutes. The receiver is fully clothed, and no oil is used. The Reiki energy enters the giver through the top of the head and exits through the hands, where it is directed into the body or energy field of the receiver.
THE REIKI IDEALS
Just for today –
1. I will let go of anger
2. I will let go of worry.
3. I will give thanks for my many blessings.
4. I will do my work honestly.
5. I will be kind to my neighbor and every living being.
The practitioner directs and concentrates the energy by placing his or her hands on ten to twenty specific areas of the receiver’s body to cause the negative energy to break apart and dissipate. The hand positions are chosen to impact the chakras and the internal organs and glands of the receiver. Each hand position is maintained for several minutes to allow the receiver time to draw on it.
In addition to having a planned approach, the practitioner also relies on intuition and feedback from the receiver’s aura when selecting particular areas of the body for treatment. As the receiver draws on the channeled energy, healing is facilitated by the increasing flow of Ki through the affected parts of the energy field, charging them with positive energy. The giver raises the vibratory level of the energy field in and around the body where the negative thoughts and feelings have become attached. Through this energy transmission from giver to receiver, Reiki clears and heals the receiver’s energy pathways, allowing the life force to flow in a healthy and natural way, uninterrupted by blockages that have now been removed.
An unusual aspect of this modality is that the receiver does not even have to be present to experience the healing powers of Reiki. According to the theory underlying Reiki, natural laws exist that allow for the transfer of life energy over distance to one or more receivers at a time. For a long-distance session, an appointment of about fifteen to twenty minutes is made, and a photograph of the receiver is used to help channel the energy. The receiver is advised to sit or lie down during the appointed time in order to be ready to receive the treatment and feel the flow of energy.
Not everyone has the same reaction to a Reiki session. Some feel more in tune with their inner selves. Some feel unconditional love from the universe. Some have interesting sensory experiences. Some feel a renewal of their spirit. The most widely experienced reaction to Reiki is a feeling of profound relaxation.
THE BENEFITS OF REIKI
Reiki supports the body’s natural ability to heal itself, minimizes your sense of helplessness when facing disease or traumma, and brings your body back into harmony by relieving physical, spiritual, and emotional blockages. Reiki helps alleviate the the discomfort caused by aches and pains, stress, anxiety, grief, depression, and life changes. Increased energy and vitality, a strengthened immune system, accelerated healing, the cleansing of bodily toxins and improved overall health are associated with Reiki. For some, Reiki awakens creativity, enhances intuition, and provides the internal motivation to make better choices regarding mental, physical, and spiritual health.
Reiki can be applied to people of all ages because it is a universal system, encompassing all living beings. When Reiki is applied by a parent, a benefit for infants and young children is the intensification of the bonding between parent and child. Infants and children can thrive when given universal life energy. The process can help keep their pathways open throughout the course of development, allowing for continual renewal of the body, mind and spirit.
The gentle modality is pleasant to receive and does not involve manipulation of muscle tissues. It is safe for most individuals. However, to be on the safe-side, sessions should be shortened when Reiki is applied to very young children, to the geriatric population, or to seriously ill individuals.
Even though Reiki has a spiritual foundation, it is not a religion. No particular belief system is required on the part of the receiver for Reiki to be effective. The infants and young children who benefit from Reiki have not yet formed a belief system or a commitment to a religion. The lack of necessity of believing in Reiki is further evidenced by the use of Reiki with animals and plants. According to Reiki, universal life energy flows not only through human beings but through all living things.
Reiki is NOT considered a cure-all. Rather, Reiki is the modern application of an ancient healing art that acts by harnessing and channeling the life energy around us for the purpose of facilitating health and well-being. This modality can be used as a safe adjunct to psychotherapeutic and medical treatments.