Can Reiki Help Me?
Reiki practitioners do not perform massage or move the body in any way. They simply position their hands gently on or over vital areas of the body.
Just a few minutes into a Reiki session, many people fall into what we call a “Reiki slumber.” When they wake up, they feel deeply refreshed, relaxed, and usually free of pain. For those who don’t dose off, the experience can be one of seeing beautiful colors, feeling penetrating warmth moving deeply into their body or a tingling sensation at the location of the practitioner’s hands. Most people have a sense of physical balancing, emotional release, or a new sense of well-being after their Reiki treatment.
Reiki works both subtly and dramatically on the body, which in a variety of ways records and expresses the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual wear-and-tear, in addition to the traumas that we undergo in our lives.
If you are in a weight-loss or detoxifying program, Reiki helps rebalance your body, filling the body and any new “gaps” with vital energy.
More and more hospitals are including Reiki as part of a treatment plan or rehabilitation program. Often Reiki is used before surgery as well as after. Reiki is a great support during the long-term treatment of serious, painful illnesses such as cancer.
Reiki is offered by many Hospice workers to ease end-of-life issues for individuals and their families.
Focused Reiki is very beneficial to animals and plants, not just humans.
Of course one Reiki session, just like one pill, will not clear out all our imbalances. Deep-seated or chronic conditions often require a series of Reiki treatments. However, a single Reiki session will imbue you with a deep sense of inner tranquility, which can last for quite a while, even for those with hectic schedules.
It is important to know that there are no contraindications for Reiki. It simply revives our body’s ability to use life energy to bring us back into balance. Reiki is a way of listening to the messages our bodies hold and of responding to them, without either the practitioner or even the client necessarily knowing “what’s wrong.”
How Does Reiki “Work”?
Reiki can be performed whether you are lying down or sitting up. Visiting clients are always fully clothed during Reiki treatment. Reiki can be a complementary treatment to whatever therapy your doctor, nurse practitioner, dentist, physiotherapist, mental health counselor, or other health professional has recommended for you.
When receiving Reiki, you will not be receiving the practitioner’s “personal” energy, nor will the practitioner drain you of “your” energy. Instead, both practitioner and client receive Reiki energy, the energy of “universal life force,” in Japanese.
Reiki is simply a concentration of the life force that's all around us, which gets focused specifically on you and your situation. What happens next is up to you and the path your soul wants to take. Your body and your soul-spirit-self are in the driver's seat. They decide how they will use the Reiki and how much they wish to absorb.
The energy remains at work in and around the body for the next day or so. This is why it’s important when scheduling a series of Reiki sessions that a next session not be scheduled the following day. The body’s systems need time to integrate the effects of the new flow of energy. At the same time, building on the last session supports the body as it tries to regain its balance, so series sessions are usually scheduled two or three days apart. Because animals’ metabolisms are generally quicker than those of humans, you can schedule a series for an animal friend over a shorter period of time.
What Is Reiki, Really?
Most of you have probably heard of the word “chi” or “ki,” which is variously interpreted as “vital life force” or “universal energy.” The syllable “Rei” refers to “spirit,” “vitality,” or “spiritual wisdom.” Put together, “Rei-Ki” is focused life force, “Spirit-guided energy,” or “God-guided energy” that is inherent in and accessible to all living things and that can be used for healing.
What this energy is, that's the big question that maybe nobody can answer. The term “Reiki” and the system embodied by the term were officially introduced by its initiator in Japan, Mikao Usui, in 1922. Following in the footsteps of the ancient worldwide traditions of “laying on of hands,” Usui, in a life-changing vision quest, received information for channeling the life force that is all around us and funneling it through a ready receptor person and on into someone suffering from emotional trauma, mental imbalance, or physical illness. The great earthquake near Tokyo in 1923 gave Usui ample opportunity to provide relief, spread the practice of Reiki, and train the students who then trained others in Reiki. Reiki is a fast-growing practice found in every country worldwide.
The list of physical suffering that can be helped through Reiki is as significant as it is endless. Disease or inflammation of any of the body's organs, the joints and bones, as well as the brain and its functioning can all be helped with Reiki. To mention a few personal ailments Reiki has helped with, Reiki can diffuse migraines, noticeably speed up the healing of bruises or infections, remove pain from the back or leg joints, speed up colds or flu, improve sleep, and relieve depression and anxiety. Having regular Reiki sessions can keep one in general good health and improve balance and clarity in life.
What Is Distance Reiki?
Reiki can also be used at a distance or across time. Reiki can be sent to people, animals, and situations over a long distance. Reiki can be sent into the future to support a positive outcome or into the past to get to the root of a trauma.
Animals don't lie. So if they go from being lethargic, incapacitated, or suffering pain to moving freely with apparent comfort and ease, and eating with gusto to boot, that's proof enough that Reiki is effective help in healing all kinds of imbalances.
You can make an appointment for a local on-site session or for a distance Reiki session for you, a friend, or your animal companion.