Definition: The word Reiki is made of two Japanese words often defined as Rei (higher power) and Ki (life force energy). This energy is commonly referred to in the USA as universal life force (ULF).
Introduction: Reiki is a natural energy healing modality that relies on the healing intention of the practitioner for its effectiveness. It is a simple process that can be of great benefit to the individual’s overall health and wellness. We are always healing. No matter what the disease or trauma our natural self is always in a perpetual state of healing and recovery. When practicing Reiki we focus our intention to healing to help facilitate the natural process.
The physical body is made of the same matrix of energy that surrounds and composes all matter. We are part of a quantum field that is present everywhere with the potential to manifest as a material substance or the energy around it. All physical matter is simply a more dense concentration of this energy field. Because all matter including ourselves is connected, we are able to affect and be affected by one another with our intention and focus.
Every moment of our human experience is unlimited potential. Our thoughts and the choices we make create the finite realities of this experience. Reiki and its simple methods of self healing is a very practical way of making good choices. We focus on healing that will make us whole and provide for our highest good. Using Reiki to aid our personal healing and helping others with their healing is simply a wonderful benefit of our creative self.
Religion and Reiki: Many people mistakenly believe that Reiki is a religion. Reiki is a science and is nonsecular. It is not part of any particular religion and can be used by people of any belief. However, healing through touch has been an important part of the founding ministry of many religious paths as well as the origins of modern medicine.
Cultural studies indicate that the village healer has always held an exalted status and was taken care of by the village people in return for his/her ministrations. In many cases, the mystery of healing was wrapped up inseparably in the mystique and superstitions of the spiritual world as held by that culture. Shamanic healers and medicine men and women have used healing touch and the power of the psyche to heal ailments of all sorts. Religious texts of all the major religions outline the healing and miracles performed by the central characters and much emphasis is placed on that power.
Natural: The practice of healing through touch, or laying-on-of-hands, is as old as mankind and is one of our basic animal instincts. If you get cut or stung, the first thing you do is clap your hand over the painful area and focus on it until it begins to feel better. This is the application of the rudimentary principles of healing touch. We are born with the ability to heal others and ourselves. It is encoded into our genetic material and is instinctive. The first thing a child will do when injured, is put their hand on the painful area and hold it, maybe jump up and down, and cry. These are all actions designed to help relieve the pain and speed healing on its way. Pain is our physical body’s way of bringing our intent and focus to an injured area to promote healing as well as avoiding the injury in the future. Pain is soothed by touch, especially warm, soothing touch such as a mother’s hand when caring for her young ones. All animals instinctively recognize and accept touch healing.
Scientific Evidence: Over the past three decades several scientists and universities have conducted experiments using laying-on of hands healers. Professor Bernard Grad, a Canadian biologist, alone has published thirty-five papers on experiments involving healing. Grad has used barley seeds, animals, plants, and humans to prove something objective and scientifically verifiable happens when a healer goes to work. The results consistently showed the healer’s intervention had a profound positive effect on the rate of healing.
Daniel Worth, president of Healing Sciences International, conducted one of the more interesting experiments using humans. Worth set out to explore whether there would be a healing effect if the persons to be healed were kept completely unaware of the healer’s presence and unaware that any healing was taking place. He enlisted forty-four male student volunteers who were told they would be part of an experiment to test a new, highly sensitive camera, which could photograph the energy flowing around the human body. Under the tightest of secrecy and controls, half of the group came to a rented house at regular intervals in the morning and the other half came in the afternoon. Everyone was told the same story; everyone was treated in exactly the same way. Each volunteer had an eight-millimeter-wide, skin-deep wound cut on his forearm. When they went into the house, each volunteer was seated close to the wall of an otherwise empty room and instructed to insert his arm through a small, heavily draped hole— nothing was visible on the other side. Each volunteers sat there for precisely five minutes while the “camera” in the adjoining room was supposedly filming the wound. The purported theory was that there would be extra energy flowing around the wound and the camera would be able to record it. The point, however, was that there was no camera in the next room. The morning group was simply hanging their arms in empty space. In the afternoon a healer, named Laurie Eden, totally concealed from them, sat in the alleged camera room, close to the wall, and carried out a healing session on the wounds, keeping her hands just inches above their arms.
At the end of sixteen days, medical experts, who did not know who had been treated by the healer, examined the arms of the forty-four students. The wounds of thirteen of those treated by the healer had healed entirely; each wound had closed over and had a layer of new tissue sealing it. The rest of the afternoon group was “well on the way to total healing.” By contrast, not a single member of the control group had experienced complete closing of the wound, or anything close to it. The photos showing the differences are striking. Worth’s experiment showed that the healing was effective and that belief or suggestion played no part in the healing.
The documentation for Worth’s findings is contained in a special thirty-minute documentary film by the BBC called “A Way of Healing.” It has also been fully written up by Dr. Worth himself, complete with all the relevant statistics and charts, in Subtle Energies, vol. 1 no. 1, 1990.
Auric Field: The energy currents flowing through and outside of our physical body is commonly referred to as the auric field. This energy body is composed of several layers and is of variable thickness. It is usually palpable within a couple inches of the physical body. Some people can visualize it and detect color flows. Kirilian photography can capture and colorize the auric field on film. The aura, or subtle body, connects directly with the physical body in many locations. These areas or vortexes are called chakras. There are numerous minor chakras, but generally speaking, only 7 major chakras are recognized. The chakras act as transformers, converting the energy field into current usable by the body.
Chakra Connection: There have been many books written on the subject of the chakra system. The energy channels have been mapped, diagrammed, and various opinions argued extensively. The normal flow of life force energy is multidirectional. Just as blood vessels run throughout our body, so do the energy channels. The larger "arteries" run through the torso in a simultaneous, vertical, spiraling pattern connecting the major chakras. The smaller channels feed into and out of this mainstream flow. Each chakra serves a specific purpose and controls different aspects of our emotional body. They are interfaced with the physical body through the endocrine system and each chakra correlates with a particular gland of that system. They are each represented by a different color of the light spectrum. Interestingly enough, the levels also correspond to our evolution as a species and with modern psychological theories of hierarchal development.
Study of the chakras is very interesting and the Reiki student is encouraged to learn more about the chakras. However it is important to understand that one may be very successful practicing Reiki even with little or no knowledge of the chakras.
Hormonal Connection: Our energy body via the chakras is connected to the endocrine system. There is an important correlation here. Our thoughts, feelings and beliefs originate in our energy body and are translated by the chakras into the chemical language of the physical body via hormones. That is why we feel emotions with such intensity and why, when our hormones are out of order, we experience emotional turbulence. The sexual hormones are especially prone to causing emotional outbursts. Even with the digestive hormones, i.e. insulin, erratic production causes moodiness and irritability. Keeping our subtle body healthy and balanced has a direct effect on how good we feel physically, mentally, and emotionally
Summary: Much of the way we think about ourselves is gained through distorted information we accumulate from our culture and our mundane lives. Sadly, these misconceptions regarding our essential nature have caused many to develop poor habits that deny them an opportunity to experience the inherent power of the multi dimensional self.
To better understand self one must become familiar with the multiple dimensions of our being and the intelligent energy that works through these dimensions of spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical self. With this understanding the enlightened self is able to make use of this power for healing, personal growth, and experiencing a better connection with the creative source.
This path of self-discovery begins with accepting and engaging the multi dimensional self and the energy that moves through it. The physical body is made of the same matrix of energy that surrounds and composes all matter. We are part of a quantum field that is present everywhere with the potential to manifest as a material substance or the energy around it. All physical matter is simply a more dense concentration of this energy field. Because all matter including ourselves is connected, we are able to affect and be affected by one another and the whole of the universe.
The individual consciousness is able to engage the essential energy of all creation for a wealth of personal power. This empowerment will allow us to create the life that we desire and give us the ability to share unconditional love with everyone.
Treatment: In a standard treatment Reiki energy flows from the practitioners hands into the client. The client is laying on a massage table and remains fully clothed. The practitioner places their hands on or near the clients body in a series of hand positions. These include positions around the head and shoulders, the stomach, and feet. Other, more specific positions may be used based on the clients needs.
Source: Healing Today