Reiki Explained…
What Is Reiki?
The term “Reiki” comes from the Japanese words “rei,” meaning universal, and “ki,” which means vital life force energy that flows through all living things. Reiki is a complementary health approach in which practitioners place their hands on or just above different areas of the body. It’s based on an Eastern medicine belief that living beings have energy fields that support their health and vitality.
If you think of your internal energy pathways (meridians) as a river, overtime the river becomes blocked with debris (negative energy, stuck emotions, pain from injuries, etc.) impeding the innate flow of healthy vital energy, causing health or emotional issues and imbalances to manifest. Reiki practitioners focus on sensing these energy blocks and move the energy for the greatest good of the client. When your energy pathways are cleared, your energy flows smoothly to all areas of the body, resulting in a better sense of wellbeing and can restore the body to its natural harmonious state.
What are the health benefits of Reiki?
Reiki is linked to a range of physical and emotional health benefits, including better sleep, improved mood, stress reduction and pain relief. Research suggests Reiki helps your body return to a state of relaxation, which allows it to heal from damage brought on by stress, injury, or disease. There’s evidence that Reiki, used as a complementary therapy with other standard medical techniques, can help people recover after surgery and manage symptoms of cancer, AIDS, Traumatic Brain Injuries and more. Reiki also helps to balance and soothe emotional disturbances, helping to bring positive energy to areas of concern resulting in better emotional regulation and overall mood stability.
What happens during a Reiki session?
During the session, the practitioner will place their hands lightly on or near your body in a series of hand positions, including positions around the head and shoulders, the stomach, legs and the feet, as well as other positions based on the client’s individual needs. Each hand position is held for roughly 3 to 10 minutes, depending on how much the client’s body needs in each position. People often experience heat in the practitioner's hands, but sometimes the practitioner's hands feel refreshingly cool. Other common experiences are subtle pulsations where the practitioner's hands are placed or cascading waves of pulsations throughout the body. Expect to feel deeply relaxed during the session. You’ll likely daydream, and you may even fall into a light sleep. You may even enter a deep meditative state that helps restore the nervous system.
Brief History of Reiki
The history of Usui Reiki begins with its founder, Dr. Mikao Usui. As a child, Dr. Usui studied in a Buddhist monastery where he was taught martial arts, swordsmanship, and the Japanese form of Chi Kung, known as Kiko. Throughout his education, Dr. Usui had an interest in medicine, psychology and theology. It was this interest that prompted him to seek a way to heal himself and others using the laying on of hands. It was his desire to find a method of healing that was unattached to any specific religion and religious belief, so that his system would be accessible to everyone. Dr. Usui traveled a great deal during his lifetime. He studied healing systems of all types and held different professions including reporter, secretary, missionary, public servant and guard. Finally, he became a Buddhist priest/monk and lived in a monastery. Sometime during his years of training in the monastery, Dr. Usui attended his own training rediscovery course in a cave on Mount Kurama. For 21 days, Dr. Usui fasted, meditated and prayed. On the morning of the twenty-first day, Dr. Usui experienced an event that would change his life forever. He saw ancient Sanskrit symbols that helped him develop the system of healing he had been struggling to invent. Usui Reiki was born. After his spiritual awakening on Mount Kurama, Dr. Usui established a clinic for healing and teaching in Kyoto. As the practice of Usui Reiki was spreading, Dr. Usui became known for his healing practice.
Did you know…
Reiki is great for Animals / Pets
Reiki is being used as a treatment and connection method in a number of ways for pets including:
Anxious or Stressed Pets: The number one primary benefit and response to Reiki with animals is stress relief and deep relaxation. The calm space created by a Reiki practitioner’s meditation invites the animal to join that relaxed environment. This can make Reiki an effective stress reliever for pets in high anxiety environments, be that a shelter setting or even at home with a new baby in the house, or moving to a new environment.
Coping With Illness and Surgery Recovery: When we are deeply relaxed, all of our systems relax and can function optimally and our immune system can operate more optimally. Our bodies can heal themselves when we can allow ourselves to relax. Reiki works for animals in the same way it works for humans, by inducing that state or creating that relaxation that we need to heal. If you have a pet who is anxious at the vet, but requires many visits because of their sickness or needs surgery, Reiki can help prepare them, as well as offer comfort and healing in the after-care recovery time.
End of Life Care: Reiki is offered in many hospitals and hospices for both family members and patients. When Reiki is used to help an animal pass, we find similar benefits. Animals handle death better than we do, they know they are dying, they need time to process this and to know they are leaving. Reiki can help provide that time so that a pet is not in severe pain as they cope with this impending change. It can also bring pet owners comfort as well, especially knowing that their pet is at peace — maybe eating more and being more playful in their final days — helping the transition of saying goodbye. Reiki can create this beautiful peacefulness in the dying process, sometimes it’s not about getting better, but it’s about finding peace in their last days. It can be an incredible gift to have in a difficult moment.
Bonding and Quality Time: Reiki can provide a way to strengthen the human-pet connection. Animals teach us, they share with us even more than we share with them. They are intuitive beings. Reiki can offer another way to connect with your pet and can be especially helpful if you have rescued a new pet with past trauma or notice significant changes in your pet’s demeanor, but there are no physical signs of illness, or you long time pet that is experiencing difficult changes.
