What is Reiki?
Reiki is a Japanese technique that can be used to reduce stress and bring relaxing and calming energy to the person so promoting healing.
It is administered by "laying on hands" or hands that hover above the person. It is based on the idea that an unseen "life force energy"
flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. The word Reiki is made of two Japanese words - Rei which means "God's Wisdom or the Higher Power" and Ki which is "life force energy".
So Reiki is actually "spiritually guided life force energy."
A treatment feels like a warm energy that flows through you, although at times some people have experienced a sense of coldness down one side of the body. Reiki is not a religion, it is still important to live and act in a way that promotes harmony with others. Mikao Usui, the founder of the Reiki system of
natural healing, recommended that one practice certain simple ethical ideals to promote peace and harmony,
which are nearly universal across all cultures.
During a meditation several years after developing Reiki, Mikao Usui decided to add the Reiki Ideals to the practice of Reiki.
The Ideals came in part from the five prinicples of the Meiji emperor of Japan whom Mikao Usui admired. The Ideals were developed to add spiritual balance
to Usui Reiki. Their purpose is to help people realise that healing the spirit by consciously deciding to improve oneself is a necessary part of the Reiki
healing experience. The Reiki principles Something to bear in mind
If one's "life force energy" is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress,
and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy and at peace within ourselves.
Reiki treats the whole person including body, emotions, mind and spirit.
Reiki is a simple, natural and safe method of spiritual healing and self-improvement that everyone can use.
It also can help in conjunction with all other medical or therapeutic techniques to relieve side effects and promote recovery, as well as working with
people who are in palliative care or End of Life to bring peace in their journey home.
While Reiki is spiritual in nature, it is not a religion. It has no dogma, and there is nothing you must believe in order to learn and use Reiki.
In fact, Reiki is not dependent on belief. Because Reiki comes from God, many people find that using Reiki puts them more in touch with the experience
of their religion rather than having only an intellectual concept of it.
In order for the Reiki healing energies to have lasting results, the client must accept responsibility for her or his healing and take
an active part in it. Therefore, the Usui system of Reiki is more than the use of the Reiki energy.
