What is Reiki?

It is an easily asked question, yet the answers will be different from each unique individual. It is in the experience of Reiki that we can find our answer.

Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by laying your hands on yourself and/or others and is based on the idea that our life force energy which is unseen flows through us causing us to be alive. If our life force energy is low, we are more likely to get sick. Stress is a big determent to harmony. When we have less stress we are more capable of being happy and healthy.

The word Reiki means Universal Life Energy, and is made from two Japanese words, Rei which means "God's Innate Wisdom or the Higher Power" and Ki which is "life force energy". So the definition of Reiki is actually "spiritually guided life force energy."  I think of it as Gods unconditional love. It is not a religion although it touches you in such a way that your spiritual life can be deepened.

The system of Reiki discovered by Mikao Usui who named his system of palm healing Usui Reiki Ryoho; in an interview he said “My Usui Reiki Ryoho is an original, there is nothing like it in this world…My Reiki Ryoho is an original method based on intuitive power in the universe. By this power, the body gets healthy and enhances happiness if life and peaceful mind. Nowadays people need improvement and reconstruction inside and outside of life, so the reason for releasing my method to the public is to help people with illness of body and mind.” For a more detailed story of Usui you can follow this link. http://www.asunam.com/life_of_mikao_usui.htm 

Reiki is the most simple, natural and safe method of spiritual healing and self-improvement that everyone can use. It has been effective in helping virtually every known illness and problem, always creating a beneficial effect. It also works in combination with all other medical or therapeutic techniques to relieve side effects and promote recovery.
Reiki is a remarkably simple technique to learn, the ability to use Reiki is not taught in the typical sense, but is transferred to the student during a Reiki class by the Reiki Master/Teacher during an "attunement and allows the student to tap into an unlimited supply of this universal life force energy to improve one's health and thereby enhancing the quality of life.

Using Reiki is not dependent on your intellect or development spiritually and is therefore available to everyone. It has been successfully taught to thousands of people of all ages, cultures, beliefs and backgrounds.

Hawayo Takata was the first American Grand Master of Reiki In an interview in 1975 explained Reiki in this way. “Here is the great space which surrounds us -- The Universe. There is endless and enormous energy in it. It is universal...its ultimate source is the Creator...It is limitless energy. It is the source of energy that makes the plants  grow...the birds fly. It is nature. It is God, the power that is made available to all that seek it. ”

The experience of Reiki still remains my best teacher. I find it deeply relaxing when I receive Reiki. My mind becomes more focused, the mind chatter stops and in that clarity I am choosing from this moment, not from the past or the future, but NOW. My body has become gentle, as my armor that keeps me safe in the world is no longer necessary. I can choose to be more visible and alive outwardly...to be seen. There is a deep internal peace that serves as a wellspring of energy and happiness. As a result of this apparent mental, emotional and spiritual harmony, I also feel more physically balanced. The experience evokes an inner knowing that is reached through the heart, not the mind. Reiki is simply the unconditional love of that universal unlimited source ... The Creator.

During a meditation several years after developing Reiki, Mikao Usui decided to add the Reiki Principles to the practice of Reiki. He developed them in order to add spiritual balance to Usui Reiki. Their purpose is to help people realize that healing the spirit requires a conscious decision to improve oneself and is a necessary part of the Reiki healing experience. In order for the Reiki healing to have lasting results, the client must accept responsibility for her or his healing and take an active part in it. The principles are guidelines for living a gracious life and worthy of integrating into ones life for their innate value.

The secret art of inviting happiness
The miraculous medicine of all diseases
Just for today, do not anger
Do not worry and be filled with gratitude
Devote yourself to your work. Be kind to people.
Every morning and evening, join your hands in prayer.
Pray these words to your heart and chant these words with your mouth
Usui Reiki Treatment for the improvement of body and mind
The founder, Usui Mikao

Now Reiki is being used and taught in some hospitals and hospices in various states. Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York is using Reiki as a complement to treatment. The Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) Medical School, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, Marian General Hospital, the Norwalk General Hospital in Norwalk Connecticut and the California Pacific Medical Center all offer Reiki to their patients. There is a Reiki clinic at the Tucson Medical Center in Arizona, Reiki is used at the Portsmouth Regional Hospital in New Hampshire; in Cleveland, and hospitals are considering setting up a Reiki clinic... In Vermont, there is already a Complementary Medicine clinic at Windsor Hospital where Reiki practitioners are working.

A recent newspaper article indicates that there are at least 65 Reiki practitioners among the doctors and nurses at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. New hospitals are being added to this list almost daily. My own experience is the medical personnel [both doctors and nurses] are familiar with Reiki and many admit to having worked along side a Reiki practitioner. I have been blessed to have both trained many doctors and nurses in Reiki through out the world but to also have worked beside them using Reiki in their clinics in many countries.

I have had the pleasure of working with many animals using Reiki. When I was in the Czech Republic I was often asked to work on the animals at the Northern Bohemia Regional Zoo. In many other countries I worked with Horses, cows and sheep, not to mention cats and dogs.  Animals are very receptive to Reiki.  Pets will generally warm up to a Reiki practitioner quicker than they would with other strangers.  It cannot be forced onto a pet.  If they are uncomfortable with the treatment, or if they just don't want it, they will let the practitioner know it, usually by walking away.  I have had several Veterinarians in my Reiki classes. It is a great complement to traditional veterinary medicine.