Reiki: What It Is...

Reiki is an ancient form of touch therapy with origins in the ancient healing practices of China and Tibet such as those preserved in acupuncture, qiqong, and chi healing. Reiki was re-discovered in 1922 by Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese healer proficient in various forms of oriental energy work including acupuncture and chi healing. There are distinct differences, however, between Reiki and the older forms of energy healing. Reiki, as Dr. Usui handed it forward is an evolutionary advance over the old healing traditions which still require years of discipline, practice, and effort before the practitioner can be effective. In Reiki, a properly trained Reiki Master working with rediscovered energy techniques, can open immediate access to the universal healing energy in a student's hands through a process known as an "attunement." Once properly attuned, Reiki practitioners can use the universal life energy to re-charge their own or another's cellular energy or chi, to realign and re-balance their energy fields, to support and restore the body's powerful abilities to heal itself, and to heal the mental and emotional issues that affect physical health.

The Reiki System of Healing that has developed around Dr. Usui's teachings is a form of subtle energy healing in which a practitioner, trained by a qualified Reiki Master in the attunement methods of Reiki transmission, makes the universal life energy available to the body (one's own or that of another) through light, non-manipulative touch.

Touch in and of itself

is healing and life supporting as medical professionals have learned in the care of premature babies, but touch enhanced with Reiki energy greatly amplifies the body's ability to heal itself. As many in the medical profession are discovering, touch amplified with Reiki energy directly replenishes and balances the body's vital cellular energy (chi), increases relaxation, and creates the general feeling of well being and safety needed to activate the body's recuperative systems. During a Reiki treatment universal energy flows through the arms and hands of a properly trained practitioner into the cells of the body to boost and activate the body's natural healing mechanisms, including the endocrine and immune systems, thus facilitating a return to balance, harmony, and health.

Reiki is not a religion and is not connected to any specific religious beliefs. It has no arcane dogma, no tennets of faith, no church. It requires no rigorous ascetic practices or rituals and in no way interferes with a person's religious beliefs. People of all ages, all religions, all belief systems, even die-hard skeptics and those with no beliefs at all have become Reiki practitioners. Many report that the experience of Reiki deepens whatever religious beliefs they already hold. The Reiki Method of Healing accommodates our need for healing outside of a specifically defined religious or cultural context yet reinforces the truth found in all religious and cultural beliefs. Reiki is easy to learn, safe, simple to use, and effective. It is the system of energy healing for the twenty-first century and beyond.