Reiki (ray-key) is an easy to learn, simple to use method of natural hands-on energy healing that promotes health and well being in both practitioners and recipients. The word Reiki in its English form is both a noun and a verb. As noun, Reiki is the name of the ancient healing energies discovered in the early 1920's in Japan by Dr. Mikao Usui. It is also the name of the Method of Natural Healing developed around those energies and practiced by millions of people all over the world. Through the energetic science of "attunements" preserved by teachers trained in the lineages of Reiki, anyone and everyone who chooses to can become a conduit for Reiki healing energy through a simple training process.

No... Only you can heal you. The Reiki Practitioner is simply a "conduit," an intermediary through whom the Universal Life Energy is made available to your body. The wisdom of your body takes from the quantum energies of Reiki what your body needs and only what it needs, thus replenishing the energy your body requires for its healing. The Reiki Practitioner has no power to direct--or predict--the interaction between your body and the Reiki .

Yes. in two significant ways:
(1) Since Reiki Practitioners are simply conduits for the Universal Life Energy, they are not drained during transmission; in fact, Reiki energizes the giver as well as the receiver. In addition, there is never exchange of any disease process between receiver and giver.

(2) Reiki is not learned through years of practice and study as is necessary with other forms of energy healing; rather, it is an empowerment acquired directly from a properly trained Reiki Master through an ancient energy "technology" known as an attunement.

Reiki "flows" to your body or that of someone else according to the body's needs anytime you put your hands on. So technically, the possibility of a Reiki treatment exists anytime there is touch. Whether Reiki flows in such situations or not is determined by (1) the receiver's willingness to heal, and (2) the receiving body's energetic needs. Reiki is never "put into" someone; it is always "drawn from" the practioner according to individual choice and the receiving body's needs.

However, Reiki treatments can also be given in planned sessions between a practitioner and a client- receiver. During a typical Reiki session, a client relaxes fully clothed on a massage table while the Reiki Practitioner gently places hands over specific areas, holding still while the needs of the client's body at that position draw Reiki strongly into the client. When the energy pull subsides, the Reiki Practitioner moves to the next position. Planned Reiki treatments can take anywhere from a half hour to two hours, or more, and usually leave both Client and Practitioner feeling relaxed yet energized

Yes. While Reiki is meant to augment necessary medical or psychotherapeutic treatments, not replace them, it greatly increases the benefits of any therapy by speeding up recovery time, supporting the body's efforts to heal, and providing help in the management of pain and discomfort. With Reiki, the dosage of many medications can be lowered, and Reiki can be particularly useful in trauma situations during the first "Golden Hour" or before medical help arrives.

Absolutely. Reiki helps ease the discomfort and pain of the dying process and provides relief from the fear, loneliness, and anger which often accompanies the process of transition. And Reiki is beneficial for family members dealing with the stress, grief, and anger associated with the final illness and death of a loved one. "Reiki deaths" are beautiful passings. Using Reiki to assist the dying is a privilege for the practitioner. Reiki Hospice work is a tradition at StoneWind Institute and at the Ajna center , and training in Hospice Reiki is available to any Reiki student in the lineage who is interested. Classes in Hospice Reiki are offered through StoneWind Institute.

Yes and No. Like Acupuncture, Transcendental Meditation, T'ai Chi, Shiatsu, and Chi Kung, Reiki comes to us from the Orient. In fact, Dr. Mikao Usui, who rediscovered the ancient Tibetan method of healing in the early 1900's, was Japanese. However, the energies of Reiki are universal. They are the energies of the world and of our own bodies. Anyone who has ever received a Reiki treatment knows there is nothing "foreign" about Reiki. It is a completely natural method of healing.

Reiki is not a religion. It has no arcane dogma, no tenets of faith, no church. It requires no rigorous ascetic practices or rituals and is in no way contrary to a person's belief system. People of all religious beliefs and those with no beliefs in all parts of the world practice Reiki. Many report that the experience of Reiki deepens whatever religious beliefs they already hold. Since anyone can become a conduit for Reiki energy regardless of their belief system, the ability to act as a conduit for Reiki appears to be a dormant human ability that is activated by the Reiki attunements. Some have speculated the ability resides in part of the so called "junk" DNA that has--as yet--no known function.

No. Existence is not dependent upon belief. You do not have to believe honey is sweet to enjoy its taste--you just have to eat it. Many who did not believe in Reiki but were willing to try it, were shocked--then pleased--to discover they were able to use the energy for their own powerful healing. What is necessary is a desire to heal, a willingness to accept the attunements in order to have access to Reiki energy, and a willingness to use it once attuned.

Anyone, everyone can learn Reiki, even children. Reiki practitioners have been as young as three years old, as old as one hundred. Severe handicaps are no barrier to learning Reiki, although drug and alcohol addiction may be. Someone who has am alcohol or chemical dependency should be a minimum twenty-one days clean and sober before attempting to learn Reiki. If in doubt, discuss individual situations with the teacher.

Traditional Reiki courses are divided into First Degree and Second Degree Reiki, each level taught in regularly scheduled weekend classes. At the conclusion of each level the student receives a certificate indicating the level of training completed. CE Contact Hours are available for nurses in both First and Second Degree Reiki through StoneWind Institute. See SW full class descriptions.

First Degree Reiki: includes introduction to the history of healing energies, the history of Reiki, information on the human energy field, the four attunements necessary to create the permanent energy connection that enables the student to act as a conduit for Reiki energy, and practice giving and receiving Reiki. The four attunement process is the hallmark of unbroken traditional lineage.

Second Degree Reiki: includes more information on working with the human bio-energy field, the two attunements necessary to open complete Reiki energy in the hands, and training in advanced techniques including distance healing and methods of mental and emotional healing both at a distance and hands-on. Two attunements at Level II is the hallmark of unbroken traditional lineage.

Reiki Mastership, Level III, is by invitation from the teaching master after the practitioner has had Reiki in the lineage for a minimum of two years. Mastership training presupposes a deep commitment to Reiki teaching and healing and usually takes from twelve to eighteen months or longer. Reiki Mastership through StoneWind Institute follows the standards and commitments published by the Alliance of Reiki Masters.

Reiki healing is about more than "fixing the body." It is about healing the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual causes of illness and distress. For such healing to be fully effective there must be cooperation and commitment on the part of the student. Under the ethics established by Dr. Usui, those receiving Reiki training or treatment must exchange some form of energy as their sign of commitment and involvement in their own healing. Money, a compressed form of energy, is the most common form of exchange, although by no means the only one. Most Reiki Masters operate on a fee schedule, yet reserve the option to modify fees or to accept other forms of energy exchange for Reiki.

From an energetic perspective, the energy exchange between practitioner and receiver, between teacher and student, establishes the receiver's firm intent to maintain outward balance and opens the body to the inward balance from which physical healing comes. Where practitioners work on others than themselves, they must remember at all times they are not healers, they are not "doing the doing". At most Reiki practitioners are facilitators of another's healing process. The energy exchange, whether money or otherwise, is critical to all parties because it maintains balance between the people involved. From a psychological point of view, a suitable energy exchange means neither party is able to feel one up or one down, neither needs to feel indebted to the other--or used. Both are able to walk in respect for the other.

In the case of warriors coming through Warrior's Way, the reduced fees for Reiki training and treatment at StoneWind represent an acknowledgement of the tremendous energy warriors expend on behalf of everyone, including the teachers. In effect, the people at StoneWind see that the largest part of the energy exchange required for training and treatment in Reiki has already been exchanged.