What Is Reiki (an excerpt from the "Renewed Spirit Reiki 1 Workbook", Steve Reedy)
REIKI (pronounced Ray-Key) is a tool used by energy workers to connect to a high vibration of energy for healing and renewal. Reiki combines meditational techniques with intention, hand placements, and symbols to help us connect to the energy so we can direct it into our bodies and out through our hands. By increasing the flow of energy through our bodies, we incite and accelerate physical, mental, and spiritual healing for ourselves and all that we direct the energy toward. Energy workers have practiced some form of this art in cultures all across the world. The theories on where this energy comes from differ greatly, but they are all describing the same energy… so it can be used by, and given to, anyone. The energy we use for healing has been described as “the source of life itself and far older in concept and fact than any religious philosophy,” and it goes by many names:
China: Chi
Hindu: Prana
English: Breath or Ectoplasm
Russia: Bioplasmic
Hippocrates: “Nature’s life force”
Kahunas: Mana
Christians: Holy Spirit
Egyptians: Ka
Greeks: Pneuma
Sioux: Wakan or Wakouda
Our bodies, and the universe they inhabit, are formed by vibrating particles of energy held together by intention. The existence of this energy has been validated through scientific research, and western doctors are finally considering its role in the functioning of the immune system and the healing process. Plus I have seen it work on my clients, my friends, my grandmother, my plants, and myself.
How does it work?
My theory on how Reiki works is based on extensive reading and experience and goes like this: as practitioners, we work to open and clear our body’s energy channels of obstruction. This allows us to channel energy from its source, into our body, through our hands, and into the person we are treating. Since negative energy vibrates at a lower frequency, it cannot exist when the body is vibrating at a higher level. By charging the body with positive energy, the negative energy must dissipate or transform. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily happen over night, we have been holding onto our negative energy for years and it may take some time to be able to let go of it on all levels. As our life force begins to flow in a healthy and natural way, old negative thoughts, patterns, and events that are unconsciously affecting our life often float to the surface to be released. Since everything is connected, once this negativity is released, we transform as we create a balance between our mind, body, and spirit.
A Brief History of Reiki
The history of Reiki is about as fascinating and mysterious as the art form itself. We know that, at some point between 1914 and 1926, Reiki was brought to Japan by a man named Mikao Usui. Mikao Usui was born on August 15, 1865 in the Japanese province of Gifu. Before he died in 1926, he opened several Reiki clinics in Japan while teaching others how to use it. Who Dr. Usui was, and the events that lead to his discovery of Reiki, are not really known. What is known is that the practice of Reiki became divided into an eastern version and a western version during World War Two. Each version gives a different history of how Reiki was discovered and how to use it. The western version of Reiki evolved as it came into contact with western theologies. For example, some say Dr. Usui was a Christian priest, others say he was a Buddhist monk, and others say he was the principal of the Doshisha University in Kyoto. None of these were proven, so students of the west tend to believe the history that falls closest to their own belief system. Since there is currently no way of knowing exactly what Dr. Usui believed, or what he did before he opened his Reiki clinics, most are content in knowing that he must have been a spiritual man who’s life’s focus was directed at helping others.
