All About Reiki

Reiki India has it's roots planted all the way back to Japan and the top of Mount Kurama but now plays an active role in healing around the world none more so than India itself. The practice comes from Mikao Usui, a Japanese man heavily influenced by Shintoism, the traditional faith of the Japanese before the strong influence of China on the country. He was on a 21 day meditation retreat at the top of the said mountain when he was struck by a 'mystical revelation' through which he gained the knowledge and spiritual power to attune others to what he then called Reiki, essentially a natural therapy with a focus on the balancing of life energies bringing complete health, spiritual and mental well-being to the receiver.



Much has changed about the practice since it's early beginnings in Japan and now the practice is more of an umbrella term for over 28 different variations. Despite this, the therapy and philosophy behind each variation remains fundamentally the same and they all boast the same underlying benefits, namely:

  • The awakening of deep relaxation thus aiding the body's natural process of stress and tension release

  • Accelerates the body's self-healing abilities

  • Removal of energy blockages throughout the body resulting in balance and harmony on both mental and physical plains

  • The aiding and maintainable of spiritual growth, personality, good health, good wealth and general well-being

This small list of benefits does well to sum up the general philosophy behind Reiki but more specific and refined benefits are still be discovered today.

What is Reiki?

The name of this therapy comes from two words which again do well to sum up the benefits and qualities of this unique tradition. The first. 'Re', translates as 'universal' and is used to describe the spirit and then 'ki' which translates as 'Life energy'. Basically what this means is that the spirit serves as a channel or path for the life energy to travel through. If this sounds like mumbo jumbo to you just read on a little bit before you exit this page.

Through the use of the body and the mind many wonderful things can be achieve by channelling the cosmic energy. Practitioners and masters consider that the body is not merely the sum of it's parts but rather each part generates a certain vibrational frequency resulting in an life energy which is then free to flow around the body. Because of this, as soon as one these vibrational frequencies becomes impaired for whatever reason, a blockage in the freely flowing life energy is formed and illness in the body or mind arises.

Reiki essentially focuses on keeping this life energy flowing thus keeping the persons mental and physical well-being in a balanced equilibrium.

Practitioners channel energy from the universe and then by using their hands, are able to 'unblock' the energy clogs and are then able to aid the client in healing themselves. It sounds complicated but the really it is very basic. The practitioner simply acts as a road which directs the universal energy to where it is needed.



Reiki, woman back

Reiki symbols

Reiki also makes use of ancient symbols, again with focus on the clearing of blocked energies. Their seems to be an infinite amount of symbols around each with a different purpose and meaning; each representing a different frequency for specific issues.

The symbols all need to be 'activated' in some way before they are used, for example: By signing them with you palm or finger, visualizing them or drawing them in your mind, by spelling the symbol loudly and clearly three times.

Here are some of the most important/common Reiki symbols:

TAM-A-RA-SHA, Reiki Symbol Dai Ko Myo
This symbol is the 'master' symbol and is considered to be most powerful of them all. Because of it's power it can't be used by anybody but rather just the experts. It is used primarily for the cleansing of the soul and also encourages spiritual growth and enlightenment but perhaps most pertinent of all, this symbol is used to bring around deep and profound life changes.



Tam A Ra Sha

This symbol is the sign for balance and it's benefits include the dissipation of pain and the unblocking of central and key energy chakras throughout the body


Sei Hei Ki
This is considered another important symbol and is mainly used for the healing and calming of all mental or emotional issues. A few of the benefits include left and right brain balancing, addiction withdrawal, clearance of emotional blockage and general cleansing. It has also been noted for it's benefits when dealing with to Post traumatic stress.


Different types of Reiki

As I mentioned earlier, there are many different types of Reiki in existence today, roughly 28. They all have special reasons and methods with the way they work but they have essentially the same origins and philosophy.

Here are a few of the most important types

Karuna

Karuna defines the deep emotion or desire of the alleviation of suffering and also the withdrawal from addiction. It is one of the only forms of the therapy to use sound to aid healing.

Rainbow

A master known as Walter Lubeck was the founder of this form of Reiki which involves working on most specifically the 7 chakras (energy centres) of the body. Through the practise of this meditation, spiritual energy is used to heal our souls and aid in the understanding of our true selves.

Shamballa

This form of therapy focuses most specifically on the the vibrations of the body to clear and repair the various aspects (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual)of our bodies and minds.

Kundalinii

perhaps one of the best known variations, Kundalini Reiki is used to nurture and develop spirituality by means of channelling energy through the lower back, or more specifically the chakra at the back. This chakra is well known for it's influence over personality issues such as shyness, trauma, paranoia and loads of other negative and damaging emotional aspects.

Learning Reiki

Who can learn it?

One of the wonderful things about this therapy is that it is open to everyone. I mean, everyone can do it. there are no special requirements other that you be willing. It does not take 10s of years to practice, you don't have to leave you life, change the way you dress and become a new age hippy. It is open to everyone and it can benefit everyone.

Who is the training for?

Reiki training is for anybody with an urge to do something about themselves. To heal themselves and bring happiness and light into their lives where it may not be at the moment. Learning Reiki is also for those who wish to heal others, perhaps your friends, family and even you pets.

Most training is based on attunement. Attunement to who you are, attunement to the energies that surround and attunement to the universal energies. Once you know how, this is not difficult, it is after all our natural path. Once attuned, training is a breeze and with each twist and turn not only do you gain more knowledge about the practice but also about yourself.

Is it expensive?

It can be but it depends on how far you want to take it. If you are merely wanting tog et the basics and start bring profound change into your life and the lives of those around you then an expensive three week course is really not necessary. A book and some practice are all that is need for this.

Books such as this one are great for self studying and courses like the one of this page

Browse the internet for courses in your area or scour the local noticeboards for flyers. Before splashing out loads of cash on Reiki master, do some homework and don't get conned. Also catch up on some reading before you splash out; a deeper understanding of the process can only improve your whole experience.

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