What is Reiki

What is Reiki practice? Reiki is a spiritual practice that promotes overall balance. The foundation of the practice is for self-care--spiritual awakening, personal development, and daily healing experiences. The founder chose the practice to be an initiation-based lineage.

What is a Reiki treatment? A Reiki treatment helps the body heal itself by influencing the system towards balance, optimizing the body's own self-healing response. Treatments address the whole body, not just individual symptoms. When the body returns to a balanced state, improvement in emotional, spiritual and physical wellbeing helps to improve a variety of situations. Reiki treatments are facilitated through a gentle, light touch or hands placed just above the recipient’s body with a series of hand placements. Treatments have been known to promote relaxation; improve heart rate; stabilize blood pressure; reduce stress and anxiety; accelerate healing from surgery; improve digestion; ease symptoms from conventional medicine; improve sleep; and relieve pain. Treatments can help support one’s desire to make healthy lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise, quitting smoking and beginning a new spiritual practice such as meditation or yoga. As a daily practice, Reiki helps individuals to maintain optimal health and wellbeing.

History: The practice of Reiki originated in Japan by Mikao Usui a spiritual seeker in the early 1920’s. Usui named the practice Reiki, a Japanese word which means energy of the universe or more commonly referred to as universal energy. Usui trained Chujiro Hayashi, a retired naval captain and medical doctor as a Reiki master in 1925. Hayashi became Usui’s successor and Usui encouraged Hayashi to open a clinic and continue to develop and refine the practice just before his death in 1926.

Credited for bringing Reiki to the western world, Hawayo Takata was born on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, Mrs. Takata led a difficult life and suffered from asthma, gallstones and an abdominal tumor. During a trip to Japan, Takata sought treatments for her medical conditions which led her to Chujiro Hayashi’s Reiki clinic in Tokyo. Takata checked in and after 4 months of arriving at the clinic, Takata’s health was completely restored. She knew at that point that she needed to learn to practice Reiki and eventually was accepted by Hayashi as one of his students. Mrs. Takata returned to Hawaii in 1937 and Hayashi followed six months later. Hayashi and Takata traveled throughout Hawaii giving treatments and teaching Reiki; in 1938 Hayashi designated Takata as a fully accredited

Reiki master, the only one outside of Japan. She taught classes primarily in Hawaii and occasionally made trips to the US mainland; eventually she started teaching classes in British Columbia, Washington and California. In her final years, Takata initiated 22 Reiki masters from 1970 to her death in 1980.

It was Mrs. Takata’s goal to make Reiki as common as aspirin and today you can find Reiki practitioners in more than 40 countries worldwide.

Who can receive treatments? Anyone with an open mind can receive treatment regardless of age and state of health. Children, adults, pets and animals can receive treatments safely.

Is Reiki Safe? Reiki has very low medical risk. There are no known medical contraindications; no substance to ingest; and nothing being administered to the skin therefore, nothing to interact with medications. The practice safely combines with conventional and complementary treatments. Reiki activates according to the need of the person receiving treatment so there is no question of wrong dosage.

Reiki Ethics: Reiki should only be given to those that give their permission for a treatment. Reiki practitioners should not violate anyone’s free will. Reiki is a wonderful complement to any other form of conventional, traditional or alternative therapy. Reiki is not meant to replace conventional medicine. It is always best to seek the advice of a licensed healthcare professional for any type of injury or illness. As a Reiki practitioner, I WILL NOT diagnose a medical condition. This is considered practicing medicine without a license and can result in legal action.