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The healing power of reiki
Definition & Brief History
The word Reiki (pronounced ray-key) is a Japanese word. "Rei" means universal, God, or spiritually guided. "Ki" means life force energy.
The art and therapeutic practice of Reiki provides us with a very effective way of channeling this energy to promote healing on a physical, mental, and emotional level.
The expression of the life force energy in the form of Reiki was developed towards the end of the 19th century by Dr. Mikao Usui, who undertook a search for the secret of healing that lasted fourteen years. That quest culminated in the discovery of four symbols in an ancient sutra (sacred text) and a mystical experience.
During the experience, he was given the meaning of each of the symbols and the understanding of how each played a part in acting as a portal for the healing energy to flow through. These symbols are central to Reiki, together with a series of attunements or initiations into the energy. The Reiki attunements are a very ancient process for fine tuning the physical and etheric bodies to a higher vibratory level and opening a purified channel in the body for the energy to pass through.
Reiki energy is drawn through the body of the healer. When giving a treatment, the energy moves through the purified channel within the healer, transmuting any energy blocks within the healer as it passes through, before moving into the client's energy system.
- Introduction to Reiki by Reiki Master Pamela Bzoch
What Is Reiki To Me?
Here is my story of my involvement with Reiki practice! I am the type of person that when I see or hear something profound, I have to ask questions. I need answers for those questions. This is my journey with Reiki.
A First Go
When I first received a Reiki treatment, I was so exhausted, I fell asleep. The room was peaceful, the practitioner was very kind and I only remember the light, buzzing frequency of the tuning forks that were being used around me. After the session was over, she gently woke me up and gave me a few recommendations based on the 'messages' she received while working with me. While all of her recommendations made sense to me (I have an extensive background in health and wellness), the logical side of my brain took over and closed me off from accepting that there was any mystical or magical work done here. I simply couldn't draw a correlation between Reiki, her recommendations, healing and how she knew that I had a knee problem. We didn't do any medical history before we got started. Interesting, but I live a busy life so I just thanked her and kept it moving. I did not go back for a while.
I was very much closed off from things of the mystical sort.
Awakening 2022
After my dramatic awakening in 2022, my whole world changed completely. It was a very rude awakening, but I knew at that zero-point that I had to do my life A LOT differently. I decided at that point that I needed to clear my whiteboard. I didn't know anything unless I had experienced it directly. As any true experience does, life required my presence. I needed to be more in the moment. I quit drinking alcohol entirely, changed my diet, started working out, and went back to see my Reiki Healer.
Life holds some incredible "magic" when you open yourself to the awe and wonder that surrounds you every day. I gave myself a second chance to feel, experience, and see the magic that surrounded me. When you are so 'in the moment' that nothing else matters, there is magic there. Simply put, I believe magic is science, but that which we don't yet have a clear explanation that we can all agree upon.
My second Reiki session was an entirely different experience. With a clear whiteboard, I went into the session with a newfound openness to explore that which I did not have a good understanding. I found myself sobbing within seconds of walking into the room with my practitioner.
Big Questions, Big Answers
"Who am I?" was the begging question that I had. "Why am I here?!" It burned inside of me. This profound mystery of my life, what I had been through, and why I was still alive and free was demanding an answer. Or, at least, needed to be explored with real, respectful intention.
At the time, I didn't know what a mantra was, but I did actually have one, "Accept the good. Learn from the bad. Then it's all good."
My second and following Reiki sessions were nothing less than profound for me. I had visions during my session. It was like lucid dreaming. Pictures, symbols, and full scenes played out before me. I've felt as if I left my body to go explore another place for a while. I've seen all types of landscapes, animals, and even encountered other beings and people. I've felt healing shifts occur in my body in the moment. I was making decisions, making moves, asking big questions and learning what I was capable of. Most importantly, I was having a blast doing it! My life was changing. I was getting better. I was healing.
I was living again. I mean, I was feeling really alive. I could feel everything. Much like a young child, I looked at the smallest things with wonder.
My relationship with Reiki has been an integral part of my spiritual journey. But it is only a part. I can spend an hour and a half in a Reiki session and go a month without seeing my practioner. That's 1.5 hours on and 718.5 hours off in one month's time. What am I doing with the rest of my life in one month?
Family Life
Work Life
Nutrition
Exercise
Exploration
Meditation
Education
Fun
The challenge for me was finding healing during all the time that I wasn't actively in a healing session. A cold doesn't disappear because I walked into a doctor's office. But, it's action and intention, so it's a great start. How do I bring the power of Reiki healing into the other 718.5 hours of my month?
Accidental Growth
I accidentally found myself in a Reiki 1 certification class. I thought I was going to receive Reiki, not going to become a Reiki practitioner. I went through the course, learned a ton, and was intrigued to say the least. The real life-course changing moment for me was when another participant approached me after the course was over and said, "You are going to be a great healer." What?! Why did she say that? I hadn't done anything special. Sparks didn't come flying from my hands when I did a Reiki practical on her during class. I didn't feel much of anything actually happening. I was present. Yes. I was following the instructions from the Reiki Master. Yes. But what did I do to have her pay me such a compliment? I had no idea.
Fast forward to the present. I know why. Love. Compassion. Empathy. I remember during class we all had to give a brief introduction of ourselves to the class. She had told us her story. It was a rough one, but one with which I could easily identify. When she was done speaking, I just wanted to give little sister a hug. "I've been there," I felt like saying.
Grief, abuse, heartbreak, depression, anxiety... I had indeed been there. I knew how those shoes fit all too well.
When I was doing the Reiki practical portion of the class, she was the subject. I was learning how to give the application. In my heart, I wanted to take her pain away. I wanted to change her past. I wanted to heal her.
She felt my intentional energy and decided to accept it. She paid me a compliment. I said thank you. There was big emotion in that friendly exchange and it set me on a path to find some big answers. How and why does Reiki work? It is simpler than you might think.
Sharing Energy
Have you ever been in the presence of someone who is laughing so hysterically, so genuinely that you can't help but feel their joy? We may not even know why they are laughing, but it's quite possible that we might start laughing ourselves just because they are laughing. The energy of their joy is so infectious, we make a choice to accept that emotion.
It is our choice what we do in the presence of energy or E-motion (energy-in-motion). We can either accept the energy or we can deny it and move away from it. In my personal experience, Reiki is given and received in the same manner. It is energy. Yes. We choose to accept or deny it. Yes.
It is the same choice we make when a negative person comes around and we choose to either leave or stay. It's the same energy we feel when we see a cute, little puppy and we make a choice to walk by or go all goo-goo-gah-gah in total adoration of the puppy!
Reiki is an energy in motion. The best practice for receiving Reiki is be as open as possible to what you want to happen. The purpose of the Reiki practitioner is to make that energy available to you. Your responsibility is to make choice. Do you accept or deny the healing energy?
You Heal You
When we go to the doctor, we tell them what's wrong with us. The doctor performs an examination, makes a diagnosis, and offers a medication to treat symptoms. In this process, from start to finish, there is a lot of decision making that directly involves our thoughts, words, actions, and, ultimately, our results. We have to make choices. We have to take action. Otherwise, the doctor's visit will go completely void of any value.
If we see a positive result from the doctor visit, we give thanks to the doctor and the meds, but what about all the choices YOU made to allow the visit to improve your health. Don't forget to thank yourself. After all, you did most of the work.
You had thoughts. You spoke words. You took action. You wanted to be better. Thank you Self!!
This is why it is completely up to the client when it comes to the effectiveness of Reiki or any other alternative method of healing work. The healing comes from YOU, by YOU, for YOU. You do the healing. Nobody else can do it for you.
The Mystical Placebo Effect
Ever heard of the "Placebo Effect"? A placebo is typically used in clinical trials of a certain medication. Some participants will receive a placebo, usually in the form of a sugar pill, and some participants will receive the actual medication. You won't know the difference. In some trials, even the doctors and scientists performing the trial will not know which one the participant receives. This is called the "double blind" trial. Nobody knows who is getting what pill until the trial concludes.
Many times, at the end of the trial, some participants who received the sugar pill reported having the side effects and/or the alleviation of symptoms. In the case of a cancer treatment, some participants who received the sugar pill actually started losing their hair! Some patients who received the sugar pill actually saw positive movement in the diagnosis. Some patients were cured entirely.
If all they were receiving was a sugar pill, how did they get better or experience side effects? I think the answer is clear. The patient caused the effect. The patient believed the treatment would work for them. The incredible ability of the human body to heal was given permission to work. We can term this a miracle if we would like or we can just accept that the human body and mind is so powerful in the ability to perform its own healing.
Beyond The Physical
Can we be open to miracles? After all, it is science that we haven't yet found an agreeable explanation for at the moment. The explanation could be right in front of our nose (or behind it) and would we see it?
Can we have hope for, believe in, and desire our ability to heal? Can we accept it? Can we give ourselves permission to accept this goodness to our own benefit?
Some would say, "It's all in your head." I agree with that. We could be in an absolutely trash mood and we encounter a puppy. Miraculously, our mood shifts to adoration. We don't even think about the negativity while we are with the puppy. Why is this?
Simply put, we can't exist in negativity (scared, mad, stressed) and positivity (love, hope, gratitude) simultaneously. While we are in our negative state of mind, our body releases hormones, chemicals, and thought patterns that feed that negativity. When we are with the puppy, in a positive state of mind, our body releases feel good chemicals and hormones that make us feel blissful and happy. Both emotions carve neurological pathways in your brain. These pathways are now a memory for you to recall in the future.
Reiki is like being in a room with a bunch of puppies and joyful people. Do you stay and accept that you are going to share in the happiness and healing? Or do you deny to take an active part in such positivity and enjoy the benefits the moment will bring.
Reiki is universal life force energy. Like all universal energies, it is not complicated or impossible to understand. It is available to each one of us all the time. It is that simple.
The choice is up to each one of us. The work is up to us. The results are up to us.
You are not alone.