REIKI
NATURAL HEALING

by Agnes Lau

Reiki (pronounced ray-key), a Japanese word meaning ‘Universal Life Force Energy’, is a safe and natural healing system.  It is an ancient healing art of transferring Universal Life Force Energy and connecting it with the body’s innate ability to heal.  It was re-discovered by Dr. Mikao Usui in Japan in the 19th century.

“In order to achieve the proper (spiritual) path for humanity … we must learn to improve our spirit and body with practice.  We first heal the spirit afterwards, we make the body healthy.  When our mind finds itself on the healthy path of honesty and seriousness, the body will become healthy completely on its own.  So the mind and body are one, and we live out our life in peace and joy.  We heal ourselves and the illnesses of others, intensifying and increasing our own happiness in life, as well as that of others.  This is the goal of the Usui Reiki Ryoho.”  Dr. Mikao Usui, 1865 - 1926

Throughout the ages, various cultures around the world have used different terms to identify the same fundamental energy – prana (India and Tibet), chi or qi (China), ki (Japan), yesod (Jewish), baraka (Sufis), wakan (Lakotas), orenda (Iroquois), megbe (Ituri Pygmies), Holy Spirit (Christian), neuma, orgone, mana, etc.  By any name, it is the life force.  The less life force that flows through us, the less life we experience.  We are all natural conduits, or channels, for life force energy.  Higher consciousness (love, joy, harmony) is more allowing of the life force, whilst lower consciousness (fear, control) is less allowing of it.  Reiki energy isn’t reserved for human beings.  It surrounds and flows through human beings, animals, trees, stones, the oceans, and the air.

Albert Einstein’s formula, E=mc2, shows that all ‘matter’ is actually ‘solidified energy’.  Your body’s energy systems, the meridians (energy pathways) and chakras (energy centres), emit electromagnetic energy and light.  The meridians (or nadis) form a network that connects hundreds of tiny reservoirs (acupuncture points) of heat, electromagnetic, and more subtle energies along the surface of the skin.  The meridians travel deep into the body and through each of the organs and muscle groups – an energy transportation system.  “They not only feed vital energies to their related organs, they also reflect any pathological disturbance in those organs, thus providing physicians with a convenient and highly accurate tool for diagnosis as well as therapy,” states Daniel Reid.  Richard Gerber, M.D., says, “Although the digestive system takes in biochemical energy and molecular building blocks in the form of physical nutrients, the chakras, in conjunction with the acupuncture meridian system, take in higher vibrational energies that are just as integral to the proper growth and maintenance of physical life.”

Reiki energy basically has five effects:
1) Brings about deep relaxation – It is a very relaxing energy, excellent for reducing feelings of stress and tension, promoting a sense of peace and calm.  It helps us emotionally, including releasing feelings of e.g. sadness, anxiety, or depression.

2) Dissolves energy blockages – It increases our vitality, strengthens our immune system, relieves pain, promotes healing and recovery from ailments and diseases.

3) Detoxifies – It helps to clear our system of toxins, accumulated over a period of time.

4) Supplies healing universal life force energy – With more life force energy, we experience better physical and emotional health, and increased mental clarity, focus, and creativity.  We are able to lead fuller, richer and more meaningful lives.

5) Increases the vibrational frequency of the body – It also helps to awaken our intuition and conscious awareness, strengthening our inner connection.  Thus it gives tremendous potential for personal growth.
Reiki requires no background knowledge of philosophy, religion, or medicine.  It can be used by any person, of any age.  To become a Reiki practitioner, you need to receive ‘attunements’ from a Reiki Master, which ‘fine tunes’ your energy fields to receive the Reiki ‘frequency’.  This is like tuning in to the radio station of your choice, with radio waves being all around us.  A Reiki attunement or initiation doesn’t open one’s energy channels, which are already open, but cleanses and strengthens the naturally existing channels.

The Reiki practitioner conducts vital energy from the universal energy field into the human energy field, where the energy is transmuted into a form that is usable at the cellular level.  It is the client who is in charge, drawing in the amount of energy needed into the cells, to bring the mind/body back to homeostasis.  It happens independently of belief system, emotional state, or religious preference. “Reiki fulfills the longing for a non-dogmatic method of further developing ourselves, which is compatible with our personal philosophy of life or religion.  A master of the art of living will turn Reiki into enjoyment of life!” says Frank Arjava Petter.

Disease isn’t healed by a healer or a medicine that you take.  With the help of the tools just mentioned, it is repaired by the body itself.  The simplest and most important method is wanting to become truly healthy in the first place.  Many people are attached to their complaints and opinions about them.  An example is the opinion that we will catch a cold if we go outside with wet hair.  The truth is that a cold is triggered by a virus, in a weak immune system but not from the combination of wet hair and going outside.  According to Deepak Chopra, “Our cells are constantly eavesdropping on our thoughts and being changed by them.”

Reiki has been well-received throughout the entire world – in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.  Some health-care organizations in the West have endorsed Reiki as a valuable part of the ongoing education for their professional staff, including physicians, nurses, psychologists, psychotherapists, physical and occupational therapists, hospice staff, and others.  Reiki is particularly useful during the postoperative period to help manage main and promote healing.  “It can be used not only to increase patient comfort, but also to facilitate communication and well-being among staff,”  declare Libby Barnett and Maggie Chambers.