What is Reiki?
While it is growing somewhat in popularity thanks to celebrities speaking publicly about its benefits, Reiki has been around for quite a while.
Reiki is the practice of healing the physical body by channeling the natural energy of life that surrounds us.
A Reiki practitioner passes this energy through him/herself to the subject in order to balance the energy in their body. Thereby, restoring emotional and physical well-being.
1. A compliment, not a solution
A common misconception is that Reiki practitioners represent themselves as healers of all things. This has created some immediate rejection of the practice as “quackery.” But this is not the case at all.
If, in fact, you find yourself in conversation with a Reiki practitioner making such claims, stay away. You will know they are either not actually trained, or they are intentionally misleading people.
Reiki is a treatment that is offered in compliment to other medical practices. This includes but is not limited to therapy, counseling, medication or even surgery.
As stated above, it is a method of focusing and transferring energy through a Practitioner into a subject. Often times the Practitioner can tell where the energy is going to work on the individual. Though it is common for them to offer suggestions, unless they are an M.D., practitioners are not allowed to offer specific “medical” advice to a client.
2. New and old
Reiki was “discovered” by Dr. Mikao Usai in Japan. The traditional story tells the tale of Dr. Usai working in a Christian Monastery. After training new priests how to read and interpret the Bible, they asked when they would learn to heal as Jesus did in the stories they learned.
Dr. Usai set out to find the practice that allowed Jesus to heal the sick. In doing so, he discovered Reiki, which means “life-force.”
According to Usai, this practice was thousands of years old. From a modern perspective, Usai introduced Reiki in the late 1800s and early 1900s. So it is both a relatively “new” practice in terms of its popularity, and an “old” practice as it is accepted among practitioners.
3. Moving toward acceptance
Many hospital networks, particularly cancer treatment centers, are beginning to offer Reiki services to their patients. Though much of the modern medical community recognizes Reiki as a placebo effect, the benefit to patients is something that can’t be ignored.
As a practitioner myself, I would say the relief provided by the balancing energy of Reiki to any patient can be quite beneficial. As the energy seeks to balance the body, it removes blockages in the chakras that can result from long term medical treatment. I want to reiterate Reiki is not intended to replace modern medical treatment. Rather, it serves to compliment and aid when it can.
Doctors are beginning to recognize the lasting effects of this complimentary treatment and allowing their patients to work in tandem with a practitioner.
Slowly but surely, the West is realizing it doesn’t actually know everything when it comes to the ways in which our universe is connected.
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