Energy healing

What is Reiki? Oh, you know. . . on a spiritual level you do know.

You’ve seen the word . . . wondered about it . . . maybe even looked into it a time or two.

A few of you might have learned it through classes given by a Reiki Teacher, which makes this article a moot point, but for those of you who have only reached the wondering stage, let me teach you a little more.

The word Reiki is actually made of two terms, since it began in Japan . . . as far as anyone can tell. Rei refers to “God” or a “Higher Power. Kei mean our “life force energy” or “aura.”

Reiki is a form of energy healing that’s performed by channeling the universal healing energy through the hands. It’s as old as time, since no one really knows exactly when this started or how people learned to do this. We only know for sure that the form of it, Usui Shiki Ryoho that was founded over 100 years ago, began in Japan after being discovered by Mikao Usui. It was later brought to Hawaii in 1937 by Hawayo Takata Sensei, then passed on from master to student throughout time.

When I was first introduced to Reiki, back in the 1990s, I learned it was also believed that this is what Jesus was using when he was healing the sick during his travels and that he learned it during the missing years of his life as we see in the Bible. This might be speculation, but it does make sense. Especially once you learn how Reiki works.

Enough history for now, I think.

Unfortunately . . . Reiki is a mystical practice, so you never really see what it does until you learn from a teacher and start using it. But if this is something that interests you, there are more Reiki Teachers than you might imagine.

There are even classes you can take online, like those through The International Center for Reiki Training, and tools you can purchase online to teach you, like the Pure Reiki Healing Mastery Program, though how the attunements are performed to activate the flow of energy is beyond me. I’ve only taught it in person so my students can feel the immediate effects . . . and so I can see they’re all right with it.

It is a different feeling for some, while others might not feel anything for a few days, but everyone feels a change of some kind. In my case, I felt the energy flow right away, and not just in my palms, but through my fingers and up my arms. For my husband, he felt something different a few days later when he started meditating without doing it himself. That scared him enough to stop him from ever taking another class and sent me on my own journey to the master level. Strangely, though, my husband ended up being as strong of a healer as many of the masters I’ve known.

When your heart and mind are both fully vested in the process, then anything is possible. That’s because it’s always the INTENT that matters.

However, no matter how much the healer tries to direct the healing energy to a specific part of the body, (without ever touching the body itself), the universal energy will go where it knows needs the most attention. So . . . although you might be intending for the energy to heal a person’s leg, the energy might feel something in their chest instead and go there. This is one of the reasons all the healing is done through the aura. It’s a matter of trust for both the “patient” and the healer. Sometimes people aren’t that honest about what hurts or how badly . . . but the energy always knows.

One good thing, though, is that part if the teaching is to use this energy to scan a person’s aura and “feel” an area that is too warm or too cold compared to the rest of the body. Those temperature fluctuations are a tell-tale sign that something is wrong in the part of the body. The first thing the healer knows to do it to equalize the aura temperature before beginning the healing on those areas that felt “off.”

Again . . . this is how I was taught and how I teach my students.

But healing isn’t the only thing Reiki helps with. I also learned to use it to protect  . . . well, everything.

I use it to protect people, my home, our vehicles, our pets, and other people’s homes, cars, and pets, too . . . but only when they ask. It has to be a two-way street. Just like learning Reiki in the first place, the student has to give the teacher something in exchange for the lessons and the attunement, which starts the energy flow in the first place, then increases the energy capacity with each following attunement.

How many are there, you’re probably wondering?

Well, when I was first learning there were 4 attunements to the master level. But about 10 years later a call went out to all the Reiki teachers to cut the training down to 3 in order to train more healers because the world, as a whole, was entering a critical time in history and the universe sent out a “feeling” to the more seasoned masters that this had to be done . . . it was needed.

And, so, we all complied because by then, we were feeling it to.

Who are these “seasoned masters” you might wonder? I honestly don’t know. But as Reiki healers, we know enough to trust . . . each other . . . the universe . . . and our own instincts.

So, the bottom line is that if Reiki is something you want to learn, I strongly encourage it for everyone. Healing each other is as important as helping each other.

And healing seems more the perfect was to do both.

**Interesting enough, the whole time I’ve been writing this, I’ve felt the energy flowing right down to my toes. No wonder I’ve been having trouble typing. 😊