About Reiki
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Reiki is a Japanese word meaning "Spiritual Energy"
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It’s also the name given to the practice of connecting with this energy for healing
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It can be given to yourself or anyone else to help the mind, body and deeper self, famously via palm healing
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For evidence about some of the things it can help with, see the "Medical and scientific evidence" page!
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It helps your mind, body and deeper self all at the same time
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It can be given to yourself, others, animals, plants, food... anyone & anything!
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Anyone can learn & start using it in just a day - and then you have it for life!
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You receive Reiki yourself when giving it to others! (you're a tool for it to flow through so it's the opposite of draining!)
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It's completely safe: there are no contra-indications with Reiki!
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You don't need to believe anything to use Reiki - it's absolutely fine to be skeptical until you've felt it clearly for yourself! (I certainly was - see "How I knew Reiki was real")
Reiki is a type of subtle energy which naturally works with other energies in the body (discussed below) to restore balance on physical, mental, emotional and higher levels - modern science understands that everything "solid and separate" is actually made of pure energy (the true meaning of Einstein's famous E = mc2), and in this world of overlapping energy waves and fields everything is interconnected. As another great scientist, Nikola Tesla, once said:
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”
Science may be starting to catch up with Reiki (the "Medical and scientific evidence" page), but the simplest answer to this question is that Reiki works intuitively - whether you're the person giving or receiving it Reiki will always flow where it's needed, and give us exactly what we need, whether or not it's what we expected!
Bioelectricity
Bioelectricity, also known as Chi, Ki, Prana etc flows through all the tissues of our body and controls essential processes for us 24/7 – it’s the vital, life-force energy talked about in Eastern medicine. Reiki supports the natural flow of this energy around the body to promote optimal health!
Meridians
Bioelectricity flows through pathways in the body called Meridians - these are the same pathways used in acupuncture and reflexology.
When our bioelectricity is flowing well along these pathways the body works well, but when there are blockages it can be like broken traffic lights in a busy city – Reiki can help to get things moving again!
The Chakras
The major junctions / energy centres where meridians meet are called Chakras - there are 7 major chakras in the body (and a few other minor ones), and it’s said that they look like vortices, bring energy into your body, and that their correct functioning is therefore important for our health.
With practice we can feel if Reiki is needed at these key locations, and if so we can give it to help restore the optimal flow of energy!
The 3 Diamonds
The traditional Chinese and Japanese understanding of the energy connections in the body focusses on 3 main points, called Dantien points in Chinese and Tanden points in Japanese, also known as the “3 diamonds”.
The chakra system which is included as a key part of the Western Reiki system wasn’t actually used in Japan at the time when the system of Reiki was created - this said, looking at the 3 diamonds of traditional Japanese Reiki we can see they are just different names for the same things:
The Aura
Our physical body is said to be surrounded by an energy body, also called our biofield or “Aura”, made of 7 different layers which become thinner and more subtle as we move further away from the physical body. This auric field holds information about the person including their mental & physical states, and is thought to explain how we can sense things like the mood of others around us – science agrees with this concept and has measured that the magnetic field from our heart reaches a few feet from our body & may exchange information with others!
At Reiki level 2 we learn a technique for scanning the aura for where Reiki is needed, and experiencing this with my hands - the moment I realised that Reiki was, in fact, undeniably real - remains one of the most remarkable experiences of my whole life! (If you are interested I've shared this experience in "How I knew Reiki was real")
