What is Reiki?
Reiki
“Rei” means God-consciousness, or spiritual wisdom–the consciousness in the universe which is all-knowing. It has a thorough and intimate knowledge of every individual and of all problems. It also knows the solution to every problem within every individual (The Healing Touch by William Lee Rand).
“Ki” is the Japanese word for life energy (“chi,” “prana”). Thus, in reiki, the spiritual wisdom is applied to the healing life energy. It assesses where healing is most needed within an individual and then directs the healing energy to those places (The Healing Touch by William Lee Rand).
The purpose and intention of reiki is to heal. Healing, in this context, is returning to a state of alignment with one’s True Self. Ultimately, it is the intention of reiki to (perpetually) heal and guide the individual out of his or her suffering. Reiki is thus a path, a healing process, and you will progress as far on that path as you are willing to travel on it.
Results
Reiki relies on life energy flowing through the hands of the healer and into the client to enable the release of energetic negativity held in the body. The reiki healer has no control over what the client will experience or feel during or after a reiki session. It is the spiritual wisdom and the life energy which are at work in the client. The healer serves solely as a compassionate channel for the flow of this energy.
One would thus benefit from the faith that the unseen forces of the universe at large which are behind this healing process are always working for one’s highest good, even if it might not feel so in the moment. This may be difficult to do. However, it is a fact known from medical science that one’s physical body perpetually attempts and seeks to heal and renew itself. From this one can accurately infer that the force which causes the body to heal itself also seeks to heal aspects of the human body and mind which are not necessarily visible to us, in ways which we don’t necessarily understand. One does not need a medical degree, or even awareness of the workings of the body, for the body to go about healing itself.
Nonetheless, whatever philosophical or religious beliefs a person holds, reiki, like a scientific law, does not discriminate; it always works to heal, no matter who you are, what you’ve done or what you believe.
Uses
Physical ailments:
Reiki can be used to complement traditional medical treatment. It is known to expedite the course of a physical ailment, meaning that it will be processed through the body faster. This means that the client will still have to endure all of the symptoms, and likely an intensification of the symptoms just after a reiki treatment, as the ailment leaves the body. Thus, reiki is not magic; unless the ailment is quite minor, one will not have reiki and wake up the next morning cured. Once a person has internalized a negative element, it won’t just vanish from his or her system; it needs to exit. Before it can exit, it must be located and dislodged from its resting place within the individual.
Emotional issues:
Reiki can be used to treat all manner of emotional problems, especially as a complement to psychotherapy. If one has profound and deeply-rooted psychological issues, it may take some months to be free of them, depending on how many there are and how deeply one’s psyche has been affected by them. A person will not get a one-hour reiki session and wake up the next morning in joy, freed from suicidal depression forever. Full emotional healing from severe trauma, or deeply-rooted negative states of being, requires a devoted commitment.
Reiki is a healing process, or even a path of perpetual self-improvement, if you so choose.