What is Reiki?
Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by “laying on hands” and is based on the idea that an unseen “life force energy” flows through us and is what causes us to be alive.
One of the purposes of Reiki is to relieve suffering, bring calmness, inner peace and well-being in general. Reiki is a holistic therapy, a gentle energy work method that helps to heal the physical, mental and emotional balance.
The term Reiki is composed of two words:
Rei which designates the universal energy of life that surrounds each of us and encompasses everything.
Ki which, as opposed to Rei, refers to the vital energy in each of us, which includes all the components of a person, his body, his emotions, his mind, and his spirit.
Reiki means “Universal Life Force”. This system allows a practitioner to easily channel this love energy and to pour it by a touch of light on the body. The practice of this technique allows to apply a natural vital energy in a systematic treatment that covers all the organs of the body.
It is an ancient technique, developed by a Japanese secular monk of Tendai confession, Dr. Mikao Usui (1865-1926) from Buddhist writings. He founded a Reiki Clinic in Tokyo and called his technique “Usui Reiki Shiki Ryoho” which means “Usui Reiki System of Natural Healing” It is while practicing Zazen Shikan Taza, (the Lotus meditation of repentance) that Usui Sensei was illuminated with the Light of Reiki. The initiation techniques (Reiju) set up by Usui awaken and open the healing channel inside the practitioner allowing him to transmit life vital force (or Ki).Reiki is widely practiced in many countries. It can work in conjunction with traditional and alternative medicine.
The virtues of Reiki
Reiki strengthens and accelerates the natural healing process,Reiki restores psychic harmony and well-being of the soul,Reiki acts on all levels: physical, psychic, emotional and spiritual,Reiki regulates the energy system,Reiki dissolves blockages and promotes total relaxation,Reiki encourages the elimination of toxins,Reiki adapts to the natural needs of the recipient,Reiki also acts on animals, plants and situations, Reiki is an extremely simple and enjoyable holistic healing method.
Use Reiki when…
You want to strengthen your immune system
You want to find greater energy
You are engaged in a spiritual process
You want to learn about the practice of Reiki
You are aware of problems in your life, and you seek to solve them, find solutions
You want to help your loved ones in their daily life, physically, emotionally or mentally
You have chronic pain or illness
You are going through an agonizing, depressing time
You are exhausted by the stress of your life
You want to discover a tool for well being in everyday life
Reiki is for everyone, regardless of age, culture, political, social or religious affiliation. You do not have to be a therapist to be introduced to Reiki.
Reiki removes toxins first, stimulates the organs and the nervous system, treats inflamed and contaminated areas (bacterial and viral infections), resolves and releases blockages in the energy system, strengthens the energy supply and the immune system. Each treatment works on different levels and deeply purifies thoughts, body, emotions and spirit.
The 5 Reiki principles:
The Five Reiki Principles are guidelines that everyone can live by, to promote a healthy, loving way of living.
- Just for today, I will not be angry
Within the Buddhist tradition, it is taught that anger is the most negative of all disturbing emotions, with desire-attachment, on the one hand, and ignorance or mental opacity, on the other. Anger is aggression, aversion, hatred and arrogance. All these emotions are a hindrance and an obstacle to the realization of the Awakening. Anger is particularly destructive, both for oneself and for others. It reflects discomfort: the person who expresses it is momentarily destabilized and unbalanced in its energy. It’s easy to respond to anger with anger. Therefore, in the face of an individual manifesting this type of emotion, the antidote is to develop in us qualities of understanding and non-judgment.
Usui Sensei explains how much the feeling of anger hurts others and hurts oneself. It is important therefore to avoid that kind of feeling. This means that we must not be disturbed by anger but also not be controlled by our emotions. Egocentric people are emotional, show emotions like anger, resentment and hatred. The use of Reiki balances emotion and spirit.
- Just for today, I will not worry
It is a teaching which advises to entrust everything to the universe and to keep the mind peaceful without worrying too much. Fear and worry are in harmony with the dissonance wave and they have the power to attract it. The 3rd degree of Reiki (Shipinden) is a step to learn to trust the universe and to entrust everything to it.
The Dalai Lama explains that if a difficulty arises in our life, and that we know that there will be a solution anyway, sooner or later, it is therefore completely useless to worry. And in case there is no solution … well, it is also useless to worry, since there are no solutions!
- Just for today, I will be grateful
This principle, which was quite adapted to the Japanese society of that time, shows the respect paid to all those to whom we are indebted, like our parents, but also to those who provide us with a teaching, a knowledge or possess the wisdom of age. Especially in the East, the respect and gratitude shown to the wise, guides and those who transmit us knowledge or show us the Way, are extremely natural. Feelings of gratitude are the energy that emanates from the high consciousness of the human being. When we forget to be grateful because of selfishness, we lose our own heart. On the other hand, if we become familiar with it, feelings of gratitude will naturally spring from the heart. Scientific evidence supports the fact that gratitude makes us healthier by making us happier and kinder. It is a vital practice in personal development and takes no time or effort to accomplish.
- Just for today, I will do my work honestly
Earning one’s life honestly, honorably, and not doing jobs that hurt others, should be a basic rule for an ideal society. We must work to live, it is a reality that no one can deny. Let us try to give a noble meaning to our profession, by the help and the benefit it can bring to an individual or on the collective level. We will manifest the reality of interdependence, where everyone of the same society contributes to the whole. That is why we must find a just and decent way of life that helps, if possible, everyone to generate even more peace in their lives and in those of others. We develop, through our work, a certain sense of responsibility and appreciation, and thus contribute to the Energy of Life.
This principle seems akin to the fifth Paramita of Buddhism: diligence (hard work), which really means finding joy in the virtuous.
- Just for today, I will be kind to every living thing
If we understand this principle, we will not only feel kindness for human beings, but for all manifestations of life in the universe including the invisible world. We will realize that it is the same Breath of Life, the same Energy and the same Love that flows in every creature. We will know that each one of us carries within ourselves this spark of awakening, this divine consciousness, and that we should respect all forms of life without distinction. Perhaps then we will develop this holographic vision of life, where all levels of consciousness are in resonance with each other, and where everything must be in perfect harmony to be able to exist. Showing kindness is a state of awareness, availability and a continuous presence.
We will pay the same attention to each of our actions, to each of our steps. We will become aware of each of our words, and even of each of our thoughts. Life is everywhere, because everything is energy. Expressing kindness will no longer be just a question of behavior or a simple theory; it will not require us any effort, since we will begin to realize the sense of non-separation and ultimate non-duality between ourselves and others.
My Reiki lineage
