What is Reiki?

The word 'Reiki' (pronounced as Ray-Key) is a Japanese word and is actually made of two words: 'Rei' and 'Ki' whose somewhat 'loose' English translation is "Universal (Rei) Life Force Energy (Ki)". It is called differently in different cultures and parts of the world. For example, the Chinese call it 'Qi or Chi', The Indians call it 'Prana Shakti', the Egyptians call it 'Ka', the Hawaiians call it 'Mana', and some Westerners call it "Holy Spirit'.

Reiki is an ancient art of healing by laying one's hands on a recipient by transferring healing energy primarily from the healer's palms to the recipient's 'energy body', whether the recipient be animate (e. g. a human being, an animal, or a plant) or inanimate (e. g. a car's engine, computer, or cell phone battery). Its knowledge and practice existed in ancient India and some part of Asia a few thousand years ago, however, were subsequently lost in the process of words of mouth teaching traditions existed back then, only to be 're-discovered' by a Japanese monk, scholar, and teacher named Dr. Mikao Usui who again put it into healing practice in early 1900's.

We may not know or realize but it is freely available and exists to varying extent in all living beings. It is 'visually proven' by measuring and displaying as our 'aura' pictures of our bio-magnetic fields using a technology called Kirlian Photography, and is constantly affected and continuously changed by our emotions and energies that are altered through our words, feelings, and actions at a given moment. It is also greatly influenced by the practices such as yoga, tai chi, meditation, exercise, etc. and other lifestyle factors such as diet, alcohol, drugs, sleep, stress level, etc. to name a few. In general, better our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health - individually or collectively, better is our "Ki" and vice versa. This is the fundamental notion in using for one's self or giving (transferring) to someone else the Reiki energy to improve one's health in one or all of these four domains and thus to treat and heal one's self.

Medically speaking, Reiki is believed to elicit the "rest and digest" response in the body by activating and/or engaging our body's parasympathetic nervous system and thus creating, supporting, and enhancing the conditions and environment within our body that are conducive to use and leverage our body's own healing ability.

Beyond treating and healing one's self and the clients/patients, Reiki practice is considered to be spiritual, personally cleansing, and internally purifying, more for the practitioners (generically called the healers) than the recipients. Especially for the highly advanced practitioners (often called a 'Reiki Master' or 'Reiki Master Teacher'), the purity and oneness of one's body, mind, soul, and spirit are of paramount importance in both personal and professional development and growth. All practitioners, in general, are expected to be gentle, caring, loving, nurturing, giving, and serving through their mind, heart, and devotion and practice and exemplify these traits through their lifestyle and healing practices.

Today, Reiki is most commonly known and accepted as a form of alternative therapy commonly referred to and known as energy healing. The medical world - hospitals - clinics - treatment centers etc. - offers it as a component of their services under Energy Medicine (EM), Integrative Medicine (IM), or Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) department. Tens of thousands of licensed and certified medical professionals around the words have learned Reiki at various levels of skills and proficiency and have integrated it into their practices and treatments of their clients at some of the finest and prestigious hospitals, institutions, and medical centers and at thousands of spas and wellness centers around the world, sometimes in combination with the other well-known and globally accepted treatment modalities such as massage therapy, physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture / acupressure, naturopathy, etc. along with the allopathic medicine as we know it.

Read on the information on the other pages on this site to get some glimpses of Reiki in healthcare, whether at home and for one's own self or at an institution for someone else, and contact us today if you need additional information on the practical use of Reiki in the treatment, therapies, and wellness programs. We look forward to hearing from you soon!