I often get asked – what is Reiki? It is a difficult question to answer, as it is hard to explain an energy that you cannot see and you have to actually experience a Reiki treatment to feel the energy!
Fundamentally Reiki is a Japanese method of rebalancing energy systems in and around the body. The word Reiki can be translated to Rei =Universal Ki =Energy. It can help with relief from pain, insomnia, anxiety, depression and many other issues. Reiki helps you to accept and cope a lot better with what is happening in your life, reducing worry or anger.
A trained practitioner uses their connection to universal life energy to become a channel for you to draw this healing energy into your body; the energy is then used wherever it is needed to trigger healing in your energetic fields- always for your highest good.
Reiki works on physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels, aiming to bring all systems into balance. Quite often people have issues on an emotional, mental or spiritual level, which cause an imbalance in the energy fields and then manifest as physical symptoms within the body. Once Reiki has worked to rebalance the issue at its source, these physical symptoms will usually ease or disappear completely.
So what does a Reiki treatment feel like? As Reiki is working for the highest good of each recipient, every experience is unique to the person having the treatment. You may feel the energy as heat, tingling or even cold. You may feel as if you are floating or weighed down by the energy. Sometimes the recipient falls asleep, or goes into a meditative state, seeing colours or images in their minds eye. Some people simply feel very relaxed. Everyone experiences energy in different ways and Reiki will always benefit you regardless of how sensational the treatment was.
Receiving a Reiki treatment is a very simple experience. You lie fully clothed on a treatment couch, usually with your eyes closed to help relax more easily. The practitioner then gently places their hands on/over your body in a series of positions – covering the head, neck, shoulders, arms, torso, legs and feet. Each position is held for a couple of minutes, or until the practitioner feels that it is right to move on. During the treatment, the energy is drawn through the practitioner into you, to produce the required state of balance. The energy always goes to where it is most needed (this may not be the place that you think requires it the most!)
It is not unusual for a person to have an emotional release during a Reiki treatment – either quietly crying during the treatment, or having a good cry afterward. I recently had a client book a treatment based on a recommendation from a taxi driver who had driven one of my previous Raw Horizons Retreat clients to the railway station. The client told the taxi driver that she’d had a Reiki treatment at the Retreat, cried for 2 hours afterward and that it had been the most amazing experience of her life! – So for some people Reiki can be a profound, even life changing experience, where another might gain pain relief or extreme relaxation and the ability to cope with life in a calmer way!
Whatever the result, Reiki will usually leave you wishing your treatment would never end………
By Zara Dickinson
www.zdreikiplus.co.uk