An Introduction to Reiki

If you have never experienced Reiki, the following is an explanation of what you might expect from a treatment. A Reiki treatment usually lasts between sixty and ninety minutes. The Reiki practitioner places his/her hands gently and passively on different locations on the body, usually beginning at the head. Each position is held for at least five minutes. Reiki is different from traditional massage because the person may remain fully clothed. Unlike massage, Reiki does not require any form of manipulation of tissue or muscles so the hands remain still. Reiki will even flow through a plaster cast.

It is common for the person being treated to experience sensations such as warmth or tingling flowing from the Reiki practitioner's hands. Most people report entering a very deep state of relaxation. Those familiar with meditation say they enter a deep meditative state. The mind calms, the breathing slows down, and a feeling of well-being and centeredness and a better sense of perspective is attained.

By receiving a one-hour session of Reiki, one physiologically attains many of the benefits equivalent to three to four hours sleep, such as increased oxygen supply to the blood and cells. This clinical observation, combined with the meditative state, makes Reiki a most effective natural stress reliever.

Regular use of Reiki leads to an increase in general vitality and well-being and a sense of inner peace. It greatly accelerates and promotes the healing process and regeneration of tissue, and is capable of improving the quality of one's life to an amazing degree.

Reiki cannot be learned from a book or by instruction. It is one of the ancient mysteries of the world and the activation of Reiki in your hands occurs only through a process referred to as an `attunement' or `initiation' which is given by a Reiki Master.

An important difference between Reiki and other effective energy therapies is that, once it has been activated in your hands, you have it for life and you are able to treat yourself. Most other energy healing systems do not extend beyond the ability to treat others.

In many other natural energy healing systems the practitioner is limited by his/her own physical and spiritual development and is often in danger of depleting his/her own energy in the process of treating others. As you will soon understand, this difference is one of Reiki's primary benefits.

Reiki can be explained in many ways. It can be considered an energy science which makes sense from the perspective of some theories within the field of quantum physics. This is discussed in chapter two. It can also be seen as a state of manifesting consciousness, which is discussed in the second part of this book. Whatever the explanation, it is an ancient healing/harmonizing therapy rapidly becoming recognized among health practitioners as a safe and highly effective complementary therapy to all other forms of health care.

 Reiki—Its Role in Healing Professions   

Most of the mainstream healing practices such as medicine, drug therapy, surgery, chiropractic, natural therapy and acupuncture are systems that are working on the utilization of the physical forces of the universe and the scientific principles involved with those forces. They are tangible, have specific roles, and can be very powerful.

How powerful they are depends upon the skill and training of the individual practitioner. Everyone is different. What will work well for one person doesn’t necessarily work well for another. Chiropractic can be very beneficial for many patients. Conversely, there are many other people for whom chiropractic is not appropriate. These people receive more benefit from structural balancing, Rolfing or acupuncture. The same occurs with acupuncture. Effective for many, not so effective for some because of their state of mind, belief systems, attitudes or the energetic state of their body. All systems have their place and value in society.

Reiki does not fit into the same category as these systems because Reiki is not something that is learned or requires certain skills from the practitioner. It is acquired as a manifestation process through an Initiation Ritual performed only by a Reiki Master utilizing symbols (patterns of energy). The focused thought patterns of the Reiki Master utilize the mystical symbols to connect the student to the Void. This also directs a specific manifestation into the Chakras in the hands that can then flow as pure energy on demand.

This is a rare phenomenon because even the energy that flows out from the hands isn’t really the Reiki. Reiki is consciousness. It only becomes a physical energy when it is drawn into the manifest world by the presence of disharmony and the intent of the practitioner. Once it enters the body it becomes tangible much the same as all the other energies we deal with in Acupuncture, Touch for Health, etc. The other systems, however, utilize the indigenous energies of the body, atmosphere, aura and meridian system. They utilize energy that already exists by directing and manipulating it.

In the physical world, energy cannot be created or destroyed — just changed. In quantum physics, we know that this law is no longer valid. Reiki energy is actually being created/manifested by consciousness from the Void. As Reiki is enabling people to connect with the higher levels of consciousness, its limitations are only those imposed upon it by our own limited insight.

Some Reiki practitioners use it as a first-aid tool and to help some friends overcome health problems. Others use it to enhance meditation, a tool for spiritual growth, as a way of life, as a philosophy and as a means of raising their vibration to a higher level of awareness. We can take it at far as our minds, belief systems and attitudes allow us. Reiki is one of the few systems in the world to give a tangible manifestation of pure energy that we can feel and interpret instantaneously. Reiki is proof that there is far more to life than the physical sciences.

Not everyone in the world can or should be Initiated to Reiki because many are not ready to experience or accept that level of consciousness yet. As the world grows and people become more aware of the dynamics of energy and consciousness, there will be more people drawn to Reiki. They will want to experience Reiki as part of their personal and spiritual growth.    WWW.PaRama.com for more information.