Is Reiki a spiritual energy? Is Reiki life-force? We dive into the meaning of this Japanese energy healing system to see how it is translated, and how healers relate to it.
Introduction to Reiki Therapy
After meditating for 21 days with the intention to discover how he can help people, Dr. Mikao Usui discovered Reiki in 1922. Dr. Bindiya Gandhi explains, “Reiki is a form of energy medicine based on universal life source energy targeted towards healing.” Hence, Reiki already exists within us. It’s the energy in all matter.
The word ‘Reiki’ is made of two Japanese words – ‘Rei’ which means “God’s Wisdom or Higher Power” and ‘ki’ which is “life force energy”. Reiki, then, means “spiritually-guided life force energy”.
-Sara Choi, Certified Holistic Nurse and Integrative Health & Wellness Coach, NAO Wellness
Today, Reiki is used in hospitals, cancer clinics, hospices, spas, and wellness centers. It’s a complementary therapy to addiction recovery, pain management, and stress reduction programs. When our life force is balanced, our physical reality, which encompasses health, relationships, and career, also flows in harmony.
Awakening Through Reiki
Reiki Master Teacher Yolanda Williams shares, “Reiki, as a noun, is an expression of life force energy. It helps us to recognize the singular connective spark of life that exists in all living things. The practice of Reiki brings us into conscious awareness of being one, while highlighting our choice of self-healing and awakening to what it means to be alive.”
While some experience ascension in consciousness, many notice that they are connected to their intuition and soul’s calling. With a regular practice, Reiki practitioners find clarity, and can navigate life’s challenges with mindfulness and resilience. The Reiki practice includes embracing the precepts, meditation, sacred symbols and mantras, attunements, as well as hands-on-healing.
“To me, reiki means a river of healing. Your own body becomes the channel in which the healing waters flow. Engaging in this flow connects me to the essence of water, which holds the ability to purify, bless and trust in its course.”-Luciana Naclerio, Space by Mama Medicine
Reiki helps seekers discover the power of manifesting and co-creation. We learn to set crystal-clear intentions, communicate with a Higher Source, trust and surrender. Often, the true healing of Reiki lies in the unconditional love, faith, and acceptance that we develop.
Benefits of Reiki
Reiki heals the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies. It’s also a path to balancing chakras, or the energetic vortexes that store our beliefs, emotions, patterns, and karma. Reiki therapist Sara Choi explains, “Reiki meets each person where they are on their path to healing and gives them what they need along their journey.”
As a Certified Holistic Nurse, and Integrative Health and Wellness Coach, Choi explains Reiki is a natural and safe method of healing and relaxation that can be integrated with other standard medical or therapeutic practices to relieve discomfort, and promote recovery and well-being- body, mind, and spirit.
Dr. Bindiya Gandhi shares, “The power of the mind along with gentle touch promotes healing to many in various forms speeding up recovery, improving depression, anxiety, pain and more. Reiki promotes peace within, oneness with the universe and improves overall emotional and physical well being.”
What a Reiki Healing Feels Like
During a session, clients lie on a massage table, fully clothed. Practitioners either work in the aura of their clients or gently place hands on their client’s bodies. It’s typical for clients to feel the energy moving through them with some sensations such as warmth, coolness, or tingling. Most feel relaxed and vibrant after a session, although some people may need extra rest as their mind and body adjust to their new frequency.
“Many who have received Reiki say that a treatment feels like ‘a wonderful glowing radiance’ or ‘warmth that flows through and around’ them, inducing feelings of calm, peace, and improved focus.”, shares Sara Choi of NAO Wellness.
Since we’re all connected through our auric fields, Reiki can also be sent across time and space. You may connect with a Reiki Healer over the phone or Internet to receive a clearing. Distant clients typically report less pain and muscle tension, and increased emotional balance.
To prepare for your session, drink plenty of water and wear comfortable clothing. You may want to set some intentions as to what you’re ready to call into your life. Approach your session with an open mind and trust your journey.
Reiki can be translated as “spiritually guided life-force energy”. However, the practice can mean enlightenment, relaxation, mindfulness, unconditional acceptance, connection with the divine, emotional intelligence or all of the above for practitioners.