Reiki is an energy healing that can get rid of stress and anxiety and can help you to sleep better. It is done by light touching or even no touching at all. It is a form of energy healing that was created in the 20th century in Japan and uses the life force energy to help you to feel better.
Life force energy is energy that cannot be seen, and the reiki practitioner will move their hands on or above the body of the client and will set an intention that will get rid of stress and bring healing by helping the energy to flow at the right rate.
Thousands of people including children have used reiki healing and it is a growing trend in America because it is thought to help with pain, depression, relaxation, stress and more.
Understanding Reiki
Reiki is an energy therapy that is thought to bring self-healing and to promote goodness in the body. This is a source of energy healing that channels the energy by opening up the body where energy is blocked.
Rei means “rei” which is “God’s wisdom,” and “ki” which means “life force energy.” Ki is the life force energy that allows all living things to have energy. When you put these two words together is means to have spiritually guided life force energy through reiki.
Reiki is taught by a teacher that gives knowledge to the students and they help the student to be able to channel energy healing and help to improve health of themselves and others. Once the channels or the chakras are open, the practitioner can do this for the rest of their lives.
Reiki is often considered a spiritual practice like meditating, but it is often used in the secular world as a form of therapy. It is not a religion or associated with religion though, even though it is believed to be.
Reiki is taught on three levels, the first is the practitioner practices energy healing on themselves by doing light touch, the second step is when they do distance healing, and the third degree is when they can teach others how to do it.
How Does Reiki Work?
No one really knows how reiki works, and it isn’t backed by science. Some believe that there is a biofield that surrounds everything that lives. It is believed that this energy field extends 15 feet out from the body.
The heart, for example, has electrocardiograms which helps to control the heartbeat. Even the brain has an electrical field. He body uses both negative and positive electrical charges which creates a magnetic field.
Some believe that when the human magnetic field happens that it affects things like reiki. The biofield is the energy force that regulates the body and reiki influences the biofield that can cause changes to the vibrations of living beings.
There are small particles according to physics such as neutrons, protons, photons, electrons and more and they interact with their energy and the physical matter. These particles, though tiny, can be in more than one place at the same time because of their waves and even thinking differently can change the way that the particles work and move.
Reiki practitioners might be able to get biofield energy to change through intentions and thoughts but there is no scientific evidence to support this.
How Does Reiki Help?
Reiki can help those that have trouble sleeping and those that battle with pain, stress, and anxiety. Reiki is thought to lower stress and pain in people that have to get surgery such as knee replacement or other stressful surgeries.
Reiki is also thought to improve sleep and a persons mood by helping them to have less stress and more peace. Others believe that reiki can help to control pain and stress in those that have cancer.
The biggest benefit that is thought for reiki is that it can reduce stress which helps the body heal. It gives the body a break from dealing with stress and gives less tension, allowing people to be able to relax and heal from any damage that comes from pain, disease, or stress. By letting a person relax, they can accelerate their own natural healing and the body can focus more on the healing than on the stress.
Reiki might even help with the nervous system and control things like breathing and the heartbeat. It stops people form being in a fight or flight mode and to go into a rest and digest state of being. Since the brain is always using information, it will send signals to the nervous system, and it will allow the body to relax or to get stressed. This controls the heart rate, breathing, digestion, and blood pressure.
When you have a lot of stress such as relationship problems, poor sleeping habits, pain and more, the nervous system will release hormones such as epinephrine and this causes the blood pressure and heart rate to increase. This can cause the body to be under constant stress and can put a person at a greater risk of heart disease or other sicknesses.
People are meant to be in a parasympathetic dominate state and reiki will help to get people to that place where they can relax, rest, and recover easier.
Those that experience work burnout such as emotional detachment or mental exhaustion will often feel better after reiki. Research shows that the heart rate will slow down, and the nervous system will respond to this kind of therapy, putting the nervous system in a rest and digest state. After reiki, the research showed that the heart rate was slower and more relaxed and that there was less stress on the nervous system.
Reiki is considered to be complementary therapy and is never intended to replace medical advice or therapies. It is something that can help to bring calmness and to balance the system and should never be substituted for treatment.
Where Was Reiki Developed?
Reiki was developed by Mikao Usui which was a Buddhist priest in 1920. It is practiced all over the world today and there are different styles that are practiced in America and in Japan, but the earlier styles aren’t usually known to practitioners.
Usui fasted and mediated for three weeks on a sacred mountain in Kyoto, Japan called Mount Kurama. He believed that he was learning reiki at this time. He had been close to starving to death when he got a burst of energy that allowed him to feel more aware and stronger than he ever felt. He then showed others how to practice this healing technique. Some believe that reiki can change the levels of cortisol in the body and regulate the body temperature and heart rate.
Afterwards, Hawayo Takata, a Japanese-Hawaiian began teaching Usui’s reiki in the 1930’s and it spread to the United States in the 1970’s and started getting used by doctors and nurses in the 1990’s in some hospitals.
Are There Risks with Reiki?
No one has ever reported any risks with reiki, and it has no side effects. The only time that it could be dangerous is if it is done by someone that doesn’t know what they are doing or someone that is doing something risky and claiming it to be reiki. It is never an invasive treatment and someone that does reiki should have worked with a reiki master before they ever delivered the treatment themselves. Reiki is not normally covered under insurance.
If you decide to get reiki, make sure that you find someone that is a professional and someone that is qualified. Some patients have reported having temporary symptoms such as increased nervous system activation so if you have a mental health disorder or PTSD or severe anxiety, you should talk to your doctor before getting reiki.
What Happens in a Reiki Session?
Reiki sessions normally last around 60 to 90 minutes. The session will happen, and you will stay completely clothed on a treatment table. You can even choose to sit in a recliner if you need to. Wear clothing that is loose and comfortable and if you need to change, you can before you get started.
Dress in layers in case you get cold or hot and sometimes you will have to roll on your stomach so make sure that you remove anything that could hurt you like a belt or accessories.
As you start your session, the reiki practitioner will put their hands on or near your body. They will do this around your head and shoulders, your feet, stomach, and other parts of the body. Each position is held for 3-10 minutes depending on what is needed.
The practitioner may or may not talk during the session but there is normally very little talking done. You should get to a place where you are relaxed, and you might even fall asleep. Some people don’t physically fall asleep, but they mentally sleep for a short while during the session. Some people go into a deep meditative state that helps to make the nervous system strong.
Some people will experience sensations and others will not and this will be talked about after the session ends.
Finding a Reiki Practitioner
Reiki practice is something that isn’t regulated and anyone can get a certificate or do online certification. Make sure that you find someone that is reputable and that has done licensing through places such as the International Center for Reiki Training or the UK Reiki Federation, to name a few. You should find someone in your area that is certified by a professional association and see if they are licensed by a doctor or nurse or acupuncture licensing.
Insurance may or may not cover your session and you may have to cover the costs yourself. If Reiki is part of your treatment, you can get this done by a nursing or health care professional during your hospital stay.