What is Reiki?

Reiki is a Japanese word which means 'Universal Life Force Energy', it is the same energy known as ‘Chi' in China and ‘Prana' in India . The system of Reiki was developed by Mikao Usui in the early 20th Century and it is now practised all around the world.

Reiki can help:

•  Relax you when you feel stressed
•  Centre and focus you when you feel scattered
•  Energise you when you feel drained
•  Calm you when you are fearful
•  Relieve pain
•  Accelerate the natural healing of wounds
•  Improve your general health and well being
•  Prevent the development of disease by strengthening the immune system
•  Gradually alleviate chronic problems
•  Release emotional wounds
•  Help change conditioning and self destructive patterns
•  Accelerate spiritual growth

All human beings have the innate power to heal themselves. You can see this happening every time you cut your finger. The body sends additional energy to that particular area and produces new cells to repair the damaged ones. During a Healing session the practitioner will give additional healing energy to aid the body's natural recovery process. It sounds very simple and sometimes it is. However, to create lasting change it is necessary to resolve the issues that have caused the illness or imbalance in the first place. Healing energy can help to bring these issues to the surface and clear old energy patterns that are no longer needed.

Reiki is a holistic healing energy, which means it works on all the different levels of the recipient's being, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. The cause of many physical illnesses can be found at the deeper level of the emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. Because the energy works on all those levels as well as the physical, the root cause of the illness is being treated as well as the symptoms. For example, a headache may be caused by emotional stress. The healing energy will ease the headache, and also help heal the mental or emotional patterns underneath. It isn't necessary to be physically ill to have a Reiki treatment as it can also help those feeling blocked, out of balance or simply wanting a stronger spiritual connection.

The healing energy balances and harmonises the recipient's energy field. Where there is an imbalance there is illness or the potential for illness. In a balanced state, the individual has more potential for self-healing. We never diagnose during a treatment, but simply allow the healing energy to come through without directing it in any way and trust that it will flow where it is needed. For this reason, no medical or diagnostic education is required to practise Reiki. Treating someone with healing energy can be best viewed as a partnership in which you are helping the recipients to heal themselves.

Reiki is one of many different forms of spiritual healing, each of which has their own history, lineage, traditions and methods of practice. It is important to realise that all healing energy comes from the one Universal Source, regardless of which school of healing is practiced. I have been trained in Reiki to Teacher/Master level and I am also committed to my own spiritual development work, which in turn feeds back into my healing practice.

For further reading on Reiki an Healing, I would recommend the following books: