What Is Reiki: Part I

Waking Point

by Helen Noakes

“Just for today, do not worry. Just for today, do not be angry. Earn your living honestly. Count your blessings. Honor your parents, teachers, and friends. Show gratitude to every living thing.”—Dr. Mikao Usui

SAN FRANCISCO California—(Weekly Hubris)—3/28/11—My good friend, editor, and Reiki student, Elizabeth Boleman-Herring, suggested that I write a series of columns about Reiki. I have been a practitioner since the 1980s, and became a Reiki Master in 1991. Since that time, I’ve had the honor and privilege of teaching the Usui System of Natural Healing to students all over the world, and of providing hands-on and distant Reiki treatments to anyone who sought my assistance.

What I have learned in my years of practice is that the human spirit is indomitable, and that within each of us is an immense capacity to heal ourselves, others, and the planet upon which we live. I’ve been given the great gift of sharing the miraculous with people whose heart and souls gave them the strength, courage, and determination to defy all odds.

My students have taught me much, and I have been blessed with teachers in all walks of life, who showed me that indeed, “There are more things in heaven and earth . . . Than are dreamt of in (our) philosophy.”

REIKI, the Japanese word for Universal Life Force Energy or the Universal Spirit, is an integral part of every human being because it is the essence of life itself. The Usui System of Reiki is based upon an ancient healing art which can be traced back to ancient Buddhist texts. I believe, through my personal research, that its origins go back even further, a concept I will discuss in a later column.

Whether transmitted through the hands of the practitioner, or through distant healing methods utilizing prescribed symbols (taught in Second Degree), Reiki revitalizes and balances the energy within the system.

We are made of energy but, often, for a variety of reasons, that energy is blocked, impeded or diminished. This is where Reiki comes in. It proceeds directly to the root of the problem in order to remove these obstacles, to restore the flow of “Life Force Energy,” and thus restore balance and well-being.

Reiki does not drain energy, either from the transmitter or the receiver, and is beneficial to all life forms, including animals, plants and the planet itself. Once learned, Reiki may be used on oneself and on others. The practitioner can deliver the energy through any obstacle or material.
A Brief History of Reiki

The healing art of Reiki was introduced to us in the 20^th Century by Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese philosopher and scholar. One of the people to whom he passed his Mastership was Dr. Chujiro Hayashi, who in turn bestowed it on a number of other students, including Mrs. Hawayo Takata. It was Mrs. Takata who introduced the practice to the United States.

Reiki Treatments

In the hands of a qualified Reiki practitioner, the Reiki energy seeks out and addresses the recipient’s concerns and, sometimes, finds an area of imbalance about which the recipient is completely unaware. Since physical imbalances often originate from deeply established psychological issues, Reiki searches for and focuses on those issues, assisting the individual in identifying and gradually eradicating the cause of his or her physical discomfort or disease. For this reason, it is important that one finds an accredited practitioner who is committed to a code of ethics dictating that all Reiki sessions are confidential.

Reiki treats the whole being, body, mind, and spirit, and is transmitted without preconceptions or intentions. The importance of the practitioner attending to a person without an agenda is imperative, given that such an agenda would serve as an obstacle to the practitioner’s perceptions and would occlude the progress of the healing process.

Reiki easily integrates with other practices, whether alternative or traditional, and helps to intensify those practices in such a way as to make them more deeply effective.

A Reiki practitioner “nudges” the system to awaken to its inherent ability to heal and to be balanced. Reiki triggers, enhances, and supports an individual’s psycho-neural immune system to address areas of distress and imbalance. Psycho-neural immunity refers to the body’s natural ability to heal and restore itself.

From the simplest injuries, such as a small cut on a finger to major wounds, the body broadcasts its distress to the brain, which in turn marshals the body’s natural immune system immediately to begin the healing process. Often, for a number of reasons, this natural response is disabled.

Stress is one of the major factors in the disruption of our body’s natural cycles. Reiki reestablishes the lines of communication between the troubled area and the system’s inherent healing mechanisms.

Treatments by an accredited Reiki practitioner provide the healing and balance that the system requires. The bond between client and practitioner is usually uncanny, primarily because the healing or rejuvenation process is a participatory endeavor. When a client comes to a Reiki practitioner, he or she is open to the treatment and ready to communicate his or her needs. The practitioner, in turn, is open to hear and to attend to the client’s system.

While practitioners are encouraged to transmit the energy without specifying a result, Reiki has proven to be a powerful rejuvenator, increasing energy, and vitality, in addition to being an effective healing tool.

Please check this space in April for What is Reiki: Part II.

Should you be interested in further information, treatment or Reiki instruction, please contact me at hsn@flowsf.com.