Reiki is a technique of “laying on hands” that promotes healing and reduces stress. It channels the Life Force Energy that flows through the body. When this energy is low, illness can occur. Reiki is the Japanese technique of balancing the flow of energy in the body for maximum vitality.
There are many misconceptions and misunderstandings surround Reiki.
Reiki is a religion – Reiki is the practice of balancing life energy. It is not a religion. Reiki practitioners are not in cults. Reiki is a method of promoting healing and well-being in the body. People who give and receive Reiki healings may tend to be more spiritual in nature, but just like yoga, Reiki has no religious connections or connotations.
Reiki is Therapeutic Touch – though both practices use the laying on of hands, they are two very different techniques. Therapeutic Touch works on individual energy fields. A practitioner will assess and balance the body to promote natural healing. It balances and manipulates surrounding bio-energetic fields of the body. Reiki practitioners channel the life force energy into a body to heal. Reiki practitioners are instructed in how to use healing touch.
Reiki Healing Should Be Free – any practitioner who studies and learns their art should be compensated for work, just like medical providers. There are three levels of training that must be completed before a certification of Reiki Master is achieved. Even though the result is the ability to heal, anyone who invests time in studying ways to benefit people should not feel uncomfortable about charging for their skill.
Reiki Practitioners are Healers – the practice of Reiki is that of balancing a person’s life force energy. Where energy is low, the placing of hands on the body by a Reiki practitioner will facilitate the balancing of energy fields. Therefore, the person receiving the Reiki treatment is really the one doing the healing. The Reiki practitioner is merely facilitating this energy flow, but it is the flowing of energy forces that is actually healing dis-ease in the recipient’s body.
One Reiki Treatment Will Work – Reiki is a holistic method of healing. It connects the mind, body, and spirit. A person must work with the Reiki practitioner to promote healing in the body. It generally does not happen in just one session. Clients are often suggested that they should schedule 3 to 4 sessions of Reiki at a time. Then they should take a break and see how their bodies feel as they continue to work on all the issues surrounding the illness and misalignment in the body/mind. After a couple of months they should return to the Reiki practitioner to discuss progress and healing specifics. Reiki treatments are a process towards healing.
Healed Equals Cured – healing is not curing. Curing means the symptoms of the illness have gone away. Healing means the root cause of the illness has been addressed and eliminated. It is similar to the practice of naturopathic versus allopathic medicine. Allopathic medicine providers (medical doctors) prescribe medications that ease the symptoms of an illness, while naturopathic providers focus of the reason for the illness, or the root cause. Reiki works on body imbalance. Illness is caused by physical and mental imbalance, and both issues must be addressed for true healing.
Reiki is Mental Belief Only – Reiki healing treatments will work whether or not a person believes in Reiki. It is not a placebo. Any type of healing has to take an open mind and belief that conditions can be healed. Negative thinking will result in negative conditions of the body. People who are constantly complaining and seeing the negative side of any situation will find that they are always sick. There is a mind/body connection to many illnesses. That is why medical doctors often give placebos in place of real medications because they understand the illness of the mind can result in illness of the body. Reiki receivers, like any other type of patient, have to be receptive to healing.