What is Reiki?
Reiki is a spiritual healing art with its roots in Japanese origin. The word Reiki comes from the Japanese word Rei which means “Universal Life” and Ki which means “Energy”. Reiki is commonly translated as ‘Universal Life Energy’, but the characters can be translated as meaning "soul energy", "mysterious spirit", or even "spiritually guided life force energy"; Japanese characters can be interpreted in different ways, on different levels.
Reiki is the life energy that flows through all living things. It is believed that a person’s "ki" or energy should be strong and free-flowing. When this is the case a person is physically, mentally, and emotionally balanced and their body and mind are in a positive state of health. When the energy becomes weak or blocked it could lead to symptoms of physical or emotional imbalance.
The art of Reiki is a healing technique whereby the Reiki Practitioner administers energy healing by means of touch. This "life force energy" flows through to activate and strengthen the body’s natural healing processes to help restore mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. Reiki simultaneously works to balance the chakras in the body, enabling the body to heal itself.
Eastern systems of medicine have always recognised and worked with this energy. This energy is known as “Ki” in Japan, “Chi” in China and “Prana” in India. All traditional and modern forms of energy therapy such as Reiki, Yoga and Acupuncture are believed to work by stimulating clearance of energy blocks and allowing natural healing mechanisms to work.
Reiki is not attached to any particular religion and is therefore open to people from all walks of life.
Benefits of Reiki
Reiki is a natural and non-invasive, holistic healing technique that works on many different levels and dimensions. It holds many wonderful benefits and assists with healing of all kinds.
Primarily, Reiki works on all four levels of our being:
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Mental: Reiki naturally brings you into a state of deep relaxation, promoting grounding, balance and a release of stress, anxieties and tension. This mental balance also enhances learning, memory and mental clarity. It allows you to let go of negative thoughts, attitudes, patterns and behaviours, replacing them with positivity, peace and serenity. It can enhance your intuitive abilities and encourage you to pursue your personal growth and potential through greater insight and self-awareness.
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Physical: Reiki supports and accelerates the body’s natural ability to heal itself, helping to release blockages, alleviate pain and relieve any other symptoms. Reiki creates harmony and balance in the entire body, creating an overall feeling of well-being. It also helps you to become more in tune with your body and develop a greater awareness of your body’s needs. This enhances your lifestyle choices and encourages you to nourish your sacred self in a healthy and loving way.
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Emotional: Reiki can help heal emotional wounds and provides great relief during emotional distress. It cleans and clears the emotions, healing any blockages. Reiki enhances your capability to love, enabling your relationships to grow and flourish. By improving your capacity for empathy, Reiki allows you to connect with people on a deeper level. This insight can help you to examine your emotional response to life events, allowing you to let go of negative emotions and replace them with feelings of love.
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Spiritual: Reiki is regarded as a spiritually guided life-force energy that stems from divine origins. Reiki promotes the qualities of love, compassion, understanding and acceptance, and guides you on your path towards spiritual growth and development. Reiki reinforces the connection to your soul and divinity within. It brings about the realisation that you are part of something magnificent and greater where each individual is not just a human being, but a soul that is connected with all others.
Reiki can affect each person differently but it always acts wherever the receiver needs it most. Reiki works on the body, mind and spirit as a whole. It balances the emotions, brings clarity to the mind, stimulates spiritual growth and reconnects us to our true selves which in turn impacts both our physical and overall well-being, enhancing every aspect of our lives.
Reiki and Chakra Healing
The word Chakra is derived from the Sanskrit language and literally translates as “wheel” or “circle”. However, in Reiki, Ayurveda and various other holistic practices Chakras are regarded as spinning wheels of life, energy centres and points of spiritual power. A practical way to view the chakras is as meeting points between the mind and body or the physical and spiritual.
There are seven main chakra points located on the midline of the body. Each chakra has an attachment to separate body areas, including glands and organs. Although chakras do not have a physical form, they do have an effect upon the organ systems within the body. Each chakra can be seen as a vortex or an energetic gateway, transmitting, receiving or in the case of chakra balancing, replenishing life-force energy into or out of the body. This life-force energy is also popularly referred to as “Ki” in Japanese, “Chi” in Chinese and “Prana” in Sanskrit.
The body’s job is to maintain the balance and free-flow of this pranic energy, however, with today’s fast-paced lifestyle, the chakra system is constantly changing in response to the joys and stresses of everyday life. For example, at both a cellular and energetic level, the imprint of negative life experiences such as ill-health, stress, grievances, the inability to express emotions, pressure, disconnection from our authentic selves to name a few, can cause our chakras to become imbalanced, out of alignment or in many cases blocked. This inhibits the flow of our life-force energy, resulting in mental, emotional and physical distress.
Since our body, mind, soul and spirit are intimately connected, an imbalance in one area will not only impact the functions associated with its own related chakras but will also have far-reaching effects on all other chakras. Therefore during chakra balancing, the energetic gateways of the chakras not only enable healing to take place through replenishment of the body’s pranic energy but also through enabling release of any depleted energies. This ensures optimal flow and even distribution of energy is created throughout each chakra, resulting in balance and powerful healing. Chakra balancing is the process through which the realignment of our seven separate chakras takes place, enabling them to work together effectively which is the key to creating balance within the body.
Reiki is a natural way to open the chakras and bring them back into a state of balance. Having established that our chakras are connected to and affect our life-force energy, adjusting and balancing them through Reiki can help enhance our overall health and well-being.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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What does Reiki healing feel like?
The sensations during a Reiki treatment are unique for each individual, however most clients experience relaxation. Clients commonly experience deep relaxation when receiving healing for physical ailments and energised when healing emotional issues. These responses indicate that balance is being restored in the body. Some clients have found Reiki energy to feel like a wonderful healing, flowing radiance, relieving them of negative, depleting energies; resulting in feelings of serenity and joy.
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Who is Reiki suitable for?
Reiki is beneficial and suitable for everyone, no matter what their condition or symptoms. Reiki is also perfectly safe for babies, pregnant women and the elderly. Reiki works intelligently with the body’s own natural healing systems to promote healing. The first step towards healing is relaxation.
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Why is relaxation the first step?
Relaxation is one of the most commonly experienced effects of Reiki and there is good reason for this. Relaxation and rest are vital to healing. They turn off our fight or flight stress response, which pervades so many of our organs and systems. Once the body experiences relaxation it enables the body to focus on restoring health rather than responding to crisis.
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Can I continue on medical treatment?
Absolutely. Reiki works in conjunction with regular medical treatment. However, it is recommended that you see a health care professional in addition to receiving Reiki treatments should you have a medical condition. Reiki energy works in harmony with all other forms of healing, including medicine, surgery, psychological care or any other method of alternative care and will improve the results.
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Is Reiki safe for pregnant women?
Yes. Many women have received treatments before, during and after pregnancy with great benefit to both mother and child. Receiving Reiki whilst pregnant can result in a smoother pregnancy and child-birth experience. It also means that the unborn child will benefit from the Reiki treatment. Reiki is also completely safe and very healthy for babies. Since Reiki is guided by the Higher Power, the Reiki energy will know the condition of the client and adjust appropriately.
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How many treatments will I require?
During your initial consultation we will discuss any health concerns you have. Depending on the type of health concerns, the level and magnitude of imbalances, the length of time you have had these concerns for, and the degree of healing that you require; an individual treatment plan will be made. As a guide, after experiencing a course of Reiki treatments, most clients continue with their sessions and later opt for maintenance treatments as part of their ongoing health and well-being regime.
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Does Reiki have any side-effects?
The experiences during and after a Reiki treatment are unique for each individual, however deep relaxation tends to be experienced by all. Depending on the severity of the condition, clients can also experience the following sensations post-treatment: uplifted, increased serenity, mental clarity, vivid dreams, energetic, tired/sleepy and emotional. Mild physical sensations may also occur such as a headache, which is a positive healing sign, indicative of the body cleansing and healing itself.
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Is Reiki suitable for children?
Reiki works wonderfully with children and can help them in a variety of ways. For example, Reiki treatments can help children to better cope with exam stress and academic pressure, mood swings, processing and coping with a bereavement, and a wide range of other life experiences. Children absorb Reiki energy quickly, therefore depending on the severity of their condition, they require slightly shorter treatment than adults.
- When do emotional effects occur?
For clients with deeper healing requirements, Reiki can often reawaken emotions that have been suppressed, such as grief, sadness or anger. This release is very healthy and vital in order for healing to occur. Please feel free and able to release such emotions. We will be working together in a safe, confidential way and you will be fully supported should this occur. The release of any emotions will help to clear blockages and imbalances, leading your Sacred Self in to a space of inner harmony.