English
Donna is a certified Usui Reiki Master Practitioner & Teacher, Crystal Reiki Practitioner, Orion Master Channel, Certified Reflexologist, Mystic Turquoise Healer, and Award-winning Children’s Author. She helps those seeking a way to heal from within to unveil their inner peace through energy heali…
Hello, I'm Nancy a certified Master Nutrition Therapist through the Nutritional Therapy Insitute in Colorado. I am also studying to be a Board-Certified Holistic Nutritionist. My passion for food and the healing powers it holds started well over a decade ago, when I was diagnosed with PCOS. I wa…
Jai Shiva! I am known as the "professional hippie" Yogini Shakti, and am a RYS 500, certified Meditation Teacher and certified Mindfulness Coach pursuing my E-RYT 500, 1600 hour master training, and Yoga Therapist. I have been practicing yoga for over twenty years and have taught every age, level, …
Hi I’m Andrea! I’m a Nutrition Therapy Master and creator of the Nourished Magnolia nutrition practice. I help others support their mental and physical health, recover from chronic stress and trauma, and get to the root of their health issues using functional nutrition and breathwork techniques. If…
Hello, my name is Linda. I am a trained Holistic Life Coach and certified Holistic Practitioner. Combining different tools and modalities, my goal is to support you restoring Harmony in your Life.
English
Welcome! I am the owner of Tao Holistics and formulator behind my brand, TAO + SALOMA. I am also co-founder of the International Academy of Mind-body Medicine, an organization that is growing emerging practitioners in holistic healing and herbalism. I began my trek into natural health circa 2002…
English
Welcome to Effective Deep Healing / Tranquil Treatments! Clients say: "...permanently changed my life for the better..." "...profoundly relaxing..." "...heal on a deep level..." I offer both "energetic spa" and therapeutic treatments. "Energetic spa" treatments to release your stress an…
Let's get to the root cause of your health issues for good. Here's my approach: we utilize customized holistic nutrition, cutting-edge lab testing and high-quality supplements to balance your body from within. Your body has the capacity to heal: let's get you there. Functional lab testing is …
I work with women who want to lose weight through detoxing, balancing hormones, improving GI systems – all by and switching to whole-foods, proper supplementation, and daily habit changes. I will be working DIRECTLY with YOU, one-to-one, in our sessions, emphasizing that everything you’re experi…
FAQs:
What is Reiki?
Reiki is an alternative form of energy healing that traces its origins to ancient Chinese and Japanese medicine practices. The term itself is a combination of the Japanese words "rei" (meaning "universal") and "ki" (meaning "life energy"). Taken together, these words form the term "Reiki," which means universal life force energy — or the energy that's believed to be present in every living being.
What is a Reiki Master?
The Reiki Master Level is traditionally considered the teacher's level, and masters can walk away and attune new Reiki practitioners. A Reiki master also represents a deep commitment to the Reiki practice, and some feel that significant time should pass between achieving the Second Degree status and the Master Level. Because the Master Level is taught in a wide range of methods, you should meditate on which path feels right for you and spend time and consideration in selecting a master.
What is a Reiki Practitioner?
A professional Reiki practitioner is someone who has completed at least the second level of a Reiki course and is insured appropriately. A professional reiki practitioner should also have first-aid skills and membership in a professional organization.
Most countries have professional reiki associations for practitioners. These associations will have a set of standards of practice and codes of ethics that practitioners must abide by.
The best way to find a reiki practitioner is by referral from friends, or you can contact the various reiki associations. Many of these have a directory of referred practitioners who meet the required criteria for professional practitioners.
What is Reiki Healing?
Simply put, reiki therapy is a form of touch healing that aims to increase relaxation and calm your parasympathetic nervous system. Practitioners of this ancient practice use a light touch — or even no touch at all — during reiki sessions to calm the nervous system and help promote a healthy flow of energy.
Reiki practitioners channel energy. They place their hands on or near someone to balance that person’s vital energies, helping to bring the body into a greater state of balance. Generally, it helps to reduce stress, pain, and worries, balancing on all levels — mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual — which allows the body to heal itself.
What Does Reiki Do?
Reiki is a biofield energy therapy that focuses on optimizing the body's natural healing abilities by balancing the life force energy or qi/chi. Reiki has been shown to reduce stress, and pain levels, help with depression/anxiety, increase relaxation, and improve fatigue, and quality of life.
What is the Difference Between Pranic Healing and Reiki?
Reiki and Pranic healing are currently among the most popular techniques of energy healing. Reiki was introduced around 100 years ago whereas Pranic healing was introduced in 1990 and started gaining popularity after 2005. When starting the healing journey, many seekers want to know the difference between Reiki and Pranic healing.
Pranic healing is based on the ‘no-touch’ formula, which focuses on utilizing the ‘prana’ from different sources to fully balance, transform, and harmonize all the body’s energy and its process. Reiki is the channeling of divine healing energy by touch or through Reiki symbols that help in healing the system with its consciousness.
Reiki doesn’t require much logical reasoning and it is simple to learn. With little explanation, a person can start practicing Reiki. Pranic healing has been explained in very detail which includes extensive details on chakras and thoughts, the Law of karma, pros and cons, areas of application, healing protocols, psyche self-defense, etc.
Reiki is more about energizing chakras whereas Pranic healing focuses more on cleansing the chakras. Most of the latest and growing health problems require thorough cleansing of the chakras and therefore, this is one of the major reasons Pranic healing is given more preference over Reiki when it comes to healing physical health problems. Please note that Reiki also does cleansing but with its consciousness. In Reiki, we don’t have any control over the cleansing & energizing process.
Pranic healing has a set of protocols for most health problems whereas Reiki has no specific treatment protocols. In Reiki, we need to depend on full-body healing which is time-consuming. Reiki has been found beneficial in developing faith and relieving stress, tension, etc. as the patient can feel the energy during the session when compared with the Pranic healing session. People find it easy to sleep by doing Reiki sessions themselves.
Reiki is not recommended for severe conditions like high blood pressure, heart problems, dizziness, drowsiness, cancer, glaucoma, etc. It might make the problem worse initially before showing results as energizing can worsen the problem.
How to Heal High Blood Pressure with Reiki?
Hypertension is referred to as ‘Silent Killer Disease’ and it can highly impact the body in the worst possible way. There are many kinds of research done by Disease Control and Prevention centers worldwide to control and manage the disease. Reiki has proved to be very successful for patients with high BP problems.
Reiki is a great treatment, which can be used as a complementary healing process. It is a natural and tender alternative therapy used to balance BP problems. It controls a person by balancing energy in their body. It involves light touching affected areas of the body and stimulates the energy levels to get a balance in the body. It is a natural way of healing, which restores all energy imbalances in the body, diminishes pain, provokes healthy status, prevents ailments, strengthens immunity, and treats sickness.
Hypertension patients can be treated well by the regular implementation of Reiki. It has proven positive impacts on the nervous system of the body as it balances energy in the chakras. People were tested for the resultants of Reiki on their bodies. The treatment gave many optimistic results for patients suffering from high BP. Regulation of blood pressure becomes consistent and significantly improves the betterment of the body by treating the mind and physical body structure of the patient. It will show consecutive results for improvement of BP levels.
Can Reiki Heal Depression?
Yes. Depression is a mental health condition where a person battles chronic sadness and hopelessness. While a lot of people mistake this mental illness with feeling down and out occasionally, its impact is much deeper than that. Someone who is suffering from depression loses interest in everyday activities and may get worse without proper diagnosis and medications.
While the first line of treatment for mental health conditions is counseling and medication, alternative treatments like Reiki may help in the removal of the stress accumulated in the body and help the patient feel lighter.
Various studies have noted that Reiki may provide relief from physical conditions like migraines and throbbing headaches. It has also been shown to reduce symptoms of distress and depression.
How Often Should You Have Reiki?
Sometimes one Reiki session is enough to resolve whatever the issue is, and sometimes it takes several sessions. Your Reiki practitioner may be able to give you a better idea of how often you should go, depending on the issue you’d like to address.
You can space out the sessions according to your needs and schedule. The University of Minnesota Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing recommends trying out at least four sessions to evaluate the potential benefits of the practice.
Keep in mind though that Reiki is a spiritual practice, and you can receive it as often as you’d like. Bodner sees clients who come in once a month for relaxation and stress management, whereas other clients treat themselves to a Reiki session for their birthday every year.
Is There Scientific Evidence that Reiki Has Benefits?
There is little scientific evidence that explains exactly how Reiki works, but studies have found that Reiki can have measurable benefits when it comes to lowering blood pressure, improving sleep, lessening anxiety, and reducing pain. (Some of those studies have been done in specific groups, like people recovering from surgery, and others have been done in healthy individuals.) Keep in mind, however, that Reiki is mostly seen as a complementary therapy by mainstream medicine and is intended to be used alongside standard medical care — not in place of it. If you’re unsure if Reiki can fit into your therapy plan, ask your doctor for advice.
How Much Does a Reiki Session Cost?
The cost of a reiki session will vary based on where you live and the duration of the session. In general, you should expect to pay $50-$100 per session. This treatment is generally not covered by health insurance.
If there’s a reiki training center in your area, you may be able to receive discounted treatment from a student. You may also be able to find a community reiki center that offers low-fee sessions.
The History of Reiki
Reiki was created in 1923 by a Japanese Buddhist named Mikao Usui, who gave thousands of reiki treatments before he died in 1926 and taught 20 men the spiritual healing practice. One of those students, Dr. Chujiro Hayashi, went on to open his reiki therapy clinic in Tokyo.
Not long afterward, a woman named Hawaya Takata sought him out for treatment for her asthma and lung issues. She was ultimately so impressed that she decided to study reiki with Hayashi before returning home to Hawaii, where she eventually opened her own reiki clinic and taught other practitioners for many years.
Takata is credited not only with bringing reiki out of Japan and into the Western world, but also with helping to develop a standardized hand-placement protocol with Hayashi. It is in large part because of her contributions to the practice that reiki is now commonplace throughout the world at hospitals, wellness centers, and even day spas.
How Does Reiki Work?
During a Reiki therapy session, a patient typically lies down on a massage table. The Reiki practitioner places his or her hands over (or directly on top of) the patient's body in various positions, starting at the crown of the head.
The Reiki energy flows through the practitioner, out of [his or her] hands to the person who's lying on the table. However, the exact mechanism by which Reiki energy allegedly flows from one person to another is unknown. And some Reiki masters claim that they can treat patients without being anywhere near them — a practice known as "distance healing."
Nobody knows exactly how Reiki works. One idea is that Reiki is perhaps related to electromagnetic-type energy and that it interacts with a person's electromagnetic field.
Another theory is that Reiki promotes relaxation, which in turn lowers a patient's stress response and encourages healing, according to UMN's Center for Spirituality & Healing. However, the overall efficacy of Reiki is not well-founded in the scientific literature, according to the NCCIH.
The Three Levels of Reiki
While certain components of each level are standardized, each reiki master will teach them a little differently. There are typically three (sometimes four) levels of reiki training—each one is centered on "attunement" (a ceremony of empowerment), education, and practice.
Attunement is what makes reiki unique from other forms of healing touch and energy work. This ceremony called Reiju (Ray-joo) in Japanese, is performed by the reiki master during each level to open and expand the main energy channels of the student's body, allowing universal energy, also known as Qi/Chi/Ki, to flow more freely and deeply through them. It tends to clear blockages in the body and can lead to significant energy changes within the individual. Many will undergo an intense period of self-growth following their attunements. You can think of the attunement process as a transfer of energy: The master is passing energy off to the student, who will then possess it for life.
Here is a more detailed breakdown of the three levels of reiki and each of the attunements:
Reiki Level 1: The First Degree (Shoden)
Level 1 is a practitioner's initiation into reiki and is open to anyone. The focus during Level 1 is on opening the energy channels on a physical level, allowing the practitioner to connect to the universal life force energy, which flows from the cosmos through the crown of the head and down to the heart and hands. Many reiki masters emphasize self-reiki as the goal of the Level 1 designation, encouraging students to focus on practicing Reiki on themselves, thereby working through their obstacles. Typically the Level 1 course also includes an overview of the history of Reiki.
Reiki Level 2: The Second Degree (Okuden)
Level 2 gives students the skills to practice reiki on others and open energy channels more deeply. Students also receive their symbols during this level. There are five symbols in reiki and each one corresponds to a specific energy (power, harmony, distance, mastery, and completion). Students are expected to use these symbols to bring the universal energy of reiki into their everyday lives in more practical ways. The symbols can also help people provide reiki over long distances or send healing energy wherever it may be needed in the world.
Reiki Level 3: The Third Degree (Shinpiden) & Reiki Master
The Reiki Master Level is traditionally considered the teacher's level, and masters can walk away and attune new Reiki practitioners. However, many receive the master attunement, along with the corresponding symbol, yet don't feel comfortable or practiced in properly attuning others—hence the distinction between Third Degree and Reiki Master.
Becoming a reiki master also represents a deep commitment to the reiki practice, and some feel that significant time should pass between achieving the second-degree status and the Master Level. Because the Master Level is taught in a wide range of methods, you should meditate on which path feels right for you and spend time and consideration in selecting a master.
What Conditions Does Reiki Treat?
Because it works on the entire self – mind, body, and emotions – and because it is universal life force energy, reiki may be successful in all types of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual healing.
Reiki isn’t specific to any particular type of disease or condition but may help people with
-
1. Cancer.
-
2. Chronic pain.
-
3. Infertility.
-
4. Digestive problems.
-
5. Parkinson’s disease.
-
6. Psychological distress, including depression and anxiety.
-
7. Stress-related illnesses.
Reiki can also help you prepare for surgery, which may help boost your recovery afterward.
What to Expect in a Typical Reiki Session?
Reiki sessions vary in length, but they often last between 60 and 90 minutes, per the IARP. You’ll spend the entire session lying fully clothed on a treatment table (this looks like a standard massage table), but if you’re pregnant or otherwise can’t lie flat, you may be in a recliner (check with your practitioner first).
It is recommended to wear loose, comfortable clothing for your session. Avoid wearing anything tight or restrictive. You may be able to change your clothes at the practitioner’s office if necessary but check beforehand. Dress in layers in case you get too warm or cool during the session, and keep in mind that the practitioner may have you roll onto your stomach at some point, so remove belts or bulky accessories.
During the session, the practitioner will place his or her hands lightly on or near your body in a series of hand positions, including positions around the head and shoulders, the stomach, and the feet, as well as other positions depending on the client’s needs. Each hand position is held for roughly 3 to 10 minutes, depending on what the client needs in each position.
Expect to feel deeply relaxed and content during the session. You’ll likely daydream, and you may even fall into a light sleep. However personal experiences and sensations can vary widely depending upon the individual and can be related to many factors, including characteristics of the practitioner, so be open to whatever emerges for you and then discuss after the session with the practitioner.
Health Benefits of Reiki
Reiki treatment has been shown to help with relaxation. Many have reported feeling better mentally, both physically and emotionally, after a session.
While current studies are inconclusive when it comes to proving the benefits of Reiki healing, there is anecdotal evidence that it helps people dealing with stress and other emotional difficulties. Conditions that people have sought out Reiki therapy for include:
-
1. Anxiety
-
2. Cancer
-
3. Chronic pain
-
4. Depression
-
5. Fatigue
-
6. Heart disease
It’s recommended that individuals use Reiki healing in conjunction with recommended medical treatments.
How Reiki Can Help Relieve the Symptoms of Blocked Chakras
One of the most effective ways to relieve the symptoms of blocked chakras is through the powerful practice of reiki, a holistic modality that addresses energetic imbalances in the body.
During this ancient Japanese technique, the Reiki master—someone who has gone through all three levels of Reiki training—channels life force energy through his or her hands onto another person, the recipient. By gently floating their hands above someone's body, the practitioner can identify where blockages live and how to open them so that Qi, or life force energy, can start to flow through the recipient's body freely.
When reiki is targeted to the seven chakras, the main energy centers of the body that line up along the spine, it can be incredibly valuable for easing physical pain that is not the result of an injury. (That's not to say it's a cure-all, though. Healing doesn't happen overnight.) Here are some of the main imbalances and pains connected to the chakras that a qualified reiki practitioner can begin to ease.
What Happens During a Reiki Session
In general, a reiki session will involve:
-
1. You will be asked to lie on a reiki table or sit in a chair.
-
2. The practitioner places their hands on or just above your body in sequences of positions.
-
3. Unlike massage, a reiki session does not involve any form of physical manipulation.
-
4. You do not need to remove any clothing and no private parts of your body are touched.
-
5. During a session, you may feel warmth or cold, a tingling sensation, slight twitching or a rumbling tummy, or you may feel absolutely nothing.
-
6. A complete reiki session can last from 60 to 90 minutes.
How You May Feel After a Reiki Session
Since the primary concept of Reiki healing is to channel the universal energy and use it to aid relaxation in the body, you may feel deeply calm and relaxed after the Reiki session. It is also said to get rid of all the accumulated stress in the body and aid emotional healing.
However, it is important to remember that experience is often subjective and may differ greatly from person to person. While some may end up falling into a deep meditative sleep during the session, others may feel waves of energy surrounding them. It is also possible that the first session may not be anything worth remembering and it may take a while to experience the calmness and relaxation that this energy healing brings.
How to Find a Qualified Reiki Practitioner Near Me
There are many ways to find a reliable person to perform Reiki on you.
1. Ask a Friend Who Does Reiki
Although today people are accustomed to receiving healthcare from professionals, this is not necessary with Reiki. No special background or credentials are needed to receive Reiki training. Reiki originated as a folk healing practice, and if you have a friend who is trained and who practices himself/herself regularly, you may want to receive Reiki from your friend. If you are happy with that experience, you can continue with your friend or contact your friend's Reiki master.
2. Find a Healthcare Professional Who Does Reiki
If you don't have a friend who does Reiki, you can look for a Reiki practitioner in a private practice or a healthcare environment. In recent years, Reiki practitioners are increasingly setting themselves up as professionals in private practice or offering Reiki in healthcare environments.
3. Ask Around
One good strategy for finding a practitioner is word of mouth. Local practitioners of complementary therapies (such as acupuncture, shiatsu, reflexology, massage, herbalism, homeopathy, etc.) usually know one another by reputation and sometimes they share offices or cross-refer.
4. Look in Your Community
As with finding a Reiki teacher, you can also try looking at community bulletin boards in yoga studios and health food stores. In addition, your local hospital may have a complementary or integrative medicine service. Since Reiki is used by many people to cope with chronic illness, any local organization that offers services to people with illnesses such as cancer, HIV, fibromyalgia, or diabetes may have a list of community resources or even sponsor a Reiki clinic.
Sources: