What is Reiki?

You may not know the term. Yet, you may still be familiar with Reiki if you've ever experienced a strong shift in energy and didn't understand why. Perhaps you or a loved one was ill and began to feel better through positive intention or prayer. That is the Universal Life Force at work.

The word Reiki (pronounced ray – key) comes from two Japanese words: “rei” which means “universal” and “ki” which means “life force.” Hence, Reiki means “Universal Life Force”, another way to describe God Energy. Reiki comes from the Source, the Prime Creator, the Giver of Life, God. It is a system of “laying on of hands”, one of the most powerful of the many such systems available today. How does Reiki work? It is an energy that flows through you, not from you. You, the practitioner, are the vehicle through which this energy reaches the intended; simultaneously, you are the beneficiary of its healing power.

You will find that Reiki does have some scientific backing. Numerous studies have shown Reiki to aid in healing, reduce pain, and emotional trauma. Many hospitals use this alternation medicine modality as a companion to modern medical practices. For a deeper dive the following information is paraphrased from: The Spirit of Reiki by William Rand, Walter Lubeck and Fran Petter:

In attempting to understand this healing modality from a scientific viewpoint, the foremost theory is that Reiki involves the electromagnetic fields generated by all living things. Electric currents flow through the nervous system of the body, just one of the ways the body regulates itself. The nervous system, connected to the spinal column and to the brain, is connected to every organ and tissue in the body. The brain signals flow through it to regulate all bodily activities. Electric currents flow in and between all the cells of the body. The body’s cells actually contain liquid crystals. The living crystals are in the cell membrane, in the myelin sheathes of the nerves, and in many other locations. Liquid crystals in the body are continuously generating electrical currents. Also, our being does not stop at the skin, but extends out into the surrounding space. Our hands also have biomagnetic fields surrounding them. The biomagnetic field of healers’ hands has been measured during a healing session and was found to be much stronger than those of non-healers. When a person is sick, one or more of the organs of the sick person will have a biomagnetic frequency which is not in the healthy range for those particular organs. When a healer places his or her hands near a sick organ and begins to heal, the biomagnetic field emitted from the healer’s hands becomes much stronger than that emitted by the sick organ. The frequency of the biomagnetic field of the healer’s hands also begins pulsing at the healthy frequencies needed by the organ. Because the healer’s biomagnetic field is much stronger than the sick organ, it induces the healthy frequencies into the field of the sick organ, causing it to adjust its frequencies back into the healthy range. This adjustment affects the electrical currents flowing into the cells and into the nervous system within and around the organ, as well as its biological processes and healing takes place.

We are all capable of self healing. A large part of the healing process is being able to say "yes" to the process. Being open and welcoming allows the energy to flow to the areas it is needed most.