What Is Reiki and How Can I Benefit From It?

By Eve Marx

Reiki (pronounced Ray-Kee) is an ancient hands-on healing technique involving an intelligent healing energy that flows through the hands of a trained professional who has received Reiki attunement and training. The word Reiki is made of two Japanese words – Rei, which means “God’s Wisdom or the Higher Power”, and Ki, which translates as “Life force energy.” Although the Reiki techniques and symbols themselves are actually quite old, it wasn’t until a Japanese healer in the 1940’s popularized and named the Reiki system and spread word about it in Japan, where knowledge about it eventually spread throughout the world. Today millions of people worldwide turn to Reiki practitioners to aid their body’s natural healing process.

What can I expect from my Reiki treatment?
The purpose of Reiki is to promote deep relaxation, remove energy blockages and increase overall wellbeing. Its primary purpose is to promote healing. A Reiki treatment feels like a wonderful glowing radiance flowing through you and around you. Recipients say that during and after treatment, they feel relaxed, secure and at peace. They also often report very clear and immediate physical improvements, including better circulation, faster healing and pain abatement. In hospital and other therapeutic settings, Reiki sessions have been proven to help patients heal faster, and with less pain. Reiki accelerates recovery from surgery, improves mental attitude, and reduces the negative effects of medication and other medical procedures.

What should I expect to happen during my Reiki session? How will I feel when it is finished?
You should anticipate your Reiki session to be a physical and spiritual experience. You will leave the session feeling incredibly well rested, and at mental and physical peace. Some people describe the feeling they get from Reiki to be an overall sensation of warmth and gentleness.

During your Reiki session you’ll lie down on a bed and healing energy will be directed to you through the practitioner’s hands. The energy doesn’t come directly from the practitioner, but rather through her. During the session, the practitioner will place her hands directly on or very close to several parts of your body. Through the Reiki energy, they will be able to intuit which areas are in need of the most healing. A Reiki session takes about an hour, often including a brief interlude of guided meditation. Some people report a feeling of flying, while others simply fall asleep.

I have been a Reiki practitioner for about ten years. My first experience with Reiki happened about 30 years ago when I received an energetic healing. At the time I was caught up in an emotional drama that wasn’t much helped or addressed through traditional analytic therapy. While the therapist helped me understand the drama, pretty much nothing I said or she said during our sessions was stopping it. Reiki, in a single session, refocused and balanced me so that within days I was able to extricate myself from it.

Reiki is not a cure-all, although as a practitioner I have seen it work its magic on migraines, fibromyalgia, anxiety, sleeplessness. My clients have told me after Reiki, they are better able to make decisions. This ancient healing art also works on animals. I have employed it often on my own horse; one night last winter I was told my pony was passing blood in his urine. Because of the terrible expense and my horse’s age, I declined to call the vet. Instead I came over and gave him Reiki in his stall. By the next morning his urine was clear. The barn manager, who puts all her faith in traditional veterinary medicine, called it “a miracle.” Not a miracle, I told her. Just Reiki.

Eve Marx is a writer and journalist living in New York. She is a certified Reiki Master in the Usui Method of Natural Healing.