“If there ever comes a time when the only thing you can do is with your hands, I hope you have Reiki.” Earlene Gleisner, RN/Reiki Master
What is Reiki
No one knows what our personal or national future holds. Knowing we each have the potential for touching each other with healing hands can bring peace and has brought me hope.
"So what is Reiki?" you ask me. My answer takes many forms.
In the oral history handed down to us from Master to student, this system is based on the learning experiences of Dr. Mikao Usui. In the late 1880s, he was challenged by his students in a Japanese Christian school, to discover how it was that Jesus healed. His studies took him to Chicago for classes in comparative religions and after his return to Japan, he eventually translated ancient Sanskrit writings. Fasting and praying on a mountain in Japan for 21 days, he had a vision on which this system of natural healing is based.
One of his students, who eventually became Grand Master, was Dr. Chujiro Hayashi. He is credited with systematizing the hand positions and specific treatments for various diseases plus helping to establish many Reiki clinics throughout Japan.
Mrs. Takata, who traveled from Hawaii to Japan, searching for personal healing from a variety of maladies, was guided to one of these clinics. Many stories have been retold regarding her meeting with Dr. Hayashi and how she eventually convinced him to teach her Reiki. She persisted with her desire to bring Reiki to her home in Hawaii, and, before the beginning of World War II, Dr. Hayashi entrusted the care of The Usui System of Natural Healing into her hands. This energetic woman is credited with beginning the spread of its teachings throughout the world.
Today, Phyllis Furumoto, the granddaughter of Mrs. Takata, is continuing in the tradition of Grand Master of the Usui System and teaching wherever she is called to do so.
"So what is Reiki?" you ask me again.
Another way of answering you is to have you sit in front of me while I place my hands on your shoulders. This is the usual area where we, in this day and age, carry tension. After a minute or so, you may feel a tingling or a warmth on or in your shoulders. This can feel like standing in the sun after the cool of winter and feeling the deep, penetrating heat enter your tensed muscles, making you feel so comfortable that after a while you want to nap.
You are feeling, in the context of the Usui System of Natural Healing, the meaning of the term, Reiki. In Japanese, it is translated as "Universal Life Energy". This energy is being drawn through me, as a Reiki practitioner, by the need in your body. I have made no judgment as to what is wrong with you, nor am I trying to fix you. The cells in your body know where to accept this energy. I am merely a channel for your healing.
While I stand with my hands on your shoulders, you may feel the desire to take a deep breath. You may recognize, after a few more minutes, that you are holding your shoulders in an uncomfortable position. You will release them. Your shoulders will gain a sense of softness. You will probably feel much better, almost as if you'd let go of a heavy burden.
This is the way Reiki can work. When you receive a total body session, you arrive at the fullest level of relaxation you can attain. It is here that many levels of healing can occur. Whether physical symptoms are relieved first, or mental or emotional relief is felt, healing on all levels is sure to follow. At this degree of deep relaxation, a rebalancing of energies can occur and the natural healing ability of your body is supported and enhanced.
After a First Degree class, a person can apply Reiki anywhere, anytime to people, plants, and animals. There are stories about car batteries and printers being revived. Reiki causes no harm because it is triggered by the level of need and acceptance in the life form we are touching. We have documented stories where Reiki relieves pain, stops bleeding, mends bones in half the usual time, and reduces anxiety, and more.
Reiki as a single therapy can stand alone as a holistic method of balancing body, mind and spirit for complete wellness. Reiki also adds to all manner of allopathic and holistic treatments, making it a flexible Complementary Therapy.
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