Frequently Asked Questions about Reiki energy healing.

What is Reiki?

We live in a time of accelerated change, and personal and planetary pain. The old is making way for the new. A new birth is clearly happening, and a new awareness is slowly being born. We are returning to who we really are: psychics, healers, and people that participate in consciousness. More and more people are also rejecting mechanized medicine for the older inner ways. Westernized medicine’s excessively high fees and control by big business, insurance and drug companies, take it out of reach of a growing majority of people. Standard medicine has few answers for today’s dis-eases and ills.

I’d like to introduce you to Reiki. Reiki is a natural healing technique that is a flow of high frequency energy going through the practitioner and out their hands into the receiver. It was introduced to the Western world by a Japanese Tendai Buddhist named Mikao Usui in the early 1900s. It can be categorized as a Biofield Medicine, a system of energy field healing, and as a path to spiritual enlightenment. Reiki is the Life-Force Energy all around us. This energy is everywhere all the time and can be channeled by anybody at any time. It is called by various names in different parts of the world: “prana” in India, or “chi” in China and “spirit” in Western traditions. It is what animates us. It is the subtle energy we unconsciously feel when we sense that someone is intense or laid back. Each person’s pattern of energy is as unique to them as their fingerprints. These patterns are often described as personal vibrations. A Reiki treatment is a spiritual practice because it works directly with energy or “spirit”. Divine Reiki light works with the angelic realm.

What is a Reiki Treatment?

A Reiki treatment is simply the practitioner, who has been directly linked to the Universal Life-Force Energy through an attunement, placing their hands on the recipient with the intent of bringing healing and willing for Reiki energy to flow. The practitioner giving the Divine energy is a vessel allowing the energy to pass through them to the client. Reiki does not conflict with traditional medical treatment but facilitates benefits. Reiki speeds the recovery process and provides a source of restoring energy while one is ill. I have seen some amazing things in my Reiki healing practice.

How Does a Reiki Treatment Work?

Our natural energy level is affected by our state of health or dis-ease. We can all relate to the feelings of low energy or depletion that occur when we are trying to heal, whether from physical distress (illness or injury) or from mental difficulties (grief or anxiety). A Reiki treatment can be compared to jump starting a car. When the car’s battery can’t quite provide enough energy to start the car, we attach jumper cables from another battery to add more energy. Reiki is a healing process. This process does not exhaust the practitioner, because the practitioner is trained to channel energy from the outside environment, not from their own personal “battery”. Practiced in this manner, the energy available is virtually limitless. The amount of energy transferred depends on the client’s ability to use it and willingness to receive it. When no more energy can be used, the transfer ceases to occur.

Why Would I Need Reiki?

Reiki opens the mind to the necessity for taking responsibility for one’s life; to the joys of balance and to wholeness. The popular concept of the principles of healing is the removal of symptoms. True healing occurs when one comes to a complete resolution by determining the cause of the dis-ease. Reiki brings the body into balance so it can heal itself. Healing is returning to a state of alignment with your Higher Self or true way of being. Reiki heals you at physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels. It can alleviate pain, reduce stress, support recovery from addictions, promote deep emotional release, balance the energy system, bring peace to an agitated mind, accelerate physical healing, bring deep and restful sleep, allow space for spiritual connection, and it supports both Allopathic and Holistic treatments.

How is a Reiki Session Done?

Reiki is essentially the “laying on of hands”, an ancient technique common to many spiritual traditions. In a typical Reiki treatment, the client lies down (fully clothed) on a padded treatment table. The practitioner places their hands on the recipient in a sequence of positions with the intent of bringing healing and willing for Reiki energy to flow. Reiki assists in the highest form of healing possible in a situation. The recipient’s Higher Self must allow the Reiki energy flow through the body. In other words, you must be ready to let go and give up your healing to your Source (God/Goddess). There is no pressure applied and no manipulation of tissues.

What Does it Feel Like?

People feel Reiki in different ways. Most often during a treatment the energy is experienced as warmth; sometimes cooling. Others feel a mild tingle, as when an arm or leg has fallen asleep. Your energy’s vibration is realigning and humming, similar to when you strike a tuning fork and then place it on a table. Still others feel throbbing, pulsing, and jumping sensations. Some people don’t feel any physical sensations but describe mental or emotional changes, such as a sense of calmness or peacefulness. As your emotional, mental and spiritual energy fields are being cleared out, you may briefly experience the emotion of a trauma, a mental picture of the trauma or even a past-life experience. Some recipient’s receive intuitive wisdom from their angels or guides or a vision of them. Nearly everyone experiences a Reiki treatment as deeply relaxing.

What is an Attunement?

Anyone can practice Reiki, as it requires no special skills, and it does not interfere with religious doctrines. Those who wish to practice Reiki may wish to receive the attunements (initiations). An attunement is a brief and simple process conducted by a Reiki Master that opens up an individual’s energy pathways to accommodate the ability to transfer Reiki to self and others. Reiki training is simple, affordable, and can be acquired in a brief period of time. Each Reiki Master chooses the teaching method that best resonates with her or his own personality, and likewise, each person seeking Reiki instruction is free to choose the instruction format and Reiki Master that resonates best with her or him.

Once an individual is “attuned” to Reiki, the ability to channel healing energy is available for life. Reiki, when activated, accelerates the healing by addressing the body, mind and spirit. Reiki is always present, but we are unaware of it until the contact is made throughout the attunement process. After Reiki training, it can be received and converted into healing energy. Reiki attunements open certain energy centers of the body resulting in a new and improved energy field and a healthier life.

I believe strongly that Reiki is needed on our planet. Our current healthcare masks the symptoms of dis-ease like a band-aid but doesn’t work on the underlying cause. In the future, getting to a health care center may not be an option. I feel it is important to know how to heal oneself and your families. Whether you choose to acquire Reiki in order to give healing treatments to yourself, family, pets or the Earth or you want to incorporate Reiki into a health or wellness practice, Reiki offers each of us an opportunity to connect with our own innate ability to improve the quality of our lives.

What Happens in Your Reiki Training?

In the Wheels of Light Reiki I workshop, you will learn through hands-on techniques to heal physical symptoms on yourself and others. This 1^st (physical) layer of your energy field will be cleared out and your body will begin its healing process. You tend to start taking better care of your body after Reiki I, as you attune to your higher-self. You will learn what Reiki is, and how it was discovered. We will cover the chakras, grounding and centering, protection, honoring your intuition, creating your sacred space and more. There will be a guided relaxation meditation to meet your Reiki guides prior to attunement, followed by healing from your fellow classmates.

When you lay your hands on someone to do a treatment, they will draw appropriate amounts of energy to whichever areas of their body needs it. You are never drained in the process, as you too are treated when you give a treatment. A certain amount of energy is stored in you. The energy enters at the top of the head (crown chakra) and passes through your arms and hands to their body.

In the Wheels of Light Reiki II workshop, Reiki I’s are opened up to healing on the mental and emotional levels, cleaning out these 2^nd and 3^rd layers of your energy field. Any stuck emotions or mental belief systems will rise to the surface, demanding to be worked on. You will learn three Reiki symbols and how to use them during an in-person and an absentee treatment. Every time you do Reiki on yourself or others, that alignment is strengthened and reinforced. During treatments, you will work out of your heart center. Your emotional center will be balanced with your reasoning and heart center allowing you to speak from your heart.

In Reiki II, your psychic abilities become more developed, especially in communication with animals and your spirit guides. This is a very powerful attunement. Reiki I opened you up to the Universal Life-Force Energy, but it is only the beginning of what you can heal within yourself and others. Most physical illnesses, pains and everyday mayhem stem from emotional and/or mental blocks. After the Reiki II attunement, you’ll be able to see the root of challenges in your life and help heal those areas daily by giving yourself treatments. You’ll know your spirit’s path and begin your journey to being the true master that you are. As your energy vibration is changing, your own aura will rise and extend as you draw positive circumstances and people to you who will be drawn to your healing abilities. This may result in challenging or life changing experiences as you are now more connected to your spirit’s path.

In the Wheels of Light Reiki III/Master workshop, Reiki II’s are attuned to healing on a spiritual level as they complete the Mastery of the Reiki energies. The Attunement aligns and balances the upper four chakras cleaning out layers 4-7 of your energy field. These are all the spiritual layers. You learn how to utilize the Master symbol, how to pass attunements on to others, how to teach Reiki, and how to start your own practice.

The Third Attunement seals the Reiki process into your body, mind and spirit. Once you have had the three attunements, you’re a Reiki channel for your entire life. Reiki cannot be forgotten, lost by non-use or taken away. With use, Reiki grows stronger and stronger. In this last class, I will take you on a guided meditation through a “Journey Into Mastery.” It will help you release any unwanted energies from each chakra, enabling you to be a radiant vessel for the Reiki energy. After the Reiki III/Master workshop, you’ll feel more lighthearted and peaceful. Every time you just think of Reiki, the energy will flow through you. This enables you to send healing energy at any given time to the entire planet. As a lightworker, you will help with the Earth’s changes as we are all shifting to a higher state of consciousness.

The Karuna Reiki® workshop can be taken after you’ve obtained your Reiki III/Mastery for 6 months. This workshop gives healer’s more symbols for their toolbox and opens up their hearts greatly to compassionate action. See my article on Karuna Reiki® for more details.

How has Reiki Evolved?

Dr. Mikao Usui, a Buddhist monk, began a 28-year search in Japan in 1822 during which he rediscovered how Buddha healed with Reiki. His family started the Reiki Alliance. Traditionally, in the Alliance method, it usually costs between $150-250 for the 1^st Degree, between $250-750 for the 2^nd Degree, and $10,000 for the Master’s Degree. The Alliance has developed a method of Reiki training with set instructor guidelines, called the Usui System of Natural Healing. I will be teaching Unlimited Reiki. Reiki is evolving like the planet and its inhabitants and so are its teaching methods. Everything is occurring at a rapid rate and the need for Reiki is strong. Unlimited Reiki is taught with the same methods as the Alliance uses but without the high cost and the waiting in between attunements.

I am an 8^th generation Reiki Master in direct descent from Dr. Usui. Hawayo Takata brought Reiki into the United States and is responsible for its widespread use. Phyllis Furomoto, Mrs. Takata’s granddaughter, is the current Reiki Grand Master. (Note: When my Reiki Master/Teacher was asked to teach Reiki in Japan, she learned that to the Japanese “Reiki” means any form of hands-on healing, and that the Alliance’s Usui System is called Hayashi, after the man that developed this style of Reiki Training). There is no “right way” or “wrong way” of teaching and practicing Reiki. I firmly believe that Reiki energy can be brought through and utilized just as powerfully and effectively by Independent Reiki Masters and practitioners.

As Dr. Usui was told, “These are the keys to healing; learn them, do not forget them, and do not allow them to be lost.” I believe that the more people who become attuned to Reiki, the more we can heal ourselves, each other, and the planet, and the less likely it will be that these keys to healing will be lost.

I sent out a message into the Universe that all beings whose bodies, minds, spirits and emotions could benefit from this Reiki class would know about it. If you are resonating with this information, that probably means you! It’s time to come home and remember who you really are! This might be the best gift you could give yourself.