WHAT IS REIKI?
“You should try Reiki,” I said to a friend of mine.
“What is Reiki,” They say suspiciously.
This conversation is one that I have with many many people and thus I feel that I need to share this answer as one of my first blog posts.
I had reiki before coupled with a massage so it was hard for me to discern what benefitted my health; the reiki or the massage. Probably both, but I couldn’t pinpoint it. Years later I was going through some significant changes in my life that caused me to have frequent panic attacks. The people in the E.R. new me by name. They hooked me up to the EKG machine every single time and noted that I was indeed not having a heart attack. I was even taken in an ambulance once because my blood pressure was so high I was convinced this was the big one. I was going to die. However, I did not but what I did realize at that point was I needed a change.
My wonderful husband told me to try Reiki. I mean, hey why not. I scheduled my very first reiki appointment. I remember laying on the table and feeling the warmth wash right over me. This intense calm enveloped me like a cocoon and when I came to after the session reiki stayed with me for a few days. I like to call it riding the reiki wave.
After this experience I was hooked. Not every session was the same. Some sessions I felt absolutely nothing, and some were heavy but necessary. Regardless of what a session ended up being like, I always felt healed in some way after a session. Not only did I notice but my family did as well. I was able to function more and the anxiety and panic diminished to an acceptable level.
So back to that beginning question, “What is Reki?” Reiki quite simply is an energy that a person is attuned to and trained to use to help assist people in their healing which can be physical, mental, spiritual, or a combination of any of those three. This energy has been passed down for generations from Mikao Usui through a great lineage of people.
When someone comes to a reiki session with me I have a brief conversation with them in the beginning. I ask them questions like, “How have you been? What has been going on in your life? Etc.” They can tell me what they may want to work on in the session, but they don’t necessarily have to as well. It is always up to the client and it is my job to make sure that they feel safe and supported in their journey.
I ask them to lie on the table and cover them with a blanket and they can choose to have an eye pillow or not. I then guide them through a body scan meditation to connect the mind and the body to assist with the reiki healing, and then ask my clients to set an intention for the session. I then place my hands on their feet and channel reiki to them. When I feel like I have been at that spot for an adequate amount of time I move to the knees, then the root chakra, sacral chakra, solar plexus chakra, shoulders, third eye chakra, top of the head, other shoulder, throat chakra, heart chakra, other knee and other foot. I am usually at each spot from anywhere to 1-5 minutes depending on what I feel. Reiki for me is like a vibrating heat that I can read. If I notice there is little to no vibration I may stay there longer, or if the vibration seems chaotic I will stay to try to balance the energy. With each session I get different variations of vibration and it is my job to read them and move along the body as needed.
I explain to my clients that I am not entirely sure what healing will take place because that is up to them. It is my job to channel the energy and reiki will do its thing. Here is an example, a recent client I was channeling energy at her feet and she could feel it in her head. Reiki goes where reiki goes and I just assist. Also, at the end of sessions you may not feel the warm and fuzzies but later on you may have the best sleep of your life. It has happened to several of my clients. The important point is to open your mind and trust what reiki will do and let it help you.
I hope that this helps answer the question “What is Reiki?” and I hope that maybe if this idea speaks to you or my story speaks to you that you may give it a try.
WIth Peace and Love,
Jenn
