Understanding Reiki

Unlike aromatherapy, herbalism or acupuncture, Reiki is arguably one of the least understood and maligned of the alternative therapies. 

Originating in Japan, Reiki actually means universal life force.  'Rei' is Japanese for present everywhere, whilst 'Ki,' translates as the energy or life-force of existence.  As a treatment, Rei - ki is essentially about harnessing this life-giving energy with the help of a practitioner, who becomes the channel by which it moves from the earth or the Divine, into the patient to rebalance energy and promote health and well being.

Janice Tidy is an alternative therapist and Reiki Master based in Windsor, Berkshire, where she runs her own shop and healing centre called, Isis.

"I've been doing Reiki for four years.  I love it because anyone can do it.  It doesn't make you feel special just because you can do it.  Everyone has the ability in them; I was just attuned by someone.  You really have to step back out of your ego and remember that you are not really doing this.  We aren't actually doing the healing; we are just a channel for the energy which does the healing." 

Janice was part of the nine to five rat race, working as a PA in a large company when she discovered Reiki.

"I fell into it by accident, as most people do.  There are still people who are not too sure about it and that’s fine; maybe they aren’t ready for it. There are all sorts of different reasons why people find things or try them."

"I always had a fascination, but I wasn't sure exactly what.  I had a nervous breakdown and started to attend some spiritual healing and at this point, I'd never heard of Reiki.  Then one Saturday morning at these meetings, someone suggested we do Reiki."

"I went for one session and was just off with the fairies.  I was in such a different world during the treatment that I thought there must be something in this, so I decided to learn how to do it.  I did Reiki 1 and then Reiki 2, and stopped there.  I didn’t want to go any further then, although a couple of years later I decided to do my Reiki Master."

Contact

You can contact Janice Tidy at Isis, Windsor on 01753 621488 or isiswindsor@fsmail.net.

You can also visit her website at www.isis-windsor.co.uk.

Find a practitioner in your area at:

The Reiki Association www.reikiassociation.org.uk

The UK Reiki Federation www.reikifed.co.uk

During a session, the patient lies down whilst the practitioner performs Reiki over the Chakras, the seven healing points of the body. 

Some practitioners touch the patient during a Reiki session; others don't, placing their hands above the Chakras instead.  Either way, it's unobtrusive and relaxing, with the patient feeling some warmth or a slight tingling sensation over the area where Reiki is being performed.  There is no actual or tangible medicine administered during the treatment and it is for this reason Reiki often receives bad press, in part because it is so alien in terms of the way we conventionally think about healing.

"When you first start to do the Reiki treatment, the hand positions are based on various positions over the charka areas.  There are seven main ones, two of which are in your palms, and that’s why you feel heat or energy when you rub your hands together."

"We did a course the other week where people were literally trying to knock people over after rubbing their hands together, using just their energy.  When you rub yours hand vigorously together, you actually start to feel the energy build up behind your hands.  When you push them away from each other you feel a sort of heaviness.  One girl actually did it and knocked another girl back, she was so surprised and pleased with herself."

"The trouble is we have lost a lot of what we have naturally, just by the way we have evolved.  If you look at cavemen, their instinct was so much better than ours, purely because they had to survive.  I feel Reiki has opened me up a bit."

Reiki was discovered by a Japanese Christian priest called Dr Usui, in the late nineteenth century.  Naturally a spiritual man, he set out on a personal quest to discover how Jesus healed people.  He examined the Bible and then Sanskrit since he realised Buddha also had the ability to heal people.  It was whilst on a 21 day fast at the top of a mountain that Dr Usui discovered the ability to harness Reiki energy and use it to heal.  

He started to work with the poor people of Japan, offering them free healing but as a result, found people didn’t take responsibility for their health.  Instead, they just kept coming back for more healing, so he decided to charge people in order to give it value.  He went on to train twelve others in the way of Reiki, all of whom actually worked with him using the hands on technique. 

The story then continues in 1938 with a lady called Hawayo Takata, who was born in Hawaii to Japanese parents.  Her parents went back to live in Japan, and whilst on a visit Hawayo became ill.  She was diagnosed with gall stones, appendicitis and a tumour but as she was lying on the operating table, she had a premonition which said, 'Don’t have this operation; find something else.'

She refused to have her appendix out and in the search for something else, discovered Reiki.  She was healed by a practitioner who diagnosed exactly the same as the doctors, and subsequently decided to remain and learn Reiki.  She was the first non-Japanese person taught by one of Dr Usui's disciples to be initiated into Reiki.  She then went back to Hawaii, set up a Reiki clinic and since, the discipline has spread by word of mouth, being taught by passing the knowledge on, from one Master to another. 

"In today’s day and age, we don’t say we can ever heal anyone or attempt to diagnose, we just channel our energies through.  At the end of the day, I don’t know the first thing about the body and how it works.  We are just teachers who share."

Today, there are recognised regulating organisations and stringent processes to complete before becoming a Reiki practitioner.

"There are three stages; Reiki 1, Reiki 2 and Reiki Master.  People do Reiki one purely for personal interest as it allows you to do self-healing or healing on friends and family.  If you want to charge for it, you have to do Reiki 2 and this course allows you to become a practitioner and get insurance.  A lot of people will stop at Reiki 2.  You don’t have to become a Reiki master; it depends on what you feel comfortable with."

"When you do Reiki 1, it opens up the crown charkas and brings the energy from the Divine which allows you to become a channel for the energy.  Once completed, you usually have an energy or emotional shift.  You really do go through some bizarre emotions; it’s like a cleansing."

"One of my clients said they had been really angry.  I think that is because it cleanses years of emotions we've picked up over the years and rids the things we don’t need anymore.  Some people get it subtly; others can't believe how different they are.  When you do Reiki 2, it's more of a physical than emotional shift with headaches or stomach aches."

"Reiki 1 costs around £95 - 120 and Reiki 2, between £130 - 200 and Reiki Master, £350 up to 700.  The reason Reiki is so expensive is that it's quite powerful.  Also if you are that interested and you really want to do it then you will find a way to pay for it.  It makes you take responsibility for what you are about to do and if you are going to find that sort of money, you really have to want to do it." 

The Principles Of Reiki

1) Just for today I will trust

2) Just for today I shall work honestly

3) Just for today I shall accept my blessings

4) Just for today I will be at peace

5) Just for today I will respect all life

Due to its nature and origins, Reiki is also viewed by many practitioners as a celestial or sacred belief because it's principles are in essence spiritual, the energy is referred to as the Divine, and it uses four symbols which are considered sacred.

"I've worked with two different Reiki masters, both of whom worked very differently, one with the symbols, the other using them less, so very different schools of thought.  The symbols are actually Japanese writing.  A lot of books say you can see the symbols, others believe they should remain secret."

"There are four symbols - one for the mind, body and soul with the fourth being the Master symbol.  All they do is give you something to focus on and make the energy sacred.  You can also use the symbols for distant healing.  It’s disciplinary; you just ask the divine to send the healing energy." 

One of the main arguments professionals have about Reiki, is that people are paying for a treatment that cannot be seen and in some minds, is not necessarily there.  As a result it is often tarnished with the words fraud, fakes and charlatans.

"I think, if you go into Reiki to make lots of money, you aren’t going to do it.  That’s not what is it about. Yes we all have our bills to pay, but anyone from any walk of life can help people."

"As for fakes, to me it’s a question of why do people go into this in the first place.  A lot of people, often attune to Reiki, other people actually go through having the treatments and understanding the processes that they are going through."

"Some tarot card readers are better than others, so are some conventional doctors.  It depends on who you feel comfortable with, but the main thing with Reiki is you can't hurt anyone.  It all depends on what you believe or don’t believe.  If it does nothing else Reiki, is a nice way to relax, but again it’s very much positive thought.  If you believe in something enough, it will happen." 

"Some people come to me sceptical and leave sceptical which is fine, but Reiki is becoming used and recognised more and more as a relaxation technique.  It is used in hospices, not to try and cure someone but to help make the transition, slightly, easier.  I'm not sure 'easier' is quite the right word, but just by sitting and holding someone the Reiki flows, sending out positive and comforting  energy.  That’s what I believe anyway."

"I also think that alternative therapies are becoming more and more popular because they give people back responsibility for themselves. If you want to help yourself then you will, if you don’t, you won’t."

"It’s a very personal thing though.  We live in a society that is based on blame culture.  Everyone is looking to blame something or someone else, but at the end of the day we do have control over what happens to us and it isn't always somebody else's fault.  If you don’t look after yourself or love yourself, how can you look after or love anyone else?"

By Rachael Hannan

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