Reiki is a Japanese word, and is pronounced "ray - key." Rei means "universal," and refers to the spiritual dimension of the soul. Ki means "the vital life force energy that flows through all living things." When combined, it means "universal life force energy."

Reiki is a powerful healing energy, and is one of the few forms of healing that can be used for oneself and others. A very simple yet powerful technique, Reiki can be learned easily by anyone.

Reiki is a laying-on of hands, a healing technique thousands of years old, and is thought to have originated in Tibet or India. Reiki is not a religion. It beholds no creeds or doctrines. Reiki harmonizes and embraces the client and practitioner's philosophical center points, no matter where the person may be at a certain point in their life.

Long before the terms "holistic medicine" or the "mind-body connection" were coined, Reiki practitioners and other natural healers recognized how thoughts, feelings, and crises affected a person's physical, emotional, and spiritual well being.

Because it is a universal, God-given power, Reiki belongs to anyone who is ready to receive the gift of healing hands. Reiki hands radiate healing energy at any time, in any place, and for that reason, Reiki is effective wherever hands touch.

Reiki supports treatments such as reflexology, acupressure, acupuncture, massages, chiropractic treatments, chemotherapy, etc. Reiki works on all levels, physical, spiritual, and emotional, to bring the mind and body into balance. Reiki promotes self-healing, strengthens the body and soul, opens energy blocks, balances charkas, restores harmony, and flows limitlessly. It is channeled healing, therefore the practitioner's energies are never depleted, and because Reiki flows through the practitioner during a treatment, both the client and practitioner receive the benefits. Giving a treatment always increases one's energy and well being, as does learning Reiki.

Reiki does not conflict with any other health care, but rather enhances its results. It does not interfere with traditional medical treatment, but facilitates the benefits. Reiki speeds the healing process, and provides a source of restoring energy while one is ill, under medical treatment, or in recovery. Reiki is being used in intensive care units, hospice care, and in psychiatric units with positive results. In terminal patients, Reiki eases the dying process for the client and their family.

Reiki is pure energy. When it is used with a person who has a sincere desire to cleanse their emotional and spiritual consciousness, a total healing can occur.

Reiki can be used at any time, anywhere for stress release, pain relief, and quick energy. In short, Reiki is a holistic technique for directing natural life force energy.

Reiki can be "sent" from a distance or over the telephone. Reiki has no time or distance restraints. Level I teaches you to 'feel' this energy, teaches you breathing techniques, hand positions, meditation to focus your energy to your hands and to use this energy effectively to heal or relax. Level II increases your power or energy and gives you 'symbols' to trigger your brain to supply this energy on call. Learn to conduct a whole session at this level. At the end of level III receive a Master Practitioner Certificate. Reiki has its beginnings in the East and "healing with breath" is as ancient as Yoga. I incorporate some of the exercises, meditation and breathwork, techniques that were used in ancient Sanskrit texts, to open your energy centers so that you can maximize the energy that you access, to enable you to receive the best energy as a healer.

What are the Benefits and Effects of Reiki?

Reiki affects each person differently according to the needs of their own energy system.

Vitalizes the body and soul
Balances the body's energies
Supports the body's natural ability to heal itself
Balances the organs and glands and their bodily functions
Strengthens the immune system
Cleanses the body of toxins
Enhances meditation
Promotes creativity
Relieves pain
Enhances personal awareness and strengthens intuition
Treats symptoms and causes of illnesses
Re-establishes the spiritual equilibrium and mental well being
Loosens blocked energy and promotes a state of total relaxation
Adjusts itself according to the needs of the recipient.

The Levels of Reiki
Traditionally, there are three degrees, or levels, and a Teacher level. The following descriptions are one way of describing the four levels of Reiki.

First Degree Reiki is the beginning level. The training includes initiation into the awareness of energy, breathing techniques, hand positions, and meditation to focus your energy to your hands and to use this energy effectively to heal or relax. Specific hand positions covering the head, front, and back of the body, and their corresponding physical, mental, emotional and spiritual significance, are extensively covered. Instructions are given on chakras or energy centers, and their significance in Reiki healing. The benefits of using Reiki in a group are discussed, and an actual treatment and giving a treatment to a client is experienced. The training involves two attunements that initiate the client into becoming a Reiki practitioner.

Second Degree Reiki is available to those who have completed First Degree, have continuously been using it for at least 2 months, and want to pursue a higher, more powerful level. It includes two powerful, sacred Second Degree attunements, which attunes you to dynamic, multi-dimensional energy keys or symbols. These sacred symbols allow you to access many different levels or dimensions of energy: mental, physical and emotional. A discussion of the symbols and their origins, as well as their precise usage is given. Specific techniques that transcend time and distance for absentee healing, personal transformation, and healing mental/emotional disorders are also presented. Reiki symbols will help to trigger the brain to supply or access Reiki energy on call, much like nmemonics.

Third Degree for Personal Mastery/the Master Level is for personal growth, transformation, and increased enlightenment. It is available to those students who have been continuously working with Second Degree Reiki for a minimum of 3 months. You will learn the Master symbol and one attunement, which opens the recipient to receive greater amounts of Reiki energy and to help you access more energy when giving hands-on or absentee treatments. You will also learn how to make an Energy Grid, which brings more light and love to the planet, and sends continuous Reiki treatments, as well as a procedure to remove particularly difficult energy blocks. Each Reiki class is hands-on with lots of practice!

Teacher Level is for those students who wish to teach Reiki. It is necessary that a minimum of six months of continuous use of Reiki and a prerequisite of Third Degree for Personal Mastery be completed before applying for the Teacher level. This level requires a deep commitment to the integrity of the system and the integration of Reiki as a lifestyle. It gives you the complete science for activating First, Second, Third and Teacher degrees (including complete teaching notes for each degree). It contains advanced techniques in energy activation or attunements, balance, direction, and modulation for healing, transformation, integration, and inner-illumination. It is not just a step up in energy, it is a way of being. The Teacher level is available only upon request and an interview.
Why would a Reiki Master choose to teach more than three levels? The answer is that there is so much wonderful information to pass on to the Reiki student. Rather than having the student read all the material and teach the complete system in about a day or two, some teachers have chosen to add additional levels to the teaching. Specific lengths of time between classes are usually required to allow the energy to incorporate within the person, adjust to energy shifts, and to give the student a certain amount of time to practice what he/she has learned. Since the publication of the 'Original Handbook of Usui', the amount of information required to learn Reiki has far surpassed the information that was available in earlier classes taught before this publication, so much so that it has become necessary to teach these levels and require the student to assimilate all this information in practice sessions.

Every practitioner has a Reiki Master lineage that can be traced back to "The Three Masters" of Reiki.

Dr. Mikao Usui
The first Grand Master who rediscovered Reiki toward the end of the 19th Century, and is responsible for its revival.

Dr. Chujiro Hayashi
Followed the teachings of Dr. Usui and opened a clinic in Tokyo.

Hawayo Takata
Came to Dr. Hayashi's clinic in 1935 and was eventually named by him as his successor. Takata is responsible for continuing the traditions of Reiki.