Reiki For Dummies. Nina L. Paul

including your pets, can use and benefit from Reiki.

      What Reiki is

      

As an intelligent energy, Reiki gives you what you need, whether it’s a release of tension, an energy boost, or both. To help you more fully understand what Reiki gives you, here are some terms used to describe Reiki:

       Gentle: Reiki’s touch is soft and light.

       Harmless: Reiki can have only positive results.

       Natural: You don’t need any equipment or tools.

       Healing: Reiki’s goal is to bring forth the highest level of healing.

       Balancing: Reiki balances your energy levels.

       Relaxing: The top reason to try Reiki is to feel the bliss of deep relaxation.

       Energizing: If you’re drained of energy, Reiki can revive you.

      © John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

      FIGURE 1-1: The Japanese characters for Reiki.

      What Reiki isn’t

      Knowing what Reiki isn’t is as important as knowing what it is:

       Reiki isn’t religious. Reiki is nondenominational. You can practice any religion (or none) and still use and benefit from Reiki. Mikao Usui was influenced by the religions of his country, Shintoism and Buddhism. But Reiki isn’t associated with any religion, and people of all faiths and beliefs are Reiki practitioners. Reiki isn’t New Age either, though Reiki can be used alongside any spiritual belief or religious system.

       Reiki isn’t massage or reflexology. Reiki is an energy-healing system and not a manipulative system (hands manipulating the body). Reiki is distinct from reflexology and massage, but it can be used alongside these and other healing arts.

      

Reiki isn’t the personal energy of the practitioner but the energy from the universe transmitted through the practitioner.

Describing the System of Reiki

      Reiki is a system of connecting to, transmitting, and receiving the Reiki energy.

      Connection to Reiki energy is made through

       Reiki Principles (see Chapter 4)

       Reiki symbols (see Chapter 8)

       Prayer and meditation (see Chapter 9)

      Reiki is transmitted through

       The hands

       The eyes

       The breath

      The energy can be transmitted through gentle touch, be beamed across the room, or be sent by distance through techniques for distance healing (see Chapters 11 and 15). The ability to be a conduit for Reiki energy is taught through Reiki classes. (See the later section “Taking Reiki classes” as well as Chapter 7.)

      

For receiving, all one needs to do is relax and be open. You probably know how to receive the energy from the sun, from a friend or family member or a pet, or from a forest or body of water. Reiki is the same.

Examining the Energy of Reiki

      Reiki is a system of energy healing. You don’t actually need to understand how the energy of the body works to use or benefit from Reiki, but it helps to know the basis for the way that Reiki works, which the following sections examine.

      Defining universal energy

      As a child, did you ever gaze at the stars with wonder and awe? The sun, the moon, the stars, and all the different life forms on our planet radiate a universal energy. Because this is the energy that animates humans and other living beings, it’s called the universal life-force energy. This energy is known by different names. You can call it universal life-force energy, love, God, or spirit.

      

Reiki is a system that allows you to tap into and benefit from this universal energy.

      Detecting subtle energy

      The term subtle energy refers to the energy of Reiki and the energy fields that are associated with your body. When something is subtle, you must get quiet to feel its presence. (Chapter 2 describes other types of subtle energy systems.)

      Meditation is frequently used before giving Reiki treatment so you can get quiet enough to sense the presence of the Reiki energy. (See Chapter 9.)

      The energy field surrounding the human body is also called an aura, and it can be sensed with the hands as well as visualized with the eyes (with some practice).

      When you receive a Reiki treatment, the energy may not feel subtle as you experience the heat from the practitioner’s hands and perhaps the waves rushing through your body. Each person senses the Reiki energy differently, and with time, your sensations will change. After you’re attuned (initiated) into Reiki energy, you may feel Reiki more keenly. And the practitioner might sense the emanations of life-force energy from the recipient. Certain Reiki techniques utilize the ability to sense energy. (See Chapter 11.) But don’t worry; you can still practice Reiki with the standard hand positions even if you don’t sense anything.

      

Reiki still works even if you don’t feel its energy.

      Understanding how Reiki works

      As an energy-healing system, Reiki works to heal you at the level of your energy to the root of any disease, imbalance, or disharmony. Reiki works at the level of the whole person, including mind, body, emotions, and spirit.

      

Healing at the holistic energetic level with other forms of energy is actually quite ancient. Traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, and other cultures have identified and classified aspects of this energy that runs throughout the body. (See Chapter 2 for a discussion of chakras and meridians.)

      As