Reiki Energy Healing

The first time I encountered Reiki, a classmate put her hands over the crown of my head. She said she was channeling energy through her hands. I didn’t feel anything, except maybe the warmth from her hands floating above my head. But I had a scratchy feeling in the back of my throat hinting that a full-blown cold was on its way, and I figured a little healing work would be a good thing.

That night, I had a fever, sore throat, cold sweats and shivering. I felt dizzy and light-headed. It was one of the worst colds I’ve ever had – but the next morning I felt completely well. I felt I had gone through a whole two-week cold in one evening! I certainly wanted to believe this Reiki had something to do with it, but I’d never experienced anything like it. I wanted to learn more.

I found out that one learns Reiki by having it handed down to him or her by a Reiki Master. The student receives an attunement, which involves the Master drawing ancient symbols over the student’s head and hands. The attunement opens up the channels that allow the energy to flow through. It seemed all a little strange to me, but I decided to learn the first of three degrees, and after I received my attunements, I could definitely feel immense heat flowing from my hands, a heat I’d never felt before.

I learned that Reiki had been handed down from Master to student since the early 20th century when Mikao Usui founded this form of energy healing. Loosely translated, Reiki means “energy of the spirit” in Japanese, and is often translated as “Universal Life Energy.” There are many forms of Reiki now, but the one I have learned and now teach has been handed down from Master (meaning teacher) to student since Usui first discovered it. This form of Reiki involves three degrees. First degree means a person can give hands-on treatments. Second degree means a practitioner can send energy to anyone, anywhere, and any time. Third degree, or Mastership, means that person can teach Reiki to others.