Reiki is … a healing touch although there does not need to be a physical touch involved. Quite often Reiki ‘feels’ like a warm nurturing hug for you from Spirit. You might feel warmth from a Reiki healer’s touch. You might also feel energy moving around you and within you as a Reiki healer moves their hands over your body. You might feel pulsing and relaxation. Relief from pain. Clarity from confusion. Connection from isolation.

 Reiki is … a sense of being embraced – into more of who you really are. You can also feel an embrace by Beings of Love and Light if you are open to that encounter. You can also feel the intimacy of a loved one of yours who has crossed over. Many encounters can occur in a Reiki session.

 Reiki is … a gift for us, to us, from us, from across time and space. With Reiki 2 we are able to cross barriers of space and time and send healings to ourselves. We can send back to ourselves as young children. We can send forward to ourselves for a future date. We become time travelers with this gift.

 Reiki is … an ancient system that has been reclaimed and revitalized from the mists of myths. If you are familiar with energy healing engines and techniques, you might understand that Reiki is an energy tool, a unique, subtle and powerful one. It seems new, but it is built on time honored methods taught by healing masters.

The River of Reiki

I envision Reiki as an organically flowing river of healing, connection, and higher consciousness.

Each river is unique, yet each begins at the river source. In Reiki, ‘Source’ or universal life force is encapsulated in the first part of the name, Reiki. ‘Rei’ is traditionally translated as Universal Life Force Energy – that which is keeping us alive. Intelligently guided. Omnipresent.

In the course of a river’s travels, tributaries or smaller water channels merge into the main flow.  Healthy rivers often meander back and forth in a loop, which adds to the river’s nutrients and its unique signature style. This is encapsulated in the second part of the name Reiki. Our ‘ki’ is translated as our personal energy field, our uniqueness.

Perhaps the river encounters some rocky, debris filled area, or a steep waterfall. Perhaps the river gets caught in swirling eddies until it straightens out and moves forward, strongly, once again. This, too, has happened with Reiki as it left Japan and began traveling around the world in the last few decades. You’ll find more of this information in the history of Reiki.

Rivers bring life to their surrounding areas and to all those who depend upon its waters, until it flows to its destination point – merging back into a large body of water, an ocean, and the eternal water cycle.

The Reiki River deposits life-giving nutrients in our lives. We get to join in this river-of-healing-light as it travels throughout the entire world. When I first received the Attunement to be a Reiki practitioner, in the early 1990’s, almost no one had heard of Reiki. In the few decades since then, with perhaps a million worldwide, Reiki has become known and is practiced globally as an alternative method of healing, balance and empowerment. It brings life and healing to our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies. It goes where it is needed.

Unique in its journey, the tributaries or strands which are woven into this healing practice have meandered through myth, legend, and misinformation. However, this does not take away from its potency or its allure. Reiki, as it has evolved today, is a unique and subtly powerful system of healing and energy work.