Reiki (pronounced Ray-key) is a Japanese name consisting of 2 words Rei and Ki meaning spiritually guided life energy (commonly known as Universal Life Energy), an energy which animates us all and is found all around us.

The knowledge that an unseen energy flows through all living things and is connected directly to the quality of health has been part of the wisdom of many cultures since ancient times. The existence of this "life force or Universal energy" has been verified by recent scientific experiments, and medical doctors are considering the role it plays in the functioning of the immune system and the healing process.

Reiki practitioners channel this energy in a particular pattern to heal and harmonise. Reiki seeks to restore order to the body whose vital energy has become unbalanced.

Reiki energy has several basic effects: it brings about deep relaxation, destroys energy blockages, detoxifies the system, provides new vitality in the form of healing universal life energy, and increases the vibrational frequency of the body.

Reiki is useful in treating serious illnesses as well as others. Examples are: sports injuries, cuts, burns, internal diseases, emotional disorders, and stress-related illnesses.

Reiki is believed to have begun in Tibet several thousand years ago. Seers in the Orient studied energies and developed a system of sounds and symbols for universal healing energies. Various healing systems, which crossed many different cultures, emerged from this single root system. Unfortunately, the original source itself was forgotten.

Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese Christian educator in Kyoto, Japan, rediscovered the root system in the mid- to late 1800s. He began an extensive twenty-one-year study of the healing phenomena of history's greatest spiritual leaders. He also studied ancient sutras (Buddhist teachings written in Sanskrit). He discovered ancient sounds and symbols that are linked directly to the human body and nervous system which activate the universal life energy for healing.

He called this form of healing Reiki and taught it throughout Japan until his death around 1893.

The tradition was passed through several grandmasters of Reiki such as Dr. Chujiro Hyashi, Hawayo Takata, and Phyllis Lei Furumoto.

Reiki was introduced to the Western world in the mid-1970s. Since then its use has spread dramatically worldwide. There are many forms of Reiki being practiced now. The form that I use is the Usui System.

You relax, fully clothed, on a couch or seated while the Reiki practitioner holds her/his hands on or above you. A treatment can last an hour or longer depending on the treatment required. In the western world many practitioners use the standard hand positions and commonly a full treatment is given covering all the important organs of the body.

There is no pressure on the body making it ideal for treating all ages and conditions, sometimes hands are even held away from the body. The energy flows wherever it is required and can normally be felt as a warm sensation or tingling in the body. Receiving Reiki is a very relaxing and soothing experience!