Usui Reiki is a simple and natural system of touch healing that originated in Japan through the discovery of a Zen Buddhist named Mikao Usui. The history and healing techniques used in Reiki are continuously passed down from teacher to student through a unique attunement process. Today, there are a variety of different lineages, all of which stem from this one man's influence.
Although Reiki is a spiritual healing art, it is not associated with any one belief system or doctrine, organized or otherwise. For this reason, Reiki practitioners make up a very diverse community. Reiki can be practiced by anyone who is open to its love energies. All that you need to give yourself a Reiki treatment are your hands, your body, and a willingness to touch it. Regardless of the status of your health, whether you are as fit as a fiddle or troubled by dis-ease or injury, Reiki can offer great benefits. When you are ill, Reiki treatments can help restore you to good health. When you are healthy, Reiki treatments will reinforce your vitality and strengthen your immune system.
Reiki is a holistic healing modality that encourages relaxation and relieves suffering. Its gentle action makes it a perfect instrument to have readily available under all circumstances. As you learn and begin to use Reiki, you will discover that it is easily accessible in any situation because it “turns on” automatically whenever you place your hands either on your body or on another person's body.
Extremely adaptable, Reiki complements other types of health treatments. Preop and postop Reiki treatments will often shorten the care period following surgery because Reiki accelerates the healing process. Also, Reiki treatments can easily be conducted in your home because no special equipment is required. The recipient can relax in a bed or recliner during the Reiki session. It would be wonderful if all households had at least one member in their family who practices Reiki, and this could very well happen in a few short years, as long as the use of Reiki continues to spread as quickly as it has in the past fifteen years.
The information in this book was written from the perspective of an Usui Reiki practitioner who was initially trained in Usui Shiki Ryoho, the traditional Reiki system primarily taught in the Western hemisphere.
However, there are many different Reiki systems that have emerged since the early 1980s. All of these newer Reiki systems have branched out from the Usui Reiki lineage. Many of these newer systems and their various similarities and differences are reviewed in Chapter 19. In this book's final chapter, you will also find information about other related touch therapies.
The Everything® Reiki Book is meant to present Reiki not only as a healing art, but also as a way of life. Reiki is so simple that Reiki Level I, the first of three levels of training, can be learned in only a few short hours. And yet, after a person takes that first-level Reiki class and becomes attuned to Reiki, he or she will be changed forever. The changes that may occur will vary from person to person, but these are changes that will ultimately be positive.
Balance comes to both the giver and receiver of Reiki's ki energies. In this book, the term practitioner is used to represent the person giving a Reiki treatment. The term recipient represents the person receiving it. Everyone who has been attuned to any level of Reiki may be called a “Reiki practitioner.”
Reading about Reiki can be helpful in learning the basics. However, merely reading about it is not enough for anyone who truly desires to know what Reiki is all about. The healing art of Reiki needs to be experienced personally in order to fully nourish one's mind, body, and spirit, and it is only in this way that a person can arrive at a complete understanding of Reiki.