reiki

what is it?

Reiki is a system of healing founded in Japan at the end of the 19th century. The word is derived from the Japanese rei ('universal') and ki ('life energy') and practitioners, or initiates, are 'attuned' to act as channels for a natural healing energy ('reiki') that is drawn to areas of imbalance in themselves and in others.

Dr Mikao Usui, a Japanese doctor, developed — or 'discovered' — reiki from his study of ancient Buddhist texts, travel, research and meditation. The system was introduced to the US in the 1970s by Hawaio Takata, a Japanese woman living in Hawaii, who learned it from one of Usui's pupils, Dr Chujiro Hayashi. It is now practised throughout the Western world where its popularity is growing fast. A number of nurses and other health care professionals have trained as practitioners.

As a spiritual path as well as a form of healing, reiki is based on five ethical principles:

what it's supposed to do

When channelled by an inititate, reiki is said to intensify vibration of body molecules so that blockages that may cause disharmony and disease are dissolved. In this way it is said to help all kinds of physical, mental, emotional or spiritual problems.

what happens?

At the beginning of a healing, you are asked to think about your own 'healing intention' which you are free to keep to yourself. To receive treatment, you simply lie down on a couch or comfortable chair and relax. No clothes have to be removed. The practitioner balances your chakras, a Sanskrit term for 'energy centres', by placing their hands gently on or just over your body for a few minutes at a series of positions on your head, and the front and the back of your body. A full treatment usually takes 60-90 minutes.

Reiki healers say that they make themselves into channels of the universal life energy which is drawn through the chakras to areas of imbalance where it is said to work 'for the highest good'. This means that healing could be emotional or spiritual as well as, or rather than, physical.

Belief is not necessary, as reiki is not a religion. People report feelings of relaxation, warmth, tingling or invigoration. Some claim to have new insights into themselves or their problems, others 'see' images or colours.

what's the evidence?

As yet, there have been no scientific trials although it is one of the healing therapies under study by the US government's National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.