Reiki - that’s a bit healy feely innit? Well, yeah, but when it seems everyone knows someone who’s doing it, maybe a wee bit of info wouldn’t go amiss. Alan surgeon ( ‘wee ailin’, man-about-town, columnist & reiki healer ) rubs his hands and gets stuck in.

Reiki is a revolution. With Reiki there is no need for the use of any type of drug or herb. There is no muscle manipulation like physiotherapy and you don’t need to study for a considerable amount of time to learn. Receiving a treatment or learning this 'complementary therapy' is a weird, but wonderful process. It’s a healing energy passed on by someone who has been attuned, through placing the hands on specific areas of the body.

Origin

There are a few myths surrounding Reiki’s origin. One being a healing process practised by monks within Tibetan Buddhism. Another is; it started in the early 1900's in the city of Kyoto in Japan. Mikao Usui, a school teacher, was often asked to explain the healing miracles attributed to Jesus Christ, so he searched for an answer. He travelled across Japan and America, but it wasn’t until his return to Japan that he approached the monks. The monks were no longer interested in matters concerning healing the physical body. They did, however, allow Usui to study ancient scrolls and scriptures. It was here he found the answers.

According to legend, he then decided to go and meditate at the top of Mt Kurama and fast for twenty-one days. He hoped to reach some conclusions in his little knowledge and understanding of physical healing.

Just before the last day he saw a bright light coming towards him. It struck him and, in this state, he was shown the Reiki symbols, their meaning and use. For the next few years Usai began to help beggars in the streets of Kyoto. A school was later opened and Mikao Usui trained sixteen students to master level.

Experience

The first thing I am often asked is 'what is Reiki?' The actual meaning is Universal Life Force Energy. This sounds very daunting, but Reiki is a natural healing process and can’t do any harm to your body. Whether you have received a treatment or are learning Reiki, your body will go through a natural cleansing process. This will involve all of the negative energy and repressed emotion releasing from your body; clearing 'blockages' caused by stress or anger. This is done by working the hands down the body taking time to let the energy flow through each charka. This is an energy vortex in the body. There are many of these obtaining and releasing energy. Our spiritual, emotional and mental health has an effect on their actions and efficiency. There are seven 'main' charkas in the body, which are concentrated on during a treatment:

It is not essential to concentrate on these specific areas as during treatment energy flows through the entire body, so there is no chance of any energy vortex not being reached!

When receiving or giving a treatment I have experienced some weird feelings and sensations! I have laughed, cried, felt tingling (all over!) and even itchy, which (going by the myths) means you are in contact with the spiritual world! I have also felt a strange floating sensation whilst healing myself. It's kind of like when you go to bed really drunk and your head is spinning, but instead of feeling sick you feel completely relaxed and you enter a peaceful tranquil place that you never want to leave. Being a Reiki healer means that I use Reiki to deal with various difficult and stressful situations in my life. Most recently, having to juggle a stressful time at work whilst moving house. It can also be used to calm nerves for presentations, as it acts as a relaxing form of meditation.

When going for a treatment you can also choose whether to have an emotional or a physical treatment. An emotional treatment focuses on releasing bottled up emotions whether it is to do with love or something which has happened in the past that has upset you. A physical can be used if you have a specific area you want to be healed such as an injury sustained whilst playing sport or at work.

Not everyone is interested in complementary therapies but if you learn Reiki you can send distant healing to those who doubt it and watch their lives really change!

Further reading

Mastering Reiki
by John Tompkins
ISBN 0-7387-0206-4