The Healing Power of Reiki

When people look at the menu of the various services I provide in my practice, almost always I hear the question, “What is Reiki?” When I explain it, people still look confused. It may be a bit of a step to make this the topic of my first blog post, but I feel that there are more misconceptions about Reiki than most other healing arts. I will also point out some myths and facts about Reiki.

What Reiki is All About

In a nutshell, Reiki is a healing art that can help people with various types of physical, emotional, and spiritual healing needs. It involves the practitioner placing his or her hands on or over the client without actually manipulating any parts of the body. You may have seen similar healing modalities such as healing touch and therapeutic touch. With acupuncture, the same effect is produced by placing tiny needles along certain “meridian” points on the body. But Reiki is not the same thing.

The oldest and most potent form of Reiki is formally known as The Usui System Of Natural Healing, according to Hawayo Takata. It is called this because it was discovered by Dr. Mikao Usui in Japan and was developed by Mrs. Hawayo Takata. Since being introduced by Takata to the United States in the 1970s, Reiki has become diluted and intertwined among other healing arts and modalities, and some people have even “invented” their own variations.

To explain what it is and how it works, we can look at the word “Reiki” itself. “Ki” is the word for the universal life force that keeps everything alive and in motion. Ki, or chi, is the force that gives your heart the energy to beat, your lungs to breathe, your brain to think, and for you to become inspired. “Rei” means "movement.” Thus, we have the practice of moving the life force energy in order to create a healing effect. We all have the ability to do this to some degree. We always feel just a bit better when we hold our finger for a while after cutting it. A child feels more soothed and happy when we hold our hand over his or her bruised knee. In effect, we are moving energy to create healing. The Reiki practitioner is specially attuned to do this in a much more magnified way, and the magnification of the moving force of energy has many implications.

It can help a headache to go away. It can help a deep cut heal without scarring. It can help a person concentrate better while studying. It can also help a person overcome deep emotional hurts and to help a person discover hidden talents. It is valuable not just for healing but also for health maintenance and awakening creativity.

On both the east and west coasts, Reiki is quite popular. I have regular clients on both coasts who I regularly see via Skype for Reiki sessions. (Yes, Reiki can be done from a distance, too.) Because many people here in the upper Midwest have not heard of Reiki, it is important for me to point out that many hospitals now offer Reiki healing to their patients as a means of relaxation and faster healing. This is true for Woodwinds Hospital in Woodbury. It is true at St. Joseph’s Medical Center, a Catholic hospital in my home town of Reading, PA. It is also true for the renowned Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio where several studies have been done showing the benefits of Reiki healing. I am now finding various studies showing how Reiki has helped people heal faster after an operation that have been published in several nursing journals. Normandale Community College also teaches Reiki as a credit course. (I and my teacher hold classes in the original system as taught by Takata.)

Dispelling Myths

If you are familiar with Reiki, or if you have heard some things about it that makes you skeptical, there are some myths about it that I need to dispel.

Perhaps the greatest myth is that you can learn all Reiki levels in one weekend for only about a $100. This is far from the truth. It cost me $650 and more than three months of apprenticeship under my Reiki Master, Rev. Betty McKeon, to learn the intimacies of how Reiki works. You get what you pay for, and you receive what you are capable of handling. True Masters will have spent at least $10,000 and several years of apprenticeship under their Masters before becoming Masters themselves. True traditionalists will also know what their lineage of teachers is.

Two other myths about Reiki that make it out to be some kind of New Age hokey pokey game are the ideas that the practitioner is “clearing” the client’s chakras and that Spirit Guides are communicating with them and guiding them. The energy actually flows on its own accord, and its effects cannot be directed or predicted.

Intuitive information does arise, unattributable to any kind of angelic or garish entities. Traditional Reiki practitioners honor the correct method and teachings, and they give credit where credit is due. And, yes, they do charge for their services. They are professionals—psychologists, nurses, doctors, and various other healing practitioners—who are better at what they do because of their Reiki training. As for me, I am always willing to offer a complementary five-minute session for those who are curious.

Details

Intuitive information does arise during a Reiki session. A session is given with the client lying on a massage table. The average length of a session is 75 minutes. As I am placing my hands on or over the person in 22 different places, front and back, periods of quietude and relaxation allow for information to be obtained about the origins of a person’s illness or stress.

This is not unlike the way great medical intuitives like Caroline Myss and Dr. Mona Lisa Schulz derive their information during a session. This information is shared with the client to give the client self-healing direction. At the same time, the movement (rei) of the energy (ki) is producing a healing effect, helping the body to heal and the mind to relax. Like any natural or medical healing art or therapy, more than just one session is usually needed. Almost all of my clients have told me that they experienced the greatest benefit during their second session. It is also during the second session when I obtain the most useful intuitive information.

I am always available to answer any questions you may have about your health concerns. For more information about me or how I can help you, please visit my website at DrPatSuglia.com.