Reiki (pronounced ray-kee) is an ancient form of energy healing meaning Universal Life Force (rei) Energy (ki).

It is a process of hands-on healing which promotes the highest healing good for all living things, having a positive effect not only on your physical well-being, but also on your emotional and spiritual equilibrium.

Reiki can be used to replenish your vital energy, to strengthen your immune system, and to ward off disease. The Reiki giver is a channel for this natural healing energy which flows through the giver's hands into the body of the receiver, who is also charged and strengthened. In this process, it is the receiver who directs where the energy goes; her/his cells pull the Reiki energy where it is needed the most.

A Reiki practitioner becomes able to channel Reiki healing energy by attending a class in which a Reiki Master Teacher gives to the student a series of "energy attunements ", using ancient symbols and mantras, which are transmissions of energy, to open the inner healing channel, allowing more Universal Life Energy to flow through. A student now becomes a Reiki practitioner, and is "tuned to the Reiki channel".

Reiki is a very ancient art that originated in Tibet and was rediscovered by a Japanese monk, Dr. Mikao Usui, in the 1800's. In the nineteenth century, Dr. Usui was the director and Christian priest of a small University in Kyoto, Japan.

In one of his classes, he was asked if he believed in the healings of Christ and if he knew how they were performed. He had no answer to this question, but it fascinated him so much that he left his position and started on a quest to study the healing methods of Christ.

In some original Buddhist scriptures, written in the ancient language of Sanskrit about 2500 years ago, he came across some information that interested him. Because he knew that the Buddha had also been a healer, Usui learned the Sanskrit language, so that he could study the writings. He found the ancient symbols and mantras which are the key to the Reiki system of healing, but he could not figure out how they were used. A friend of his, the head abbot of a Buddhist monastery, advised him to go for a 21 day meditation and fast on a holy mountain near Kyoto, Japan.

The process of how to use the symbols and mantras came to him during the appearance of a great white light; he also felt charged with a powerful healing force. After his experience, Usui first decided to help heal the people in the slums of Kyoto; from there he went on the travel to use and teach Reiki.

A few years before his death, he initiated Dr. Chijiro Hayashi in the Reiki method which he passed to Hawayo Takata, a young Japanese woman living in Hawaii, who had been healed of serious illness with Reiki.

After Dr. Hayashi's death in 1941, Takata became his successor, and was the only known Reiki Master until 1976. She initiated 22 Reiki Masters by 1980, including her great-granddaughter, Phyllis Lei Furumoto. Through Takata, Furumoto, and those they initiated, the Art of Reiki healing became known in the Western World, and now there are several thousand Reiki Masters. Reiki is well-known in Spain, Germany, Switzerland, England, Sweden, France, Italy, America, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. It also is being discovered in Asia and Africa.

 

The word chakra comes from the ancient Sanskrit language, and means "wheel". The seven main chakras in the body are seen as seven spinning energy centers, each having a different color.

Universal energy enters the body through the chakras, which are connected to fine energy channels running along the spine, and then travels through the body in pathways called meridians (used by reflexologists).

The Reiki hand positions correspond with the chakras and the body's endocrine gland system; Reiki operates through the interaction between the endocrine glands and the chakras.

The hormones produced by the endocrine system flow directly into the bloodstream, bringing energy into the body and supplying power to the chakras. At the same time, the subtle energies of the chakras, which have been collected and transformed, are led back into the body by the endocrine glands.

Each chakra is also linked to a certain organ and part of the body, having an influence on its function. In this way, the physical, energetic and mental planes are involved in the Reiki healing process.

NAME OF CHAKRA	GLANDS/ORGANS
1) Root Chakra	Adrenal glands, bladder, genitals, spine
2) Sacral Chakra	Reproductive organs, urogenital system,kidneys, gonads, legs
3)Solar plexus Chakra	Stomach, liver, gall-bladder, pancreas, solar plexus
4)Heart Chakra	Heart, lungs, circulation, thymus gland
5)Throat Chakra	Throat, thyroid gland, upper lungs and arms, digestive tract
6)Third Eye Chakra	Lower brain, left eye, nose, spine, ears, pituitary gland
7)Crown Chakra	Upper brain, right eye, pineal gland

Chakra chart taken from
The Power of Reiki,
by Tanmaya Honervogt, Reiki Master-Teacher