My Reiki Experience

Last spring I had a random thought. I wanted to try to learn reiki, a japanese energy healing method. I have been interested in different kinds of alternative healing methods for a long time, but never took any courses on them even though I often thought about it. I guess there is a part of me that is deeply intrigued by them and then another part that always remains somewhat sceptic. But after moving to London in the fall of 2019, I decided it was a good time to try something completely new and challenge my inner sceptic.

What is reiki?

Reiki is a traditional Japanese form of energy healing, founded by Dr. Mikao Usui in 1922. The name "reiki" comes from words "rei", meaning "spirit" or "universe" and "ki", meaning "life force energy." In Chinese this life force energy is called "chi" and in Indian it is called "prana." We have probably all heard these words being used, or maybe even tried some energy healing methods such as tai-chi, qiqong [chigong] or yoga. In reiki healing the practitioner is channeling the life force energy through his body and hands and passing the energy to the patient by placing his or her hands either above or on the recipient's body. The practitioner can either "scan" the patient's body and see if there are some changes or blocks in energy or just intuitively place the hands where they feel reiki is needed. In reiki the practitioner is just the channel for the energy and therefore doesn't use his or her own energy to heal anyone, nor do they soak up the patient's energy in the process.

Day One

I enrolled on a reiki class in London, not really knowing what to expect. I had never tried reiki or even read much about it, and yet somehow I really wanted to see what it was like and learn how to do it myself as well. The class was held by a reiki school called Reiki Maya, which I chose because of the many positive reviews. So on that saturday morning I found myself sitting in a circle with about 20 other people, on the top floor of an old building in central London. There were nice skylights in the room and for once it was even sunny in London! There were three instructors, a guy, a woman and another guy called Miguel Chavez, the founder of Reiki Maya. I have to admit that I was a little bit relieved to see that the whole space and the people all felt and looked completely (dare I say) normal. I don't really even know what I was expecting to see but maybe a part of me feared it was going to be a lot of people dressed up in cliché yogi clothing they bought from Bali, and sipping on kombucha. Luckily that was not the case.

Compared to some other complementary healing methods, reiki is very simple and can be learned in just a day or two. The reason for this is that reiki is believed to be accessible to anyone of us, we just need to "remember" how to access it. There is no complex theory behind it, nor a set of strict rules to follow. Reiki is said to be a very natural and intuitive way of healing and in order to use it, all we really need is the intention and attuning into it. The "attunement" is done by a reiki master, and this is how the student will be able to access the "life force energy." 

The "Attunement" 

During the attunement that lasted about 20 min or so we could either sit in our chairs or lie down on a yoga mat. I myself chose the yoga mat. We started off with a visual meditation and after that reiki energy is called upon us all in the room by the reiki master / instructor. After this, we start going through our chakras by gently placing our palms upon each chakra one by one. At first I didn't really feel much but when I placed my hands on my heart chakra (the one located inside our chest) my chest suddenly got burning hot. My palms started to get warm as well and it felt as if there was a burning fire ball of some sort inside my chest. The feeling was so strong that I almost started laughing because it felt so unreal. As I moved on to my solar plexus chakra and sacral chakra (the ones below our heart chakra) the same thing happened. The heat felt as if it was coming from my hands and from those chakra points at the same time.

After the attunement we did our first self-healing "session" and so I placed my hands on my hip because it had been hurting for some time. Immediately the area started to get burning hot as well and I could still feel the heat coming from my palms as well. As I had never really read much about reiki I had no idea what I should expect to happen. However the feeling of your hands and body warming up is apparently very common during the attunement and also while doing reiki. Other common sensations might be a tingly feeling in your body and palms or a sense of coldness.

We also did a practise healing session in pairs and it was like the whole room turned into a sauna! As our instructor jokingly said, reiki can be very useful in the winter! As someone who gets cold all the time, I'll take anything I can get! A lot of us had the same experience and some had the tingly feeling as well while doing the pair exercise. After I left the class that day my chest was still burning hot through the whole evening and my hands as well. Why this happens, is said to be because of the energies starting to flow in our body and because the chakras are activating. I cannot say for sure what it was but it was definitely something intense.

Day Two

On Sunday morning, I went back to my second class of the weekend. This was now Reiki level II and the main objective of the level two is to learn three symbols used in reiki healing. These symbols were first seen by Dr. Mikao Usui and used with reiki ever since. The symbols are for power, harmony and distant healing. For the level two we did another attunement, the same way as on the first day. This time I was still feeling warmth in my hands and chakras but not nearly as strongly as the day before.

We continued practising in pairs and also learning what it would be like to do reiki as a reiki practicioner. We were also told to drink lots of water because it is common to get lightheaded and dehydrated when starting out with reiki. By the end of the day I was definitely having a very bad headache and feeling extremely tired, along with some others in the group. Before leaving, we all got our certificates for reiki level I and II and could now officially use it on ourselves and others.

The "Cleansing Process"

Another thing I learned during this weekend was that after the reiki attunements there is often a cleansing process that can last up to three weeks. During this process your body is getting rid of the old and what is no longer needed. We were told to prepare for some physical and emotional symptoms such as fatigue, mood swings, headaches and vivid dreams, just to name a few. And the way to deal with these symptoms would be to simply allow whatever was happening and to not resist any of it. The week after my reiki weekend I felt extremely tired and more emotional and sensitive in some ways. I don't know if I can pin this on the cleansing process but I was interested to see what happens. We were advised to do reiki on ourselves everyday during those three weeks and everytime I did, I felt the warmth especially in my chest and palms. Doing that gave me a sense of deep relaxation almost every time but in a very intense way. As I've practised giving reiki to my boyfriend and roommate, they've both had trouble sleeping afterwards that night (which apparently is also common), so there seem to be a lot of things happening in our body during and after doing reiki, even if we can't fully explain what it is.

What Is Reiki Used For?

Lastly, if anyone is wondering what reiki is generally used for, here is a little bit on that also. Reiki is an extremely safe form of complementary therapy and can therefore be used for just about any symptom or illness. Reiki is shown to be useful in treating symptoms such as pain, depression, anxiety, and even illnesses such as cancer. Reiki cannot necessarily cure the cancer but it can help during chemotherapy for example so that the patient won't be in pain as much or have such severe side effects. It is also more useful to do at least four or five sessions of reiki (one per week) rather than just one, although some can benefit from just one session. The way I see it, is that when the energies in our body are out of balance enough, we start having physical symptoms, illnesses or emotional symptoms such as depression or anxiety. Therefore reiki doesn't necessarily heal the illness itself but it heals the energies in the body which in turn help in healing the illness.

For us, living in western countries it's hard to comprehend that we could be healed by just energy passing through another person's palms, and how do we know that person actually knows what he or she is doing? Shouldn't you be born with such a gift or have practised it for years to be able to call yourself an energy healer? These thoughts have been running through my mind everytime someone has mentioned energy healing to me in the past. I still don't know the exact answer but after my reiki classes I am becoming less and less sceptic. Maybe we often assume healing should be something very powerful and visual and have immediate effects but energy doesn't necessarily work that way. Reiki is a subtle way of improving one's physical and emotional wellbeing, but by this I don't mean the effects can't also be powerful. Not at all. There are countless miracle stories about energy healing but maybe on average the effects of it happen little by little, through multiple sessions. And maybe for many of us, that is the "scary" part. Should we put our time and money on something that doesn't necessarily show any results after one or two sessions but what could on the other hand be a much safer and more natural way of healing?

In the end, I'm so glad I decided to go with my random idea to try reiki and who knows, maybe someday I'll even continue to the Master level. I cannot yet say for sure what kind of effects reiki will have on my own physical and emotional wellbeing, but I'm sure time will tell. 

Hope this gave some insight to anyone interested in trying to learn reiki or going for a treatment themselves! 

Until next time,

Mia