What is reiki?

What is Reiki?

Reiki is the Japanese word for healing. What we in the West generally mean by Reiki is an old Buddhist tradition that was rediscovered by the Japanese named Usui Mikao 100 years ago. He passed on his knowledge, and today it has spread all over the world and has several million users.

Reiki is not tied to a particular religion, culture or outlook on life, but is simply a method for sensing and using the life energy that everything basically consists of. Partly to work with oneself, one's spiritual development, one's way of looking at and relating to one's surroundings from a loving and constructive perspective, that is the main and most important work with Reiki. But also to help others with the same thing by giving treatments, as you are a channel for the energy.

​

What is the difference to other healing methods?

The reason I chose to work with Reiki in particular is because it is a method that is spread all over the world and is used by  many millions of people. It does not mean that Reiki is better than any other form of healing, energy is energy, same sh*t different name I say when arguing about which form is the best. What I like about Reiki is that there is a system to start from when learning. There is a ready-made form, and if you follow it, it will be right! And that means that just about anyone who wants to can learn and discover that it actually works!  And since, as previously mentioned, several millions practice Reiki around the world, it can hardly be just imagination, you have a lot to lean against.

​

Healing - isn't it just flume?

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder... It's just as fuzzy as you choose to see it, or the most natural thing there is if you choose to see it that way. The first healing we receive is when we are born and placed on our mother's chest. We all have the healing ability naturally, both humans and animals. The animals, unlike us humans, are aware of its existence (and are constantly just as amazed that we don't know it).

​

Scientific evidence that healing works

There is research done with high scientific evidence values that shows that healing works. They have stressed lab rats with sound and light so that they have typical stress symptoms that can be measured, elevated values of stress hormones, stomach ulcers, reduced immune system, wounds that do not heal, etc. They have then divided the rats into groups where one group received healing, both on place and at a distance, they have had a placebo group where they have only faked and held their hands above and a third group that received no treatment at all. The results were striking. The rats that received healing soon showed reduced levels of stress hormones, increased immune defenses, wounds healed and the general condition of the rats improved significantly compared to the other groups. These studies were published in the US in 2006 and 2008.

 

The same studies were done here in Sweden earlier...

What is more thought-provoking is that similar studies were done at Karolinska Institutet in the 90s. But when the results were clear in black and white, the department was "burgled" and all material and all  data disappeared without a trace overnight. As expected, one of the participants managed to be warned at the last second: "hide your material well, and don't talk about this with ANYONE!"

She did as she was told but then chose after more than 20 years to produce the material and show the reports. Guess what result was read there? Exactly the same as in the US. It was undoubtedly the case that healing works, according to scientifically established measurement methods. Very poor revenue model for a pharmaceutical manufacturer, that you achieve the same effect by laying your hands on someone instead of taking a tablet, but without side effects and negative impact on the environment, and that everyone can learn in addition. And who pays for research at KI? *cough cough*
(https://newsvoice.se/2014/12/ki-morkade-statistiskt-sakerstalld-healing-forskning-artikelserie-och-videoenslag/

 

Reiki does not replace traditional medical care – it is a supplement

Important to keep in mind is that the purpose of learning healing is not to replace conventional school medical care. This is a supplement. If you are ill, you should contact a doctor for a diagnosis and possible medication.

When you give Reiki, you work in a holistic perspective, you treat the whole and not individual symptoms. You may not know what is causing the symptoms at the root, but the body knows where the energy is needed, and it goes where it needs to go. The person who gives a Reiki treatment must - according to law - and from a purely ethical approach not make diagnoses or give advice on which medicines one should and should not take. That's the doctor's job.

What we can do is help alleviate side effects from medications, help the body speed up healing, relieve pain, anxiety, fear and help the body restore a natural balance. Of course, this is not a miracle method where, with the laying on of hands, you make people healthy and free from all symptoms. All healing actually comes from within the person themselves. We are just the channel through which the self-healing energy passes.

An approach that requires a humble and respectful approach to what you do, which can take a while to understand and relate to. If you are a therapist, you are used to fixing certain symptoms. That's not our job in this case, and we have to accept and respect that.

​

Text: Åsa Elvegård