by Pierre Wittmann

Reiki is an energy healing technique involving the laying on of hands that is simple and easy to learn. This ancient healing method acts on the physical level, as well as on the emotional, mental and spiritual levels, and allows us to heal ourselves, to heal others and to heal the planet.

Reiki is one of the names describing an age-old healing technique for the laying on of hands. In reality it means much more than that… Reiki is a Japanese word. Ki means energy or life force, and Rei means cosmic, universal, divine, spiritual.

This energy, Reiki, is present in all things, it infuses life, governs the physics of elementary particles and coordinates the movements of stars and galaxies. It is an energy that responds to the laws of harmony, wisdom and love. It is always available, everywhere, its abundance is infinite and inexhaustible. As it never ceases to be present - in order to have access to it, we just need to invoke it. But in our modern society we have forgotten that we have this innate power and, in our ignorance, we neglect this source of abundance, healing, wisdom and love.

In every culture we find healers who use this magic energy. We still find some such healers within rural communities around the world. Great sages have used it, and continue to do so. Every one of us uses this energy instinctively, without knowing it, when we place our hands on a painful area in our body or on the injury of a crying child. Reiki is as simple as that, anyone can learn it in an instant, without effort, because each one of us has this power in our genes. There are no theories, dogmas, laws or rules that govern Reiki. It is our intuition that guides us. All we need to do is to invoke and channel this energy, and it will respond to our prayers, bringing healing, protection, consolation and happiness into our life, and into the lives of our family and friends.

Reiki works on three levels. Firstly we can heal and take care of ourselves, which is something we too often neglect. Thus we take responsibility for our own health, and stop depending on others to find harmony in our life. It is also a skillful means to develop self-confidence and faith in the benefits that the universe is able to grant us.

Secondly, Reiki allows us to help others, to soothe and heal their discomforts and their sickness - those who suffer, who are desperate, all those who do not have a personal relation with the cosmic energy yet, or who do not dare to believe in it. If they receive a treatment that helps them, they might open to the energy of Reiki and to the idea of becoming autonomous healers themselves.

Lastly, Reiki enables us to heal the Earth, because each time we invoke it, or use it to treat ourselves or others, we bring a small beam of cosmic energy, of divine light, onto this planet. When millions of people do this everyday, a huge flux of love and purification is constantly nourishing this world which is so much in need of it. Practicing Reiki is the gift we can give everyday to ourselves, to others and to the world in which we live. Without effort, at no cost, and by offering ourselves well-being at the same time. Isn’t it marvellous?

Reiki is not simply a technique to heal our physical diseases, it also treats emotional and mental troubles. It can be used to heal situations, problems, conflicts, and relationships, to purify our environment, food and thoughts, and also to protect people and things. Reiki is not limited by space and time, it travels instantaneously everywhere and can act in the past and in the future. Truthfully the powers of Reiki are infinite. They are limited only by our lack of imagination and creativity. When we open completely to Reiki, we become the creators of our own life and of the world in which we live.

Embracing the Reiki energy has another advantage - it is a way to nurture our spiritual being. As we let the energy penetrate into us, nourish and purify all the cells of our body and envelop us with its protective radiance, our subtle channels and our energy centres, or chakras, are harmonised, and we connect to the divine wisdom, to the dimensions of consciousness that transcend the limitations of the material world. Once we have integrated this process deeply, we can realise that we are all beings of light who live temporarily in our physical body in order to accomplish our mission in this world and to experience the mysteries and the joys of life on earth…

To study Reiki is to learn to develop confidence in the benefits of this energy. At the beginning, a few simple instructions will guide our hands until we’re able to hear the voice of our intuition, our interior guide. It is also a commitment, first of all towards ourselves - the commitment to take care of ourselves, of our family and friends and of the Earth - in becoming a channel for the cosmic energy, a messenger of the divine light. This is the main goal of the attunement, a short ceremony during which the Reiki master transmits the Reiki energy to us, laying his or her hands on the top of our head (the antenna connecting us to the source of cosmic forces), on our heart (the centre of love and compassion) and on the palms of our hands (our emitting antennae in the material world).