What is Reiki?
CNY Healing Arts in Rochester now offers Reiki!
The Complementary and Alternative Medicine branch of the National Institutes of Health (US) classifies Reiki as a form of energy medicine. A Japanese word, Reiki has been translated to mean the “universal life force.” Specifically, rei refers to the greater spirit of energy that surrounds the cosmos; and ki refers to the life energy which is part of every being and thing. Reiki practitioners are attuned to tap into and channel this life force energy in order to activate the body’s natural healing abilities.
The human body contains hundreds of areas where there is focused and concentrated energies. When you receive Reiki, the focus is usually on the seven major energy centers or chakras (Sanskrit for wheel). The seven chakras correspond to the the body’s principle glands and organs. While using specific hand positions either above or on these areas, Reiki practitioners access the life force energy. Reiki, then, is meant to help us return to balance, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It supports wellness and strengthens our natural ability to heal by encouraging that balance.
History of Reiki
Reiki originated in the early 1900s in Japan with lay Buddhist monk, Mikao Usui. Drawing on experience and knowledge combined with profound enlightenment during a 21-day fasting retreat, Usui developed a system of natural healing. By 1922 he started a healing society named “Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai.” Shortly after, he opened a clinic to give and teach Reiki Between 1922 and his death in 1926, Usui taught over 2000 students, training a handful to be teachers to spread this simple healing system to people worldwide.
This passing on of Reiki from one to another is referred to as lineage. If you “have Reiki” you are part of a succession of teachers leading back to the founder.
Receiving a Reiki Treatment
Reiki treatments traditionally occur on a massage table. A one hour treatment involves the client lying both face up and face down. During the course of the hour long or half hour treatment, the Reiki practitioner is guided by certain hand placements, above on directly on the body. Many times, clients request a certain intention or focus for the session. However, anyone can receive a Reiki treatment, and even if there is not a specific request for treatment—the practitioners hands will be guided to the right areas.
Receiving Reiki can be a very meditative and magical experience for both the practitioner and the client. No two sessions are alike. The most commonly reported results of a Reiki treatment are: a sense of calm and relaxation, a higher level of awareness, better sleep, more ease of movement, more creativity, and a sense of being recharged and revitalized.
Reiki can do no harm! It goes where it needs to go for the highest healing of the client. The energy also continues even after the client has left the healing room. Reiki practitioners can also send Reiki healings from a distance if someone is in need and hours, days or even oceans away!
Come and experience a Reiki session for yourself at CNY Healing Arts Center!
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Sarah Lamb, RYT and Reiki Master, practices Reiki at CNY in Rochester, NY.
2244 East Ave, Rochester, NY
585.244.1280