Reiki, which has its roots in Tibetan Buddhism, is an ancient and simple method of healing through the laying on of hands. Mikao Usui, a Japanese Christian monk who rediscovered it between the late 1800s and the early 1900s, called reiki "the art of healing". In a healthy, harmonious person this vital force flows freely, but as a result of external or internal factors — often emotional — it can over time encounter blockages or voids. If this energy imbalance persists for long enough, it can lead to somatisation and manifest as physical tension, muscle contractures, spasms, pain, organ dysfunction and illness.

• What the term reiki means
• What reiki is
• How a reiki session works
• Reiki self-treatment, or how to practise reiki on your own
• How to learn the reiki technique

In a healthy, balanced person this energy flows freely and harmoniously throughout the body, but as a result of external or internal factors — mostly emotional — it can encounter blockages or voids, which over time can somatise and manifest as physical tension, muscle contractures, spasms, pain, organ dysfunction and illness.

What the term reiki means

The Japanese name reiki literally denotes the connection between "rei", the vital energy of the universe, and "ki", the individual expression of that energy — also called "chi" by the Chinese, "prana" by Indians, and in Western culture conceived as "libido" by Sigmund Freud and as "orgone" by Wilhelm Reich.

Read also: Reiki for animals

What reiki is

In a healthy, harmonious person the vital force flows freely, but as a result of external or internal factors — often emotional — it can over time encounter blockages or voids. If this energy imbalance persists for long enough, it can lead to somatisation and manifest as physical tension, muscle contractures, spasms, pain, organ dysfunction and illness.

As a manual technique, reiki can be placed among the most effective relaxation and stress-relief techniques, on a par with Ayurvedic massage and certain forms of reflexology. It also facilitates the spontaneous production of imaginative material connected to bodily sensations and perceptions, mobilising emotions rooted in the somatic sphere and fostering awareness of one's own body through attention to the sensations linked to the contact points of the hands; it therefore tends to restore a correct perception of one's own body image.

Although the use of reiki as a healing method spread rapidly in Japan, controlled clinical studies on its efficacy and efficiency also exist in Western countries. Reiki is used alongside conventional therapy in numerous hospital centres around the world. It is a "gentle" technique for relaxation and analgesia, with the advantage of being low-cost, easily reproducible and accessible to all, making it very well suited as a supportive treatment.

How a reiki session works

Before the session begins, it is important to exchange a few words in order to create openness and rapport between therapist and patient. The treatment starts with "centring" — that is, the practitioner's attainment of a state of calm and balance, a kind of meditative state of "total alertness, but without effort". This phase lasts very briefly, one or two minutes. In the meantime, it is helpful for the patient to connect with their own body through conscious breathing, taking three or more deep breaths.

This is followed by the "gentle" touch phase on the various parts of the body. In a full treatment, the practitioner's hands are gently placed, for 3–5 minutes at a time, on various areas of the patient's body corresponding to the energy "centres" of Eastern medicine, known as chakras. The treatment sequence follows a standardised order and method.

With the patient lying face up: eyes, temples, back of the head, chest (heart and lungs), epigastric region (liver, stomach, spleen), periumbilical region (intestine), groin (genital organs, hips). Then with the patient lying face down: shoulders, shoulder blades (heart, lungs), infrascapular regions (liver, spleen), lumbar region (kidneys, adrenal glands), sacral region (rectum, genital organs), backs of the knees, soles of the feet.

If there is a clearly defined painful area, treatment may be applied locally to that area alone. After the therapy, it is important for the patient to remain relaxed and at rest for a few minutes, taking the time needed to fully assimilate the experience.

It is important that potential patients exercise caution with regard to incompetent individuals or those with very poor training, who produce disappointing results. One should therefore turn only to professionals at schools affiliated with qualified institutes, bodies or associations.

Reiki self-treatment, or how to practise reiki on your own

It is possible to practise reiki on yourself, once you have received the various activations and learned the technique. It is instinctive to place one's hands on painful areas — on the head in cases of headache. When reiki flows consciously through our channels, this instinctive gesture gains strength and becomes far more effective. The treatment lasts approximately 20 minutes in total.

How to learn the reiki technique: the three levels of learning

Learning reiki, according to the Mikao Usui method as it has spread in the West, is structured across three distinct levels, each with a single shared purpose. Learning is organised around two main stages: the "activations" and the teaching of the technique. It takes place over two days, for a total of approximately sixteen hours. The "activations" are intended to bring back to consciousness the awareness that one possesses a potential capacity for healing.

The reiki master holds an energetic toolkit that they draw upon during the "activation ceremonies" or "initiations". This toolkit also makes use of reiki symbols which, traced with the hand or mentally, harness the electromagnetic field, reactivating channels that lead the student towards awakening and awareness of their own potential.

The first level: the body

The first-level technique already allows reiki to be used for healing purposes, both on oneself and on others, through the laying on of hands. The basic positions for acting on the body's vital points are taught. The most immediate benefit that can be obtained from the treatment is a reduction in pain — both physical and psychological — sometimes up to its complete disappearance.

But the deeper benefit is a dissolution of energy blockages and a consequent restoration of the normal flow of vital energy throughout the body: spontaneous effects that have by now been confirmed by the personal experience of countless teachers, students and users.

The second level: the mind

As with the first level, there is a practical component, in which one learns to use the reiki symbols, and a "spiritual activation" component. It requires an acquisition time of approximately eleven hours, often offered across Saturday afternoon and Sunday. The reiki symbols are visualised by the practitioner during the treatment and enhance its effect. The three symbols handed down and codified by Mikao Usui each have their own precise characteristic, which is explained and practised during the seminar.

The symbols are received after having consolidated, through practice on oneself and others, the benefits and simplicity of reiki. The teachings begin with the first level. By this point, therefore, consciousness and body are ready to understand what was once inconceivable.

Third level: the soul

At this stage, the body has benefited from the effects of the energy, and the mind has grown calm in the face of doubts and uncertainties about the effectiveness and simplicity of reiki's applications. The third level is that of the reiki Master, and the course has a different frequency for each teacher, who independently decides its duration, which may span several years.

This level provides the appropriate tools to carry out professional treatments, become reiki practitioners, lead reiki courses and seminars, and conduct the related "activations". It should also involve an in-depth personal process of harmonising one's personality and reflecting on higher values.