Reiki is a Japanese energy healing treatment, developed in the 1920’s by Mikao Usui as a spiritual practice. The word Reiki itself comes from the Japanese words “rei”, meaning universal and “ki”, meaning life energy. The aim of reiki is to rebalance the flow of energy throughout the body, removing stagnant and blocked energy. The universal energy of Ki flows through the practitioner and the clients body takes the energy to wherever it is needed.
Reiki is a deeply relaxing treatment and helps to the heal the client on a physical, emotional and spiritual level. This means reiki can help with all sorts of ailments, from physical pain to anxiety, assisting the body with its natural healing process. Reiki activates the parasympathetic nervous system so puts the body into a rest and heal state, aiding the immune system and relieving stress.
At the start of the session, we will discuss any previous experiences you might have had of reiki, how you are feeling physically and emotionally on that particular day and what you would like from todays session. We will also chat about whether you would prefer a light touch during the session or no touch (this is personal preference and can change from session to session) and how easily you find it to relax so that we can make sure we are creating the best environment for you to get the most from the session.
During the reiki session itself, you will be lying on a comfortable, heated massage bed, fully clothed and snuggled under soft blankets (a lavender eye pillow is also offered for extra comfort). Soothing music will be playing and essential oil burning. I will start with my hands placed gently on your shoulders and will then proceed to move my hands to various positions on/over the head and body as the session progresses. I might go back to certain areas, but that’s nothing to worry about it’s just where I am being drawn to. You will probably hear and sense me moving around your body from area to area. Try not think about what I am doing and what you are feeling and instead just relax and enjoy the peace, quiet, stillness and rest.
Sometimes people feel subtle sensations such as heat, tingling, floating, a magnetic type of sensation or like they’ve melted into the bed. Other times people just feel relaxed and don’t feel very much at all. Every session is different and whatever you do or don’t feel, the reiki energy is still working.
Reiki has an accumulative effect on the mind, body and spirit, so you will feel the benefit from 1 session however the more sessions you have on a regular basis the longer lasting and deeper the effects.
Depending which session you have booked, a treatment will last anything from 20 minutes to an hour. Each session includes times for you relax and gently come around afterwards.
There is a body of scientific evidence that supports the effectiveness of reiki. A couple of studies to mention are:
- Cancer patients receiving reiki, compared with those who were just resting instead experienced less fatigue, less pain and less anxiety.
- Patients with lower back pain were given either reiki, physiotherapy or pain killers. Both reiki and physiotherapy produced the biggest reduction in pain and out performed the pain killers
- Women who received 15 minute sessions of reiki over their C-section incision experienced a sizeable reduction in pain, blood pressure and breathing compared to those who received “fake reiki” or no reiki.
(For more information and references for these studies, see “Why Woo-Woo Works” by David R. Hamilton)
