What is Reiki

When asking or seeking the answer to the question “what is Reiki”, you can be met with so many variations to what Reiki is – and possibly what it isn’t.

Here we aim to help you gain some clarity of what Reiki is, and how we teach Reiki at Enso Academy. To achieve this, we have to break it down into three categories;

• Reiki as a Japanese Word
• Reiki as a Spiritual Practice
• Reiki as a Hands on Healing

Before we delve into these, let us share with you what Enso Academy believes Reiki is, in simple terms;

“Reiki is a spiritual practice which originated in Japan and was developed by Mikao Usui in the 1900s, and it is a system to support personal development and healing”

Reiki as a Japanese Word;

Reiki is simply a Japanese word which can be translated to Spiritual Energy, many have translated this Reiki to ‘Universal Life Force Energy’.

However; in the West, the word Reiki has become a name for a spiritual and healing system. In Japan, Reiki Ryoho is used by spiritual therapists as a term to describe their therapies, i.e. Reiki Ryoho – Spiritual Energy Healing Method.

Here at the Enso Academy we teach a system of Reiki which is based on the original teachings of Usui, referred to as Usui Reiki Ryoho – simply meaning Usui Spiritual Energy Healing Method.

Reiki as a Spiritual Practice;

 We teach the System of Reiki as a Spiritual Practice. Usui Sensei revealed five main elements for his system.

• Reiki precepts – spiritual guidelines for living life
• Reiki energy meditations – reconnecting to your inner power
• Hands on healing – for self-healing and wellbeing
• Symbols and Mantras – to bring balance and experience energy
• Reju / attunement – spiritual blessing to help us remember our power

We have gone into much deeper detail about these elements on our “Five Elements” page.

Although we call it a spiritual practice, Usui was quoted as saying;

“We don’t need to practice being spiritual, we need to practice being human”

Reiki as Hands on Healing;

The most common way people encounter Reiki is through a Hands on Healing session from a family member, friend or Professional Practitioner. This is the most common understanding of Reiki; it is hands-on healing, and has become a recognised holistic and complementary treatment.

As you can see above, this hands-on healing is just one aspect of the system of Reiki.

Frans Stiene teaches a lovely analogy of what Reiki does to aid us in our lives;

Envision a free flowing river. This beautiful river is like energy flowing easily down through the body. Occasionally a pebble, or even a rock, will fall into that river, making the flow of the water a little more difficult. These pebbles are human worries, fear, anger, and each pebble builds on top of the other.

 Soon there is only a trickle of water running in that once beautiful free-flowing river. And so it is with energy in the human body. Energy flow can be obstructed so much that at this point physical pain may be experienced.

When we practice the system of Reiki the pure flow of energy is re-aligned within the body. It washes down, clearing obstructions and strengthening the flow of energy. This not only helps us feel physically better, but it allows us to feel a connection to the understanding of one’s purpose on earth and the most effective way of achieving it.

We have a number of other resources which further explain what Reiki is, what Reiki Energy is, the History of Reiki, and Modern Reiki; please explore the links below for more details.