What’s one of the most common questions you get asked when meeting someone for the first time and after you’ve done the introductions?  “What do you do?”
This can be an awkward question to answer for me as it is often met with blank stares, and awkward silences.  You see, not many people know what Reiki is or what an energy healer does.  More often than not, the response I get after telling people is ‘Oh’.  On the sweet occasion, I will meet someone who gets it and needs no explanation.
The challenge for me then is to find a way to describe this beautiful and profoundly life changing healing art to those who are new to this arena.
The path of natural energy or holistic healing is not a conventional one but is increasingly gaining a lot of respect and more people are considering it a viable option for healing or to compliment modern medicine. Yet energy healing is the oldest form of medicine known to man, used by indigenous tribes for tens of thousands of years and more famously through the miraculous healings of Jesus and Buddha.
So what is energy healing? In order to give it some basis, I’ll start with, what is energy? 
Simply, energy is everything. Everything we sense, see, smell, touch, taste and feel is made up of particles of energy which appear solid (or not) depending on their speed of vibration.  This is not new age jargon, it’s science (quantum physics).
“Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.” ~ Albert Einstein
We all possess a luminous energy field that surrounds us, known as the ‘aura’. We experience this energy differently depending on how sensitive and receptive we are to it and the speed at which our energy fields are vibrating.  Someone with a chronic physical or mental illness will be vibrating at a slower rate and have a denser energy field or heavier aura than someone who is healthy or happy and has a lighter aura.  When you feel worn out or run down, it indicates an imbalance in the auric field which can then translate into emotional blocks and physical ailments.
Reiki and other energy healing modalities work to clear these blockages through the magic of touch.  During a session, the client is fully clothed while the therapist places their hands on certain parts of the body associated with chakra areas and is often intuitively guided to go where the energy is most needed.   The energy received in the sessions allows the bodies natural healing system to strengthen, bringing the body into balance and harmony, assisting in centering and emotional clearing. Reiki can also promote deep relaxation, reduce and relieve stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia, relieve pain, headaches, colds and strengthen the immune system.  On a spiritual level, it can bring us closer to our truth by promoting a deeper understanding of ourselves and others.
So, what is Reiki?  It’s an ancient healing modality with origins from Japan, Egypt and Tibet.  It is one of the world’s simplest, oldest and most effective methods of holistic healing.  Reiki means ‘Universal Life Force’, Rei (Universal) Ki (Life Force) and has no affiliation to any religion or spiritual belief system.  The Reiki system that I was trained in originated in Japan in 1922 by Dr.Usui.  After dedicating 21 days to mediating and fasting on Mt.Kurama, he intuitively received symbols used today in Usui Reiki.  The story goes that after descending the mountain to his home town, Dr Usui twisted his ankle.  Intuitively putting his hands on the affected area, the energy started to flow through him and his ankle was healed.  Realising he had received sacred symbols and healing abilities during the retreat, he subsequently came up with what are now the traditional hand placements and symbols for Usui Reiki. Today, there are many different streams of Reiki which all work towards the same result.

It still amazes me just how incredibly effective this healing art is at moving the subtle energy body and shifting emotions that have been trapped in the body, sometimes for decades.  Clients have spoken of feeling centered and in a state of deep peace during and after treatments.
The beauty of Reiki is that no matter how you experience it, the healing effects can be beyond words and best understood on an experiential level.  I have realised over time that not everything is meant to be understood by the logical, reasoning mind and that a little mystery can go a long way.  Afterall…