How Reiki Works

We are Beings of Energy

To understand how Reiki, or any other form of energetic healing for that matter, works, you must first understand that we live in a universe that is made up entirely of energy. Einstein, one of the greatest thinkers in the history of our planet even put this principal into one of the most widely known mathematical equations; E=mc2(Energy=mass times the speed of light squared) Everything in this universe is energy. Our thoughts are energy, our emotions are energy, even our physical bodies and all physical matter is just a dense form of energy.

Now that we understand that we are beings of energy, we must realize that there is much more to us than just our physical bodies. Most of us have heard of the "aura", also known as the EMF(Electro Magnetic Field) or Biofield, the energy field which surrounds the body and all matter. Most people, however, assume that the field radiates out from and is created by the body or object the field is surrounding, when in fact the opposite is true. It is the energy field that gives rise to the physical object, be it a chair or a person. It is the field which creates us and is this field that stores the bulk of who we are. Our thoughts, emotions, our past, the very essence of who we are resides in this field, or more accurately in these fields, for there is more than one. Just as the physical body has different layers that perform different functions so has the Biofield.

We must also understand that the field not only creates us but it is this field that sustains us through our existence. It is through this field that we get the majority of the life force energy that we need to survive and stay healthy. Most people believe that we get the energy we need to survive from what we eat, drink, and breathe. Actually these provide us with only a fraction of the energy we need to survive. In fact in today's world it would be more correct to say we survive in spite of what we eat, drink, and breathe!(Ha Ha!) The vast majority is attained from the sea of energy in which we live and filtered down through the various layers of the energy system before finally reaching the physical body. People can, and have, survived for weeks without eating, days without water, and minutes without air, but if we are cut off from the flow of life force energy into us, even for a second, we cease to exist.

Where and How Illness Originates

If it is out of the biofield from which we, and indeed all life is formed, then it only makes sense that it is here where illness and dis-ease also originate.

Throughout history there have been those gifted with the ability to see the fields of energy around people. Of these people there have been many documented cases of those who could see these fields so clearly that they could not only see what is going on in a person's life at that moment and what has happened in the past, but they have even been able to see an illness or dis-ease before it manifests into the physical body. This should at least begin to show us that it is on an energetic level where dis-ease and matter originate, for if things began with the physical and only radiated out it would be impossible to see the dis-ease before it began, it could only be seen after, or as it was leaving the body.

This is not to say that what happens on the physical level has no part in the process, for that could not be farther from the truth. Just as what happens on the energetic level will eventually affect the physical, what happens on the physical will have a profound impact on the energetic levels and can assist in the manifestation of illness or dis-ease. It is the interaction of both, what we call the "physical" aspects of ourselves and the energetic aspect that can decide when and if an illness or dis-ease will manifest. The next logical question now that we know from where dis-ease originates would be "How?". The number of different causes and the mechanics behind them are too numerous to list here, and I will not even pretend to know or understand them all. If you are interested in delving into this area more deeply, you can see my section on Book recommendations, I will however give you, what I believe to be some of the more common causes of dis-ease(It is important to note that when I use the words "illness" or "dis-ease" I mean any imbalance from stress, fatigue, aches and pains, mental or emotional imbalances, as well as the more serious forms such as cancer, heart-disease, infection etc.)

One of the causes for many illnesses, I believe, is the constant repression of thoughts and emotions. We have already established that both thoughts and emotions are energy, and as an energy they cannot be destroyed and do not decay. Which means to free ourselves and our energy system of these energies we must express them or "release" them. Unfortunately, we are all taught from a very young age not to display our feelings, to hold them inside and "be strong". "Don't wear your heart on your sleeve" is all to common a saying. After days, months, years, even decades of repressing more and more energies, we slowly block the flow of life force energy through our system. Once this happens we have opened the doorway for illness. I believe men are probably worse about this than women, because for a man to show fear, hurt, sadness, tenderness, etc. was and is often considered a weakness. Consequently I often hear the vast majority of men described as "emotionless".(Is it any wonder that men, in general, have a shorter life expectancy than women?)Women on the other hand are usually allowed by society to be more emotionally expressive.

While this is, in my opinion, one of the most widespread problems in our society, it is by no means the only one. Other causes range from traumas that we may have endured throughout the course of our lives, decisions we make, as well as our personal thoughts and beliefs. All of these things can over time affect us negatively and pave the way for illness and dis-ease. Even our environment can affect us. With all the electronic devices in the world today generating man-made EMF's that are highly detrimental to our energy system, along with the micro waves, x-rays, radio-waves etc., flowing through our energy bodies 24 hours a day we are constantly bombarded with things that can and will damage our energy systems.

Reiki's Role in All This

So, how does Reiki, or any form of energy work fit into this? Well, Reiki works on the energetic level, meaning it works, not only on the physical level, as do most techniques in use today, but on all the energetic levels; physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. It is on one of these levels that the cause of the physical symptom exists and Reiki is able to work directly on that level. However, you can't work only on the causal level, as all of the levels of our energy system are interlinked, or, are a part of one another. So, what happens to one level of our being affects the whole. Therefore, it must be treated as a whole. Anything that treats only one aspect of ourselves will never be truly successful. You may be able to make temporary achievements or advancements but there will never be a true healing until all the levels are brought back into harmony. This is what Reiki does. It works on all the aspects of ourselves: the causal level, wherever that may lie, the physical symptom(s) if any, and all the affected areas. It is this aspect of Reiki that gives it its effectiveness. In treating the body as a whole, you are not only able to "heal" or release the initial cause, but also the thought patterns that may have been created by the incident and have aided in perpetuating further instances, the emotion or emotions associated with the cause that have been empowering the thought patterns, and the physical symptom that we are able to perceive.

***An Example of a Possible Result of Reiki Sessions***

"Annie" comes for a Reiki session. In the pre-session conversation she tells me she is unhappy because she is alone and hasn't had a relationship in a long time. During the course of any number of sessions, she begins to "release" and remembers a time when, at a very young age, her parents did something that made her feel unwanted. This could have been the reality of the situation or just her perception of it. Exactly what happened, for the purpose of our example, is irrelevant. What is relevant is that this one incident could be the initial cause of her situation today. If she is able to release the energy associated with this event, then she will have released the initial cause for what is happening in her life now. Now, if Reiki was only to target this one area, one of two things might happen. One possible result is by releasing this event she is able to see on her own how it has affected her over the course of her life and make the appropriate changes in her life and her attitude on her own. The more likely result would be that this person would keep functioning the same as she has been even though the initial cause of her present situation has been released. This is because we, as humans, are creatures of habit. What has worked for us in the past, we tend to keep doing, be that the way in which we brush our teeth or our patterns of behavior or thought. Due to the age at which Annie suffered this initial event, it will have become a part of who she is and spurred numerous other instances similar in nature to this one, due, in a large part, to her actions and beliefs. This initial injury to her may have caused her to believe that she was not worthy of anyone's affections or love. Most of us know that the way in which we perceive ourselves is generally the way the world perceives us as well. Due to this perception of Annie's she has probably brought on many more instances similar in nature to the initial one, either from family, friends, or in relationships all of which perpetuate the feelings of unworthiness and a general lack of self-confidence and self-esteem even further. Reiki, however, not only works to release this initial cause, but works to release the emotions and belief systems that perpetuate further instances, while working to release the energy stored in the perpetuated events. This may require any number of sessions, as each person is unique. What is common among everyone is that as more and more of these events are released there begins to be a snowball effect. The person begins to see that the beliefs are unfounded and begins to take control of her life, releasing the remaining emotions and beliefs even when not in session. As a result of releasing all these beliefs and emotions Annie is able, for the first time, to truly feel her self-worth, love herself, and allow others to love her.

This is an example of what could possibly happen over the course of a number of Reiki sessions. I purposely chose this type of situation to show you that a person does not have to be physically ill to benefit from Reiki. We all have things that have happened to us throughout the course of our lives that affect us whether we realize it or not. Many of them have happened to us at such a young age that we don't even consciously remember them. I also want to stress that the above example showed an optimum result. Sometimes we achieve this and sometimes we do not, and there may be any number of reasons we do not. If the client is not ready or willing to let go of the energies then nothing I nor any other practitioner can do will help. We all ultimately have total control over what happens to us, and whether or not we allow ourselves to heal. Another reason that a person might recover from a particular dis-ease is that, for one reason or another, the person needs it in their life. This may sound odd to some people, but bear with me. To fully appreciate this you must first realize that we all have a destiny, or in other words we were put here on this planet, at this time, for a reason, and along the way certain things happen to push us in the right direction. Sometimes, an illness or dis-ease is part of that path. It's possible that the illness is supposed to teach us something, or maybe we are supposed to meet someone as a result of the dis-ease, or it could be keeping us from doing something that would be detrimental for us to do. There could be any number of reasons. Remembering that Reiki always works toward the highest good of the client, in one of the previous situations, it would be in the best interests of the client to keep the dis-ease, at least for the time being.