Have you ever given a second thought as to where the endless heap of past negative experiences begin to latently manifest inside your body? Has it ever occurred to you that although managing to “get through” both tough times and the strains of everyday living, the overall well being of your body is silently paying the price? Fortunately, there’s Reiki.Reiki, (pronounced ray-key) or “Universal Life Energy,” involves attunement of the universal Chi energy surrounding us at all times through a series of hand positions. Reiki is a safe, easy to use, natural restorative technique used to accelerate individual healing processes combining mind, body and spirit. As a self-contained system, it works in and of itself while at the same time working in harmony with other types of healing.
Known to cure ailments spanning from everyday stress headaches to serious diseases, Reiki is a transcendental energy available to all. The practice has its basis in Tibetan Buddhist practice and was re-introduced to western culture in the late 1800s by Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese Buddhist.
Usui translated Sanskrit Sutras or teachings of healing touch. Since then the art has been passed down through generations of Reiki masters. However, in order to practice Reiki it is necessary for one to receive an initialattunement from a Reiki master.
The attunement process is a ceremony where the Reiki master uses the Reiki symbols in a determined way, creating an energy pattern around the student recipient. The attunement is permanent, thus making one who receives this attunement open to using the flow of Reiki on others. Much like a musician tuning a guitar for optimal tone, the Reiki master is able to attune peoples’ bodies, restoring balance to one’s essence and harmonizing the charkas. However, there are times when personal discord from the exterior world interferes, thus causing a disturbance in the charkas.
Chakras, or specific energy vortexes located in particular regions of the body, are categorized as openings where life energy flows in and out of the aura. These centers serve to revitalize the physical body and also for getting in touch with self-consciousness.
Picture seven points in a straight line along the center of your body running from root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, brow (third-eye) and crown chakra. Becoming aware of these seven centers of bodily energy is way to sense how easily they are thrown awry. Current and past stressors contaminate your body and without the necessary cleansing process this leads to compounded physical and emotional chaos.
Different from massage, which the National Institute for Complementary and Alternative medicine defines as manipulation of “muscle and connective tissue to enhance function of those tissues and promote relaxation and well-being,” Reiki moves past the simple reaction of “oh, this massage feels good,” by taking the recipient beyond feeling physically blissful. Instead the sensation is amplified to infinite proportions through healing the body by spirit. After being exposed to one Reiki treatment it is possible for the practitioner to then get in touch with that individual’s particular energy-flow requirements.
Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, author of There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem explains how, “They [scientists] study matter at the subatomic level and report that the essence of creation is energy….the solution you seek to anything you’ve labeled a problem may lie in your willingness to shift your vibrational energy patterns.” Dyer goes on to explain that, “The healthy body is a flowing, interactive electrodynamic energy field, motion is more natural to life than non-motion things that keep flowing are inherently good. What interferes with flow will have detrimental effects.”
It’s hardly of any need to describe these “detrimental effects” considering every individual reading this article has at one point faced, or continually faces, forms of anger, anxiety, panic and frustration. To these afflictions, Reiki helps.
Thomas Merton, writer and monk, says, “If you are yourself at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world. Then share your peace with everyone, and everyone will be at peace.”
Bringing balance where there was once confusion goes perfectly with Reiki’s principles of…1. Just for today do not worry. 2. Just for today do not anger. 3. Just for today be grateful. 4. Just for today do your work honestly. 5. Just for today show your love and respect to every living thing.
For college students specifically, conflicting agents such as inter-personal dilemmas, omnipresent concerns about the future, or distracting relationships with past events plague the population. So even if you can’t afford an attunement (since the majority reading this are just “poor college students”) daily incorporation of the Reiki fundamentals of love and respect will suffice. We are an interconnected populace – energy is transferred, energy is broken, energy perpetually remains. The cycle begins and ends. Remember Reiki. It’s the Ctrl-alt-delete combination for your body helping you to start anew.