Reiki

[Fanatic]

Has anyone tried Reiki? Could you tell me a little bit about it?

I have had it and it seemed to work. It is very relaxing and I felt very warm during it. The practitioner shouldn't actually lay their hands on you, which again gives credence to the theory that they are moving/unblocking energy in the body. I am wary of people charging lots of money for it and insisting you need a long course of it to benefit. I found spiritual healing had the same effects and is often provided at spiritualist churches by volunteers for a "goodwill offering". That way you know you aren't being duped. I would certainly recommend it, especially for depression and stress.

I have had Reiki from a master - was interesting. I had it for my bad back - she gently put her hands over my shoulders - I felt hot and cold sensations in my back, sort of astringent. Was pleasant. I keep meaning to learn it myself. I was sceptical to start with, but there does seem to be something in it.

My husband has just done the reiki 1 course. I, too, was sceptical, but seeing the changes in him over the last few weeks have convinced me. I had one session, and it wasn't really for me, but I knew something was happening. Felt heat radiating from the soles of my feet, and my throat felt really dry at one point...afterwards he said there was something blocking my throat chakra. My husband's had lots of similar experiences.

They're starting to use it in sme hospitals in Australia, which isn't that surprising given that acupuncture's been used in hospitals for years now, and they both work on smimilar principles.

As I understand it, it's about channelling universal energy, or life force' and directing it to yourself, or someone else, or something else, in order to balance their energy out. The theory is that unbalanced energy within us can be the cause of illness and dis-ease, both emotional and physical.

Also agree with the poster who said not to go to anyone who insists on a 'course'.if they're any good, then one session will balance you out. You might want more as time goes on and you begin to feel less balanced.

The reiki 1 course teaches you to reiki yourself, reiki 2 to reiki others, and the reiki master course is to make a commitment to reiki and to train others to use reiki.

Ps. Dh and I both had reiki from a master.

I had it once & had the sensation of being warm/palms tingling; a general sense of well being and suddenly an uncontrollable urge to smile!

That was years ago and I'm not usually a 'woo' person but it was a very pleasant experience.

Im a level 2 reiki practicioner trained in the Usui method. I can honestly say reiki has changed my life.

I was already a holistic therapist before I even tried reiki, to me it was the one step too far. I'm quite a cynical person really and refused to believe it could do anything. Then on a whim when we had some spare time my friend did some reiki on me. I was amazed! I had never felt anything like it and walked around for the rest of the day feeling drunk

I decided then that I wanted to learn how to do it...best decision I ever made.

When someone asks me what reiki is I say this...when a child hurts itself a mother (or a father, or anyone) kisses where it is hurts. This is reiki. It is the transfer of a loving energy from one person to another. Being trained in reiki means that this energy is intensified, but the person doing the reiki isn't creating the energy, the energy comes from everything the universe is made up of. They are merely acting as a channel for it to travel through.

When you get a reiki treatment you will be funny clothed, and lie under a blanket. The practicioner will either place their hands on your body at the chakras or hover them above you. Everybody feels something different when they have reiki, so you shouldn't go in expecting to feel a certain way. Some people feel nothing at all, sometimes I feel nothing at all.

The only thing to watch out for is somebody who tried to diagnose you (eg...I felt something when I worked on your legs, do you have problems with your legs?) A good reiki practiconer/master will never do this. We are not doctors, we are not here to diagnose or treat specific things. Also as has been said above don't be pushed into agreeing to a course of treatments. Some people just want it as a one off, that is completely fine.

This is all really helpful, thank you. The lady I enquired to charges £50 per hour which I think is rather a lot. How do I go about doing stage 1?

My DH is a level 3 reiki master. He has really benefited from it. He gives me treatments and it is very relaxing. £50 an hour seems very expensive. Places around here seem to charge about £25 an hour. My DH just treats friends and family although he is thinking of setting himself up as a business to give reiki to other people but he doesn't like the idea of making a profit from it so we'll see!

£50 an hour is very expensive. I live in quite a well off area and it is around £25.

I would go and get a session somewhere and if you like it ask the person who treated you who their master was or if they can recommend any masters for you to train with. If you are in South Scotland I can recommend someone amazing.

I'm in cumbria but as we are going to holiday near kent thats where I intended to try it. Any recommendations for near either location?

The master who my DH and I visit charges £30 for the first visit and £25 thereafter - lasts about an hour. To do Reiki 1, you need to find a Reiki master who will attune you and teach you, basically. DH had five sessions at least a week apart.

"I was already a holistic therapist before I even tried reiki... I'm quite a cynical person really... When someone asks me what reiki is I say this...when a child hurts itself a mother kisses where it is hurts. This is reiki. It is the transfer of a loving energy from one person to another."

"Loving energy"? What is that?

I'm amazed that you call yourself a cynical person, having been a "holistic therapist", then a reiki practitioner and believer in things like transferable "loving energy" .

I was going through a really bad time and booked myself a massage with reiki (didn't have a clue what it was, just needed a lie down in a dark room!!) and honestly, it completely changed me. I went into see this lady all wrinkled up inside and came out completely calm and with a new perspective. This encouraged me to do my level 1 which I helped me with the IVF we went through, my husband suffers from chronic pain and I was also able to give him some relief. Then I did my level 2 and practitioner and this came invaluable when my son was born very poorly and spent 3 months in hospital, I also suffered from PND and it helped me cope.

Now I am definitely not saying that reiki is a cure all BUT it helped me and it helped with anxiety and stress. After you've had it, you might feel like having a lovely cuddle from your Mum. I am hoping to do some work helping others who have PND via my HV - Before I was introduced to reiki I would of thought it was the biggest load of rubbish ever and that anyone who believed was into it was a bit of a muppet. The cynical person in me still doesn't "get" it but I know it works

Cote "loving energy" is how I see it. It is 'chi'. The universes energy. I don't normally call it 'chi' though as a lot of people don't know the term.

I am a cynical person i'm afraid I tend not to believe something before I have tried it. That's how I felt about reiki. As a holistic therapist (complementary therapist, what ever you want to call it. It just means I treat the mind, body, spirit and soul) you have to be stay sensible. It is an area that at attracts vulnerable people and unfourtunatly this means you do get people who are out to make money from them. To be honest I had filed reiki into that category.

Reiki isn't a cure all. It doesn't cure anything. We will all die one day and reiki will not change when and how that will happen. However it will make the journey easier to deal with, and that is good enough for me.

What on earth is "the universe's energy"? Is it heat? Is it electromagnetic? Can it be measured?

Most importantly: Has anyone ever determined that it exists in any sort of scientific experiment? Other than "I gave her money, she moved her hands around me and I felt better", that is.

Cote I'm not interested in getting into an argument about this.

I believe in it, you don't. That is fine by me.

FWIW I agree with you on the taking money front. I don't charge for reiki.

Before you go, can you answer please:

Has anyone ever found this energy anywhere? I'm talking about evidence and stuff.

CoteDAzur - quantum physics says that we are all made mostly of energy, not matter, and that it is scientific law that all energy in the universe is connected to and communicates with all other energy in the universe. If you change the frequency of the energy of one electron, then energy shifts all across the universe as no electron can vibrate at exactly the same frequency as any other.

Read books like The Bond by Lynne McTaggart to find out the science behind how energy works. Energy healers (like Reiki, acupuncture) seem to have known this already for thousands of years, but didn't need to 'see' it to know it works - they had faith, and the proof of actual healing. Now science is beginning to catch up and prove a lot of what these ancient spiritual traditions have known to be true for aeons.

Cote we and all scientists know these things do not work but the placebo effect is so great for lots of people lif they want to spend their money on it and it makes them feel better let them.

There has been a huge increase in complaints to the ASA about this sort of medical mumbo jumbo for breach of advertising law (you have to be able to prove claims when you advertise) but if people want to spend money on things like this so be it as long as we do not let it creep into the NHS which means we the tax payers are paying for it.

I've had it, wasn't charged, twas a woman from work, defo felt something.

Ooh, I love it when you pseudo-science people bring up quantum physics knowing nothing about it and thinking it supports your chosen placebo because this is a subject I know a little about, and that is by learning from actual scientific resources and not from an homeopathy fan anti-vaccine journalist with zero scientific background. (That's your Lynne McTaggart, in case that wasn't clear)

"quantum physics says that we are all made mostly of energy, not matter"

Not true. We are, obviously, made of matter. What QP says is that subatomic particles act both as matter and energy, known as "wave-particle duality".

"and that it is scientific law that all energy in the universe is connected to and communicates with all other energy in the universe. If you change the frequency of the energy of one electron, then energy shifts all across the universe as no electron can vibrate at exactly the same frequency as any other."

Complete misunderstanding of quantum entanglement, which talks about a pair of entangled particles then taking on the same characteristics when separated. It doesn't talk about the entire universe of particles affecting each other.

"Read books like The Bond by Lynne McTaggart to find out the science behind how energy works."

I have a better idea. How about you read books written by scientists? Then we can talk.

I am on another thread with a physicist MNer and will ask her if she would like to come over and explain a few things

Xenia - I know that it's only placebo, but I'm curious as to how its practitioners explain the effects. I wish they would say "It's like prayer - I feel better afterwards", but nooo, they have to talk about the universe's energy of love, and (my personal favourite) quantum physics. It's quite interesting, actually.

It's OK thank you. Don't need to converse with smug scientists - humble ones who accept they don't know what's going on and that is the actual point of science - if you knew everything already, then how come we need scientists??? - are far more up my street.

I know nothing about reiki.

I do now that when DS puts his hands on someone else, he can take away pain. I first noticed this when he was a toddler, and he put his little hand on my forehead and my headache immediately vanished. I thought it was just because I had a tension headache, and he had cute little chubby hands which I loved. I didn't say any to anyone, then DH made a similar observation. He has helped my back tremendously when I had a disc which was slipping.

His hands do get very warm when he puts them on someone, and he says it makes him feel a bit tired. He's not a touchy person, and he refuses to do it anymore, even though I have offered him money.

You mean like a special power, Lynette? Like in 'Heroes'?

I'd like to have special powers, too. It's a shame that they don't exist in RL.