Reiki (pronounced ray-key) is perhaps the most esoteric of Japanese therapies or practices to reach Ireland. Although the most popular and best known in some ways, it is - according to reiki master practitioners - the most misunderstood.
This misunderstanding comes perhaps from the vagueness or perceived lack of logic that surrounds it. Reiki is a Japanese word which is formed from the word rei (universal) and ki (life force). Practitioners use a hands-on technique believed to promote the flow of energy around the body and thus aid the body's abilities to heal physical ailments while opening the mind and spirit to the causes of disease and pain.
Reiki is believed to be good for stress reduction, relaxation, headaches, insomnia and general well-being. Those who have reiki treatments often describe feelings of heat and cold around certain areas of the body during the treatment.
Reiki practitioners do not diagnose medical conditions, and it is deemed a complementary therapy and not an alternative approach to orthodox medicine. In fact, physical healing is just one aspect of four which encapsulate the practice of reiki. The other aspects are personal growth, spiritual discipline and mystic order. The four aspects are not "linear".
"Some people come to reiki with a physical problem and they experience a life change, so they move into a personal growth phase. Others come when they are stuck in their lives, so they also go into personal growth, but reiki may also become a spiritual discipline for them," says Irish reiki master Regina O'Mahoney. And, as with shiatsu, people can take introductory classes in reiki so as to be able to practise it on themselves, their family and friends.
The mystic order aspect of reiki is perhaps best explained in terms of a communal consciousness between reiki practitioners. There are many different systems and offshoots of reiki not practised; however, the Usui system is the most widely-followed system.
The Usui system was originally developed by Dr Mikao Usui, a 19th-century Japanese-Christian theologian who rediscovered ancient techniques through his studies. In the 1960s, reiki was brought to the West by Hawaio Takata. Her grand-daughter, Phyllis Furumoto, remains "the lineage bearer", or the leader of the International Reiki Alliance.
"Reiki is practised throughout the world - in Europe, India, Australia, South and North America. It came quite late to Britain and Ireland," says Paul Dennis, a reiki master and teacher based in London.
Like others who have undergone long initiation periods to become reiki masters, Dennis cautions people against having reiki treatments from people who have only completed a series of weekend workshops in reiki.
Both the Irish Reiki Association and the British Reiki Association are affiliated to the International Reiki Alliance. In this alliance, there are 700 reiki masters worldwide. In Ireland, there are 10 practitioners who have been assessed and approved to give reiki treatments to members of the public.
The Reiki Association of Ireland can be contacted on tel: 021-4371058.
See also:
www.reikiassociation.org.uk
www.furumoto.org
www.reiki.org