What is Reiki?

When I used to work in Marketing and people asked me what I did it was simple – I didn’t have to invest a lot of time in explaining what one does in Marketing.

However, since I changed my profession to become a Reiki practitioner, things changed and many people look somewhat puzzled when I say I do Reiki. Either puzzled or they don’t know what to say because in some countries Reiki is seen as a cult (like in France), or as having a religious connotation. Something only hippies or New Age type of people engage with and then I get to hear things like “I don’t know if I believe in Reiki”.

So let’s look at a few facts:

• Reiki has been recognised by the UN Health as a complementary and alternative medicine.
• Reiki is a Japanese relaxation and stress reduction technique that also promotes healing by activating the body’s immune system.
• Reiki balances body, mind and soul – a concept that is also known in Yoga or in Meditation.
• Just like the other traditional healing methods, such as Acupuncture, Shiatsu, Acupressure etc, Reiki works with that same energy (Chi in Chinese Medicine, Ki in Japan or Prana in India) by understanding that if energy doesn’t flow freely in ones body, this might cause all sorts of mental, emotional and eventually also physical symptoms.
• Reiki is a non evasive type of treatment where the client lies fully dressed on a massage table and the energy is administered by laying-on hands on different parts of the body (on the main energy centres), so that the energy can flow freely to the parts where it is most needed.
• A Reiki treatment works well in combination with any other medical treatments and reduces the many side effects of heavy medications.
• Reiki works preventative: ie. people who practice Reiki regularly will find that they rarely get sick. (I haven’t had any physical sypmtomps since I started practicing Reiki regularly – apart from a huge Migraine (gosh was I nervous) after I met Paulo Coelho and he showed interest in Reiki ;-)
• Reiki also works as pain relief: I treated Migraines, IBS, Chronic Back Pains etc successfully.
• Reiki helps your creative flow. Ever since I started with Reiki I feel much more inspired and creative.
• Reiki is used in hospitals worldwide, hospices, during surgeries, in Spas: because Reiki can be used in so many diverse situations.
• Reiki is excellent during different life stages, such as during pregnancy, menopause, for little babies etc. For more information please go to: http://www.behappy-now.com/reiki-for-different-life-stages.html
• Since Reiki is a deep relaxation treatment, my clients always report a higher degree of mental clarity, emotional balance and overall feeling much lighter.
• Reiki can be a spiritual experience if people want to. Generally, my clients who feel lost, stuck in life, disconnected from everything and everyone always report that Reiki helped them find meaning in their lives again, some even their life purpose. (Maybe also due to the increase in mental and emotional clarity).
• Reiki is NOT linked to any religion, dogma or belief system. In fact I have treated people from many different nationalies and religious backgrounds.

But of course, there is only so much I can write here to explain what Reiki is and what it isn’t. The best thing to do in order to understand what Reiki is, is to try a treatment...:-)

I consider myself very lucky to live in Switzerland: a country where Reiki is recognised and even reimbursed by health insurances.
But I do hope that the same will become true across Europe and the world.