I do have the client establish an intention prior to the session for several reasons, one of which is that I think it is easier for our guides to work with us if they know the desired outcome. However, I agree that we do not want to limit the possibilities; therefore, my prayer prior to a session always includes this statement: “We ask for the healing of all that is ready to be healed in ______, whether that is physical, mental, emotional or spiritual.” I then ask for the healing that the client has specifically stated they desire. I consciously release all attachment to outcome, knowing that all healing that takes place is in the hands of the client and the Higher Power. I’m simply the conduit connecting the two in a powerful way.

Marianne Streich
Reiki Master Teacher
Seattle, WA
Author of Reiki: A Guide for the Practice of Levels I and II
Editor Reiki News Magazine

And I agree that science and spirituality are not mutually exclusive–and so does His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who has asked Richard Davison to research meditation, with valuable results.

However, I disagree with your perspective on intention. In fact, it seems that intention is entirely unnecessary for Reiki healing to occur, and may even complicate the situation if the practitioner has limited intention. The Reiki connection clearly activates without the practitioner’s intention.

I think most practitioners struggle with explaining Reiki. We may make statements such as: Reiki is a relaxation technique; it balances the body’s energy field; it helps the body remember how to heal itself; it removes stagnant energy. All of which are true, but none of the which is “The Truth.”

As Reiki has become more well known and more accepted by mainstream medical practitioners, we have stepped up our attempts to explain it, quantify it, analyze it, and study it to prove “scientifically” that it works. Although these exercises can be valuable, It seems to me that our attempts to define Reiki and quantify it limit it and make it small.

In truth, Reiki is profoundly simple and a profound mystery. We cannot know exactly what it is or how it works or all that transpires during a treatment. We know simply that it works. We know that the client feels better as a result and that healing happens. We know that we can’t predict what that healing will be and that the experience is unique to each person who receives Reiki. One must experience it, not to understand it, but to gain the benefits it offers.

My personal definition of Reiki is this:
Reiki is Divine Love directed by the Higher Power (whatever you understand that to be) through the intention of the practitioner for the purpose of healing. (From my book: Reiki, A Guide for the Practice of Levels I and II; 2009.)

Clients often tell me they have the experience of unconditional love during a treatment. As a practitioner, I experience giving a treatment as a mystery beyond understanding, as a spiritual act that I approach with deep gratitude for the privilege of doing this work, and which, afterward, leaves me with a deep sense of peace and well-being.

Perhaps we are coming to a time in history when we can accept the gift and embrace the mystery without feeling the need to dissect it. A time when we do not see science and spirit as mutually exclusive; a time when we are not embarrassed to say that giving and receiving Reiki is a spiritual interaction between client and practitioner.

Marianne Streich
Reiki Master Teacher
Seattle, WA
Author of Reiki: A Guide for the Practice of Levels I and II
Editor Reiki News Magazine

And the Reiki practice that we received from Usui-sensei is one way to connect with that Oneness.

I also practice Kundalini yoga every day, after having practiced Hatha yoga (Iyengar style) for five years . I have had acupuncture galore, 20 sessions in all until it was too costly, attempting to help heal chronic pain, which is how I first discovered the energy. I also had a couple of sessions of Healing Touch — same energy sensations. I have had Kundalini awakened and now I am experiencing Kundalini rising and a spiritual awakening.

It has all been the same sensation of energy and love for me. Each practice and experience brings forth the same energy sensations.

I call it “Source,” or “Universal Energy/Love” or “Highest Power” or “Shakti” or “Mother” or “Goddess.” Call it what you will, what feels right for you. With all of my experiences, I can’t just call it “Reiki” because that is not the only way I have for being One with it.

Light and Love to all.
Christine

But what if instead of coming from a universal source, Reiki IS the universal source?

I would like to respond to your comment about “language for marketing.” Marketing is simply relationship. We speak to people in a more restrained way when we are introduced and save our intimate sharings for after we have created strong common ground. But at no time do we alter the truth of our experience. This is why it is so important to practice self-treatment daily, and to contemplate our experiences. It is easy to conflate things that are happening in subtle realms. It takes time to even begin to sort through it. It may be that the interactions you are experiencing have always been happening, and that you are becoming more aware. At the same time, there is clearly an acceleration that happens during treatment.

There is the ocean, and there is the sun. And then there is the great Emptiness in which all exists.

As a new Reiki practitioner, I read your blog thirstily. I have been practicing on myself and others for about six months. I am a former nonprofit CEO, as well as a former Nurse Practitioner, and am delighting in learning something that is so much grounded in my body and soul and not my mind. I realized the other day that my life is forever changed by this indescribable presence in my body. Sometimes indeed it feels like the ocean flowing inside me. Sometimes it surges relentlessly in one part of my body, demanding my attention, sometimes it shoots out my hands like sparklers. When my hands are on another person, I experience a myriad of sensations, with hardly any words to put to any of it. I’ve already had many many experiences where healing seems to happen, an indication to me of how powerful Reiki is, that even a novice can make such a difference in people’s lives. I feel such a sense of adventure, not being able to begin to imagine where this gentle, powerful, beautiful learning will lead me.

So I am thirsty for conversation with others who are experiencing this. And at the same time, I feel averse to using language and conceptual frameworks, much as I understand the importance of framing Reiki in a way that the general public can accept and understand and open to. I’ve spent too much of my life in my left brain, articulating and conceptualizing.

I was surprised by your initial premise, as I often do feel that the Reiki energy is flowing into me- and I guess I have no doubt that it is from a divine source. Other times though I experience the balancing and calibration phenomenon that has been discussed here. What I haven’t seen discussed here is almost a dance between my biofield and the other person’s, and it’s hard for me to tell what is coming from whom. There is a symbiotic experience, an interaction.

For me it all seems like nothing short of a miracle, a gentle and loving miracle, filling my life with light and warmth. There is the ocean, yes, but there is also the sun.

Sorry, I’m not yet ready to translate it into language for marketing. I am too awestruck, too joyful. I know it has to be done, and love the blog. Thank you!

Nancy