Why Reiki Is the Perfect Healing Foundation

Have you ever tried T’ai chi, Qigong, or yoga and wished you could feel more energy flowing through your body as you practised them?

Have you ever meditated, felt next to nothing, and grown bored?

If so, you need a little something to spice up your spiritual practice, to give it more power, to enhance it.

And that something – as you may have guessed – is Reiki.

But it’s not just me pushing my own agenda.

A Reiki teacher promoting Reiki.

Nope.

It’s got to do with what Reiki is and how it works.

Because once that becomes clear, you’ll realise that it will inevitably enhance almost every other spiritual practice you do.

I know that is a big claim. But stick with me for a few minutes, and I’m confident it will make sense.

Reiki: The Chi Machine

The word ‘Reiki’ is made up of two characters: ‘Rei’, meaning ‘spirit’, and ‘Ki’, meaning ‘energy’.

So Reiki is a discipline that focuses on ‘spiritual energy’, what we tend to call ‘chi’ or ‘qi’ in the West.

Unsurprisingly, it’s a great discipline to learn if you want to enhance your ability to connect to chi, all the more so since you can learn it in a single weekend.

Think about that for a moment. You can go from reading books about ‘chi’ and wondering whether it really exists to zapping people with it in a couple of days!

And after that, any spiritual modality that uses chi will be enhanced, since you’ll be better at connecting to it.

Take the martial art aikido, for instance.

The ‘ki’ in its name is the very same character as the ‘ki’ in ‘Reiki’.

The same is true of Qigong.

‘Qi’ = ‘Ki’.

It’s the same character.

‘Qi’ is simply how the Chinese pronounce it.

And then you’ve got things like Kiko, a Japanese form of Qigong; Kigaku, an energy-based type of divination; and Kiai-jutsu, a martial discipline focused specifically on the use of kiai – the focused projection of ki.

And then you have T’ai chi.

The ‘chi’ here is a different character that means ‘ultimate’, but even so, T’ai chi is all about chi.

A friend of mine actually illustrates this beautifully.

When he first started practising T’ai chi, he was practising more ‘T’ai’ than ‘chi’.

Then he learned Reiki, and that made all the difference.

When he returned to his T’ai chi practice, he could truly feel the chi.

Reiki for Improved Meditation

When I first learned meditation, it was tough.

I couldn’t feel anything.

My mind wandered.

And it was boring!

But I persisted, and eventually I started to feel chi during my meditation sessions. From then onwards, it was a lot more enjoyable.

The chi gave me something to focus on.

Something pleasurable.

Something my mind actually enjoyed focusing on.

It was like a mantra – only better!

The chi also helped to calm me and settle my mind – something that itself helped me feel even more chi.

At the time, I still hadn’t learned Reiki, but later on, when I did, I could only imagine how much easier meditation would have been if I had learned it first.

Because then it would have been far easier to connect to chi, and far easier to settle my mind on days when it wouldn’t calm down.

And that is one great thing about Reiki.

The energy will flow no matter how manic your mind is, no matter how moody you are.

Put your hands on your body.

Intend for Reiki to flow.

And there it is.

Even if you’re lamenting an umpiring decision at a game of football!

And the influence of chi in spiritual disciplines runs even further.

For instance, a heightened sense of chi helps even with things like Feng Shui.

In its essence, Feng Shui is all about the flow of chi.

The way chi moves through rooms, over the land, and around objects.

Get that right, and your house and spaces will be like a body with all of its meridians clear.

The energy will flow through them without impediment, and good fortune will follow.

Chi by Any Other Name Is Just as Potent

Chi, Qi, and Ki are the most common words for ‘spiritual energy’, but move beyond China and Japan and you find a vast assortment of other terms.

In India, chi is called ‘prana’, a common term in yoga and tantra.

In Tibetan yoga and tantra, chi is called ‘lung’, something that is seen as a ‘life-wind’, which is identical in concept to chi.

In ancient Greek traditions, it is known as ‘pneuma’, which similarly means ‘breath’, ‘wind’, or ‘life-wind’.

In Hermeticism, it is called ‘spiritus’, which also means ‘breath’, ‘exhalation’, or ‘breath of life’.

So chi comes by many names, but whatever you call it, it is clear that the more you can connect to it, the better you will be able to practise many spiritual disciplines.

Reiki for Grounding

When I first learned the more traditional Japanese Reiki system, I wasn’t very grounded.

In fact, I think I had only connected properly to my base chakra on a few occasions.

As a result, I was more easily affected by the energy of others and didn’t like crowded places.

Now, in general, I still prefer a day in the forest to a day in the city, but even so, I can happily spend extended periods of time in the city and feel balanced and full of energy.

The people and places there no longer disconnect me from my inner energy flow.

What’s more, being grounded means I can happily stay centred even when working with emotional students, something that almost always helps to balance them.

This all became possible thanks – in large part – to working with the hara, an energy centre just below the navel that traditional Japanese Reiki focuses on.

Connecting to the hara both grounded me and helped strengthen my base chakra, and with both energy centres firing, I finally found the grounding I needed.

Better Energy Flow

If you’ve ever had a Reiki healing session, or anything similar, then you have probably experienced what it’s like for energy to flow freely through your body.

You feel light.

Vibrant.

As if you have had a ‘shower on the inside’.

Your meridians – your body’s energy pipelines – are clear, energy can move without impediment through your body, and as such, it can naturally heal and balance itself.

This, interestingly, is the goal of healing methods like acupuncture.

They don’t try to give you more energy, but simply help the energy that already exists in your body flow properly.

That is often all you need for good health.

And it is one of the many bonuses of practising Reiki. It not only gives you more energy, it also dissolves blocks and clears meridians.

This will both improve your general health and make you more sensitive to energy.

Sensitive in a good way.

Sensitive in a way that will help you feel it more strongly.

This will help you more fully enjoy all disciplines that use chi, like yoga and Qigong.

Additional Bonuses of Practising Reiki

When life gets chaotic, it can be hard to relax.

Work.

Relationships.

Family.

Health.

So many things can stir us up, and when this happens, it can be near-impossible to settle, to feel at peace.

And this is where Reiki excels.

Always on tap, it will seep into your system, bit by bit, soothing and calming you until you find yourself taking a deep breath and relaxing.

And since Reiki healing never uses your own energy, you can always give yourself as much as you need without ever running out of healing energy.

So if you’re feeling especially unsettled or emotional, you can give yourself an extra-long session and return from it feeling renewed.

It’s like hitting a reset button – something that breaks the continuity with your past emotional state, leaving in its place a more balanced, serene version of yourself.

Working with Reiki also helps to enhance your intuition, so if you have to make an important decision or would like greater clarity, it can be a godsend.

It can strengthen your third eye and second chakra, traditional homes of intuition.

It can optimise your crown chakra, enhancing your ability to connect to your Higher Self and life purpose.

It can strengthen your base chakra, giving you the grounding and serenity to make good decisions.

It can reduce work tension by soothing your solar plexus.

It can… well, you get the idea. Reiki is flexible and can zero in with laser-like precision on the areas of your body that could do with an energetic boost.

What’s more, enhancing your intuition will not only help in your personal practice, but also in any profession where you work with clients.

Reiki, massage, shiatsu, Pellowah, Chi Activation – whatever you practise, enhanced intuition will help you know which parts of your client’s body to work on, and in which order.

And if you’re already psychically inclined, it will help you receive clearer impressions and messages.