Reiki - like EFT - is an energy therapy practice. Also, like EFT, it incorporates or pays attention to energy flows within the body. If asked to pick which alternative therapy I'd have chosen if I'd never heard of EFT, it would quite possibly have been Reiki. It has such a huge list of satisfied users that to ignore it here would be a sin.
Definition from Wikipedia (Online Dictionary/encyclopedia)
Reiki is a form of spiritual practice used as a complementary therapy for the treatment of physical, emotional, and mental diseases. Mikao Usui developed Reiki in early 20th century Japan, where he said he received the ability of healing without energy depletion' after three weeks of fasting and meditating on Mount Kurama. Practitioners use a technique similar to the laying on of hands, which they say will channel "healing energy" ki - (pronounced Chi). Practitioners state that energy flows through their palms to bring about healing and that the method can be used for self-treatment as well as treatment of others.
If there's only one place I'd question this definition, it's in calling Reiki a 'complementary' therapy, as this implies that it's used in conjunction with traditional medicine practice. I may hear from practitioners how wrong I am here, but everything I've read indicates that Reiki is an alternative therapy. The difference between the two is tenuous at best, but for an idea, click on Complementary Therapy to look it up in our dictionary.
Spiritual is a somewhat subjective term to apply to Reiki, and can only be called such if you consider energy transferrance 'spiritual'. The place I can see it fitting is where you consider intention - either good or bad - as it applies to the practitioner using Reiki. Quite naturally, you'll only experience good intention coming from a Reiki practitioner. If it weren't, there'd be no positive results during sessions, and he or she would soon be out of business.
But intention isn't really (unless you say it is :o) the same as spirituality. Though you might consider a person whose intention is always negative an unspiritual person, intention - where it comes to its use in Reiki - can be explained quite scientifically.
Einstein's Theory of Relativity (accepted by every scientist on the planet) states that all things, including the human body, are made of energy. Okay . . . watch this . . . ;
- Neurotransmitters (chemicals/energy) in the brain
- Fire messages (thoughts/energy) from cell to cell in the brain
- Which create another form of energy (intention)
- Which transmit to other cells . . . within or without the same body
- and create an action (which often in energy healing is the adjustment of disrupted 'energy' flows or blockages)
The point here is that our intention is not a non-entity. It's energy, just like sound and light, and as such can be created and transferred either within or without one's self. Reiki - like all energy therapies - makes use of this science to transfer this energized intention to heal from practitioner to patient.
VIP (Very Important Point) The patient, not the practitioner, is the healer. In all energy work it's the energy in the patient's body that does the healing. The practitioner's role is that of a coach or teacher, with one major difference. A coach or teacher will tell you how to do something new . . . something you've never done before. An energy practitioner will guide you to enhanced use of something that you already use hundreds of trillions of times every day . . . your energy system. There's way too much neat info on this subject to take time for it here, so you'll find it a 4 part article series article I call, "You can Heal Yourself", but suffice it to say here that your body is the most amazing electrical/mechanical/chemical/calculating/producing machine on the planet!
I'm guessing that some Reiki masters will consider this opinion complete hooey, and I can respect that. I mean, if you read this excerpt from Narsha Burack's book 'Reiki: Healing Yourself and Others', "We experience Reiki by: remaining in the moment, letting go of thoughts, connecting to our breath, acknowledging any feelings, allowing ourselves just to be.", it would be hard to deny the feelings of spirituality - at least in some peoples minds.
There are many, many sites where you can learn more about Reiki. Simply type "Reiki", or "Reiki explained" in any search engine. Narrow it down to some aspect of Reiki if you want to save youself a pile of looking. On my last attempt at the simple term 'Reiki', I was offered the first 10 of 16,800,000 possible searches. Pretty popular - huh? :o)
May You Soar
John
