Reiki is a gentle hands on healing modality for stress reduction, relaxation and health. It is a healing technique that allows the practitioner to focus an unseen life force energy and transmit that energy to another person. The word Reiki is composed of two Japanese words- Rei which can be translated as universal, higher power, or God’s wisdom, and Ki which means life force energy. So Reiki is universal or spiritual life force energy that we use in a gentle manner to promote physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual healing. Reiki is simple and safe, the client remains fully clothed and can be either sitting or lying while the practitioner gently places their hands on them. Reiki can be used in conjunction with any other healing modalities, conventional or alternative, and has no harmful side effects.

Although the Reiki emanates from a divine source, it is not a religion. There is no dogma or required beliefs. People of many different belief systems have found Reiki to enrich their spiritual life by allowing them to directly experience divine healing energy.

Reiki never depletes the practitioner, most people feel energized and yet relaxed after giving a Reiki treatment. The practitioner is not giving of their own energy but bringing through the Reiki energy for the client. The practitioner can also treat themselves for relaxation and health. Reiki healing can be sent to those in need over any distance.

Reiki is not something one studies to learn. The ability to transmit the Reiki energy is transferred from a Reiki Master Teacher to the student by a process called an attunement. There are four levels of attunement in the Usui-Tibetan system of Reiki taught at Rainbow gardens. The First Degree class introduces the student to energy healing, teaches the history of Reiki, and teaches hand positions for treating the self and others. In the Second Degree class symbols are taught that increase the power of the Reiki energy and enhance mental, emotional and distance healing ability. In the Advanced Reiki Training (ART) the student is given the Master symbol, taught a powerful psychic surgery technique, a Reiki meditation, and the use of crystals is introduced. In the Master Class, two Tibetan Master symbols are given, an advanced Reiki meditation is taught, and the student gains the ability to attune others to all levels of Reiki.

Reiki is a very ancient healing art that was lost and rediscovered by Dr. Usui around 1920 in Japan. He ran a family business, was secretary to a prominent politician, and a very diligent student. He made a scholarly search of ancient Buddhist texts to find the lost art of healing. After years of diligent study and meditation he had a spiritual experience on Mount Kurama and was then able to heal others by placing his hands on them. In 1922 he started a healing society named Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, which means Usui Reiki Healing Society. One of Dr. Usui’s students, Dr. Hayashi who was a respected Reiki Master and healer, had established a Reiki healing clinic in Tokyo. Mrs. Takata the daughter of Japanese immigrants to Hawaii traveled to Japan to deliver the sad news that her sister had died, to her parents who had resettled in Japan. Mrs. Takata was quite ill and was completely healed at Dr. Hayashi’s clinic. After becoming a student of Reiki she returned to Hawaii. In 1938, Dr. Hayashi, who had traveled to Hawaii to help establish Reiki there, initiated Mrs. Takata as a Reiki Master. It is through Mrs. Takata and her students that Reiki has now spread around the world. The Reiki society in Japan still exists, but is a very secret and closed organization.

Reiki is now established in over 100 hospitals in the United States. Patients can choose to receive Reiki treatments to aid in their recovery from illness and surgery. Hospital staffs are finding that patients who choose to receive Reiki treatments recover faster, need less pain medication and suffer fewer complications. A few of the hospitals with established Reiki programs are: Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, Tucson Medical Center in Arizona, Portsmouth Regional Hospital in New Hampshire and California Pacific Medical Center in northern California.