Reiki

Like many other forms of massage therapy, reiki focuses on the flow of energy through the human body and analyzes it for blockages in order to find ways to improve flow to improve health. Reiki looks at the human body holistically and instead of solving symptoms, it improves a body’s life force or energy in order for it to become healthier as a whole. There are several different components to the practicing of reiki that massage therapy students will learn as they undertake their studies. The first is the spiritual component of reiki. The second is the physical laying of hands to find blockages and restore energy flow. The third is non-physical techniques where energy is redirected without any touch being necessary.

Spirituality is a large component of the practice of reiki techniques. In the teaching of reiki, it is taught that a practitioner cannot being to help heal a patient until they have seen their patient’s life force and can access it on a spiritual level. Reiki Masters learn how to attune their minds to the fields of energy that surround every human body. When they are in treatment of a patient, Reiki Masters access those fields of energy and using mental and spiritual techniques, help to remove blockages and restore health. The spirituality aspect of Reiki is the hardest to master, because of the difficulty in becoming attuned with a body’s life forces.

One of the most common components of the practice of reiki is in the laying on of hands. A reiki practitioner will instruct their patients to lay in a comfortable position. They will then begin to lay their hands on various parts of the patient’s body. This laying of hands has two purposes. First, it is to diagnose trouble areas, both through the guidance of the patient as well as the connection of the reiki practitioner to the patient’s energy. Second, it is to redirect the flow of energy in order to solve physical ailments and restore health. The techniques used in the laying on of hands can vary from very light application to much heavier pressure, depending on which is more appropriate to the situation.

The third component to the practice of reiki combines the theory of the laying on of hands with the spirituality of connecting with the patient’s life force. In this practice, the reiki practitioner will hold their hands over the bodies of their patients, moving them in deliberate patterns in order to affect the flow of energy. No actual contact with the patient will be made. As the patient begins to feel disturbances in their life forces, they can direct reiki practitioners to the areas most in need of attention.

A typical reiki session can last anywhere from fifteen minutes to two hours, depending upon the technique used and also upon the complexity of the problems being experienced by the patient. In addition, reiki practitioners often combine practices from other types of massage therapy, and so could provide a traditional massage to instill vigor after reiki techniques restore flow.

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