CREDIT: DEAN MITCHELL
Reiki is both an art and a science.

If you’ve been to possibly a chiropractor, a massage therapist or any other medical practitioner of late, you may have heard or seen that there is a Reiki Master on site, and offering their services.

The first thought that people tend to think is that Reiki is more out there, more outside the box, something that falls in line with psychics or anything else that is a bit questionable.

The other thought is that it is religious-based, which, for all of the above, is far from the truth. The reality is that being a Reiki Master is a highly skilled profession, and it is both an art and a science.


How do I know this? I’m a trained and certified Reiki Master myself, specializing in Karuna (harmonic- music and sound; there are other specialists in the field as well), with over 30 years of experience in energy work. There is a pretty intense but fun certification process that is 3 steps, from levels one to three, thinking like apprentice, journeyman and master. Each level builds on the last, and you gain further and deeper skills to help people, and yourself. There is also an international organization, the International Association of Reiki Professionals (IARP), which recognizes those masters, has a lot of info on Reiki and helps them in other ways (iarp.org).

Reiki, from my experience, is in essence the application of energy to assist the body to heal, almost like jump-starting the healing process like a charger jump-starts a car, but much gentler. The application is either by direct touch to the client’s body or by touching the aura — an electromagnetic field generated by the body, by the electrical impulses of the heart, the brain, and carried by the nervous system — much like an electrical system in a house or a car, and the computer being the brain.

The effect is typically temporary, however the adjustments made can be more long-term, depending on what’s needed. The Master will typically ask for a brief medical history to help properly address the issue and the client (there are a number of factors that can help or hinder a session, much like any other medical visit).

One thing I’ve learned is to ask your practitioner before they do your therapy if they ground. This is critical, as grounding acts like a lightning rod, or grounding circuit, and helps to direct the energy into the planetary ground (the Earth), thus not allowing it to accumulate in either yourself or the Master (for those that are eco-friendly, I have a theory that in doing that, the energy gets filtered through the Earth’s core, reversing the polarity, and helps to regenerate the planetary EM field). Allowing that energy to accumulate can result in some negative effects and not help the healing process in any way.

Energy generated from a Reiki perspective is emotionally charged (much like negative or positive ions in electricity), which reflects my understanding of emotion=energy. Thought, followed by action, comes from those emotions, even if they are microseconds in time frame/nature. Being aware of your emotions is part of the training in working in Reiki (and is a good thing to do in your daily life), no matter if you go with level one, two or Master.

Teaching is a huge part of Reiki. The teaching helps you to understand the basics through to the higher levels where you will learn even more skills. It also helps you to make sense of the entire process, and make good decisions based on those skills. It allows you to be able to teach others once you’re certified, further reinforce the skills that you have learned, and even see if there are new skills and new ways of doing things.

Going back to using grounding, it has resulted, at least from my experience, in the reduction of migraines, feeling better emotionally/ focused, helping with fatigue and the reduction of overall pain. Those effects have lasted longer as I’ve done it more, much like grease applied over time gets into joints of a mechanical device and makes it much more lubricated.

There is an increasing number of Masters even being employed in hospitals and in other medical arenas. Much like how other specialties have been brought into the fold over the years, Reiki is one of the latest to make it from the fringe to being a part of the medical community at large.

Please note that much like any skill, learn from a professional before you attempt it. Not having the correct skills can result in energy backfire, and do harm to yourself or to others that you are trying to help.

Reiki is a great skill and great way to heal, but in my opinion, it needs to be merged with modern medicine so that MDs, Reiki Masters and others have the entire box of tools, and not just be limited by either one or the other. Working together is the only way to properly heal, and to help as many clients get better inside and out.

Editor’s note: Article is the opinion of the writer. Please seek medical advice for diagnosis or treatment.