WHAT IS USUI REIKI?
ReiKi
Reiki is both a word and a system.
The word Reiki is written with two Japanese kanji (calligraphic characters) that mean spiritual energy
The top kanji is Rei
means - sacred, spiritual
The bottom kanji is Ki
means - energy. Called by many other names around the world: chi, prana
The founder of Reiki, Mikao Usui, lived in Tokyo, Japan and created a system called Reiki that incorporates tools and a way of spiritual living. A way of living that brings us back into alignment with our soul, Source, our spiritual home, our purpose, heart-centred living, connected to the the field of consciousness and deeply connected to nature. The tools include: spiritual healing, meditation, symbols, attunements and reiju, plus five key principles to live by:
Just for today
Do not be angry
Do not worry
Be grateful
Be true to your way and your being
Be compassionate to yourself and others
REIKI & CHAKRA SYSTEM
Reiki healing is a form of energy healing, or biofield therapy, where the practitioner 'shares' spiritually guided life force energy with the client. Reiki uses attunement and twelve specific hand placements during the session; which includes placements over each chakra. Practitioners can also work intuitively.
What is a Chakra?
Chakra is the ancient Sanskrit word for wheel or disc, and describes the energy centres located along the human spine. There are seven core chakras: Crown, Third Eye, Throat, Heart, Solar Plexus, Sacral and Root Chakra. There are additional chakras in the hands, feet, and in the body field: the Earth Star below the feet, and the Higher Heart or Thymus Chakra above the heart, The Soul Star, Stellar Gateway, and the Causal Chakra above the head. Animals have a slightly different location and set of chakras.
These psycho-spiritual energy hubs resemble invisible spinning vortices of beautiful coloured light. Ideally energy from the Source field should be able to enter through the crown chakra and flow with ease down to the root chakra, at the base of the spine. However, when our energy field becomes impacted by trauma and abuse, psychological and behavioural patterns and factors, an unhealthy lifestyle, or environmental and energetic influences, unfortunately the flow between chakras becomes sub-optimal and this further impacts our emotional, mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing. Left un-balanced, these unseen anomalies in our energy field and flow, can eventually filter through to the physical body and manifest as ailments.
Reiki and other forms of biofield therapy, re-dress the balance and optimize our human physiology and all of the amazing biological processes that occur every hour; unseen and under-appreciated. In addition to helping with any decline in your current health and wellbeing, Reiki can be helpful for maintaining general health, and can be used as a pleasurable preventative measure against future states of dis-ease; re-balancing before ailments arise.
Treating yourself to a relaxing healing session is a wonderful act of self-care, self-love, and appreciation for our body and mind. An opportunity to refresh and optimize our biofield, and give back to ourselves after navigating difficulties and the day to day stresses of life.
RESEARCH
Quantum physics and studies in biofield science have contributed to advances in understanding the practice of energy healing/biofield therapy. There are more exciting studies being published this year.
A few recent studies include: A 2018 meta-analysis and 2019 review in the BMJ of four randomised controlled trials (RCTs) into the use of Reiki to reduce pain over a range of medical conditions, found that it produced a statistically significant reduction in pain.
A 2024 study published in the National Library of Medicine found that "short-term Reiki therapy interventions of ≤ 3 sessions and 6–8 sessions have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing health and procedural anxiety in patients with chronic conditions such as gastrointestinal endoscopy inflammation, fibromyalgia, and depression, as well as in the general population."
A study by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 'The Preclinical Effects and Mechanisms of Biofield Therapy on Pancreatic Cancer Cell Growth and Metastasis', published in 2026 in Cancer Medicine, found that energy healing had a positive impact on pancreatic cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of cancer.
Findings included: 1. Biofield Therapy Decreased Cell Growth of Human and Mouse Pancreatic Cancer Cells and Patient- Derived Organoids (PDOs).2. Biofield Therapy Altered the Ultra Structureof PANC- 1 Cells3. Biofield Therapy Blocked the Cell Cycle in the G0/G1Phases in Human PDAC Cells4. Reduced Pancreatic Cancer Cell Membrane Voltage Potential, Leading to Hyperpolarization5. Inhibited Migration and Invasion in PDAC Cells6. Modified Key Cell Signaling Proteins,Especially FOXM17. Altered Epithelial-MesenchymalTransition (EMT) Related Markers in PANC-1 Cell8. Inhibited Liver Metastasis of PANC-1and KPCY Cells in an Orthotopic Mouse Mode https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/cam4.71726
A study published in 2021 in Science Direct -
'The effect of Reiki and guided imagery intervention on pain and fatigue in oncology patients: A non-randomized controlled study.' https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1550830720302275?via%3Dihub
In therapeutic touch and energy healing the hands of the practitioner generate heat which is often noticed by the client. In my own healing sessions I notice how the heat in my hands can increase over the areas that need energy the most. I am often advised by my Guide Team to use photonic and coloured light from the finger and thumb tips at specific times. Particularly for joint pain.
Dr. Fritz-Albert Popp: A German physicist and founder of the International Institute of Biophysics in Neuss, Germany, is credited with the discovery that tiny currents of light called biophoton emissions emanate from all living things. His important research helps Reiki practitioners and clients to understand how light plays a role in energy healing.