What's the deal with Reiki?!?!

Many years ago, a Japanese man named Dr. Mikao Usui, set out to discover how people like Jesus and Buddha performed the miracle of healing through touch. His search took him to many countries and spanned decades. He earned his doctorate in Theology, studied with buddhist sects, joined a zen monastery and learned Chinese and Sanskrit. All to uncover this mystery and fully understand it's background. After many years of study, he finally grasped the concepts of this healing power, but still did not completely understand how to actually heal. It was at this point, that he went alone to a mountaintop to meditate for 21 days (sounds kinda familiar, right?). On the 21st day, although initially overcome with fear, he surrendered his intellectual mind and received the blessing of Reiki.

Reiki can be translated to mean universal life force energy. Rei is known as divine intelligence and Ki refers to the life force energy that flows through every living thing. You can't see this energy, but you can feel it. Just think of a child, a pet, or a place you love more than anything in the world, That warm and loving sensation is reiki at work. Reiki is a pure loving energy that is always working for the highest good of all involved. It's the spark that lights our spirit. Although Dr. Usui is considered to be the founder of the Usui system of reiki, the healing art of reiki can be traced back thousands of years.

We all have access to Reiki anytime. For me, the easiest way is to envision a flower opening up at the top of my head and allow energy to flow in. Yes, it's just that simple, no need to overthink it :). You can do this whenever you feel stress, or just when you need some love. Literally. A Reiki practitioner is someone who has studied under a Reiki Master and received an attunement. An attunement is special ceremony or initiation, where the power of Reiki is transferred from the Master to the Student. In the Usiu tradition, there are three levels. Level one, where one can practice Reiki on themselves, animals and inanimate objects (such as plants), level two, where one can offer Reiki to themselves and other people, and the Master Level or the teacher's path, where one is attuned to the full power of Reiki and have the option to teach Reiki to others. I am currently a level two practitioner (yay!!!) and am able to offer Reiki to others.

How in the world does a distance reiki session work? Well, amazingly actually. I know, our literal and linear brains want things to look a certain way. We want to know the benefits, what it feels like, what to do, how to act. We want to see the actual 'thing'. But reiki doesn't work that way. You just have to surrender and let g