The History of Reiki
Introduction to Western Reiki
Reiki is a simple Japanese energy system anyone can learn
Reiki training is provided by Jan Griffin who is a Reiki Teacher and practitioner in the Usui System of Natural Healing
What is Reiki? Reiki is an oriental method of working with energy that you can use for your own benefit and for the benefit of other people. In its original Japanese form in the 1900s Reiki was very much about working on yourself: it was a system that you could use for self-healing, self-development and spiritual development. Reiki is now being classed as a complementary therapy, so people might practise Reflexology, or Aromatherapy, or they might practise Reiki.
There are very many different ways of practising Reiki, with lots of different Reiki ‘variations’ having been developed in the West over the years, but, whatever the variety, Reiki is something that you can use for yourself, for your own personal benefit, and it is something that you can also share with other people.
Experience peace of mind and inner calm
Relieve stress and anxiety
Bring a sense of balance and wholeness
Help family and friends
Explore your spiritual side
Let go of emotional baggage
Reiki is very simple and doesn’t need to be overly complicated or talked about in mysterious mystical language.
What is Reiki energy?
Chi, ki and prana
To understand Reiki, you need to get your head around the idea that there is a subtle energy that permeates us and surrounds us, an energy which we can learn to experience and direct, an energy which we can move through our bodies and channel through us into other people. Whilst this may seem to be a strange thing to believe from a Western perspective, it is a central belief in many Asian cultures and underlies many exercise systems, meditation practices and healing or treatment methods.
In China, for example, this energy is referred to as “chi”, which you may have heard of. Chi is used in a whole range of Oriental practices, for example:
Feng Shui (the art of placement)
Acupuncture
Tai Chi and Qi Gong
Martial arts
Reiki is something to do with this energy, this ‘chi’, but Reiki is different from Tai Chi and Yoga, and Reiki treatments are different from Shiatsu and Acupuncture treatments.
When you practise acupuncture or shiatsu you are using your skills as a practitioner to detect subtle imbalances in energy flow and you are using your considerable knowledge of the meridian system to direct you in making specific and precise ‘invasive’ manipulations of the client’s energy system.
But when you practise Reiki as a treatment method you are not detecting and diagnosing and intervening. When you treat someone with Reiki you are allowing an unlimited external source of ‘energy’ to flow through you into the client. The energy is drawn through you according to the client’s need on that occasion: you are not directing the energy, you are a conduit through which the energy flows, you are creating a ‘healing space’ that the client can use to bring their own energy system into balance, without conscious and deliberate intervention on your part.
Who can learn Reiki?
You can! Anyone can learn Reiki. There are no special requirements. You just need to be open-minded and be prepared to spend a day with like-minded people, exploring an exciting energy method.
Find peace
When you learn Reiki, you’ll find that this will bring a sense of peace, contentment and serenity, helping you to feel more positive and better able to cope.
Explore spirituality
Reiki helps you to de-stress and find a contented space inside you that you can access anytime, and you can explore your spirituality free from any religion or dogma.
Experience self-healing
Spend a little time each day working on your self-healing and share the benefits of Reiki with your friends and family.
In order to learn Reiki you need to do two things: you need to be ‘attuned’ to the energy and you need to be taught what to do to use Reiki for your own benefit and for the benefit of others.
Ongoing Support and Advice
Once you’ve been on your Level 1 Reiki course I want you to know that I will be on hand to deal with any questions or queries that you might have to help and support you in your practice of Reiki.
You will be able to attend regular Reiki shares which will enable you to meet other Reiki practitioners to share experience, knowledge and treatments
The Four Aspects:
Usui Shiki Ryoho can be translated as “the Usui System of Natural Healing.”
Healing Practice, Personal Development, Spiritual Discipline and Mystic Order are the Four Aspects of Usui Shiki Ryoho.
These aspects describe the path of a student and the development of the system itself. This path and this development are not made by human decision but by the natural process of maturation. The human decision is to commit to this practice and follow one’s own path.
My Reiki Level 1 training course lasts for a minimum of 15-16 hours, which is equivalent to more than two day’s training. You spend approx. nine hours working through a multimedia study pack, at your leisure, and then attend for approximately 2 days face to face course with attunement.
My pre-course reading and listening will focus you on these areas:
What Reiki is and where it comes from (the History, Background and Development)
What Reiki’s founder taught and how we can follow the original system in the modern world
The Reiki ‘precepts’, mindfulness, and the use of empowerment s / attunements
How to benefit from daily energy exercises and self-treatments
How to use Reiki on other people
I will review this information briefly on the day of the course, but most of the training day concentrates on hands-on practice rather than theory.
Reiki Course Manual & audio CD for each level you achieve
Each Reiki course is accompanied by a comprehensive, professionally-printed manual that covers everything I teach on the day, and more besides, so there is no need to take notes. Note taking is so unsatisfactory: you frantically scribble, desperate not to miss what is being said and when you get home you can’t read your writing! On our courses you can relax, safe in the knowledge that everything we do is there in the manual for you to take home with you
Tune in to the Reiki energy
During the day of your course, you will go through four simple and powerful ‘connection’ rituals, called `attunements‘ open up the channels through which Reiki flows. Reiki ‘attunements’ enable you to use Reiki for your own benefit and for the benefit of the people around you – your family and friends. This ability will stay with you for life, you will never lose it, and Reiki works for everyone!
Learn to work with energy
You will start to work with your energy in different ways. You will learn to feel your own energy and you will practice feeling other people’s energy, and we will run through and practice some Japanese energy exercises that you can use every day to balance your energy system and to make you a stronger and clearer channel for Reiki
Learn how to Treat yourself using Reiki
Reiki in its original form is much more about working on your self than it is about working on other people, so you will learn approaches that you can use to work on yourself, and we will go through self-treatment ‘meditation’.
You can find out how relaxing an experience it is!
We will spend some time talking about how to give treatments to other people, and we will demonstrate some ‘standard’ hand positions. Although it is good practice to work intuitively, and that will come with time, it is reassuring to begin with to have some basic guidelines to follow! With time and practice, you should be able to leave the standard hand positions behind you and let the energy guide you (we cover this on the Reiki level 2’ – part of the course). We will also talk about balancing and energising the aura, and ‘scanning’ with your hands. You will practice these techniques on each other, and I will give you feedback on what you have done and noticed.
You will pair up with another student, give a full Reiki treatment and receive a full Reiki treatment, under my guidance and support. I will run through the basics, you will treat and be treated from head to foot, and you’ll find out what an amazing experience giving and receiving Reiki can be! When you have finished, I will review what you have felt and noticed, and what your ‘client’ has experienced!
You will then swap over, and receive a full Reiki treatment from your partner, so you can know what it feels like to be on the receiving end! Again, together we will review what you both experienced.
During the training we will also discuss
A history of my own style of Reiki and my lineage
Why there should be person to person attunement
Basic principles of Reiki systems and energy
Importance of self treatments
Different methods and techniques for giving Reiki, including any limitations
The possible effects of Reiki
The Reiki 1 Certificate
All courses are accompanied by a certificate dated & signed by me. In this case your certificate confirms that you have received instruction and face to face attunements meeting the requirements of the Reiki Council
Reiki Course Investment
Level 1 Reiki costs £180, with an initial non – refundable deposit of £80 paid in advance, and £100 to be paid on the day of your course.
Ongoing Support and Advice
Once you’ve been on your Level 1 Reiki course I want you to know that I will be on hand to deal with any questions or queries that you might have to help and support you in your practice of Reiki.
You will be able to attend regular Reiki shares which will enable you to meet other Reiki practitioners to share experience, knowledge and treatments
