Reiki

My shihan’s** book, The Spiritual Path of Reiki, starts with:

“Whenever an attempt is made to explain Reiki, a number of difficulties arise.”

I resonate with trying to explain it to others. However, Reiki, as I practise it, is very simple. It’s a way of being present with another person through touch, stillness, and attention. Hands rest on the body, breath moves, and time slows enough for something else to be felt, often subtly, sometimes not at all.

I don’t experience Reiki as something I do to someone. It feels more like creating the conditions for rest and awareness to happen on their own. When I stop trying to direct the session, it becomes clearer that presence is already at work.

There are no sensations I expect, no outcomes I look for. Each session unfolds differently. Some feel quiet. Some feel spacious. Some feel a lot, and some don’t feel like much at all, and that’s part of the practice too.

What keeps me returning to Reiki is its simplicity. It asks very little beyond showing up, listening with the hands, and staying with what is here. In that way, it feels closely related to mindfulness… another way of practising attention, just through the body instead of words.

This is how I understand Reiki right now.
It may change as the practice continues.

** Shihan: the word 師範 (shihan) means “model teacher” or “exemplary instructor.” A shihan is a recognized senior teacher in a traditional Japanese discipline.