Reiki begins as a healing practice and becomes a way of life.




Welcome

Welcome and thank you for visiting this website which I created to support the 
practice of the gentle, safe and powerful healing art known as Reiki. 

I began practicing Reiki in 1986 and became a Reiki master in 1990. The practice 
that is represented here is both simple and deep. You may find this perspective 
different than what you have encountered elsewhere. As Reiki is a completely 
unlicensed, unregulated healing therapy, the perspectives of practitioners vary 
enormously. 

I welcome you warmly, and encourage you to read carefully, contemplate, take 
what is of value to you, and leave the rest.

Pamela Miles

Description

Reiki is a spiritual, or vibrational, healing practice that is facilitated through light, non-invasive touch to a fully clothed recipient who is lying down or comfortably seated. The most common immediate response to Reiki treatment is reduced stress and pain, and an increased sense of well-being. After a Reiki treatment, people generally feel more centered, clear, and present. Reiki is not considered dangerous or harmful in any medical condition or setting because no substance is used and the touch is non-manipulative. Reiki can be offered just off the body when even light touch is contraindicated, as in the case of burns. Reiki treatment will support, and never interfere with, other medical or healing interventions being used, and will help manage side effects of necessary, but invasive, interventions such as radiation, chemotherapy, or surgery. As a spiritual healing practice, Reiki is distinct from bioenergetic interventions such as Therapeutic Touch or Healing Touch. Reiki is more akin to meditation than it is to bioenergetic interventions. 

Reiki has the following unique characteristics that make it appropriate and easy to use in a wide range of circumstances: 

• Reiki is easily learned at the entry level, or First Degree practice. It can be learned by children, the elderly and even people with serious illnesses such as cancer or HIV/AIDS.
• Reiki is as effective in self-treatment as when received from another.
• Reiki is effective in self-treatment regardless one's physical or emotional health.
• Reiki healing vibration activates spontaneously according to the recipient's current need for balance, so there is no diagnosis needed - nor does the receiver have to be ill to benefit.
• Reiki treatment is balancing to both recipient and practitioner.
• Reiki practice is simple; it cannot be done incorrectly.

Benefits of Reiki treatment

Reiki is a subtle healing pulsation that activates spontaneously in a trained practitioner according to the current need of the person receiving treatment. This is true in self-treatment as well as when the practitioner is offering treatment to someone else.

Reiki supports balance in the person’s entire system - physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual - and can gently effect balance on even the deepest levels of being where the subtle underpinnings of disease are held.

Each person's path of healing is unique, and the benefits that individuals attribute to their Reiki treatment are varied and numerous, but there are some benefits that are experienced more often than not. Besides the immediate feeling of profound relaxation, the following benefits are commonly reported:

• improvements in sleep and digestion
• effective pain management
• reduced anxiety
• more comfortable breathing
• reduction of side effects of medications and invasive medical treatments such as radiation or chemotherapy
• clearer thinking
• support in recovery from addictions
• enhancement of self-esteem
• greater self-acceptance and self-awareness
• increased satisfaction in relationships
• sense of spiritual connectedness that does not involve adherence to specific beliefs

History
MMikao Usui (1865-1926) created a system of practices for spiritual self-development from which Reiki as we know it today developed. Although the approach was primarily spiritual, with the goal of realizing pure non-dual consciousness, Usui's method also included vibrational and bioenergetic techniques for mental and physical healing. Those who sought Usui's help first received healing through his touch. They were then taught his techniques for spiritual development and healing, and expected to practice diligently. Usui is said to have had little patience for those who were not prepared to make self-effort. Usui emphasized the importance of principled lifestyle, and offered his students Precepts to guide their behavior and demeanor. Toward the end of his life, Usui was approached by Chujiro Hayashi (1878-1940), one of Usui's 18 advanced students, with a request to develop the healing techniques separately for those who were not motivated to engage in stringent spiritual practice. Usui, perhaps curious to explore the effectiveness of the healing techniques outside the context of spiritual practices, agreed, and asked Hayashi to write a handbook. This collaboration gave rise to the practice of Reiki as it is known throughout the world today, including hand positions. Five years after Usui's death, Hayashi adapted the techniques further from the context of spiritual practice and more in the direction of a healing intervention. Although Usui had sometimes used the word Reiki, it is likely under Hayashi that the term came to refer to the practices. Hayashi had a small eight bed clinic in Tokyo where his students offered Reiki treatment in pairs. Hawayo Takata (1900-1980) came to Hayashi's clinic in 1936 with serious respiratory and abdominal complaints. Takata was a young first-generation American, a widow with two small daughters. She was healed after four months of treatment, and petitioned to be trained in Reiki. Hayashi agreed, a radical and courageous decision to accept an American as a student at a time when only Japanese were trained. Takata learned First and Second degree Reiki from Hayashi. For a year, she offered Reiki in the clinic in the mornings and made housecalls in the afternoon. By the time she returned home to Hawaii, Takata had extensive experience both receiving and giving Reiki, and had spent considerable time with her Reiki master, Chujiro Hayashi. Hayashi's Reiki master, Mikao Usui, had made a point of sharing the beginning teachings openly with the public, which ran counter to Japanese tradition. Hayashi took this a step further, telling Takata to bring Reiki to America, where he promised to visit her to support her efforts. Takata accepted a profound challenge when she agreed to carry Reiki out of the supportive womb of Japanese culture into 20th century isolationist America. She distilled the essence of Reiki and packaged it in a way that Americans (and eventually the rest of the world) could grasp and put into practice, a form that combined American pragmatism with the potential benefits of a spiritual practice, a potential that can only be actualized with disciplined, consistent practice over time. As Takata brought Reiki practice to Hawaii, a story of Reiki's origins developed that was palatable to American cultural and political sensibilities (this was just before World War II, and anti-Japanese sentiment was already strong in the US), a story in which Mikao Usui appeared as a Christian minister. Takata used the story as a teaching tool to illustrate various points about the practice. Takata did not alter the practice she had received from her Reiki master. As promised, Hayashi and his daughter came to Hawaii and spent 6 months with Takata. On February 21, 1938, Hayashi made a public announcement and signed a certificate acknowledging Takata as a fully credentialed Reiki master, the first woman Reiki master, and at the time, the only Reiki master outside Japan. Takata made Reiki her life's work. She shared Reiki in Hawaii and began visiting the US mainland frequently starting in 1973. Takata died in December 1980, having initiated 22 Reiki masters. The Reiki Alliance is an international organization of Reiki masters committed to an ethical, disciplined practice of Reiki in the manner in which Takata taught it. As a direct consequence of Takata's courage, her trust in Reiki and in her Reiki master, and her personal insight, discipline and skill, the practice of Reiki rapidly encircled the globe. In the process of this rapid expansion, however, many practitioners abandoned Takata’s standards for Reiki education and practice. Traditionally, a Reiki student would have substantial practice, as Takata did, before teaching. It is not uncommon today for students to take a weekend training, view themselves as Reiki masters, and begin teaching immediately, so it is always important to inquire about a Reiki master’s experience and education.

Usui's Precepts
as translated by Hyakuten Inamoto Today only Do not anger Do not worry With thankfulness Work diligently Be kind to others The precepts were a vital part of Usui's system that offer non-dogmatic contemplations to guide outer behavior and inner intention. Usui called them "the secret of inviting happiness through many blessings, the spiritual medicine for all illness." Like the great teachings of all true paths, the precepts are timeless, as conducive to wellbeing in today's world as they were in Usui's time. Reciting the precepts at the beginning and end of each day, continually contemplating their meaning, and expressing them through one's conduct creates a powerful structure to support one's Reiki practice. Usui considered the precepts an integral part of the practice.

Finding a Reiki master or practitioner
A Reiki practitioner at any level of practice, First degree, Second Degree or Reiki master, can give hands-on treatment. A Second Degree practitioner or Reiki master can give distant treatment. Only a qualified Reiki master can initiate and train a student into Reiki practice. The Reiki Alliance is an international professional organization of Reiki masters who stay close to the system of Hawayo Takato. If there is no one in your immediate area, contact the nearest Reiki master and ask if he or she has a student near you. There are many compassionate, responsible Reiki masters who are not affiliated with the Reiki Alliance. Ask around. Inquire of practitioners of other modalities such as acupuncture or massage that you know to be reputable. Often practitioners know or have heard of other good practitioners. Look in businesses that are health-related, such as yoga centers or health food stores. After you have located possible practitioners, interview them to choose with whom you would like to work. Choosing a Reiki master or practitioner People often ask how to choose when there are several masters or practitioners available. First of all, be clear what your needs are. If you want to learn to practice Reiki, you need a Reiki master to teach you. However, you can receive treatment from any level practitioner. If you wish to learn Reiki, the choice of teacher is important for every level, even First degree. Reiki masters have different perspectives and understand the practice in different ways. The Reiki master creates the context in which you start your practice. Choose someone qualified with whom you feel an affinity. Who is qualified? Look for a Reiki master who has spent considerable time being trained and who either has extensive experience or who is being mentored by a Reiki master with years of experience. Ask if the Reiki master practices daily self-treatment and how many initiations she gives in the First degree class (Takata gave 4). How does the Reiki master describe his/her approach? These questions can be addressed in a brief phone conversation. Although the Reiki Alliance is a good place to look for a practitioner, the Alliance does not police its membership. There is no guarantee that members honor the commitments they made when joining the Alliance, commitments to give adequate time in training students, with long pauses between levels. There are also many Reiki masters outside the Alliance who have thoughtful, disciplined approaches to the practice.