What is Reiki?

Reiki is a safe, gentle, yet surprisingly powerful healing technique that was rediscovered in the early 1900's by Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese Christian minister from Kyoto, Japan. Challenged by his students to replicate the healings of Jesus, Dr. Usui spent many years researching scriptures in order to learn the secret of these healing practices.

He found the teachings he sought in the ancient Buddhist sutras. Dr. Usui named this healing method "Reiki", which means "universal life energy", and spent the rest of his life practicing Reiki and training others to use it.

Reiki was brought to the United States by Hawayo Takata, a Hawaiian woman who was healed by Reiki. Mrs.Takata trained twenty-two Reiki masters, who then passed the teachings on to their own students. Today there are thousands of Reiki practitioners all over the world.

 


Training

Melanie Harrell was initiated as a Reiki Alliance Master by Carrlyn Clay of Arizona in 2001. This lineage requires aspiring Reiki Masters to commit to a period of apprenticeship with a fully initiated Master; this apprenticeship typically lasts from one to three years. During this time, the apprentice schedules, programs, and co-teaches classes with the Master in order to learn through practice as well as study and personal evolution.

Such rigorous requirements ensure that only serious students undertake the process. By the time of final initiation, a Reiki Alliance Master is fully trained in the practices and teachings of Reiki and is well-prepared to pass them on.

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