The following are some commonly asked questions about Reiki:

Q:  What is Reiki, exactly?
A:  Reiki is a Japanese energy treatment for healing, relaxation, and stress relief.  It can be performed in person through the laying on of hands, or remotely, by establishing an energetic connection between the healer and the recipient.

Q:  What does Reiki mean?
A: Reiki is actually a combination of two words in Japanese:  Rei, meaning "Higher Power" or "God's Wisdom," and Ki, which means "life force energy."   The result is a translation along the lines of "divinely directed life force energy".

Q:  What does life force energy do?
A:  Life force energy has many definitions, but at the root it is the energy behind every living being.  It is the energy that flows through us, creating life.  When life force energy is low, a person would be tired, lethargic and prone to illness.  Reiki heals by inducing a flow of life force energy into a person, bringing about healing on all levels of being.
 
Q:  Is Reiki safe?
A:  Yes, Reiki is absolutely safe.  It can be used alongside all other health practices and in tandem with other medical treatments. It can increase the efficacy of other healing treatments and support a person during every stage of the healing process.  It can be used on oneself and others at any age.
 
Q:  How do people learn Reiki?
A:  Reiki is not learned, it is passed on from a master Reiki teacher.  This "passing on" is known as attunement, and could be described as a master awakening a student's natural connection to this divine source of healing energy.  There are three levels of Reiki attunement.

Unlike other energetic modalities, Reiki can be performed over distances.  The reason for this is that Reiki operates outside of what we view as the time-space continuum.  A connection is required between the recipient and the healer. This can be performed energetically or through the use of symbols.  Reiki healing can be achieved at a distance, as can Reiki attunement.  Attunement is the process through which people become Reiki healers themselves.  This is done by transference- you cannot learn Reiki from classes or books- it can only be passed on to you from a Reiki master or teacher, and occurs on an energetic level in which the recipient is more or less "plugged in" to the Reiki source.

All three Reiki levels can be passed on via remote attunement.  Level one Reiki is the initial stage in which you are connected in to an energetic source of healing.  Many times, this attunement brings up a lot of past emotional and mental baggage to be dealt with.  This is a direct result of the Reiki energy clearing out negative and stored (blocked) energy in the body.  The process is part of the self-healing aspect of Reiki.  At this point in time, Reiki energy can be focused on the physical body for healing.

Reiki level two attunement is a deepening of the connection between recipient and source.  It also introduces the Reiki symbols to the recipient.  These symbols allow for healing on the emotional and spiritual levels.  They also allow one to heal others from a distance.  Level two results in a stronger ability to channel healing energy.

The third and final Reiki level is deepening and strengthening of the connection to the source of all healing energy.  It also passes along the final symbol, which allows one to perform attunements for others.  For each level, one must already have the previous attunement from a Reiki teacher/master.  It is also helpful to spend time really learning and exploring at each level.  Receiving remote healing from a Reiki practitioner may be a different experience than an in-person visit, but it is just as effective in creating healing changes in the body, mind, and spirit.

You may already be aware of the many healing effects of aromatherapy and have probably encountered its incorporation into other healing arts like massage.  Many times, our use of aromatherapy is instinctive- lighting scented candles to create a certain environment, taking a bath with scented bath salts to help us relax at the end of a long stressful day, etc.  While most would agree that mints are invigorating and lavender relaxing, you can go much further, tailoring the scents you use to work on specific chakras.

There are several different ways that you can bring more chakra scents into your daily life.  For example, using facial or body care products that contain these scents can make your daily routine into aromatherapy!  Choosing various bath soaps or scented bath products allows you to pick and choose based on your needs in the moment.  Likewise, diffusions or mists can be kept around and sprayed into the air, added to potpourri or used to scent items you'll be wearing.

The following list is incomplete; there are a number of other aromas that will work for each chakra, and you may find that some work better for you than others.  You will also notice that there is some overlap in which chakras that contain aromas work on:

• 1st Chakra:  sandalwood, cedarwood, patchouli
• 2nd Chakra: jasmine, ylang-ylang, rosemary
• 3rd Chakra:  lavender, juniper, bergamot
• 4th Chakra:  rose, sandalwood  
• 5th Chakra:  lavender, patchouli
• 6th Chakra:  spearmint, geranium, rosemary
• 7th Chakra:  frankincense, jasmine

The health benefits of Reiki are innumerable.  Used for everything from stress relief to helping institute whole body healing in those with cancer, Reiki is a healing system that can institute miraculous changes in your life.  Both gentle and extremely effective, Reiki is a system that will affect all levels of your being:  physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

Let's take a look at how this can work.  Reiki allows a flow of essential life force energy into your body.  When you are sick, whether with a virus or bacteria, your body diverts a large amount of its energy into your immune system response.  This depletes your body's stores of energy. By adding more life force energy, you increase your body's ability to maintain its health, fight off disease, and build itself back up.

Many studies have shown the physical effects of mental and emotional issues- such as the physical side effects of depression. Reiki works in the same way here, supplying your body with a source of pure, divine energy with which to fuel its healing process.  It also helps to clear out "stuck" or negative energies in the body, replacing them with energy that works only toward your highest good.  You can use Reiki to your benefit no matter what your current health status is.  Even people who are at the height of health can see improvements in their lives when undergoing Reiki treatments.