Reiki is a Japanese healing technique that promotes deep relaxation and supports the body’s natural ability to heal. It is typically practiced through gentle touch, where a calming, soothing energy flows from the practitioner’s hands into the client. This energy helps release tension, reduce stress, and restore balance to the mind, body, and spirit.
Reiki was developed in the early 20th century by Mikao Usui, a Japanese spiritual teacher. After a profound experience during a meditation retreat on Mount Kurama in 1922, Usui discovered a method of channeling healing energy through the hands. He called this practice Reiki, meaning “universal life energy.”
Usui began teaching and sharing Reiki in Japan, and his students helped spread the practice. One of his students, Chujiro Hayashi, further developed the system and trained Hawayo Takata, a Japanese-American woman who brought Reiki to the West in the late 1930s. Through her efforts, Reiki gained popularity in the United States and eventually around the world.
Today, Reiki is practiced globally in many forms, but its core purpose remains the same: to promote healing, balance, and well-being through gentle, energy-based touch.