It's Reiki, but (perhaps) not as you know it!
Western versions of Reiki have almost entirely evolved into being a popular hands-on healing technique for practicing on other people; a relaxing holistic healing therapy. There are so many interesting variations that have popped up over the years and it's great to see Reiki being viewed as somewhat mainstream now; something I could never have imagined when I first started back in 2005. However, even though more western teachers are adding in some of the traditional Japanese techniques, alongside the western methods, it still seems largely unknown that the original traditional Japanese Usui Reiki Ryoho was mainly intended as a spiritual development and self-healing technique, a compassionate path to our True Self. The hands-on healing aspect was originally a handy bonus, rather than the main thing. Teachers in Japan are starting to share more and more information that was previously kept very secret, with one of Usui's surviving students directly quoting him saying, 'I exist in the Universe and the Universe exists in me', which strongly hints that he saw Reiki as a way to reveal/experience the non-dual nature of consciousness, pure awareness of being (clearly echoing Advaita Vedanta and other traditions that focus on non-duality).
Training (or re-training) in traditional Usui Reiki Ryoho for self-practice, will teach you some of the internal processes that focus on the Hara (Tanden) allowing you to cultivate 'Ki', a bit like a non-physical martial artist. In fact, Mikao Usui was an expert martial artist himself by the time he was in his twenties. At such a high level, this would have included internal work, so it could be said that Usui Reiki Ryoho truly does have a martial arts flavour in its roots! He also studied Tendai Buddhism and qualified as a 'Zaike' (a Lay Priest), which meant he had different professions and lived in his own home, unlike full-time monastery-dwelling monks. He was interested in all things psychological, medical and spiritual, had many different qualifications and was heavily influenced by Shintoism and Shugendo (both of which, although not Shamanism, contain some similar 'flavours' to some Shamanic practices. However, clear shamanic influences on his original system are suggested in the traditional Japanese Kanji for Usui Reiki Ryoho (See the image above). The bottom character of the Kanji has now been translated more authentically and it apparently means 'Shaman acting as a bridge between heaven and earth'.
Developing a Reiki self-practice can help you increase your intuitive side and access deeper levels of self-healing and spiritual awareness. Including it as a regular part of your life can create a flow of inner peace that supports and boosts everything else you do, including other types of energy work or even just ordinary life interactions. At each level, you'll receive traditional Reiju Empowerments (that essentially remind you of the connection to Reiki that we all naturally have) instead of Western Attunements. The training gently points you further and further towards a remembering of your true infinite nature. Reminding you that essentially we are Reiki, we are life force energy, pure consciousness, rather than just seeing it as something we do.
Training (or re-training) in traditional Usui Reiki Ryoho for self-practice, will teach you some of the internal processes that focus on the Hara (Tanden) allowing you to cultivate 'Ki', a bit like a non-physical martial artist. In fact, Mikao Usui was an expert martial artist himself by the time he was in his twenties. At such a high level, this would have included internal work, so it could be said that Usui Reiki Ryoho truly does have a martial arts flavour in its roots! He also studied Tendai Buddhism and qualified as a 'Zaike' (a Lay Priest), which meant he had different professions and lived in his own home, unlike full-time monastery-dwelling monks. He was interested in all things psychological, medical and spiritual, had many different qualifications and was heavily influenced by Shintoism and Shugendo (both of which, although not Shamanism, contain some similar 'flavours' to some Shamanic practices. However, clear shamanic influences on his original system are suggested in the traditional Japanese Kanji for Usui Reiki Ryoho (See the image above). The bottom character of the Kanji has now been translated more authentically and it apparently means 'Shaman acting as a bridge between heaven and earth'.
Developing a Reiki self-practice can help you increase your intuitive side and access deeper levels of self-healing and spiritual awareness. Including it as a regular part of your life can create a flow of inner peace that supports and boosts everything else you do, including other types of energy work or even just ordinary life interactions. At each level, you'll receive traditional Reiju Empowerments (that essentially remind you of the connection to Reiki that we all naturally have) instead of Western Attunements. The training gently points you further and further towards a remembering of your true infinite nature. Reminding you that essentially we are Reiki, we are life force energy, pure consciousness, rather than just seeing it as something we do.
The more you practice, the more you'll gracefully head towards unshakeable inner peace, revealing your truest, brightest self and your unique way of being!
Reiki Self-Practice Training with Ruthy
I've been practicing Reiki since 2005 ( 6 years before Chakrafit was born), trained in Level 3 (Shinpiden) Traditional Japanese Reiki for 18 years and teaching it periodically for around 14 years. However, in the same way that I don't call myself 'shaman', I would never call myself a Reiki 'Master'. There are probably only a handful of true masters in existence. We are all just somewhere along the path, no matter how long we've been practicing or what level of course we've done. There's always so much more to learn over the course of a lifetime so it's good just to stay humble and curious, retaining a 'beginners mind' each step along the way. We're all already connected to Reiki. The clue is in its meaning - Rei (Universal) Ki (Life Force Energy). Really, it's what we truly are. Teachers, teachings and spiritual practices of all kinds are, essentially, nudging the student's attention in the right direction, to reveal what's already there. Regular practice then strengthens that 'knowing', that awareness of the human 'being' that so often gets hidden under layers of human 'doing'.
The hustle and bustle of day to day life somehow makes it easier to forget the river of peace that lies within, so a teacher can act as a reflection, a repeated reminder, until the 'experiential knowing' becomes a default setting. Sometimes a sort of unspoken transmission seems to pass from teacher to student, a kind of harmonious entrainment occurring under the surface of the more obvious teaching. Rather than providing an escape from reality, developing a Reiki self-practice creates an overflow that can enrich the earthly business of being human, encouraging a lighter, happier experience of life, even in challenging times. I often attract empaths, people who spend much of their time giving (and over-giving) to others in one form or another, which can leave them feeling depleted. A self-practice like this is an excellent 'self-charging' method that then allows you to give from an 'overflow' rather than from your own essential stores. This may also be a good option for Western Reiki Therapists (or shamanic practitioners, massage therapists, psychologists etc), who feel drained after giving sessions. If you feel drained after working in a helping capacity, sometimes it's because you've ended up handing over your own energy and/or absorbing other people's heavy energy.
The hustle and bustle of day to day life somehow makes it easier to forget the river of peace that lies within, so a teacher can act as a reflection, a repeated reminder, until the 'experiential knowing' becomes a default setting. Sometimes a sort of unspoken transmission seems to pass from teacher to student, a kind of harmonious entrainment occurring under the surface of the more obvious teaching. Rather than providing an escape from reality, developing a Reiki self-practice creates an overflow that can enrich the earthly business of being human, encouraging a lighter, happier experience of life, even in challenging times. I often attract empaths, people who spend much of their time giving (and over-giving) to others in one form or another, which can leave them feeling depleted. A self-practice like this is an excellent 'self-charging' method that then allows you to give from an 'overflow' rather than from your own essential stores. This may also be a good option for Western Reiki Therapists (or shamanic practitioners, massage therapists, psychologists etc), who feel drained after giving sessions. If you feel drained after working in a helping capacity, sometimes it's because you've ended up handing over your own energy and/or absorbing other people's heavy energy.
I've always taught Reiki one to one rather than to groups and when I started teaching, I initially taught a mixture of Western and Japanese techniques. However, over the years I started to feel like this was a rushed process, even in a one to one setting. This was and is a personal preference and not a judgment about any other ways of teaching. There are plenty of people who love training and teaching Reiki courses in a group setting so all of this is just really to help you work out whether I'm a good fit for you or not. When my shamanic practice began to dramatically take over in 2012, I hid my Reiki courses behind the scenes of the website. Although I continued to teach, I only taught Reiki to people who specifically sought me out for that purpose (people who knew that some shamanic insights were likely to bleed into any Reiki course with me). I also switched to mostly teaching the Japanese self-practice techniques, with the tiniest of nods to the western hand positions etc, especially as I was naturally attracting people who wanted to learn it for self-healing and development rather than to become a Reiki Healer for others. This felt natural for me and with my shamanic work increasing, I had even less inclination to start a school for Reiki Therapists. There are plenty of devoted teachers for that, so I've always just referred people on to other teachers if they are primarily looking to become a Western Reiki Practitioner.
Research
In recent times, more and more research is being done into the origins of Usui Reiki (Frans Steine, Taggart King and a few others have some really good info on all of this, gleaning previously secret info from Masters in Japan. It has become clear that Mikao Usui taught one to one, teaching each student slightly differently, according to their needs. Apparently he was even known to draw on spiritual insights from other practices he'd studied if he felt it would benefit a particular student at the time. As you can imagine, this made me feel much less 'rogue' in my approach to Reiki teaching. Frans Steine also mentioned that there are now more nuanced translations of the precepts from the original Japanese. One example emphasises the need to be 'true to your own way and your true self or being', rather than the (at times) more strict-sounding general translations. This revelation prevents Reiki from being so rigid and potentially judgmental, which can be off-putting for some people and sometimes even restrict progress.
For Mikao Usui, the main point of it all seems to have been self-healing and creating a logical path to deepen spiritual awareness, discovery of the true self, resulting in inner peace. His intention was a system that, although influenced by Buddhist teachings, was free of any religious dogma so therefore accessible to anyone, with room for each person's unique 'way'. He put the system together in a particular order, attempting to replicate his own experience of enlightenment that had occurred during a 21 day practice on Mount Kurama. He had fasted, prayed and meditated under gruelling conditions. The early 'transmissions' of Reiki (Which he didn't even call Reiki initially) were his way of trying to transfer that experience of oneness and awareness directly to his students, via an easily absorbed healing and development system, presumably realising that not everyone would want to freeze and fast on a mountaintop! Thanks, Sensei Usui! The symbols were apparently put together by his students, to try and replicate the 'state' that they experienced when he had transferred teachings to them via chanting or sometimes through intention alone.
For Mikao Usui, the main point of it all seems to have been self-healing and creating a logical path to deepen spiritual awareness, discovery of the true self, resulting in inner peace. His intention was a system that, although influenced by Buddhist teachings, was free of any religious dogma so therefore accessible to anyone, with room for each person's unique 'way'. He put the system together in a particular order, attempting to replicate his own experience of enlightenment that had occurred during a 21 day practice on Mount Kurama. He had fasted, prayed and meditated under gruelling conditions. The early 'transmissions' of Reiki (Which he didn't even call Reiki initially) were his way of trying to transfer that experience of oneness and awareness directly to his students, via an easily absorbed healing and development system, presumably realising that not everyone would want to freeze and fast on a mountaintop! Thanks, Sensei Usui! The symbols were apparently put together by his students, to try and replicate the 'state' that they experienced when he had transferred teachings to them via chanting or sometimes through intention alone.
If none of this resonated with you then I'm possibly not the right teacher for you so I wish you well and hope you find the right one for you. If it made sense to you or you felt a sort of 'ooh, interesting' then feel free to get in touch. Ruthy x
Reiki Self-Practice Levels
Level 1 can be done as a standalone course or perhaps you'll go on to do levels 2 and 3, deepening your practice over the months and years ahead.
You should have at least 3-6 months (longer in some cases) of doing the Level 1 practices before moving on to Level 2. The gap allows for regular practice and time to familiarise yourself with the basics, to ensure you've built a strong foundation.
You should have at least 6-12 months (longer in some cases) of doing the Level 2 practices before moving on to Level 3. The gap allows for regular practice and time to go deeper with experiencing the energies, to ensure you have a strong, established connection.
Reiki Hands-on Healing Sessions
(Only for people who have already had at least one shamanic healing session or attended a course or workshop with Ruthy. New clients should have a shamanic healing session or workshop first.)
DISCOUNTED 60 MINS 'NO CHAT' OR 'MINIMAL CHAT' SESSIONS:
These shorter, discounted Reiki sessions last 60 mins, are 'No Chat' or 'Minimal Chat' and only available if you've already worked with me before (See subheading above for specifics). The cost is £50 (cash) or £52 (online payment). In a 'No Chat' session, there's no consultation at the start and no feedback at the end, just a wee hello and goodbye, with time for the loo! Other than that, the rest of the session is just pure Reiki, wrapped in a cosy blanket. It's simply a chance to silently receive and dissolve into your True Self. The 'Minimal Chat' option is the same but carves out some time for a short chat at the start and/or end, so a little less Reiki time. You can request which option you prefer at the time of booking. Contact Ruthy to book in and mention whether you'd ideally prefer weekday or weekend, daytime or eve. Payment link will be sent once date and time have been agreed.
LONGER REIKI HEALING SESSIONS (AND LONGER REIKI HEALING PLUS PRACTICE SESSIONS):
- You can also request Reiki healing to be included as part of a longer 2hr Practice Session. For example, the first half might be support, guided journeys, insights via cards etc. and the second half could be Reiki healing to help integrate the other work.
- If you trained with Ruthy in Traditional Usui Reiki Ryoho Self-Practice, you can book a 2hr Practice Session to receive additional Reiju Empowerments, go over any of the self-practice meditations and receive healing, to keep the momentum going from your course, if you feel the need.
- If you trained as a western practitioner but now want to do some Self-Practice with me, then you'd need to start again from Shoden Level 1 Self-Practice (as described further up this page). Then from there you can access the additional practice sessions etc.
These longer options follow the same price and session lengths as the other options on the Practice tab of the One to One section of the website. This means if you are doing 4 or more monthly ongoing practice sessions you can access 90 min options as well.