Reiki in Wisconsin

Is Everyone Reiki?

by Arline Rowden, Reiki Master Teacher © 2010

Recently, one of my Reiki students asked me: “Is everyone Reiki?” She also told me that someone who is very aware of energy had made the statement that everyone is Reiki. So she wanted to know my opinion.

When I took Reiki I back in 1987 few people that I encountered had even heard of Reiki much less knew anything about it. Now there are too many Reiki books to even count and Reiki is seemingly everywhere on the internet. What a shift in a little over 20 years!

As I started to teach Reiki in 1990 one of my main focuses was to spread the word about Reiki and how useful it is for one’s self and others as we share it. Now it’s rare for someone to ask me what’s Reiki and why would I want to know about it.

The word Reiki is a Japanese word meaning Universal Life Energy. So it is certainly true that everyone who is alive has Universal Life Energy flowing through them. It’s also in animals, plants, crystals, etc. So when I think about it, I can understand why someone would have the opinion that everyone is Reiki.

Often when someone calls or emails me to sign up for a Reiki I class, they mention that they have been using Reiki but now want to have some formal training. And when I ask if they have had the Reiki I attunement they almost always say no. So I’ve been aware for some time about this area of confusion around Reiki.

As a Reiki teacher I want to educate people about Reiki and to try to eliminate areas of confusion. When I first became aware of this confusion about Reiki, I pondered how to approach it. So what I share with people who say they are doing Reiki but have not had a Reiki attunement (*) is: Even though Reiki means Universal Life Energy and we all have that within us and have access to it we wouldn’t refer to ourselves as Reiki practitioners unless we have received a Reiki attunement. So, in my opinion, Reiki is the name of a specific way of working with Universal Life Energy and that way starts with a Reiki attunement from a Reiki Master Teacher.

It seems that more and more people have been able to access a greater flow of Universal Life Energy through meditation or intuitively drawing it to them in some way. It is not necessary to have a Reiki attunement and take a Reiki class to be able to bring through more Universal Life Energy. But many people are intuitively feeling drawn to have that formal training. The Reiki Method of Natural Healing is easy to learn since it doesn’t have a lot of technique involved. So even though in my opinion not everyone is Reiki, I do feel that anyone who wants to be Reiki can learn this simple Healing Art.

(*) A Reiki Attunement is a sacred ceremony facilitated by a fully attuned Reiki Master Teacher. It involves the use of Reiki symbols and a Reiki breathing technique. There are three attunements given in a series of Reiki classes. The first attunement given in a Reiki I Attunement class connects the student to a greater flow of Universal (Life Force) Energy so they can access that flow for themselves and others when desired. The second attunement is given in a Reiki II Attunement class and it opens the Reiki I student to a greater flow of Reiki than they were able to access at Reiki I. Then the 3rd and final attunement which is the Reiki Master attunement is generally given in a Reiki Master Practitioner Attunement class. This opens the Reiki II student to the full flow of Reiki energy.