What is the difference and connection between Reiki and energy healing

To put it simply, Reiki is a specific branch among the many subdivided schools of energy healing. Both belong to non-traditional healing methods that focus on adjusting the subtle energy field of the human body. They are not only homologous in underlying logic, but also have clear boundaries in terms of origin, operation, and inheritance requirements.

Energy healing itself is a very broad concept. As long as it is based on the logic that "people have a subtle energy layer that is invisible to the naked eye, energy blockage will cause emotional and physical discomfort", it can basically be included in the category of energy healing. It can be as small as the crystal transfer bracelet you wear casually, the sleep-aid essential oil diffuser you use, or the music therapy that some hospitals have used to assist analgesia for cancer patients. The essence of it is related to the logic of energy healing. I have been doing Reiki therapy myself for almost 6 years. I have previously been in contact with a client who was so anxious that she could only sleep 2 hours a day for half a month. At first, she went to a crystal healer to do two chakra cleansings, and she was able to sleep for 4 hours. Later, she went to me to do Reiki four times, and she was able to sleep for more than 6 hours. The paths of action of both methods are essentially to unblock her blocked solar plexus energy. This is the core common point between the two.

But people who have really experienced the two healing services can easily feel the obvious differences between the two. The origin of Reiki has a very clear lineage. It was a system summed up by Usui Onao of Japan when he was practicing in Mount Kurama in the 1920s. It has been passed down for more than a hundred years. All regular Reiki masters need to be "initiated" by their masters, which is equivalent to helping you open up an exclusive channel to conduct the energy of the universe. They will also learn exclusive symbols that are only used by the Reiki system. People who have not been initiated will not be able to use them even if they memorize all the symbols. This is the core threshold of Reiki. When I first started learning Reiki, I finished the attunement with my master. That night, I massaged my mother’s shoulders and neck. She said for the first time that my hands were much warmer than before. The feeling of warmth seeping out from the palms of my hands was something I had never experienced before when I learned regular massage.

In contrast, energy healing does not have so many rigid requirements. Its shadow can be found in the traditional healing systems of different civilizations. The guidance of our ancestors, Ayurveda in ancient India, and herbal healing in the European Middle Ages all essentially belong to the category of energy healing. Many methods do not even require you to have any special qualifications. Find out the chakra positions corresponding to different crystals. You can also do self-healing by setting up a crystal array at home, and the operating space is very flexible. I have a colleague who does singing bowl therapy. He usually combines aromatherapy with singing bowls, and uses different essential oils according to the emotional state of the client. The feedback is also very good. This kind of flexible adjustment is not possible in the Reiki system. The operating procedures of Reiki are fixed, and you cannot add extra things casually.

To use an inappropriate analogy, energy healing is like the entire catering industry. There are any cuisines and methods, and any innovation is possible as long as it makes the person who experiences it feel comfortable. Lingqi is one of the time-honored restaurants that has been passed down for hundreds of years. It has a fixed menu, a fixed cooking process, and even has fixed rules for accepting apprentices and passing on skills. The core recipes cannot be changed casually.

Of course, whether it is Reiki or other types of energy healing, it is still a highly controversial category of non-traditional healing. The academic community generally believes that there are not enough large-sample double-blind experiments to support its effectiveness. The effects of many individual cases can be classified as placebo effects, and many people think this is a gimmick to collect IQ taxes. I have been practicing these methods myself for so many years, but I have never deified these methods. As long as the visitors say they have organic problems, my first reaction is to ask them to go to a regular hospital for examination first. Energy healing, including Reiki, is at most an auxiliary adjustment method. It may have a relieving effect on emotional internal consumption and chronic minor problems with no known cause. If it is a serious illness, you definitely can't count on it.