The information in this blog post is based on content from the 1st/2nd Degree Manual by William Lee Rand. Since Stella Luna is holding a Usui Reiki certification class on August 12th at our facilities, it seemed like a good time to talk about this energetic healing system from the East that has become quite popular in the West. Please join us on August 12th, won’t you?
Part I: History and Development of Reiki
Reiki, as we know it today, was first “discovered” by Dr. Usui Mikao (Japanese names are written with surname first). Born in 1865, he was a studious young man and was trained at the Tendai Buddhist school on or near Mt. Kurama, where he learned a Japanese style of energy healing called Kiko – a healing technique that was based on the ability to refine internal energy. This energy healing style, however, ended up exhausting one’s own energy. Usui-sensei wanted to find ways to heal without draining the practitioner.
After studying abroad and working, he began to have some difficulties. Because of this, he went to a train where he had gone as a child. It was during this time that he felt a great “spiritual awakening” regarding the ability to heal without draining the healer.
Usui Mikao initially used his new technique on himself and on his family before expanding to a larger population, eventually outgrowing his first healing center. At the time of his death, it was estimated that he had approximately 2,000 students.
The woman credited with “bringing Reiki to the West” was Mrs. Takata Hawayo. This visionary was born in Hawaii to Japanese immigrants. Unfortunately, her husband died and left her with their two children to raise. She worked very hard to provide for the children but developed abdominal pain and lung problems that led to a nervous breakdown.
While in Japan attending to family matters, Takata Hawayo was diagnosed with a tumor, gallstones, appendicitis, and asthma! A second opinion, offered from the clinic of Dr. Hayashi Chujiru – a disciple of Usui-sensei, was nearly identical to the evaluation from the hospital. This so impressed her that, after she was healed, she not only began to study Reiki herself, but also helped Dr. Hayashi and his daughter set up practice in Hawaii when she returned to the islands.
After traveling to heal and teach, Mrs. Takata instituted a more rigorous system of charging for Reiki treatments than had been known in Japan. She also made her students swear to teach only as she had taught. She told her students that, after Dr. Hayashi had died, that she was the only master. After her passing in 1980, some of her students began to charge more reasonable fees for Reiki healing sessions, and later research led to a greater understanding of the tradition and history of Reiki for the whole world.
Stella Luna Counseling & Wellness offers Reiki energetic healing by our trained practitioners as one of our many wellness services that we offer to our clients on top of traditional, licensed mental health therapy. Come and experience all that Stella Luna has to offer our clients and guests in the Cleveland region!
John has a Bachelors in Communication from Cleveland State University and has made a career in child and adolescent mental health, working in residential, community, and day treatment settings in a variety of roles. He has also spent over 25 years training in Chinese Internal Arts, most of that time he has also been instructing. On top of all this, John has a rich work history which includes retail, performance, fitness, and construction. He is also the Operations Manager at Stella Luna Counseling and Wellness.