18 Sep Reiki
Reiki at Soul City Massage
Reiki has its origins in the Japanese culture. The name itself translates as “universal life energy.” It is often offered at salons that offer massage, like Soul City, but it’s not the typical massage treatment. Practitioners do lay hands on a patient, but not in the same way that they would with a hot stone massage or another treatment. There is no muscle manipulation in reiki. Patients do not ingest any substances, and practitioners do not use any substances, like oils, during the treatment.
Instead, in this spiritual practice, a therapist trained in reiki works with the individual’s vibrational field, and applies light, non manipulative touches to the client’s clothed body. Many say that reiki is good at promoting balance throughout the body. Many find that this form of alternative medicine compliments their traditional therapies well.
Some call it pseudoscience and dismiss it, although the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complimentary and Integrative Health has, in the past sponsored clinical trials to explore this form of therapy and its effectiveness. The NIH has said that there is no evidence that reiki has specific pain relieving benefits, but individuals who have these treatments believe otherwise.
There are many variations on the origins of reiki, but the common story is that Mikao Usui, Japanese man brought reiki to the masses after a spiritual event that affected him profoundly in 1922.
What can I expect?
In a reiki session, a practitioner will place their hands on a client, or hold their hands just above the individual’s body. They will use closed fingers, and treat different areas.
Depending on a practitioner’s level of comfort and training, and on what a client needs, there can be nearly two dozen different positions that a practitioner will use, and a treatment can include anywhere from 2-5 minutes dedicated to each position. These positions go from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet and include the throat, the ears, eyes, and around the jaw, as just a few of the different hand placements that a client might experience during a session. Often, people can expect a reiki session to include anywhere from two to five minutes of work in each position that the practitioner uses on the client.
Reiki hand positions
During a reiki treatment, depending on what the client’s needs are, there are a wide variety of placements that a practitioner may touch upon. Your practitioner at Soul City should, at the start of the session, ask whether you would prefer a hands-on treatment, or a no-touch treatment, which would put their hands just above your body, about 1-3 inches above, but not touching. Whether they touch the body of the client or not, in each of the nearly two dozen hand positions, the practitioner uses a cupped hand, with their fingers closed, to direct the energy. They typically spend three to five minutes in each position, depending on your needs.
The following is an explanation of each of the hand positions:
- Position. 1: Hands behind the head, fingers closed.
- Position 2: Top of the head.
- Position 3: Over the eyes
- Position 4: Over the ears
- Position 5: Around the jaw
- Position 6: At the throat, one hand under one hand over
- Position 7: At the shoulders
- Position 8: Above the breast muscles
- Position 9: Just below the breast muscle
- Position 10: On the torso
- Position 11: Hands at the hips
- Position 12: At the pelvis
- Position 13: On the thigh
- Position 14: Atop the knees
- Position 15: On the shin
- Position 16: Ankles
- Position 17: Top of the feet
- Position 18: Bottom of the feet
If you’re interested in booking a reiki massage at Soul City, contact us today and we’ll get you started!