Recently my husband and I watched the entire Modern Family series. We hadn’t caught this popular show when it originally aired. We were pretty impressed with how funny it actually was (not overrated, as I had expected). In one episode, Reiki – a simple healing practice – made an appearance. As a Reiki practitioner, and as someone who has enjoyed the benefits of it as a recipient as well, I am happy to see any positive portrayal of it in pop culture – but I’m not surprised when I see negative portrayals either.

Increasingly mainstream

I completed Reiki I training in 1999 (wow, that’s a long time ago!). Reiki has become increasingly mainstream since I had my training. When I meet people who have heard of it, they often don’t really understand what it is about. This episode of Modern Family offers me a prompt of sorts to try to offer a super basic introduction. Bear in mind, I’m far from an expert, I’ve only attained First Degree, and these are just the main aspects. If there’s interest, I’ll follow up with more in-depth discussions!

Slow Down Your Neighbors

In this episode, Slow Down Your Neighbors, one of the couples – Mitchell and Cameron – meets a new neighbor named Barry, who says he is studying to be a Reiki master. After introducing themselves to each other, Barry places his hands over Mitchell’s arm. When questioned, he says he is transferring his positive energy into Mitchell, and taking out all the negative energy. Whether or not Barry is truly studying to be a Reiki master is not clear, because it becomes obvious that he’s not all he says he is, but this does bring us to a couple good questions… what is Reiki exactly, and what is going on during a Reiki treatment?

Reiki as a healing practice

It is difficult to clearly understand, never-mind explain to others. Reiki is an energy healing practice, meaning it works with the energy field in allowing and encouraging a level of healing in the recipient. The word Reiki also refers to the energy itself, which is considered to be primordial, universal, and extremely subtle. Most of the time when talking about Reiki, we are referring to the healing practice.

When I was first studying Reiki, my teacher impressed upon us that we are not doing the healing, we are not giving the energy – we are simply allowing the energy to come through us to the recipient. There is little “intent” in Reiki – we lay our hands with the intent to heal, but that is about it. We don’t insert our own wishes, desires, attachments, etc. We simply let Reiki go where it needs to go, and heal in the way it can. This would differ from the portrayal in the show, in which Barry said he was going to transfer his energy, and remove negative energy – it would also differ from many other forms of energy or spiritual healing that, for example, might focus on specific desired outcomes. This may be one of its biggest distinctions. We learn to trust Reiki – the energy, as well as the recipient’s own innate healing abilities.

How does it work? (does it work?)

So how does it work? or, does it work? Another good and difficult question! Reiki energy, theoretically, helps to balance a person’s fine energy field, which if we can see it as a foundation to the rest of our being, encourages emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical healing.

The first time I received Reiki was at a customer appreciation event at one of our local metaphysical shops. I had been practicing energy healing for years but had just recently learned of Reiki at that time. I lay down for a full session, and was quite affected by what I experienced. Physically, a Reiki session is often extremely calming. During that session I entered a deep relaxation, though I remained fully awake. Ten minutes after my session ended I felt a huge sense of release, and broke down in tears. The Reiki had brought intense emotional healing. I truly felt it had changed me. Events fell into place and shortly after, I went for my First Degree course.

My history doesn’t address whether Reiki “works.” Not enough studies have been conducted to definitively answer this question, though there have been small studies that have yielded intriguing results. The way I see it, being quite open-minded but also healthily skeptical, is that if nothing else, Reiki can help you become more open to healing, to the healing process, and that is always a positive. Also, a Reiki session can be deeply relaxing, which can be of benefit to nearly everyone!

The placement of the hands

An important distinction between Reiki and other forms of energy healing is how the hands are placed. Having practiced energy healing with my hands above a person’s body – not actually touching them, it took me a little while to get used to the idea of actually laying my hands on physically. I had become so used to feeling the energy in the elevated position. In Modern Family, Barry keeps his hands above Mitchell’s body. Reiki also employs specific hand positions – though I believe some flexibility is acceptable. A typical Reiki session includes a variety of set positions, but certainly, Reiki can be applied to individual areas, if necessary, without going through the whole sequence of positions. When my husband was in the hospital recovering from major surgery, I often kept my hands placed discretely on his back, without going through any of the main Reiki hand positions.

Above all else, Reiki is gentle. It is said that it can do no harm. Reiki, the energy, moves with a person’s own energy to bring balance, and thus bring healing. That healing may happen in unexpected ways.

Reiki isn’t medicine

I do want to make clear that Reiki isn’t medicine, and it isn’t a replacement for conventional treatment or diagnosis. It is now being widely used in hospitals, hospices, and other mainstream medical practices, but it is used in conjunction with evidence-based treatments. As much as I feel an affinity for Reiki, I very much view it as a complementary practice.

Learn more about Reiki

If you’d like to learn more about Reiki, I would recommend the following books, which are among my favorites or those I have found useful. (Thank you! I receive a very small commission from any purchases completed through my Amazon links.)

Essential Reiki: A Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art, by Diane Stein

The Reiki Manual: A Training Guide for Reiki Students, Practitioners, and Masters, by Penelope Quest

Reiki: The Healing Touch – First and Second Degree Manual, by William Lee Rand

~ Nellie