The system of Reiki (霊気) was founded by Mikao Usui in Japan in the early 20th century. It is often described simply as “universal life force energy”, but its depth lies in the relationship between two key ideas: Rei and Ki.

At The Reiki Life, we use these terms to explain how Reiki actually works in practice. Reiki is not just something that is done to you. It is a way of bringing your own energy back to a clearer, more natural state.

Ki (気): Your Personal Life Force

Ki is the personal life force that animates your body and mind. In Japanese traditions, Ki is the subtle vitality that runs through all living beings.

You can think of Ki as:

• Personal – it is shaped by your health, habits, emotions and thoughts
• Changeable – it can be strengthened, disturbed, blocked or exhausted
• Responsive – it reflects how you live, rest, work, relate and cope

When Ki is unsettled or stagnant, people often describe feeling:

• heavy or “stuck”
• anxious, restless or on edge
• flat, drained or foggy
• disconnected from themselves

From this perspective, practice is not about forcing Ki to behave, but about supporting it to move in a healthier, more natural way.

Rei (霊): Spiritual Wisdom and Universal Support

Rei points to something beyond the individual. It is often translated as spirit, sacred, or spiritual wisdom.

Within many Japanese-style Reiki teachings, Rei is understood as:

• Non-personal – not “your” energy, but a universal spiritual support
• Inherently clear – not damaged by daily stress or personal history
• Responsive – moving according to what is genuinely needed, not what the mind demands

Where Ki is your personal river, Rei is the larger source that can clarify and replenish it. Reiki practice is about opening this connection so that your Ki is supported by something deeper than your usual habits and reactions.

How Reiki Works: Rei Meeting Ki

In this understanding, a Reiki treatment is not the practitioner pushing their own energy into you. Instead, the practitioner:

• settles their own Ki through stillness, breath and Hara work
• opens to Rei through practices such as Gassho, Joshin Kokyu Ho and Reiji Ho
• allows that connection to flow through the hands or at a distance

As Rei is invited into the system, it meets the places where Ki feels dense, agitated or depleted. Over time, this can help to:

• soften energetic “knots” or congestion
• restore a sense of flow and spaciousness
• support shifts on physical, emotional and spiritual levels

Reiki does not override your own life force. It supports it, clarifies it, and reminds it how to move in a healthier way.

How the Channel is Opened: Reiju / Attunement

In traditional practice, the ability to channel Reiki is not created by effort alone. It is awakened through a simple spiritual ceremony passed from teacher to student.

This process is known as Reiju (in Japanese-style teachings) or Attunement (in many Western schools). During Reiju:

• The student is invited into a direct connection with Rei
• The natural ability to act as a channel is touched and strengthened
• The groundwork is laid for further practice with self-treatment and meditation

Reiju does not make someone “special”, and it does not replace training. It opens the door. What happens next depends on how the practitioner lives and practises.

Symbols and Mantras: Tools for Focusing Rei

At later stages of training, many lineages use symbols and mantras as tools to work with Rei in a more focused way.

These are not “magic sigils” in themselves, but:

• sacred sounds and images that have been passed down through the system
• aids for concentrating the mind and intention
• ways of tuning the flow of Rei for particular purposes, such as mental–emotional support or distance work

At The Reiki Life, symbols are treated as practice tools, not shortcuts. The basics remain the same: Gassho, breath, Hara-centred awareness, the Gokai, and regular self-treatment.

The Role of Practice: Keeping the Channel Clear

Our lineage emphasises that the depth of a session comes less from technique, and more from the quality of the practitioner’s inner state. Several core practices support this.

Gassho Meiso

Sitting in Gassho with attention resting on the fingertips quiets the busy mind and gathers Ki in the Hara. In this stillness, the practitioner becomes receptive rather than driven by thought and effort.

The Five Agreements (Gokai)

Living the precepts – such as “just for today, do not anger” and “just for today, do not worry” – reduces the emotional turbulence that can distort perception. The fewer reactive patterns in the system, the easier it is for Rei to move without interference.

Hara-centred Awareness

Working from the Earth Diamond (Hara) gives the practitioner a stable base. Rather than being pulled into the client’s story or symptoms, they remain rooted and steady. Strong, settled Ki provides a firm vessel through which Rei can flow.

Rei, Ki and Spirit Work

When we speak about Spirit Work at The Reiki Life, we mean this ongoing relationship between Rei and Ki:

• caring for your own Ki through rest, self-treatment and honest self-reflection
• opening to Rei through meditation, precepts and the traditional pillars of practice
• allowing that connection to influence how you live, not only what happens in a treatment

In this sense, the real power of Reiki is not only in what you feel under a practitioner’s hands. It is in the gradual shift that occurs when your own life force is repeatedly touched by something clear, spacious and wise.

That is the heart of the Reiki flow.