Why Specific Hand-Positions Are Used
Published in
the January 1999 issue of "The Messenger"
We have participated in
many Reiki exchange circles, and seen many variations on the
positioning of hands during a treatment. Some practitioners use seven
hand positions, some use twenty four, some use variations of the
twelve more commonly accepted hand positions. Still others were not
taught specific hand positions, but rather to intuit where the energy
was needed in a recipient's body. So, which system is correct, or
best?
Our standard answer to many questions about Reiki reflects that
there are no "right or wrong" ways to perform treatments. We suggest
that practitioners try the known variations and to discern which is
best for each particular client or situation. The hand positions are
related to the locations of the chakras and the endocrine glands.
Reiki, when administered in 3 or more consecutive days, seems to have
an accumulating effect in the endocrine glands, which keep our immune
system in top-working order. When enough energy has amassed, then the
chemical reactions of the glands push the immune system into different
cycles of the healing process; the cycles are 1.) inflammatory or
sub-acute; 2.) acute; 3.) chronic. When a person has a long-term
imbalance, there is usually not enough energy to trigger a higher
immune response, and the "condition" seems stuck and on-going. But,
when additional energy is introduced, then the immune system can draw
upon it, kicking the body's defense mechanism into a higher level of
healing, and the condition will begin to change/mutate, the
purification process is triggered, and the body re-gains balance and
homeostasis. By doing Reiki on the specific hand positions, a
practitioner can give the fastest "charge" to the glands that are
responsible for maintaining 'health', and accelerating the healing
process. It is possible to just lay hands on one area of the body, but
it will take much longer for the energy to wend its way to each of
the organs of the immune system and to amass so as to "kick start" the
stages of the healing process.
We have experimented with most of the
hand position techniques and personally feel that the "popular"
twelve position system (four head, four front, four back) is the most
effective one for giving a good treatment. We also include the
extremities within our treatment procedure. If there are no apparent
difficulties/imbalances in the extremities (arms/hands and legs/feet),
we usually place one hand on a shoulder and the other on the
wrist/hand, giving energy to the whole extremity, and we place one
hand on the hip and the other on the bottom of the foot, giving energy
to that whole extremity. We do this on both sides of the body; so an
additional twenty minutes would be added to the popular "one-hour
treatment". Of course, if a recipient has a problem/imbalance in the
extremities, then a practitioner would lay his/her hands on the area
in need for a minimum of five minutes. We have practiced Reiki for
many years, and on hundreds of clients, and we have come to the
understanding that the "five minutes per position" is only a general
rule-of-thumb for the beginning practitioner. Once the practitioner
become sensitive to the flow of energy, s/he will only hold any hand
position as long as the area beneath the hands is pulling energy; that
may take more or less than five minutes of time. Our average
treatment time now takes about an hour and a half, with extra time
spent on areas of need. We no longer limit our treatments according to
our available time and schedules, but rather to the needs of our
clients; and each are different.
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