Although Yoga Wake Up began quite specifically, as a "yoga alarm clock" what made us unique was that we always allowed the content in the app to be guided by the incredible expert teachers and healers. As a result, we have created a home for healing, quality-driven, original content of all kinds!
Justin Randolph, yogi and reiki healer, first brought reiki to Yoga Wake Up last year with A Reiki Morning. He recently added a new session Emergency Reiki Rescue, which sends healing, loving reiki direct to the listener, wherever they are in the world.
But how can you do reiki virtually, you might ask? Justin explains all that and more below in Reiki 101, a beginner's guide to this life-changing healing modality.
Just ask Justin, it's changed his!
Reiki 101, a beginner's guide
Reiki is more than just some hippie dippie woo-woo thing you've heard about from your yoga practicing best friend. Reiki is a very real and very powerful healing modality that balances your entire physical, emotional, and spiritual body.
Much like how a regular massage can smooth out the kinks in the muscles and fascia, and acupuncture can rebalance the body's energy — Reiki smooths out the kinks in the soul, like an "energetic massage". It can help clear out blocked energy pathways, promoting equilibrium in the body and a sense of feeling grounded, with a deeper connection to the true self.
What exactly is Reiki?
Reiki is a healing technique that was developed by the Japanese Buddhist Mikao Usui, in 1922. “Rei” is defined as the all-knowing divine universal, and “Ki” is the energy that animates all living things, flowing through everything that is alive (including plants, animals, and humans). It is used all over the world by people of many different faiths, cultures, and spiritual paths.
Reiki is an energy healing modality, where the practitioner acts as a conduit for universal energy, in order to rebalance and clear blockages in the chakras, or energy centers.
Reiki uses “hands-on” and also “hands-off” healing, that can assist in relieving or reducing pain and discomfort by balancing the body’s energy centers, or chakras. It is a natural process that supports relaxation and healing by removing blocks to the flow of energy in your body, facilitating balance and support on all levels. When the energy flow in your body is restored and/or balanced, you are more likely to feel relaxed and your body’s natural healing abilities are utilized.
The reason why Reiki can be so powerful and effective is because it infuses your chakras and your body with the energy of the universe. Your body takes exactly what it needs at that point in time, and the Reiki practitioner’s role is to act as a channel of universal energy to help facilitate that healing, so that the body can heal itself. When you infuse Reiki into areas of the body that are energetically or physically weak, the healing process can begin as your body allows itself to fully release.
What can I expect from my first session? During an in person Reiki session you will receive hands on therapy, Justin explains.
As a Reiki master I have been attuned to a lineage based healing energy. This energy flows through me and into your physical and spiritual body clearing blockages and promoting healing at the deepest level possible. You will probably fall asleep, and that's ok. You may cry, and that's ok. You may laugh, and that's ok. You may not feel anything, and that's ok. Your experience is your own, however the balance and healing remains with you for a lifetime.
How Distance Reiki works
Distance Reiki works according to an ancient principle called the Hermetic Law of Similarity, which holds that we are all connected, as we are all made of energy and part of a larger whole. Invoking this law during a distance Reiki session allows the practitioner to link up to the energy field of the recipient.
We all have access to the life force energy, otherwise known as our chi, qi or prana, that flows through each and every living being. Distance Reiki is one of many ways to link to and channel this energy for the healing benefit of others.
And, Justin assures, Distance Reiki sometimes can have a more profound reaction in the body than an in-person session!
Passionate about providing comfort to those in need Justin has provided Reiki to patients undergoing extensive cancer treatments, patients who are experiencing deep grief, patients with anxiety and depression, and patients who are simply seeking more balance in their lives. Reiki does not cure, but can provide an ease to our energetic vibration that activates the body and the mind's natural healing mechanisms. Reiki will provide you with a lasting assurance of comfort and peace.
If you have more questions about how Reiki works or would like to connect with Justin about it, visit JustinRandolphYoga.com. Want to try it out? Try one of Justin's Reiki-inspired sessions on the Yoga Wake Up app!