Reiki Symbols

Unlocking the Power of Reiki Symbols: A Beginner’s Guide to Reiki Basics

By Dennis Bluthardt, Namaste Studios

Mikao Usui founded Reiki, a transformative energy healing practice in Japan in the early 20th century. The practice is built on the idea that a universal life force energy flows through everything alive. When the energy is high and free-flowing, a person will have suitable physical, emotional, and mental health. Although viewed as a relaxation and stress reduction tool, Reiki has become a robust, holistic health and personal development method.

Practitioners use specific symbols, including the Cho Ku Rei (power symbol), the Sei He Ki (emotional healing symbol), and the Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen (distance healing symbol) — to help them channel energy, making three symbols that every practitioner needs to know. These symbols enhance the healing process by enabling practitioners and their clients to concentrate on the Reiki energy, leading to more significant self-improvement.

Practitioners place their hands on or over your body. Using a form of “intelligent” energy. Intelligent because it naturally flows where the negative energy is ingrained. Reiki enables the body to heal itself naturally. It can do everything from helping you relax and ease your pain to pulling you into a deep state of meditation. Many people report having an out-of-body experience during such a mystical practice.

What is Reiki?

Reiki is a type of healing that works with the idea of a universal life energy present within every living thing. You relax, and a practitioner helps guide this energy to heal you physically and emotionally. Many people find these sessions help them release stress (and when your body isn’t stressed or in fight-or-flight mode, it can heal itself).

Mikao Usui developed the system in the early 20th century, and it’s an emotionally healing experience. Usui described the sensation as how a TV signal sends pictures, which suggests the key mechanics required for the effect are intention among the group of people sort of projecting the healing onto you and, of course, what it is you want to happen.

Reiki is an age-old, spiritual form of therapy. During a session, you lie down fully dressed while a practitioner places their hands lightly on or off your body.

The Role of Reiki Symbols in Energy Healing

Reiki symbols are essential to the practice of Reiki. These are:

Cho Ku Rei, known as the Power Symbol. This symbol is used to increase the power of your energy and focus your energy on the “here and now.” It means “Placing all the powers of the universe here.” You would use this symbol when you have an injury or an area in the body that needs to heal. I also often use it to clean a room energetically or to protect myself in a dangerous or challenging situation.

Sei He Ki is known as the Emotional Healing Symbol. This symbol “protects against misfortune.” It represents the Divine Source + the earth, which creates a symbol of the human soul. This symbol is potent, and if not used correctly (with knowledge about how to use it), it can cause some damage. It is not my go-to symbol.

Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen, known as the Distance Healing Symbol. This symbol is used to send distance healing across time or space. Because the universe is simply one big energy fabric, you can send healing (positive vibrations) to someone or something in a different room or town. This process is like a prayer. Think of this symbol (or write it out or say its name in your head), and the good vibes you send will be sent to the person or situation in need.

Integrating Reiki Symbols into Your Practice

Integrating Reiki symbols into your meditation practice can enhance the practice, allowing you to move deeper into meditation and bring about a deeper state of relaxation by visualizing or drawing symbols. In essence, you are deepening your connection to the universal life force energy to which the visualization or drawing of the symbols corresponds.

Reiki symbols are also influential because they relate to the seven main chakras that are essential to physical, emotional, and mental well-being. Using the symbols can assist in balancing the chakras.

For instance, you can use symbols by drawing them exclusively or as part of a sequence. For example, using the Cho Ku Rei symbol alone can increase energy flow through the solar plexus chakra. Still, the Master Symbol, Dai Ko Myo, or prayer, can significantly improve energy, increasing self-confidence. Understanding the symbols’ uses is essential in choosing what is needed to increase and promote increased energy within the chakras and in many more practical daily uses.

This includes drawing symbols on the body or in the air and charging them with positive affirmational statements to increase energy and set about positive intent relating to a specific situation or area where you dream to manifest change.

The Benefits of Learning Reiki Basics

Reiki is a form of healing from Japan. It teaches the importance of channeling what’s often referred to as the universal life force energy. Why? So that it can help restore a sense of balance and promote healing. One can use it for physical healing, and for many, that is its primary purpose. Still, an added benefit for many people may also be the personal and spiritual development that often goes along with learning these forms of healing. This is because once you start to heal the physical body, you will usually begin to heal the emotional body. Moreover, as you heal the emotional body, you may start healing on a more spiritual level.

All parts of us, physical, emotional, or spiritual, are connected. This is why when we start to deal with primarily physical issues, the emotional and spiritual issues will often come to light. This is commonly how emotional or spiritual development usually begins. It might start with a health problem that spurs you on to seek out a form of energy healing, and the next thing you know, you’ve got books on Zen on your desk and are considering heading to a silent meditation retreat as soon as possible.

The physical benefits alone are enough reason for most people to learn Reiki. Pain relief. Positive thinking (a reduction of negative thoughts). A greater sense of relaxation. Improved overall health and well-being. A perceived decrease in the symptoms of a variety of different disorders. Greater flexibility, both physically and metaphorically in life. Quantifying some benefits like this is extremely difficult as they vary widely from one person to the next. 

Although, as we know, testimonials have more to do with emotional well-being.

Different hand positions and techniques used in Reiki allow you to give yourself or someone else a universal life energy treatment. The list of benefits is quite long, but it includes relaxation, peace, and a sense of greater well-being. This holistic energy to which we all have access can create a space for healing, help us to release stress, make us feel more balanced, and help us with virtually any physical challenge. Also, that little voice inside our heads that says mean things to us tends to become quieter, or it may even go away completely.

If it is such an exciting prospect to provide yourself with an energetic Reiki self-treatment, you should do it all the time! Most people find that they are so glad they did this. They tend to uncover remarkable things about themselves. They tend to grow personally and spiritually, often at a rapid pace. This response is usually simply about exploring universal life energy and how it affects us more deeply.

To learn more, visit Reiki at Namaste Studios to book a Reiki session. Additionally, you can find more of our Reiki Blogs here.

Bonus for blog readers: Interested in learning how AI automation can transform your Reiki Business? Click here to register for a FREE WEBINAR that can change your life!