"Reiki" is a Japanese healing art. "Rei" (pronounced "Ray") means "universal knowledge" or may be considered to be the infinite energy of the Universe or that of a supreme intelligence. "Ki" (pronounced "kee") is the "life force" found in all living things. Reiki is not a religion. While Reiki has its roots in Japan and Asia, it is a "healing art" and not a religion in itself. Reiki acknowledges the "universal energy" in our universe. It makes no attempt to categorize it in any religious context. A Practitioner of Reiki has been trained to focus and channel this energy in a way that is nurturing and healing. Reiki energy has a number of healing effects. It brings about a state of deep relaxation, promotes energy flow within the body, helps to detoxify and provide vitality in the form of the healing universal life energy, and helps to increases the vibrational frequency of the body, thereby stimulating and improving metabolism.
The laying on of hands is used in Reiki therapy as in other forms of spiritual healing. With Reiki there is a difference though. In other forms of spiritual healing, a person with a strong energy field places their hands above a particular part of the body in order to release energy into it. With Reiki, however, the healer places the hands gently on or in special positions just above the body, and the recipient draws Reiki energy through the healer as needed. The Reiki healer is therefore a "guide" or "channel" for the healing Reiki energies.
Practitioners channel energy in a particular pattern to help heal and harmonize. While similar to other healing therapies based on the human energy field, Reiki specifically seeks to restore harmony and balance to the body whose vital energy ("Ki") has become unbalanced. This energy is directed at energy centers in the body known as "chakras".