But how you view your past can be. Changing ourselves requires deprogramming. Reiki is one of the gentlest and most effective ways of making changes today/now, which touch yesterday and tomorrow. You might think deprogramming is for cults and wars, but it is most commonly used for the every day brainwashing that often causes depression and physical illnesses. Reiki is Natural Healing for the mind, body, and spirit.You cannot learn any of the many styles of Reiki from a book or video, but in today's world there are many qualified Reiki Shihans(master/teachers)with an energy and technique lineage back to Mikao Usui,the founder of Reiki Ryoho.

Reiki styles such as Gendai Reikiho and Komyo Reiki, coming directly from Japan, have numerous techniques that bring balance to the mind, body, and spirit and surround with harmony. Life takes on a whole new look when everything is in balance and surrounded with harmony.

I will use person X as an example of every day brainwashing. You might find that person X sounds a lot like you. As a young person X was told s/he never listened, always procrastinated, and always wanted ridiculous things. Schoolteachers added to the list of things X did wrong. Then from a spouse it was you never know what you are talking about, and you never do anything right. From children it was, I wish you were nice like the other kids' parents, and you never know what is good for anyone. Good things were said to X as well. However, all the negative combined over time can create a block so that the positive things are not heard. Often times these blocks keep a person from enjoying the good things in life. Physical and mental symptoms that medical doctors say they can find no reason for, sometimes appear as well.

Neither a Reiki Shihan nor Reiki practitioner diagnoses or promises a cure, but Usui Reiki Ryoho goes to the core of the imbalances. From the center of each cell it shines like a flashlight healing from the inside out. Usui Reiki Ryoho, commonly shortened to Reiki, is the name Mikao Usui gave to the vibration of combined love and harmony he connected to in 1921. Can you think of any more powerful energies then love and harmony? Reiki is not a quick therapy that promises an immediate cure. The negative that has taken years to harm a mind, body, or spirit requires time to release. Multiple Reiki sessions or hours of Reiki training is most beneficial.

The nice thing about a qualified Reiki Shihan or practitioner is that with Reiki, your actions are never out of your control as with hypnosis, you never have to be exposed to alcohol or smoke, and you are not lost in left-field as with some medications. Reiki does not replace professional licensed medical care, but it aids conventional medicine as it promotes and speeds healing at all levels.

Humans are said not to have instinctive behavior, but often the imprinted behavior we acquire happens when we are looking the other way. Pulling your hand back from a flame or ducking as an object comes toward you are learned behaviors to help keep us safe. Unfortunately, some reactions we blend into our everyday life are not helpful to our well-being. If you have ever seen those five simple lines of the Gokai (five Reiki precepts or principles), it might make you think that Reiki is too simple to be good. Some of the most basic things in life are the most wonderful.

Reiki does not require any elaborate rituals or any material objects to give it strength. Reiki practitioners spend immeasurable hours in study with his or her teacher learning and practicing self-healing and self-growth. A Reiki Shihan(teacher) has gone through at least four levels or degrees in whatever style of Usui Reiki Ryoho she or he practices. Within each of the first three levels of Reiki, numerous exercises and techniques are practiced for self-healing. Then remember that Reiki is the name given to the vibration of combined love and harmony. When all is balanced within you, and you are surrounded by harmony nothing blocks things as symbolized by the life giving sun that is always with you.

Living in Maine, in the United Stated I began by studying styles of Reiki commonly practiced in North America. I then learned the simple yet very strong Japanese Reiki techniques of Gendai Reikiho and Komyo Reiki from Japanese teachers. You can find out more about how Reiki balances on my website at www.naturalhealinglearning.com and links to other factual Reiki websites.

Roberta Barnes

Roberta Barnes, Gendai Reiki-ho and Komyo Reiki Shihan (master teacher) and Herbalist began using herbs in the 1970s. She was first introduced to the practice of Usui Reiki Ryoho in the 1980s, and began studying Western styles of Reiki Ryoho in the 1990s. In the 21st century she studied with Reiki Shihans Hiroshi Doi who is a member of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, and Rev. Hyakuten Inamoto who is a Buddhist monk in Japan.

Even though Roberta Barnes' focus is Japanese Reiki, herbology, and energy through nature she has studied other energy related practices and has seen auras and other energies all her life. Because of her life experiences and various studies she has excellent sources to draw upon when answering students' questions. Some of the healing Reiki sessions Roberta gives include guiding the client on a journey into his or her past so that blocks formed in the past can come out into the light and be healed. The guided meditative jorneys are tone for both healing and discovery. Other Reiki sessions include herbal consulting, which can also be done separate from Reiki. Roberta Barnes is dedicated to helping others achieve well-being through Usui Reiki Ryoho, herbs, meditation, and connecting with nature. Roberta has always enjoyed the health and peace that comes from observing wildlife, and spends many summer hours in her gardens and the wildlife habitat around her Center that has been certified by the National Wildlife Federation. The enjoyment she receives from teaching how to raise awareness through connecting with nature is equal to that which she receives from teaching and practicing Gendai Reiki-ho and Komyo Reiki.