How Reiki can improve your yoga practice

Reiki has been around since the early 20th century. It started in Japan, where “rei” roughly means “spiritual” and “ki” for “life force energy.” Today, this healing technique is now widely known and practised by over four million people around the world.

Reiki and it’s benefits

A face-to-face Reiki session can last for about an hour. We can begin the session by discussing the process, and you can express your expectations or intentions. Often the Reiki Practitioner or Master will use other tools such as meditation, crystals, sound bowls, Oracle or Tarot cards to help enhance and support the healing session.

During a Reiki session, the practitioner will move their hands lightly over your body. You will feel heat or tingling sensations – that’s energy! Visualisations and memories may start to appear. Your Reiki experience will become much deeper and more meaningful as you continue.

To get the complete details on how a face-to-face session is like, please take a moment to read this blog post here.

Reiki does not cure diseases or any illnesses directly. However, it can help manage physical and emotional symptoms while also promoting general wellbeing. Practitioners serve as a conduit for this “universal life energy,” which flows where it is most required. This intuitive energy helps clear blockages to restore further balance on all of your being – from your mental to emotional, physical, and spiritual state.

Reiki offers many wonderful benefits, such as:

• Reduced anxiety and stress
• Inner balance
• Increased vitality
• Improved sleeping
• Clears stagnant and negative energy
• Calms and dissolves emotionally charged situations
• Speeds up physical recovery (post-surgery etc.)
• Reduces physical pain
• Increases spiritual and soul connection
• Comfort throughout grief and loss
• Emotional healing
• Alleviates stress and overwhelm during the period of change
• Brings clarity and focus
• Support for ‘burnout’ of other practitioners and healers

With pain and stress managed, the quality of life can be enhanced greatly. Regular practice can help improve calmness, relaxation, and inner peace. It is a mood-booster as well, so you feel happier and tranquil after each session.

Many treatment facilities now use Reiki for patients who suffer from chronic headaches, tension, nausea, and insomnia.

Reiki is gentle, relaxing and non-invasive. Therefore, almost everyone can practice it without having to fear harmful side effects.

Yoga and Reiki: The powerful combo

You may have noticed something when you looked at the benefits of Reiki. Imagine how much more beneficial Reiki can be when combined with restorative yoga. Together, their healing capabilities are amplified.

Yoga teachers and trainees often understand what prana is, which is the life force energy encompassing all living things. Yoga utilises prana, which is essential in bringing calmness and stillness. Reiki harnesses the same thing. It works remarkably as it takes the body on a much deeper level. When successful, it can bring you back into your own natural flow and balance.

Reiki is an incredible way for many individuals seeking support during their most challenging times. Whether you are going through an emotional rollercoaster ride, a significant health treatment, or any stress that affects your mental health, Reiki can help. It is something you can take advantage of when you are aiming for higher spiritual growth and even personal development. Or, you can turn to it when you simply want an escape from your busy world.

But how can you incorporate Reiki to your yoga practice?

There are many ways. Planning and promoting a yoga class is almost an art. But you do not need to be a yoga teacher to experience the benefits of combining yoga and Reiki.

Your daily activities can require you to exert a tremendous amount of energy. When you do similar things every day, you will eventually feel depleted. It happens to everyone, even if you enjoy your routine. It is not surprising that you should start with your energy levels. Be mindful of them at all times, which is one of the teachings of yoga.

When you are in contact with many people every day, you can end up picking up their energies, including negative ones. Their fears can become a part of your subconscious. Therefore, you should choose your self-care methods wisely. Yogis can add Reiki into their practice to help assist in completing the restoration process of both the mind and body. This technique can aid in preventing burnouts while ensuring you thrive on your daily tasks – on all levels.

Reiki is powerfully grounding and can reduce stress. When you need to release your energetic patterns, thoughts, and beliefs that no longer serve you, you can practice Reiki.

Bringing Reiki into your yoga practice is not as complicated as it may seem. Here are the best tips to successfully link yoga and Reiki together, whether you plan to learn self-Reiki or have a Reiki practitioner with you:

1. Understand how the combination works

You may have several yoga mats, outfits, and perhaps some more props. You have attended some yoga classes and read books and watch videos to ensure you have everything right. Now, you are confident with taking things on your own through at-home practice.

But even as you go along, you have always felt that something was missing: Reiki.

With my experience as a Reiki Master, I have guided several yogis and trainees to successfully unlock their free flow of life force energy or prana. What I do is transfer Reiki through “attunement” passed from teacher to student. When your own prana is free or unlocked, you can use Reiki on yourself – or even on other people!

It is not as tricky as it sounds. You need to understand the focus, which is to bring the life force energy to particular body parts that need healing.

In your yoga practice, you know that it also considers the flow of prana. Moving from one pose to another and holding those poses are the top ways to unlock and free up life force energy. When you breathe deeply as you hold a pose, you successfully dissolve blockages. These blockages have always been there, preventing your prana from flowing freely.

2. Choose the most suitable Reiki Practitioner

When looking for a Practitioner, you must be at ease with the person. You want to feel relaxed in all your sessions, which you cannot achieve with someone you are uncomfortable with.

If you are wanting to learn Reiki for yourself, only Reiki Masters can impart knowledge by teaching or leading training themselves. Also, a Reiki Master is the perfect teacher if you want to try Distance Healing. It’s a great option, especially if you are thousands of kilometres away from me. Absent or Distance Healing works just like a normal session.

A consultation starts the process. Erase all worries, doubts, and fears. We can start Reiki healing after you practice yoga. After meditation, asana, and your full yoga, go for a reclined or supported seat pose. This is where you can have a Reiki Master facilitate healing.

Just like with a face-to-face session, keep your heart open. Don’t focus on the outcome of the session; rather, focus on yourself, your feelings, and your overall state. If you are interested in Distance Healing, please read this blog post.

3. Understand the complexities of yoga and the development of your Chakras

Armed with information, it becomes easier to integrate Reiki to your yoga practice. If you have been doing yoga for quite some time, you know how valuable Chakras are. I’ve also delved deeper into this topic, which you can find on this blog post. Chakras are necessary so you can connect yourself to the universe, which is the philosophy of Reiki.

Chakras, however, can be blocked if you do not address physical and emotional injuries. Growth and development of Chakras or energies can be hindered, which means they can no longer move freely. The solution is healing and releasing stagnant or negative energy. It is vital to practice healing your Chakras regularly (Here is a blog post that will guide you on how to balance your Chakras). Otherwise, a spectrum of symptoms can coincide with the adverse effects of the damaged Chakras. You may see this manifest as physical illnesses and/or even emotional instabilities.

Here are some yoga poses that make it easy to unlock your life force energy, intensifying your prana flow:

• Forward bends, such as Child’s Pose, Downward –Facing Dog, and Big Toe Pose, are useful in unblocking prana. They soothe you and give you the calmness you long for. At the same time, they ground you by energetically connecting you to the earth. These poses let you become more authentic in your body and be in the present moment.
• Backbend poses, such as Bridge Pose, Camel Pose, and King Pigeon Pose, are efficient in prompting prana. It’s why you feel that revitalising boost whenever you do these poses.
• Poses where you reach your arms up, such as the Upward Salute (Urdhva Hastasana), are about feeling the sky within reach of your fingertips. As you inhale and exhale, you can feel gravity’s magnetic pull. Imagine this pull as energy, which you send up to the top of your head as you breathe in. When you breathe out, you then visualise the energy flowing back to your feet and into the earth.

This practice lets you feed on the power of the earth while staying connected with where you are. You feel safer and more secure with each session.

4. Target areas for healing using Reiki during your yoga practice

As you hold your yoga poses and control your breathing, you can incorporate Reiki into your practice. What you need to do is to target the same areas that you focus with Reiki as you do yoga. This combination creates a powerful surge of energy, which can catapult your body, mind, and spirit to an invigorating plane.

If you have injured areas in your body, now is a great time to begin combining Reiki with yoga. Why, you ask? Let’s say that you have developed sciatica. Throughout your yoga journey, you have avoided certain poses that tend to increase sciatic pain. Some poses do put pressure on the sciatic nerve, which is why it makes sense that you avoid them.

By learning Reiki, you can harness the Reiki energy and get rid of the blocked energy those targeted areas may have been harbouring for some time. So what happens after? You will feel an incredible surge of free-flowing prana that moves to the affected or injured sites and your entire body.

5. Learn to improve your yoga practice with Reiki techniques

Reiki is known to help clear any feelings and memories, including those you have suppressed, whether consciously or unconsciously. Asana practices allow you to bring things up that require healing. If you have suddenly felt angry or upset while on the mat, you are not alone. It can happen to anyone, mainly because everyone goes through something.

You may have remembered a situation or a relationship that hurt or angered you. These things should be acknowledged so that it will be easier to transform them into your life. Reiki becomes useful here because this technique moves energetic residue that your feelings and memories have left. Transform and transmute them to align with your highest vibration.

6. Let Reiki take over when you are in deep relaxation

Reiki practitioners always note how deep the stillness is with this healing method. People recognise it, experiencing the real benefits of the practice. There have been quite a number of trials in the past, including a study on the effects of Reiki on patients undergoing knee replacement. The participants were divided into different groups.

• One group was rested without any Reiki treatment.
• Another received Reiki placebo, which was administered by those who did not even know what Reiki is.
• The final group received real Reiki from trusted professionals.

The findings showed a significant difference between these three groups. Those who received Reiki experienced better heart rate and healthy blood pressure compared to the other two.

Reiki, on its own, centres on a person’s autonomic nervous system. When incorporated with yoga, it can enhance Savasana (Corpse Pose) greatly.

7. Improve mindfulness through yoga and Reiki together

Some people mistake yoga as only something where they have to do poses. There are also those who practice yoga for losing weight, but it comes with several benefits. The same is thought of Reiki. People who do not understand what it is take Reiki as hands-on practice. They may be aware of the healing benefits, but people tend to go for Reiki to feel calm and relaxed.

Reiki is more about spiritual development. Together, you can use yoga and Reiki to rediscover and reconnect with your true essence. You may have wandered through life without a real aim, leading to lost time – and eventually, a lost you. Now, you can take a journey where you can achieve the greatest version of you.

Reiki and yoga encompass excellent breath work, appreciating blessings, and staying attuned with the surroundings. There are mantras, symbols, and other elements that regulate behaviour and thoughts. Reiki has the same Yamas, Niyamas, (often considered “moral codes”) and other precepts that serve as guidelines to living freely and content.

Yoga precepts can help you surrender while on the mat. They encourage you to get rid of your anger and throw your worries away – even if it is done one day at a time. When practised together, you become ready to stay honest, careful, and aware both in your actions, speech, and thoughts.

8. Reiki helps understand Sankalpa

The Sanskrit word Sankalpa refers to your intent of achieving the highest good. This intention is essential when you channel Reiki. The practice allows you to realise your energy responds to your real purpose. It is why changing your energy is crucial to revolutionising your life experience. As you do yoga with Reiki, the latter will remind you that you have the capacity to create your desires. With this understanding, you can manifest them more comfortably with a heartfelt Sankalpa (or intention).

9. Connect your consciousness with a Reiki-filled yoga

With Reiki, you will witness how your energy works. It is when you practice Svadhyaya, which translates to self-reflection. You then recognise how these methods work, allowing you to grasp which of your thoughts and feelings should be eliminated. It is simply because they can drain your energy unless you get rid of them. This discovery is the key to maintain and improve your life force.

From here, you will begin to see the aspects that matter, particularly with your consciousness. Some portions of it may require healing. It is where Reiki makes a critical entrance.

10. Increase your flexibility even further with Reiki

Yoga is often used to stretch shoulders, hips, hamstrings, or any part of the body that needs opening up. The root of the issue, however, is that you may be holding something back, such as an emotion or memory. Reiki will bring energy to the areas that require attention. Using this method, it is the best way to transform the life force of your emotions and stories. This way, you can release them and perform better in your yoga practice.

Start practicing Reiki and yoga together

Just like with Savasana in yoga, you also need to integrate deep healing after a Reiki session. During this time, you will find yourself in a profound state of calm and relaxation. It helps if you do not go out straight away. Wait and recuperate your emotional and mental conditions before you head out to the outside world. This step is so crucial yet straightforward, so it is not jarring for your system. 

When you were just starting with your yoga journey, you may have felt doubtful of the practice. Perhaps you were not confident about your abilities, especially because you were embodying new roles. It also happens with your first Reiki experience or when you incorporate it with yoga. But together, you cannot deny that they are both amazingly soothing. They are the perfect tools for allaying your fears and towards discovering how to nourish your inner self.