Trompetista89 wrote:In Larry Arnold and Sandy Nevius's Reiki Handbook, it recommends doing a massage-like "Reiki Finish" at the end of the treatment.
I thought this was kind of, well, odd - it seemed a little too hands on for Reiki to me. What are your thoughts on the Reiki finish, and on the Reiki handbook in general?
Hi Trompetista89
Thanks for the reminder about the Reiki Finish as described in the Reiki Handbook, I read it many years ago and I had forgotten how different it was to what I now understand as the Reiki Finish!
Larry and Sandy were students of Virginia Samdhal (who was a student of Hawayo Takata) but the technique described is a lot more massage-based than the version described by Hawayo Takata, which she also called the "Nerve Stroke" in her essay on "The Art of Healing":
I finish the treatment with a nerve stroke, which adjusts the circulation. Apply on the skin a few drops of sesame oil or any pure vegetable oil. I place my thumb and forefinger on the left side of the spinal column and three fingers and palm flat on the right side of the spinal column. With a downward stroke, 10 to 15 strokes to the end of the spinal cord. Only in diabetic cases are the strokes reversed; arms and legs are manipulated towards the heart.
It should be remembered that Hawayo Takata was also a licensed massage therapist as well as a Reiki practitioner, so she would be used to having people exposing their back and using oils.
This technique appears to be based on a Reiki technique, called Ketsueki Kokan Ho (Blood Circulation (or Exchange) Technique) that was taught by Chujiro Hayashi. However, the way it is taught nowadays (in Jikiden Reiki and as part of the Traditional Japanese techniques in some other styles) the receiver remains fully clothed and the hand movements are performed over the clothes and even over a sheet that may be covering the recipient. Obviously, in this case no oil is used and it is not possible to observe the "pinkness" of the skin which Takata also mentioned, according to Susan Mitchell, another of her students I have spoken to about this technique.
Interestingly, in the book about Reiki by Kaiji Tomita (a student of Chujiro Hayashi), which was originally published in Japan in 1933, there are photographs of a Reiki practitioner performing Ketsueki Kokan Ho on a person who has their back exposed.
I have given and received this technique several times and it definitely gets the blood (and therefore the ki) moving!
Here in the UK where it is not a requirement that a person is a licensed massage therapist to touch or practice massage-like techniques it is good to use this technique as a way to finish off a Reiki treatment, (because it certainly wakes the person up!) but it is not essential.
In other places, where the laws are different, then it may not be possible to use this method without being a licensed massage therapist.
So, in answer to your questions, I don't think it is an odd technique and it is certainly a Reiki technique (albeit introduced by Hayashi rather than Usui) but it is not an essential Reiki technique and there is no need to use it if you feel uncomfortable with it or if the laws of the land prevent its use.
About the Reiki Handbook itself, well, as one of the early Western Reiki books it is a fascinating glimpse into how Reiki was taught in the early days (it was first published in 1982). It contains the Takata version of the Reiki Story and is somewhat 'Christianised' but contains some interesting Reiki Recipes of the type Takata did teach about. However, there are also some elements that were not taught by Hawayo Takata, including a lengthy section of treating animals with Reiki and some information about chakras and chakra balancing (apparently from Mrs Samdahl, who said that the chakras should be closed after a Reiki treatment) and an interesting bit about the use of colour and music in healing, though that is not mentioned as part of the Reiki treatment.
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