What’s the Difference Between Reiki and Shamanic Reiki?

Both Reiki and Shamanic Reiki are energy healing techniques that can assist in our overall well being on physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. 

Before we get into the distinction between the two, let’s first focus on what makes these modalities exactly the same: the utilization of universal life force energy to facilitate healing. 

So….what is universal life force energy and why is it important in healing?

Life Force Energy and Your Healing

Universal life force energy can be defined as the energy that flows through all living things. In some cultures it is known as chi (Qi), prana or the divine spark of life. It is the energy that animates us: the vital energy that runs our blood, bones, physical and mental states. From a wider lens, it is the impulse - the original creative power - that initiates and encodes life in our infinite universe. 

The Universal life force energy field is within us and all around us. It is available for all people to access and use as a healing force for the highest good. 

But, if life force energy is so readily available for all, why does it seem so hard to grasp? 

The simple answer is we’re human. 

As humans, we’ve experienced multiple levels of conditioning, likely adopting limiting belief systems. We have various thought patterns, attachments and stories that can block life force energy’s natural flow. Over time, energetic blocks can lead to pain or dis-ease in the body or feeling stuck in our lives. 

Energetic blocks can make it challenging for us to access life force energy. 

We may experience anxiety, frustration, depression, anger, sadness and fear. These emotions are also energy, but they have greater density and move at a slower rate. If dense emotions are unable to move through your body through being felt and expressed, you’re less able to access vital life force energy. It’s like trying to tune into highly energetic FM dance radio when you’ve only got the bandwidth for a static-filled AM radio station. 

This is where energy healing practitioners can help! 

Energetic healers have cultivated connection to subtle energies. Depending on the modality and technique they’ve studied, they are able to attune themselves in such a way that allows them to act as a conduit for universal life force energy to flow through. They can then direct and transmit this energy to a person in need of healing. It is the intelligence of the life force energy and one’s own body that facilitate healing naturally. 

One form of energy healing is Reiki. 

What is Reiki?

Reiki is composed of two Japanese characters: Rei (universal spirit) and Ki (life force or energy). 

The technique of Usui Reiki originated with Mikao Usui, who studied Japanese Shinto and Tendai Buddhhist texts. While fasting and meditating on a quest to seek an understanding of life, he received a powerful transmission: the energy now known as Reiki. Reiki gave him the ability to heal and subsequently, he created a system in which others could learn how to work with Reiki to promote health in mind, body and spirit. This system is now utilized and taught all over the world with Reiki practitioners receiving levels of certification – the highest being Reiki master. 

What to Expect in a Reiki Session

Typically, the person receiving Reiki will lie on a massage table while soft, gentle music is played. One can wear comfortable or loose-fitting clothing for optimal ease during the session. Reiki is frequently done with a gentle touch including hand placements on the head, neck, upper chest, abdomen, knees, feet and back; but it can also be done hands-off if the client prefers a no-touch session. 

While receiving reiki, the client may feel very relaxed, enter a meditative state, or drift off to sleep. Reiki has its own innate intelligence, knowing where to go and how to interact with the body to facilitate healing. The client may feel waves of subtle energy moving through the body, see colors or visions, or experience heat or coolness. It’s also common to feel nothing at all during the session. Either way, the result is usually a deep sense of peace, relaxation and overall well-being. 

What is Shamanic Reiki?

Shamanic Reiki will still utilize the universal life force energy - or Reiki - in order to facilitate healing while also incorporating Shamanic principles and tools. 

One main principle of Shamanism is that the universal force has created everything we can connect to. The universal life force manifests here on Earth through the elements: earth, air, fire and water and all living things. Spirit is in everything and everything has spirit. Therefore, in Shamanic Reiki the nature spirits, well ancestors and/or spirit guides may be called on to facilitate healing.

 The tools in a Shamanic Reiki session may include bamboo flutes, drums, tambourines, rattles, healing maraca, gongs, bowls or even crystals. These instruments can be used to call in benevolent spirit guides, helpers or angelics that have messages for our lives. Even the ancestral spirits of trees, plants, rain and spirit animals may be called in to share their wisdom.

What to expect in a Shamanic Reiki session

The Shamanic Reiki session is a journey that incorporates the energy healing of Reiki as explained above with additional dialogue exchange between the client and practitioner. 

The practitioner may receive in-depth messages from the guides and relay information to the client, and in turn, the client can ask questions. The practitioner may recommend next steps to integrate the healing that has occurred within the session. In this way, the client actively takes part in their own wellness journey, which can be very empowering.   

Which Session is Right for Me?

Choosing between Reiki and Shamanic Reiki comes down to what is happening in your life right now. 

If you feel out of sorts, anxious, or nervous and desire more peace and relaxation, or if you’ve just lost a loved one, the restorative yin energy of a Reiki session might be best. 

Perhaps you find yourself stuck on your path. You’ve reached a dead end and don't know what to do. Or, you’re experiencing a dark night of the soul and looking for a way through. You know what you’d like to accomplish, but you just aren’t sure how to get there. The yang energy of Shamanic Reiki can initiate your breakthrough. 

To Sum It Up

Reiki is best when you need:

•  peace, balance and relaxation

•  a quiet and gentle experience

•  more wellness and harmony

•  ease in your physical, emotional, mental and energetic bodies

• to lie in a receptive state and simply be 

Shamanic Reiki is best when you want: 

•  to actively participate in your own healing

• feedback and coaching

• to remove energy blocks that prevent you from stepping into the path that is meant for you

• an interactive session in communication with the facilitator, your higher self and/or spirit guides

• change

One last word of advice…

Always be mindful when selecting an energy healer and practitioner to work with. Choose someone you resonate with. Do some research to make sure that the practitioner is experienced and trustworthy. Afterall, you will be sharing sacred space and opening up parts of yourself for healing and this should only be done with someone fully aligned and in integrity. Trust your intuition. 

If you feel called to book a Reiki or Shamanic Reiki session with one of our experienced practitioners at Gateway Cottage Wellness Center, BakeR, Star, Faye, or Ben would be honored to assist you in your journey. 

Written by: Kirstyn Lazur

Kirstyn Lazur is the author of I Was Cursed in Connecticut, a memoir that recounts her unique and supernatural journey after the death of her mother. Her book is available through Amazon and Gateway Cottage Wellness Center’s online store.