Reiki: A Return to Balance and the Light Within

Exploring Usui Reiki and Kundalini Reiki as Sacred Paths of Healing

Reiki is one of those beautiful words that carries a whole universe of feeling in just five letters. It means “universal life energy”, and that’s exactly what it offers. A soft, intelligent frequency that gently flows where it’s needed most, clearing, soothing, and restoring harmony to body, mind, and soul. In a world where we often carry too much—grief, stress, inherited pain, emotional exhaustion—Reiki is a medicine of remembrance. A reconnection to the part of you that has never been broken, and never forgotten.

As a Master Reiki practitioner attuned to both Usui Reiki and Kundalini Reiki, I hold reverence for the unique gifts each path brings. While both forms draw from the same universal life force, they offer different keys to open the healing doorway—each resonating with different souls, needs, and moments in time.

Usui Reiki is the foundation of modern Reiki practice. It originated in Japan through Dr. Mikao Usui, and is rooted in sacred symbols that resemble Japanese calligraphy. These symbols act as gateways, helping the practitioner access and direct specific frequencies of healing. The energy is channeled through the hands, often placed gently on or above the body, and it flows with deep wisdom—going where it’s needed most. Usui Reiki is incredibly supportive for emotional processing, calming the nervous system, reducing pain, and inviting deep rest and spiritual alignment. Its structure and lineage offer a sense of tradition and grounding, making it a beautiful introduction to energy healing for many.

Kundalini Reiki, on the other hand, invites a different flavor of activation. It awakens the dormant life force energy at the base of the spine—known as the Kundalini—and gently guides it upward through the chakras. The attunement process opens a clear energy channel from the root to the crown, allowing the practitioner to channel Reiki energy through intention alone, without the need for symbols. This form is often experienced as more direct and intense, capable of clearing deeper emotional wounds, karmic imprints, and past-life or ancestral energy. It’s a powerful ally for those on the path of awakening, inner alchemy, and soul remembrance.

While some people debate which form is stronger, the truth is that Reiki meets you where you are. No matter the style, you will only ever receive what your body, energy field, and soul are ready to hold. The difference is not in power—but in purpose. Usui Reiki tends to focus on healing the self, inviting presence and peace. Kundalini Reiki often expands the work to include energetic environments, timelines, and tools—infusing Reiki into objects, food, crystals, and even spaces. It offers a wider scope for those working multidimensionally.

Both forms include three degrees of attunement, with each level deepening the practitioner’s ability to channel and serve. And because energy is not bound by time or space, Reiki can be sent across distances, or even backward in time to heal moments in your personal history that left energetic imprints. It can soothe a trauma, shift a belief, or lighten a wound that words alone couldn’t reach. Reiki also works beautifully with animals, children, and those in need of gentle, non-invasive support.

When should someone turn to Reiki? Often, it’s not something you “choose”—it calls to you. In the quiet moments when you feel tired of holding it all. When your heart whispers that there must be more. When you’re navigating illness, emotional upheaval, burnout, grief, spiritual awakening—or even if you’re simply curious and ready to receive. Reiki doesn’t require you to believe in it. It only asks you to open.

In my practice, each session is guided intuitively, whether in person or from a distance. Sometimes we work in silence. Other times, the session may include channeled insight, visualizations, or light language. No two experiences are alike—because no two souls are alike.

There are many forms of Reiki in the world today—each a unique expression of love. But they all flow from the same stream. They are all rooted in compassion. And none of them can be used to cause harm. That, to me, is the most important truth of all.

Whether you’re seeking emotional healing, energetic clarity, spiritual awakening, or simply a place to breathe and be held—Reiki is here. Quiet. Powerful. Loving. Just like you.

I want to quickly share my story with you!

How Reiki Found Me: A Soul Awakening Through Symbol and Light

For me, Reiki wasn’t something I set out to study. It found me—mysteriously, unmistakably, and completely uninvited by the logical mind.

Not long after my spiritual awakening, I experienced something I’ll never forget. One night, I slipped into an unusual in-between state—somewhere between dreaming and waking, lucid yet deeply altered. For hours, I found myself repeating the phrase “Cho Ku Rei” over and over, while drawing a glowing golden symbol in the air with my hand. Each time I traced it, it lit up with radiant light, as if I were activating something ancient and sacred. I had no idea what I was doing. I had never heard of Cho Ku Rei before. But this continued all night long—drawing, repeating, illuminating.

When I woke the next morning, the phrase and the symbol were still with me, pulsing in my awareness. I felt called to look it up, and what I found left me in awe: Cho Ku Rei is the Power Symbol in Usui Reiki. A symbol of amplification, protection, and divine connection. It was as if my soul had remembered something my conscious mind had not yet learned.

That moment marked the beginning of my journey with Reiki. Not from a place of study or strategy—but from pure, direct experience. I hadn’t chosen Reiki. Reiki had chosen me. And in many ways, it still continues to unfold through me, revealing new layers of wisdom with each session, each attunement, each soul I’m blessed to hold space for.

With deep love,

-Emma