Reiki is a Japanese-based energy healing technique that originated in the early 1900s and was codified by Mikao Usui. It is performed by the practitioner laying the hands on the body in certain positions or hovering them just above the body.
The receiver of Reiki is fully clothed, and there is no physical pressure like in a massage (although it can be used in conjunction with a massage). While there are other, newer Reiki techniques that have developed in the modern world, the most common form practiced is Usui Reiki.
Energy healing using the hands or other methods is as old as humankind itself, but Reiki has become one of the most popular today. The word Reiki translated from Japanese, means “universal life force energy”.
Other cultures have different words for the same thing; i.e., in India, it is prana, and in China, it is chi. The practitioner of Reiki simply becomes a conduit for the life force energy to flow through. It is estimated that there are over 4 million Reiki practitioners worldwide.