Did you know there are over 50 styles of Reiki? When you're receiving it, it doesn't really matter which one your practitioner trained in. But when you're learning it's really important you train in a style that resonates for you.

There are two main branches of Reiki, Japanese and Western, and all Reiki styles fall under the umbrella of one of them. We're going to look at the main differences between the two.

The word Reiki refers to the universal life force energy we use to do healing. The name of the healing modilaty itself is actually Usui Reiki Ryoho, which means Usui's Reiki Method. He wasn't the only healer who had a method of using Reiki energy, but it's his method that's taught under the umbrella term of Reiki today.

After Mikao Usui died, his successors evolved his work. The biggest changes were made when Reiki was brought to the West by a practitioner called Hawayo Takata.

Reiki continues to evolve, but all new branches are considered Western Reiki.

Teachers of Japanese Reiki aim to honor his wisdom and his work, and share the same information he did. His system focused on spiritual practice as a means of harnessing Reiki energy for healing. Japanese Reiki trainings today include spiritual concepts and technologies.

When Hawayo Takata brought Reiki from Japan to the United States, she didn't think Westerners would resonate with the spiritual teachings and philiosophy that underpinned Mikao Usui's teachings. She stripped out the spirituality and made it more practical.

Over time, most branches of Wstern Reiki have reintroduced some elements of spirituality but these aren't aligned with the original Japanese teachings, and bring in spirituality from other cultures. Ironically, Western Reiki now tends to be more 'woo' than Japanese Reiki.

The most noticeable differences between them lie in Western Reiki having rules and conditions, whereas Japanese Reiki does not (per the teachings of Mikao Usui). If you hear something about Reiki that sounds like a rule, you can be 99% sure it's come from a Western Reiki perspective.

I had no idea that's what I was taking. I was told I was learning Usui Reiki and I didn't know there were different branches so I didn't even know to check. I was taught several things in that training that were challenged when I learnt Japanese Reiki several years later.

Here are some Western Reiki teachings that would be considered myths in Japanese Reiki.

I want to clarify that not all branches of Western Reiki teach all these concepts, they each have their own perspective, but these are the most common differences you'll hear.

In Western Reiki, Reiki energy is a special energy that we can only connect to if we receive an attunement from a Reiki Master. If anyone says they're working with Reiki and they haven't had an attunement, they're mistaken and are working with some other kind of energy.

In Japanese Reiki, Reiki energy is ubiquitous and we are all already connected to it. We can all access and harness it with or without an attunement. Mikao Usui didn't receive an attunement from anyone, he found a way to connect to Reiki energy himself which is what he then taught others to do.

In Western Reiki, the Master transfers the ability to channel Reiki from themselves to the student. The teacher is the key to your connection to Reiki.

In Japanese Reiki, the Master is equal to the student and uses the attunement process to energetically support the student in their own healing. You already have your own connection to Reiki, the teacher acts as a support to help you deepen that connection. There is no hierarchy.

In Western Reiki the attunement creates a 21 day detox process during which each of your chakras aligns for 3 days.

In Japanese Reiki there's no specific detox process. Some people have detox-like symptoms as their bodies release things that no longger serve them, some do not. Chakras are not involved as Reiki is a Japanese modailty and chakras are part of the Indian understanding of how energy moves in the body. They are not part of Mikao Usui's teachings.

In my experience most people have symptoms for a day or two.

In Western Reiki you can only do Reiki on yourself after Reiki 1, and need Reiki 2 to do Reiki on others.

In Japanese Reiki you can do Reiki on anyone already, without even taking a Reiki training. The Reiki 1 curriculum covers both working on yourself and on others.

In Western Reiki you need to wait 3 months after Reiki 1 before you can take Reiki 2.

In Japanese Reiki you can wait as little or as long as you like, there is no timeline on your relationship with Reiki. Mikao Usui travelled Japan teaching Reiki 1 and Reiki 2 as one 5 day seminar.

In Western Reiki you learn about working with chakras and auras.

In Japanese Reiki these are not part of the curriculum. Chakras and auras aren't part of traditional Japanese spirituality so they're not included in the curriculum.

In Western Reiki you learn a methodical series of hand placements to give your treatment. There's no need to use your intuition, you'll have a one-size-fits-all prescription of where to place your hands that is the same for every person you work on and for every ailment. You won't touch your client, you'll hover your hands over their body at each of these locations.

In Japanese Reiki you learn to be in the flow with your hand placements and use your intuition to know where to place your hands and your treatment will be bespoke and vary each time. Your hands rest gently on your client's body (unless it's a sensitive or intimate area, then you can hover).

In Western Reiki you have to say a prayer or have a ritual before Reiki will start to flow through your hands. If you just place your hands on someone without doing this, nothing will happen.

In Japanese Reiki you always have access to Reiki and only need to have the intention or think about it and it will flow. You might learn a ritual but Reiki will still flow even if you don't do it.

There's no right or wrong, better or worse between the two branches. It's a matter of personal preference. My personal preference is Japanese Reiki and this is what I predominantly teach. I believe it's the better foundation for learning. But I add in pieces of Western Reiki, as many helpful additions have been made to the system over the years, espeically when it comes to using Reiki in birth.

I think it's important to know the differences between the two so you can make a more informed decision about what style you want to learn, and so you understand why another Reiki practitioner may have a different perspective on how Reiki works. They may not know there are other approches and philosophies, or may have been taught that their system is the right one.

If you have any questions about something you learnt or read that made you wonder what branch it comes from, drop me an email and I'll let you know.