When people ask what I do for a living, I sometimes notice something shift in their expression the moment I say "Reiki." A slight hesitation. A polite smile. Or a direct question: "What exactly is that?"
I understand. Before my training, I had vague ideas about it myself. Crystals. Chakras. Something between massage and meditation. And yet Usui Reiki is a precise practice, with a history, a method, and documented effects.
Here is what it actually is.
A Practice Born in Early 20th-Century Japan
Usui Reiki, whose full name is Usui Reiki Ryōhō, was developed by Mikao Usui in Japan in the 1920s. After a twenty-one-day retreat on Mount Kurama, Usui reported a profound transformative experience. He then structured a healing method based on the transmission of energy through the hands.
The word "Reiki" is made up of two Japanese kanji: Rei (universal, spiritual energy) and Ki (individual life force energy). In Japanese tradition, Ki corresponds to what the Chinese call Qi, a vital force that flows through the body and whose imbalance is associated with illness or exhaustion.
It is not a religion. It is not a set of mandatory beliefs. It is a healing practice.
How It Works in Practice
During a session, the practitioner places their hands on or just above specific areas of the body. The intention is to support the flow of Ki wherever it is blocked or depleted.
What the recipient experiences varies from person to person. Some feel intense warmth, others a sense of lightness or tingling. Many enter a state close to sleep without fully crossing into it, what neuroscientists call the hypnagogic state, a threshold between wakefulness and sleep where the nervous system naturally self-regulates.
It is not spectacular. It is not dramatic. It is often quiet, and it is precisely that quiet that allows something to happen.
What Reiki Is Not
There are a few persistent misconceptions worth clearing up.
Reiki is not massage. There is no physical manipulation of muscles or tissue. Contact, when it exists, is light and still.
Reiki does not replace medical care. It is a complementary approach. It works alongside conventional medicine, not in its place. This distinction is fundamental.
Reiki does not require any particular beliefs. Atheists, agnostics, people of various religious backgrounds — all can receive Reiki. The practice asks nothing of you except to be present.
Why More and More People Come to It
The reasons people come to Centre Reiki are often the same: an exhaustion that has lasted too long, an anxiety that resists the usual solutions, a body that no longer truly relaxes, even on holiday.
What Reiki seems to offer is access to a state of deep rest that many people can no longer reach on their own. Not passive rest, but active rest: the body reconnects with its own capacity to self-regulate.
Research is beginning to document this through the lens of the autonomic nervous system. Several studies show activation of the parasympathetic system, the one governing recovery, digestion and sleep, during and after Reiki sessions.
What I Practice at Centre Reiki
My training is rooted in the Usui Reiki Ryōhō lineage. I also integrate LaHoChi into sessions, depending on each person's needs.
Every session is individual. There is no identical protocol from one person to the next, because every body is different, and every moment is too.
If you are curious, the best way to understand what Reiki is remains experiencing it. book now
About the Practitioner:
Cédric Suming is a Usui Ryōhō Reiki Master Teacher, trained in person at the San Francisco Reiki Center. He also practices LaHoChi and 13th Octave LaHoChi. Founder of Centre Reiki, 58 rue d'Argout, Paris 2e.
Disclaimer: Reiki supports well-being; it does not replace medical treatment. If you are navigating a difficult health situation, please consult a healthcare professional alongside your sessions.
