A Life Worth Living Reiki

I'm Darrell Riffel, Reiki master and teacher, located near London, Ontario.
I first learned of reiki the practice probably about 20 years ago or so. I have always been into alternative fields of health and wellness for as long as I can remember, though I did not start practicing Reiki until about three years ago.
Health concerns always struck me as something that wasn't being addressed properly. Even being as young as 5 years old, I could see that the medical community knew very little about healing people. Seeing the effects of chemo treatment when I was just a little gaffer was the first flick of the switch that made me stop and question exactly how THIS could possibly be better than the illness!
It was also around this age (probably 6ish) that I discovered that passing souls would stop by and visit me before moving on to their "resting place". This happened many times in my life. This doesn't have much to do with my decision to get into the natural health game, but it does make the concept of people being spiritual beings more of a factual thing than a concept (for me anyway).
So...
Ever since I have been in this body, I have always been around restaurants and food. My parents owned a couple, and when I was old enough I started working in them. I worked restaurant jobs for about 25 years. This, inevitably lead me to learn everything I could about food (and an still learning!). Foods are what help us grow. They make our bodies strong, and can even make us immune to this or that... They can also do the opposite, they can make us weak, sick and even kill us. So what we consume has much to do with our physical, mental and spiritual health. Everything is energy, even food. Take in the beautiful, alive and colourful energy and that's how you'll be!
Okay the long rant is nearly over now...
Energy. This brings us to Reiki! Haha! There are steps in between all these things but I'll spare you the details. I would be surprised if ya made it this far!
So the natural progression it seems, should be onto energy. Everything, absolutely everything is energy! The word Reiki is made of two words in Japanese "Rei" meaning "universe" or "universal life" and the word "Ki" (or chi, in Chinese) meaning "Energy". Thus we have Universal Life Energy.
Reiki is the practice of allowing this energy to freely flow through the body. When Ki is flowing freely the person is well, when it's blocked the person is not well on some level. The Reiki practitioner helps to open the door to let some fresh Reiki air in when needed... To use an analogy. Reiki energy is intelligent and will never do harm. It goes where it is needed. A practitioner needs to be a clear channel for Reiki... I.e. Focused with the mind free of clutter, for Reiki to flow effortlessly through them and to the intended person(s). Anyone can learn Reiki procedure, but it takes dedication to meditation, true intentions and living by the 5 Reiki Principles:
Just for today, Do not anger
Do not worry
Be thankful
Work digillently on yourself
Be kind to every living being.
So as I hope you can see, Reiki is more than just treating aches and pains etc. It is a way of living... A Life Worth Living!