Usui taught an energetic scanning technique to assist students intuitively detect areas of imbalance within the body. Although the correct name for the body scan is Byosen Reikan Ho, most modern-day practitioners refer to it as Byosen. Becoming proficient in this technique requires practice and patience.
What is Byosen and Hibiki?
Byosen Reikan translates as the ‘energy sensation of sickness (imbalance/disease)’. “Byo” means disease or sickness; “Sen” means before or future; “Rei” means energy, soul, spirit; and “kan” means emotion, feeling, sensation.
During the body scan, you may feel differences or changes in a client’s energy (or your own) as your hands are within their auric field. These sensations are referred to as hibiki in Japan. The word means echo or resonance. When performing Byosen, please remember that although the hibiki are felt in one area of a person’s body, it may not mean that dis-ease will manifest at the same point. Therefore, hibiki does not encourage you to diagnose a person. Rather, it helps you recognised where the Reiki is flowing the most. It encourages your intuitive sensing.
Byosen Technique
Ideally, this technique is completed when your client is lying down.
Begin with Gasshô and Reiji-Ho.
Starting at the crown, hold your hands about 5 to 30 cm above their body.
In a slow sweeping motion, move your hands from the crown to the feet and back up.
It may take a few passes.
- Your hands may detect sensations of heat or cold.
- You may feel a spinning sensation under your hands – fast, slow, chaotic, etc.
- You may feel your hands wanting to remain longer over a particular area.
- You may feel an abundance of energy or a lack of energy.
- You may see, feel, smell, or simply know – each person will experience the hibiki in different ways.
Hibiki – common significances
Please note: the intensity of the stimulus perceived can often reflect the severity/depth of the problem:
- Attraction signifies a need for treatment at the area of pull
- Repulsion indicates a probable long-standing blockage or inhibition of energy flow – something which may take a considerable number of Reiki sessions to alleviate
- Pain often indicates an excess or build-up of energy in the given area (due to a blockage, etc.). Sharp pain is sometimes considered to be a sign that the ‘pressure’ in the given area is causing a negative effect elsewhere in the system
- Tingling frequently signifies an area of inflammation
- Heat sensations in the therapist’s hands are indicative of Reiki being ‘drawn’ by the client
- Coldness signifies a deficit of energy in the area (or at least a suppression of energy) – due to a blockage, etc.
- Flux/Flow indicates a positive, balanced state – which will nonetheless still benefit from receiving treatment. (Deacon, 2003)
This scanning technique is not a tool for diagnosis. It is simply an additional (and optional) technique to assist you in understanding your energy-sensing capabilities.
References
Deacon, J. (2003). BYOSEN REIKAN HO. Retrieved from James Deacon’s…… Reiki Pages: http://www.aetw.org/d_byosen.html
Morrison, K. & Cameron, C. (2013) Reiki for Everyday Living – Level One. Wamuran, Queensland, Australia: Celticai Studio.