Kenyoku

This is a very simple and effective technique that can be used in any moment and almost everywhere provided there is a minimum of privacy, with the advantage that it can be taught to our friends and relatives in order to help them to protect themselves.

Kenyoku means, literally, washing or dry bath. This is a technique used to strengthen our energy (as it purifies the circulation channels) and is used to remove all types of negative, or stagnant energies that have been absorbed all day long, or have stick to our Aura, during a Reiki treatment, moreover it can also be used to help disconnect us from the patient.

Kenyoku can be performed before or after a treatment. In case we use it before, it will help clean all the negative energies we might have gathered during our daily routine thus ensuring that we are energetically clean when treating our client. After a treatment, it will help to complete the separation of Auras and to remove eventual negativities absorbed from the client, therefore its utilization after a treatment being strongly recommended.

After Kenyoku it’s convenient that you clean the room using the CKR (or SHK + CKR), in the middle of the room to disperse the negative energy bearing in mind that it’s convenient to clean the floor for obvious reasons.

There are several variants of this technique, all of them executed in two steps with three passes each, the difference being on the areas to be swept.

Version 1:

First movement – in three steps:

• After a brief Gassho meditation, align your feet (facing forward) with your shoulders. Your feet must have full contact with earth and your body should be fully relaxed.

1. Place your right hand on your left shoulder and sweep gently and diagonally to your right hip.
2. Place your left hand on the right shoulder and sweep gently and diagonally to your left hip.
3. Repeat the first sweep one more time.

This first movement is to be repeated three times and in each sweep we shall make an “haaa” like sound when exhaling.

Second movement – also in three steps:

1. With your left arm stretched, and starting from the wrist, sweep gently with your right hand, through the palm of your left hand. The sweep stops beyond the stretched fingers.
2. With your right arm stretched, and starting from the wrist, sweep gently with your left hand, through the palm of your right hand. The sweep stops beyond the stretched fingers.
3. Repeat the first sweep one more time.

This second movement is to be repeated three times and in each sweep we shall make an “haaa” like sound when exhaling.

• After completing the sequence place your hands in Gassho and give thanks.

Version 2 (probably the most common):

First movement – also in three steps

• After a brief Gassho meditation, align your feet (facing forward) with your shoulders. Your feet must have full contact with earth and your body should be fully relaxed.

1. Place your right hand on your left shoulder and sweep gently and diagonally to your right hip.
2. Place your left hand on the right shoulder and sweep gently and diagonally to your left hip.
3. Repeat the first sweep one more time.

This first movement is to be repeated three times and in each sweep we shall make an “haaa” like sound when exhaling.

Second movement – also in three steps:

1. With your left arm fully stretched, place your right hand on the shoulder or on the middle of the forearm, and in a rapid, but gentle, movement sweep the exterior of your arm and the back of your hand. The sweep goes beyond the stretched fingers.
2. With your right arm fully stretched, place your left hand on the shoulder or on the middle of the forearm, and in a rapid, but gentle, movement sweep the exterior of your arm and the back of your hand. The sweep goes beyond the stretched fingers.
3. Repeat the first sweep one more time.

This second movement is to be repeated three times and in each sweep we shall make a hissing sound or a “haaa” like sound when exhaling.

• After completing the sequence place your hands in Gassho and give thanks.

Version 3:

This version is very similar to the second one with the only difference that here the sweeps, in the second movement, are made using the internal part of the arm and the palm of the hand.

In case you feel very heavily charged with negative energies, all the sweeping movements must be done in a very quick and energetic way (like if you were cutting something) and a hissing like sound should be used instead of the “haaa” one.

Some Reiki schools consider that the Kenyoku is to be performed according to gender. If female, you start with the left hand on the right shoulder, if male, you start with the right hand on the left shoulder. Personally, I have no opinion on this subject but I generally start with my right hand on the left shoulder and, sometimes, I end with one additional sweep “the other way”.

When performing Kenyoku if you feel that the negative energy is very strong, and in case you use a candle in your Reiki space, you can place a glass of water with salt on the right side of the candle in order to absorb negativity, also you can send it to the Violet Flame for transmutation.

If by any chance you feel that you need to clean yourself and lack the privacy to use the Kenyoku, you can simply place your wrists under cold water, for a couple of minutes, until you feel the cold of the water.

Article by João Antão Marques

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João Antão Marques, a retired chemical engineer, is an Usui Tibetan Reiki Master/teacher living in Lisbon, Portugal, with training in Jikiden Reiki, Karuna® Reiki and Seichim, Lotus Light Jewel, Tibetan Bowls Massage and Therapy of Past Lives. Works as a volunteer with elder people in a Daily Center of the Portuguese Red Cross and has also worked with drugs and alcohol addicted. In the meantime, has published a book for non-Reiki people “Hello I am the Reiki”. João can be reached by mail at [email protected].