by Rev. Kristina Soto, RN, BSN · Usui Ryoho Reiki Master · The Wellness Path
As a nurse, I learned the body in systems. Circulatory. Nervous. Lymphatic. Each one a map of how life moves through us. When I trained in Reiki, I was handed one more map. The energetic system.
It felt like home. Reiki training includes anatomy and physiology, the language I already spoke. And it gave words to something I had felt since childhood, long before I knew what to call it. We are energetic beings. We give off energy, we take it in, and it can be tended, the same way we tend our teeth, our hearts, and our blood pressure.
So let me walk you through the two great maps of the energy body, the chakras and the meridians. I will share what the traditions teach, what the science can and cannot yet say, and why I hold both with an open hand.
Two maps, one body
The chakras come from the yogic and tantric traditions of India. The word means wheel. They are described as spinning centers of energy along the spine, each tied to a part of how we live, feel, and connect.
The meridians come from Chinese medicine. They are described as channels through which qi, or life energy, flows. Acupuncture points sit along these channels.
I think of them as two vocabularies describing one living field. Different languages, one body. Reiki speaks gently to both.
Where the seven chakras come from
Here is something I love telling people, because it is true and it surprises them. The tidy system of seven chakras, each with its own rainbow color, is younger than most of us assume. Traditional texts across India, Tibet, and East Asia describe different numbers of chakras. The seven center, rainbow colored model many of us know today took shape in the West, especially through John Woodroffe’s The Serpent Power (1918) and Charles Leadbeater’s The Chakras (1927) (Fitger, 2020).
Knowing this does not make the chakras less meaningful to me. It makes them a living tradition, one that has kept growing as people across cultures and centuries have used it to understand themselves.
The seven energy centers
Here is each center, from the ground up. Notice which one makes you pause. That pause is information.
Root Muladhara · base of the spine
Holds: Safety, grounding, belonging.
When it asks for care: Anxious, scattered, unsettled.
In balance: Steady, supported, present in your body.
Sacral Svadhisthana · lower belly
Holds: Creativity, pleasure, emotional flow.
When it asks for care: Flat, numb, creatively stuck.
In balance: Playful, creative, feelings that flow.
Solar Plexus Manipura · upper belly
Holds: Confidence, will, self trust.
When it asks for care: Self doubt, people pleasing, depletion.
In balance: Warm confidence, clear yeses and kind noes.
Heart Anahata · center of the chest
Holds: Love, compassion, forgiveness.
When it asks for care: Guarded, grieving, hard to receive.
In balance: Open, tender, receiving with ease.
Throat Vishuddha · the throat
Holds: Voice, truth, expression.
When it asks for care: Swallowing your words, feeling unheard.
In balance: Speaking with kindness, listening deeply.
Third Eye Ajna · between the brows
Holds: Intuition, insight, inner vision.
When it asks for care: Overthinking, mental fog, doubting your gut.
In balance: A quiet, clear mind and trust in your knowing.
Crown Sahasrara · top of the head
Holds: Connection, meaning, spirit.
When it asks for care: Lost, disconnected, questioning purpose.
In balance: Wonder, peace, a sense of belonging to something vast.
Meridians, and what the science says
The nurse in me always asks, where is the evidence? So here it is, as honestly as I can give it.
In 2002, researchers Helene Langevin and Jason Yandow mapped acupuncture points on the human arm using cross sections from the Visible Human Project. They reported that more than 80 percent of the points they studied lined up with planes of connective tissue, the fascia that wraps and weaves through our muscles (Langevin & Yandow, 2002). It was a fascinating finding, a possible physical thread beneath an ancient map.
It is also debated. Critics point out that meridian theory grew from ideas that were never anatomical, and that one study of one limb cannot prove the whole system. I think both things can be true. The body is still teaching us.
The biofield
Researchers now use the word biofield to describe the energy fields thought to surround and move through living bodies. Rubik and colleagues (2015) describe it as an organizing field that helps the body create, maintain, and regulate its balance. It is an emerging area of study, and much remains unknown.
And Reiki itself
Reiki’s clearest and most consistent gift in research is relaxation and reduced anxiety. A 2024 meta analysis that pooled 824 participants found Reiki meaningfully reduced anxiety (Fan, 2024). A 2025 meta analysis of randomized trials with 661 participants found improved quality of life (Liu et al., 2025). The research is young and its quality varies. Still, the signal is encouraging, and it matches what I have felt in my own hands and seen on so many faces.
How Reiki meets your energy centers
In a session, I move through positions over each center, from crown to root, often with my hands hovering. I follow where the energy feels heavy or dense. At a distance, the intention is the same. We listen to the same music, you rest, and I hold the space.
What I offer is real rest, real calm, and a partner in your own healing. Reiki walks beside your medical care, never instead of it. That is enough. That is, in fact, a lot.
Which energy center is asking for care?
Take my gentle seven question check in and find out, with a small practice you can try today.
Take the check inKeep going
To explore whole person care, mind, body, and energy held together, wander into the Wellness Path. And when you are ready to feel this for yourself, book a distance Reiki session. Come exactly as you are.
a blessing before you go
May your roots hold you.
May your heart stay open.
May your voice ring true.
And may every part of you, seen and unseen, remember that it belongs.
Go gracefully. 🤍
Rev. Kristina Soto, RN, BSN
References
Fan, Y. (2024). Therapeutic effects of Reiki on interventions for anxiety: A meta-analysis. BMC Palliative Care, 23(1), Article 147. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-024-01439-x
Fitger, M. (2020). The tetractys and the hebdomad: Blavatsky’s sacred geometry. Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism, 8(1), 73-115.
Langevin, H. M., & Yandow, J. A. (2002). Relationship of acupuncture points and meridians to connective tissue planes. The Anatomical Record, 269(6), 257-265. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.10185
Liu, K., Qin, Z., Qin, Y., et al. (2025). Effects of Reiki therapy on quality of life: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Systematic Reviews, 14, Article 72. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-025-02811-5
Rubik, B., Muehsam, D., Hammerschlag, R., & Jain, S. (2015). Biofield science and healing: History, terminology, and concepts. Global Advances in Health and Medicine, 4(Suppl), 8-14. https://doi.org/10.7453/gahmj.2015.038.suppl
