posylady,
I don't know how a person would explain Reiki without reference to energy in some way. Ki, chi, prana, etc. After all that is what it is all about. Even the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health (a government agency) uses the words energy and ki when describing Reiki.
They also use the word 'biofield' so maybe you could try using that one, though I can see all kinds of questions being asked about what a biofield is. :-)
Walk in beauty,
Rebecca
