August 10th, 2011 marked a very special day in my life our local hospice embraced Reiki into it’s facility. I have been offering Reiki on and off at hospice for about four or five years. Whether offering it to the office staff or residents it has always brought great joy to the receiver and the giver.
One day while trying to rustle up more clients for Wednesday Reiki Day at hospice – I approached a fellow volunteer who also is a Reiki practitioner and asked if she would be interested. Her response caught me quite off guard, ” No, thanks I’m feeling fine, so I don’t think I need any Reiki.”
So it got me thinking?
- When do most people receive Reiki?
- Do only sick people need or want Reiki?
- Is it bad to have Reiki when your feeling healthy/fine?
In most Reiki traditions the beginner student is strongly encouraged and is recommended to administer Reiki self-healing every day. It is an opportune moment for some quality ‘me’ time. Yes, I mean some self-indulgent, doing this for me – kind of thing. It is not very common in my North American culture to invoke a time-out from life and have some ‘me’ time, but it is becoming a necessity.
Meditation is ‘me’ time too. Taking time to reflect on the day’s events – could I have been kinder or more compassionate when listening to a co-worker un-burden their trials and tribulations of the moment? Was I quick to judge another based upon superficial evidence? Or, am I being ground down my the rat race?
Just as North Americans are seeing the value of mediation, we Reiki practitioners need to see the value in Daily Self-Practice. Initially, as a beginning student we may not feel much. I know I didn’t feel any of the Byosen sensations in my hands for a number of months, but then again I wasn’t using Reiki on myself daily. Maybe if I had; the ability to feel those sensations may have started sooner or not. Over time the palms of my hands got hot, and then hot and sweaty, and then I got hot too. Thankfully, the more I went to the teacher sponsored practice nights the whole body flame I was experiencing ceased and returned to a warm glow in my palms.
Reiki is not something you do only when you feel like you need to do something – when someone or a loved one is under duress. Reiki can be thought of as a pro-active preventative countermeasure to help us stay in balance. We would never think of only having a bath once a year as they used to do in Medieval Europe. Nor would we only brush our teeth on the day we go to the dentist. In my mind Reiki shouldn’t be thought of this way either.
If we want to stay in balance when walking that fine high wire we call life will require us to use our Reiki more frequently. Reiki is not like the good china we only bring out on special occasions, it is good enough for everyday.
As for the questions I posed at the beginning of this blog – I have no answers. If your inclined leave me a note. Thanks!
You’re so right Lorinda to be pointing out the value of Reiki practice in preventive health care. From a jikiden point of view, a toxin free body tends to naturally show a quick healing response and is quite capable of looking after itself. Yet, living in the 21st century it’s almost impossible not to experience toxin overload.
In Jikiden Reiki, we focus treatment on the areas where there are accumulations of toxins, using Reiki to help the body break them down and eliminate them more effectively. In this way we perhaps never need to experience the more serious conditions that may develop if we don’t regularly clear the build up of toxins. And what a blessing to have the means to do this in our own hands!
Your comment about developing the ability to sense byosen is also spot on. This most useful perception skill (allowing us to find the areas with accumulations of toxins) is subtle at first and really only develops with lots of practice, ideally also on others, not just oneself.
Thanks Gisela, for taking the time to respond. Indeed, learning the Jikiden style has made a difference in my Reiki practice. Looking forward to reading more of your insightful posts.