What if I told you that as a Reiki Master Teacher, I couldn’t whole heartedly explain to you in words exactly what Reiki was and how it worked, but that it has yielded results that sometimes have taken even me by surprise.
The truth is, I’m not here to fix, heal, change or improve anyone. I am only here to help YOU restore balance to your own body, one session at a time; and that looks like different things to different people.
I think one of the biggest misconceptions that holds people back from trying Reiki is that they think it is “woo woo” or some sort of a religious practice or cult, which I can assure you, it is not. Typically, the people (that I have come across) who believe this have not done their own research, but have taken someone else’s word for what they believe it to be, without ever learning or trying it for themselves.
If you were to ask Google to define Reiki, you might find something along the lines of it being a Japanese form of energy healing or type of alternative medicine, where Reiki practitioners use a hands-on healing method to connect to “universal energy” that moves from the practitioner to the client to facilitate healing on some level.
My opinion? I find most definitions of Reiki to be limiting, and barely scratch the surface of what it truly is and can do for people. But I can tell you it’s not a pill with a possible side effect, that society has taught most of us to seek out first.
I think many of us consciously or unconsciously bury traumatic events from our pasts that are too painful to deal with on a physical, mental, and or emotional level. And in those deep down unhealed places where things go unaddressed, unseen, and unresolved, our bodies become weakened, and then start speaking to us through physical discomfort and dis ease, begging us to address what we have ignored our whole lives.
We are so quick to go outside of ourselves looking for help yet haven’t really learned how to be aware enough to go within. Reiki helps us do that. Reiki helps me pay deeper attention to what my body is saying with a much greater awareness.
When asked if I can help them with something specific through a Reiki session, my standard answer, (which I was taught to say by one of my many wonderful Reiki teachers, “Libby Barnett,”) was, “Don’t know. It can’t hurt, but it might help.”
It’s always the case that I don’t know. I never know. And no one should ever claim to know. We are all so extremely different physically, mentally, emotionally, and energetically.
I’ve had different situations where people have approached me after events where I had given mini Reiki sessions in small groups, that were in awe of their own experiences. One woman came up to me and told me her sciatic pain was completely gone in that moment and that she hadn’t experienced relief like that after sitting for that long in years.
I had another woman tell me her wrist pain had melted away after her session, making her curious enough to want to learn how to perform it on herself and others. When she took one of my classes, she shared this with me 4 days later;
“I also wanted to let you know directly that my knee pain has been GONE ever since you performed the Reiki session on me after the class on Saturday. It’s slowly starting to come back, as is expected as it is chronic pain having to do with weight gain, but the few days of relief was HUGE and much needed. Thank you truly for helping me!”
All types of people from many different professions and backgrounds have come to me for sessions. I’ve had stay at home moms, chiropractors, business owners, insurance brokers, therapists, teachers, social workers, other energy healers, martial artists, physical trainers, expecting moms, retirees, salesman, students and more. And it’s important to mention the fur babies who have benefitted from Reiki as well, such as guinea pigs, cats, dogs, chipmunks, squirrels, birds, and even horses.
How often do people come to me for Reiki sessions? That depends on a lot of things. Some come once a month, and some come once a year as a treat for themselves. I have other clients who come weekly for a period of time depending on what they are going through. And I’ve had many people gift their loved ones a Reiki session after experiencing it for themselves. I also have distant clients that book sessions for themselves who live in other countries seeking alternative ways to find balance in their own busy lives.
I can’t speak to what it may or may not do for you, but I can share with you, different types of things that people have come to me for when booking their own sessions;
- They want to boost their body’s ability to better handle and recover from an upcoming surgery
- They just had surgery and want to help speed up their recovery
- They want to reduce their side effects to the meds they are taking
- They are seeking relief from anxiety or depression and have tried everything else and nothing has worked
- They are trying to quit or get a better handle on some sort of a habit
- They have sciatic pain, or back pain and are seeking some sort of relief
- They suffer from headaches
- They want their chakras (energy systems) balanced
- They have a lot of self judgement and are trying to lose weight
- They have trouble relaxing or sleeping
- They are stressed out in general and on the verge of a burn out or have already reached their burn out point.
- They are just looking for something that will bring a sense of peace into their chaotic lives and want to tame their monkey mind
- They are going through a divorce and seeking self care
- They are grieving the loss of a loved one
For some, the level of relaxation reached during a Reiki session has been so deep that they have fallen asleep on the table or in the zero gravity chair. A few of my students who were once clients had such a moving Reiki experience of their own during a session, that they wanted to learn how to do it for themselves. I’ve had a few go through all the different levels of training with me because of how it has enhanced their own lives.
For me, Reiki has become part of who I am and interwoven into the fabric of my daily life. I bring it into my daily mediations each morning to help start my day with a clear mind and sense of balance. I use the Reiki symbols, which I acquired in my Level 2 course in 2018, when I cook or eat a meal to enhance vitality, or when I drink a glass of water to invite cleansing energy, or when I get dressed in the morning for daily empowerment, or when I prepare a room for a Reiki client for the highest healing, or when I have a situation in my life that I am trying to bring peace to.
I have even used it to help heal events from my own childhood.
In case you find that odd, let me explain further. When you are a Level 2 practitioner, you can use the distant symbol, not only to send Reiki to someone across the world or anywhere that is not where you are, but you can send Reiki to a situation, any situation, to any point in time in your life.
Time and space simply does not exist when you use the Distant Symbol. Some people use it to send Reiki to future things like job interviews they have a few days out, or upcoming surgeries, or upcoming exams to help affect the best possible outcomes. And in the same context, others use it to go backwards.
Distant Reiki has helped me go back to those points of trauma in my own childhood to help me help the little girl that I was, which is the same little girl who lives deep down inside of the woman I am today.
How amazing is it, to be given the opportunity to be who you are today, and go back to the little child you once were and look them in the eyes, giving them/yourself all the healing you needed and deserved? I have been able to hug her, hold her, comfort her, love her, and make her feel safe again, validating her as a human being, and empowering her to confidently go after her dreams.
There is no rule book for how to use Reiki, and how I use it, may not be how another practitioner uses it. There may never be any distant Reiki or inner child work done at all. Some people may use it to simply bring peace to family members or friends or even their pets who are going through a hard time.
If you’re not sure when you should give Reiki a try, then I offer you some things to think about;
Do you have a sense of just feeling “off” and want to restore balance and bring a sense of peace into your life? When was the last time you tried something new for yourself as a form of self-care? Have you tried other things that haven’t helped you in the past and are looking for an alternative way to try to help yourself? Or might Reiki be a complement to what you are already doing that could help enhance your own healing?
If you are Reiki curious, and want to seek out your own Reiki Practitioner and/or even a teacher, I encourage you to do some homework first. Research the background of the person you are interested in having a session with. They should be more than happy to share their credentials and trainings with you. I also encourage you to read their reviews whether on a platform like google or their own website. Being able to read what other people’s experiences have been with a practitioner is invaluable. Word of mouth is another great way to discover new people to try, so don’t be shy to ask around either. Ideally you want to feel comfortable with the practitioner with whom you are entrusting your energy.
I think it’s healthy and wise to be skeptical of anything you don’t understand, but before knocking it, I would encourage you to give it a try. We have to be our own laboratories before we can truly attest to something as being helpful to ourselves or not.
Whatever your healing journey may entail in the future, or even the distant past, I hope it involves Reiki in some way or another. It can’t hurt and it just might help you too.
For more information on how to schedule a Reiki session with Angela from Loving Karma, please click the following link below:
