If you are curious about Reiki, you’ve landed in the right place. In this article, we’ll cover the basics of Reiki for beginners and how to get started on your Reiki Journey.
Reiki is a healing modality that uses channeled energy to heal. Reiki can be done by a Reiki Practitioner, or you can give yourself Reiki with training.
If you are new to Reiki, is it better to get a Reiki session? Or should you start learning Reiki right away?
Many healing modalities (medicine and acupuncture, for example), requires years of study and practice. These healing modalities often require another practitioner for treatment. You can’t practice medicine on yourself (and I’m a physician saying this).
Reiki can be done by someone else, or you can do it on yourself. So how to get started?
Want to learn more about Reiki ? Download the free Reiki 101 book now.
What Is Reiki?
Reiki is a healing modality that channels energy into a receiver via a trained Reiki Healer. The energy that is channeled is from a source that serves only the highest good. The Reiki Practitioner channels energy from a higher source to the recipient.
Reiki Energy currently can’t be measured or quantified. Researchers have attempted to quantify Reiki in the form of the Human Biofield. Currently, it is difficult to place a direct measurement on Reiki Energy.
Reiki Healers use intention to channel healing energy. The intention is to heal the client.
I often explain Reiki as acupuncture without the needles. Reiki can be applied directly to meridians and chakras. Reiki can be used an any part of the body with direct touch or with hands off the body.
Learn how Reiki goes beyond the limits of space and time to heal.
Reiki can be sent over distances. This is one of the most power aspect of Reiki. Reiki can be sent to any person, any place, and in any time. Only your imagination limits who Reiki can be used.
Distance Reiki can be sent across a room. Distance Reiki can be sent to another room, like if you’re visiting a loved one in the hospital who is in isolation.
Reiki is a healing practice, a spiritual practice, or a mindfulness practice. Practicing Reiki does not go against your religious practice in any way. You can combine Reiki with your other practices. If you already meditate, Reiki can be a form of meditation.
What Reiki Is Not
Reiki is not a religion. It is considered to be a spiritual practice, but there is no doctrine or structured religion with the practice. Because of this, Reiki is available to all people, including atheist.
Reiki is not a way to change or alter someone else’s behavior. Reiki can be used to bring blessings or ease a situation such as a difficult relationship.
Where did Reiki come from?
The origin story of Reiki starts in Japan, at the famous Mount Karuma. The first Reiki Practitioner, Dr. Mikao Usui, created Reiki after taking a spiritual pilgrimage to Mount Karuma, fasting for 21 days and becoming attuned to the healing energy of Reiki. Although Reiki started in Japan, it has been taught and practiced all over the world.
Does Reiki Work?
Yes and no.
I advise my clients and patients that I consider Reiki to be part of a spectrum of healing modalities that can definitely help to heal, but if it does not match the energy of the disease, it may not work quickly enough.
Does Reiki Work? Watch to learn more Reiki
Where Beginner’s Can Learn More about Reiki
If you are new to Reiki, there are some great online resources you can consider researching. You can start learning about the various types Reiki.
No, it can’t replace an evaluation with a medical or psychological specialist. Reiki not a diagnostic tool, although it can give you insight.
Can Beginner’s Learn Reiki?
Reiki is a healing modality in which you can learn it yourself! While I love the idea of seeking a professional especially if you’re new to Reiki, no need to wait.
Reiki Training can be completed live, online, or on a self-paced course. The training tends to be a healing in itself. Reiki Training typically involves studying, reading, an attunement then practices.
Curious about Reiki Certification? Check out Healing Arts Reiki I and Reiki II.
Online Resources
Here are some of my favorite resources to learn about Reiki here.
4 Signs you are in a Dark Night of the Soul, and what to do next
I first heard the term “Dark Night of the Soul” during a Reiki class. This is a time of major disruption in life. This can be job loss, breakups, illness, fear, anxiety, and overall feeling like you can’t take one more thing. If you are experiencing this, there is no accident. You are likely starting, or currently in a time of your life of intense growth.
What are the signs of a Dark Night of the Soul?
During an interview, I asked Psychic Development Teacher Heather of heatheryish.com, we did a deep dive into the “Dark Night of the Soul.” She shared her personal experiences with how she navigated these rough water. Here is some of the knowledge she shared during the interview.
1. Weakening of the Foundations of Your Life
When you are going through a “Dark Night of the Soul”, it appears as if your world is falling apart. The aspects of your life that create our daily routines, such as relationships, work, home, and health began to change quickly. This results in breakups, endings, being fired or laid off, or becoming ill.
Even more uncomfortable is that major changes may happen all at once. It may feel like the sky is falling, and in your world it may be. One unwanted change may lead to another, then another.
You may find yourself suddenly with much more time on your hands because of the end of a relationship, or the end of a job. If the loss is the death of a loved one, this can feel like a chasm that is painful and you desire to fill immediately.
Why This Happens
Many spiritual leaders and coaches see the journey in to the Dark Night of the Soul as a time of transition. The choices you have made may have served you at that point in time, but not must be let go. Relationships that hinder your growth on a soul level must change or end.
Breakups, financial losses, career setbacks are emotionally painful and are powerful teachers on your soul journey. They are not meant to be easy, but they always serve a purpose of crating a major shift.
How to Survive The Crumbling of the Foundations In Your Life during the Dark Night of the Soul
Your were built to survive this challenge. Your faith has likely taught you that you can survive, and thrive in any challenge that comes your way.
Heather advised us during her interview that feeling emotional overwhelm is expected to happen. She encourages us that higher guidance from your spirit guides and your God are with you.
During the tumultuous times of the Dark Night, you can find your emotional center using meditation. Daily meditation calms your nervous system. During times of change, your Sympathetic Nervous System will be heightened. You may have trouble with appetite, sleep, and finding inner calm. Working with your nervous system through intentional meditation daily can help you find your inner calm, and create a buffer for you during this difficult time.
My 21 Day Meditation Challengecan help you start and continue your meditation. Course includes downloadable meditations.
2. Desire to Withdraw from Others
During out interview (which you can download here), I asked Heather for some of the subtle signs that a Dark Night of the Soul is coming. She noted that in her clients, withdrawing from what’s familiar, particular from the community you’re in, is a sign that big change is coming.
Why This Happens
This kind of withdrawal may be accompanied with fatigue. You may be so tired that getting out of bed feels monumental. You previous relationships also may be draining your energy, so it is now impossible as you move through this change to connect with others.
Creating a Safe Space During the Dark Night of the Soul
As you journey through the Dark Night of the Soul, energy preservation is necessary. It may feel selfish, but your mind, body, and spirit demand that you allocate your resources to yourself.
Heather’s advice is to create your own safe place. Create space and time to heal, feel protected and to rest. How do you do this?
Creating your own safe place can start with developing and enhancing your healing rituals. Starting a daily Meditation Practice such as the 21 Day Meditation Journey helps you create a healing ritual you can return to day after day.
Reiki creates a safe place to recover during the Dark Night of the Soul. Receiving Reiki from a trusted Reiki Healer is wonderful, but did you know know you can learn Reiki and heal yourself?
Reiki creates a safe space for gentle healing. Performing Reiki on yourself daily will create a safe space through healing ritual. It is possible to do this for yourself. Learning Reiki is therapeutic as well. You learn about you Chakras, the history of Reiki, and your anatomy. What you learn in Reiki can serve as guiding lights as you navigate the Dark Night of the Soul.
3. Disconnection from Your Own Desires
Being unable to identify with your desires, your wishes, and your passions is a sign that you may have drifted from you path in life. If you feel that you are busy, doing many things, but none of them bring joy to your life, this is a sign that you are entering a Dark Night of the Soul.
Why This Happens
Failure to acknowledge your feelings, desires and needs leads to disconnection. This disconnection form yourself creates a crisis in the mind, body and spirit. Each of us has a purpose, a calling, or a chosen mission that our souls selected before we came to exist in this time. If decisions you have made have taken you away from this, you will experience trouble with knowing what it is you want.
How to Reconnect With Your Desires During the Dark Night of the Soul
Finding ways to reconnect with your desires requires quiet, reflection, and intentional healing. During our interview, Heather recommended using therapy as a way to reconnect.
Working with a counselor, such as my podcast guest, Brandi Gibson, can help you understand when you feel stress in your body. Have a listen to her episode, Stress Awareness in the Mind Body to learn how therapy can teach you to reconnect with your physical body.
Longing for major changes in your life may be more than fantasy. If you’ve had a dream of a career change, or longed for living in a different place, these desires may be much more than fantasy. You may have feelings of guilt about these longings, but as we learned during this podcast episode, you want to approach these desires with loving kindness.
Why This Happens
Experiencing a Dark Night of the Soul is a sign that major change is coming. Changes in your home, career, personal life and yourself are coming. Embracing that change is eminent makes this easier to accept.
Embracing the Changes That Come with the Dark Night of The Soul
During this time of transition, educate yourself abundantly. Reading, taking courses, listening to podcast and reading blogs that support your journey through the Dark Night of the Soul will help you embrace these changes and grow from them.
Reading has helped me through my own Dark Night of the Soul. Reading as a therapeutic intervention is known as bibliotherapy. I have a list of recommended books that I have found inspiring and helpful.
My wish for anyone who is in a dark time is that this time will serve to help you heal, progress, and grow. Accept the signs that you and your life must change. Use this time to learn meditation. Learn Reiki to heal yourself. Understand that as you progress on this journey, it is for a purpose.
Resilience is the ability to recover from injury, setback, or trauma. While it’s easiest to avoid anything that causes harm, it’s impossible to avoid everything that can harm you. Illness, emotional upset, trauma, loss and anger are apart of life. In this article, we will explore three ways you can increase your resilience to stress in all forms.
While you have no control over the world around you, you have complete control over yourself. You can prepare your self for life’s challenges long before they cross your path.
I think of resilience as a savings account of energy. You are free to use the currency in any way, and while its in savings, it can accrue extra interest depending on the environment. When it’s time to make a purchase (a major life change, a birth, a death, a move, a new star, and ending for example), the funds will be used.
If the account has a low balance, it may go into the red once the inevitable stresses of life hit. A negative balance in your Resiliency Bank will draw form other accounts. The available accounts to draw from are the mind, body and spirit.
You can make deposits into your Resilience Bank all the time!
#1. Resilience to Stress Using Meditation
Many people turn to meditation during times of stress, or when they have many questions about life. Many feel that meditation is only needed for a short period of time.
Meditation is fantastic during times of stress. Being able to stop the hectic pace of life even for 3 minutes is better than continuing forge ahead without taking a break.
Making deposits to your Resilience Bank before stress hits allows you to increase your resilience stress even more. When your life get’s stressful, it is possible you may not have time to stop and meditate. Stress often accompanies major life transitions, such as a birth, a death, a new job, a move, a marriage or divorce. Even if the transition is something you’ve hoped and prayed for, you will undergo many changes that are out of your control.
Making daily meditation a practice that comes to you naturally is a way to make automatic deposits to your Resilience Account. Having a high amount in your Resilience Bank assures that you will have more resilience to stress when it inevitably occurs.
Your daily meditation practice can be accessible, easy, and rewarding.
A formal meditation practice is an excellent and guaranteed to increase your resilience to stress. Mindfulness, either a formal meditation practice, or as an informal practice also increases your resilience to stress.
Mindfulness is a deceptively simple way to increase your resilience to stress at any time during your day. I am a full time physician, seeing patients in a hospital owned clinic daily. My days can be busy, often leaving very little time for me to pause and meditate. Practicing mindfulness during my day, such as setting an intention with my patients, creating healthy boundaries, and performing mindful hand washing help me increase my resilience to stress.
Reiki is a holistic healing modality that allows for energy to be channeled into the mind and body for healing. If you are new to Reiki, feel free to check out my primer on Reiki here.
Reiki treatments on a regular basis can help you stay rested, prevent disease, and stay healthy. Many people seek Reiki during times of illness and emotional distress. Reiki is healing at these times, but consider staying with Reiki even once you feel healed.
Practicing self Reiki is an easy way to receive Reiki at any time. If you already are a Reiki Healer, I have created a 9 Minute Guided Reiki Session that can be used to conduct short sessions with no need for a timer.
Conclusion
Investing in your Resilience Account with Meditation, Mindfulness, and Reiki is worth your time. Need some inspiration? Check out my program here!
We all have times in which we feel depressed. Feeling down, disappointed, or hopeless is a part of life most of us must journey through. If these symptoms persist for several weeks or months, treatment with therapy or medication may be needed in order to recover.
In this article, we’ll explore depression, as well as how it can be managed with your doctor, and steps you can take at home to feel better.
What is Depression
Clinical Major Depression is defined by the DSM 5th Edition1 as the following:
Signs and Symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder
Feelings of sadness, emptiness, or hopelessness on most days
Loss of Interest or pleasure in activities
Significant weight gain or weight loss
Insomnia or Sleeping Excessively
Restlessly moving (agitation) or moving slowly
Fatigue nearly everyday
Decreased ability to concentrate or make decisions
Reoccurring thoughts of death, suicide; plans to act on suicidal thoughts
We all have times that we feel depressed. We may feel overwhelmed, sad, or we may be grieving a loss. These temporary feelings we may label is being depressed, but these are vastly different from the medical illness Major Depressive Disorder.
If you suspect you have depression, you must be evaluated by a medical professional. You will likely have a physical exam, answer several questions about your mood, and possibly complete labs to make sure there is no medical issue causing depression.
You should contact your physician right away if you complete the questions and your scores consistent with major depression. If you did not have a physician you should contact your insurance company to find who you can see.
Alternatively if you do not have insurance you can dial 211 from any phone in the United States to find what local resources are available to you.
If you are having thoughts of suicide you need to call 911, or call the national suicide hotline for immediate assistance.
Major depression is a disorder that presents with primary psychological symptoms but does have physical symptoms. The biochemical changes that happen within the brain lead to several derangements in the body that can predispose you to other illnesses including increased risk of diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and cancer. This is why we treat major depression just as seriously as any other clinical disease.
Once you’ve been diagnosed with major depression by your physician or psychiatrist, there will be a discussion of medication. There are several types of medication and this is a very individual choice. For some people their symptoms may be mild enough that psychotherapy alone may be enough to treat the symptoms. however, because of the risk of major depression becoming a severe chronic disease it is often best to follow your clinician’s advice about treatment. discuss with your clinician what medications you’ll be on and what side effects to anticipate. It’s also important to know that it is not unusual to have to try different medications to get the optimal treatment period do not feel discouraged if the first medication you start is not right for you.
Lifestyle Management
What you’ve been diagnosed with depression is important to know that lifestyle choices can help in your recovery. Have a look at your diet and make sure to eliminate foods that cause excessive inflammation. These include:
Sugary Foods and Drinks
Overly processed foods
Excessive Caffeine
High Carbohydrate Foods
Alcohol
You do want to include foods that will boost the feel good hormones in your body and make starting your medications easier. I recommend including the following Foods:
Raw raw, organic greens such as kale, spinach, or any dark leafy greens
One one to two cups of green tea that you brew at home consume this in the morning
Severalseveral servings of organic vegetables throughout your day as well as organic fruits
Foods foods high in good fats such as organic nuts, wild caught fish, and small fatty fish like stockings and anchovies
Plenty plenty of water
Movement
Movement and exercise are always important in disease prevention and treatment. if you are suffering from major depressive disorder movement can help to improve your mood. I often advise my patients if you are not participating in any exercise please start with something gentle such as walking or restorative yoga. if you are engaging an exercise make sure to serving your body well. While you are suffering from depression you may not have enough energy to perform rigorous high impact exercise. You may do better stepping down to something less rigorous especially while you’re adjusting the medication.
Reiki and Energy Medicine
If you’re reading this blog you are probably interested in already engaging some sort of energy work. Reiki and energy Medicine compliment ongoing medical treatment for depression wonderfully. As a Reiki practitioner one of my favorite conditions to treat is major depressive disorder. I’ve discovered that the gentle, flowing energy of Reiki works best with someone who has depression recycling suffering from multiple assaults to their energy body. I found that my clients with major depression often sleep much better after Reiki session and feel a quick improvement in the physical symptoms of depression, particularly pain that may be associated with major depression.
If you do not already have a Reiki practitioner, you can easily perform some of your own energy Medicine until you find one. You can start with a simple meditation practice. Here is a meditation that I’ve created that’s brief and can help with any and wanted emotions.
Add channeling meditation here
Reiki I technique
If you are a Reiki practitioner I recommend treating your root chakra daily for at least 21 days. Preferably I would like for you to do a full treatment on yourself daily but if time does not allow treating your root chakra for 3 to 5 minutes will help to boost your overall energy.
Reiki II technique
If you are a Reiki 2 practitioner and you’re feeling some depression you may want to apply some of your more advanced skills by sending distance Reiki to the past. Often major depressive disorder will center around past events. Working on yourself in the present will always help but if you are noticing that certain issues come back from the past you may want to invoke HSZSN and spend a few meditation sessions sending Reiki either to the event, to yourself in the past, or anything similar to help heal this emotional wound. If you are major depression centers around a medical illness if you’re able to pinpoint when it started it may help to send Reiki to that point in your life.
I’m happy I have this space to emphasize the importance of managing an illness that major depressive disorder holistically. The medications are important, and therapy is important. You’re going through depression taking steps to care for your mind body or equally as important. I hope this article is helpful for you or anyone you may know who is going through depression at this time .
References
Tolentino, J. C., & Schmidt, S. L. (2018). DSM-5 Criteria and Depression Severity: Implications for Clinical Practice. Frontiers in psychiatry, 9, 450. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00450
Reiki has been shown to improved Cancer Related Fatigue1
A small study performed at the University of Calgary with 16 patients sought to measure if Reiki treatments could improve Cancer Related Fatigue. The study showed high compliance of participants (inferring increasing interest in complementary care). This study compared prescribed rest periods with Reiki sessions in patients being treated for cancer. The overall results show that repeated Reiki treatments helped to improve Cancer Related Fatigue.1
Reiki for Anxiety
“REIKI IMPROVED PAIN…ANXIETY BY 59.8%²“
Anxiety can be crippling. Anxiety attacks are a culmination of chronic stress that causes the autonomic nervous system to shift form a “rest and digest” mode to a “fight or flight” mode. When the autonomic nervous system maintains too much sympathetic tone, anxiety is one of the results.
Reiki creates immediate relaxation. During a Reiki session, but client and practitioner feel a sense calm as the Reiki energy is channeled. The setting is usually calm, allowing for surrender to an inner sense of peace.
Medical evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment commonly cause anxiety. Most of my new patients are anxious to be at a new clinic meeting a new doctor. They are also nervous about possible diagnosis.
Reiki is an amazing way to alleviate anxiety. My Reiki clients find anxiety resolves quickly. I use Reiki for my own feelings of anxiety.
Reiki for Pain
Tsang, K. L., Carlson, L. E., & Olson, K. (2007). Pilot crossover trial of Reiki versus rest for treating cancer-relatedfatigue. Integrative cancer therapies, 6(1), 25–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534735406298986
2. Vergo, M. T., Pinkson, B. M., Broglio, K., Li, Z., & Tosteson, T. D. (2018). Immediate Symptom Relief After a First Session of Massage Therapy or Reiki in Hospitalized Patients: A 5-Year Clinical Experience from a Rural Academic Medical Center. Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 24(8), 801–808. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2017.0409
Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year. It is also a reminder of cycles of change in our lives as the seasons change.
In the video, “Toolkit for the Dark Night of the Soul”, Heatheryish, talk about the Dark Night of the Soul, and how to how to grow through dark times.
Toolkit for the Dark Night of the Soul
Your Spiritual Journey
Healing Arts has many tools to help find the meaning in your life journey. Self guided course work to deepen your self care, as well as individual servcies.
What happens after Reiki Attunement and how to fix it.
After a Reiki Attunement, it is common to have physical changes and emotional shifts. The purpose of the Reiki attunement is to raise your vibrational level. This vibrational shift must create changes in your body. Anytime we undergo major changes, it’s not usually comfortable. Puberty is uncomfortable. Menopause causes symptoms. Spiritual awakening causes symptoms in a similar fashion.
This article will cover some of the common signs and symptoms after a Reiki attunement and how to cope with these. Know that although these symptoms are uncomfortable, it is a sign of your progression on your spiritual path.
The biggest shift is with Reiki I. There are vibrational shifts thereafter, but typically you are more prepared for these and have more tools to deal with anything that comes up.
Many individuals complain of lower back pain after the Reiki attainment. We all anticipate after doing so much intense spiritual work we should come out of that work feeling fantastic. Why would this happen?
The Chakra System of a human body maps seven major energy centers to seven regions of the body. The lower back, also known as the lumbar spine, is located in the First Chakra, also known as Muladhara. As a Reiki practitioner your Root Chakra is where you will develop energetic roots to keep you firmly planted in the here and now.
Reiki I practitioners should ground their energy to allow for easier access to Reiki energy. Reiki II and Reiki Masters benefit from being grounded when it’s time to treat clients. Being properly grounded allows for you to be present, aware, and stable. You will provide a sense of safety to your clients by grounding your own energy.
The Fix: Getting Grounded
Performing Reiki on your First Chakra is as simple as placing your hands on your lower back. If you’re finding that you feel ungrounded, you can perform this several times a day.
Check out my free ebook for other ways that you can ground your energy. These are 9 short routines that can help ground your energy.
These are simple exercises you can be doing everyday to help you stay grounded. It is not unusual for most of us that have completed Reiki training to have a feeling of not being grounded for about 3 weeks or 21 days after each level of an attunement.
2. Feeling Strong Emotions after Attunement
After a Reiki Attunement it is common to have sudden surges of emotions. This may show up as crying, anger, or anxiety. The emotional storms may not always be negative emotions. Elation, joy, or excitement likely will follow a Reiki Attunement.
Your energy channels have been opened up, and it would be expected to feel many emotions during the initial period after your attunement.
Strong emotions can pull you away from your emotional center.
Finding your emotional center is necessary, particularly if you pursue Reiki training beyond the first degree. New clients may come to you with very strong emotions. Your professional Reiki clients may show up with storms of emotions, and will require an emotional release in order to heal.
The Fix: Get Centered
Mindfulness is a simple practice that can help you stay in the moment. Mindfulness can be practiced as a part of meditation, or can be a stand alone practice.
Practicing mindfulness is as simple as choosing to put aside thoughts of the future, past, others and ourselves. Mindfulness involves focusing on what’s happening in the moment.
Practicing mindfulness on a daily basis allows you to identify the emotions that arise, and not react. Learning to be less reactive allows you to develop a stable inner landscape in which the strong emotions after Reiki Attunement may bring up.
Your gut is smarter than your brain. Scientists have shown that there are actually more neurons in your digestive system than your brain. Knowing that your digestive system responds to the same neurotransmitters as your brain, we would expect changes in the digestive system after a Reiki Attunement.
The Third Chakra, or Manipura, is where we carry the energy of motivation, will power, and empowerment. Changes in motivation, will power, and mental clarity. Traumatic events that causes changes in your states of being often attach to the Solar Plexus Chakra. Being blocked in the Solar Plexus Chakra often leads to digestive issues such as stomach ache, diarrhea, or constipation.
Becoming a Reiki Healer is incredibly empowering. As you step into your new role as a healer you are empowering yourself and coming closer to your soul’s purpose.
Your solar plexus is the center for your stomach, liver, pancreas, spleen and part of the digestive tract. As you shift into this higher energy much of the toxic energy you carry there will be released. This can lead to changes that create very unpleasant symptoms.
The Fix: Focus on You
It is tempting for new Reiki practitioners at any level to want to overextend themselves. Feeling all of that wonderful energy that allows you to heal yourself in others it’s hard to hold back. Every new Reiki practitioner at every level wants to start sharing right away. You should allow yourself adequate time to adjust, hence the 21 day period we all take after each level of attunement for self-healing. During this time performing a full Reiki session on yourself everyday should help.
You should allow yourself adequate time to adjust, hence the 21 day period we all take after each level of attunement for self-healing. During this time performing a full Reiki session on yourself everyday should help. If you don’t have time to do a full Reiki Session, at least a few minutes of Reiki will help you adjust to the new energy.
I have created a guided Reiki Session called the 9 Minute Reiki Session for Mind, Heart and Gut:
Substances like alcohol or smoking also impact you. Consider stopping these.
4. Chest Pain after Reiki Attunement
Have a listen to the Art of Healing Podcast on Chest Pain…Want to know when new episodes come out? Sign up for email alerts
Chest pain is always serious and needs to be evaluated by a medical professional.
That being said, just like any other parts of the body, Reiki Attunement causes your body to shift to a higher vibration like we were beginning to release toxic energy. Depending on how you’ve been holding this energy you may experience chest pain, discomfort, shortness of breath. Again I advise to seek help from a physician to get a medical evaluation.
The Fix: Self Love and Self Care
After seeking appropriate medical help, it’s time to take time for yourself.
Reiki is the energy of love. It’s time to love yourself in an intentional way.
I keep a Self Love Journal. Every morning that I wake up, I write down one thing that I love about myself.
Gratitude also protects your vibration. Here is a free Ebook to help offer some inspiration for practicing Gratitude.
Your immune system becomes stronger as a Reiki practitioner. Unfortunately, it does take time to get there and initially many of us experience a weakening of our immune system. This makes us prone to becoming sick very easily. As your mind, body and spirit shift, for reasons we won’t likely ever understand this is to be expected. While this is bothersome, it is definitely a sign that you’re moving in the right direction.
The Fix: Protect Yourself
Self care is more important than ever after your Reiki attunement. You want to make sure that you devote as much time and energy to yourself as possible. It is not unusual after each level of Reiki Attunement that someone will approach you about treatment. I strongly advise that you give yourself at least 3 weeks before you start to treat others. Do what you can to reserve your energy for yourself.
Self care is more important than ever after your Reiki attunement. You want to make sure that you devote as much time and energy to yourself as possible. It is not unusual after each level of Reiki Attunement that someone will approach you about treatment. I strongly advise that you give yourself at least 3 weeks before you start to treat others. Do what you can to reserve your energy for yourself.
6. Headache After Reiki Attunement
The 6th Chakra, also called Ajna, or the 3rd Eye Chakra is where we hold the energy of our senses. It is also the energy center of intuition and psychic abilities.
The Reiki Attunement works directly on your 3rd Eye to open up the flow of energy. This is why so many Reiki Practitioners notice increased psychic awareness. Increasing the flow of energy here, particularly, positive, high vibration energy such as Reiki will displace any toxic energy.
Unfortunately, this release of toxic energy can lead to headaches, dizziness, or ringing in the ear.
Do not be shy about getting a medical evaluation as headaches could be the sign of something serious. However, if you are someone who is prone to headaches such as migraines then you’re likely aware that any energy shift causes you to start having more headaches than usual.
The Fix: Restore Yourself
Headaches or other 3rd Eye Symptoms are a clue that it is time to spend some time restoring your energy. If you typically engage in a vigorous exercise regimen, consider stepping back to something less intense. Consider Restorative Yoga as an option. Take gentle walks in nature rather than your usual jog. Increase your water intake as well.
7. Insomnia After Reiki Attunement
Insomnia is the most likely side effect most of us experience after a Reiki Attunement. There’s nothing more frustrating after spending so many hours in your personal development than not sleeping.
The act of falling asleep is complicated. The Pineal Gland, which sits deep within the brain, is in the region of the 6th Chakra. It likely communicates the most with the 7th Chakra, or Sahasrara. The pineal gland secretes melatonin in response to light exposure. As light exposure reduces, such as twilight, melatonin is increased which causes drowsiness.
Many of us experience insomnia after a Reiki Attunement. This may show up as waking up around 3 or 4 am.
Dealing with insomnia can be frustrating, particularly after working so hard to feel better.
The Fix: Opening to Guidance
Your insomnia holds wisdom. If you find you are waking up frequently, use this time to meditate or treat yourself with Reiki.
Use this Short Body Scan if needed to help meditation
Hopefully, performing Reiki during this unfortunate time of wakefulness will allow you to relax and return to sleep. If you still aren’t sleepy, you’ll at least have had a full Reiki session.
Lightworker, you are ready for this. Any discomfort you feel in the first few days and weeks after your attunement are simply carrying you closer to your purpose.
In the previous blog post, we found ways to use Reiki in real life. In this post, let’s find a few other ways Reiki can be used off the Reiki Table.
Reiki Before Driving
Doing Reiki while driving? Well, maybe before you hit the road.
Doing Reiki on your car before you leave is an excellent way to make your car a Reiki machine. Adding some intention to your trip allows you to relax during the trip while you help yourself and other drivers on the road.
Here’s some inspiration to turn your car into a Reiki Vehicle:
Draw Sei He Ki on the roof of the car before leaving. Channel Reiki for a few minutes to assure a safe, stress free trip.
Use the steering wheel. Before driving, envision or draw Cho Ku Rei on the steering wheel before leaving.
You can imagine your car sending Reiki to all the cars around you , keeping all the drivers and you safe and stress free.
Reiki for Napping
Napping has many health benefits. Napping for a duration of 20 minutes has been shown to increase productivity, improve mood, and lower stress.
I love naps, but I often struggle with finding the time during a busy clinic schedule. I also can’t wind down sufficiently enough to actually get into sleep.
I have trained my mind and body to use a short Reiki session to replace a nap, or to use Reiki to help me relax into a nap.
While an entire Reiki session is preferred, I have found doing Reiki on the Mind, Heart, and Gut can clean up any toxic energy, create instant relaxation, and replace a nap.
We cook for so many reasons. Nourishment, bringing our friends and families together, and for fun!
Is there a better place to add Reiki than with the food we prepare?
The food we eat provides calories and nutrients to fuel our bodies and minds. We absorb the energy of the food we eat on multiple levels. Beyond tasting better, food prepared with intention and love is better for you.
There are so many ways to use Reiki on your meals.
Beam any Reiki symbol directly onto the food while cooking.
Reiki your groceries before putting them in the refrigerator to reduce harmful vibrations from transit.
Reiki prepared meals prior to serving yourself and family.
Do you work at a hospital, clinic, or traditional Health Care setting and want to share your thoughts on whole body healing? Are there secrets you like your patients to know? Shoot me an email!
Most people think of Reiki in the form of a treatment or healing session. A Reiki Practitioner treats a client on a table in a beautifully appointed room. While this is a fantastic way to receive Reiki, there’s an even more powerful way to use Reiki.
Reiki can be a tool for empowerment. Reiki is meant to be used in any setting. Using Reiki in real life adds intention, purpose, and healing to even the most mundane tasks.
Using Reiki in real life can make challenges tasks easier, and remove blocks.
When cleaning the house, you dust, mop, shine and disinfect. What about the energy? A room that is cluttered creates stagnant energy. Even after a thorough cleaning, sometimes you can still feel the “ick” factor in the air. That same “ick” may still be present after having an unpleasant guest in your home. Even after your guest leave, you may notice your home may just feel wrong.
An excellent test of the energy in your home is putting your home on the market. If your house is on the market, have many potential buyers come to look but you get no offers? The same “ick”, which is stagnant energy in the home may be lowering the value of your home. Buyers may come through and pick up a bad vibe and keep moving.
My house sat on the market for a long time. Finally, after finding the right real estate agent, and performing Reiki on my home, it sold to a very nice family.
Is there a part of your home you avoid? It seems dark? Make you tired or you simply don’t like it?
Doing Reiki on a part of your home, a room, or the whole home can help clear out that negative energy and is easier than saging your home.
You can perform Reiki perform Reiki in your home in the following ways:
Reiki a part of the home or a room by beaming CKR then SHK toward one or more walls in the area. I usually do this for about 3-5 minutes. Doing each wall of a room, the ceiling and the floor will deliver Reiki to the entire room.
Stand in the center of the room Channel Reiki through yourself, then envision it spreading from you to the entire room.
Reiki your home as you would using Sage, walking while beaming Reiki from your hands, attempting to cover every space you can reach.
Finally, use Distance Reiki on a picture of the house.
2. Reiki at Work/Business
The 5 Reiki Precepts can serve as a guiding principle in any area of your life. We expend much of our life force in our vocations. I personally feel that incorporating Reiki in the workplace and business not only reduces stress, but improves your productivity.
Worried about some aspect of your work or business? Write down what it is that worries you. Then perform Reiki on that piece of paper. If the object of your worry is large or intense, perform this task daily. You may find the solution to the problem generates itself.
Anticipating a stressful meeting? Send Reiki to the meeting using HSZSHN to prevent angry outbursts during the meeting.
Needing to increase productivity Start with 3 minutes of Reiki before performing any task to help keep your vibration high.
Feel like the office is getting toxic? Use Reiki to send thoughts of kindness to your workers. You can try writing down kind intentions then performing Reiki on the intentions to raise the vibration of the office.
Make a lousy of everything you were grateful for in the workplace. You can use CKR on the list for an extra boost.
3. Reiki for Travel
Traveling can be exciting, but stressful. Flight schedules, who you sit next to, making sure to stay healthy while traveling during the pandemic, all add to the stress. There are so many factors that you can’t control when traveling.
Use Reiki before your next trip.
I send Reiki to flights, rental cars, hotels as well as to anyone I will interact with. Rather than worrying about all the many factors I can’t control when traveling, I turn it over to Reiki and relax.
Send Reiki to the Future using HSZSN to all your flight plants to help with cancellations and delays
Use CKR and SHK on yourself before and during travel to keep your nerves calm and your immune system strong.
When going to bed in a strange place, SHK on the head/heart/belly can help with relaxation.
Inspiration for Helping Cancer Patients In Their Journey
Many people consider a healing modality such as Reiki a luxury item that’s only used for stress relief for relaxation.
In this article, I would like to share with you how Reiki can play an integral part in the care of cancer patients.
Understanding what happens to patients when they’re diagnosed with cancer helps all of us to visualize where holistic healing can help. Particularly for Reiki practitioners, I would like you to understand some of what cancer patients go through. Hopefully this will provide you inspiration to add distance Reiki for oncology patients to your services.
Can Adding Reiki Help Cancer Patients?
The answer is a resounding yes! Receiving Reiki during the cancer journey can and should be offered in modern medicine. It can help patients and families cope with the difficult journey of cancer care.
A small study performed at the University of Calgary with 16 patients sought to measure if Reiki treatments could improve Cancer Related Fatigue. The study showed that high compliance of participants (inferring increasing interest in complementary care). This study compared prescribed rest periods with Reiki sessions in patients being treated for cancer. The overall results show that repeated Reiki treatments helped to improve Cancer Related Fatigue.(1)
Practical applications of Reiki in oncology care
One of the most powerful aspects of Reiki healing is that it can be offered from a distance. Keeping in mind that moving forward social distancing and public health will remain a major concern for all of us, distance Reiki could help to augment care for cancer patients. My personal recommendation is to consider doing distance Reiki session during certain scheduled events that can help those treatments go easier.
During Surgery
One of my favorite times to provide Reiki to my clients is during surgical procedures. Healing energy can be channeled directly to the patient as well as to the surgical team. I have received positive feedback many times from the clients that this helps to speed up their recovery and also helps calm anxiety before the procedure.
I personally performed distance Reiki on my mother while she was having major surgery on her lumbar spine. Naturally, I was very nervous for her and felt very powerless before her surgery. It was one of the most powerful experiences in my life as a Reiki healer and of course as a daughter. I was able to send energy into her surgery and get a sense of what was going on in the room. It immediately helped to calm my nerves. It also seemed to make the waiting period go by much faster. Initially I had been so nervous in the waiting area I was not able to carry on conversations. Because my anxiety had improve, I ended up making a very pleasant connection with a gentleman working in the hospital and learning his story.
During Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is often a necessary part of cancer care. It’s particularly taxing due to the frequency of treatments, and dealing with the side effects of chemotherapy. One inspiration for Reiki healers is to offer Reiki healing during chemotherapy. Reiki can be delivered effectively by distance without any interference in therapy. Sending Reiki during chemotherapy can help the patient deal with the side effects of the medication. The healing energy that’s been transmitted can also help the patient fall asleep during chemotherapy which will help the whole process go faster.
During Radiation
Sending Reiki during radiation can also help reduce the stress anxiety of a frequent medical treatment. Radiation treatment tends to be shorter than chemotherapy and occurs more often possibly even daily. If a person has an agreement with a regular practitioner, sending regular treatments during chemotherapy may be worthwhile. Reiki healing can be used for instance, to reduce the risks of side effects from the radiation treatment.
Doctor’s Visits
Interacting with physicians during the cancer journey can be physically, emotionally and spiritually taxing. Every cancer journey is individual, but most visits are typically a turning point in what will happen next in treatment and finding out progress as well as prognosis. I often recommend and offer distance Reiki to the appointment with physicians. The reports that I’ve heard from my clients is that they felt much less anxious going into the appointment. They also felt that they understood the information they received much better and the overall visit was much calmer with the Reiki energy flowing there. In a similar fashion to surgery and chemotherapy, there’s no absolute need to send the energy if the exact same time is the appointment. This can be done ahead of schedule.
Getting Started with Reiki in Cancer Care
Reiki Healers-Offer Distance Reiki
I would like to encourage Reiki practitioners that are actively practicing to consider offering distance Reiki to oncology patients right away. As a practicing physician, I often witness how taxing and stressful the cancer journey can be. Availability of Reiki practitioners is limited. Also public knowledge of this healing modality is very limited. Therefore, I do hope to start a conversation that can spread around the world. Reiki practitioners can easily offer distance treatment to those undergoing cancer care. It’s a simple as offering the service right now.
Caregiver-Learn Reiki
If you find yourself in the position of being a caregiver of a loved one with cancer, and you are considering learning a holistic remedy to help with the care at home, I will strongly encourage you that it is worth it. Reiki can help to protect you against caregiver stress and you will have a healing modality in your home that you can invoke at any time to help heal stress, calm anxiety, and side effects from treatments.
Cancer Patient-Learn Reiki
This may seem like the most outrageous of all the recommendations, but if you have recently been diagnosed with cancer, you may wonder if you should learn Reiki. You may wonder if you would have the energy to do this. I can tell you from personal experience and having worked with my own clients that learning Reiki when you are diagnosed with cancer can be one of the most empowering things you can do for yourself. Yes, you will have all of the taxing decisions to make about your cancer care. Yes, you will meet a new specialist and feel very uncomfortable and experience pain. You would be surprised to find that learning Reiki would help you tap into a strength you didn’t know you had. I’ve seen this in my own clients and I have been amazed. I’ve witnessed how a cancer patient learning Reiki can help themselves so much to the journey.
References
Tsang, K. L., Carlson, L. E., & Olson, K. (2007). Pilot crossover trial of Reiki versus rest for treating cancer-related fatigue. Integrative cancer therapies, 6(1), 25–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534735406298986
A patient shared with me her concerns about developing Autoimmune Disease. She already had been diagnosed with Autoimmune Thyroiditis, and she was starting to manifest joint pain, stiffness and swelling that could signal rheumatoid arthritis. Her physical symptoms made it hard to cope with her psychological symptoms. She was suffering from severe depression that came from a history of childhood trauma.
In traditional medicine, the healing encounter starts with the recording of the medical history. Since medical visits are problem focused, the history is directed towards the timing of the problem. It is interesting in modern healthcare that we gather information on the past medical history but rarely do we look any deeper than that. I ask about family history, which tells us about genetic predisposition for disease.
I asked my patient if we could review her Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire to quantify her traumatic experience and determine her risk of developing disease.
Sign up for my “3 Secrets of a Reiki Physician” to receive a workbook with an ACE you can complete.
The healing encounter of a Reiki session may involve some history gathering, but usually the focus is on delivering healing energy. When I’m working with Reiki clients, information about the past often plays a role in the client’s current issues.
I’ve had many patients ask why I have interest in their past history, and if it has any relationship to why they are in my office . It seems that an illness that has resolved two or three decades ago should not impact a person’s health later. Beyond that, patients may wonder why I may ask about experiences in childhood, as on the surface, there should be no relationship to issues as an adult.
What Are Adverse Childhood Experiences?
Adverse Childhood Experiences are clinically validated experiences that have been shown to increase the chance of illness in adults. Childhood traumatic stress increased the likelihood of hospitalization with a diagnosed autoimmune disease decades into adulthood. In this study, the majority of individuals with at least one Adverse Childhood Event were hospitalized with an autoimmune disease (1)
Reiki healers often confront past trauma and its result on the clients well-being. Inner Child work involves working the client in the version of themselves that was a child that suffered childhood trauma. The client must first be brought into a deeply relaxed state through some sort of regressive therapy. The client is then asked to recall the emotion or feeling they are having now that is causing the most suffering. The client then explores if they have had this feeling before. It is during this time that the client will self identify the age at which the trauma occurred. The “Inner Child” is thought to be the age at which the person suffers a major trauma that creates energetic and emotional scars. The “Inner Child” is a subconscious precept the client holds that often reawakens as an adult, expressing strong emotions in any life event that is similar to the original trauma. The Reiki practitioner then begins to work with the Inner Child, to help heal those wounds and make the child feel safe.
This is a powerful healing technique, and can be quite uncomfortable. Bringing in the Inner Child often brings up very painful childhood memories. This process is almost like a surgical healing. It is likely to be painful, but working with the Inner Child can often bring about deep, lasting healing for the client. Clients that receive Inner Child healing often leave the encounter with a deep understanding of who they are as a person.
The connection between childhood trauma and current medical illnesses complex. There are two general examples we can use to explore this topic.
The following examples are fictional.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
IBS, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome, is a complex digestive disorder that leads to many symptoms. . Many individuals living with IBS often don’t realize they are also having emotional distress that often accompany the digestive issues. Many of my patients with IBS first began having digestive symptoms in childhood. If the patient developed negative feelings towards school for example, it was likely not acceptable to ask the parents to miss school because they were being bullied. It would be acceptable to ask to stay home because of a stomach ache. Over the years, subconsciously the person may learn that having a stomach ache can often help to avoid unpleasant experiences. Gradually, the brain begins to make a neural connection with stress avoidance and digestive symptoms. The cycle perpetuates itself, eventually manifesting as severe digestive disease.
Lupus
Another example, SLE, so Systemic Erythematous Lupus may develop its roots in a person who suffered through multiple childhood traumas. A middle-aged female patient may present with lupus complicated by kidney disease, pulmonary disease, and digestive issues. She may relate to her physician that she had a tumultuous childhood including multiple stays in various foster homes. The relationship here maybe that because she did not feel rooted as a child, she has a poorly energized root chakra. As an adult, her root chakra which is the basis of the immune system never learns to work very well. She develops an immune system that is highly overactive and attacks her own body tissues. The end result is a severe autoimmune disease.
Reincarnation, which is the process of returning to Earth multiple times in various forms, is thought to possibly lead to illness in the current life. Similar to Inner Child work, it is possible to use regression therapy to go back to past lives for healing. This can be very difficult and likely will require multiple sessions between a client and healer that have a trusting relationship.
Childhood Abuse and Trauma Can Make You Sick, But There’s Hope
Acknowledging this past hurts and traumas is important in healing. This does not mean that there is not hope for healing in a long time. Matter of fact, the best chance for healing is acknowledging the hurts of the past. taking inventory and looking a little bit deeper than the past medical history can pay off in unimagined ways.
References
1.Dube, S. R., Fairweather, D., Pearson, W. S., Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., & Croft, J. B. (2009). Cumulative childhood stress and autoimmune diseases in adults. Psychosomatic medicine, 71(2), 243–250. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181907888
Merriam-Webster defines resilience as ” the ability to recover from or just easily to misfortune or change”. I think it’s easy to say that after the wide sweeping changes created by the pandemic that all of us need to consider how we will further develop our resilience.
In the podcast, Reiki as a Resilience Lifestyle podcast I discussed my ”Energy Tank”. I had this mental concept of the tank within myself that’s stored my life force. When it was full, I felt good. my energy was high, I could think clearly, I was productive at work and caring for my patients and present in my relationships. When it was low, I was prone to illness, irritable, promised insomnia, and performed poorly. This internal monitoring system was a great way for me to tune in to myself. The problem with this “Energy Tank” was that the energy could be drained by external factors. I also had to rely on external factors to refill the tank. This sort of fueling sapped my energy and prevented me from developing true resilience to survive life’s challenges.
Resilience is necessary. We cant avoid life’s challenges. Unexpected changes come up. When we can avoid unpleasant events, of course we want to. However, there will be times we can’t avoid pain and suffering. So having a plan to deal with life challenges is the next step.
Reiki Before the Challenge
There are not many guarantees in life, but one is that change is inevitable. There’s simply no way around it. No matter how well your life is going, eventually there will be illness, a death, a job loss or some other devastating event. Having a healing tool such as Reiki can help to anticipate and prepare yourself for oncoming challenges. Quieting the mind with a practice such as self Reiki or meditation helps to improve intuition. When the mind chatter subsides, solutions may arise. Problems may seem to resolve themselves. This isn’t to say that Reiki or meditation can make you psychic (although you may be born with gifts like this). Having a regular practice that makes space in your mind for calmness creates a cushion that can help to buffer even the greatest challenges in life.
Reiki During the Challenge
Remaining grounded during the challenge helps to make any of life’s challenges easier to bear. I perform daily self Reiki when I am going through my own personal challenges. I still go through all the emotions of grief, anger, or overwhelm, but having the personal healing practice helps each difficult phase to pass in it’s own time. I have found that Reiki helps me return to my center even during the most challenging times.
Reiki for Recovering from Challenge
Once the challenging event has occurred, recovery and healing are equally as important as anticipation and survival. Reiki as a personal healing practice can help with this. Depending on what event you have been through it may be possible to do your own self healing, You may also want to consider having someone in your corner such as a professional healer. After surgery, for example, Reiki can help with the healing and recovery. Performing self Reiki may be difficult during a medical recovery, so consider having a relationship with a Reiki practitioner. If you are the Reiki practitioner and you are attuned to the level two symbols you may consider sending yourself Reiki into the future to help healing your recovery you have the ability to plan for the event.
I have found personally that my own resilience has improved my performing daily Reiki. Meditation on a regular basis also can improve mental and physical resilience, allowing for the mind and body to recover.
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I browsed my personal library to find a definition of healing. Healing is a process. It starts with an injury or an illness of some sort. The injury or illness may be sudden, such as an infection or a fractured bone.
Explaining how healing will occur in traditional medicine tends to be fairly straight forward. A bacterial infection is treated with antibiotics, which are meant to kill the bacterial growth. We use surgery or a cast on a fractured bone. These therapies are tangible and easy to imagine.
Reiki heals the mind, body, and soul on an energetic level. this means that the healing process will not likely be visible. Possibly, the receiver may not actually feel the healing working at that time. To accept this means to accept on faith that healing is occurring. Why is this?
The Power of Intention
Reiki treatment is delivered with the intention of healing. The power behind Reiki is that treatment is initiated with mindfulness. All of the treatment is responsive to the energy, it is a belief that Reiki energy has its own intelligence and will go where it’s needed most. This means that the powerful healing intention of Reiki can allow for healing much more than an acute or chronic injury that captures the sufferers attention at that time.
This not to say that healing and other modalities such as allopathic medicine, chiropractor, or psychotherapy do not have healing intentions. All healers of all types intend to heal their patient or client as much as possible. the distinct difference between Reiki and in particular my area of allopathic medicine is that physicians are not trained on mindfulness and self care. physicians trained in allopathic medicine are often taught that care of a patient requires extreme personal sacrifice, pain and suffering, and should be done no matter how the healer is feeling. Naturally, this means that care is often being delivered in a substandard way. If the healer is not feeling well, how can they provide a healing environment for the patient?
Healing That’s Unseen
Most of us like to see results in terms of our healing. If I cut my hand, I see the stages of healing, from the formation of scab, to eventually a scar. If I’m working on weight loss, I will see the number on the scale go down. Having a visual process makes it easier to understand healing.
Reiki heals in ways we can feel, possibly during a session, but the healing may not be obvious. Some people feel sensations while they are receiving Reiki, such as heat, or a cool sensation or tingling. Others may feel relaxed or fall asleep.
Reiki is a treatment modality that does not create any obvious visual changes. This requires both the Reiki Practioner and the Reiki receiver to operate on faith that that healing is happening.
The Healing Intention
The power of Reiki healing is the intention. Intentions are much more powerful than we realize. So many times in life, we proceed through our actions without a deliberate intention. Particularly, when we rush, such as during most settings at work, we fly through our actions focused on productivity, and forgetting what our initial intention was.
The Reiki practitioner, who focuses energy from a higher source, is using a healing intention to help the client. The Reiki practitioner
Reiki and the Precepts
The Reiki precepts are the guiding principles that Reiki practitioners learn and use to guide their practice. These precepts set the tone of a Reiki session to assure that the overall tone of the healing is for the highest good.
Demystifying the Mystical
Reiki is generally accepted as Energy Medicine. The energy from a higher source is channeled into a living entity, person or animal, that supports the optimal function of life. We have some understanding of what energy this may be but overall, it is a mystery.
In a medical practice I prescribe medications on a regular basis. Although most these medications have an understood mode of action, many meetings appear to work by an unknown mechanism.
One example of this is the drug topiramate. It is a prescription medication frequently used to treat seizures, migraines, and psychological disorders.
According to Epocrates.com the mode of action of topiramate is: exact mechanism of action unknown; blocks voltage-dependent sodium channels; augments GABA activity; antagonizes glutamate receptors; inhibits carbonic anhydrase
So we we have some understanding of how this medications works, but we don’t exactly know. This drug has been tested clinically as well as prescribed for many years to patients. We have data that tells us overall this drug is safe when it’s needed, but it isn’t prescribed without acknowledging the risk.
We willingly accept topiramate is a valid medical treatment without being able to completely understand how it works. in addition, this is a medication that can have significant side effects. Yet we do this all the time.
The mechanism of Reiki and how it heals appears to be that it heals by gathering subtle energies that are programmed with healing intentions then channeled into a receiver in order to encourage the functioning of the mind as body together .
my opinion is that if we are willing to offer medications that we don’t understand the mechanism action, and other treatments we don’t fully understand, and accept that they carry significant impacts, why can we not accept a subtle energy healing modalities such as reiki? They are very few side effects to reiki. At the very worst it simply does not work. It requires almost no equipment. it can be provided in almost any setting. Most powerfully, the healer and the receiver don’t even need to be in the same time and space.
It is time to move medicine forward. We have to start loosening our grip on what we think works. I believe that as we move forward into the future, we will start to understand that healing is much more than what the eye can see.
Finally, the best way to understand Reiki if you are curious is to schedule a session for yourself. Sign up for my newsletter if you would like learn more about Reiki in healing.
When you feel empowered, you feel healthier. Feeling in control of your destiny helps you stay healthy. There are so many reasons that as individuals we often feel that we don’t have any say so in our destiny. When it comes to your health, both physical health and mental/emotional health, playing an active role can make the difference in how you do in the long term.
You should fee empowered an aware of your treatments of all kinds, including medications, diagnostic studies and referrals. I modern medicine, patient can voice their opinions, but the ultimate choice is made by the physician.
Many people often lose awareness that there are things they can be doing for themselves during a time of illness. You need not be helpless even during a serious illness.
Learning Reiki can help you to empower yourself and take charts of your healing.. Unlike many of our medical treatments Reiki has little to no risk. likely the worst thing that can happen is you simply lose interest or don’t complete the course. It is such a simple healing modality there is no reason that many more individuals don’t learn it. Anyone can learn Reiki, even during times of challenge.
Improving Your Intuition
One of my favorite side effects of becoming attuned Reiki is having a sharpened sense of intuition. Being in touch with your inner voice not only makes your life easier but more enjoyable. Why not empower yourself with a gift of being able to sense changes in your own physical, emotional and energy body in a way that you make better decisions in your care? It is not likely that you’ll develop psychic abilities, but one of the best benefits of being a Reiki practitioner is that the inner quiet that you have allows you to have an openness and an awareness that can help your entire life.
Contagious Positivity
The pandemic of 2020 has taught all of us of how a contagious entity can change our lives. Positive forces can also be contagious. Think of a baby’s response to a laughing adult. A baby doesn’t understand what you’re laughing at; he is just simply responding to your energy and loving it.
Becoming a Reiki Practitioner raises your energetic vibration. Your attunement will help you heal, and practicing Reiki on yourself helps you feel better everyday. People around you will notice. You will spread positivity without even trying.
Create Miracles
I’ve seen some pretty interesting things in my time as a physician and a Reiki practitioner. In my Reiki practice I witness events that I would simply call miracles. The more that I practice Reiki the more I see these miracles happen. I’ve come to expect miracles. In these modern times I don’t think there’s anything wrong with inviting miraculous energy into our lives. Tuning in to higher frequencies of Reiki, it is much easier to invite miracles into our lives.
One of the blessings of Reiki is that I have met people I would not have met had I not learned this healing modality. I have met several individuals in my medical practice, personally, and in social media who share with me that at some point in their lives they learned Reiki I or II or even Reiki Master but over the years have forgotten to continue practicing.
These individuals will have to share that so much time has passed that they don’t feel connected to the energy of Reiki.
Herein lies a true gift of Reiki that we often forget. Once you have been attuned to Reiki you are attuned your whole life. You are always connected with the energy and it never goes away. Of course, if you’re not practicing it is easy to forget that you have this gift at your hands.
I advise individuals that the easiest way to reconnect is simply to start performing Reiki on yourself on a regular basis. It is best to do a full treatment from head to toe, however if your life circumstance does not allow the time or place for this even a three minute treatment is better than nothing.
I’ve noticed that many of these individuals often don’t have dedicated space in their home, office, or anywhere in their life that they can practice their healing art. In my course, Starting Your Own Meditation Practice, I give brief advice on how to reclaim that space for yourself. If you don’t have a space you can go to you may need to create one.
Once you know where you would like to start your daily Reiki practice consider setting a timer or a reminder in your calendar. It’s simply a good habit that you’re trying to get back to. Plan to treat yourself for 21 days daily. If you recall in your initial attunement you had a 21-day. Of self treatment that allowed for self-improvement.
Once you decide to return to your practice try not to focus too much on feeling the energy flow or any specific outcome. You may recall when you first learned Reiki you may not have had immediate response or felt anything right away. But if you give it time, your own body’s ability to heal will become apparent to you and it will come to you easily.
I practice Reiki on myself daily. I did not always do this but in the last 2 years because of transitions and stress in my own life I found this to be a lifesaver. There are times I do only a brief 15 minute session and there are times I do a full session that I last more than an hour.
If you need any help getting started I have created a short 9 minute self treatment meditation track that you can find below. I do hope this helps any Reiki practitioner who feels like they’ve lost their gift. I promise you haven’t lost anything you just simply had to pick it back up.
