Reiki

My understanding of Reiki

I'd never heard about Reiki until 6 months ago. I've told you about my first meeting with reiki in my Introducing myself - post. So I won't go there again, in this one.  

Like everything, or most of, what I write about in here, I am new to this. And all I have are my newfound experiences and things I have read about of heard about resently. I might not alway remember it right eighter, so feel free to comment if I get something wrong.

Okey, so what is Reiki. Well, as I've understood it, the Reiki that I am opened to and are learning about is called Usui Reiki. It comes from the far east, and has existed for many many years, but was discovered and made more commonly known by a man called Mikao Usui, hence the name Usui Reiki.  The name Reiki means "Universal Life Energy". Ki meaning the life force that is in all beings, and Rei is the universal, unlimited aspect of this energy.

Reiki is a spiritual practice, an alternative medicine. It is a form of healing treatment. The intermediary uses his or her hands to convey the reiki energy to the recipient, holding his or her hands on or just above selected areas on your body. This is called palm healing or hands on healing. The practitioner is transferring universal energy in the form of qi (through the palms) that allows for self-healing and a state of equilibrium (balance). And anybody can learn it at be opened to it, take courses and practice it. When you receive this treatment you can quite easily feel the heat, the warmth radiating from the practitioners hands. I could, and I can feel it radiating from my own as well. For those who knows me, I am happy to show you ;-)

After two treatments at my reiki master, she offered to open me to Reiki the third session. She has also offered me a course 1 of reiki healing, that I am going to attend when the course is ready. But whilst waiting for that course she opened me up to practicing reiki on myself and my closest family. I had in the days before that opening, become aware of the warmth radiating from my hands, but after the opening,.. Sorry, but OMG. The sensation that I get in my hands when I transfer energy, it is unmistakable. It is like a prickly and stinging sensation, burning and freezing at the same time. Like when you have held something real cold in your hands for a while and then warming them back up, when they start regaining warmth real fast, that icy burning sensation. Have you ever taken a snow bath and directly after jumped back in a pool of warm water? Your body kind of feels like there's a thousand needles and pins poking your skin. It feels like that in the centre of my palms. And of course they get really warm and radiates heat, both palms and fingers. I can feel it radiating without holding them towards myself. Sometimes, when I am doing something completely different than reiki, like driving my car, my hands start to work and I can feel the heat radiating from the back of my hands and fingers. It feels really strange. Talking about reiki can trigger my hands to start working, thinking about it, seeing people who are sick or in pain, animals as well. At the beginning, after the opening, they could set of transferring energy all by them selves without me thinking about or seeing anything that would usually set them of. But now I feel they only react to certain situations and thoughts. And so far I've experienced that I can start them whenever I want to, but I am aware of that the Reiki has a "will" of it's own. It is not something that I can fully controll, it just let's me, for now ;)

But Reiki is more than just healing with hands. There's a whole philosophy that comes with it. A good philosophy. A way of thinking and living that brings peace to both yourself and others. I haven't gone to deep into that aspect yet, but I am trying to practice the five principles, "The secret art of happiness, The miraculous medicine for all diseases";

At least for today:

Do not be angry (or BE HAPPY-since you're not surpose to use the don'ts to make something be..)

Do not worry (or BE CAREFREE..)

Be grateful

Work with diligence

Be kind to people

Every morning and every evening, 

join your hands in meditation

and pray with your heart.

State with your mind

and chant with your mouth.

For improvement of mind and body.

The founder;

Mikao Usui

I use these to the best of my abilities, and they work. If I tell myself, or make a promise to myself, to not be angry/be happy just for today. I am living in the present, not worrying about tomorrow. Tomorrow does not concern me today, I might be grumpy as hell tomorrow, but today I am going to be happy. Setting out to be happy a whole week or a whole month feels impossible, but making that promisse for just one day, this day, here and now, that actually works, for me. I chant it in my head. I have the message, these principles, hung up on notes several places in our house to remind me. And they have helped me a lot. I think it is important not to make promisses to yourself for the future, not to far into the future at least. But if you make promisses to yourself for the present, for just today, it is so much easier to uphold! And in that way you don't set yourself up for dissapoinments eighter. And you can make that promisse to yourself each new day, or new ones, and after some time, if you look back, you might just have been able to keep more promisses to yourself than you ever have managed to implement previously. Think about this, even if you don't believe in reiki or the reasons behind or for these principles, could you perhaps benefit from applying them to your own life? I am not urging you to do so, but perhaps I am asking you if it might be something you'd be willing to try, for a day, or two days,.. or three? And see if they have had any effect on your day? It would not be about any alternative or spiritual face, but just a way to lift your day and your mood. Make you more content and happy with your day and yourself. Let me know if you tried it ;-)

I am surpose to practice Reiki on myself every day, if not for more than 10-15 minutes a day if that is all I can fit in, in a hectic life. But I must confess that there are day that simply just forget, because I'm too tired and go to bed, or I am to caught up in some event that steals my attention for the whole day. But I try, no, I am working on it! I find it to be a good time to practice it when I have crept into bed for the night. I give myself reiki for 10-15 minutes and then I fall asleep, often whilst doing reiki. (Sometimes I've fallen asleep after 5 minutes..) But the rest I get that night is often more deep and uninterupted by dreams and small sound than nights when I don't fall asleep with reiki. So there are more than one benifit from doing reiki at night; it's quiet, I am relaxed and in no hurry, and it is soothing and helps me fall asleep. Sometimes I wake up at nights when I've forgotten reiki, I can't get back to sleep, perhaps I've had a nightmare that has made me restless. Then I remember reiki and use the time awake, in the middle of the night, to transfer energy to myself, and after 15-20 minutes I am sound a sleep again. Before reiki I could lay awake for hours at night, especially after a nightmare.

I haven't been using reiki much on my children though. The two little ones don't have the patience for it and if I try transerring reiki to them whilst they are watching tv or is asleep, they get uncomfortable from the warmth from my hands. =/ But the oldest one seems to have more interest in it. I've been allowed to transfer energy to him several times. If he is tired in mid day, or he is worked up at night time, if he has had a headache or tummyache. It seems to sooth him and the energy, which always distributes it self to where it is most needed in the body, wether it is where the pain or fatigue the person feels is, or it is somewhere else in the body that we are not aware of yet. The energy "knows" where it is most needed, and how much there is needed. Anyhow, my oldest once came to me real worked up and restless, so I told him to lay on the couch. I placed my hands lightly on his chest and forhead (there are certain points on the body a practitionser is surpose to use, but I go by my feelings for now). Laying there, constantly moving fingers and feet, real wired up, after a few minutes he became calm, and eventually he fell asleep at the palm of my hands. I must admit that the experience was really sweet to me, and I felt delighted and pleased that I had helped him calm down and fall asleep so peacefully. =) I can not know for sure if my hands transfers universal energy and helps me or anybody else, but I have faith in that it does. 

When I do reiki, I usually hold one hand on the centre of my chest and one on the centre of my upper abdomen, on top of my diaphram. And after some minutes I move my hands to my throat, and next on top of my head. If I haven't fallen asleep yet, I'll move on to other points, but I always feel like starting on my chest and abdomen. I've done this, held my hands there when resting in my bed, since looong before reiki. But when I have put my hands on children I've always felt like putting one hand on their chest and one on their forhead, or on top of their head. I don't know why, and may not be right at all, but I'm trying to trust my feelings, my gut, so I'll keep doing that, at least until the reiki course. Maybe I'll learn something different when I get there. =)

I've put my warm hands on other members of the family and they have all verified that they feel the radiation of heat and that it feels good. And I do trust them to be honest with me, and they are.

I am not allowed to put my warm hands on people on medication. It may eighter boost the effect of the medicines, or it may tell the body to get rid of the "poison" that does not belong in the body, hence uplift the effects of it. But there are no side-effects on getting reiki if one are free from drugs, in any form. So it can not do any harm. One don't have to believe or be open to it, for it to work. If it works it works unconditionally, if it is meant to! 

Sincerely and from Love,

Lene Whimsical