Event planner, yoga teacher, and now Reiki Second degree practitioner Evelyn Pate showed up in my Reiki First degree class just in time to support her parents through her father’s last year, and shares some of the sweetness of her experience, special for Mother’s Day!

Reiki Healing for Mom…and Me
By Evelyn Pate

I had been practicing Reiki on my mom casually for several months, mostly distant Reiki treatment since we do not live nearby. But I visit her at least twice a month, and when I do, we usually arrange a bedtime treatment.

During my father’s illness and recent passing, my Reiki practice was another way for my mother and I to heal together. I started offering treatment more often, and I learned to just be with my mom without looking or expecting an outcome. No judgments, no expectations, just Love and Being Present.

Three weeks ago, we learned she needed immediate macular repair on her retina. As soon as I found out, I began sending daily Reiki treatment.

Reiki healing before surgery

The night before her surgery, I stayed at her house and gave her a Reiki treatment before bed. We shared a large king bed that night and it seems I had one hand on her – on her arm, her head – throughout the night.

The next morning, as per typical pre-surgery instructions, she wasn’t allowed to eat. I offered another Reiki treatment to distract her from the breakfast she was missing.

It was the first time in a long time that I’ve seen my mother in a deep state of relaxation. I did not say anything or mention my thoughts to her. Afterwards, she asked if it is “normal” to feel so relaxed during a Reiki treatment.

She was now rested and ready to head into surgery. I stayed with her in the pre-op area, keeping a Reiki hand on her until she went into the O.R. for her two-hour surgery.

Reiki treatment after surgery

When we returned home that day, I encouraged my mother to lie down on her stomach to “practice” her new face-down resting position, per the doctor’s orders. I offered to practice Reiki while she rested. She was fast asleep after just a few minutes. She awoke recharged, headed into the family room, and asked what everyone would like for dinner!

At the mandatory follow-up appointment the next day, the surgeon said the operation was a success and she didn’t have any swelling or side effects.

That afternoon, I gave her a mini-treatment while she rested after lunch. The next day – just two days after surgery – she had another post-operative appointment with the eye surgeon. He reported the hole in her eye was completely closed and already sealed!

At her one-week post-op appointment yesterday, the doctor remarked how she was really coming along for someone just “two weeks out.” She reminded him it had been only one week since her surgery, and his eyebrows shot up.

“One week ago?” he asked. “You really are coming along then. You’ve already gotten back some of your peripheral vision. You’re way ahead of the game.”

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Even months later on the phone, it was apparent how deeply moved Wendy Strauss was by her experience offering Reiki treatment at the Sandy Hook Healing Project (SHHP).

When Wendy walked into the pop-up healing center on December 23, 2012, despite the horror of the recent school shootings in Newtown, she felt she was walking into “a calm healing presence.” There was a Christmas tree and children were playing with an art therapist. The space was quiet and peaceful and permeated by an unexpected sense of joy.

Wendy learned about SHHP from its founder, Heather Gunn. Wendy and Heather had recently learned to practice Reiki together.

Since then, Wendy had practiced mostly on herself, family and friends. I met Wendy when she practiced with us at the the annual JCC Spa Day for Women with Cancer and a couple of JCC Reiki Clinics.

It was at the JCC events, Wendy said, that she learned skills of practicing with the public that were invaluable to her experience in Newtown, such as how to speak to clients, how to be nonjudgmental and respect their space, how to stay conscientious of their comfort, how to protect the client’s experience and not engage in unnecessary conversation.

Profound healing in silence

Wendy sensed that the community was a family, and the practitioners could easily feel like intruders. She understood it was important to be very respectful and gentle.

At SHHP, the Reiki practitioners could be flexible about the length of each session. Wendy let the sessions time themselves, usually between 20 and 40 minutes.

Other than their names, no questions were asked of those who came for healing, and the treatments were generally given in silence. Sometimes clients spontaneously shared details of their Reiki experience afterward. Wendy was in awe of what she heard, but understood it was for her to simply witness and not comment.

One woman got on the table nearly overcome with grief. Offering this treatment was an especially profound experience for Wendy.

Afterwards, the client asked directly if Wendy had experienced anything. Wendy turned it back to her, saying the session was for the woman, not the practitioner. When Wendy added gently that she felt a lot of love in the room, the woman started crying. She had had a prior trauma that was reactivated by the shootings, and as can happen with trauma victims, she had been haunted by guilt, even though she had no control over what had happened. Wendy brought her to one of the grief counselors specifically trained in trauma support.

Reiki treatment for the children

The second weekend she was there, Wendy offered Reiki treatment to a number of children between the ages of 9 and 16. She knew they had all been touched by this tragedy in some way, and noticed they seemed quieter than the adults.

The children responded quickly to their Reiki treatment, becoming very relaxed, and offering Wendy warm hugs afterward.

A teen who had lost a friend found such comfort in her treatment that she returned the next day with members of her family. Like the teen, her family felt deeply supported, and were grateful she had brought them.

Two boys a few years apart in age came for treatment. The younger was nine. They seemed a miss match as friends, but it was obvious they cared deeply for one another.

The older boy received his treatment first, then asked to stay in the room, wanting to make sure his friend also had a good experience. Wendy was touched by the tenderness of their interaction, simple things that showed such awareness. When the younger boy took off his glasses, his friend reached for them, saying, “I’ll keep them for you.”

Community healing

Each of the people Wendy treated wanted to come back for more. They said their Reiki session was the one thing that gave them peace even for a short time, and many felt Reiki should be a requirement for everyone in town.

People felt the quiet joy Wendy sensed when she first arrived, and that led to a general feeling of not wanting to leave. Everyone wanted to stay, just to be together in a healing environment. Even Wendy’s husband decided to come in when he dropped her off. She said, “He sat and spoke with people and like everyone else, he didn’t want to leave.”

Practitioner healing

Wendy found her time at SHHP to be “full of goodness, quiet and peace.” She said, “The time was almost as if there was no time.”

When asked what she came away with, Wendy said the experience “showed me a lot about my practice and how I practice on myself, that the main thing is for me to step away from myself and just practice, to let Reiki practice do what Reiki practice does.” She said that seeing how people who didn’t know about Reiki came away with such peace helped her.

In her time at the center, Wendy came to realize that the community had gathered to heal itself, in the space provided by the Sandy Hook Healing Project, and the practitioners were simply facilitators in the community’s own healing process.

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Kellie Brooks was one of the organizers of the Sandy Hook Healing Project, a grassroots response to support the Newtown, Connecticut community after the December 14, 2012 school shootings.

Just vaguely aware of Reiki healing, Kellie was surprised to notice it brought such obvious benefit, and so quickly. She watched people go into their Reiki treatment looking understandably tense and distressed, and emerge half an hour later exuding peacefulness. She hadn’t realized a subtle, gentle practice could make such a profound difference.

She soon had a chance to feel that difference herself.

Reiki healing and grief

Although the staff never asked questions of those who came for support, Kellie said it wasn’t hard to recognize those families who had lost a child. As she approached a bereaved family, Kellie felt profound grief wash over her.

And the grief remained even after she brought the family to appropriate caregivers. At first Kellie thought she just had to stiff-upper-lip it, to accept the heaviness as part of the job.

Then it dawned on her that she was standing amidst healers.

Kellie found an available Reiki practitioner, and could not believe the difference her Reiki treatment made. By the time she slid off the Reiki table, the heaviness had evaporated. She felt as peaceful as the people she’d been noticing.

Caring for the caregivers

Several days later, Kellie had further confirmation of the balancing effects of Reiki practice. After many days caring for others from morning into the evening, she felt exhausted. One of the practitioners noticed, and asked, “Are you okay?”

Kellie heard herself reflexively saying, “Yeah, I’m fine,” but quickly thought again. “No, I’m not,” she said, and was ushered into a Reiki space.

Although the second Reiki practitioner’s style was different from the first, Kellie’s response to her Reiki treatment was just as profound. She emerged from her session feeling deeply refreshed, balanced, ready to continue serving.

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The Sandy Hook Healing Project (SHHP) is a grassroots effort that offered healing for the community after the school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut.

Kellie Brooks was there from the beginning, coordinating practitioners, organizing, scheduling, helping manage operations. Just days before the Boston Marathon bombings, Kellie described the experience to me.

Offering safety

The mission of SHHP was to create a healing refuge in the community. No one had to articulate a specific need, or talk at all. The project wasn’t about fixing or even expressing emotion; it was about being safe and cared for.

“We weren’t trying to get people to release,” Kellie said. “The point was to ground them in their bodies.”

Early on, SHHP wisely partnered with an established non-profit whose staff were experienced in trauma care. The experts walked Kellie through the vetting process, how to know which practitioners are fit for the very sensitive work of trauma and bereavement support, how to recognize practitioners who would adapt to a team effort, those flexible enough to run an errand or sweep the floor when too many practitioners showed up to offer Reiki or massage.

Creating healing space

Services were offered in a warehouse that Kellie and others transformed “from concrete into a love-filled space.” Fabric donated by a local business was draped to create a modicum of privacy for massage or Reiki sessions, and to define a living room and a room where art therapists played with kids.

Outreach for the project was done through social media, starting with Facebook. The food station was stocked with donations, some brought by New York City chefs. Yoga classes were offered.

One day a choir from Brooklyn sang gospel in the entry. Another day, a flutist arrived. Therapy dogs were brought in. People offered what they had in a way that was respectful and safe for the community. No one imposed concepts of what someone else needed.

Honoring the healing process

Kellie shared important points that made the project so successful. If you are organizing a relief effort, please learn from what SHHP did so very well.

FOR ORGANIZERS:

• Connect with trauma experts so you learn how to be with people in shock; wanting to help is not enough. Unskilled “helpers” can cause more pain. Consider contacting the Trauma Center at JRI in Boston.
• Vet volunteers carefully – not everyone who wants to help is a good candidate for direct contact. Despite their good intentions, too eager do-gooders can be too proactive, bringing an abrasiveness to their interactions that is hurtful to people who are raw.
• If someone shows up who is a good service candidate, find a way to use them.
• Give volunteers specific instructions, protocols for treatment, and scripts for addressing members of the community.
• Be creative in problem-solving when setting up a healing space; don’t let perfectionism weigh you down.
• Take care of yourselves and your staff. Serving those who have been traumatized requires steadiness and sensitivity. Staff cannot serve when they are  too stressed to be present. Allow staff to offer and receive treatment with one another as needed and feasible.

FOR VOLUNTEERS:

• Don’t be attached to the details of your service or to particular outcomes. Be willing to do what is needed rather than just what you came to do. Sweeping the floor is as important as placing your hands.
• Don’t ask people how they are. Don’t ask questions about their experience. This is not conversation time. There is nothing you can say that will help, and mindless words can easily hit a nerve.
• Welcome people, give your name, and tell them simply what you will do – “I’ll place my hands gently on or just above your head and torso” – and give them control of the process. Don’t try to talk someone into touch if they feel shy.
• Always ask permission before touching, even if the person has already consented to massage or Reiki treatment.
• Don’t talk about yourself — at all — even if you have been through similar trauma.
• Be mindful of your language, avoiding any common phrasing that has violent images, such as “shooting” an email or “blasting” through a project.
• Take good care of yourself and check-in gently with other staff, especially if someone seems ungrounded.

Get help to give help

If you want to help, get help. Reiki training on its own is not enough. Take care of yourself — that’s first — but also learn the skills of helping others. The art of supporting people after trauma cannot be learned on the internet. It’s something you need to see in action.

If you are organizing a relief effort of any size, please reach out to a professional for guidance and collaboration.

Meanwhile, if you have an opportunity to offer healing to someone on your own, be gentle. Be still. Be empty, and listen with all your being. The mindset of a practitioner supporting someone after trauma is presence rather than action.

If you know of an opportunity for Reiki practitioners to help our neighbors in the Boston area heal, please scroll down and share that information in a comment.

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What do some Vipassana teachers and U.S. Catholic bishops have in common? They both oppose Reiki practice.

This recent email is typical of ones I’ve received over the past decade:

I recently participated in a 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat. I was told not to do any other practice during my time there. I was told specifically not to practice Reiki after the course, because Reiki and Vipassana could have adverse effects.

Unfortunately I was not given any further information. I would like to continue my Reiki practice, but have found limited information in my research to make a good decision on whether or not it would be safe for me to resume my practice. Are you able to shed any light on this or share any other information that would help me decide what to do?

DISCLOSURE: Although I have decades of experience with Vipassana practice, it is not my core practice. I have no contact with the Vipassana teachers who oppose Reiki healing and I do not presume to speak for them. Since I have been asked so often to help Reiki students address this situation, I share my perspective for whatever value the reader might find.

Reiki confusion

The Vipassana Reiki proscription is likely another Reiki credibility problem that comes from having many diverse practices lumped under the name Reiki.

Who knows what experience or information led to this anti-Reiki stance from Vipassana teachers? They may have met ungrounded Reiki practitioners whose comments sounded like magical thinking and confused other retreatants; or whose Reiki practices were derivatives, mixed with magic, shamanism, channeling, or other New Age embellishments focused on phenomena; who spoke of “Reiki energy” or connecting with something outside yourself.

The purpose of Vipassana and all spiritual practice is simply to be present in your own self — which of course is not so simply accomplished, which takes consistent, disciplined practice over time. Any practice that reaches outside rather than dropping inside would appear to oppose this process, to weaken rather than strengthen your ability to be present.

Reiki and Vipassana are spiritual practices

Although Reiki practitioners often speak of connecting to “Reiki energy,” Reiki is actually a spiritual practice, like Vipassana, that helps us be present. (Whatever happens on an subtle bio-energetic level is an individual’s response to the practice.)

Reiki practices that stay close to the Usui/Hayashi/Takata lineages are simple and straightforward, rather like Vipassana.

You may have been told you learned Usui Reiki, but the term “Usui Reiki” doesn’t guarantee anything. The practice you were taught may have been substantially altered from the practices taught by Usui. For example, somewhere along the line, a teacher may have tacked on additional channeled “attunements,” yet continued using the term “Usui Reiki.” Your teacher may not be aware of such changes, or might not think them important.

One Reiki master’s perspective

It is a serious matter when a teacher proscribes other practices. If I were in this situation — which I have never been — I would be suspicious, especially if ultimatums rather than guidelines are given, and given without explanation.

But I would also look deeply into my experience of Reiki practice.

Drawing from my own experience and understanding of the two practices, I see no conflict in practicing both Vipassana and Reiki. In my First degree classes, I lead a Vipassana style meditation as a way of developing students’ capacity to passively observe their Reiki practice without involving intention or will. I also encourage students to continue to meditate, separate from their Reiki practice. (Students generally find practicing Reiki first prepares them to then sit for meditation.)

It’s your call to make

Being told by a teacher that you must choose between Reiki and Vipassana is an intense spiritual challenge. As with all spiritual challenges, each student faced with this situation has to come to his or her own resolution. Each spiritual challenge is unique to the individual at the moment of choice.

I encourage you to look deeply into the truth of your own Reiki practice and experience. Has your Reiki practice made you more present and aware, or more agitated and scattered?

I also encourage you to examine the language you use to discuss Reiki practice. Your language affects your own understanding, and what others think Reiki practice is.

Isn’t it interesting that Reiki practice is shunned by the U.S. Catholic bishops and some Buddhists. What can we as a community learn from this? I welcome all respectful, thoughtful comments. Rudeness, ranting and personal attacks will not be posted.

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Medicine is changing at an unprecedented rate. As a Reiki practitioner, you can help bring Reiki healing into health care. Here’s how.

Reiki healing is part of what conventional medicine calls complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). A recent medical article* on CAM for weight loss said, “The current roles of physicians and other healthcare providers have expanded to now include skills for helping patients access, critically appraise, and review online evidence, with the goal of identifying best sources for decision-making about interventions.”

This is good news. Reiki healing is one of the interventions patients are looking at (we know Reiki healing is a practice rather than an intervention, but that distinction is rarely made in medicine, where treatment is more common than self-care).

The need for doctors to vet healthcare information is so dire that the article suggests having computers in doctors’ waiting rooms with recommended sites bookmarked.

Doctors and nurse practitioners can be powerful advocates for Reiki practice. But they need us to give them what they need to know, and provide that information in a credible format.

Would your Reiki website get bookmarked by a doctor as a source of credible information for her patients? (Did you note the phrase “critically appraise” in the quote above?)

If your website won’t pass critical appraisal, maybe it’s time for an overhaul. I’ve been talking to doctors about Reiki practice for 20 years with good results. Here are my top suggestions. (Don’t have a website? I know creating your first professional website is a daunting task. That’s why I created Your Reiki Website Webinar).

 5 Reiki Website Must-Haves

YOUR HEADSHOT

Practitioners often put a nature picture or a soothing visual on their homepage, but visitors would rather see what you look like. A photo of you is reassuring. The public needs to see that Reiki practitioners don’t have horns. (And if you do, comb your hair over them.)**

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION

Where are you? You may have a very good reason for not posting a street address online but you can name a town or a neighborhood, details to anchor the information in the real world. Put it in the footer and maybe the header.

PHONE AND EMAIL CONTACT

Give a phone number, even if it’s a service you never answer directly. As with the location details, it makes you more real and present. Put the phone number in the footer with your location. Your contact form should be the last option on your navigation. Make it easy for visitors to find.

REIKI TREATMENT DESCRIPTION

Prominently feature a word picture with details such as fully clothed, light touch, lying on a treatment table or sitting supported in a comfortable chair. And if you have one, include a picture of yourself offering Reiki treatment in an appealing, uncluttered room devoid of New Age artifacts such as chakra diagrams.

BELIEVABLE TESTIMONIALS

Eliminate anything over-the-top. Include a few short, simple statements (not claims) from people like your neighbors who have been helped with everyday problems. “I’m sleeping so much better since I started Reiki treatment” or “I have fewer migraines and the ones I get are less intense” communicates better than “My life has totally changed since practicing Reiki.” Even though that may be true, not everyone wants a total life makeover. Ask permission to use your client’s full name. Include a headshot if possible. People become more comfortable when they see people like them have benefited from Reiki healing.

3 Reiki Website No-Nos

THE REIKI TRANSLATION

The translation includes concepts that are completely foreign to non-Asians. It can be off-putting, and does nothing to make Reiki healing relevant to the reader. Think of it this way — do you know or care what electricity is, or do you just want to turn on the light?

JARGON

Reiki practitioners are often blind to how much jargon or shorthand language we use. Even the word “Reiki” can be thrown around in confusing ways. Examine every time the word Reiki appears and ask yourself if it would be clearer with another word after it, such as Reiki practice or Reiki treatment. Simple straightforward language creates confidence. Stick to the basics of what your reader wants to know. Don’t try to say what cannot be said. You’ll look weird or foolish or both. And so will Reiki practice.

CLAIMS

If you stick with the perspective that Reiki practice is balancing to the individual and thus supports self-healing (which has some scientific support), you’ll steer clear of claims. Be respectful of conventional medicine and don’t say Reiki cures specific conditions or symptoms. Soften your language, choosing phrases such as “may support” or “can help.” Avoid saying Reiki does this Reiki does that (and check the notes under Jargon).

Feel free to include links to any content on my blog or website that you find supportive, such as How Does Reiki Help?, Yale Study Shows Reiki Treatment Helps Heart Attack Patients, or Reiki Medical Papers. It is important to give links to the original content on my site rather than duplicating the content on your site. Posting other people’s original content is a major no-no for so many reasons.

If you teach, posting a link to Reiki Classes: What’s Right for You? provides an implicit endorsement from me — if, of course, you agree with the standards described. If your standards are not aligned with those stated in the article, skip it as it will work against you.

Reiki blessings,

Pamela

*CAM and Weight Loss: Does It Work? (free subscription is required to access Medscape articles.)

**BONUS Photo newsflash: You don’t need a professional headshot for your website. Hand your iPhone to someone you are very comfortable with and go outside in the soft morning or late day light, or stand by a window with abundant natural light. Take more shots than you think you could possibly need. Feeling adventurous? Try the filters on Instagram. You’ll be amazed how easy it is to make an image that you — and others — can relate to. Don’t believe me? Behold this Instagram photo from the Sunday New York Times.

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“I receive Reiki healing every week,” a new acquaintance said when I was introduced as a Reiki master. “At least I did until my Reiki practitioner raised her fee from $40 to $75. At $40 I didn’t mind the cats jumping up on the table.”

“Did you speak to her about it?” I asked.

“Yes, I did, and she said not to worry about the cats, that they love Reiki.”

We laughed.

Of course that wasn’t the point.

“Did you ask if the cats were paying her fee?” I asked, cattily.

Reiki professional practice

Guessing from her fees and comical obtuseness about her client’s preferences, the Reiki practitioner in this story may be just starting out as a Reiki healing professional (she may also have been recently trained in Reiki practice, but that’s another discussion).

The anecdote raises three questions regarding Reiki professional practice that merit discussion. I hope you will weigh in on any or all of them, either as a Reiki practitioner or a Reiki client, or both:

1. As valuable and lovable as our animal friends are, do animals belong in a Reiki treatment room?

2. What accommodations does a Reiki client deserve?

3. Do you have strategies for raising fees for Reiki treatment without alienating clients (unless of course that’s your purpose)? What’s worked and what hasn’t worked?

Thank you for voicing your perspective respectfully. If you received this as an email, please click here to leave your comment.

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Henry Matisse told art students, “Don’t try to be original. Be simple. Be good technically, and if there is something in you, it will come out.”

Good advice for art students, and good advice for spiritual practitioners.

Why try to be original when you already are an original?

Practice as you were taught, be patient, and as you settle into a loving relationship with yourself, what is within you will come out.

Practice consistently, every day, and your uniqueness will shine forth as you come to appreciate — and yes, love –  yourself more deeply.

With consistent (not occasional) daily practice, you’ll live anchored in profound self-acceptance, and have the courage to recognize and develop the gift that only you can give the world, and to do so as your authentically unique self.

Reiki originals

We cannot practice being original.

But we can practice consistently, and allow our authentic unique self to find its place in this world.

How has your Reiki practice helped you find yourself? Please scroll down to the comments section to share.

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MAINSTREAMING REIKI: How to Explain It recorded webinar is now available.

When we think of practice, we think of musicians, athletes, and dancers (an intriguing hybrid of musician and athlete).

Whether they play cello, swing a racket, or balance on tiptoe, musicians, athletes and dancers practice thousands of hours to get better at what they do.

Spiritual athletes

There is another kind of practice, one that we can all engage in, regardless our talent, or lack of talent. Spiritual practice.

Spiritual practice doesn’t make us better at being spiritual. We already are spiritual. Spirituality is an inherent part of being human.

Spiritual practice makes us better at feeling better, and thus at doing (life) better, and being better — being the very best version of ourselves, staying engaged in the life we are living.

When we take care of our state — when we feel better — everything else gets better. We don’t get caught in the old traps. We stay in the game. We keep dancing. We don’t react; we create.

Practicing prevention

Consistently feeling better matters because the things that stress us don’t take time off. We need support every day to stay at the top of our game, the game only we can play, the dance only we can dance.

Challenges come in life, but stress is largely preventable.

By restoring our well-being and sense of meaning every day, practice keeps most stress at bay. When we occasionally succumb to stress, daily practice enables us to recover faster.

Daily practice is very doable, no matter what your lifestyle. If you are a Reiki practitioner, it’s as simple as placing your hand. If you’re not a Reiki practitioner, turn your attention to your breath, and take a few moments to enjoy it, just as it is.

Daily practice doesn’t just happen. We have to make it part of our everyday lifestyle.

What obstacles have you overcome to maintain a steady practice? What obstacles would you like help with? Let’s support one another in daily practice so we can all feel better, do better, be better — so we can enjoy our lives and share our joy with the world around us. Please click here to comment.

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How can you be in two places at once when you’re not anywhere at all?

I will never forget that Frank Zappa line (and maybe my kids won’t either).

I don’t remember the album at all. In fact I never heard the album. I just heard friends singing that one line. Over and over, like a vaudeville moment endlessly looping.

Its comical warning has played in my head for decades. As a college student, the words made me smile even as they spoke my greatest fear.

Healing the disconnect

I was already a holistic medicine gal and knew the thigh bone’s connected to the hip bone, but there were times when the most important part of me didn’t feel connected to any of them bones. Maybe you know what I mean.

Back then, I was still young enough to imagine I was the only one living as Disconnection Incarnate.

I longed to live connected — to myself, to others, to the world around me — but had no clue how. Each stab-in-the-dark attempt at wholeness left me feeling more like a tattered patchwork quilt than a flowing bolt of silk.

So I went to India and dove into intensive spiritual practice. It was hard, and at the same time I never felt so at home. My plane ticket was for three months. That first trip lasted a year and a half.

Investing in self (care)

I sold my car to finance the extension and came home financially broke, but spiritually whole, or at least actively engaged. Cars can be replaced, but the time immersed in practice was my blue chip stock, a spiritual investment that’s still paying dividends.

When I experienced Reiki healing many years later, my continuing spiritual practice understood Reiki is also a spiritual practice, even though Reiki wasn’t presented to me that way.

I immediately added Reiki to my daily practice, and slowly, over time, practice has revealed from within the meaning of words that have no counterpart in English.

Just do it

Hawayo Takata’s* response to students’ questions was often, “Do it. Just do it and you will know.” The late yoga master Pattabi Jois advised his students, “Practice and all is forthcoming.”

I’m not telling anyone how to practice, nor have I created a new practice style.

I simply encourage you to actually practice, and practice consistently, to take a class that is a good fit for you, and then get your hands on your body. Every day.

When I place my Reiki hands, I don’t Zappa Reiki. I just practice.

I put myself in the position for good things to happen, for each piece to experience its connection with all the other pieces, so I’m not scattered in two (or more) places at once, so I can just

BE. HERE. NOW.

IRONIC POSTSCRIPT: Thinking I might link to the song I didn’t remember, I scouted the internet and discovered it wasn’t Frank Zappa at all, and there wasn’t even a song, just a line from the Firesign Theatre album of the same name.

*Hawayo Takata and her Reiki master Chujiro Hayashi, a direct student of Reiki practice founder Mikao Usui, brought Reiki practice to Hawaii from Japan in the late 1930s.

RELATED READING:
My Reiki Practice
A Platform for Change

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