I completely agree that Reiki brings the benefits of meditation. I often speak of it as an applied meditation. I wish Richie Davidson at Madison would do the research he is doing on meditation on Reiki as well, but that is not likely to happen. Since no one stands to gain financially from such research, it probably won’t happen until a neuroscientist becomes interested in Reiki.

BTW conventional medicine isn’t the only kind of medicine that saves lives. And I dare say that training medics, first responders, and ER personnel in some basic homeopathic emergency remedies, acupuncture points, and Reiki would improve outcomes. I know of two incidents in which someone knowledgeable enough to bite the tip of a patient’s little finger stabilized a cardiac episode well enough for the patient to live to be helped by conventional medicine.

Western medicine saves lives. That’s what is is designed to do. Most of our current medicine started out on the battlefield and brought people from the brink or over the edge from death. That being said – what about the lesser forms of illness. Illness that is not profoundly or immediately debilitating or life-threatening. How is that managed? Who cares? Well, it would seem at this point in time, for the vast majority of the population, that “lifestyle” support does not exist. Yet the media is full of stories of small changes that someone (usually celebrity) has made that gave them more confidence and energy (social anxiety disorder), less chronic pain (fibromyalgia), their normal body weight (obesity and its multiple perils), etc. In and of themselves not ailments that destroy (like toxo or PE) but define life as a grind. Now we all want happy pills and a personal trainer- and I am truly no different than anyone.

I have found though that eating a diet that is not too rich, getting regular moderate intensity exercise, avoiding too much drink, and maybe a couple vitamins AND REGULAR MEDITATION are really helpful to being on keel. How easy is that? Weel, as most of you know – not at all. We are surrounded by marketing and stimulation at every turn. (Oh thanks to agribusiness, corn, and the electronic communications world).

Reiki really helps to bring the benefits of meditation to people who cannot sit still by themselves. Touch is reassuring (esp to metal and earth element people). I suspect that meditation is still really helpful in training the mind. (See PET images of Buddhist monks meditating. It would be interesting if those studies could be done with Reiki – but most western science is dealt with testing individuals.)

Healing has several levels and not every level is really ‘required’ by every one but healing does need some sort of space and energy of its own. Its an amazing thing how any form of insult (whether physical, emotional, or spiritual) ripples through our nervous and neuro-endocrine system affecting apparently distant organs and processes. How much time it takes to heal – 2 years for a strong bout of infection, really to change almost every level of a habit and the nature of the scars it leaves.

A good question – how much healing do we need? What is really interesting to me is how success and healing can be defined so differently. Especially intriguing is how the 5 elements might define it. and the fact that most successful people (ie the ones with the $$$) are often metal and woods -which may shed light on why definitions of health and healing are often defined in their reflection.

I’m still thinking about all sorts of stuff and apologize if its a little disjointed. I still struggle with typing (I’m a little older). And do actually practice allopathic medicine very successfully part-time (I’m most likely a water-type).

How much of our lifestyle causes pain? and without going into the buddhist thing about desire (for anything causing karmic debt and pain), I’ll finish with this simple little saying that got me through a lot of times and someimes helps me settle down for meditation. “Expectation leads to disappointment” and “Be here Now”

In Light and love, Dr. W

I did not realize that chakras were not part of Usui’s practice and may have been added to Reiki by Westerners. I perhaps need to go back and review “The Original Reiki Handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui” which I have used as a reference for hand positions. It just passed by me that there is no information about chakras.

But I’m curious why you feel the need to mention chakras–or energy points–at all. The chakra-nadi system of yoga is an entirely different system than the Japanese hara system, and chakras were not part of Usui’s practice. It seems they have been added to Reiki practice by Westerners.

I’m also working on a relaxation and rejuvenation meditation that would be an introduction to the location of chakras without all the technical knowledge.

You mention you are a new Reiki master but didn’t say how long you have been practicing. My guess is that you haven’t yet practiced long enough to create the comfort that you–and your students–deserve. Much of your discomfort could be relieved by simply taking the pressure to establish a professional practice off yourself, and giving your relationship with Reiki time to grow organically.

Completing Reiki training is really only the beginning. It takes time to acclimate to our new Reiki reality. Only when we are deeply comfortable with Reiki can we support our students and clients wisely. Until then, there is a tendency to overdo, to take too much on ourselves rather than allowing the Reiki treatment to run its course–to say nothing of the difficulties of communicating.

And remember, there is a difference between healing and cure. It may be that you are being too hard on yourself, and on Reiki. Expecting our Reiki practice to relieve us of the challenges of being human is not helpful.

Even with Reiki in our lives, life still happens, and sometimes it’s painful. When we practice Reiki self-treatment every day, no matter what, over time we come to realize that we are never alone and helpless, even when life doesn’t look like what we had in mind.

Most of the responses I’ve read here are from established practitioners. I am at the first bump in the road. My biggest mental obstacle is the knowledge that the vast majority of my family members and friends view Reiki either with suspicion or worse. I’m afraid to “come out”. I find the discomfort with this situation blocking me again and again as I attempt to move forward to establish a practice. I can also identify with Terry’s story. Although my health issues haven’t been as critical as hers, they affect my every movement. I have fibromyalgia and as a result of limited activity, have also gained weight. The devil on my shoulder asks, shouldn’t the [physician] (or practitioner) heal him/her self? My self-treatment with Reiki brings decidedly mixed results.

I realize this is how the issue of Reiki acceptance looks at a very local, personal level and most here have graduated to the broader community. But it seems to me it is part of the same picture. I appreciate the original post and comments.

But the foundation is your daily practice of Reiki self-treatment. Your comment doesn’t mention whether you do that or not. Our understanding develops from within as we continue our disciplined self-treatment over time.

Beyond that, there are many levels to your request, and they are all addressed in my classes and more than I can articulate here. But I can suggest that instead of trying to explain Reiki, you simply describe your experience and mention a few things that you and your clients have experienced. Simple things, such as an enhanced sense of well-being, or a lessening of anxiety.

The model that you have for Reiki–you mentioned energy transfers–is not the model I use, and it is admittedly a difficult one to speak of credibly. For this reason, you might want to avoid trying to articulate it and simply say that science does not yet know how Reiki works. This is a much more reasonable response to most people than speaking about energy transfers.

You might also read some of the articles on my website, such as the UPI interview or the piece I wrote for the University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality and Healing, and see if there is language there that is helpful to you. You’ll find the links in the Articles and Books section.

Marilee asked about a communication teleclass. I am open to doing this. The more people who express interest, the sooner it will happen.