His voice caught my attention from behind.
A man was trying to enroll a greenmarket farmer in a program to teach the families of hospital patients how to purchase and cook more healthful food. Brilliant concept!
Everything he said sounded truly wonderful, but it was the striking disconnect between what he was saying and his in-your-face demeanor that set me thinking.
Reiki zealots
I wondered how many times Reiki practitioners present listeners with the same dichotomy.
Who wouldn’t be interested in a low-cost, drug-free way to enhance well-being, strengthen health, and manage pain and anxiety?
But if the person “selling” the concept is enthusiastic to the point of seeming a bit aggressive — enthusiasm laced perhaps with a tinge of anger — the listener gets uncomfortable.
Whatever change you are creating — improving your own health and well-being, or bringing Reiki practice to a mainstream public — it takes zeal to make it real. There will surely be times when you’ll have nothing but your vision to sustain you.
And yet, if you are branded as a zealot, you won’t go anywhere mainstream — at least not anywhere that you want to be.
Bridging the gap between enthusiasm and embodiment
We have a remedy to dissolve any disconnect between what we’re saying and what we’re modelling: daily hands-on Reiki self-treatment and contemplation of the Reiki Precepts.
Although most people notice improved well-being soon after starting daily Reiki self-treatment, give yourself time; great wines don’t mellow overnight.
Have you caught yourself getting a bit too animated when you speak about Reiki? How do you bring yourself back to center?
RELATED READING:
Build Your Vision
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Thank you for you article and also the informative questions and answers. I too practice Reiki and have done so now for a few years. I personally prefer to keep quiet unless someone directly asks me questions about it, and in response i try to keep my answers simple. I learnt this from my mother who was one of the overzealous, pushy souls..as a consequence of her behaviour, i steered clear of Reiki for years until a good and trusted friend gently encouraged me to do the courses. My trusted friend is now also my Reiki Master and continues to gently encourage and support me.
It is true that, in the beginning, some of us are a bit overzealous. When I began Reiki eleven years ago I was so excited & wanted everyone to know how wonderful it was. I remember the frustration I felt when people were not interested. As time went by I mellowed. I began to realise that it didn’t matter what people thought. My job was to practice Reiki daily & live my life in humility & service. Now, if someone asks me about Reiki, I answer their question & that is enough. It took a long time to get to this point though & I am still learning.
Thank you so much for all your work Pamela. Next time when you speak with your learned friends could you ask them if the concept ‘we are the conduit and the client pulls through us what they require at that time’ is valid?
Thank you Pamela. I look forward to the answer.
Liesl, I’m sorry, I don’t know who you mean by my “learned friends,” but I don’t think that concept is valid. If you are interested, you can read about a more plausible perspective by clicking here.
Hello Liesl
In a slightly different context, I have experienced something similar to what you said – when I teach a Reiki class, different students have different levels of understanding and experience to relate with. This automatically leads to different threads of conversation, sometimes along very interesting tangents. I can see how some people might experience this as students drawing out what is appropriate from the teacher (which, in a certain sense, is also a valid point of view)
Regards,
Suneil
When I find myself getting too overzealous, there are two ways I’ve learned to “back off”, as it were. I like to listen to “Let it be” by the Beatles; it means different things to different people, but to me, it really emphasizes just going with the flow – which, often, when we’ve communicated calmly is all that’s left to do.
But I also like to remind myself what brought me to Reiki in the first place; it wasn’t some salesperson screaming at me like one of those infomercial icons that “THIS IS THE GREATEST THING EVER!”
My Reiki teacher wasn’t overly animated or in my face; she was a humble, calm person who spoke confidently about Reiki, and without extravagance, and was willing to let Reiki speak for itself. People, I think, tend to be much more respectful of those personality characteristics than someone who is, to use a cliche, beating a dead horse.
Earlier today I was seated beside someone I’d never met, in a classroom. After some polite chat she inquired about my work. I mentioned Reiki, and she asked, “What is that actually?” After my brief response, I was met with a blank stare. I can imagine the scenario in your post!
In this case, I just smiled and waited and she said, “Oh, right~energy work, that’s wonderful.”
Thanks, Pamela. It’s not a word you hear very often. It means “discretion in practical affairs.” I think prudence well practiced is a very soulful art!
Pamela, I’ve actually been thinking of this since I started teaching a class a few weeks ago at the hospital where I volunteer reiki for cancer patients. This class is on energy medicine, but next spring I’ll be offering reiki one to the patients. I love teaching reiki and energy medicine so much, I can feel myself wanting to run to the director after every class and saying, “I just thought of another class I can teach!” I try to remind myself to not wear out my welcome, though. I think it’s the challenge of practicing prudence, without fearing I’ll lose opportunities.
Rose, I like that word, prudence. :-)
Oh….so sorry….I didn’t realize this would pop up on the veggie article as a response. I need to work on my posting skills….or lack thereof!
No worries, Helen. Always good to hear from you.
I have been thinking lately about something I call, for lack of a better term, “trusting your hands.” So many times, my hands are drawn to a certain part of the body and often as not, the person asks how I knew they hurt there or carried their stress there. I didn’t know but it seems my hands did. Maybe I am not explaining this well but would be interested if anyone has experienced something similar.
Helen, this is a very common experience among Reiki practitioners, although it may take time to develop.
Mrs. Takata encouraged people to use the full treatment protocol, but also develop an intuitive feel for the practice. One of her most common, invaluable pieces of advice to students was to let their Reiki hands teach them.