I have a special invitation, just for you: Please join me in giving Reiki to the world.
Let’s do it now.
I’m not envisioning an elaborate network of distant treatment, nor suggesting we take to the streets and get our Reiki hands on a record number of people (although that’s not a bad idea).
Reiki now
My invitation is simple: whatever you’ve been plotting Reiki-wise, whether it’s starting daily self-practice or approaching a host partner to sponsor a public Reiki event in your community, take the first step now.
Right now, take a simple action to start the Reiki ball rolling out of your dreams onto a field where others can play too.
Do it right now to make sure it gets done. Don’t wait until it’s perfect enough or convenient enough. With whatever means you have at this moment, take action.
Your Reiki action
Your action might be writing the first draft of your event plan or writing the email asking for a meeting. It might be adding your daily Reiki self-treatment to your calendar, or contacting a Reiki buddy to meet regularly to exchange treatments.
Take an action that brings you closer to giving Reiki healing a larger presence in your life, and thus in the lives of others. One leads naturally to the other.
And if Reiki’s presence in your life is already overflowing the brim, take an action that will make Reiki practice available to others. Chances are that many people would appreciate the benefits you are experiencing, or other benefits you haven’t dreamed of, that would bring greater balance to their lives.
Think what your Reiki practice has brought to you, and how it has changed your life. Don’t you want others to have that opportunity? Take action.
Reiki audience participation time
Can’t think of an action to take right now? Ok, I’ll make it easy. Please share your Reiki story to delight and inspire us.
How did you come to practice Reiki? What has your practice given you?
_________________
Stay in touch. Sign up here for my email list.
By the way, there is so much to share, but i’d end up with a novel. However, please feel free to ask any questions. :)
Here’s my continuation to how I was introduced to Reiki. :) As I stated on your FB page, I was on my deathbed and ready to die because I was tired of being sick. I had been sick all my life from one thing or another and was taking 30+ pills to “survive” at the time. Of course, my liver wasn’t thrilled, so it began to shut down.
Anyway, I had already given up even though I had been a fighter all my life. My own mom had died at the young age of 42 and my sisters and I grew up watching her suffer even though she tried to be strong for us. I didn’t want my kids to go through that. I didn’t want them to have to worry about who they would be shipped off to when I died. I hated hearing my relatives talk about who would take care of my sisters and me when we were too young to be on our own. In fact, i was the one who raised my baby sister who was 9 years old when my mom passed away.
By the time I landed in the hospital, I had been experiencing over 100 muscle spasms daily for two weeks (throughout the entire day and night), so I hadn’t been sleeping of course. I don’t remember much of what happened, but I do remember asking God to please let me die because I was in too much pain and I remember (vaguely) motioning for my boys to leave the room. I didn’t want them to see me like this, especially since my dad was literally on top of me, trying to hold my body down as the spasms continued to happen.
Seeing me this way, prompted my sister to run out and ask someone to pray for me. She had never been a spiritual person, but she didn’t know what else to do. The chaplain came in and began working on me. As I said, I don’t remember much, but I do remember a sense of hope. My dad said that her arm hairs were on end while she lay her hands on me, but dropped the second she moved her hands away from my body. This piqued my curiosity :) .
I don’t know how it happened exactly, but they let me go from the hospital and my sister took me to a chiropractor in Mesa, AZ. I lived over 3 hrs away at the time. I stayed under his care for about a week and began to walk again even if for a little bit at a time. I continued to work with him and still return to his office once a year to get an adjustment. The spasms became less frequent until I didn’t have them anymore.
About a month after my hospital stay, I returned to the hospital to thank the chaplain who had worked on me. She was only going to be in the area for less than a month before moving out of town, so she referred me to a Reiki practitioner in the area. I also found an acupuncturist. Pretty soon i was networking with other people I met at a drum circle, via my acupuncturist, and via Reiki. I was in heaven :) . I came across another Reiki practitioner who became my mentor and is now one of my closest friends. It was through her that I realized I wanted to share my gifts and so I began taking Reiki classes.
Reiki has helped me soooo much in all aspects of my life. I say it keeps me sane. My medical problems have practically disappeared. The only thing that is left of everything that was wrong with me are allergies, so I am still working on that. My eyesight has improved – don’t even need astimagtism correction on one of my eyes. During the weeks where I have more time to work on other people, I won’t even wear my glasses at all (even when I am driving). I do take Zyrtec sometimes, but it does not compare to the 30+ pills I used to take daily :) .
Things are so much better in other areas too. I am still healing of course, but have made great improvements thus far. I love how Reiki helps both the healer and the person who is being worked on. I love how I react to things much more differently than how I would have reacted to them pre-Reiki. I have always considered myself a spiritual person, but I love how much I am continuing to grow and I love the effect my growth has on the people around me. I genuinely love people and continue to work on being the best person i can be and, as I say, use my knowledge to help others. :)
Great story, Larry. You might like to read about our study of Reiki for heart patients at Yale.
I have always found musicians particularly easy to teach. They expect to practice regularly, are already so aware of vibration, very comfortable with sensing, and don’t feel driven to validate their experience with the rational mind.
When I was working full time as a Music Educator, one of my parents would always tell me that I “had healing hands” and should try Reiki. I didn’t give it much thought until I saw classes advertised at our local community college. I signed up and was absolutely drawn in. Our teacher said that it would change our lives and it did mine! After the first certification, I signed up for the second. That’s when I found out that I had apparently had a heart attack at some point and had to have stents put in. Well, I did Reiki throughout the procedure and continued after and my doctors were thrilled at how quickly I recovered and how “great” my EKGs were! I’m sure that if not for Reiki, that would not have been the case. I continued to study and went on to get my Master’s training. Reiki has become a path for me and I have a small business with a number of clients who come regularly and say that it really helps them with whatever it is they come for. I can’t imagine life without Reiki at this point and am eternally grateful for all that it has led me to. I am also grateful to my teacher Lorry Salluzzi for being such an inspiration and role model.
I first experienced energy healing during a business trip to India. I was having a lot of neck and shoulder pain, and the brief demo I received completely alleviated my discomfort. As someone who has had chronic cervical spine pain for over 20 years, this was a soul-awakening moment.
When I returned to the U.S., I began searching for someone to teach me how to do hands-on healing. I stumbled across several mentions of Reiki, and it resonated with me because of my familiarity with Soto Zen practice. The concepts of being fully present, no-self (oneness) and “beginner’s mind” were implicitly there in Reiki too. I liked that it was more about “being” than “doing.”
Once I learned Reiki, not only did I receive complete and lasting healing of a persistent, painful bladder condition I had experienced for years, I fully understood what it meant to have faith: in the universe to be an ever-present, ever-sustaining source, in my own ability to heal my body and take full responsibility for my spiritual development. I still do have neck and shoulder pain from time to time, but Reiki also led me down a path of complementary healing that has given me the resources to take better care of myself.
My practice has given me a lifetime gift – and one I can share with others.
Reiki came in my life when I was 14 – I was browsing through a few newspaper artciles when the description of Reiki caught my eye. After reading a little more about it, I decided to take the class. Saving up money from my monthly allowance, I went ahead and took a First Degree class. I was hooked right then and there: I could not wait between two Reiki self-treatment sessions! As I continued practicing Reiki, I met many wonderful friends at our Reiki center, Reiki acquaintances and soul friends I cherish to this day. In the years that have since passed, I tried out many different systems of meditation and healing, but somehow kept coming back to Reiki. My own Reiki teacher has always repeatedly told me that a sincere and heartfelt practice of Reiki self-healing and healing others is in itself a deep spiritual practice, one that can help the practitioner in manifesting self-realization. For me, Reiki has been a refuge amid the changes and turbulence of daily life – from one session to the next, although the sensations keep changing, the mindful application of my own Reiki hands and the deep consciousness of Reiki will keep reminding me of the reality of ultimate Oneness.
Suneil, your enthusiasm for practice shines through! Thank you for sharing your Reiki story.
Thank you so much, Martin. It’s a very positive development when people addressing any serious medical diagnosis or life situation affirm that it has changed them and opened new vistas of life.
Sometimes people undergoing invasive medical treatment say, “I just want my life to go back to the way it was.” While that sentiment is totally understandable on the surface, we then have a conversation about the many reasons why they really don’t want that, not the least being that we know where that road leads. No matter what life brings us, we have the option to use it as an opportunity for exploration and self-discovery.
I particularly appreciated reading how your Reiki practice has complemented and enhanced your Torah study. Truth is truth is truth; it is found in the details, while at the same time surpassing them.
The last few years have been the worst and the best of my life. There are times when I am sitting and the unreality of my experience plays with my thoughts. I had few if any symptoms due to the cancer. One day I am ok the next I am not. So began a battle with the medical establishment that stunned me. I was astonished what it was like when you really were “sick”. Within months of the first cancer treatment (hormone blockade) I was admitted to MGH for three units of blood. I seriously wonder if it is the cancer or the medical establishment that has been the worst of this. Approximately eight months after that diagnosis I began working at a company that also provided “benefits/health insurance” and met through my job a CST practitioner who was also a Reiki master. I remember the first treatment, I was about as relaxed as a 2×10 at Home Depot, yet things happened that I had no explanation for. I grew up with a heavy mainstream medical establishment bias, the alternative medicine sessions completed the crumbling of that bias. I had been introduced to a whole new world and way of “seeing” things… A few months later I attended a Reiki 1 class, the door which had been opened a crack opened wider. I was no longer in “Kansas” anymore, and I was quite happy with that! I had been on a “sprititual” path for years. I had discovered my religion with the Bat Mitzvah of my first daughter and in the subsequent years read maybe several hundred books on my religion and religion in general and had regularly attended Torah Study for over a decade. It was a surprise to me how Reiki complemented and enhanced my experience.
It was an endless surprise how something in one (older) part of my life that wasn’t supposed to happen…happened.. in the practice of Reiki. It was thought provoking to think about “Kansas” (from the Wizard of Oz)…that “Kansas” was what we THINK we know about reality and ACCEPT as “real”! I have only a small limited idea of what is “out there” in this new world that I have stepped into, but I have found it an adventure, a delight and a support at a time in my life when nothing else seemed to help. It continues to do so. It has deepened my spiritual beliefs. It has changed me. As I read one persons comment “I can now return some of the good I’ve been given” and I feel that is central to what I want to do with Reiki in this new year.
I welcome correspondence with all who are experiencing trauma due to cancer or illness.
So beautiful, Christine. Thank you!
I found Reiki when I took a position as a volunteer coordinator for our local hospice and had a Reiki Master as a volunteer. I felt I needed to at least have an idea of what it was she did in order to help promote her to the staff and recommend her to our patients. I listened to a presentation, and even had a couple of treatments to get an idea of what it was. I really enjoyed the treatments and the peace I felt, so I started driving the 47 mile round trip to attend the 2 times a month circle that was offered by my volunteer and others she had taught.
It took a little prodding from her to get me to even think I was capable of doing what she did! She kept saying ‘Christine you need to take a class, you will see..’ a lot of my fear was based on what my religion that I grew up with were saying and such; being a ‘good girl’ was a hard practice to break, not that doing Reiki was being bad, just my minds concept and of course…fear!
Finally after lots of scheduling conflicts, I did it, I took her Reiki I class, then Reiki II, a year later I took her Master Class and that was when I felt I had come home.
There has been a peace that has settled around me.
I practice in some way, daily, and have continued to participate in the circle that is offered to the neighboring town. But the greatest gift I have been given is that inner peace, a sense that what is is and that things are not set in stone.
It is not the easiest thing for me to explain so bear with me – I have had some major health issues, one of which is I have been going deaf since my mid 20’s due to a hereditary disease. Around the same time that I became a Reiki Master I found out I had a tumor in the hearing nerve of the only ear I hear out of. Yes, I had the initial fear of what is going to happen if this thing grows and I really do go totally deaf sooner rather than later, but with my daily self practice, my daily sending long distance Reiki to some close friends who were/are battling cancer, and the support of my Reiki Master and fellow practitioners, I finally found a peace inside, and an acceptance. Acceptance of not having to accept my fate…I didn’t have to become deaf because this tumor was going to take my hearing away, IF this happened I could find the peace to accept it but the IF was really the key. What I could change is how I handled it, I could say to myself I will not sit and just allow it to just happen I could believe I could try to imagine and visualize it not happening. This was a totally new concept for me to practice. I preached it but I never really practiced it.
This is how I found Reiki, it continues to be a learning process and also one of growth. It has helped me find my inner peace.
I never was inspired by anyone in particular, never had aspirations to be “like” anyone. Many people around me admired political figureheads, businessmen or Spiritual leaders. I never know what all the fuss was about! They were all just people to me, people who did extraordinary things, yes, but they all had to bathe, they all had to go to the bathroom, they all had to eat. I felt there was nothing magical about that.
The first person I ever met that evoked the thought in me: “I want to be just like her” was a Reiki practitioner called Ruth. I went to see her during a difficult time in my life and I was always upset, emotional and unbalanced when I arrived in to see her. She was the antithesis of me – calm, centred, peaceful, she seemed to glide around the room without her feet touching the ground. She had a beautiful smile and when she looked at me she was really there. I mean really – when you looked in her eyes, she was there. Me, I was always racing ahead into the future making plans, I’d loose my temper easily, I would go from being so happy I could cry, to being so sad that I would cry and I certainly was never able to stay in one place for too long.
After I experienced the magic of Reiki with Ruth I decided I needed to be able to do it for myself. My first Reiki class was an experience I’ll never forget (not necessarily for the right reasons but that’s another story – these things make us better teachers!).
I believe that it has been my practice of Reiki over the last 15 or so years that has brought me to the space of being able to be fully present, being patient and tolerant, being empathic and able to hold a safe space for my clients to become emotional and clear their own issues without becoming sucked into them myself. I am finally, now, the way that I percieved Ruth was during that time. It was a long journey to get here and I will always be grateful for the lessons I learned along the way.
Thank you so much, Abby, for mentioning that transformation takes time.
It certainly does, as you know well, there are no quick-fixes. I get people coming to see me who want me to wave a magic wand and make it all better. I understand their reaction when they realise it doesn’t work this way, but that is part of their process too. If we don’t learn, we’re given the lessons over again until we “get it”, so listen up! Happy New Year to you Pamela, you’re valuable to me and I always stay tuned in to what you are doing. xxAbby
Ten years ago my 30 year marriage ended & I was left emotionally bruised & broken. My life felt empty & I had no idea how I would reinvent myself. My years of meditation practice allowed me to sit with the feelings & explore the dark, hidden world that had been exposed & I wrote, filling page after page, a purging of my guilt, fear & shame. Then I had my first Reiki treatment & a new door opened. It was like shining a light in a dark place. The shadows were still there but at last I had something that I could use to heal myself, nurturing & gentle. I am a different person now. Reiki has changed my life for the better in subtle & not so subtle ways & I now teach it to others. We are so much more than just flesh & blood. Our hearts need nourishment too. Every day Reiki restores harmony & balance to my body, mind & spirit. I could have chosen the way of anger & bitterness but I remember the moment when I made the choice to move on & I am so thankful that I did. Reiki helped me.
Susan, what a beautiful story. You make so many helpful points — daily practice, making a choice and consistently re-choosing it.
You don’t mention the Precepts specifically, but your words convey an understanding that the Precepts can help us with.
Would you say that your meditation practice informed your Reiki practice in the sense of being able to observe your Reiki practice rather than tamper with it?
Thankyou for your comments Pamela. My story is just one of many. There is so much suffering in the world. These words of a Buddhist monk inspire me – “Oh that my monk’s robe were wide enough to gather up all the suffering in this floating world.”
I didn’t mention the Precepts specifically, but they are part of what I refer to as Reiki. They are a daily reminder of how I want to live. When I sit with the Precepts, I re-establish my connection to that intent. I see them as being similar to a sankalpa in Yoga Nidra.
Meditation practice certainly helps my Reiki practice, both when treating myself & when treating others. It has fostered in me a deep trust in the unfolding of whatever needs to be & the ability to allow that process to unfold without intervention. Occasionally, because of my training in other modalities, I do find myself getting involved & I have to remind myself to step back.
I find Reiki & meditation to be similar in that they both require us to let go & just be.
How did you come to practice Reiki?
Thirteen years ago, my family found out my mother had sinus cancer and that she would require immediate surgery. I was very anxious and terrified that my mother would die during it. A close friend offered me Reiki and I accepted. I had no idea what Reiki was but afterwards I felt much calmer and had a very positive outlook on my moms recovery.
What has your practice given you?
My practice has given me “support” to myself on all levels, which allows me to be available to others when I choose.
Thank you, Kelly. Support is a great word to describe what Reiki practice brings us.
Can’t help wondering if your increased experience of support is related not only to your ability to be available to others, but also the understanding that you can choose…
Reiki, for me, has been an amazing journey and a wonderfully transformative experience.
Most of my life, I’ve experienced health problems, anxiety, depression, been fatalistic, and blamed the world for my problems. It’s amazing to me how, when I started looking for a Reiki teacher, everything just fell into place.
I’ve only been practicing for about a year, but looking at where I was prior to Reiki, and where I am today, I am truly amazed. The growth, perspective, and balance that Reiki has helped me to achieve, and the lessons that it continues to provide is a blessing that words can hardly describe.
I absolutely love sharing Reiki with others – whether it’s with a paying client, family or friends, or just volunteering Reiki to those who have fallen on hard times. I think it’s wonderful to be able to share something that is so empowering, peace inspiring, and awesome, and every time I put my hands on position – on myself or another, in person or from a distance – it fills me with joy to be able to offer the same helping hand that Reiki once offered (and continues to offer) me.
Thank you, Chris. I am intrigued what made the person you described in your second sentence start looking for a Reiki teacher. Care to share that part?
Thank you, Clare, and so good to hear from you. I was remembering my visit to Dublin just this morning, and how much love I felt in your community.
My Reiki story goes a little something like this…..
Not too long ago I was in a dark place, stuck in my emotions, stuck in my past, searching and knowing that there was something more, something I knew was there but had not tapped into before. I tried but it always seemed to deplete me more and I started to give up on self help.
A very good friend of mine offered me the chance to learn Reiki.
I jumped at the chance and started to study and was later attuned to the energy.
As I studied, I saw how simple and straight forward it was and still is. The Reiki precepts really help(ed) me to stay in the present moment, and as if by miracles, something inside me changed. It changed for the better and I have not returned to the feelings of despair since. Instead, now I look at the possibilities that lay in each thought, each action, each feeling. I re-act less to external situations that I have little or no control over. I feel balanced, alive, healed from my past and ready to stand in every moment just as it is. I feel natural and at peace with the world.
Reiki has helped me to be who I am and to love others as they are, without judgement.
As I share the benefits of Reiki with others I feel compassion, love and connection. I see how it helps people who have asked to receive it’s benefits. I feel huge gratitude for all who have brought this amazing energy into life to be shared.
Since your seminar in Dublin I often repeat to myself the comment that you left us with…..”Imagine if Reiki was as common as aspirin” and I hope that soon this will be the case.
Reiki helps me to balance all aspects of myself. I have my off days, just like everyone, but when I remember to focus on what I have learned it soon calms and “off” doesn’t feel as bad as it once did.
Dr Usui has shared a precious gift for which I will always be grateful. I wish everyone the opportunity to gain what I have gained since starting this beautiful, simple practice.
Here’s to health, balance and well being!
Wishing you all a happy and peaceful New Year.