Reiki Blog Birthday

May Day 2010 marks the first year of Reiki Central, and what a ride it’s been!

My not-in-the-least-bit secret goal is to stir things up, to get Reiki practitioners thinking about what we do, looking more deeply into what we’re taking for granted, and considering how we can communicate our practice more effectively, so that Reiki practice is seen as a viable option in health care and by the mainstream public, and the response has been nothing short of thrilling.

Toward a More Plausible Model of Reiki has over 100 comments and they’re still coming in.

What Is Reiki? What to Do? and Recipe for Reiki Credibility are still getting tweets.

I hope you will continue to make Reiki Central a community resource where thoughtful Reiki practitioners can respectfully discuss the hard questions, and pool our diverse perspectives, experience, and wisdom to move the field–each of us–forward.

To our health and our great well-being, with many, many thanks to all!

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25 thoughts on “Reiki Blog Birthday”

  1. Dear Pamela
    Thank you so much for the webin,it was very informative and answered many questions.Thank you so much for all your information and education.
    Kathleen

  2. Dear Pamela
    Thank you so much for your webinar.it was very informative and educationsl and answered so many questionsThank forall you information,
    Kathleen

  3. Dear Pamela, I’ve just listened to the Reiki Questions and Discussion and have to thank you. The primary focus of my Reiki practice is with animals – what amazing teachers they are! They understand the Reiki state without any explanation being necessary; however, I do need to discuss Reiki with their human companions, and I often offer a Reiki treatment to the human as a way to help the human understand what I am offering to the pet. I have encountered persons who are afraid that by opening a “channel” for Reiki, they may be inviting demons as well into their lives. I am especially grateful for your affirmation of my own understanding of my Reiki practice as creating a space in which the individual’s own well-being can flourish rather than as a channeling of energy through myself and into a recipient. Again, thank you for sharing your stories and your wisdom (and your love of chocolate).

  4. Thank you Pamela! I am just now reading your response to my April 29 post about doing Reiki while I meditate…and it makes my day. I watched your 3 minute Reiki and Mediatation video and it gave me further good insight. I take comfort in the wisdom you echoed – both Mrs. Takata’s words “any Reiki is better than no Reiki” as well as “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!” Thanks for your :) supportive words and for making us smile while sharing so much wisdom.

  5. Congratulations! Please can you write about sending Reiki and if people can do it after doing Reiki one, a question I have been asked. Unfortunately time wise in Australia I can’t access the webinar, are you able to record it and make it available another time?

  6. Pamela, I left a previous comment, and rudely forgot to say: “Congrats on your Blog Birthday!!! I am very appreciative of this forum. :D)

    @ Kathy Heffernan – Thank you! I realized in retrospect that my comments do reflect the biblical story of the “man who was blind from birth” of whom Christ’s followers asked: “Who’s sin was it that caused this man to be blind, his or his parents?…” (Christ’s answer was “neither”.)

    @Jeanne Nelson: I just had this conversation with my own oncologist. I have heard it said that many healthcare professionals tend to look at Reiki somewhat dismissively as simply a “feel good” therapy, to which I would have to answer “YES!!!” For my part, as a person faced with serious health issues and trying hard to be a good patient and work with my cancer-care experts, it is invaluable to me that Reiki picks up where medical care leaves off. Reiki, as a therapuetic and spiritual practice, together with my own Christian beliefs, has provided me a meaningful dose of peace and calm that is preventing me from experiencing the level of depression that I otherwise might in these circumstances (facing a possible cancer re-occurance). I often feel quite “hugged” by spirit as a result of my regular practice both on myself and as a practitioner/receiver working with my local reiki healing circle friends. That goes a long way with me — sometimes our inner state of being is more impactful for us personally than our actual outer circumstances.

  7. Dear Pamela,

    Congratulations on giving birth to Reiki Central, and after a great year I am very joyful to wish you happy birthday! I particularly wanted to thank you for your incredible work in bringing Reiki closer to the mainstream public.

    I admire your great contribution in making Ms. Takata’s wish “I want Reiki to be as common as aspirin.” come true every day more by offering credible resources, posing great questions and sparking stimulating discussions around the subject. I have certainly been able to develop a renewed approach to the way I communicate Reiki and as a result engaged the interest of people within the more skeptical corporate and business world as well as friends and family members who do not really identify with the more New Age spiel they had previously been exposed to.

    This is actually the area in which I would like to gain more input from you if possible, how can we all keep building more communities, virtual or live in the form of events etc., to keep making Ms. Takata’s wish more and more of a reality.

    I would love to receive the connection to participate in the Birthday Webinar.

    Many thanks once again and Buon Compleanno Reiki Central!
    Gianluca

  8. I Celebrate you and your comittment and rigor to fostering Reiki’s presence in the medical and mainstream world. I also celebrate your Reiki Blog Birthday!! Yipeee.

    Unfortunately, I have another comittment tomorrow during your webinar. :-( Looking forward to future webinars to participate in.

    I have been a level 2 Reiki practitioner for about 2 years but just recently began self Reiki healings and comitted to deepening my practice and internal Spiritual growth. I am so hungary to hear about Reiki and the many stories that it brings. I often wonder about distant healings. Is a hands on healing ever a priority over a distant healing? Is there a time frame that is appropriate for a distant healing session?

    I know that part of my process in learning is “getting it right”. So, maybe I just need to get out of the way and simply practice and allow myself to learn through doing. On the other hand, maybe I do not have to reinvent the wheel. Thoughts?

  9. Pamela, congratulations on your blogiversary! I first found your web site a few months after the blog was already up and loved it right away. I didn’t even realize it was something new and exciting at the time; it had a certain maturity to it (for lack of a better word!). So thank you for all the challenging and caring posts and responses. Many posts sparked some serious inner contemplation for me.

    I am hoping to attend the webinar (please send the info., I’ll do what I can to make it). One question I have came from a physician client recently, and I could see it coming up again. She had recently been given a possible diagnosis for some pain she had been experiencing and was about to undergo a conventional treatment that would serve as both diagnostic and pain management (basically, if the shot doesn’t help the pain, the possible diagnosis wasn’t right). She was concerned that if she also had a Reiki treatment at or around the same time, she wouldn’t know what had “worked”, the Reiki or the medication. Thoughts on how to respond?

    Also, in general, as a practitioner who is slowly building a professional practice, I am interested in anything related to the “business” side of things. I am extremely mindful of keeping my personal practice at the heart of my business, but building and running a business is a whole skill set I’ve never needed before; sometimes it feels like the “opposite” of my spiritual and healing practice and skills.

    I am also curious if there are directions you would like to take the blog yourself that haven’t been explored yet. :)

    Congratulations once again!

    Alice

  10. Hi Pamela – congratulations on reaching your 1st Anniversary!

    I would also be interested in joining the Webinar (I think it will be 5pm for me in the UK?)

    A question I would like to see discussed is whether you feel the spiritual aspect of Reiki is as important as the healing/therapy aspect and how, if at all, the spiritual aspect should be approached when speaking to medical professionals.

    Thanks.

  11. I would love to join the Saturday session – My question regards, when I speak to healthcare professionals about Reiki as a “relaxation resource tool that can benefit a variety of patients with cancer or terminal illnesses or those facing surgery” I get a “that’s nice” but somehow I think I need more words to convince them of Reiki’s value and a way for me to extend my practice to these patients. Those patients who come to me on their own feel the benefits but are also very wrapped up in life challenges about their illnesses and don’t often have the time or energy to be marketing (if you will) what Reiki can do. Some thoughts?

  12. Pamela – I have obtained invaluable information from the questions and remarks in the blog so am happy to be a part of the birthday celebration of this helpful, interactive method. Yes, I would like to have the connection information for the class tomorrow. Thanks for the opportunity!

    My question is this: How do you differentiate teaching Reiki I for the audience? Specifically, if you have a class that are medical professionals, compared to family/friends of patients in hospice? Or a class of students that plan to work professionally practicing Reiki?

    Thanks for ALL your hard work to get the word out on Reiki.

  13. Congratulations on your Reiki Central anniversary!

    I am always open to new insights about Reiki. I feel there are a lot of things I could still learn. It will be a never ending learning process for me!
    Thank you again for your guidance.
    I look forward to the webinar May 1st!

  14. Kathy Heffernan

    Congratulations Pamela! Your blog, website, and book continue to be THE resources I suggest to my students, patients, and colleagues interested in Reiki. Your work has deeply informed my practice as a hospital chaplain who integrates Reiki practice with spiritual care. Thank you for your intellectual rigor, tenacity, and wit!

    I would like to join the conversation on Saturday, though I’m not 100% positive I will be able to….would love to take part if I can. Thank you for the opportunity! The questions of interest to me are ones you are already addressing: how to communicate Reiki effectively to integrate its practice into mainstream healthcare. Thank you for blazing the trail!

    And a note to Jo: Thank you for sharing so honestly about your own journey. I work with many people living with cancer and am always saddened to hear these kinds of comments. They are not helpful, ethical or professional and do add “insult to injury” as you wisely said. For what it’s worth, I personally believe this attitude is a residual belief “dressed in new clothing” from the Judeo-Christian tradition in which people historically believed that “God makes people ill” because of “sin” (aka: wrong ways of thinking etc.) Compassion and love ought to be the fundamental response to the one who is ill. (Please excuse the “preaching”, but I feel very, very strongly about this.) Blessings of healing to you….

  15. Let me start by apologizing for a long comment, and for what is probably a very loaded subject, but this is an item I’d like to see addressed.

    I am a Reiki (level II) practitioner and have been working with my Reiki Master/Teacher now for about 3 years. I am also an advanced-stage breast cancer survivor since 2006 (at age 47), and at present am undergoing diagnosis procedures this week and next for a possible re-occurence event that involves a possible bone malignancy (need a bone biopsy to be sure.)

    I have attended various functions within the local energy healing community and, in some cases, have heard comments that concern “taking responsibility” for one’s illness. I can’t explain this concept well, because I’m not sure I understand it fully, but it seems to be a popular concept that suggests if we just look within, we can ascertain why we have “chosen to have this disease (injury, pain, etc)” and that it is in some way beneficial that we should take full responsibility for it, and look to undo whatever we are doing to cause this if we want it to resolve.

    I also once overheard a comment at an energy healing lecture (by an attendee) that the reason cancer seems so prevalent these days is that it is serving to “get rid of all those negative people” to cleanse the earth, prepare for a new age, etc.

    I have very mixed feelings on this issue as you might imagine. Part of me would love to think that the cure for my cancer is a simple as me deciding to get rid of or undo negative thoughts or behaviours, etc. I’m not perfect and I’m sure I could always stand improvement, but it doesn’t explain to me why a 3 1/2 yr. old little boy that lived in my neighborhood died just a few days ago from cancer. Prior to this he appeared to be having a swell time of it with very loving parents, a good home enviroment and plenty of life potential otherwise.

    Also, I’ve often noticed that those of us who are diagnosed with cancer tend to want to be very private about the issue. It seems to strike many of us as a personal and somehow embarrassing subject. Our reaction seems to be “I don’t want people looking at me with pity” or “I’m not interested in becoming the new poster child for breast cancer”, etc.

    Likewise, the idea that we are somehow “responsible” for our disease has a way of adding insult to injury. A diagnosis of cancer tends to bring about deep feelings of fear and grief – fear that we may not survive long, and grief concerning the loss of our own life, etc. When someone starts talking to us about “taking responsibility” for our illness or making changes to inner selves in order to resolve a physical problem, it tends to lead to upset moreso than improvement.

    Fortunately, I have never heard this concept offered in a Reiki setting. I have heard it stated (by the group leader) in a quantum touch group. I would like to see this discussed inorder to raise awareness amongst all energy healing practitioners that it sounds more like a conviction than an encouragement to those of us who are already diagnosed with and illness, and an insult to our intelligence. If it were that simple, and would save our life in the face of a deadly disease, we’d have probably already done it.

    Thank you for listening.

  16. Dear Pamela…What I think about alot is how to answer the questions about what Reiki is; what it does. I can’t believe how many people here in CA. don’t know what Reiki is. I really appreciate your advice on this subject; always love the simplicity in the way you explain Reiki. I never know if I had said enough or too much when I get asked.

    Congratulations on the success of your Reiki blog…I read all the comments; it really helps me w/my Reiki. I will be available for the web connection on Sat.

    1. Maggi, thanks for writing, and for your kind words.

      Did you read the stream What Is Reiki? What do do? If you haven’t please read it and let me know if you have any specific question on this topic. It’s a BIG subject, and an important one, and I appreciate your attention to it.

      Jo, this is a very important topic, and I applaud you for bringing it up, especially at such a sensitive time for you. I actually look for opportunities to address this in obligue ways, trying to educate Reiki practitioners about the reality of addressing serious illness, in the hopes that it will temper their clinical skills and give them a sense of the immense responsibility that comes with serving as a health care provider in any capacity. Just yesterday I posted an article written by a 17-year stage 4 cancer survivor on Facebook. You have renewed my commitment to find more ways to help Reiki practitioners sensitize their awareness and improve their clinical skills.

      May your courageous post be a wake-up call to all who read it.

  17. My first thought, Getchie, was to remember Mrs. Takata’s wise words, along the lines of any Reiki is better than no Reiki. And then the conventional wisdom that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! Other than that, I’m too busy grinning about how much you love your practices to be of much use in this matter…other than to suggest that you watch my 3- three minute Reiki and Meditation video to see if any of the points made are relevant to your practice. But really, this choice is totally up to you.

  18. Getchie Argetsinger

    Kudos Reiki Blog – you are an amazing one year old! I, too, have really benefited from this informative and inclusive blog.

    My question is about my self practice. I meditate twice a day and have gotten in the habit of doing a full Reiki self treatment while doing TM in the morning and evening.

    By doing my TM meditation and Reiki self treatment together I am able to do them both am and pm. I hope this is wholesome and not unwise…appreciate your insights Pamela. I realize it is better to keep them separate…but don’t have the time and can’t bear to give either of them up! Is it fine to continue this way?

    Thanks and here’s to another year of wonderful Reiki growth.

    Getchie

  19. Paula Casey Githens

    Pamela,

    I would like to see more discussion and information on Reiki shares. Also important is what kind of follow up support do Reiki Master Teachers offer their students? If they are professional Reiki Masters like I am, do they charge a fee for their on-going mentoring?

  20. Happy Reiki Blog birthday, Pamela! Thank you for providing this gathering place and forum for thoughtful discussion.

    I can’t make the webinar on Saturday, but I do have a topic to suggest: the issue of Reiki “certification.” As one of your students, I know you don’t give certificates, and I understand the reasons why, but I think it would be interesting to hear more on the subject from you and open it up to discussion.

  21. Love to have you with us, Paula. We’ll send the connection details by email.

    Meanwhile, do you have a particular question or topic you’d like to discuss in the webinar or the blog? Not that a question is the price of admission :-) but just because I really want to know.

  22. Paula Casey Githens

    Hi Pamela,
    I appreciate your commitment to Reiki and Reiki education and practice.

    I would love to have the connection to Saturday’s webinar!

    Many warm Reiki blessings,

  23. Pamela, Congratulations. Your sincerity and dedication to informing, educating and keeping Reiki alive is outstanding. As you continue your exploration, any new insights on Reiki and Diabetes, pain management, depression /anxiety attacks etc. is appreciated.

    I look forward to your updates in year 2.

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