Article by Angie Webster
Whether you are doing Reiki or doing a meditation technique, there is often a method that calls for the use of visualization. Many people easily call images to their mind’s eye or receive images during meditation or during Reiki practice, so these types of techniques are popular guidance because they help people to work with the activity is already present in the mind.
However, not everyone’s mind works this way. There are a wide variety of ways that the mind will interpret and process information. Visual imagery is only one of them. Though it may be the most prominent in many people, there is nothing out of the ordinary if your most prominent way of receiving intuitive information is something completely different.
Some people have a difficult time visualizing anything at all and there is nothing wrong with that. It doesn’t mean that you will be unable to do Reiki or meditate or do a scan on someone. It doesn’t mean you aren’t intuitive. We all have intuitive ability. It is simply part of how our brains function. We may or may not tune into and use that ability, but it is there in everyone.
If you are not able to visualize when you do a scan or you don’t receive images during a Reiki session, first of all, relax. All that is required to do a Reiki session is that you place your hands and intend for Reiki to flow for the greatest good. Even if you don’t scan at all, it will be fine. Even if you never receive any images during a session, there is no problem.
If you do scan, it isn’t necessary to “see” anything. In fact, many practitioners feel more than they see. They sense tingling, pulling or other sensations in their hands that indicate that Reiki is needed. Others simply sense disturbances as they scan their hands through the aura. It is an internal knowing. Some may feel a sensation or pain in their own bodies that they are aware is not their own. Some receive sounds or smells as indicators. Many receive a combination of these.
Try tuning in and simply being aware of what is happening as you scan, do Reiki or meditate. Relax. Don’t worry or try to force anything. It doesn’t matter at all if nothing happens. It doesn’t mean anything. Sometimes there is nothing to receive. Trust that you will receive what you need to in the right way for you, at the right time. When you stress about what you “should” be seeing or receiving, you place demands on your mind that may not be reasonable and you narrow the possibilities. Instead, let go and allow the possibilities to expand to things you can’t image! Let yourself be surprised.
It is very likely that the more you practice with Reiki, the more you will receive intuitive information. That is because you are tuning in to it more frequently and “listening” for what is there. You are turning your awareness toward what may be, without expecting anything in particular, much as a scientist does when observing something she wishes to gain more knowledge about. Keep working with your tool and observing, learning the ways it works with you.
As you do this, it is possible that over time, you will begin to receive visual information. It may become very easy for you to close your eyes and visualize an image you wish to hold in your mind as you practice with it, as well. But it is also quite possible that your brain is not a visual receiver, but works in a different manner. Please trust that whatever way your brain works is ideal for you. Love it and work with it in whatever way it presents itself.
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Angie Webster made a significant contribution to the Reiki community, with a particular focus on Animal Reiki, which she had a deep affection for. As a knowledgeable Reiki Master Teacher and Author, she conducted online courses on energy healing, herbalism, flower essences, and personal growth.
She is the author of “Animal Reiki: How it Heals, Teaches & Reconnects Us with Nature” and “Reiki from A to Z”. Currently, Angie has decided to retire from her professional life to devote more time to her health, family, and the little joys of life.
Hi … love your emails. The content is always easy to read and understand. I am not able to visualise and this makes it difficult, especially when trying to visualise something (ie doing visualisation work daily). I am able to dream, so there has be something that I am doing subconsciously that is blocking my ability to ‘see’, despite your advising that a persons brain may not be a ‘visual receiver’. Can you give me some feed-back. Many thanks Carol