Reiki is the Gift That Keeps on Giving!

Article by Deb Karpek

I’ve been practicing Reiki since 2003, and teaching since 2006 and since then Reiki has been my “real job”. I left the corporate world in 2006 and never looked back. Was it easy? No, but it has been quite the adventure and I owe it all to Reiki.

Reiki is the gift that keeps on giving. I love the saying “Reiki finds us when we need it and it gives us what we need”. I’ve been saying this for so long I can’t remember if I made it up or if I got it from someone else. I do know that it is true.

Reiki found me when I needed it and it’s always given me what I need, even when I didn’t know what I needed, especially then. It’s beyond my mind and my ego. I like to think of it as my compass, leading me back to me.

When I first started my Reiki practice, on some level I understood that the Reiki flowed through me, and not from me. So even though I felt inadequate to begin my business I knew that by doing Reiki it would help to heal me. My job would help me to succeed! Does that make sense? I knew that every time I gave Reiki I’d get Reiki. Every time I gave an attunement I’d get an attunement. I assumed (correctly) that I’d be bringing in more light on a daily basis. And with that light I would not only grow stronger as a teacher and practitioner but I would also heal those things that lead to my self-sabotage. I also understood that I could send Reiki to my practice and ask it to help me grow, both personally and professionally. So I did. And guess what? It worked. I used Reiki to help me succeed every single day.

Practicing and teaching Reiki will bring up our stuff. Anything less than light that needs to heal will appear, sometimes in the form of clients and students. And let’s not forget family! Anyone and everyone is a teacher! Look at them this way, instead of resorting to blame and judgment. Be honest. Use Reiki to help you with this. Once we have that level of awareness we can begin to heal and we don’t have to do it alone.
Reiki helps us in obvious and not so obvious ways. I use the Reiki, along with the symbols, to ask for guidance and to allow me to follow that guidance. It has become part of my daily practice.

I use the symbols to send Reiki to my past. While I can’t change my past I can heal it by sending Reiki to the emotions and feelings around situations that once caused me heartache and pain. I use the distant symbol, HSZSN as a bridge, to go back to that time and heal the emotional and mental scar tissue, to clear me. When I notice things that used to trigger me no longer do, I can see how it is working in my life. When things still do trigger me I sit with those feelings and ask Reiki to help me heal at the root. I then use HSZSN, asking it to help me, to free me from this fear and pain. I’m not always aware of what it was that was healed, and don’t need to know. I’m just grateful that it can be healed.

I use the symbols to send Reiki to my future. I like the idea of it paving the way, and meeting me there. It takes away my fear and worry; it helps me to feel safe. I use it for something as simple as getting a great parking space to healing difficult relationships. I send it to my day, asking to be safe, guided, protected and loved. I send it to my Reiki classes ahead of time, asking that we all get what we need, with ease and grace, and that I am able to set my ego and personality aside, and to meet my students where they are. I send it to trips, family events, anything I can think of that I need help with. It’s always there with me.

Most importantly I give myself Reiki daily. At night when I go to sleep and in the morning when I awake, I lie in bed and put my hands on my heart center and give myself Reiki. Sometimes it’s just a few minutes, sometimes much more, but it is a daily practice I’ve done for years.

We have this beautiful life forces energy literally at our fingertips! Use it!

I often hear from people that they just don’t have time for self-practice. Make time! You are worth it! One easy way to incorporate Reiki into your day is to give it to yourself at night when you lie down. You will get Reiki and it will help you to fall asleep. When you wake up put your hands on yourself and give yourself Reiki before you get out of bed. You’re lying there anyways, so make use of that time! There really is no better way to start (or end) the day. Set your intention to have Reiki with you throughout the day. I always ask to be safe, guided, protected and loved. Use that affirmation or come up with one of your own.

Think of creative ways to incorporate Reiki into your day. Sitting in meetings put your hands on your legs under the table and give yourself Reiki. Driving your car, give yourself Reiki at stoplights and when you are stuck in traffic. At the movies, grocery shopping, standing in lines, give yourself Reiki. Make it a part of your day! You don’t need to set an hour aside and have a ceremony, although that can be lovely. Find ways to make it work for you.

I chant the Usui and Karuna® symbols in my car, on my walks, when I swim, and in the shower. I play Jonathon Goldman’s Reiki Chants as background music in my home all day long and sometimes during the night. Reiki surrounds me. And you know what? It pays off!

When you give and get Reiki it grows. You become filled with more light. Your life will change. You will become more aware. Reiki is like a giant key that unlocks many doors and you will be presented with many opportunities for healing and growth. People and situations will present themselves to you, things you might have missed before. You are more plugged in! And if you do Reiki for a living, this is magnified exponentially!

The examples above are the more conscious ways to have Reiki in our lives. The less obvious ways come to me when I lease expect it. Below are some of the things that Reiki has helped me to transcend and heal as it shows up in my practice and teaching.

Money Issues

When I first started practicing Reiki I had to face my money issues. Having always worked in a corporate environment where I received a paycheck every two weeks (and direct deposited at that) I rarely thought about money. I had no idea I had money issues. I love to say we don’t know what we don’t know and boy did I not know this!

From setting my prices to receiving money from clients Reiki brought up my stuff. It was hard for me to take money from people, especially those that I knew. In retrospect I see this came from a place of lack and not deserving and I had to face it head on. When you have a Reiki business you need to get paid! It took a while but I was eventually able to receive money with grace and set my prices with confidence.

Highly Polished Mirrors

It is said that when we are have issues with another person it means there is something in us that needs to be healed, and that’s why we react as we do. At times I’ve had clients and students that have been what I like to call “highly polished mirrors” mirroring back to me behavior I needed to own and heal. In the beginning I didn’t realize this and it was hard for me to be around certain clients or students. Instead of looking within, I judged or blamed them for how their behavior made me feel. It didn’t occur to me that they might have had something to teach me.

It took years but finally, after several “healing opportunities” of “difficult students” and “high maintenance clients” did I sit down and ask Reiki what was happening. I meditated and once again brought in HSZSN, along with SHK and CKR and asked them why this was happening, what did I need to learn? I received information almost immediately, in the form of a movie, me “seeing” my behavior that was similar to theirs. This shocked me! I didn’t like it and didn’t want it to be true! This can’t be! Can you say denial?

Not long after this realization I took a class and in it the instructor was talking about people being highly polished mirrors. Oh my goodness! There it was! It all came together and I began looking at things differently. I saw how I judged and blamed others when I was uncomfortable, removing myself of any responsibility for the situation. I love how Reiki not only showed me the movie of my behavior but also brought me to this teacher for further confirmation and validation.

That was years ago and now when I find myself slipping into judgment and blame I take a step back and look in the mirror. And I know Reiki is always there to help me, to transcend my fear, to heal and comfort me during the process.

Fear of Teaching

Teaching was a whole new ball game for me and one I didn’t think I’d play in! I was more of a “in the background” sort of person; never comfortable speaking in front of others and I never considered myself a teacher. One of my few regrets in life is that I didn’t graduate from college, although I went for years. Ironically I worked at a University and was surrounded by multi-degreed co-workers. This fueled my insecurity and it talked me out of teaching. In fact, when I received my Reiki teaching certificate I told my teacher I wasn’t going to teach. She begged to differ and a month later there were 5 women in my living room, taking a Level 1 class, with me as the teacher!

I was scared to death and it showed. In fact, Reiki brought me many blessings this day, in the form of student’s challenging me. It knew my weak spot and so I was gifted with many opportunities to get over myself! Of course I say this in retrospect but that day it just reinforced my (erroneous) belief that I was not a teacher.

It took a few days but I realized what had happened and I was grateful for the “test”. I began to exercise my teaching muscle and welcome opportunities to grow as a teacher. Reiki was hard at work here as I had a lot of “stuff” to overcome, but it was gentle and persistent and worked with me as long as I needed it.

I now love to teach! I have learned how to meet my students where they are and so each class is different. I have learned how to trust and listen to the Reiki energy. I send Reiki to the class beforehand and I know it will be there the day of the class, giving us all what we need, with grace, respect and love.

My fear of standing in my own power

Reiki has also helped me to overcome my fear of meeting new people, setting boundaries, and finding the confidence as a business owner. Leaving the safety of the corporate world and creating a Reiki practice really put me out there. For months before my practice came to fruition I sent Reiki to it. I asked for a safe space, for kind and like-minded co-workers, many clients and classes and abundance!

I’m glad this is where my focus was because Reiki did bring me all of these things, but many lessons came with it. I didn’t entirely realize what I was getting into and I had many challenges along the way. I learned how to accept and allow the lessons so they could be healed and released. And I learned how to trust Reiki, to know that if I asked it for help, it would help me. The help didn’t always look the way I imagined it would or the way I wanted it to, but it was always for my best and highest good. Reiki knows more than we do about what we need, as it’s free of ego and all that comes with it.

In closing, use Reiki, not only on others, but yourself! Heal yourself so you can help others heal themselves. Be open to what the energy brings to you, trust it and use it! Think of the many ways you can BE with Reiki. Let it help you succeed on all levels – mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually; in your business with clients and students, in your relationships, in your life! Eat, breathe and sleep Reiki. It will give you so much in return. It is the gift that keeps on giving.

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Deb is a Reiki Master Teacher and the owner of Peaceful World Reiki located near Sedona, Arizona. She's been studying Reiki since 2001, practicing since 2003 and began teaching Reiki in 2006. She is an Usui and Karuna Holy Fire II Reiki Master/Teacher, receiving her Reiki Certifications from the International Center for Reiki Training. Deb received her Master of Spiritual Psychology from the School of Integrated Psychology in Glendale, Wisconsin. She is certified as a Level I breathwork practitioner, is a Reiki Crystal healer, Reiki drum practitioner and performs Reiki and sound healing with tuning forks. Deb is one of our featured guests on our Reiki Rays - Reiki Age of Light video which can be found on YouTube. Deb is also the author of a book about the nuts and bolts of starting a Reiki practice, including the emotional highs and lows that go along with that. Her book is called “The Reluctant Reiki Master’s Step-by-Step Guide to Creating and Sustaining a Thriving Reiki Practice” and can be found on Amazon.
Having experienced profound life changes as a result of Reiki, Deb continues to study and practice the various modalities of energy medicine. She devotes her life to walking the Reiki path and helping others discover the benefits of Reiki. Deb can be reached on Facebook at www.facebook.com/deb.karpek.