The Power of Unconditional Love in Healing

Article by Angie Webster

Love makes a powerful ally in healing. Not the sentimental, attachment type of love that we tend to think of but pure, unconditional love. Some people naturally team up with unconditional love as soon as they are introduced to Reiki, as if Reiki brings this to the surface for them. It becomes the major energy they feel when they are giving or receiving Reiki, maybe so much so that it seems that Reiki and unconditional love are one and the same. Others have more difficulty experiencing the feeling of unconditional love. It can take practice and learning to familiarize ourselves with what the feeling really is.

What is unconditional love? It is the feeling you may have felt when you gazed upon the ocean or a lovely cloud in the sky. You may have felt it best when you were watching an animal play or watching birds fly through the air. Some feel it most distinctly when they garden, paint or cook. Maybe you felt it most clearly when your child was placed in your arms for the first time. With unconditional love, there is no expectation that something will be, or should be other than it is, though you aren’t resistant to change either. You are just in the moment, feeling serene and warm. There is no fear and no grasping for more. Rather than being something you make happen, this love is more like something you let yourself drop into, like a warm body of water in which you intentionally float.

This is a love that we experience as a peaceful and calm feeling in our bodies. It may feel like a warm and radiant feeling in the chest. It might spread from there as subtle ripples of calm and soothing energy all throughout the body. This is different from the excited and sometimes nervous feeling of sentimental love or the love of attachment. Those feelings may have elements of unconditional love to them at times, but conditions always creep in as our own needs and fears become involved. With unconditional love, there is only the love. There is no judgement, no fear, no worry, no need. Simply a sending of love. It is being love.

When we are in a state of unconditional love, our ego is not in control. This is precisely the state we need to be in to offer a good Reiki session. We have to let our ego—our own needs, fears and desires—go for the length of the session. This is nearly impossible to do without cultivating the state of unconditional love. Outside of the state of pure love, we are resisting our ego if we try to let it go. Inside the state of unconditional love our ego naturally let’s go, receiving the love, as well.

To learn to cultivate unconditional love, we have to make the returning to love a practice in our own bodies and our own lives. To do this, practice noticing where you feel things in your own body. Emotional energy is not the same thing as thought, though we often confuse the two. Right now, notice your body sensations and the emotions you are experiencing. Where do you feel sensation in your body in relation to your emotions? This is an especially good practice to do several times a day, such as making a point of noticing where you feel anger, sadness, fear, happiness, and guilt. Also notice where you feel the energy of love.

You can easily call any of these states to the surface by recalling a memory in which you felt them and this will help you practice. When you are familiar with where and how you feel love, practice radiating that feeling to yourself and then to others. Do this intentionally at least once a day for 5-10 minutes, and make it a lifelong practice to come back to the feeling of sending love to yourself many times a day, especially when you are feeling a difficult emotion, are ill or tense.

The more you practice cultivating unconditional love in your own life, the easier it will be for you to call it up to use in prayer or a Reiki session for the benefit of others. You will benefit as well, simply by doing the practice.

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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.