Reiki is a practice of self-healing. And so in many ways when we sit down and begin our Reiki practice, we are working to open the connection to the internal environment. And in this way we have to be ready to air out our closet and face ourselves. We have to be ready to take the red pill, as it were, to go inside and face the things that we are struggling to hold on to. After all, is this not what healing is? Are we not working to release all that doesn’t serve us any longer? Are the core beliefs of our suffering (our traumas, wounds, etc) not the roots of disease? We can really only heal once we begin to turn inward and face these skeletons in our closets, as the old adage puts it.
The healing process is one where we have to face these inner truths and we have to face them persistently enough and long enough until they’re gone. If we think about this, from a Reiki perspective, we can be reminded of the practice of the Byosen, this is the practice where we “scan” a body in order to gain a sensation of trapped energy in the body. From a Japanese perspective on this practice, there is no need to label it, understand it, contextualize it, or even take any further note of it beyond just the sensation. The hands remain on this area until the sensation of this energy begins to dissipate. That may be a matter of minutes, hours, or even days, but eventually it will dissipate.
Now, what is this energy? Well, it could be a trauma, an emotion, a belief. It could be a physical injury. It could be past life issues if that resonates with you. It doesn’t matter what it is, because at its core it is stagnant energy. Regardless of its form, it’s something that we’re holding on to and in order to release it, we have to face it.
And so I like this analogy that Reiki allows us to take this red pill as it were, to face the truth, even if that truth is uncomfortable. But notice how we face this truth. Notice that we’re not facing it alone. Notice how gentle and reassuring and loving Reiki can be. You see as we go inward and as we face ourselves, we might be afraid to open these doors and that’s very understandable. The ego might not want us to revisit old traumas or open old wounds. But as long as those wounds are there festering away and those traumas are buried within, we can’t fully heal.
What I love about the practice of Reiki is that there’s far too much love and sympathy in the universe, for us to dive deeper than we’re able to. It’s like a universal safety net that protects us from falling too far too quickly. So our physical body, our mental body, our emotional body, all of the layers of our being will only be let go of layer by layer, at a pace that we are able to handle.
And I’m sure this resonates with many of you. As we begin to turn inward we don’t dive headfirst into every single trauma that we all hold on to. Of course not. I know if that was the case I’d be a total basket case at this point! Rather what we do is we go step by step, centimeter by centimeter or inch by inch, we walk towards those traumas that we’re holding on to and bit by bit step by step, we’re able to air them out and release them. And so yes, indeed we are taking the red pill and we are opening up to perhaps an uncomfortable truth about each and every one of us that which we hold on to inside of us. But by doing so, we’re not going alone. We’re going with the unconditional love of the entire universe. Even typing this it is giving me chills.
I mean, how beautiful is that? That we can sit in silent practice, in our Reiki practice, we can recite the precepts, or the symbols, or move through the hand placements, and we know we’re not alone, because we can feel this energy that’s pulsating through us. This energy of unconditional love. How amazing is it that we have all of this energy supporting us as we turn further inward. Is it not the case that as we turn further inward, we release more tension? We release more of what we’re holding on? And this then will create more space for this flow of unconditional energy and love of the universe within us and through us. It allows our baggage is to be released. It allows our healing to continue. And so Reiki is very much a practice of taking the red pill because taking a blue pill here is to remain in a place of resistance.
Now I get it, it might seem uncomfortable to turn inward. It sucks. It’s hard. It’s dark. It’s scary. Maybe there’s a lot of trauma under the surface, and that’s fine. But by taking the blue pill, that means we’re never going to go into it. We’re never going to work towards healing it. And always be reminded that by taking the red pill you are not going in alone, but rather you are going with the unconditional love of every single thing in the entirety of the universe.
What can be more comforting and reassuring than that?
Article by Bruce Taylor
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Bruce Taylor
Bruce Taylor is a Reiki Master Practitioner and Teacher based in France. He has practiced Reiki since 2006 and his practice focuses on Usui Reiki Ryoho, having been trained in Kyoto, Japan.
He works and trains others globally both in person and via his online offerings found at www.rootsoflife.org
Further to that, he manages the Usui Reiki Ryoho Support and Community Group on Facebook which all are welcome to join (www.facebook.com/groups/129366524359731)
Bruce also manages his youtube channel where he focuses on Reiki and Holistic Wellness content (www.youtube.com/c/RootsofLife)
And as this is the 100th anniversary of Usui Reiki Ryoho, he is leading a pilgrimage to the birthplace of Reiki – Kyoto, Japan, as soon as Japanese borders are open again to tourism. For more information on this truly once in a lifetime celebration, please visit: https://rootsoflife.org/reiki-pilgrimage-kyoto/
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