Myths About Reiki

There are a few myths and misconceptions about Reiki healers and the practice of Reiki that many healers have had to correct.

1. Reiki is a religion

Reiki is a spiritual practice, but it is not affiliated with any religion. Reiki may be practiced by people of any faith or denomination. In fact, Reiki may integrate with a person’s belief system and actually support it.

I have had a few people tell me that they did not want to have a session because they believed Reiki conflicted with their religious beliefs. In response, I informed them that I also have certain religious beliefs that I follow and Reiki does not conflict with them. In fact, I have gained more clarity about religion and spirituality since Reiki entered my life. I feel more connected to the “God energy” and no one can cause me to doubt my belief system due to Reiki clearing my spiritual vision. Some of these people agreed to have a session and some still refused though they understood my response.

The point is if you believe that Reiki is a religion and that is the only thing holding you back from having a session, then know that Reiki will not and does not conflict with any religion. This is universal energy and healing is for everyone.

2. Reiki is a type of magic or supernatural power

Reiki healers do not have magical powers and do not use supernatural means during healing sessions. Instead, Reiki healers channel energy from the universe. This Universal Energy is vital life force energy that is found everywhere and needed to maintain vital functions. It is not something that can be manufactured with magic or through supernatural means.

Furthermore, Quantum physicists have long determined that our universe is made up of energy, frequency, and vibration. The Reiki healer is tapped into the energy at a higher level, which is a faster frequency than most. This allows for a higher vibration which opens up a higher level of consciousness. This new awareness allows the Reiki healer to “sense” certain energies from a person in a clearer manner than others not attuned to Universal Energy. Because of this, the healer is able to assist a person in healing on all levels.

I want to clarify that there are those who are not attuned to Reiki who also have a natural ability for feeling and sensing energies, but use their own personal energy to assist others. I try my best to find these persons with natural gifts to certify them as Reiki healers in order to help them control and use their gift for the betterment of this world. Again, this has nothing to do with magic o supernatural power. It is the level of energy and openness to receiving it.

There have been a few times in my life, prior to becoming a Reiki Master Teacher, and after that people have called me a witch because I have prophetic dreams or I just know when something is about to happen or how to open certain doors in manifestation. But even before Reiki, I was feeling the energy around me and after Reiki, this ability increased dramatically.

In the end, there is no magic or supernatural methods used with Reiki. It is simply understanding the energy around us and knowing how to tap into the energetic consciousness of the Universe.

3. Reiki healers are always calm and polite

Reiki healers are not positive God-like creatures or demi-gods of purity and light. Reiki healers are human beings who experience the same emotional trauma and life issues like everyone else living on this planet. This does not mean that these healers are not able to be effective in their Reiki practice. It means that the person understands the struggle to overcome negative emotions and has found positive ways to do so with Reiki, meditation, affirmations, or whatever else is implemented in their practice.

I have met people, healers and non-healers, who have pretended to be all light and love. These persons speak softly, slow, and use the correct terms – albeit, not always correctly. However, there is always the real person just beneath the light and love persona.

As Reiki healers, we can sense the true self of most persons. For a person to suppress the true self can be likened to a pot full of water on a lit stove, eventually, it will boil over and burn someone if the temperature is not adjusted appropriately. No person on this planet will live without experiencing some type of negative emotion. What should be understood is that the constructive expression of said negative emotion does not make the person bad. It is the action that goes with it that defines a person.

Typically, for Reiki healers, we have learned to express and react in a manner that releases the negative energy in an effective and productive manner. I still raise my voice, when necessary, but only for dramatic effect because once I have a person’s attention, I lower it and express the negative emotions that I feel in a manner that deescalates the situation. This allows space for a meaningful discussion to take place where compromises are reached and promises are made to handle things differently.

As a healer, do not place yourself in a box of love and light. This is limiting. Experience everything and accept the good, bad, and ugly parts of you so that you are able to transmute and release what does not serve your higher purpose. But do so in a manner becoming a Reiki healer who is a mentor to others. Let people know you are no better, no worse, and that all emotions are gifts to accept and at times, acknowledge and release.

4. Reiki can cure any illness

Although Reiki is known to help assist in healing by reducing stress, increasing relaxation, and alleviating pain, it is not and should not be used as a substitute for medical treatments. Furthermore, any person seeking a Reiki healer to cure a serious or life-threatening condition should be told by the healer to seek a medical physician for assistance.

Reiki is not a curative healing method. Reiki opens up energy channels and points in the body to allow people to heal themselves. This does not mean that medical treatments are not necessary. It means that Reiki is a complementary treatment that may be used for total healing.

Personally, I was diagnosed with Rheumatic Fever over 10 years ago. This condition caused me immense pain throughout my entire body. I was barely able to move at times and I couldn’t walk a block without excruciating pain and shortness of breath. Every part of my flesh was inflamed, my joints felt as if someone was placing a needle between them, and my spine felt as if someone was ripping it out of my body continuously. In addition to those painful delights, my heart lining was inflamed and at times, each beat would come with a sharp pain like a strong cramp. I was placed in treatment that were just as painful as the condition itself. At first, I received shots once a week, then over the years, every two weeks. I was living my life for years with one week of normalcy and three weeks of pain, fatigue, and depression.

When I began my Reiki journey, the first thing Reiki did was begin to help alleviate the pain in my body. The treatments went from every two weeks to three weeks to none. But more than the physical, Reiki helped me alter my mindset and feelings about my condition. I was fighting it for years. The moment I accepted it as part of me, I realized I could control it to a certain extent. I also became more relaxed and open to the treatments and healing process. When pain came upon me, instead of fighting and denying it, I sent Reiki to the area, and relaxed my body with visualizations of healing energy. Each time the pain would go away quicker than the last. To this day, I still do this when the pain presents itself. But I no longer go to treatment for my condition and even when the medical tests show my numbers high, which in the past signified excruciating pain, I feel normal for me.

I know will never be like a person without Rheumatic Fever. I will always have moments of pain, fatigue, and feelings of being overwhelmed, but Reiki helps me alleviate those moments in a way that western medicine could not. Reiki has not cured me, but it is definitely the best complementary medicine I have experienced. This is the reason I became a Reiki Master Teacher.

Conclusion:

As Reiki healers, we know that Reiki is a powerful and effective form of energy healing that can help to relieve stress, improve overall health, and assist healing on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level. There are also persons who hold the same opinion as we do about Reiki. However, there are some people who do not agree or believe that Reiki is not as effective or a type of pseudoscience. To these people, we can explain that Reiki is a complementary and alternative medicine and that although there is limited scientific evidence to support its effectiveness for healing, there are many people who have had positive experiences with Reiki.

Additionally, I do not believe that Reiki is necessarily a form of healthcare that can be scientifically standardized. The results in all sessions and use of Reiki will vary based on the Reiki healer’s energy level and the client’s ability to remain open to healing. Reiki for me is spiritual energy and to date, science cannot measure spirituality. There is a reason Reiki is being used in hospitals across the nation. There is effectiveness in the healing that standardized science has yet to find.

However, we as healers and our clients know that healing is complete when all levels are balanced. Using both traditional medicine and alternative medicine helps with this. Learning about Reiki and how Reiki healers practice their healing helps remove some of the myths about Reiki and is a way to begin effective dialogue with those persons who may doubt Reiki’s effectiveness.

Article by LaTanya L. Hill, JD

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LaTanya L. Hill, JD is the creator of KA® Reiki, a spiritual healing technique that taps into ancestral energies while strengthening a person’s inner spirit; the sole proprietor of IMREIKINOW®, an energy healing company based in Los Angeles, California, and an Approved Provider for the California Board of Registered Nursing. She is also a certified Reiki Master Teacher in Usui Reiki Ryoho, Holy Fire III, and Karuna Reiki® and a Chakra Healing Master. Her Reiki handbook, “Reiki Vibrations with 33 Meditations and Affirmations,” is available online and offers healers and lay persons Reiki advice, meditations, and affirmations that may be used in both daily and work life. LaTanya is also an expert teacher on the Insight Timer App with Reiki meditations and courses published internationally. She has been featured in and written for multiple Reiki and business organizations and has been interviewed about Reiki on various podcasts. For more information go to www.imreikinow.com and follow LaTanya on social media @imreikinow, to see video testimonials of Reiki sessions, certifications, and more.