Have you recently been attuned to Reiki and are thinking of turning your personal practice professional?
Perhaps one of the reasons you took up Reiki in the first place was precisely that you envisioned yourself doing it for a living. If so, below are a few things I invite you to consider before taking that leap, based on my experience.
First, take the time to deepen your relationship with Reiki. Getting attuned itself, to whatever Degree of Reiki, doesn’t take a lot of time, as we know. But internalizing and incorporating into your healing and spiritual practice what each level of Reiki involves does require a serious investment of time and effort. Take your time.
Also, Reiki is vast. As such, I’d encourage you to find a system that inspires you to go beyond what you’ve been taught; that inspires you to playfully experiment and authentically connect with this living, ever-evolving force. For me, this, along with cultivating trust in my gifts as a healer, was what prepared me to go professional. Getting certified was merely a formality: a way of cementing what I had taken the time to learn through practice.
Second, do your own healing. It’s noble to want to help others heal. But to an extent the capacity to which we can do this effectively depends on how much of our own traumas and unresolved issues we have faced and released. And this healing can take time. It might not be enough to simply get attuned to Reiki. Our daily Reiki practice, along with other modalities or practices, might be essential to get us to a place where we’re emotionally stable enough to assist others.
I’m not arguing that we need to be perfect or to have our own stuff completely figured out (which is, of course, unattainable anyway) before we can be of service. But, the more work we’ve done on ourselves, the less likely we are to project our own emotions and issues onto our clients and to practice detachment.
Last, clarify your mission. If you’re called to share Reiki professionally, there is probably an underlying reason; there is probably something that is unique to you and your healing journey that you’re meant to help people with, through Reiki.
And a significant part of what it means to get clear on your mission is to allow the mission itself to guide you to where you need to go; to show you what your ideal business and clientele look like. And this is a process. Like healing, it can take time.
So, how long should you wait before delving into the world of professional Reiki?
There is no fixed answer, considering that we all learn, grow, and heal at different paces. But the point here is that there is no rush, because it is all connected: While practicing Reiki professionally is vastly different from doing it only on yourself and your loved ones, it is the latter that sets the foundation for the former; the discipline, commitment, integrity, presence, and capacity to surrender that you bring to your personal Reiki practice is what will allow you to fully show up professionally and build a robust Reiki business.
Article by Thandiwe Msimuko
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Thandiwe Msimuko is a certified Usui Reiki Master from Zambia. She is also a devotee of Psychic Reiki – a form of Reiki based on the Mikao Usui Reiki Crystal of Awakening and popularised by Brett Bevell, the renowned American Reiki Master.
She was inspired to explore and share her gifts as a healer following the crucial role that Reiki played in helping her recover from her childhood sexual abuse trauma. It’s her hope to help similarly affected women find their way back to wholeness and harmony through the transformative power of Reiki.
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