Article by Angie Webster
A common misunderstanding that new Reiki practitioners have is that Reiki will be a quick fix for a problem or an illness. They also sometimes come to Reiki with a mistaken idea that they will immediately understand everything about how Reiki works within them. However, it takes a Reiki Master time and practice to learn the subtleties of energy and all the ways it moves within his or her life. While you may understand how to begin on this road through the hand placements and a basic knowledge of how energy functions, it takes time, patience and practice to have a deep knowledge of it. Most Reiki teachers will tell you honestly that they are still learning and always will be. There are endless things to learn about energy and endless things to learn about ourselves.
The combination of the belief that Reiki training will be a quick fix for a problem and the expectation to have immediate, deep understanding of Reiki often lead to frustration and abandonment of practice soon after training. It can even lead the new practitioner to feel low self-esteem, as if they are somehow defective. However, you can’t hope to increase your understanding of Reiki by abandoning the practice of it. Whatever your reason is that you have come to the Reiki path, if you choose to practice Reiki, then you must do just that—practice! You can do little more than learn the fundamentals of how to do Reiki until you do it and therefore begin to feel and understand it. True healing always comes from inside of you and permanent healing is seldom a quick fix.
Combining Reiki training with regular self-Reiki practice and using Reiki regularly in daily life is very empowering. Instead of feeling as if you need to rely solely on outside circumstances to change, or on other people to help you, you begin to see that true change begins within you; you are able to begin by helping yourself. The power of healing, the understanding of energy and of yourself rests within you. Rather than trusting that only others have this knowledge, you come to understand that you have the power and had it all along, though it was buried within you. It is a responsibility and a freedom all at once.
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If you come to Reiki Level One because you are prepared to learn about yourself and to learn how you and energy work together in the world, you will be pleasantly surprised and you will feel that you have found a wonderful tool to help you begin that journey. The Reiki path will certainly show you more about yourself and open doors to you about how energy works. The more you find ways to connect with energy and work with it, the more your understanding will deepen. Your path will continue to open, and with your connection to Reiki, you will find that you naturally begin to gravitate toward choices that help you grow and heal on all levels.
If you come to Reiki Level One because you want to learn how to quickly solve a problem, but you are not ready to make changes in your life or practice the tool you are learning, you are likely to feel disappointed. Reiki is not a magic trick that transforms an unwilling participant with the wave of a hand (or a few hand placements). Yet, if you are open to the possibilities of allowing and creating change and ready to walk through the doors that may open, then you will likely find that things expand for you in ways that you can’t even conceive of clearly at the start. To get there, you must use the tool you have trained in and learn how it works. There is no other way.
If you have disregarded Reiki practice since being trained, or you did not feel that it was doing what you wished it would and stopped, I encourage you to work with connecting to energy within yourself every day and to be patient. See the energy in everything around you and in all the events in your life. This may be difficult for many of you in the beginning and that’s OK. There is nothing wrong with you at all. Set the intention to look for it and to be open to seeing it and feeling it. It will show itself to you when you least expect it.
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Angie Webster
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.
Thank you… Angie
Blessings to you.
I have or am finding the more I channel Reiki to myself, I feel it more when channeled to others. At first I felt nothing, I just knew my intention was with love and light, now, I feel a tingling in my finger tips. I know, not just believe, but know, that as I learn and evolve more with Reiki the experience will only deepen and I will “feel” it stronger.
Thank you for sharing your experience with Reiki. Many people give up when they don’t feel strong sensations in the beginning, yet many people develop an awareness of the sensation after much practice. The energy is there and flowing regardless of whether it is felt, so it is wonderful when someone keeps up the practice and receives the benefits.
Thank you for the ariticle. I have been doing Reiki now for about 2 months and feel that although Reiki is for all and for healing others, it’s main purpose for me (at this point, at least) is to heal myself and to learn more every day on how it can help me learn and grow and heal and crelease… and, and, and…. Today, I thought, that even if all we did as Reiki practitioners is heal ourselves and our energetic centres, then what an awesome world this would be… sharing our love and light with others, just by trusting, loving, being grateful, working honestly and being kind to others and ourselves. Maybe a tad oversimplified but how I feel!
YES!!!! Definitely how I feel about Reiki!! Thank you for sharing that. I have plans to write an article about that very soon. Blessings.
Where does the Empowering energy come from.
An interesting question
It does not come from inside ones self unless something is done to increase energy within.
What is that something (that is done) to increase the internal energy.
The energy of the Universe is within all things, including each one of us. Within us, surrounding us, supporting us and flowing through us. The simple act of placing our awareness on the energy empowers it.
Reiki works differntly for everyone. It depends on the level of consciousness a person begins with. What reiki will do at best will make the person more conscious of things. It brings the emotions up to the surface but the person has to face them after, otherwise reiki can make things worse. Its true that people want a quick fix and they dont want to do the work. Its a shame because they dont evolve. No reiki books explain this.
Very valid points, Pikula. Thank you for your comment. Blessings.
Thank you for this article. I have been contemplating this topic for some time and you have worded it beautufully. What you have said is totally true. I have a Reiki student with advanced cancer throuhout her body. She came to my class because she wanted to be cured, which is understandable. She thought I could cure her. I had to be honest with her and say Reiki works on all levels and that it is not always possible for the body to get better. Heaing is not the same as a cure. I told her each of us has to accept responsibility for our own healing and no one can do it for us. I think she heard – she is coming to Reiki 2 class soon.
Thank you for sharing that. Yes, when you are very ill, seeking relief from the immediate suffering, including the fear, are often the main motivations for seeking Reiki. Yet, these things often lead us to find deeper healing, particularly if we can let go of what we initially expect that to look like. I’m glad you were straightforward with your student and that she is pursuing her healing. Wishing you both well.
Lovely posting today, thank you reiki rays & Angie, it is exactly what I try to explain to new reiki students, one word I feel can mislead is “healing” I like to give a more detailed comprehension on how one should use this word, as there are people who feel this is their “quick fix” When introducing reiki I reiterate time and time again, it has to start for them and only them, to feel “inner peace, tranquility, reduce their inner stress, to heal their emotional self etc, and to practice their reiki everyday will lead them to a higher understanding, when they reach this true emotional mind set, reafirming their connection to this wonderful universal energy for themselves, it will become part of their every day living and will flow, thus enabling them to share it with others. Initially The one emotion that can block their journey is the feeling of being selfish. For giving themselves reiki every day, new students admit this, initially not truly understanding the bigger picture. I always start with, it is all about you and can only start for you, embrace it for all its glory, this gift you are giving to your self… Wishing you all Love & light.
That is a beautiful way to explain it. Truly, it does have to begin from within. I often think of the instructions on an airline flight. We are told to use the oxygen for ourselves first and then attend to others. If we can’t function well ourselves, we are of less benefit to anyone else. Yet when we attend to our own healing and do the work that entails, we really open the door for others to follow and find the tools and strength necessary to help. It isn’t selfish, but wise.
Thank you for these words, just when I needed to see them. Sometimes the answer finds you before you have your of the question!
I’m so glad the words you needed found their way to you. Blessings.
I have been a Angels Reiki “experimenter” for a few months now. My understanding is that if you have inner blocks, the energy will not flow even after you are initiated. First you have to clean up the act and remove blocks. The training should be gradual. You cannot rush it. I have gone through 2 seminars in 6 months and for me that has worked. You also need to have faith in it. After experiencing it at a receiver, it helped for me to channel the energy. My understanding of it is that it can be used to “clean” your body mind and spirit of impurities that limit your growth and awareness of the world and the universe.