Reiki: Get Out Of The Way

[Guest guest]

Reiki: Get out of the way!

By Taggart King, Reiki Evolution

In this short article I want to talk about the best way to approach

working on other people, whether giving treatments or carrying out

distant healing. I want to talk about our state of mind and our intent

when channelling the energy.

The first thing I want to say is that we are just a channel for the

energy, not the source of the energy. This seems an obvious thing to

say, but we need to remember that we are not healers. We do not heal.

We do not have that power. What we do when we treat someone is simply

to create a `healing space' that the recipient can use to move more

into a state of balance. The recipient is responsible for their own

healing, for what they experience or don't experience; they are

responsible for how they react to the treatment. They are healing

themselves. We are just necessary bystanders in the process: we do not

direct the energy and we do not determine the outcome.

So I am not so happy with the title " Reiki Healer " because it suggests

that the Reiki practitioner has the power to heal; they do not. I

don't think that the title " Reiki Necessary Bystander " is going to

catch on, so I prefer to use the title " Reiki Practitioner " . It

describes what we do: we practise Reiki and it does not imply that we

have the power to heal others.

This article is called " Get out of the way " because I believe that

this is the best thing we can do when treating someone or when sending

distant healing. We are not the source of the healing; we are not the

source of the energy, so we do not need to be there, directing and

controlling. We can stand aside and if we do so then the energy can

flow strongly and clearly, without interference from us.

When we treat someone we are not `cheerleading' for a particular end

result: we do not give Reiki to get rid of someone's head ache, or

back ache, or to resolve their Gall Bladder problem, though of course

these things may result from channelling Reiki. End results are out of

our hands and to focus strongly on a particular purpose for the

treatment is not helpful. Reiki will not be controlled by us in terms

of end results and attempts to control the energy in this way just

puts up barriers that prevent the energy from doing what it needs to

do. Rather like the well-meaning amateur who gets in the way and

prevents the professional from doing their job properly, our attempts

to focus the energy to produce a particular end result will hinder the

process for the recipient.

So our intent when treating someone or sending distant healing is that

the energy should do whatever is appropriate for the recipient. We are

neutral, we are detached, and we do not focus on outcomes. Ideally we

should drift into a gentle meditative state when treating or sending

distant healing, and this can be best achieved by our `disappearing'

into the energy, feeling ourselves merging with or becoming one with

the energy. We merge with the energy and we merge with the recipient;

we are empty. We do by not doing.

Though some people are taught that it is ok to talk and chat to

people, or bystanders, when giving a Reiki treatment, to do such a

thing is neither professional nor does it lead to effective

treatments. If we are distracted then the energy flows less strongly,

so if we want to do the best for our clients then we need to keep

quiet, and encourage the client to keep quiet too. You can try an

experiment for yourself if you like, to prove to yourself that

distraction lessens the strength of your Reiki. You could try this at

a Reiki share, for example. Start by resting your hands on someone's

shoulders and allow the energy to flow for a while. Then deliberately

start up a conversation with someone sitting near you: take your

attention away from the recipient and fully engage in the

conversation. Do this for a few minutes. Then bring your attention

back to the recipient, be still and quiet, and allow the energy to

flow. How has the recipient's experience of the energy varied?

Now, we do not need to be in a perfect meditative state in order to be

an effective channel for Reiki, but it certainly helps to cultivate a

still and empty mind. We are all human and it is perfectly normal for

unwanted thoughts to appear in our head. But we should pay them no

attention. If we pay the unwanted thoughts attention and try to get

rid of them we then have two lots of thoughts: the thoughts we did not

want and all the new thoughts about the need to get rid of the first

lot of thoughts. We have made things worse!

The best approach to unwanted thoughts, then, is to allow them to

drift by like clouds: pay them no attention, do not engage with them.

They will leave. Some more may come, but pay them no attention either.

In time you should find that your busy mind starts to quieten and some

of your treatments will become beautiful meditations, with your mind

emptying with the energy, and staying empty. Some treatments will not

be like this, of course, but we do not need to be perfect. We can

cultivate a more meditative state over time, moving in the right

direction, and without worrying too much about individual occasions

when our untamed brain kept on talking to us. This is a work-in-progress!

So Reiki is simple: you empty your head, you merge with the energy, do

you not direct, you do not control, you do not try; you empty yourself

and merge with the recipient, standing aside to allow the energy do

what it needs to do, without interference from us.

Author's Bio

Reiki Evolution is a Reiki training organisation in the UK that

provides small scale Reiki training throughout the country. The Reiki

Evolution web site is a very useful resource for people who wish to

find out more about the Reiki system, and for Reiki practitioners and

Master/Teachers who are interested in developing further with Reiki.

The web site offers free Reiki guides, a free ezine and loads of

interesting and inspiring Reiki articles written by Taggart King. You

can order professionally printed Reiki manuals and books, download

ebooks and self-help guides, and order Reiki CDs or MP3s with

commentary and guided meditations.

We teach a form of Reiki that is close to Mikao Usui's original

system, rather than the `Western-style' Reiki that is found on most

Reiki courses, and our approach is based on information coming from a

group of Mikao Usui's surviving students.

We are one of the few people in the world to be offering high-quality

Reiki home study courses that are the equal of live training, with

one-to-one e-mail support, quality manuals, CDs and DVDs, and detailed

course instructions. So you can train with us no matter where you are

in the world.

http://www.reiki-evolution.co.uk

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/reiki_get_out_of_the_way.html

http://livingonlove.ning.com