Are you thinking about learning Reiki for yourself, or to become a professional energy healer? Here are answers to some of the most common questions — helpful things to keep in mind as you consider this path.
What is Reiki?
Reiki is a centuries-old method of hands-on healing using gentle touch to administer life-force energy. The Reiki practitioner aligns with a larger field of intelligence and allows that intelligence to flow into specific areas of the body to open blocked pathways, balance and harmonize.
In my Reiki classes I use the words light, energy and information interchangeably because in this context they essentially refer to the same thing. What’s the difference between a live body and a dead body? Very simply, the presence of consciousness or life force, otherwise known as chi or prana, depending on the tradition. Illness begins when energy is not allowed to circulate freely through the subtle pathways of the body, thus cutting off the supply to the major organs and systems.
What are the Benefits of a Reiki Treatment?
First and foremost, stress reduction. A stressed body does not heal, and a body that lives in prolonged states of stress will start to decline because it is not getting the basic nourishment it needs at a cellular level. Once the body moves into a state of relaxation, then there is an innate reorganization that takes place that is highly beneficial to all aspects of a human being.
Common experiences after a Reiki Treatment include:
- Absence or lessening of pain; relief of physical symptoms
- More relaxed and at peace
- Greater clarity; presence and self-awareness
- Feeling centered inside of yourself
- Improvement or absence of challenge or condition
- Lightheartedness, less desire to push against or judge
- The ability to more easily know and follow-through with what’s right for you
- Increased energy, or conversely, a need to sleep more– your body will tell you what it needs
- Congruence within yourself about your values, goals and decisions
- Greater awareness of lifestyle choices–nutrition, movement, meditation, creativity
- An ability to see relationships more clearly and to find peace within them
- The ability to take responsibility for creating the life you want
- Greater confidence and self-worth
- Emotional release
- Inner knowing or understanding
What Can I Expect from a Reiki Treatment?
Typically, you will lie on a massage table, fully clothed, and covered with a sheet or soft blanket. I use gentle touch in various areas on your body and energy field, and when the session starts you may feel yourself starting to feel some heat, and warm peaceful waves of relaxation start to flow through your body.
Everyone’s session and response is unique, but here are some of the more common things that you may experience:
- Energy flowing through your body
- Tingling or subtle vibration
- Feeling temperature changes in different parts of your body
- Muscle twitches or spontaneous movement
- Deep relaxation or sense of deep peace
- Images, visions, colors
- Emotional release
- Past memories spontaneously coming up
- Sleep (you don’t have to be awake to receive benefits)
- Feelings of relaxation and expansion
- A complete feeling of comfort and safety; being supported and held by a Presence greater than yourself.
What are the Common Side Effects of a Reiki Treatment?
There aren’t really many unpleasant side effects from a Reiki treatment. The most likely is that you will feel so relaxed that you want to sleep.
In cases where you are dealing with an illness, such as the common cold or flu, you may experience an increase in the symptoms initially. This is because the energy exchange of the Reiki Treatment is purging the illness from your system more quickly.
I let my clients know to simply drink more fluids than usual during this time, to rest more, and hang in there. This generally passes within 24 hours or so.
How Do I Learn Reiki?
You learn Reiki by finding a reputable, experienced teacher who guides you in person through the experience of exploring and mastering what it means to become an energy healer.
I have seen lots of people claiming to “teach” Reiki on-line. Would you want to go to a doctor that learned how to practice medicine on-line?
How Do I Find a Qualified Reiki Teacher?
This is perhaps one of the most important questions that someone wanting to learn Reiki can ask, as not all Reiki Teachers are created equal. There are tremendous differences from person to person, and lineage to lineage.
The most important things to look for are:
- How long has that person been teaching Reiki?
- What other experience with energy therapy do they have?
- Do they use their own materials? If not, what materials do they use?
- What is covered in the training?
- How many students have they taught?
- How many people are typically in the class?
- How is the class structured?
- Is the teacher available to support the student during and after the training?
How Long Does it Take to Learn Reiki?
I teach my Reiki training over the course of four months. In addition to the class time, each student has self-sessions and homework to practice in-between each class. The students schedule practice sessions to work on each other, as well as on friends and family, and eventually on paying clients if that is the intent of the student. At the end of four months, the student can proceed to the EMF Balancing classes as the next step, or to work independently in an Energy Mentoring program with Mary.
What is a Reiki Attunement?
The attunement process is a ritualized event where the Reiki Teacher through a series of specific breathing techniques and intentional energetic alignments, becomes a container or vessel for the Reiki Energy.
Just as Usui received his attunement directly from Spirit on top of Mount Kuriyama, my present-day students receive their attunements from me in an aligned posture with Spirit.
The Reiki Teacher infuses a specific sequence of Reiki symbols into the energy system and chakras of the student. These symbols act as catalysts for an opening and transformation to occur. Reiki then flows to the student, and begins a conscious collaboration of evolution. In order to hold more of the higher frequencies of Reiki that are now available to us, we need to create the space for that to happen.
The attunements I use are vibrationally expanded and amended to reflect the broadened scope of the energy stream of Reiki within the larger context of the Universal Lattice or Matrix. Each attunement is specific to the class level and the scope of the material covered.
I hope this helps you clarify your decision to learn more about Reiki or take Reiki training in Madison. If you have any other questions that I didn’t answer here, please contact me! I’m happy to help you figure out if this is a good fit for you!
