Reiki Certification : Wellness Story #7

I Had been practicing Reiki For Years, I Just Didn’t Know It

In the midst of my double yoga certifications I also began attending Reiki shares, and finding myself in the company of many practitioners. I had been familiar with the word Reiki, but not so much the formal practice, sigils, or the history behind it all. Once I became aware of it all, I found myself intrigued to learn and to practice more.

In short form: Reiki is an energy healing practice where the life force of a person or thing is able to be healed, modified, or shifted to a place of greater love, functionality, and positivity. Reiki does not have to be a touch based practice (the laying of hands) but it also can be an effective way to deliver the healing. It’s origins are japanese, and though such healing practices are ancient, the actual establishment of Reiki as a noted healing modality is still fairly new in the Western World.

My Story

I sought out a Reiki teacher and I began the process of going through my 4 part certification practice to become a Reiki Master Teacher. To accomplish this would take me just shy of 5 months, as you are only advised to do each level of certification, or attunement, once every 21 days at the minimum. Being a student who prefers to take things on with a certain sense of diligence and determination, I decided to take all 4 courses back to back, and In doing so would immerse myself deeply into the practices, philosophies, and education.

I was attuned to Reiki 1, where we learned the first of sigils, and the history behind the art and practice. I found myself very quickly falling in tune with the information, and more importantly, the energy. I was already intrinsically capable of what I was taught, as it wasn’t all that far removed from things I had already been doing for many, many years.

My Reiki 2 attunement brought new practices, and sigils that delved deeper into the concepts of energy movement, intuition, and offering more outward healing. I found that Reiki 1 was better for self healing, and minimal external sharing of energy. Reiki 2 gave me more control over what was flowing from me to others when applied to a healing session.

Reiki 3 attunement brought about a real solid sense of understanding and more advanced methods of energetic sharing, but also energy cutting. I found this level to be helpful in regards to not only harnessing the energy in a more masterful way, but also in raising my awareness in what others were projecting - something that was previously not as obvious to me, seeing subtle energy and sensing how it affects me and how I can in turn work with it, even if only to shield myself from it’s effects.

Reiki 3 Part 2 , or the Masters Class, is where I learned how to share the gift. In the level I was taught how to attune others and also certify them as practitioners as well. This was a gratifying element to attain, as it introduced the ability to create more opportunities to learn from students of my own, and to walk them through their own journeys with confidence. I found the education of this level to be a little less than the others, but the energetics to be slightly more potent. I felt my own abilities grow exponentially, and my senses sharpened.

The entire process being completed during my double yoga training was a beneficial move, as it added a layer of subtle power to my yoga education and practice. I was able to use Reiki to heal from training weekends faster, and to clear my mind and purge / cleanse my energy trifecta of mind, body, spirit. It made the process much easier, and of that I am certain. I had been in training a few months prior to the addition of Reiki, so I got to see how I felt without it, and then with it, and there was a difference, Reiki was also something that became a very present force as I went through the process of my fathers passing from terminal cancer. I was practicing on him regularly, and also on other members of my familY and friends who were also grieving. The Reiki practice made being in the presence of death more bearable, and it gave me great satisfaction, because I was able to see it in action, and my father was very much actually feeling the relief that the energy was providing. So that in itself made it wholly worth it.

I don’t run a Reiki practice or even offer sessions regularly these days, but I do apply it to just about everything. Some people open studios to offer their services to clients as a job tYpe of thing, but instead I like to use it to enhance everything else that I do offer.. Music lessons - I use Reiki to keep anxious clients calm; in yoga classes - to enhance the difficulty of challenging poses and needs for post session recovery; in my music therapy sessions at hospitals and community centers, and so on. It helps with all of this and more, so I do consider myself an avid Reiki practitioner, just not someone that does it solely as a profession, and that’s ok. The energy is ever-present, and always available to tap into, and so that is what I do.

The funny thing is that as I would realize by the end of the program, that I had been practicing Reiki for years, and just didn’t know it. I didn’t have a name for it, or even a sense of how to really step into the energy and work with it, at least not in the ways I would later learn. Since I was young I knew the power of energy, and the laying of hands for healing, so when I stepped into my training, it seemed very familiar to me , which made it fairly easy to dive into..I feel that completing a Master teacher Certification essentially honed existing skills thatI had my whole life, and I think that that is not uncommon. So many people are powerful energy practitioners, but untrained at as well, like myself. This energy is within all things, and there are names for it across the world; Reiki, Dwana, Prana, Chi.. it’s just a matter of knowing what you are tapping into and making it work with you from a place of awareness.

The Take Away From This Story

Reiki is a great complementary practice to any other health and wellness programming. It is a wonderful addition to a yoga practice, and it is highly effective for things like hospice caregiving. Hospitals and other medical institutions are more commonly accepting and acknowledging Reiki as a valid form of non-medical care, and so the industry and practice is growing. It is also a fantastic way to promote self healing. Reiki can be found all over at this place and time in the world, even over distances, so all one has to do is seek it out, and it can be found.