I participated in a wellness gala yesterday at the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship. Although I signed up to represent the field of Animal Reiki, I had many people who didn’t even have pets stop by clamoring for a treatment for themselves. The guests ranged from those who had never heard of Reiki, to those who kind of, sort of had an idea of what it’s about, to practitioners of all three levels and those who had received Reiki treatments in the past. A lot of questions came up, like:
Did you channel that energy from my knee into the ground?
Whose energy was I feeling?
Will you tell me information about the energy you sense during my treatment?
Can you make my headache go away?
For me as a practitioner, it’s best to keep things as simple as possible. I describe Reiki as a subtle vibrational practice that promotes systemic balance through light touch. For newcomers, that’s enough. When people get into it more deeply, they want to know more.
The most important thing, I think, is to make it very clear that I am not “doing” anything. Rather, I am “being” in a certain space. Rather than “channeling” energy, I am the channel for it.
A “channel” according to my very well worn desk copy of Funk & Wagnall’s Standard College Dictionary is:the course through which anything moves or passes. Being a channel is a somewhat passive activity.
“Channeling” is described as: to direct through a channel. Channeling is an active pursuit.
There’s a clear difference.
Because I am in a meditative state of being (one that aspires to non-duality), I am letting whatever happens happen. Because I am not “doing” I do not call myself, as many do, a healer. I am merely being in a state that allows the universal energy (that exists within everything and without which nothing would exist) to awaken in the recipient for whatever healing is needed. The recipient starts to heal from within.
Some refer to this energy as having an intelligence of its own, as it heals what is needed, despite what the practitioner or the recipient may expect. But the notion of energy having intelligence, as if it’s a living, breathing thing can be confusing. I like to think of the body as also having intelligence, and taking the energy to heal whatever needs to be healed.
So to answer some of the questions I got yesterday:
No, I did not channel the energy into the floor. The energy goes where it will.
The energy is just energy. I may or may not feel sensations as a practitioner, and the recipient may or may not feel sensations as a recipient. We like to feel something as evidence that something is going on, but it’s not important.
No, I don’t tell information about my experience with the energy. Everyone experiences it differently. Just because I may feel a surge of energy in one place or another doesn’t mean another practitioner will feel the same thing. If I make up a reason (”what’s up with that knee?”) the recipient may start to worry unnecessarily. I’m not all-knowing. There are, however, practitioners of different disciplines, like intuitive medicine, who do this. I do not.
It was a great day and I was happy that so many customers left feeling relaxed and satisfied.
As the clock struck 5:45 and all of the practitioners were supposed to be packing up, a woman who had been patiently waiting asked if she could get a treatment. I told her I was sorry, but we had strict orders to stop all treatments by 5:50 and there wasn’t time. But the woman persisted. She had worked the event too, as a cellist. Her head hurt and her hands were sore. I just couldn’t deny her request. I asked her to sit and relax. She had never had a Reiki treatment before but she had received treatments from other practitioners who work with energy so I knew I could get right into it without worrying about explanations.
We ignored the noise around us and I spent as much time as I could with her. I knew it wouldn’t take long to pack up and I continued until just about six o’clock. When I finished, I touched her shoulder lightly and told her that whenever she was ready, she could open her eyes. I apologized that I didn’t have more time and that I hoped I had helped her at least a little bit.
The woman smiled broadly and asked for my card. I’d received many kind words and hugs throughout the day, but for some reason, helping this hard working woman was most gratifying to me. My answer to the final question about this woman’s headache was: I don’t know.
But I’m glad to report that her headache did go away!
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