Healing Hands (Part 5)
My Reiki Journey So Far - Part 5
Written by Chris Daniels, Reiki Master.
I mentioned in one of my earlier articles that as soon as I had successfully completed my reiki 1st degree training in May 2015 I got stuck right in doing a combination of self healing, reiki shares with friends and performing reiki treatments for some of my many friends and family. I cannot say how grateful I was to all of the volunteers that came through my door during that period, allowing me to use their energy bodies to practice my new found skills. Some people came for a one off session to see what I was so excited about and others found or made time to come back on a regular weekly basis. I genuinely will be forever grateful to these people (you all know who you are) for entrusting their energy bodies to me whilst I learned!
Having re-read the notes that I made during those first few months it still fascinates me to see how different each session was. Whilst certain aspects were the same, for example many people felt the heat coming from my hands and saw the beautiful colours that I always see when I receive a session, others experienced limbs that moved seemingly of their own accord; some felt that their bodies were so light that they were floating above the treatment table, whilst others reported that their bodies were so heavy and relaxed that they felt that they were sinking right into the table; a couple had felt sure that loved ones were near, as others shed a few tears for no apparent reason; quite a few felt extra pairs of hands on their bodies as I worked, whilst others saw intriguing visions. Even though all of this sounds mighty strange no one seemed to be even slightly perturbed by what they had experienced. I took this as a great compliment that they had all trusted that what I was bringing to them was healing for their greatest and highest good, which is exactly what us reiki practitioners ask for at the beginning of each and every session.
You may well be wondering how all of these very normal people could have all of these experiences whilst just relaxing on a treatment table. Now I can tell you the theory of how the practitioner brings down energy from the Universe, that it goes in through the crown of their head, down through the upper part of their body and then out through their hands and into or around the client's energy system, but apart from the experiences and sensations that my clients report back to me or sometimes the movements that I witness, I cannot provide proof that that is actually what is happening. Most people see absolutely nothing through their open eyes, so in this case the well used phrase 'seeing is believing' does not apply... it really is a case of 'feeling is believing'. So, I decided early days that whilst I am happy to explain this to clients and potential clients, I acknowledge that it does sound far fetched. I have sometimes expanded by saying that I don't need to understand how electricity, radio, TV or Wi-Fi works but that has not stopped me working with all of them; for me reiki and the energy that I am able to harness is much the same. So all I can say is that once you have enjoyed the experience you will not be concerned with the hows and whys. If you have had pain removed, anxiety relieved or have just felt a level of relaxation that you have never achieved before, that, for most people is enough.
A little throw in here, towards the end of September 2015 I met with my reiki master for a catch up and a top up attunement. In itself this was very pleasant but unremarkable, but that same evening a close friend had arranged for me to go to her house where she had arranged for a very well known local medium (and author) to come and give readings to herself, her daughter, myself and my reiki friend Mary. We were all very excited as he is very popular in the North West of England and as such it is very difficult to get a booking. When my turn came I could tell that he seemed slightly uncomfortable with me. He started to give me some information, some of which I could relate to immediately, but then he stopped and said that he was having difficulty getting accurate messages for me as I was surrounded by spirit, he then said specifically that he didn't mean just spirits (although he stated that there were many of these) he meant 'spirit' and continued to say that I was surrounded by a divine white light. He also said that it was a long time since this had happened to him. He went on to say that he was getting a very strong sense of healing from me, to the degree that he could feel the healing bouncing off me. I was totally wowed! I told him that I was early on in my reiki journey and that I had been for a top up attunement that day. He said that he could tell that I had a strong and genuine desire to help and to heal people. So, for that day we stopped and he offered to come to my home at some point in the near future to give me a reading there, free of charge. He countered this by saying that we should not use my reiki room for the reading … I assumed that he thought it might be too busy! So, as promised a few weeks later he came to visit me at home to give me my reading, which was very accurate and very interesting and as he was working for free I had offered (before he came) to trade the reading for a reiki session! So we did the reading downstairs in my lounge and then went upstairs to my reiki room for his reiki session. I asked him after the reiki whether he had been bombarded by spirit whilst I worked and he reported that strangely, no he wasn't... he had had a very peaceful session with no chatter from this world or the next, which for him was unusual! I guess that, for a brief spell they had decided to let him concentrate on any healing that he needed.
When I finally got to the day that I started my reiki 2nd degree training I was delighted to find that I was being trained alongside someone else who was also ready to take the next step of their reiki journey. For much of the two days that we trained together we were able to share our experiences to date, learn the things that differentiate 1st degree from 2nd degree reiki, then practice our new skills on each other and through the course of the two days we both received four new attunements. These steps, once successfully undertaken would allow us to move forward in continuing to share reiki with our families and friends, but from this point on we were allowed to have paying clients!
By now, I am hoping that you may be wondering what the actual difference is between 1st degree reiki and 2nd degree reiki? In essence, 1st degree reiki gives the practitioner the ability to access the energy around us all and use it to heal ourselves and others; as I have outlined in my previous articles, even with 1st degree reiki I had already had some success in helping people with their issues whether it be physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. In 2nd degree reiki you are given three symbols to use, one to amplify the energy, one to assist with emotional healing and one to enable you to send distant healing. My first thought about the distant healing was 'how the dickens does that work?', or words to that effect.
Once my fellow student and I had mastered the symbols (they are Japanese so it does take time and effort to do this), we got on with practising on each other, so we both got to benefit from receiving reiki as part of the course, which as always was a wonderful experience. To practise using the distance symbol we took it in turns to treat each other from a different room and were both astounded to find that we could experience some of the same sensations that we were familiar with from a face to face session. We also learned that the distance symbol can be used to send healing to past and future situations. Initially this seemed a strange concept, but I found that when sending reiki to a real past incident that had caused me some anguish, it was a very emotional experience.
We also learned that reiki is not just for people; it can be used on animals, plants, your food and even on inanimate objects. Indeed, some practitioners specialize in treating only animals! From this point on, my one and only grand-dog Pepsi also became one of my guinea pigs and my garden plants started to get the treatment too... I had always talked to them and stroked them (Pepsi and the plants) so it was much the same but on steroids!
Once again, I know that all of this sounds a bit weird, but bit by bit every element of reiki that I have learned and practised has become my new normal and I use it every day for some purpose. It has also led me to read a few articles about quantum physics, where you can learn that, for example, the two separate halves of a split atom behave in exactly the same way even when they are far apart from each other. So once that you acknowledge that time and space does not behave in just the way that we are accustomed to in our every day lives and we recognise the fact that our bodies are just energy, it is easier to be more open to these ideas and concepts.
I hope that you have enjoyed reading about my reiki journey so far ... I have loved going back over my notes and reliving some of the special moments. Next week I will share how I served my apprenticeship during the four years between my 2nd degree and 3rd degree (master) training. Hope to see you next week!