Reiki Part 2...Relaaaxxxx and Enjoy

Human touch is used constantly as a form of healing, and most times we do not even realize we are doing it.  What do we do when we have a headache?  We touch our head.  If a child gets hurt?  A mother will touch, hug or kiss it better, right?  Dogs and cats will lick a wound for the same reason.  Instinctively we know that touch will help it to feel better!

So what is it like to receive a Reiki healing?

Receiving Reiki is a peaceful, beautiful, relaxing experience.  You receive the treatment while lying down, usually on a massage table.  A massage table allows the healer room for moving around to work on different areas of the body.  If for some reason it is not possible to lie down, a Reiki healing can also be done while sitting, as well. 

You remain fully clothed at all times.  There is no reason ever to remove clothing during a Reiki session.  It is preferable to remove your shoes, however and some healers prefer if you remove jewelry, or at least large pieces that might get in the way.

I like to begin a Reiki session by have the person being treated lie on their belly.   I personally find this to be a very relaxing position and tends to put people at ease right away.  Others may start with their client lying on their back.  I keep the room somewhat darkish (subdued lighting) and have some relaxing music playing.  Most practitioners keep conversation to a minimum.

So...there you are...laying on your belly,  in a darkened room with soft music...what next?

The Reiki practitioner is going to place their hands on specific areas of your body.  He or she will rest his or her hands in the same position for about 5 minutes before moving on to the next position.  A Reiki practitioner will NOT touch the breasts or genital area!  And will carefully accommodate should you feel at all uncomfortable with any hand position..  Reiki can also be done with no touching at all, and the hand simply hovers above the area that is being treated.

The area where the healer lays his or her hands is usually a chakra(or energy center) but it can also be an area that simply needs some healing energy.  Healing work tends to be very intuitive by nature and Reiki works beautifully with this.  Here is a great website if you would like more information on the chakras and where they are located on the body.  
http://www.eclecticenergies.com/chakras/introduction.php

Before I begin Reiki, I like to do a "scan"  I float my hand about 4-6 inches above the body, and I am going along, I note where my hand dips or rises.  This give my and idea where there may be energy highs or lows in the body.  I sometimes also may sense heat, cold, tingling or buzzing sensations, sometimes even an ache and I will give these areas a little extra Reiki love.

There are several positions on the head that may get worked on.  These include over the eyes/sinus area, over the ears, the top of the head and the back of the head. 

Occasionally, some people may find an emotional issue that had been troubling them, such a grief or anger may float to the surface.  This is good!  If you can, stay with the emotion and allow it to release.  This is part of the healing process for you.  If you do not feel comfortable dealing with it at the time, that is okay, too.  We will talk more about physical dis-ease and their emotional root cause another time!

Some people will notice nothing at all in the area that is being worked on but most seem to notice something, whether it is heat, coolness or tingling.  Some people fall asleep.  Each Reiki experience and treatment is unique and almost all will feel a profound sense of well-being and relaxation at the end of a Reiki session.

Any questions about Reiki?  Please feel free to email me or make a comment below.  I will be talking about Reiki attunements next...the various levels and what one might experience.  Follow my blog to stay tuned!

Reiki...what is it?

I had heard of Reiki many years ago but never really knew what exactly is was or how it worked.  I was always curious about it and wanted to learn more.  So I  did a bit of  research on the internet.   I learned that it was a healing energy, a laying on of hands, so to speak and that it started in Japan.  I was able to learn the history of Reiki beginning with Mikao Usui and how it was brought to America by Mrs. Takata in the 1930s.  This was all interesting, but I still was not able to experience this amazing healing energy over the internet! Living in a relatively small community, I wasn't aware of anybody who knew how to do Reiki, let alone anybody who had ever heard about it!

Well, the Universe has a way of responding to these things.  And, several months after my curiousity had been piqued by Reiki, our local paper had an ad offering Level I Reiki.  Here was my opportunity!

Traditional Reiki consists of three levels: 
Level I, Level II and Level III. 
Level III is also known as the Master Level or for some, the Master/Teacher Level.  

I felt a profound connection with Reiki and it truly did change my life and my way of thinking.  In June 2010, I received my Master/Teacher level of Reiki.

By the way, you do not need to have any of these levels to experience a Reiki healing treatment.

So, what is Reiki, exactly?  Where does this healing energy come from?

At all times we are surrounded by countless differenty forms of energy. Some of these energy types we are aware of, like heat energy, light energy or electricity. There are also other energy forms that are not quite part of our awareness like xrays and  radiation, for example.


Picture a giant harp, the size of the entire universe. Every string on that harp vibrates at at different frequency when plucked. Picture again every one of these strings being representative of a different form of energy, all vibrating at different rates and frequencies.  Picture light and color having their little section of strings, sound being another section.  Some sounds can be heard as low and some high.  Some the pitch too high for human ears.  Further along these strings are emotions.  Love, joy, happiness, fear, anger and hate all resonating their own frequency.  Did you ever walk into a room and you could feel the love?  Feel you could cut the tension with a knife?  Hope has its own frequency and perhap even prayer does, too.

Reiki is its own form of energy.  It is percieved as a very loving, gentle flowing energy that is believed to be intuitive and goes where it is needed for healing.  It is always surrounding us and available to us.  Once attuned to Reiki, you are more able to tap into this energy.  It flows through your crown and out through your palms where it can be directed to different areas of the body.  It is believed that Reiki goes where it is needed. 

When giving a Reiki treatment, you can feel the energy as it is moving into the body.  Sometimes it is felt as a tingling sensation or heat and sometimes even cold thought not as often.  Sometimes I might even feel an ache in my hands if I am working over a painful area.  This sensation is called byosen.  The sensation will usually peak and then dissipate.  When it disspipates I move my hands to another area for healing.
I will be posting more about Reiki in the next several posts.  I am also in the process of creating Reiki art with watecolor and mixed media.  If you are interested in learning more, follow my blog.  I would love to hear your thoughts, leave a comment and let me know what you think! 

Thank you for stopping by!
Jo-Ann
http://www.jdmstudios.com/