Take Care of Yourself

Like many kind and caring people I used to put myself last on the list of people to take care of.  However through my practice of Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki I've learned how important it is to take care of myself if I really want to serve others. 

I received my first lesson in this when I first encountered Reiki: I had sprained my ankle but instead of taking care of it and resting, I still went and limped through a tai chi class.  My teacher noticed I was struggling  and offered me Reiki.  Although the Reiki felt nice, it was not enough to encourage me take better care of myself.

My second lesson came when my father died suddenly: Reiki was offered to me again and, overwhelmed with grief and desperate for comfort, I accepted.  This time, after receiving a deep feeling of peace from the treatment that comforted me to my very soul, I began to learn to take care of myself by receiving more Reiki treatments.  This helped me to move through my grieving process.  I now see that at that time I was not good at caring for myself - because I didn't think I deserved it - so having someone else to support me who believed I was worth caring about was just what I needed.   Having received such a wonderful experience I chose to learn Reiki, so that I could help others experience the same.

However, my third lesson in self care was that learning Reiki also gave me the gift of healing for myself.  Initially I didn't bother too much about doing this: I was more focused on helping other people than helping myself.  Gradually, however, I began to understand that if I really wanted to benefit others I needed to treat myself.   I established the habit of giving myself a Reiki treatment most days and something began to change: I began to caring enough about myself to place my hands in the various positions to treat my whole being and this enhanced my ability to look after myself in other ways.

Self treatment gives me a daily opportunity to pay attention to what is going on in my body and mind.  Like mindfulness practice it helps calm my mind, but more than that it enables me to tap into the wisdom of my body and intuition.  Our bodies are so wise!  My fourth lesson, after some time of practising self treatment, was that my body sends me messages constantly about what is needed to keep me healthy.   So it was as a result of self treatment I became aware that  sugar was a problem for my body, which led to being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

My fifth lesson in self care was that when I listen to my intuition, my body's wisdom and am open to messages coming to me from various sources, it is possible to restore my health and vitality.  As a result I have been able to reverse my diabetes and remain in remission as a result I have more energy and vitality, to offer my service in the world. 

This greater well being from my self care also resulted in greater happiness and I have found that my joy has a positive effect on those around me.  When I learned Reiki all those years ago I never anticipated that the way to truly benefit others would comes from self care.

When is a good time to receive Reiki treatment?

One of the things I discuss with my students is what time of day is the best time to do self Reiki treatment.  I have found for myself that it's a great way to start the day.  I'm not a morning

Reiki self treatment: a great way to start the day

person - or at least I used not to be.  Now that I start my day with a Reiki self treatment before I get up, I find I'm able to get up more easily!  Treating myself while I'm are still in bed helps to set the tone for the day: I begin in a calm and centred space instead of leaping out of bed into the maelstrom of the day unprepared and flustered!

However some people find that another time of day is better for them: to unwind after work or at the end of the day to help them sleep.  Several of my Reiki students who had sleep problems before learning Reiki  found self treatment very helpful.  It's great being able to give yourself Reiki if you are wakeful in the middle of the night.  Instead of lying there worrying about not being asleep you can relax and heal and many people find they fall asleep without trying.  In fact most of the students who do their Reiki treatment when they go to bed at the end of the day never finish the sequence of hand positions because they fall asleep after just a few positions!

The most important thing, I tell my students, is that you practice self treatment at some time during the day.

There's also the question of when is a good time to recieve a Reiki treatment from someone else.  Often people come for Reiki when there's a crisis of some kind in their life, whether it's health related or emotional.  Certainly I first recieved Reiki after the sudden death of my father and found it a very good time to receive it.  It brought great comfort and peace of mind.  So when there's an acute problem is a good time to receive Reiki.

However I continued to receive Reiki after the initial crisis had passed.   When you have a chronic problem that you want to change is another good time to receive Reiki.  Many people are very stoical and put up with things for a long time. However it's also possible that if you don't ignore it, you and Reiki can change what you are suffering with.  It can't necesarily cure a health problem, but can bring comfort, peace and a sense of acceptance that relieves the suffering. 

I'm often asked how often to receive treatment too.  Mrs Takata (who brought us Reiki from Japan) would treat people daily.  Few Reiki practitioners offer this these days, but certainly when I've received Reiki treatments daily for a period of days it has  been wonderful and often transformative.  Most people receive treatment weekly, fortnightly or monthly, which is fine.  What Takata also taught is that "a little Reiki is alway s better than none", so no matter what the frequency (or infrequency) of receiving Reiki it is beneficial. 

So in my experience any time is a good time to receive Reiki: whether it's you're daily practice or something that you receive occasionally.  The important thing is to receive Reiki sometimes!

Practice Makes Simple

One of the things I encourage my students to do is to treat themselves with Reiki every day.  I have noticed that some of them find it as difficult as I did to have a regular practice.

While I managed to practise tai chi most days for a few years, I struggled for a long time to maintain a daily practice of any kind.  Perhaps this came from my resistance to being told to practice my violin as a child, but more likely it came from a resistance to where the practice would take me.

I cam across a quote recently that resonated with me and may be relevant to this question: “The more important an activity is to your soul’s evolution, the more resistance you will feel” (Steven Pressfield).  This illuminated my awareness of what I had resisted practising: tai chi, meditation, singing, violin and of course Reiki.  All of these have the potential to bring me into deeper connection with my whole self: body and soul.  I haven’t always liked my body, so had no particular desire to get to know it better!

However there came a day when I was tired of trying to practice and failing, and decided to

just practice!  Resistance to doing so came up in many forms, but I simply accepted they were there and just practiced.  After a while the resistance grew less and I settled into a daily routine of treating myself with Reiki, which I continue to this day.

What I discovered amongst other things was that the longer I maintained this practice the easier it became to continue doing so.  I also found that the self treatment practice helped my treatment of others; firstly because I was more calm and balanced myself and therefore a better person to receive treatment from, and secondly because the daily connection with Reiki enhanced my understanding of how it can work.

I am now been fortunate to have a growing practice treating others, which I have also found has made the work easier.  Having treated a couple of hundred people with many different problems I am now more confident and again know more what to expect from Reiki (which is sometimes the unexpected!).

It’s true of any Art that practice is needed to really begin to find a way to connect with and express your essential nature.  I remember seeing an exhibition of Picasso’s early drawings in France: he could draw naturalistically really well and had clearly practiced a lot!  I have a Reiki master friend who plays the shakuhachi (Japanese flute) which is very difficult to master.  He’s been playing it regularly for years and still considers himself a beginner.

I also remember learning to drive and how that took a lot of practice before I felt comfortable.  With many years of driving behind me now (I passed my test the same year I became a Reiki master!) driving is no longer the challenge it once was, thanks to all those miles.

So whether you are a beginner or an experienced practitioner, whether you have learned Reiki or your life art is something different I encourage you to just practice.  The more you do the easier it will become and the deeper your connection to your body and soul will be, bringing you joy and fulfilment.

www.katejones-reiki.co.uk