Lasting Healing in 2021

One of the teachings of Reiki is that for there to be lasting healing, there needs to be a change at the non-physical levels of mind/emotions and spirit.  As we begin 2021 with a worsening Covid-19 situation in the UK, I have been wondering how this teaching applies to this situation.  In the same way that a serious illness can change the direction of a person’s life in a positive way, could this pandemic be the wake-up call that changes some of the assumptions and old patterns in our world, so that we can become healthier? 

I have seen in my own health how, when there is no change at these unseen levels, old patterns will repeat and although there may appear to be healing on the physical level, these symptoms will return because the cause is still there.  Just like when the virus seemed to have gone away because people

were not spreading the infections so much, but returned when people returned to their previous habitual patterns of behaviour before and during Christmas. 

I have experienced this in healing my type 2 diabetes – I can reduce my blood glucose levels by cutting out sugar for a while, but when I go back to old habits of eating high carbohydrate foods, they rise again.  To maintain healthy glucose levels, I needed to change my thinking and remember the consequences of eating more sugar.  Decisions made based on unconscious habit will simply result in a relapse, so I need to be aware of what I’m eating and find other ways to be comforted that do not involve cakes and bread!  It is also helpful to heal the underlying need for comfort, which is where Reiki self-treatment is wonderful, being carbohydrate free and soothing!

So what sort of change is needed for the world to heal from the coronavirus?  I would suggest that our only way out of the repeating patterns of reduction then increase of infections is for there to be change in people’s thinking, emotional and spiritual state.  Why do some people find it difficult to follow the guidance that protects us from catching and spreading the virus?  Do they really not care about the well-being of others?  Or is it that they lack the capacity to think beyond their own lives and understand the consequences of their actions?  What is the mental/emotional/spiritual state that causes this?

What can we, as Reiki practitioners, do to help the world to heal?  The Reiki Principles invite us to change our thinking and emotional state, so one thing we can do is to remember and act on them.  Our Reiki practice encourages self- responsibility and also care for others, so we can remember these qualities too in all that we do.  I have also found that simply by giving and receiving Reiki treatments change happens – often quietly and simply, through the shift from stress to a relaxed and creative state of being. 

I believe this pandemic is a tremendous opportunity for our world to change and heal on many levels.  My wish for 2021, therefore, is for global healing that comes through change that fosters greater consciousness and a willingness to engage with difficulty to expand our capabilities, so that all humans can thrive.

Sharing the Wonder

Receiving Reiki treatments after my father's death inspired in me a desire to offer the same experience to other people.  I had never thought of being a practitioner of any kind: at the time I was running a theatre company, directing and secretly still wishing to be an actor!  However there was something about Reiki that touched me deeply and I wanted to share it.

So I was delighted to be giving my first full Reiki treatment to someone outside my immediate circle of family and friends just a couple of weeks after taking the 1st degree class and  I have been giving Reiki treatments ever since.  In those early days I didn't know how much I didn't know!  I naively thought that having completed 2nd degree I was fully prepared for working with the public.  Now, after over 25 years of experience, I have a different perspective.  However my fundamental wish to share the wonder of Reiki with others hasn't changed.

Reiki Master Kate Jones giving Reiki treatment

Giving Reiki treatments, I have found, can bring much joy.  I have recently been reading "The Book of Joy" which is based on conversations between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Bishop Desmond Tutu.  They express the belief that humans are fundamentally good and that showing our compassion for others is the best way to a happy life.  Seeing Reiki treatments as a way to offer service, one of the fundamentals of a spiritual life in many traditions, has taken my practice deeper and brought more happiness and satisfaction to my life.

Treating family and friends can offer this sort of practice, but I have found that offering Reiki treatments to people I don't know is even more profound.  In the early days, treating strangers for the first time, I discovered that although I didn't like everyone who came for Reiki, something happened during the Reiki treatment that resulted in me having compassion for them no matter who they were.  I believe that Reiki creates a field of grace, in which there is no judgement and where connection in our essential humanity is natural.  This grace creates a space for their physical, mental and spiritual healing.  To be a part of this miracle still moves me.

I have been involved for many years in helping to set standards for Reiki practitioners who wish to offer public treatments.  I am interested in seeing other practitioners be successful in offering Reiki treatments, so that more people can benefit from Reiki.  This means ensuring that those receiving Reiki treatment are honoured and respected, that practitioners maintain their integrity and can offer Reiki in a supportive and comforting way.  Although this may seem to impose restrictions, I see this as a way for practitioners to explore their practice more deeply, because challenges can inspire personal and spiritual growth.

So if you have learned Reiki and would like to deepen your Reiki practice I would suggest that there is nothing better than becoming a public practitioner.  Sharing the wonder of Reiki in a way that will be recognised by wider society as being responsible and ideally professional can benefit you and those you treat.  It can be a wonderful way to give service in the world that can enhance our quality of life: offering comfort and kindness to strangers can bring joy to the giver as well as the recipient.

Reiki Sharing Groups

At the end of the First degree Reiki class our Reiki master Martha encouraged us to meet with our classmates to exchange Reiki treatments.  For some time after that a group of us would meet every Sunday to share Reiki.  This is something that Reiki students all over the world do and that I continue to offer to my Reiki students.

Not everyone was able to attend each session, but there would always be enough of us to make it worthwhile.  It was lovely to meet my class-mates again; who I had shared the excitement of learning Reiki with, and to take our first steps in giving treatment to others together.

It was helpful in those first months to have each other to remind ourselves of the hand positions and of course we all remembered slightly different things about the class, so it was great to be able to compare notes.

Some of my students also get together in this way and I also run monthly Reiki Shares in Ludlow and Birmingham to offer a space for Reiki students to come together, give each other treatments, be reminded of hand positions and also have time to chat about their Reiki experiences.  I’m always happy to answer questions and share my own experience if this is helpful.

These monthly meetings are open to people who aren’t my students too: either because they have not yet learned Reiki or because they have learned with another master.  People who haven’t learned Reiki clearly can’t participate in the treatments like those initiated into Reiki, but we have a way of including them and they also get a turn on the couch to receive a treatment.  It’s often the first time they have experienced Reiki treatment and it can be quite an amazing experience for people who have not had Reiki before.

Some Reiki students come regularly to the Sharing Group, which creates a feeling of community.  Many people don’t find it easy to talk about Reiki to their friends and family, so it can feel good to be with a group of people who understand and share similar experiences.  Sometimes students feel a bit doubtful about their Reiki ability and by the end of the evening they have usually had an experience that reassures them.

During my Reiki Shares we usually treat in silence.  This can be a welcome rest from the busyness of modern life and gives time for a deeper awareness to arise.  This, I feel, contributes to the sense of connection that many people experience.

In the end the Reiki Shares of my class fizzled out as people got busy with other things.  This often happens with Share Groups because it does require some dedication to keep practising when there are so many other things going on.  This is why I am committed to keeping the Shares going as long as people keep turning up: to create a space that is reliably there for people to connect or re-connect with their Reiki practice.  If you’re in the area you would be welcome!

Have you ever been to a Reiki Share?  Perhaps you go regularly?  What are your experiences?  Please share your comments

Have those New Year Good Intentions Started to Waver?

If you have learned Reiki, you are encouraged to treat yourself every day.  Some students are very good at this and soon see the benefits.  Some, like me, find it a struggle to make it as much of a daily habit as brushing my teeth.  Why is this?

One of my students said she thought it was when she was feeling less good that she didn’t practice her Reiki self-treatments.  However what she also noticed was that when she didn’t do her practice, she felt less good!

Last month I encouraged you to keep a daily gratitude journal.  Have you tried it?  Have you managed to keep going with it?  If you have, well done!  If not: don’t despair!  There may be other New Year Resolutions you are now struggling to keep going too.  Getting into a new habit can be challenging.  For some reason this seems to be especially true if it’s something good for us!
 
So why is it so hard to do something regularly, whether it is Reiki or some other healthy habit we wish to develop?  Why is it so hard to do something that actually makes us feel good and helps to make us happier and healthier?!

Perhaps the answer is that good habits often take us out of our comfort zone at the beginning.  Bad habits, which are usually about giving ourselves comfort in a less healthy way, are all too easy to develop.   To develop a healthy habit we may need to make some effort, face up to some fear or experience some actual discomfort.  We also have to remember to do it, which in a busy life is hard enough!

So what can we do to encourage ourselves to develop a new good habit?  Well, try keeping a record of when you do achieve your practice – maybe give yourself a gold star!  Be kind to yourself: don’t worry about the days you don’t manage to do it – the odd day you miss won’t make a huge difference.  If you can keep going daily for 36 days your subconscious will be convinced and you are laying the foundation for a good habit!  After that it will be easier and soon you will forget it was ever a struggle at all!

Good luck!

From an article originally shared in my February 2007 Newsletter

Resistance is Useless

Resistance is useless

On one of my recent birthdays I chose to visit the Dr Who exhibition with my family.  As we walked into one of the rooms a dalec turned towards us and said “Resisntance is useless!”  I laughed that such a profound spiritual teaching could come from this source!

I have heard this phrase in other sci-fi stories – of course it’s always the baddies who are saying it, hoping I suppose that the ‘victims’ will just surrender.  In real life, however, I’ve found that resistance can be what stands in the way of a happy and fulfilled life.

Change

Have you ever found yourself in the situation where you had a decision to make that could lead to something new or a change in your life?  Have you noticed a part of you that would prefer you not to make that change?  That part of you likes things as they are: apparently safe and comfortable.  It will tell you about all sorts of dangers that are lurking ahead if you make that change.  That’s the voice of your resistance speaking.

Resistance is tiring

What I’ve also heard from a spiritual teacher is that it’s resistance that makes us tired.  Like rocks that slow the flow of water, mental resistance inhibits the natural flow of life, creating difficulty and distress.  It doesn’t feel good when there’s resistance who what should be.

I’ve had an experience of that recently when I was invited to take on a new role.  I experienced a lot of resistance – which even kept me awake at night, so I was certainly tired as a result!  I had so many ‘good’ reasons not to make this change, yet I was not able to simply say no.  Over the years through my Reiki practice I have deepened my self knowledge, so I knew something else was going on.

Reiki helps

I found Reiki very helpful in my dilemma.  By doing distant treatment to the problem and treating myself I was able to bring my mind and body into a calmer state, which allowed me to see the resistance for what it was and gently let it go.

Personal Growth

Personal growth is one of the four aspects of Usui Shiki Ryoho that students of this system receive when they practice.  The ability to move through resistance, to transform it into forward momentum with the help of Reiki is one way that this is manifest.

Resistance is an expression of fear: of change, of loss and of loss of control for example.  It can also be a fear of personal growth.  You may be familiar with the words of Marianne Williamson that: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”  So the resistance we experience is often an attempt by the part of ourselves that believes it’s not safe or appropriate to reach for that power.  As Marianne goes on to say: “Your playing small does not serve the world.”

Over the years I have often seen my Reiki students overcome inner resistance to become more empowered in their lives, making choices that allow their light to shine.  The world is certainly a better place as a result!