Acceptance: a tool for transformation

This month my blog is late because my laptop stopped working and I was also not in a financial position to buy a second computer.  It’s not the first time this has happened and I confess that previously I reacted with worry, frustration and anger.   As the Reiki principles teach us this is not healthy!  So this time I chose a different path:  I simply accepted the situation.  I still found it painful to be without my only computer and therefore unable to work on my business.    

My husband commented on the difference in my response to this situation – and bought me a new computer!  This led to sorting, clearing and re-organising of my office: something that has been needed for months as the energy was feeling rather stuck.  As a result, I feel more at peace in my office and that it’s a good place for my work to flow: a transformation!

I have often felt when giving a Reiki treatment that what I am doing is offering acceptance and see   As I place my hands on my body during a mindful self-treatment, I feel that I am saying ‘yes’ to each area, accepting and connecting with my essential self.  I have felt something similar when I treat others: as I place my hands I feel I am saying: ‘you’re is OK, all is well’.   I have often seen people let go of their resistance to self-caring, accept themselves as they are and, through this acceptance, healing happens.  

this as an important part of the healing.

I find that if I deny that I am feeling bad, those feelings persist, whereas when I accept my feelings of sadness or disconnection, my perspective shifts and I soon begin to make different choices that improve my well-being.  

Acceptance of what is ‘just so’ may mean saying yes to discomfort and pain, which isn’t easy.  However it can be the beginning of the transformation.  When I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes my initial response was denial and a refusal to accept that I had a problem.  This is a well known response to any addiction (mine being food!)  The reminder of the Reiki principles not to worry, or waste time with anger, helped me to move to acceptance and from there it was easier to see what action I needed to take.  By accepting that my body was not doing what I thought it was – or should – I was able to see more clearly what change was needed to heal.  Having accepted my condition, I found it easier than I expected to make changes and with the help of Reiki achieved remission more quickly than anticipated.

I used to think that acceptance meant being resigned to your fate, a weak and passive thing to do.  However I’ve learned that denial – the opposite of acceptance – is the mindset that really causes me to be stuck in suffering.  Through its ability to bring me into the present moment and feel OK about what is ‘just so’, I have found Reiki to be such a gentle and powerful way to unblock these places of resistance and be more accepting of the challenges of life.  Now that Reiki helps me to be more accepting, I find that life is much more enjoyable!

Home Again

Landing at Birmingham airport from Madrid last month I noticed a feeling of arriving  home.  I had spent 10 days with other Reiki masters who have all completed a 3 year course called 'Responding with Compassion' with Phyllis Furumoto.  Reflecting on the time away I realised that I had experienced a similar feeling of coming home when I arrived - except that in that case 'home' was not a place, but the energy of a group of people.  I felt I could be myself there, knowing I would be welcomed and accepted.   Some people in the group have been friends for many years, others I didn't know.  However I felt a connection with everyone and this deepened as we explored authentic communication together on our shared Reiki path.  Some of this communication happened without words: each afternoon we exchanged Reiki treatments, sharing our common practice, at home with each other.

I experienced a similar feeling of being at home during my pilgrimage in Japan last year.  When we visited Mount Kurama, where Mikao Usui meditated, Phyllis suggested we made our first visit the mountain alone.  We had plenty of time to climb to the top and either return the same way or go down the other side, returning a different way.  The way up the mountain has well built paths, shrines and temples, surrounded by trees.  Above the large Buddhist temple near the top of the mountain is a wilder area, with a small shrine and spring among trees.   The path down from there is rough and less well built.  You feel much more as if you are in the wild place where bears and deer live!  I chose to return by this route and enjoyed the feeling of being connected with nature. 

When I arrived back at the hotel at dusk, Phyllis greeted me with the words "Welcome home!".  I responded immediately " thank you - but I've been home all day!".  After these words jumped out of my mouth I realised their truth: walking on the mountain, being present to everything around me, I had indeed had a feeling of being at home.  Even though I was in a land very far from my own, among people who spoke a language I didn't understand, I felt the same connection with nature and Reiki as I experience at home in Shropshire. 

Many people have described a feeling of coming home when they receive the initiations during the 1st degree Reiki class.  Similar feelings are also experienced  through Reiki practice and when people who have learned Reiki come together.

I believe it is a sign of coming home to our essence - the deepest part of ourselves that is connected with our fullest potential and connects us with all that surrounds us.   My experience is that the most important aspect of this is to welcome this part of myself, let go of self judgement and to trust my intuition.

My friend and fellow Reiki master Elaine Andres put it beautifully in her poem "Home" when she said:

"Home is a place of welcome
a place where I am received
just as I am without judgment.
Where I am loved
without any need to be different
a place where I am trusted to find my own way
to create my own path in my own time."

(Read the rest of the poem at the bottom of the page here: http://reikihome.org/)

More People Benefiting from Reiki

When I learned Reiki I was inspired by the stories I heard about the life and practice of Hawayo Takata, the Reiki master who brought Reiki from Japan to the West.   I attended the Takata Archives event organised by The Reiki Association in February and was once again inspired by Takata's absolute faith in the effectiveness of Reiki treatment.   She was often called in when other treatments weren't working.  We listened to a recording of her describing how she treated a man with severe tonsillitis who was too weak to have an operation.  As she treated him a lot of pus was released after which he began to be able to take liquids and then more solid food, after which his recovery was rapid.  She treated hundreds of people in her life time, but was only one person, so the numbers she could reach were limited.  She, of course, taught many others who also gave treatments to those in their communities.  Those Reiki students have helped Reiki to spread all over the world so that, while in the early 1990s when I became a Reiki master it was still relatively unknown, it is now beginning to attract the attention of the medical profession so that many more people can experience what Mrs Takata taught.

I was therefore very interested when one of my students sent me a video about a study carried out by Harvard Medical School (USA) to find out if Reiki really benefits people.  The study showed, according to recognised tests, that the 1,500 people who received Reiki treatment in the study showed "highly statistically significant" reduction in anxiety, depression, pain and fatigue.  It is wonderful to hear that these effects, which I often see in those I treat, have been demonstrated in such a large study. 

One of the other participants at the Takata Archives event told me about her involvement over the past 6 years with a project to give Reiki treatments to children at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Brighton. She has recorded responses to over 3000 Reiki treatments, many of which were unexpectedly positive.  For example some of the babies were constipated due to the medication they were receiving.  It was frequently been reported that these babies were found to have "filled their nappies" after Reiki treatment - one often reported benefit of Reiki being that it stimulates the bowels!

There is also a project at St George's hospital in London which is likely to contribute to Reiki

being more widely available in hospitals.  Through a charity called Full Circle two Reiki practitioners have received an intensive induction so that they can work in critical care at St George's.  They are accepted  on the ward and medical staff have been able to see first hand how Reiki benefits very sick patients.  More Reiki practitioners are being trained and it is hoped to run a research project and that this model can be shared with other hospitals.

It is exciting to see how the number of people benefiting from this wonderful healing art is growing, to such an extent that it is becoming more accepted by medical profession so that more people will be able to receive Reiki treatment alongside conventional health care.

Meaning of the word 'Reiki'

When I was introduced to people in Japan as a 'reiki person' I detected a certain puzzlement about this.  However when I mentioned 'Usui Shiki Reiki Ryoho' it was clear that this phrase was more easily understood (unlike here in the UK where people struggle with these words!).  It means 'Usui's method of reiki healing'.  This brought home to me a difference about how we use the word Reiki in the West to it's original meaning in Japan.

The first definition of the word reiki I encountered was 'Universal Life Energy'.  At the time I didn't really know what that meant on a conscious level, but somehow intuitively recognised what it was referring to.  Over the years as I have practiced and taught Reiki my intuitive understanding of this simple little word has deepened through experience. 

River at Kurama, Japan

I was therefore interested when the meaning of the word 'reiki' was discussed in a recent webinar with Phyllis Furumoto and a Japanese Reiki master Hyakuten Inamoto.  He  explained the energy of reiki in a way that resonated with my understanding and experience of this energy.  He described how a Japanese person walking in the forest  feeling the energy of nature there would call that 'reiki'. 

When I give a Reiki treatment or teach Reiki I have an experience of energy that is very similar to what I experience when walking in the woods, or by the sea or other places where nature is undisturbed.  The results of being in this energy are similar too: both being in nature and receiving Reiki calm me and re-connect me with that inner place of quiet stillness where I have a feeling of peace and that all is well. I experience a sense of connectedness with all that surrounds me.  Hyakuten went on to say that the meaning of  'reiki' recognises the oneness of all things.

I was also interested to hear Hyakuten say that Usui was not unique in being able to tap into this energy.  There were other healers in Japan who also developed a connection to reiki that they were then able to channel for the healing of others.   This is similar to spiritual healers, pranic healers and other sorts of healers who also connect with this 'life energy' and have it flow through their hands for healing.  So to the Japanese the word 'reiki' doesn't mean a healing system.  What is unusual about Mikao Usui is that not only did he become a healer himself, but also devised a way to pass on this gift simply and easily from one person to another and a way of being with that energy that supports ongoing practice. 

So those of us who are not Japanese also use the word 'Reiki' to refer to this practice of healing using reiki energy as devised by Mikao Usui.   So when I was introduced as 'a reiki person' to my Japanese friends it is understandable that they were somewhat puzzled about how or why I would be connecting with the life energy.  Describing it as Usui shiki reiki ryoho gives a clearer picture of what we do - connecting with reiki energy using the system devised by Dr Usui.   

So I'm grateful for the further understanding of the different meanings of the word 'reiki' through my experiences in Japan and the explanation of Hyakuten.  I'm also grateful to Mikao Usui for devising such a beautiful way for us to connect so simply with the wonders of reiki energy!

You can watch the webinar with Hyakuten here: https://youtu.be/7V32gcDvAS4