Ascended and Enlightened? Perhaps, but with both feet on the ground – my journey with Reiki

My own Reiki journey spans almost 30 years. I often describe myself as a ‘boots on the ground’ practitioner. In my early years with Reiki, I struggled to get to grips with the angels, guides and spirits that other Reiki practitioners around me talked about. Born and brought up in one of the more ‘earthy’ areas of Glasgow let’s just say that life was more ‘grounded’ and angels, guides and spirits were not an obvious part of day-to-day life.

Prior to becoming a Reiki practitioner, I was already a qualified aromatherapist, masseuse and reflexology practitioner. However, when working with clients during massage/reflexology I began experiencing something different from my usual experiences (especially in my hands….) and my clients/patients commented on this too. They experienced a feeling of deep relaxation, ‘almost floating’, peace, relaxation when my hands were on their bodies. For me I sometimes experienced my hands as warm, but often nothing at all. As someone who likes to know how things work and have a practical explanation of what’s going on I was puzzled by what my clients and I were experiencing. I could offer no explanation. I simply asked if what they felt was comfortable. It was – always. Me? I was curious to say the least.

Around that time, I started to hear about something called Reiki – and it sounded very similar to what I had been experiencing. It’s often said that ‘Reiki finds you’. One day you have no awareness of it and the next it’s everywhere! Just like when you’re buying a car, eh? It’s up to you whether you ‘answer the call’.  So, as my natural curiosity/nosey-ness does…. I answered the call and down the proverbial rabbit hole I went.

Four years later I received my Reiki Master Teacher attunement. (The attunement is what differentiates Reiki from other hands-on healing modalities. It doesn’t give anything to the student but opens and aligns what’s already there.) Despite me apparently ‘being a natural’ it was like learning to drive – they say you only start your learning once you’ve passed your test (cars seem to be a theme today…).

So, what is Reiki? Well, Reiki is simply a Japanese word that means universal life force. This universal life force has been called many names by different cultures – ki, chi, mana, prana. It’s often defined as energy, vital essence, life force; all living things contain and radiate chi. When this chi leaves the living organism, life ceases to exist.  
Although rooted in Eastern philosophy Reiki is not a religion or affiliated with any religion. The history of Reiki as a practice in the West traces back to Mikao Usui a Japanese Buddhist monk. In the centuries prior to Usui, people working with this chi/energy were referred to as healers, holy men/women, ascended holy masters, and the skills and knowledge required to work with the energy were sacred and secret. Usui’s belief, however, was that everyone could work with the energy (often referred to as ‘channelling’) if sincerely drawn to do so and so he taught others to work with it. To this end Mikao Usui created a framework to guide others how to work with this universal life force and taught ‘Reiki’ in three levels:

1 – for self-healing, family & friends
2 – for healing others (practitioner level)
3 – teaching others to work with Reiki (Master/Teacher)

By teaching/attuning others to channel Reiki energy to heal self and others, the aim wasn’t for practitioners or clients/patients to become enlightened (although that may occur) or to ascend but to bring the healing energy down to Earth (usually via the hands but not always) and make it available to all who wish to be ‘healed’ – with Love, Respect and Kindness. Traditionally it would take a student several years to reach level 3.

In reality working with Reiki energy can seem so incredibly complicated in the beginning but my experience over the years has taught me that having a spiritual belief, connecting with angels, guides, spirits isn’t essential, especially if that’s not your thing. That can be a big ask for beginners and in my experience has put lots of beginners off right at the start. I’m more interested in sharing this Reiki energy with everyone and anyone. My view is that I was sensing, working and getting great results with this energy and didn’t even know it let alone call it Reiki and if I can do it then anyone can if they want to.  

In my therapeutic and clinical practice, I’ve learned to work with this universal life force energy in lots of different ways that aren’t called Reiki – sound therapy, kinesiology, acupressure, emotional freedom techniques. Reiki is one of the simplest and easiest ways to work with the energy.

So, the first thing I teach my students is to feel/experience the energy flowing. I then teach them to ‘listen’ for any ‘feedback’ their hands may receive (warmth, tingling, coolness, pushing/pulling feelings) and allow the energy to guide them to where to place their hands. Sensing and feeling the energy isn’t about becoming psychic – we’re just getting quiet enough to tune into and listen to our senses – trusting what we’re experiencing. We (respectfully) get curious and play with the energy. Here and now.  It is that simple.

The more experienced you become playing with the energy your ‘listening’ will have more depth and quality to it, and you do learn to trust what you’re being shown by your hands. The best part is that channelling/working with Reiki is very safe, does no harm and clients always enjoy the experience.

My takeaway from this is essentially that everyone can use this energy to heal themselves and others. You don’t have to have spiritual beliefs – it’s up to you what kind of energy worker you’d like to be and how you choose to share the energy. You don’t have to aim for enlightenment or ascend to higher realms – I’m still not entirely sure what that means. You don’t even have to call it Reiki. The lesson is simply to have the intention to use your hands with Love, Respect and Kindness. Couldn’t we all do with more of that now?

What about being enlightened/ascended? Has Reiki given me some sort of heavenly bliss and an ability to communicate with higher spirits/realms? Almost 30 years later, I can say there’s definitely something in this Reiki energy ‘stuff’ – my clients/patients can vouch for that too. I have found and become friends with that place inside me that can be still and simply allow the energy to flow. On a day-to-day, both feet on the ground basis, I’m still learning, curious/nosey, asking soooo many questions, still living a grounded/earthy dare I say normal life with all its ups and downs – there are plenty of those, and still curious about those angels, guides and spirits… I’m thankful for it all and take nothing for granted.
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