Doing Reiki?

We often get asked by Reiki practitioners and teachers; “How long do you do Reiki in the morning?”

What does this mean? Reiki translates as ‘spiritual energy’ so if we look at the question again and replace the word ‘Reiki’ with ‘spiritual energy’ then the question becomes something like this; “How long do you do spiritual energy in the morning?”. Yes, grammatically the sentence is weird but more than that, how can we set a time to spiritual energy? Don’t we consist of spiritual energy?

It is like saying “How long do you use your mind in the morning?” We are not separate from our mind or spiritual energy, we are it, and without it we would not exist. Defining spiritual energy in terms of time is impossible.

On discussing this with the questioner they might then go on to say “Well, that is not really what I mean. What I meant to ask is how long is your self treatment in the morning?”

But again, what does ‘self treatment’ mean?

It is obvious that this person is trying to ask how long we perform hands on healing on ourselves in the morning. But then why not call it by its name of ‘hands on healing’ instead of using terms such as ‘doing Reiki’ or ‘self treatment’?

Self treatment can mean many things within the context of the traditional Japanese system of Reiki. Within this system there is not just hands on healing and this is where the correct terminology supports a better understanding of what we actually do when we practice the system of Reiki. To really practice from a traditional Japanese Reiki perspective you meditate on and contemplate the precepts, you meditate on the symbols and chant the mantras, you practice meditations like hatsurei ho, you perform the attunement/reiju, and of course perform hands on healing on yourself.

All of these elements constitute a form of self treatment; you are treating yourself in order to further the gradual process of remembering your true nature.

So when you are ‘doing Reiki’ or ‘self treating’ then, depending on which level your practice, you should incorporate all of these elements, not just hands on healing.

The next time someone asks you “What do you practice in the morning?” (or evening for that matter of fact) you can reply “Well, first I perform hands on healing on myself when I wake up in the morning and am lying in bed, then I get up and meditate on the symbols and chant the mantras, and after that I contemplate the precepts.” This is in preference to stating ‘I do Reiki’ or “I do my self treatment”. Now your questioner will have a much clearer picture of what it is you actually practice.

This will also help non-Reiki practitioners to have a greater insight and understanding of the system of Reiki.

Enjoy your practice.

Bronwen and Frans Stiene

Bronwen and Frans Stiene are the co-founders of the International House of Reiki and co-authors of The Reiki Sourcebook, The Japanese Art of Reiki, Your Reiki Treatment, The A-Z of Reiki Pocketbook and the Reiki Techniques Card Deck. Bronwen and Frans teach in the USA, Europe and Australia. Visit the Courses page to find a course near you.