Doing Reiki?

Bronwen and Frans StieneArticles, English 5 Comments

woman stretching morning

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.

Comments 5

  1. Avatar of seema
  2. Avatar of Frans Stiene
  3. Avatar of seema

    Hi Frans,
    This is what I was just writing it in my notes , its not how long but what is the quality of it .

    However , I think when we start to come across – “potholes” , we some times think perhaps we are not doing “long” enough.

    It is a struggle , which I personally have come across so many times :).

  4. Avatar of Frans Stiene
  5. Avatar of seema

    Hi Frans,
    Yes , true . I think , from time to time , we have to get back and tighten a bit on how we are doing our daily practice.

    Setting timer is a good way and handy especially when we have holidays coming or we are especially busy. Than not only timer but setting time of the day is also good. This way we don’t give ourselves any choice to “slack”.

    thank you for the reminder !

Leave a Reply to Frans Stiene Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *