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“Oh No, My Heart Chakra’s Blocked!”
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It happened again. We’re sitting in the Reiki class discussing Reiki treatments and a student pipes up to say, “I don’t know if I can do this, my heart chakra’s blocked”.
The responses in the room are fairly standard. Many of the students make small, sad “oh” sounds. Well, I agree, it certainly sounds awful. Almost like a chronic medical condition.
But, rather than go into the intricacies of what it might mean to have a blocked heart chakra, I ask the student a question.
“How do you know this?”
And she answers, “Someone told me. I was at a psychic fair and this palm reader told me.”
This is the same response I’ve had from every other student who has divulged that they have a blocked heart chakra – “someone told me”.
There are a couple of reasons why I question whether this student’s heart chakra really is blocked.
Most simply, if something like the energy surrounding your metaphysical heart was actually blocked then there’s the likelihood you might not be around to discuss it. Using language like “blocked” is harsh and dramatic. It conjures up a cork stopper that lets not one ounce of compassion through. Yet, compassion is an innate human quality. Sure, we are all guilty of covering ourselves in protective defensive armour at one time or another, ensuring that our beautiful bright light doesn’t shine the way it could… yet always remaining at that core is a glimmer of hope. To “block” the heart is to be completely disengaged from feeling or (from what we learn in a Reiki II class) our natural interconnected state where compassion flows with ease. For students to imagine themselves disconnected like this can be distressing for both themselves and, because of their new personal beliefs, those around them.
We need to consider how affected we are by what others say about us. If someone tells me something about myself, I know that it is subjective and relates to that person’s individual experience of life. This is especially true when referring to energetic states. Always ask yourself, “Can I validate what this person has told me through my own experience?”. Be kind to yourself and trust your inner knowing.
In our roles as teachers we are also influencers, meaning that we must be careful how we address students. Here, the Reiki Precepts again offer their guidance to us. Our choice of language is important and must arise from a compassionate and ego sparce space. To deem a student’s heart chakra blocked is to assume a rare knowledge of the universe, instead we can better remember our humility and duty of care. In this, the system of Reiki has blessed both student and teacher – ultimately, it doesn’t matter if someone’s heart chakra is blocked or not, or even what that might eventually mean. When we work with the system of Reiki, we don’t diagnose, we simply acknowledge that being Reiki, being our true selves, is living in healing.
Based in Australia, Bronwen Logan (Stiene) teaches the system of Reiki is co-founder of the International House of Reiki and Shibumi International Reiki Association as well as co-author of the critically acclaimed books The Reiki Sourcebook, The Japanese Art of Reiki, A-Z of Reiki Pocketbook, Reiki Techniques Card Deck and Your Reiki Treatment. Bronwen is also the voice of their audiobooks and of the Reiki meditations available in the shop.
Comments 7
This is a very interesting Blog post Bronwen about how careful people have to be when accepting the advice from some well meaning so called “spiritual Gurus”….. The advice they give can have a profound effect on their clients.
Last year I had to spend nearly ten weeks working with a lady who had been told by a Angelic Reiki Master (Whatever that is ?) that unless they complied with the rules she laid down an angel would punish her …. the poor woman became withdrawn and when i started working with her to dispel this concept , she was frightened to leave her house, eventually she started to realise that all Reiki is a Gentle Japanese healing technique. Usui never mentioned angels, spirits, protection or any other “new age” additions. It is just down to intent, intuition within the oneness and none duality of all
IMHO
Hi Richard, Yes, I’ve also heard some pretty scary things that people are told about themselves energetically. We’re lucky we have the basic precept guidelines to always refer to to keep us in check – simplicity lies at the heart of it all, doesn’t it?
Cheers, Bronwen
Thank you for this well-expressed and insightfully significant article
! I have been in several situations where these kind of energetic pronouncements are made or participants are asked to make them about one another. Not in one with the Precepts or the shining of the Great Bright Light.
Thank you for this. I would like to add that I think you touch on a VERY important issue near the end that does not seem to get discussed enough in healing.
As a practitioner, there is a sense that our job it to “balance the chakras”, among other things. While I certainly hope that I will improve the energy flow within a session, I have always felt that seeking to balance or clear or unblock or do anything based on my belief of how a client should “be” is working again my responsibility to simply allow the session to happen. (Maybe a chakra or energy center needs to stay unbalanced a bit little longer until further healing takes place?)
I sensed that is what you are saying about it not mattering if it is blocked or not or what it may mean, because we simply need to be there to allow what is meant to happen. And to allow that to happen how, and when, it needs to happen, etc. with no judgment on whether we “succeeded” in what we wanted to do during the session. We don’t control it.
Thanks again and would love any other thoughts on this.
Hi Dave,
Yes absolutely. Letting go is what I consider one of the biggest challenges in practicing reiki either on yourself or someone else. Not trying to manipulate the outcome but rather accepting that your body knows what it is doing and let it do what needs to be done.
Thanks for re-emphasizing this.
Cheers,
Bronwen
Hi Bronwen, So good to read your blog. Down to earth and real. Love you, liesl
Thanks Liesl.
Love,
Bronwen