I am often asked by new Reiki students what should I be doing with the mind during self treatment. In such moments I feel grateful for the simplicity and effortless nature of Reiki practice. I know from personal experience that stilling the mind is impossible, yet Reiki heals despite the mind/attention wandering. I remember Mrs Hawayo Takata’s teaching – hands on Reiki flows, hands off Reiki stops. I share this with the students.

I learnt Reiki in 2001, I have been teaching Reiki since 2008. Over the years I have found it helpful to learn that in moments of stillness and silence, what is held within tends to rise to the surface. The best thing we can do is to welcome it. I remember my Reiki grandmother’s (my Reiki Master’s teacher) words – Reiki cannot put in something new in us, it brings up what is already within us.

I feel as if I got another piece of the jigsaw when I learnt that the mind needs to go through the layers of turmoil to be able to get to the inner stillness. What is needed is the ability to observe the wandering of the mind. What is needed is trust in the innate intelligence of the mind. If I can trust the intelligence of the mind and the effortless nature of Reiki practice, together they can help me come home to inner stillness/light.

All I need to do is to practice

  • without expectation of how my experience should be
  • welcoming what shows up, trusting the interplay of Rei – Universal life force and Ki – individual life force, two very intelligent forces that each one of us has been blessed with.

Perhaps the time needed to reach the inner stillness is the reason behind the teaching to self treat for 40-60 minutes. If it is not possible to make this time daily or on a regular basis , perhaps we can try to self treat for 40-60 minutes as and when it is possible. A good time to try the longer self treatment may be when the mind seems unsettled or when we are struggling with some physical symptoms. After all the mind and body are deeply interconnected.

Please remember that some Reiki is better than no Reiki. So do continue to self treat for the time duration that is possible for you. Sometimes it is difficult to find the time, and sometimes it is difficult to make the time for self treatment.

If you are struggling to make time for self treatment, especially for a 40-60 minutes self treatment, it may be easier to self treat together with other Reiki students in the group energy.

There are two options to self treat together with the community without leaving the comfort of your own home:

  1. Spiritual lineage bearer, Johannes Reindl offers online Reiki self treatment circles every Monday, 10 am and 6 pm UK time. You can sign up to his mailing list to receive the invitation with the zoom link. If the link does not work, you can try email.
  2. The Reiki Association offers online Reiki self treatment circles every Wednesday 2 pm UK time for its members. On the last Wednesday of each month, the circle is open to non members too. You can subscribe to the mailing list for non-members to receive the invitation with the zoom link.

Do you find it easy to self treat? Or does it seem difficult at times? How are you with yourself in such moments? I would love to hear your experience of self treatment, especially about the longer one.

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