The Reiki Treatment Triangle — Giving • Receiving • Self-treatment
Is it necessary, a student asked me, to give oneself Reiki each day (as I suggest) if one is giving treatments to others, since the practitioner receives a treatment each time he or she gives one. My response was an emphatic, “Yes!”
As a practitioner, I believe it is not only important to treat oneself daily, but also to receive regular treatments from other practitioners. And, it goes without saying, also important to give treatments to others, not only for their benefit, but for the significant benefits the practitioner receives.
Self-treatment is the way I slowly wake up in the morning and prepare myself to meet the day. In the evening, it is my way of slowing down, releasing the stress of the day, and preparing for a restful night’s sleep. I also place my hands inconspicuously and allow Reiki to flow at other times, while I am sitting in a waiting room, for instance.
After I have given a treatment to a client, I invariably feel peaceful, refreshed, and energized. But my focus during the treatment is on the client. My mind is attuned to their needs and to giving the best treatment I possibly can. Although extremely rewarding and renewing for me, it does not bring about the deep healing that happens when I am the focus of the treatment.
The most profound healing comes for me at the hands of another practitioner during a full-length session (45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours). My mind slips into neutral; I’m not thinking about the messages the client’s body is giving me, as I do when giving a treatment, or about the messages my own body is giving me, as I do during self-treatment. Rather, I am suspended in a space that collapses time, disengages my mind, and allows me to be completely receptive to healing.
Each kind of treatment is an essential component of the “treatment triangle.” Each is crucial to the practitioner’s self-healing. Each has its own particular grace.
©2013 Marianne Streich, Reiki for Living, All Rights Reserved. For re-posting permission, contact Marianne.
Marianne is a Seattle-Area Reiki teacher and practitioner. She is the author of Reiki, A Guide for the Practice of Levels I and II and a former editor, contributor, and columnist for Reiki News Magazine (2004-2010). See her current class schedule.
I like your comment “I am suspended in a space that collapses time, disengages my mind,..” It parallels my feeling during meditation that i feel like i taking a mental vacation, just paying attention to my breathing and nothing else.
“Taking a mental vacation” is a delightful way to express the feeling of being refreshed and renewed. Thank you, Susan.