As my Reiki practice has deepened and expanded, so has my own healing journey.
I believe if I am to reach my fullest potential as a healer and be of greater service to those who come to me for healing, I must be deeply committed to healing myself.
Reiki has revealed to me again and again its power to heal and its infinite wisdom in bringing that healing about. The more I recognize its potential for healing others, the more fervently I want to claim greater healing for myself. For much of my life, my desire for healing was a vague and unfocused hope that some force “out there” would wave a magic wand and cure my ills. Reiki helped me to understand the nature of the healing process and my responsibility for it.
As the practice of Reiki began to transform my life, my hope for healing became a deep yearning, and I found the courage to do my part. I learned that for healing to take place I must claim it, accept it, and complete it. The following conditions facilitate the process for me:
A deep and sincere desire for and commitment to self-healing.- Clear intentions, firmly held.
- A consistent meditation/prayer practice.
- Regular Reiki self-treatment.
- Regular exchange of treatments with other Reiki practitioners.
- Requesting distant Reiki from other practitioners as needed.
- A willingness to accept and do my part to complete healing.
- An awareness that healing may show up in unexpected ways.
I believe that for the Universe to respond to my desire for healing, I must establish clear intentions. I ask for the healing of specific conditions that address physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual issues. In addition, each day as I meditate and give myself Reiki, I ask for “the healing of all that needs to be healed in me.” I don’t always know what needs to be healed, but I am declaring myself willing to accept whatever healing is needed. Reiki, in its infinite wisdom, reveals to me what I need to know so that I can cooperate in the process.
Healing happens incrementally, with each condition or issue surfacing at the perfect moment when I am strong enough to face it, willing to address it, and ready to fully cooperate in the healing. I have found that Reiki never forces healing; it simply waits patiently and gently facilitates healing when I am ready.
Sometimes healing takes place effortlessly. It may be the unconscious release of energy during a Reiki treatment that leaves me feeling unburdened, lighter, freer, and energized, even though I’m not aware of exactly what was released. Sometimes it shows up as wisdom in the remark of a friend, or unexpected support for a goal I’ve set, or synchronistic events that cause the pieces of a situation to click into place. Sometimes it happens through an awakening to a truth. For instance, when I asked to be healed of being judgmental, I came to realize that the energy underneath judgment is anger, and that letting go of anger frees me of my need to be judgmental.
At other times, healing shows up in the form of an event that seems so catastrophic it sucks the breath out of my lungs. At those times, Reiki helps me keep my equilibrium while I work through the circumstances surrounding the event. It allows me to see the opportunity for healing that is being offered. I am then more able to move through visceral reactions as I embrace healing.
Completing a healing may require that I change the thoughts, habits, and activities that create the kind of energy I would be free of. Becoming aware of thoughts of worry, fear, anger, self-doubt, judgment, or regret remind me that I am creating negative energy and draining the positive energy I would apply to bringing about positive outcomes. Awareness reminds me that I have a choice about the thoughts I entertain, the activities I engage in, and where I direct my energy.
Because of Reiki and a commitment to self-healing, I am healthier than I have ever been. I am free of several conditions that had plagued me most of my life. I know who I am, and I am at peace with myself. I find it easier to make peace with others and to live from a place of compassion. I am profoundly grateful for the continually unfolding process of healing through Reiki.
©2007, 2014 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.