19 Feb My Reiki Level 1 Placement

This is the altar we set up at our Reiki Level 1 placement yesterday. An altar is simple, it’s just a place you put special items and decide is a special place in your home, to be treated with special care. You get the gist.

Beyond a sweet altar space, the Reiki training experience was incredible. Eight other students and I met with our teacher Chona on a beautiful property. We were a diverse group, all present for different reasons. Some of us, like myself, had been wanting to do a Reiki training for years. Another had recently happened upon an interesting new sensation of energy in his meditation practice, unexpectedly ran into Chona, and decided it was a sign to join. Public servants, compassionate friends, people simply interested in learning new things…we all met to discover more.

Reiki is a Japanese form of energy healing, and Reiki energy is pure, untouched by ego, and cannot be harmful or overdone. A Reiki practitioner is just a channel for that energy to move from the source of the energy out of the hands and into the intended recipient (be it person, place or thing). The Reiki healer isn’t deciding where the energy should go and what it should do. The energy does that itself. If you’re doubtful, Reiki is used in some hospitals to decrease healing times, reduce medication needs, and to improve the mood of patients. Google it.

I’ve wanted Reiki training for a while now because it feels so good to me to receive. It’s always a nice warm feeling with pleasant shivers or shimmery sensations that run through my body (like a really good body yawn in the morning). I’ve done energy work on friends and clients before, but I felt like something was missing. It was Reiki.

In order to channel Reiki, you must have an attunement or placement from a Reiki Master. I was giddy excited for the placement. But, we started the day in a guided visual meditation, in which I had a hard time connecting. My thoughts and doubts drew me out of it and it was more a practice of coming back to what I was “supposed to” be doing for the 15 minutes we sat still. So when the Reiki placement started with the same set of visuals (walking down a wooded path), I thought “Aw man! This just isn’t working for me today and this is the part I’ve been waiting for! Is it not gonna work?” Then the energy started flowing. First I felt really warm underneath my nose, but hotter than my exhale breath, and more consistent. Then a warmth in my belly, which slowly traveled around my body. It felt good, and I was glad something was happening, so I started to relax and drift off. I heard someone snoring lightly in the room, had a few daydreams, and every time I came back to what I was “supposed to” be doing, that warmth was still working its way through me. I realized I didn’t have to do anything for it to happen, it was just going to be there. I could count on it.

After the placement we learned how to ignite the Reiki in our palms and did our first session on ourselves. Then we split into groups of three and treated each other, talking about what we were feeling (or weren’t sure we were feeling) each time. We all seemed to get a deeper sense of the experience and our own intuitive approach each time we practiced.

This just happened yesterday. At least 20 times today I’ve ignited the Reiki energy, enjoying the warmth in my typically cold hands and laying my hands on my body in places I feel tension. It’s so cool that it works every time! I didn’t have any idea what the Reiki placement would be like going in, but I know it’s true when they say you’ll never be the same. This energy is here to stay, it’s just a part of who I am now.

I dig it.