The more you trust your intuition, the more empowered you become, the stronger you become, and the happier you become.
Gisele Bündchen
INTUITION PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE in the application of Reiki, even though the spiritual component of this healing art is more apparent to some than to others. In this chapter, you’ll discover how to use your intuition to aid in healing with Reiki. During Reiki sessions, most practitioners and recipients notice at least some vibrational shifts of energy. Because the source of Reiki’s energies is a universal powerhouse, using this energy opens the participants to experiencing deeper aspects of themselves. You’ll learn how to recognize these spiritual experiences as they occur, whether that involves noticing subtle cues or realizing awesome inspirations. You’ll also discover how intuition allows you to connect with guides, transmute negative energy, and channel spirits.
Holding a belief in spirit guides and such is not a requirement for Reiki. Nothing written in this book is designed to convince anyone to change his beliefs. Reiki works whether you believe in it or not—and whether or not you believe in angels, spirit guides, God, Allah, or any other spiritual being or deity.
However, it is important to note that the majority of people who are drawn to Reiki as a hands-on healing art often do tend to be spiritually oriented or religious in some way. They may believe in spirit guides, angels, God, or other deities.
Some people speak of connecting with new healing energies after becoming attuned to Reiki or having worked regularly with Reiki. They often attribute these energies to spiritual helpers or Reiki guides.
Everyone has the ability to communicate with “higher aspects” of himself, with or without using Reiki. Higher aspects represent whatever higher power you are aligned with: God, angels, animal totems, spirit guides, higher self, soul-body, heart center, inner dialogue, and so on.
The attunement process that takes place in Reiki classes clears away blockages in the physical body, helping these loftier types of communications to occur more easily. Through continued use of Reiki, the passageways in your body through which the ki energies flow broaden, creating a direct communication avenue, similar to a pipeline or telegraph wire, with the Reiki guides.
Reiki guides provide practitioners with the information needed to assist them in applying Reiki treatments. As the Reiki practitioner further develops his intuitive abilities, the Reiki guides orchestrate the healing sessions more and more in order to allow the healing energies to operate with greater fluidity. They direct where the Reiki practitioner’s hands need to be placed on the recipient’s body and when the hand placements should be changed. Finally, they suggest what kinds of questions to ask the recipient to further assist the practitioner in conducting a proper and thorough Reiki treatment. It is through this guidance that a practitioner is able to connect with the “soul-body” of his recipient and more fully support the recipient in her healing journey.
You may not “see” your angels or spirit guides. Not everyone acquires spiritual guidance visually. Pay attention to extrasensory spiritual messages. When we neglect to notice the simpler messages conveyed by a spirit that needs our attention, these communications will eventually be demonstrated in more recognizable ways that you may not appreciate.
Some Reiki II classes are promoted with the assurance that the students will meet their Reiki guides as a part of the class curriculum. Some teachers even lead guided meditations, inviting the Reiki guides to join their class sessions. As a result, some students sign up for Reiki classes not so much to learn the healing art but to miraculously be connected with their guides. Naturally, those students who are not able to instantly “see” or “hear” their guides become disappointed. Frustrations are compounded when other Reiki initiates share personal stories of their own guide connections during the class sessions. The students who do not forge a connection with their Reiki guides assume that there is something wrong with them or that the Reiki attunement didn’t work. This is not the case. It is best not to make assumptions about what will or won’t happen on your Reiki journey.
Our expectations in life are often what trip us up. This is especially true when you pair expectations with Reiki. It is best to approach Reiki with no expectations and allow your personal experience with it to unfold naturally.
Each of us is unique in how we intuit information. Learning to tune in to your inner dialogue takes some practice. Allow your expectations to melt away. Figuratively speaking, lean your ear against your heart and listen intently. Here are a few suggestions for flexing your intuition muscles:
However, don’t get overly preoccupied with figuring out the reasons for every little thing that happens in your daily life. Don’t worry if you begin to perceive messages that you don’t fully understand right away. Explanations tend to come along with intuitive messages on a “need to know” basis. Using your sixth sense is just like flexing a muscle. It will get stronger the more you exercise it.
The strongest “feeling centers” in the body are the heart and the solar plexus region. The heart is the place from which our love of self and love for others flow. This is also the area where our emotional hurts and wounds are stored.
There is no right or wrong feeling that comes from the heart. These feelings are what they are, pure and simple. No shame or blame should be placed upon anyone because of the way she feels—whether it’s love or hate, humility or anger, happiness or sadness, guilt or grief, calm or fear and anxiety. Acknowledging one’s feelings without judgment is the first step toward healing heart wounds.
Learning forgiveness, trust, unconditional love, and compassion are spiritual challenges associated with the heart region. Emotional empowerment can be achieved by releasing repressed negative feelings that shadow our purest and most positive emotions.
A heart-to-heart communication can be intuited while giving a Reiki treatment. The following exercise can be an overwhelming emotional experience for the practitioner because of the outpouring of love that is transferred from the recipient’s heart into the practitioner’s. The outcome can be quite profound.
While applying the throat and heart hand placements on the recipient’s body, focus on your own heart. Visualize your heart chakra spinning in a clockwise motion. While it continues to spin, shift your focus to the recipient’s heart and visualize her heart chakra spinning in a clockwise motion as well. Imagine both heart chakras spinning in unison and connecting with one another.
Open your heart and listen for any messages that are intuitively conveyed. Pay close attention to the messages as if you are a parent listening to your beloved son or daughter, keeping any information received strictly confidential. Silently acknowledge that you totally accept the recipient just as she is. From your heart, extend your unconditional love to the recipient.
Your inner knowledge originates in the solar plexus. This region of the body defines your self-esteem and personal power. Strong self-esteem is a requirement for developing intuitive skills. When you choose to ignore your gut instincts, you are only hurting yourself further by distrusting messages that are meant to help you. The more often you allow yourself to follow the direction of your gut feelings, the clearer the intuitive pathway will become. By following through on everyday hunches, no matter how unimportant they may seem, you are actually taking test drives, virtually honing your intuitive listening skills.
Information from a spiritual source often comes through as if the message is written in a foreign language or secret code, and yet you must try to read and comprehend it. Not only that, but there is no translator present to help you crack the code or understand the message.
Interpreting these confusing messages can be challenging. Generally, the analytical brain wants to jump in and decipher the messages using methodical reasoning, but this often creates more confusion.
To interpret intuitive messages, you need to process them with your emotional body rather than with your mental faculties. What feeling did the message invoke in you? Sadness? Happiness? Loneliness? Confusion? Did it bring up repressed feelings from an unresolved issue? Once you can identify the feeling, you will have something to work with.
A Reiki treatment is often the trigger that elicits messages to help a person get in touch with the feelings that need to be expressed. By invoking the Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen, or Connection, symbol, you can direct Reiki to delve deeper into any feelings that have surfaced from within the recipient.
Occasionally a person will experience an intense emotional release during or after a Reiki treatment. These types of emotional releases may be expressed through crying, screaming, coughing, or even laughing. Emotional releases help carry the person through the hurts and discomforts associated with the feelings that arise during a Reiki session.
When you intuit messages from your Reiki guides concerning the recipient you’re treating, it is up to you to decide whether or not to pass on these messages to the recipient. Trust your feelings in making these decisions. Sometimes the guides provide the practitioner with particular information during a treatment in order to assist him in the healing itself. At other times, the guides intend the messages to be shared with the recipient.
Sometimes the information that comes through will not make sense to you. If it has a feeling of urgency or persistence attached to it, the message probably needs to be shared with the recipient. Although the message might not make sense to you, it might have a special meaning to the recipient. Sometimes the recipient is not open to receiving intuited information directly, and the practitioner will serve as a channel through which a recipient’s spirit guides can pass on communications.
Natural empaths are individuals who feel the emotions and physical ailments of the people around them. As children, empaths are often called “overly sensitive” because their feelings are easily hurt and they have difficulty controlling their emotions. As a result, many learn to shield themselves from absorbing other people’s emotions. As empathic children become adults, they may have difficulty lowering their protective walls in order to form loving relationships.
Traits of a natural empath include sensitivity, compassion, good listening skills, a need to serve as a peacemaker to others, a strong sense of caution, and a quiet, guarded disposition.
You may acquire and develop an empathic awareness as you practice Reiki. Empathic Reiki practitioners use the intuited information to assist them in their hand placements and in directing the flow of Reiki. However, you need to be able to discern the difference between feeling the recipient’s ailments and experiencing your own health issues. If you feel general discomfort during a treatment, ask the recipient how she feels. For example, if you get a cramp in your leg or suddenly feel nauseated, ask the recipient if she is experiencing the discomfort as well. After you realize that a pain or discomfort you are experiencing doesn’t belong to you, release it as quickly as possible. Do not continue to hold on to it.
Although empaths “feel” others’ pain, they do not actually take it away from others. An empath merely intuits information with regard to how the other person is feeling. In shamanic healing methods, the shaman will take the client’s issues and physical problems into his body for transmutation and transformation. This specialized healing technique should not be used without extensive training.
Feeling the recipient’s illness in this way can be invaluable in understanding her state of health. However, you must not hold those energies in your body any longer than necessary. Acknowledge the empathized information that was offered, silently thank your spirit source for the knowledge its guidance has offered you, and ask that the discomfort be released from your body.
Allow the discomfort to fade away as you continue treating the recipient. If the empathized feeling does not subside and your discomfort continues, you may need to disconnect from the recipient for a few seconds by removing your hands from her body. In severe cases, you may need to discontinue the treatment altogether.
You may feel conflicted between wanting to intuit feelings to help treat someone and not wanting to feel the discomfort. In that case, you should shield yourself entirely from taking on illnesses. The Reiki Harmony symbol, Sei Hei Ki, is a protection symbol used to help create walls between you and the people you treat. Allowing yourself to take on others’ illnesses is putting yourself at risk until you have either learned how to shield yourself or have become accomplished at quickly releasing these ills and discomforts.
Reiki treatments often cause emotional and mental issues that might have become trapped or buried in the recipient’s body to surface. This offers an opportunity for any negative and stagnant energies to move upward and outward. However, these energies should be transmuted and transformed into positive energy before they are allowed to re-enter the universe, where they might inadvertently affect someone else. If you have ever walked into an empty room and felt a negative emotional charge (we may call these negative charges “bad vibes”), you have experienced what it is like to suddenly come upon discharged energy that has not been transmuted. Leaving discharged negative energy out in the open for others to stumble over is equivalent to leaving smelly garbage out on your street or dumping your dirty laundry for others to trip over.
During the treatment, anytime you feel discharged energy accumulating, take a moment to energetically clear the auric field. Always conclude a full-body treatment this way. And clear your healing space between Reiki treatments as well.
To clear the auric field, comb the recipient’s aura to clear it of any energy debris that has lifted from the physical body during the treatment. To do this, move your hands in multiple circular motions or in feathering sweeps over the recipient’s body. As you sweep away the debris, you may want to make a prayerful request for the negative energies to be transmuted and transformed into positive energies to be used for universal goodness. Some healers will send these energies to the “white light” to be purified and transformed.
White light is the space within the universe that is filled with positive energies. White light can be used only for good purposes and can be called upon for protection from negative energies. It can neither come to harm nor cause harm. When anything is sent to the white light, it is balanced and charged with positive energy.
Receiving any type of spiritual communication is a form of channeling. However, the term “channeling” normally means that a person is being used as a human loudspeaker to communicate information from a particular spirit to one or more people and sometimes to the world at large.
There are two types of spirit channeling—trance channeling and conscious channeling. Trance channelers are able to set aside their conscious selves in order to loan their bodies for communication with another energy form. These energy forms have many names: spirit guides, spirit entities, Ascended Masters, and so on. Conscious channelers do not give up their conscious selves entirely when they allow information to be channeled through them. Communications that are the result of conscious channeling will have a certain percentage of distortion because it is censored to some degree by the channeler’s personality.
Reiki healing is a form of channeling, but rather than serving as a megaphone or loudspeaker through which words are projected in channeled communications, the Reiki practitioner is more like a pipeline or conduit through which healing energies are transferred.
During the Reiki attunement process, the avenue within the body that is opened to allow Reiki to flow through also opens up the psychic communication centers. This is why many Reiki practitioners report having channeled communications with the spirit world. In some cases, practitioners claim to have received additional information regarding the Reiki system through their channeling.
Many a spiritual seeker has stumbled across Reiki while making the journey through life. Reiki, along with its principles, is quickly accepted as a valuable find that assists anyone who wants to continue along the pathway toward well-being and self-discovery. Many people, after immersing themselves in the teachings of Reiki, adopt Reiki as their ultimate way of life.