Parenting With Reiki

Reiki is an energy healing practice that’s a complementary and supportive holistic therapy. Reiki (pronounced Ray-key) is a Japanese combination of two words, Rei and Ki, meaning guided life energy (commonly known as Life Force Energy), an energy that animates us all and is found all around us.

Reiki is an energy healing technique which uses this Life Force Energy, channelled through the practitioner to the recipient, to balance the subtle energies within the body. Reiki addresses physical, emotional, mental and spiritual imbalances.

You may be wondering what Life Force Energy is. Life Force Energy is the non-physical aspect of yourself: your thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and consciousness. All living things including plants and animals have life force energy. It’s the vital essence of being alive. Life force energy exists in all who are alive in a certain frequency that integrates with our physical bodies. We know this, because our emotions and our body affect each other.

At this point, you might be thinking, “Seriously?” I get it. I was there. I didn’t know anything about Reiki until I was 38 years old. In fact, I had no connection to my own intuition, try as I might. The first time I heard about Reiki, I thought it couldn’t be real. It just wasn’t part of my reality yet.

Most of us grow up experiencing the world through our basic five senses, so we believe that those are what we have to interpret the sensory input that comes at us all day long. We haven’t learned to pay attention to the subtle sensations of energy. Reiki is something that anyone can learn to feel. And, when you recognize how Reiki feels to you, an entire new sense awakens to help you understand the world and your connection to everyone and everything. You learn that there are many ways to reduce stress, relieve pain, and help feel better emotionally and physically. If you learn to practice Reiki, you learn to channel this energy for yourself and for others, and you are able to sense the way we are all connected, no matter how far we are from each other physically. It’s an awakening for sure.

I told you about Ki, now here’s Rei, “guided.” A Reiki practitioner guides the higher form of life force energy to the recipient. This is done by intention. Intention is directive thought. Simply, just by thinking “Reiki” and then telling the energy what to do, i.e. “relieve pain,” the energy will flow towards fulfilling that intention. Intentions can be most anything from self healing to healing the effects of a past trauma on a person’s present emotional state. It doesn’t need to be specific, either. It can be as simple as “the healing that is needed.”

One very important thing to know about Reiki is that the practitioner is not the healer. The recipient is receiving energy to use for healing him or herself. This happens automatically, without the need for conscious effort. The practitioner is the facilitator, bringing this life force energy to the recipient.

For a Reiki practitioner to acquire the ability to give Reiki, he or she receives an attunement from one at the master level of Reiki. An attunement opens the channel for anyone to then call on Reiki energy and guide it.

Reiki is given by a light touch (it has been called “hands on healing”), but may also be just as effectively given without any touch at all. The energy does not require touch as it is guided by intention. The practitioner intends for Reiki to be offered, and the recipient may receive the energy that’s needed. The sensations of receiving Reiki are often described as: relaxing, soothing, warm, tingly, relief from pain, stress melting away, increased mental clarity, “emotionally lighter,” and just feeling good.

After I learned Reiki, I found myself using it to soothe my four kids when I didn’t otherwise have the answer. For example, my infant daughter had gas built up in her tummy, and Reiki energy relaxed her, helping her release it and feel better. My toddler had a bad dream, and Reiki energy combined with hugs helped him release the negative emotions associated with his dream and get back to sleep.

My 5 year old had a headache, and while she rested on the couch, Reiki helped release the pain. My 7 year old was angry about something and Reiki helped her calm down faster from her intense emotions. When my kids were sick with colds or fevers, giving them Reiki helped speed recovery and healing. I realized that I was using Reiki all day long, for all kinds of reasons, and it was working. Self healing with Reiki also would help me release the stress from the day when I went to sleep at night, and helped me feel calmer and more balanced to deal with all of the demands of being a working mom.

My kids describe Reiki as “a warm energy that feels good and helps you feel better when something is wrong.” I think it is a great explanation for kids to understand. I even use this explanation sometimes when an adult asks me to describe Reiki in one sentence. I’ve also taught my kids Reiki. They know that they have Reiki to help themselves and each other. That’s powerful. I’m a little jealous. I wish I knew Reiki when I was a kid.

To learn more about Reiki, try Practical Reiki. Online classes are available at http://ReikiAwakeningAcademy.com.