three things i loved about learning reiki

And you get to work with your hands
teaching reiki is tiring work... but i love it. one of the best parts is watching the shift people experience as they go through an intensive weekend with you. some see bright colours, others feel sensations that are new and exotic to them. others still beam like sunshine after they are done. there are three huge reasons why i love teaching reiki to people:

#1: i love the feeling of "beginner's mind" 

it was shunryu suzuki who said: "in the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. in the expert's mind there are few".

i remember my first Reiki course. it was supernatural. i was in awe at my teacher. i mean, he saw things. i couldn't discuss it with anyone. and yet, as soon as i had the chance i pounced on my homework: 10 treatments on other people.

it was my icebreaker at parties. 

i'd sidle up to someone. "hey, are you free tuesday night?" knowing the answer would be a yes,  i'd follow up with, "great, can you lie down for an hour so i can put my hands on you and give you a reiki treatment?" nobody ever said no. i learned a lot this way. 

in two months, i had given close to 40 treatments to different people.

#2: i love intuitive experimenting. 

if practised correctly, you get to hone your intuition. feeling the different energies, the difference in sensation in each treatment, trying out new things and feeling creative again. noticing when i'd need to make movements, sounds or speak and deliver an important message. simply letting go of any control and letting reiki radiate, pulse or flow out, drenching the person in pure vital energy.

i found the more i let go, the more effective the treatment was. i'd pick up images, and know immediately that something they thought was the problem was just a physical manifestation of something hidden. and then hearing what people felt and sensed and knowing i felt and sensed the same things was amazing confirmation that reiki was working in subtle and powerful ways.

#3: you start with yourself 

reiki is one of the few things you can actually do for yourself first. it's part of the course. you give yourself a treatment before you give anyone else a treatment. and as you do, you notice how effortless it is, how amazing you feel after and how beneficial it is to practice on yourself as much as possible. (i still do).

selfish, you say? sure. but who am i to tell you about you, before i start with me? and so i did. the transformation was slow but profound. i had radical shifts in perception. i had amazing shifts in my ability sense energy, target pain and illness and discover its roots. and i transformed from a pretty cynical hospital worker into a reiki healer and teacher. who woulda thought?

so even though teaching is hard work, it's a privilege to pass this ability on. and to anyone who feels the pull to learn reiki... get pulled! besides being easy and transformational, it's super natural.

want to learn?

Salima teaches weekend Reiki courses in Toronto each month. Find out more about learning Reiki or get a Reiki treatment and feel the difference it makes for yourself!