In the middle of January, I had the great fortune to resit my Reiki level 2 attunement when I went to Wiltshire for the weekend. For those that know about Reiki, this attunement is the one where you are introduced to the first three symbols. All I can say is “wow”, it was a complete mind blowing experience, which I am still processing.
So why retake my Reiki level 2? If I’m already a Reiki Master/Teacher, why should I redo an earlier attunement? Well, it was about the information that was going to be discussed at the workshop that I was interested in. Getting a second attunement is also a rather wonderful experience, especially with such a wonderful teacher as Chyna. Last summer, I had been a mentor for a Reiki Level 1 run by my Reiki Master, Dr Karen Janes, that used the newer and streamlined information that is at the heart of Chyna’s approach to using Reiki. The focus of Chyna’s approach is the Reiki vibration and getting to know that and use that on a daily basis, and not the system that has been developed around it.
A slight digression, or clarification, might be needed here before we go on: Reiki in the West has come to mean two different things:
- Reiki is the vibration (also referred to as energy) that is a natural part of the world. It has no attachment to any particular part of the world, nor any religion. It has a Japanese name because the man who discovered a way to access it was Japanese, and his name was Usui Mikao.
- Secondly, Reiki is also the name given to a System of healing, that originated in Japan at the start of 20th Century (1916 to be more precise) with Usui Mikao. From what I understand he orginally taught a very experiential way of accessing the Reiki vibration for Self Healing and Self Development, that then used Symbols to make it easier for people to learn those particular aspects. It is the information about what is and isn’t included in the System of Reiki that has become slightly convoluted and, for some, confusing and off putting. Other things have also crept in as people search for a way to be different from everyone else out there (such as using crystals during a reiki treatment).
Chyna Honey has been working as an energy healer for many years. She writes the Understanding Reiki Blog, and also wriote the Understanding Reiki book I have mentioned before (I believe that there is a follow up in the pipeline, which is very exciting). She has been working with the Reiki vibration and wants to promote the subtle strength of this vibration. As far as she is concerned it is one of the most stable and unalterable vibrations available to us humans and we can all benefit from learning how to access it and to give ourselves a daily self treatment. She sees it as a preventative self treatment and not as a replacement for other forms of medicine: most of us brush our teeth on a (twice) daily basis as a way to maintain oral hygiene, but we would not expect brushing our teeth to cure a root canal infection. Reiki complements everything we do, and helps us to recover from the daily wear and tear we experience just by living.
Chyna is creating a straight forward approach to using it. She is stripping away a lot of unnecessary baggage and some misinformation that has been attached to Reiki. The way she teaches is very much an experiential one, you are encouraged to give yourself Reiki throughout. This is because the Reiki is the best teacher, and giving yourself the energy that is being discussed means you can feel the truth of what is being discussed. This is particularly true when working with the Symbols, as they each emphasise a different combination of flavours within the Reiki and feeling this whilst discussing it makes it more solid within yourself.
So, what does this mean for me? Well so far, I have been doing my 21 days of self practice. This three week period is a requirement following an attunement for the lineage of Reiki that Chyna and I belong to. This is a commitment to giving yourself at least a 15 minute Reiki treatment each day for 21 days, and allows you to make a stronger connection to the Reiki. The 21 days of self treatment is always a delightful experience, even though I do give myself Reiki every day, the 21 days after a reiki attunement is a special time when you can really treat yourself to some quality time, whereas at other times things can get in the way. Oh, a reiki lineage is the line of teachers that extends down from Usui Mikao, in this case through to Chyna and then myself as a Reiki Teacher.
I am now reconsidering what I teach within my Reiki attunements and I am drawn to doing some further training with Chyna to teach the way that she teaches as it makes sense. I have also been told that I don’t need to do any more training to teach, but if someone has invented the wheel, why should I try reinvent it.
If you, my lovely Interonauts, want to experience a Reiki session then check out where my clinics are and book yourself in for a treatment. If you want to read more about Reiki then I suggest you check out Chyna’s Understanding Reiki Blog. and get hold of a copy of the Understanding Reiki book, which I have copies available to buy at the Clerkenwell clinic.
If you then want to learn for yourself then check out my other website, learnreiki-london.co.uk for my teaching dates. If you can’t wait until my next attunement then have a look at Natural Energy Healing, the website of Dr Karen Janes (my original teacher) who runs regular courses.
Thanks for reading this, my lovely Interonauts,
Tim
