Reiki Times » distance Reiki

This Time it’s Personal

Alice Langholt — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:46:00 +0000

Recently, on Twitter, I received this tweet in my mentions column:

@ReikiAwakening Reiki is just faith healing without the faith. Witchcraft in other words. We foremost promote REAL alternative medicine.

I don't follow (on Twitter) the person who challenged me in this way, nor have I had any previous interaction with him. When I receive tweets like this, my first instinct is to try to explain that Reiki is real. I did send two tweets back in response, and then my dear rational friend Sophie Lhoste told me to block him. I did. Sophie reminded me that what we put our attention on increases, and what we ignore decreases. It was wise advice.

This came on the heels of two days of being challenged by another Twitter member who is a scientist and kept tweeting at me to explain what I do in scientific terms. I tried, unsuccessfully, to put a logical, rational explanation out there of what Reiki is, how it works, what I experience, and so forth. Eventually, after this person kept asking me repeatedly more probing questions, I found it impossible to explain. I'm not a scientist. I'm not a faith healer. I'm not a witch. I am a Reiki practitioner and a teacher. (I feel like I'm in a Star Trek episode, "Dammit, Jim, I'm a Reiki teacher, not a scientist!" Bones said that once, didn't he? ha).

It brought me to a realization and a little source of frustration that Reiki is not something that always has predictable or measurable results. I can intend for the energy to do a certain thing (relieve a headache, remove emotional blockages), and it may do that. The only way of knowing that it did is by getting the feedback from the recipient that he feels better. I can often get energetic "dings" when I scan a person's energy, alerting me to imbalances in a certain area when I'm giving a Reiki healing. I respond to those "dings" by directing the energy there as I am giving the healing. But the only way I know for sure if it worked is when I hear back that the person feels better. I don't always know what the outcome will be, although I nearly always get a response that there is relief of some kind after a healing session. That consistent validation keeps me confident that Reiki helps. But it's not an exact science, like pinpointing an issue with a laser beam and watching the changes occur through a microscope. It's not visible. It's subjective. And different results happen for different people, because needs are very individual. So it's hard to explain that to someone who wants a concrete explanation.

My mother-in-law was recently discovered to have a 5-cm tumor on her left lung. It was discovered accidentally. She underwent a battery of tests, both external and invasive. Yes, it's what you're thinking it is. And it may have spread. I'm not saying the word here. That's because I don't want to put more energy into the word or make it a self-fulfilling prophesy. As Sophie said, what we put attention on increases. That isn't to say I'm ignoring this, not at all. But I'm also doing all I can not to feed it.

Which brings me to the next point, regarding the vagueness of Reiki. I mobilized all of my Reiki friends and put in a request with the Distance Healing Network to send my mother-in-law healing energy. Another Reiki friend and I did a combined healing session for her, visualizing wrapping that tumor in healing energy and shrinking it. We sent light to her immune system. We worked together, feeling the energy flowing strongly.

Scans showed there was no change in the size of the mass. It did not grow, it did not shrink. Still there. Weirdly, biopsies came back inconclusive but the doctors feel the need to do more invasive biopsies because the scans showed the cells are active and spreading. I have no idea if or how all of this Reiki is helping. That's my frustration. She is still anxious and having trouble sleeping. The mass is still there. More tests and forthcoming treatments are planned. It's as if nothing made a difference.

Am I expecting miracles? Well I'd like to think that I could do SOMETHING to help. Yes, of course I'm there, taking her to appointments, offering support, love, presence, reassurance. But I'm blessed with the ability to do Reiki for a reason, and I want to use this gift to help someone I love so dearly! She wants to fight this, to live to watch her grandchildren grow and enjoy them. The doctor's words "stage 4....no cure....radiation...." echo off the walls and deflate hope with each bounce. I don't want those words to have energy that feed this diagnosis. I want positive thinking to prove a miracle can happen.

Abraham-Hicks is bold enough to say that positive thinking is all one needs to turn one towards complete health from any condition, nearly immediately. That sounds so bold, and I want to believe it, and yet it seems to fly in the face of reality. And yet....and yet....friends tell me of surprising results when doctors suddenly couldn't find a tumor when they were ready to operate. All that changed is the person remained positive and didn't get discouraged by the doctor's diagnosis. Miracles happen and I'm really hoping this can be one of those miracle stories. I also know it's not all up to me, even though I'd like to be able to do something that will help make a difference.

There are those who say Reiki goes towards a person's highest good, whatever that may be. It's so vague. And then there's the aspect of setting intention to drive the energy toward a specific goal. That's the opposite. Which is true? I'm not sure. Probably both. And I also don't have knowledge of what a person's highest good is. Sometimes this is challenging. I often ask for "the healing that is needed" and add that "any lessons attached to this healing be gently received." I trust in the higher powers to translate this intention into reality for the recipient. This leaves the challenge of explaining or reconciling what the outcome is to the goal of the healing. Is it really in one's highest good to remain sick or get worse? I don't know. I hope not. There are those who say that one has lessons to learn in this lifetime, or karmic debts to pay that are lived out through one's experiences. I don't know lots about this personally, so I listen to those ideas and take them in, weighing them against my own gut feelings. Suffering can be so hard to understand.

I've felt that it's my path to continue to offer and teach Reiki healing. It is a niche that I've fallen into and it's fit me so well that I'm merged with it. I receive emails from students and clients about how much the Reiki has helped them feel better. This is my validation. This is my signal to keep doing what it is I do. I can't give the scientists and skeptics who challenge me more of a concrete answer than that. There are literally hundreds of people who I've shared energy with that are grateful and received relief from receiving or learning Reiki. This keeps me going. This renews my faith every single day.

So despite not knowing what the energy will do, where or how it may specifically help a person, or knowing if it will or won't trigger a miracle, I keep on sharing it. I keep on believing in the power of Reiki.

The combination of trust and intention are keys to the process.

Thanks for reading.

Reiki Distance Healing – Invisible Person Method

Lynda Lippin — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:10:00 +0000

The invisible person method is my preferred method for distance reiki and for distance attunements, just so you know :-). I find it the easiest and most gratifying to work with.Call in the energy, draw or intend the distance symbol and whatever other ...

Reiki Distance Healing Methods Two More

Lynda Lippin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:21:00 +0000

Image by anomalous4 via FlickrHere are two more methods of distance reiki healing. I still prefer the invisible person method, but it's interesting to try others. The tiny recipient inside the hands methodCall in the energy, draw or intend the symbols...

Sending Reiki and Becoming More Aware?

Alice Langholt — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:33:00 +0000

I had an interesting experience (funny how I always seem to be having interesting experiences with Reiki!!) the last few nights. I sent energy to a nice person who has been here visiting my blog, and requested Reiki. His feedback afterward indicated that he had seen white light behind his eyes during the time I sent him the Reiki. So we tried it again a few nights later, and he had the same experience, and remarked that those two times were the only times he had ever had such an experience. It was also the first time for me that someone I had sent distance Reiki had ever "seen" the energy inside his or her awareness. I am so grateful to him for letting me know what he felt.

Before I sent him Reiki the second time, I felt that I needed some Reiki, so I spent a few minutes giving myself Reiki. As I was doing so, I had a strange sensation that was new. I felt as if my third eye chakra was opening up, like a window. My forehead tingled, and even more, felt like...gee, it's hard to describe, but it just felt like it was opening, like a lens from a camera that opens at the push of a button. It was different.

I've been concentrating on attempting to see energy. While I send Reiki, I look at my hands, slightly relaxed focus, looking above and beyond them. Often, I see some shimmer around them, whether translucent, or a little bluish, and it subsides when my focus changes or I blink. I've also been trying to see auras around people. I was told to relax focus and look slightly above the head of the person whose aura I'm trying to see. Today I did this while looking at the rabbi of my synagogue, because I was teaching Sunday School, and the students were all in the sanctuary for a morning service. We were supposed to be looking at the rabbi anyway, so I figured this was as good a time as any to practice. I really felt as if I saw a shimmer around her - not really a color - more see-thru, but it reminded me of looking above a grill when it's really hot. That kind of shimmer. I might've also caught a glimpse of orange, but it could've been the wood behind her shimmering through the aura (if that's what I was seeing).

I was holding my eyes slightly out of focus, (but was wearing my glasses), and so that could account for what looked like it might have been an aura. Or, maybe I'm starting to develop this awareness of energy.

I plan to keep trying.

Also, this afternoon I was very tired, so I rested for a short while. As I did, I felt a little tingly, as if someone was sending me Reiki. I know my Sunday Share group has me on their list, so it very well could've been from one of them. Also, for the first time, I saw a color behind my eyes, suddenly. It was hot pink. Don't know if that has meaning, but it was different for me.

I also have been thinking that I would like to communicate with a Reiki guide. Sometimes I ask questions inside my head when I'm sending distance Reiki, and I feel an answer. I don't ask big ones. I don't even remember what I asked last time. But I wonder, is a Reiki guide with you all the time, or only when sending Reiki? Is this a presence that's only able to communicate while doing Reiki, or anytime? Is this a guardian angel? Is this just my consciousness? I sometimes feel a little lonely about Reiki, because I'm alone when I channel energy, sitting in my living room. I don't have the opportunity to do much hands-on Reiki, so most of the time, I'm alone. It might be nice to feel like someone is with me as support when I'm doing this.

My RMT believes, and always has, in angels. I've never experienced one, so I reserve my judgement, as usual, for something to which I can personally relate. I don't have blind faith - I need to experience something to know it's real. I have said that many times in this blog - it's part of who I am.

It also is the reason I know Reiki is real. I feel tangible evidence, and the people I send Reiki to feel it and benefit from it. When I experience something, I know it's real, and I can talk about it with confidence to others. I know I still have lots to learn, and I enjoy reading what others write about their experiences with Reiki.

I love Reiki.

Peace.