Reiki

Reiki Shares – what can they offer?

18th October 2018 by Christine Sutton

Phoenix Notes 5:

It is a fact that there are far more people attuned to Reiki than ever practice it professionally. The vast majority of people who take Reiki attunement at Level 1 (Shoden) only ever want to use it to help themselves or to help a very small circle of family and friends. When people are working like this it is easy to become isolated in their practice of Reiki.

Isolation and Reiki

Isolation can happen if you lose touch with people from your attunement class or your Reiki Master.
It can also happen if your own immediate circle of family and friends does not approve of Reiki and thinks you are weird for wanting to try it out. This is a very common experience!

Perhaps you feel that your Level 1 attunement class was rushed, or did not give you enough knowledge or confidence to begin to work with Reiki independently. You may have tried some initial work on your own but then have experienced something which fell beyond your level of experience and knowledge, If there was no form of back-up available hesitancy or fear may have crept in and stopped you using the gift of Reiki. Even with higher levels of attunement in place it is possible to become isolated for many reasons.

Have any of those things happened to you?

If so you may feel that there is no one with whom to exchange experiences and no one to ask for advice. You may have let your Reiki, which initially felt bright, joyful and full of potential, fall into disuse. Life with all of its challenges gets in the way and soon the memory of how good Reiki feels fades away. What a waste of a powerful gift! A good way to avoid this isolation and creeping doubt, whatever the level of practice, is to attend Reiki shares or other events in the local area and become part of the wider Reiki community.

What do Reiki shares offer?

A chance to give Reiki regularly and so reinforce the connection with the energy and allow it to strengthen and grow.
A chance to receive Reiki regularly and so gain the full benefits of treatment plus the relaxation effect.
It can be a blissful experience to receive from several people simultaneously once you get used to it!
A chance to keep in touch with a Reiki master and also meet new like-minded people.
A chance to take part in meditation sessions and find some personal peace.
A chance to ask questions, swap experiences and discuss anything unusual or unexpected that may be felt when using Reiki.

Shares vary greatly in size and form depending on the people involved but they all have one thing in common – members are interested in Reiki and are willing to give and receive treatments. The origin of Reiki shares goes back to the Japanese tradition in which Reiki training involved frequent training meetings where students came together to practice, learn new techniques, receive Reiju (the Japanese form of Empowerments) and grow spiritually.

Things are not very different in Western Reiki as all of those items may occur but there is also a strong social component. You feel welcome in a Reiki share! Reiki people tend to be relaxed, accepting and non-judgemental. All of this might be a revelation if you normally feel shy or uneasy in social groups. There is real potential to expand socially as the Reiki helps you to expand personally and spiritually.

Some shares are open only to the students of the Master who attuned them, others are open to anyone who is already Reiki attuned no matter where they trained. Most groups have several core members with others who come and go. The energy experienced within groups who know each other well can be quite startling and can allow everyone to go beyond their normal level of work.

What Happens during a Reiki Share?

Content and sequence vary, but generally this is what may happen:

Meet and greet phase as people arrive, conversation, swapping experiences, refreshments may be available
Meditation and/or Empowerments may be offered on some occasions
There may be teaching of a particular topic related to Reiki and energy healing
Reiki Healing Circle (Mawashi)
Shared Reiki Healing Session – many upon one.
Refreshments, Chat, exchange experiences

If you are feeling isolated or disappointed with your Reiki practice, then finding a local share group could be just what you need to bring back the curiosity, enthusiasm and sense of connection with the flow of energy and life. It is definitely worth a try!

Our Reiki share evenings are held in Solihull, West Midlands, UK once every 1-2 months.
Anyone who is Reiki attuned is welcome.
See our website for dates and full details.

Christine Sutton
Master Teacher Member of the UK Reiki Federation
CNHC registered
www.phoenixeft.co.uk
0121 246 9448

A Clean Channel for Reiki Practice

8th June 2018 by Christine Sutton

Phoenix Notes 1

The aim of giving Reiki to self or to other people is to act as a channel for the Universal Energy (the Rei-Ki).

To give Reiki effectively that channel has to be “clean”– the practitioner`s thoughts, emotions and ego-based intentions need to be kept out of the experience as far as possible so that energy can flow freely from the higher levels of being (Higher Self level), like water flowing freely through a hosepipe.

If the practitioner`s channel is cluttered by a jumble of mental and emotional clutter it is as if a “kink” has been put into the hosepipe. It is no accident that the initials of “Mental” and “Emotional” are “ME”, i.e. all ego based concerns.

If the channel is “kinked” by the presence of mental-emotional clutter then the energy channelled will be restricted in both frequency and strength. The practitioner will not receive as much energy as it flows through them to the client. The quality of their experience will be reduced and they will not receive the normal “recharge” of self that happens when channelling for other people.

The person receiving the Reiki may be aware of the reduced flow and quality of the energy received, but they will still take what they need – it is not a conscious choice. With the practitioner no longer connecting with unlimited energy it is as if they have been unplugged from mains electric. However they still transmit whatever is required by the recipient so there is potential for the practitioner to begin to transmit their own essential reserve of energy. It is as if they are now running on batteries. If this continues the result will be an energy drain for the practitioner – they will feel tired and depleted by the end of the session rather than energised and peaceful.

The solution is clear – take time to identify and clear whatever mental-emotional clutter is impeding the energetic flow. This can be done immediately before beginning a Reiki session as part of the normal preparation for channelling (Hatsurei-Ho) as well as ongoing longer term self-work with Reiki to clear any issues that may be present.

That is why the key to good Reiki practice is continuing self-work. At Level 1 of training it is the major focus so that the Reiki can come cleanly through the practitioner and not be drawn from them. This sets a really good foundation for the higher levels of practice which come later….

Reiki and the Seeker`s Journey

29th May 2018 by Christine Sutton

Phoenix EFT Reiki It seems to be a fact that people are drawn to Reiki as and when the time and circumstances are right for them. As a Reiki student I saw this fact written in many texts and articles about Reiki and I took it at face value. It was certainly true in my own life but I did not fully understand it until I began to teach students myself and went searching for more information.

One of the first questions that I ask every new group of students is:

“Why are you here?”

On the surface the answers that they give may be different but the underlying theme is always the same: “I am looking for something. There has to be more to life than I am experiencing.”

As I have learned more about Reiki from my own experiences and those of the students that I have been privileged to meet it has become very apparent that this underlying quest for “more” is universal-everyone feels the pull of it at some time in their life. We all become Seekers of some sort of destination. How far that quest may be fulfilled in a lifetime is variable but it is the same quest and more and more people are being drawn to it.

Of course this is nothing new-humans have been aware of the quest for many centuries and it has been written into the scriptures of every religion we have ever embraced and into the archetypal stories and folklore of every civilisation we have ever formed. For example, Tarot cards which date from at least the 15^th century embody the quest as the “Seekers Journey” through the pictures and symbolism of the Major Arcana.

The “Quest” to navigate and complete the journey is also found in simple board games (e.g. Snakes and Ladders and Ludo). In more complex game structures the object of the game may appear to be anything from defeating a dark lord to rescuing the princess to simple survival. It is also at the heart of all the great stories ever told. Whenever we play one of these games, become enthralled in a great story or are beginning to embark on the Quest for real we become Seekers of something.

That something beckons us on. We may not have a clear idea of the destination we are seeking, but there is often an eerie but exciting knowledge that it is there, hidden just out of view. We may pause for a while many times on the journey but rarely, if ever, does anyone want to go back to the start point and completely abandon the Quest.

It is an interesting fact that there are more people currently alive who are aware of this pull and who are actively doing something about it than at any point in human history before. This is why there has been such a huge worldwide interest in spiritual development literature and practices such as Mindfulness, Yoga, Meditation and Reiki over the last few decades. The Reiki journey is just one way of fulfilling the quest. It gives a very accessible and easy route into personal and spiritual development.

On an individual scale being somewhere on the Seeker`s pathway really does seem to make a difference. People who are already moving along this pathway using Reiki or other disciplines can often answer “yes” to at least some of these questions:

Are you happier than you were?
Are you more fulfilled?
Is your mind quieter, at least some of the time?
Are you less inclined to judge others quickly and harshly?
Has your work changed for the better?
Have your relationships changed for the better?
Have you let go of old, stuck situations, thoughts and behaviour patterns?
Are you more forgiving of yourself and others?
Are you experiencing more abundance in your life?
Has your physical health improved?
Are you seeing beauty everywhere you go?
Are people responding more positively to you?
Is there “magic” happening in your life?
(i.e. things that cannot be explained by any normal, rational or scientific route)

If the answer to one or more of these questions is “Yes” then you have definitely moved along your personal and spiritual pathway and are now experiencing life at a higher level of vibration.

On a grander scale the journey of each individual contributes to the greater journey of human society. As more people become awake and aware of our unfulfilled potential the level of conscious awareness is (hopefully) rising steadily in the worldwide population. Old, long accepted patterns of thought and behaviour, old institutions and power bases are being challenged in many areas. The result may seem like chaos while the shifts are happening.

How it all works out (the final destination) we don’t yet know – we are still only partway through the journey and cannot yet see the end. En-Joy the Journey!

We are indeed living in “interesting times”!

Christine Sutton
Reiki Master Teacher
Phoenix EFT Therapies and Training

May 2018