Going Deep with Reiki

Reiki Master Class Kansas City

By Karen K. Harrison, LCPC, LCMFT, AASECT

First published in the Reiki News Magazine Summer 2019

GoingDeepWithReiki – download with this link

Have you studied other energy healing schools besides Reiki? Would you like to? Have you contemplated what the benefits might be to learning from other schools of healing? Could there be drawbacks to studying other schools of healing and if so, what might they be? These are questions I have contemplated and will explore in this article for you to consider for yourself. This is not a question of what is right or wrong; but rather an opportunity to consider what is right for you and your current spiritual path.

As I thought about the different energy healing schools and tools, the following perceptions came to mind. I think of energy healing schools as having a complete system of healing, such as the Healing Touch Program™ and Barbara Brennan School of Healing® and CranioSacral Therapy, Quantum-Touch® or the various schools of shamanism. I think of tools as things that can go with an energy healing school including a drum, tuning forks, essential oils, crystals and singing bowls. Of course, those with more extensive training might create an entire school out of any of these tools, but often they are used as an adjunct to other healing modalities.

Perhaps you can compare studying Reiki and having one primary modality to having one main friend whom you know deeply and can fully trust to be there for you. On the other hand, perhaps you have studied many modalities and combine them all to provide the best approach for your client; like having many friends and knowing whom to go to for what you need. Both methods are equally valid. Let’s explore the potentials and any possible drawbacks of each approach.

Studying a Variety of Energy Healing Schools

As I watch some of my colleagues who have studied a variety of energy healing schools, I observe that on the benefit side, their added skills are empowering to them and boost their confidence. They will usually find one or two modalities that resonate with them the most and build their energy healing practice around them or develop personal, specific healing methods and rely on them. When several schools use similar techniques, it is a validation of the importance of those techniques.

What drawbacks might there be to be studying a variety of energy healing schools or techniques? If a person is taught seemingly conflicting things, it can be confusing. For example, with Reiki, we often start our session at the head, whereas typically a Brennan Healing Science Practitioner starts at the feet and ends at the head.[1] Is one process correct and the other wrong? No, just because with Reiki, we can also start at the feet. Healing Touch Program™ practitioners perform their sessions in the energy field over the body.[2] With Reiki, sessions can be on the body or over the body or both.

If one studies widely, it is possible that one can miss the opportunity to learn one system deeply. Each system has its gifts that may only be found through spending consistent practice time over months or years.

One of my students, Laura Beck, shared the following about her perception of the benefits and drawbacks to studying different modalities:

The benefits for me are that I like to learn new things and make something my own. Just because someone started a certain way of doing something doesn’t mean you should feel confined to just that. You are your own healer. You have something to teach the world and add to how we heal each other. The drawback to this is that some people will say they practice a healing modality such as “Reiki,” but the client can have a different impression (good or bad) of what that is because we are all doing it so differently. This inconsistency is sometimes a deterrent and gives that modality a bad reputation, especially if everyone is not following the same code of ethics. However, I love studying so many healing modalities. It gives me perspective, and I enjoy trying to figure out how they all fit together!

Studying Deeply with One Energy Healing School

Over the years, I have wanted to or thought about studying diverse types of energy healing and tools. Due to my job as a counselor and Reiki teacher and my business with my family, I didn’t get to take many courses. Sometimes I would feel envious of my friends who were studying all sorts of other techniques. I wondered if I might not be as good of a healer as them with my more limited tool belt. As a result of time limitations, I stayed with Reiki, continuing to learn from Reiki by working with it every day through self-Reiki, teaching Reiki, giving Reiki sessions and charging my Reiki crystal grid.

My primary career was counseling when I learned Reiki, so I have combined Reiki with counseling and written articles about that; “Reiki for Mental Health Professionals,” Part 1 and Part 2 were published in the Reiki News Magazine Spring and Summer 2015. When Holy Fire® Reiki came through in 2014, I began studying it to see what benefits it would have, and I started regular Holy Fire® meditation. I committed to asking God, Jesus and Holy Fire® all my questions about life, healing, and daily direction to see what answers I could obtain. They have delivered.

Reiki is the teacher. Through Holy Fire® Reiki, I have found new ways of working with clients. This information has come through in the sessions that I provide to clients. As part of our beginning prayer for Reiki sessions, we call on our Spiritual Source, set our personality and ego to the side, ask for healing for the highest good and then ask to see where the client needs the Reiki energy. With the addition of Holy Fire® Reiki came the opportunity to work on healing my religious trauma and the potential to further develop my relationship with God, Holy Spirit and Jesus. In sessions, I invited Master Healer Jesus to work with me and asked him what he wanted me to do with the clients. I have authored articles about ways I have been shown to help clients in, “Lessons from Holy Fire®,” published in the Reiki News Magazine, Spring 2016 and “Transforming Emotions with Reiki,” published in the Reiki News Magazine, Fall 2018. Clients began receiving more profound and quicker healings than previously and it often happened in one to three sessions. Healings and transformation occurred faster than I could achieve with counseling alone.

Another way Reiki teaches me is through my self-Reiki practice that involves giving myself Reiki as well as meditating on the Holy Fire® energy, which I do at the same time. Solutions and innovative ideas drop in. As an example, I set an intention to heal eyebrow twitching. In Reiki meditation, I was directed to an acupuncturist who helped me balance my meridians. At a Reiki teacher retreat, I worked with Jill Thiel, one of the ICRT Licensed Teachers, who taught me the beginnings of how to use Reiki to work with meridians. Reiki meditation also helps me to receive guidance for all sorts of things that range from life purpose to priorities for my workday.

Reiki can be a spiritual path. Shannon Peck writes in “Reiki, A Sacred Practice,” published in the Reiki News Magazine, Fall 2018,

In being conscious of giving Reiki as a sacred practice and aware that the possibilities of healing are incredibly significant, I am taking part in a divine event, loaded with the presence of God and God’s direction. This process becomes a type of prayer-in-action, though it is spiritual, not mental…It opens me up to God from a different channel than I am accustomed to and I do it wholeheartedly, embracing the event as vastly important to my spiritual evolution and well-being.[3]

Whether you feel disenfranchised from organized religion or not, Reiki doesn’t care and flows through you the same, bringing you closer to Creator. I have often thought of giving Reiki as a long prayer, where we are communing with the Divine for the benefit of ourselves or someone else.

Holy Fire® Reiki Provides Ongoing Learning

Sometimes I joke that teaching Holy Fire® Reiki is for the Reiki teacher who gets bored teaching the same material over and over. With Holy Fire® Reiki, things expand and develop continuously, and upgraded versions have been released every one to two years. We are in the process of learning what Holy Fire® Reiki provides. With Holy Fire® III, I am having a delightful time exploring the higher levels of heaven from four to seven. I start with the Third Heaven and then stair-step my way up to each higher level of heaven. I feel my consciousness lift and expand with each level as well as perceive higher levels of light, love and consciousness. My crown tingles, light explodes in my head and I feel bliss. Then I decide to ground so that I can bring that light down through my body and not drift away into the ethers.

I am also exploring the new concept of the Authentic Self—described by William Rand, “Within each person resides a compelling and extraordinary aspect of our inner nature that is composed of the pure, unaltered self. This part is connected directly to God consciousness and possesses the awareness and power of the Universe. It is unlimited in its ability to know and to do, and it is who we really are.”[4] Holy Fire® Reiki provides us with a way to heal our ego, join together with others, and explore consciousness rather than read someone else’s interpretation of it.

In Conclusion

What I once perceived as a weakness, not having studied many other healing schools, I now perceive as a strength. Reiki is like my best friend that I can rely on in any situation and call up at a moment’s notice. I have gained confidence in my ability to listen to Reiki and God and allow myself to be the vessel for what the client needs in each session. Through working on myself with Reiki and with other healers who practice Reiki and or other modalities, I have healed many difficult issues in my life and created a much better life for myself than I might have otherwise had. I sometimes joke that I signed up for the crash course in soul lessons this life with a myriad of challenging problems. Reiki has helped me to turn my scars into stars!

There is no one right course for all. Listen to Reiki and your Spiritual Source for guidance about what is your right and perfect path. You might ask, what is the difference between Reiki and your Spiritual Source? Your Spiritual Source is, of course, your Source. Reiki comes from Source and is a way to connect to Source. I call Reiki embodied spirituality because it helps us to connect to Source through healing, feeling, intuition, insight, inventiveness, movement, grace, light, love, forgiveness, and more.

So, how do you listen to Reiki about your path? Activate Reiki and call on your Spiritual Source. Ask if “X” school or modality is right for you to learn currently. Also ask if the teacher with whom you are contemplating studying is the right teacher for you. Listen for the answer and watch for signs. You may not receive the response immediately so have patience. Also, watch to see if things line up easily to take the course or if roadblocks seem to pop up. If things line up easily, that is likely a good sign to take the course. If there are roadblocks, then contemplate if these are things you need to overcome to take the course, if this is a healing opportunity for you, or if you are being directed to do something else.

Also, spend some time in meditation to see if you are led to study widely or deeply. Your path is unique to you. Having a sense of whether to go deep or wide in your studies will help to guide you in deciding whether to take the next appealing course. Studying more widely will give you a broad perspective. Studying more deeply will immerse you in that school and help you to mine the benefits of it. You might be thoughtful about your approach, or you might find that you are being led without realizing it.

Consider what you want and what is your goal. Choosing from that place may help to save you some time in reaching your goal. Of course, there is no race to the finish line, and we all can enjoy the process. As my friend, Grace Lindsay, shared, “If you choose to study more modalities, bringing Reiki to them will enhance them because Reiki increases the vibration and brings more love to any practice.” Studying Reiki is a wonderful place to begin working with healing energy and a beautiful place to end. Enjoy your journey!

Holy Fire® is the registered service mark of William Lee Rand.

Endnotes

[1] “How Healing Sessions Work?” Brennan Healing Science Association – Serving the USA and the International Community. Accessed March 10, 2019. https://brennanhealingscience.org/brennan-healing-session/.

[2] “What Is Healing Touch?” Home – Healing Touch Program™. Accessed March 10, 2019. https://www.healingtouchprogram.com/.

[3] Shannon Peck, “Reiki, A Sacred Practice,” Reiki News Magazine, Fall 2018, 66.

[4] William Lee Rand, “Introduction to Holy Fire® III Reiki,” Reiki News Magazine, Winter 2018, 12.