September 2008 A Reiki Article: Personal Practice and Development

When learning Reiki, students are taught how to do Reiki for
themselves. In order to do this, what I call the “talky” part
takes place with the exchange of information from words,
explanations, clarifications and texts from manuals are
discussed. As a teacher, I find the information fascinating.
It is amazing to me that we have a modality with divine
intelligence and yet in order to understand it, words are used
to explain . . . in the beginning. Being adept to the
information is vital for one to teach it and in order to get a
gist of what one is working with. It can be a challenge to
explain the unexplainable (which sometimes happens with
deep spiritual experiences). Then we move to the “fun” part
which is all hands-on practice. At first it may be
mechanical, but once the system is learned the intuitive part
takes over and the fun really begins – the energy called Reiki
teaches you.

I have always felt that in order for one to best understand
Reiki is to take a class. I can say many words about Reiki,
but ultimately, the experience is where the true
understanding takes place. First the mechanics are learned,
and then the practice ensues. Personal practice is expected
at all levels. As a matter of fact, it is emphasized at First
Degree. Personal development expands at Second Degree
with the mental and emotional aspects as they are now
expanding, clearing and refining. At the Master level, a
different sense of spirituality takes place; an understanding
beyond the RI and RII levels that can only be attained after
much practice.

I have found that people come to Reiki for one of two
reasons: physical healing or Spiritual development. While
one path may have taken them to Reiki, both are present in
working with Reiki. If a person does not know why they are
coming to Reiki, I have asked them to wait, otherwise they
will not absorb the information nor will they use it. There
are teachers who will attune any who asks them. I am not
one of those teachers. I want you to know what your
intention is in coming to Reiki. My classes are not for the
curious, they are for those who wish to help themselves and
others and for those who wish to expand their Spiritual
connections. If you are coming out of curiosity, there are
many weekend classes that are less money and less time that
you are welcome to go to.

There is controversy about Reiki, how it is taught and who
has the most information. By researching, I continue to learn
and I am finding there are so many ways to learn and teach
Reiki. For me, teaching Reiki is an ongoing process. Each
student that I encounter usually helps me tweak my lessons,
how I approach the items or how to better improve the next
time. What a gift – to always be learning while teaching.
All students, at all levels, continue to benefit from each
person who has gone before them and hopefully will see the
value in their own presence in teaching me and learning from
their classmates as well.

One of things I valve most about my own teachings is that I
practice Reiki. I live it in my daily life, I use Reiki on my
body, with my children and with family, I send it to stranded
drivers, ambulances and others along the side of the street
(and my kids do the same). I Reiki events, situations, food,
do distance sending, hold private sessions, plus offer Reiki
to the animals around the house. We have had 4 sets of baby
doves born in our back porch despite the in and out traffic.
Now some of my students say that they, too, do these things.
Great!

I want to stress the value in working with others. I do not
expect my students to all quit their jobs, buy a massage table
and put out a shingle that they do Reiki. It does not work that
way (although some have done this!). I got into Reiki to help
myself, to heal my physical body. I believed strongly
enough that there was something I could do to help myself.
Over time, a path developed for me that I simply choose to
create my career around. Not everyone will feel that way.
However, that should not stop anyone from practicing.
Practice is where you learn about Reiki. It is not about the
words I share. I can give you the mechanics, the ways of
the energy, but the only way a Reiki student can truly
understand Reiki, it to allow Reiki to teach the student.

I am but a guide and one who can express and share the
journey in as much as I have travelled before the student, but
ultimately, it is the student who must allow themselves to
connect with the energy. I can impart the essence of Reiki,
but it is the student who allows Reiki to expand through
personal practice and development.

There is a soft and subtle line that creates confusion among
students. It is the line where it is not black and white. There
is a space between the black and the white, a space where
there is quietness, a stillness, an opening. It is in these
spaces where understanding takes place. It is where
connections to Reiki’s divine guidance is abundant, flowing
and it is here where change takes place. If a client or a
student still maintains the idea that all must fall into the
black or white category, then all I teach with Reiki will be
nothing but theory. It will be words, it will be hand
positions. It will be a great idea that they can express with
words, but they will have no understanding of the energy.

Understanding the energy is vital to moving upward
(inward/outward) with Reiki, it is vital in understanding
oneself. While we are here on Earth, our physical bodies
will have physical experiences. It is why we are here. Here
in this physical place in a physical body we need to practice
in physical ways. Work with each other. Reiki has so much
to teach you in the bridge between the physical and the non-
physical.

I love hearing the creativity of students using Reiki.
Continue this! I have found some of my favorite ways of
sending distance healing was by getting creative when the
circumstances were unusual. Beyond that, do work with
each other. Those we know very well, like family and
friends, benefit greatly from our blessing of providing a
space for Reiki. Working with those we do not know
intimately (beyond family) can teach you much. Those we
don’t know very well can teach us to allow the miracles to
take place without direction or expectation from us (because
we will not know their back story as well as family).

An example I gave recently was like riding a horse. To be a
really good rider, you have to learn the basics of riding and
then once you get on the horse, you have to relax into the
rhythm of the stride of the horse. The horse teaches you
which way to lean, which way to bounce. Otherwise you
will just bop up and down on the horse because you are not
riding WITH the horse, you are simply riding on TOP of it.

I do not believe that all things that are given to us, like
attunements with no instruction, count as mastery. I believe
mastery takes place with those who have reached an
understanding with the spiritual essence (and even that
constantly evolves and expands, it is never stagnate). Those
who have received master attunements but do not possess the
understanding of the energy are not masters, in my opinion.
Honorary as the title may be, it is in the practice where
mastery takes place. Practice and deep understanding. I
have learned from many that just because one has a title does
not make them equivalent to the energy behind the title.

I encountered a woman once who asked me, “I do not
understand how one can be a master after a few hours in a
class?” It is not about the class, it is about the practice
afterward. It is the development.

For you, my students and those interested in Reiki, master
the level to which you have studied, allowing the unfolding
of who you are to be revealed. Practice with others, they
have much to teach you. Find the space between black and
white and see what Reiki has to show you there. Personal
practice and development are key to you working with
Reiki, opening your awareness, expanding your
consciousness and finding a deeper Spiritual connection.
Without personal practice and development, it is simply
mechanics.

May all who gaze up on this receive a wash of Reiki to bless
them, encourage them and open them in ways previously
unrealized.

~Bright Star

Copyright 2008 Cheryl Kaufmann and Bright Star Inspirations