I was recently teaching a First Degree class. On the second day, one of the students asked, “If we can treat ourselves with Reiki, why would we have someone else treat us?”
I was happy with the question: this person had clearly heard me say that self-treatment is important. Self-treatment is at the heart of your personal practice of Reiki and needs to be part of your daily routine—right up there with getting dressed. Seriously.
Self-treatment is a primary way of learning to know yourself and Reiki more deeply. It’s also a perfect health care preventative, in part because it allows you time every day to be consciously quiet and to relax.
So what’s the value in being treated by somebody else?
There are several, from the simple and practical to the more subtle and profound.
First off, who’s asking the question? Are you the person who treats herself for thirty or forty minutes every day? Terrific! Or does your daily self-treatment look like five minutes before you fall asleep, two or three times a week . . . maybe. Yes, it is true—some Reiki is better than none.
But by receiving a treatment from somebody else, you’ll actually get a full treatment. This not only helps make up for those skimpy treatments, it also gives you the opportunity to have your back fully treated. More major organs, glands, large muscle groups and the spine get balanced and revitalized.
When someone gives you a treatment, you have the chance to fully let go. It’s easier to drop into the places of complete relaxation, deep insight, and subtle awareness when you don’t have to track your treatment’s progress. Even if you drift away completely, the treatment continues.
There’s also the safe intimacy you share with the person treating you. Most of us find ourselves caught up in faster, busier, less relational lives. The intimacy of a Reiki treatment provides a precious opportunity for connection and witnessing.
Now, if you’re feeling this is exactly what you need, where should you go?
You have a few choices:
- If you have a Reiki friend or family member, call him and trade treatments.
- If you have a weekly or monthly Reiki circle in your community, get on down there!
- If you don’t have a buddy or a local Reiki share, schedule an appointment with a practitioner.
You should also consider a practitioner if you’re too busy to add one more thing to your calendar. And, it’s a good choice if you’re at a point where you really need personal attention or you have a condition that you feel would be best addressed by an experienced practitioner and regular, on-going treatment.
Like self-treatment, receive treatment with some regularity—whether that’s weekly, monthly, quarterly. When you have your Reiki treatment, end it by making the next date and putting it on your calendar. Otherwise, life sweeps over us and suddenly, Poof! you haven’t had a single treatment from someone else in—forever.