I've had all these things rolling around in my head for a while now - things I want to tell you about Reiki. On a hike with the pup this morning - where we saw a squirrel that sounded like a bird! - they gathered themselves into a single post. Let's hope it actually makes sense.
Yes. It's true. I don't understand how Reiki works.
When I started this blog, I wrote a post in which I explained Reiki. I gave the explanation I heard in class. You know how you can tell when someone is saying something that they don't really believe? Yeah. That's what I hear in my voice when I try to give that explanation.
Later, I wrote a post in which I explained Reiki again. I said that I felt the original explanation made Reiki seem confusing and inaccessible. (I still think this.) And I explained that what Reiki did for me was to help me feel safe and supported enough to start learning who I was and what I needed. (I still think this as well.)
But even in that post, I didn't come right out and say the thing I was thinking. I was afraid. I was afraid that people wouldn't want to work with a Reiki person who doesn't know how Reiki works and isn't sure she believes the reason she was taught.
But that is the truth of it. I don't know how Reiki works.
Sometimes I wish I knew how Reiki worked, but mostly I don't really care.
Maybe it works the way they say it does - that it's spiritually guided energy that comes through me and into the receiver.
Maybe it has something to do with large clusters of nerve endings or accupressure points and somehow they can be affected even without direct touch.
Maybe there are chakras or an aura and it has something to do with one or both of them.
Maybe energy really does follow thought.
Maybe there is something in Quantum Physics that explains it. I know I've read a few things that make me think, "Hey! That could totally explain how Reiki works!" (I immediately proceed to forget them which is why I am not mentioning any specifics.)
Maybe it works because the power of the mind comes into play and we cause something to happen because we are expecting something to happen.
Maybe it's one of them or all of them or none of them. I don't know.
Hows and whys aside, I believe there is something magical about creating space for things to happen.
There is something to be said for setting aside time where your focus is on you and your well-being.
There is also something to be said for knowing that - for that same period of time - someone else's focus is on you and your well-being.
Our bodies want to talk to us. They are trying to talk to us all the time.
I do believe that even the simple act of giving them a space where they know we are open to hearing from them can cause something to happen. (This is also why I am so fond of the idea of doing a series of Reiki sessions instead of a single session. It's lovely to set aside that time once. It's even more lovely and magical to set aside that time again and again.)
And yes, even if I don't know how Reiki works, I do believe that it does work.
This entire blog stemmed from me wanting to share my experiences with Reiki. Either they are direct experiences, or they are indirect experiences, in that the practice made me more mindful and aware.
In the end, I don't think you need to believe that something will work in order for it to be useful for you.
I didn't believe Reiki would work when I started and it has given me so much.
At the same time, I do think you need to be open to the idea that maybe something will happen. If you're thinking of trying something solely because you absolutely positively believe that it doesn't work and you want to prove that it doesn't, maybe it would be best to save your money and your time for something that you feel a bit more positively about.
Along with that, I don't think it really matters whether you believe that something works how people say it works in order for it to be useful for you.
The hows and whys of things are interesting, but they're not all there is. What is even more interesting is your experience with something and your feeling about whether it was useful for you.
For me, visualizations are another good example of this. I've done a few of them (like the time I tried to talk to one of my fears). I can't say that I've ever actually seen anything during a visualization, but when I have to describe what I'm "seeing" in the visualization, the words come out. I often wonder if I'm just making everything up, but the information that comes out is always useful and helpful so I decide (yet again) that it doesn't really matter whether I'm making it up or not. What matters is that I'm getting the information I need.
Just for fun, do you want to know how I really think Reiki works?
I like to think of it as a little flashlight that's going through me, shining a light into dark and dusty and dim spaces and saying, "Oh, sweetie .. you really are ok. And if you're interested, here's something you might want to look at."
Yes. Like that.
Reassurance: this post does make sense, absolutely. And it is lovely! I can imagine it took quite a bit of courage to write and publish this. I believe that was the right thing to do, and you did it brilliantly! Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this, Elizabeth.
Posted by: Josiane | 08/26/2010 at 09:04 PM
This is so beautiful to read. Thank you.
This bit in particular really spoke to me: "Hows and whys aside, I believe there is something magical about creating space for things to happen."
Posted by: steph | 08/27/2010 at 05:36 PM
Wow. When the words come together, they come together so beautifully! :)
As someone who also can't for the life of me explain how what I do works either, it's very reassuring to read your post and to notice how powerful it is to *not* know. In some ways, not knowing opens the doors for more possibilities.
For me also, it is the direct (and indirect) experiences that keeps me on my path. Witnessing the changes in the bodies and lives of my clients (and in myself as well, of course!) is a never-ending source of wonder and inspiration.
Thank you, Elizabeth!
Posted by: Larisa | 08/27/2010 at 06:32 PM
I'm so glad you posted this. I wrote a 5,000 word paper on "the science of energy healing" in college that was full of quantum phsyics. I can't remeber a good 95% of it. =)
I love your flashlight metaphor. I guess I visualise it as little bubbles of energy [now that I think of it, they look like the cartoon blackcurrants from ribena adverts] and they giggle and join hands with my own energy :)
This is one of my favouite [possibly THE favourite] posts of yours :)
x
Posted by: Rose | 08/28/2010 at 11:22 AM
@Rose: Hey, 5% of 5000 words is more than I remember from my reading. ;) I'd like to read that paper. And I love your metaphor! So glad you shared that.
@Larisa: "In some ways, not knowing opens the doors for more possibilities." I never thought of it like this, but it seems so true! In some ways, it does seem rather constraining to me to know how something works, though I can't quite say why that is so. Thank you!
@Steph: I'm glad. As a side note, clearly I just saw Eat Pray Love because now it makes me think of where the guy in the ashram is telling her that if she clears a space in her mind, the universe will sweep in and fill it. Ha.
@Josiane: Thank you, Josiane! I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)
Posted by: elizabeth @ retinal perspectives | 08/28/2010 at 06:22 PM
I am taking an Asian bodyworks class right now and this week the chapter was on polarity therapy. In it they talk about forgetting all that you know or think you know and just being in the moment. I have been struggling with this class because I keep wanting to know why all this works.I keep saying I just don't get it! After reading your post I think I am going to try just doing it and stop worrying about the why. Thanks!
Posted by: Amy | 08/29/2010 at 09:39 PM
Thank you for sharing this Elizabeth. I also struggle with explaining Reiki to people. I have feelings and opinions about how it works but, in the end, I don't really know. And that's so hard to admit when you're trying to make a living from doing Reiki! I often default to telling people that Reiki is surprisingly relaxing and when we're relaxed, our bodies are more able to heal themselves. No big promises of miracle healing or spiritual awakening. Just the kind of deep relaxation most people don't get enough of.
If it's ok, I'm going to post a link to this on my business Facebook page (True Horizon Healing).
Posted by: Jessica | 09/03/2010 at 01:59 PM
I can't tell you how much I love this. I also use reiki. And I struggle with how to explain it to people who haven't experienced it before. Once they've had my reiki, they're hooked but until then I'm saying stuff like....universal healing energy....intuition in your body...blah blah blah...
From now on, I'm just going to point them to this post.
Posted by: Julie Stuart | 09/03/2010 at 03:20 PM
I can relate to so much of what you wrote and you put it so well. I practice craniosacral therapy. In the beginning it was so important to me to have a legitimate, thorough, scientific explanation because then I'd be respected as a "real" therapist. The longer I practice the less it bothers me that I don't REALLY know how/why it works & it doesn't really matter. I had to chuckle when you mentioned reading things about quantum physics that could explain & then forgetting - me too!
Posted by: Lisa Gillispie | 09/04/2010 at 02:01 AM
Elizabeth!
I'm overjoyed to have discovered your website and have spent time this morning, getting to know Atlas and reading about your Reiki work. How wonderful. What a gift, to channel your innate abilities into this field of healing and energizing! There's a Reiki practitioner in CHarbor (she's outstanding!) whom I visited for a chakra alignment. Absolutely amazing! I'm going to link to this blog for inspiration. Thank you..many blessings...
Posted by: Barbara Simila | 10/11/2010 at 06:43 AM
Hmmm….I think I should really try Reiki! Honestly, I'm a bit tired with my job and I think I need a vacation and enjoy a spa massage session. I've known some people who seek a holistic alternative therapy for freeing themselves from stress and for enhancing their spiritual aspects as well.
Posted by: Cleo Pascal | 03/18/2011 at 12:17 AM