Having attended many different healers, experienced many different types of healing therapies and practitioners, and spent a large amount of money on many different treatments, I would like to share my thoughts on 8 things you should consider before booking a Reiki or energy healing session.
As a Nurse, I am trained to be a critical thinker. I often look to science to gain insight and understanding of the world and the many different modalities of healing available to us all. I have also worked in research where one must use their analytical mind to ensure an honest, ethical and safe result is obtained. Finding a healer that you are confident upholds the aforementioned values and practices with integrity is most beneficial to your healing journey.
As a teenager dealing with mental health difficulties, I had my first experience of energy healing and my journey has continued ever since. I have attended many Psychics, Clairvoyants, Sound Healers, and Reiki practitioners and availed of Energy and Light therapy, Aura-Soma Soul therapy, Hypnotherapy, Psychotherapy, Qigong therapy, Astrology reviews, Numerology readings and much more.
While the majority of the experiences have been positive, there have been times when I questioned the value of the treatment and occasions when I felt little or no benefit. Fearful to voice my opinions at the time, I feel it is important to share some things you should consider before you part with your hard earned money.
I’m sure we have all encountered people who seem more interested in our money than our problems! As a Reiki Master, my aim is to provide a safe, competent, ethical, compassionate and trustworthy service. So in light of this, and based on my own experience, I have put together some suggestions to assist you in deciding if Reiki or Energy healing is right for you at this time.
1. Are they Certified Practitioners?
Any person involved in energy healing should have received appropriate training and certification. With so many distance learning courses available online, any person can receive training in a particular field and obtain certification without any face-to-face or in-person training. While this may be appropriate for some types of training, energy work generally involves practical application of the knowledge attained.
With Reiki, a person must have received at least Level 2 degree Certification to work as a ‘Reiki Practitioner’. Every practitioner receives energy ‘attunements’ from the Reiki Master Teacher who trains them. In addition to this, Reiki practitioners have a ‘lineage’ – a line of teachers connecting them and their training back to the founder of Reiki, Mikao Usui.
While there are some healers out there who come from a family lineage of healers and whose practices are known only to that family, always be sure you are happy with the credentials and training of your therapist. This is especially important when it comes to distant healing as you really need to be sure you are comfortable with your therapist before committing yourself both mentally and financially.
Also, if your practitioner is certified and/or a registered professional, it ensures they adhere to ethical, legal and professional standards.
2. Do they have a proven track record?
The biggest key to success in finding a great healer is to do your research. You will find a huge amount of information on local, national and international healers and practitioners on the internet – some good, some bad and some attempting to mislead or confuse. Research is all about asking questions with an open, but somewhat critical mind.
As mentioned above, the details of their formal training should be easy to find. Personally, I have found that credentials do not always guarantee quality and like me, you may value experience over qualifications but it remains the first port of call in your attempts to find a suitable practitioner. Many practitioners have websites, social media pages and/or testimonials which may give you some guidance on their practice.
Or perhaps they have a video of themselves detailing their work? Over 90% of our communication is non-verbal and we can learn a lot from a person by their body language and voice/tone. You may find you connect better with a practitioner after seeing and hearing them.
Another good option is to speak to others who have attended the practitioner. Family and friends generally offer advice with your best interests in mind so consult them on their experiences. Client testimonials, like the success stories I have received from happy clients, will also offer you some guidance. And remember you can always speak to the therapist yourself – you should generally have a good idea if you resonate with them after the call.
3. Are they responsive to your questions/concerns?
Every practitioner should make a concerted effort to answer any questions you may have regarding them or their treatment methods. You should feel satisfied with the responses you receive and never feel as though you are misguided away from your enquiry. Most practitioners can be contacted by phone/email and should allow you enough time, within reason, for your questions or concerns to be answered.
The person who fobs you off, is unable to explain the benefits of the therapy or who’s pricing seems out of balance with similar practitioners should make you question their legitimacy.
Most importantly, you should always feel like you are being treated as a soul first and a client second. Good Reiki and energy practitioners never treat you as a problem or a disease; they see beyond your physical, mental or emotional issue and view you as a person, who in their eyes, is already perfect.
Personally, I love receiving emails and taking calls from people looking for more information or guidance about Reiki and how it can improve their lives.
4. Do they perform their own ‘self-care’?
It is imperative that every practitioner involved in energy work look after their own energy through continued self care and should have no issue telling you how they maintain this if asked.
Think of your therapist like a pipe that supplies your home with clean water. If the pipe becomes dirty or blocked, it will affect the standard of the water you receive. Energy workers are no different and we must always ensure our ‘vessel’ is clear to ensure the recipient receives the highest quality of energy.
With Reiki, the energy flows in through the practitioners head and down through the top part of the body to the hands where it is channeled to the client. So we must ensure that our mind, body and spirit are clear to allow the energy to free flow without interruption. If, for example, a Reiki practitioner suffers a bereavement, then he/she should take a break from healing others and focus on allowing themselves to heal emotionally.
In my own practice, I use meditation, mindfulness, sound, prayer, crystals, exercise, the healing power of nature and surround myself with positive people and energy to ensure my mind, body and spirit remain free of negativity. On top of this, I attend energy healers myself understanding that even though I practice Reiki, I am also human and need the help of others from time to time.
5. Trust your Gut Instinct
It may sound like a cliche but listen to and trust your initial gut instinct regarding a practitioner. Your gut is where all of our past emotional experiences from this and previous lives are stored and it therefore guides you in making decisions for your best interest. Trust those feelings you get regarding a person or therapy.
Better yet, take some time to meditate on your choice or decision – the answer to every single question you will ever have lies within your reach once you enter the stillness of your mind. Meditation is the single most important tool you will ever use in your healing journey and will help you in every aspect of your life. Rest assured that you will only be guided to whoever or whatever is of most benefit to you in your healing.
So, if you get a sudden gut instinct or feeling when you come across a certain Reiki or energy healer, trust it. Maybe while reading this you do not feel drawn to my Reiki practice – then I am not the person you are meant to encounter at this time and you should continue your search for a practitioner that resonates with you. I am never going to sell you my service for personal gain. Trust your intuition and be confident that it will always lead you to the best possible outcome.
6. Can you fix the problem yourself?
The most important role of an Energy healer is not so much to ‘fix’ you, but to remind you that ‘you are energy’ and the power to heal lies within you already. Our job is to assist you at times when you need to be reminded of this or require some extra help energetically.
Within each and everyone of us lies the power to heal ourselves and when you begin to tap into this power, you will be amazed at the positive changes you can create in your life. Nevertheless, there are times when we may need the help of others to assist us energetically, myself included. As an advocate for continuous self-care, we all have a duty to determine our problems are a result of our own lack of self responsibility. We can then find the solution we seek within.
In fact, I personally fell victim to my own lack of accountability in the past. I had always suffered with back pain following an injury some years ago and while working in a role which kept me stationary quite a lot, I found my pain returned with a vengeance. Initially I ignored my body’s call for action, turning to western and alternative medicine which temporarily reduced the pain, but left me feeling puzzled about its continued return. When I was forced to take sick leave, it was only then that I truly realized the answer to my suffering lay in my complete inactivity –
- Sitting in my car driving anything from 8-12 hrs per day
- Slouched on the sofa most evenings typing on my laptop
- Lying watching TV before going to bed and repeating the process the next day
- Having little or no exercise most days
There were many worrying issues in my scenario from a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual point of view but in terms of back pain, it is clear to see that my already damaged spine was not being used as it is meant to be, which will of course lead to pain.
Sometimes we are so involved in our daily routine that we miss the wake up calls our brain and body send us in their attempts to highlight our problems.
So be honest and truthful with yourself – take responsibility for your health and make the necessary changes you can to improve your well being. Our bodies are not designed to remain stationary for such prolonged periods of time and you must play your part in attempting to resolve issues of pain that result from a sedentary lifestyle.
Should you find that the issue does not improve despite your best efforts, then remember we are all human and we should never feel ashamed or fearful to ask for the assistance of others to help us heal the deeper issues we often find difficult to recognise or heal alone.
7. Are you committed to healing yourself on a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual level?
Unlike western medicine which tends to focus on a ‘quick fix’ solution, deep healing on an energetic level requires dedication. Oftentimes, you may find the problem you actually sought help for masks a deep emotional issue you may or may not have been aware of, and rather than applying a band aid to temporarily mask the problem, it requires a commitment on your part to reach its root cause.
You may require more than one Reiki or energy healing treatment to clear deep seated issues that create blockages in your energetic centres. However you are free to have as little or as many sessions as you choose or feel necessary. Do try, if you can, to schedule your therapy on a day where afterwards you can take some time to yourself to allow the energies to integrate fully within your mind and body. With Reiki being an exceptionally intelligent form of energy healing, it works to bring all aspects of your being into harmony and alignment.
During a Reiki or energy healing treatment, you may feel or experience an emotional release as old energetic traumas or blockages are cleared. I have had clients who felt embarrassed by tears that fell from their eyes for no apparent reason or who felt their teeth may fall out from smiling so widely! The experience is as unique and individual as you are.
Do not be fearful of this natural release of emotion. And know that you will be guided, loved and supported by your therapist and The Universe and as you release the past and embrace the possibilities of the now. Be kind and gentle toward yourself as you work to change long held limiting beliefs. Commend the courage and bravery you take to change your life for the better.
You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
8. Are you giving too much of yourself to others?
So often in life, we are faced with giving too much of our time and energy to help the needs of others – family, friends, co-workers, our job etc. When we fall out of balance and put the needs of others before our own, we can often feel physically, mentally and emotionally drained. It can have a huge impact on our overall health and causes illness or disease within our bodies.
If you constantly find yourself feeling tired, fatigued and energy depleted, then most likely you are giving too much of yourself and have forgotten the most important thing in this life – You! You are deserving of a life full of vitality and unending joy. And ultimately it is up to you, and you alone, to ensure this outcome.
Reiki and energy healing can assist you in remembering that you are important. A fact we forget so easily when we become enthralled in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Simply moving from one daily task to the next means you are only ‘existing’.
If you keep taking water from a bucket without refilling it from time to time, the water runs out. The same is true for our energy. We must ensure that our ‘bucket’ is always full before we allow others to take from it. We must all learn to practice self love and fill our ‘buckets’ with love without guilt or shame because it actually enables us to be of more service to others.
Reiki helps us to remove the belief that self love is wrong and works to create a space inside us where love can grow. This allows us to continue to give to others as we wish but ensures we do not become depleted ourselves.
I used to be like this, always putting other people before me and totally neglecting my own needs.
If you are doing the same, then using the power of Reiki, you can learn to put yourself first. When you open yourself to the world of Reiki and Energy healing, you will embark on an enlightening journey that will enhance your life in more ways than you thought possible!
I hope this article has inspired you to be fearless in your search for inner peace and joy. Know that you are deserving of both and all the rest of life’s wonderful blessings available to you right now.
Namaste
