REIKI IS LIKE DRIVING...
Copyright ©
2005 James Deacon (and
Jiro Kozuki)
"How
do you go about explaining what Reiki is to a potential client,
without scaring them off with terms like 'Cosmic Energy' or 'Spiritual
Energy', 'Channeling the ki', etc?
Whenever anyone asks a question along these lines, I recall something
that Jiro Kozuki - a Japanese Reiki Master friend said:
"Why is it that Reiki-ka (Reiki practitioners) always
seem to focus in on the ki - the 'energy' - when
trying to explain Reiki to others for the first time?"
[Personally,
what he said next also made me wonder if, perhaps, we focus too
much on the ki aspect generally.]
"Reiki
is like driving," Jiro said.
When you're driving somewhere, your 'here-and-now' focus should
always be on the driving - on:
your driving ability
the road
what you encounter along the way
and the intended destination
- not on the fuel.
In
Jiro's analogy:
for 'driving ability' read 'Reiki ability'
the road is the client
what you encounter - the clients dis-ease / therapeutic needs
your intended destination - to facilitate the client's relaxation
and eventual return to a state of 'equilibrium'
'fuel' is Reiki 'energy' (once you're attuned, you know
you have an adequate fuel-supply!)
So, now, when trying to explain Reiki to others for the first
time without scaring them off, I tend to opt for something
along the lines of:
Reiki
is a set of 'received skills' which permit the therapist to assist
individuals to relax in a very particular way, enabling their
body (/mind/spirit) to access and activate its own, powerful,
inherent, self healing mechanisms.
Oh yeah, and a Reiki treatment feels good too!
Also, I believe, expressing the idea that the therapist is simply
assisting the client to heal themselves, is very
important.
Medical studies have shown that patients (read: clients) who feel
they are taking an active role in their own healing - and
feel that they have the support of a competent practitioner
- have a far higher rate of recovery than those who feel
their role is purely a passive one.
The
best way, I feel, to attempt to explain the ki - the Reiki
'energy' - to a client is to wait until after they have
experienced it for themselves.
.
Then - and only then - I might begin to talk about the "vital
energy that is everywhere around us" or in some other way
attempt to tailor an explanation in keeping with their personal
focus.