There are three stages to a full Reiki treatment:
- Gasshô meditation
- Spiritual guidance
- Chiryô (treatment)
The first two stages are not strictly essential, but they are an excellent way to prepare you for the treatment.
Stage One: Gasshô Meisô
Gasshô meditation brings focus and calm to the mind, and enlivens your energy system. It can be done sitting or standing, and will strengthen your level of personal ki with universal ki.
You can practice gasshô meisô any time—the more often, the better. You do not have to limit it to before Reiki treatments.
How to Perform Gasshô Meisô
Hold your hands in prayer position (gasshô) in front of your heart.
As you breathe in, draw ki through the crown, and into your hara (belly). Focus on your seika tanden, which is an area inside your hara, three finger-widths below your navel. It is your body’s centre of gravity, named the sea of chi in Tai Chi, and it’s your internal powerhouse. You can visualise a ball of fire or light growing inside of you as you do this. On exhalation, visualise and feel the ki moving up from the hara, back up through your heart, through your arms, and into your palms. You may feel your palms get hot, or tingle, as they fill with ki.
Repeat this, breathing naturally. Your breaths may deepen. To finish, shake the hands vigorously and give thanks.
Stage Two: Reiji
Reiji, or spiritual guidance, is an invocation for guidance and a statement of intention. Reiji can be simple or complicated, and you should feel free to choose or invent your own invocation, which may include angels, Reiki guides, or deities.
A simple invocation that you can use follows1This incantation is from Toshiro Eguchi’s Tenohira-ga Byoki-o Nasosu (Cure your illness with your palms).
:
“May my hands help this person that s/he may become well.”
A more elaborate invocation is:
“I, …, call on the Universal Life Force Energy. I call on my Guides and Angels to be with me asking for their guidance and love in this healing session. I invite the Grand Masters of Reiki Dr Usui, Dr Hayashi and Hawayo Takata asking for their wisdom and merit. I ask that all that takes place is of the very highest good for all concerned. I am the Love of God, I am the light of God, I am the healing power of God. I AM.”
It’s easy to overlook reiji, but it’s an important part of the healing process:
- It reminds you that you are connected to a tradition, and a family, and that you do not do the healing work alone.
- It also ensures a safe space for both you and the recipient, and that you are both protected at all times.
- Practitioners and recipients of Reiki commonly report feeling an extra pair of hands at work during the session.
- It is also common for practitioners to feel some kind of guidance about how to proceed during a healing.
You can say the your invocation out-loud, or silently, in your mind.
Stage Three: Chiryô
The chiryô is the main part of the Reiki treatment, during which you can follow the hand positions step-by-step.
At any point during the treatment, or even for the whole treatment, you can follow your intuition instead of the hand positions. If you get the feeling that one part of the body needs Reiki, go to that part of the body and stay there until it feels balanced.
What Matters Most
The most important thing during a Reiki treatment, and the thing that we are often slowest to learn, is to relax and let it flow. You want so much to see positive change; you want the recipient to feel something amazing; you want to know that you are a good healer. But when you insert your own desires into the healing process, they often get in the way.
So just for this treatment, do not worry about making anything special happen. Relax, let it flow, and see what Reiki does.
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