Mrs. Takata, and hours of self-treatment

 

If you wish to invite a deep healing experience,

set aside an hour or two for yourself

then gaze for a few minutes at Mrs. Takata

feel her smile

 

Mrs. Takata, and hours of self-treatment

For Reiki practitioners

 

Preparing now for an important student next week, thoughts turn, once again, to Hawayo Takata’s experience when she first encountered Reiki practice, in Dr. Hayashi’s Reiki Clinic in Tokyo.  For months, she received hours of daily treatment, and obtained profound healing from it.

Today, we set aside so little time for self-care.  Always rushing, on the phone, racing to the next meeting, appointment or commitment.  Stuck in traffic, frustrated at the passing of “non-productive” time.

Ten years ago, when I became a Reiki Master, one of my adventures was meeting Rahel Warshaw-Dadon, hearing her stories, and learning of her project, Reiki for Peace.  In our encounter, she asked me how much time I spent self-treating with Reiki every day.  When she heard my answer of 10 to 20 minutes, she advised me sternly, “you should try for three hours.”  That opened my mind to the possibilities, and I started seeking opportunities throughout the day, to self-treat.  It made a difference. 

As I practiced, and taught others how to practice Reiki, I kept this idea in mind – think in terms of hours, not minutes.  I started offering hours of treatment, all-day treatments  — changing the mindset that everything in the modern world, including healing, is done in increments of an hour at a time.  Some people tried these extended treatments, and found great gifts in taking the time to explore deeply.

A big part of our illness today, our shared illness, is the chopping up of the world into little pieces, with the illusion that we can thereby control our lives.  Instead, what we end up with, is a pile of little pieces.  Stress accompanies each piece.  The same goes for our time.  As we imagine that we are multitasking, we slice our day up into hours, minutes, seconds, and harness our work and play to the arbitrary machinery of clocks and calendars.  That is not the rhythm of the soul, is it?

Now, as I prepare to open the Master path to another, I am once again reminded of this principle.  I think of self-treatment with Reiki.  Instead of hours per day, why not all day?  Why not, every waking moment?  If, in a particular moment, I am not able to put hands on self, can I still do self-Reiki, in walking or moving (or writing) mindfulness?  Can I learn to do self-Reiki through all my other actions — while I’m walking to work, buying a coffee, driving the bus, planning clinics and classes and projects, even catching up on finances?

Can I use advanced Reiki techniques, to “send” it to myself while sleeping, or time-release over the next seven days?  So that, when I meet for teaching and learning, I can be fully present, and do my best for student?

Is there a limit? 

Why not try?

You, who practice Reiki, why don’t you try it?  If you do, can you tell us about it in open comments?