Reiki is a Complementary Therapy: Be a Complementary Practitioner by Kriss Erickson
One of the reasons Reiki has been able to become more and more accepted as a healthful practice is that is compliments, rather than dominates, other therapies that people choose to support good health. As an energetic method of supporting the body/mind/spirit’s natural ability to heal itself, Reiki’s roots go back thousands of years, with Tibetan, Japanese and Chinese roots.
Reiki’s complementary nature speaks to the study of energy work itself. Though there are many energetic themes that affect our lives, the meaning, emphasis and lessons learned from those themes depend on our personal life journey. Reiki complements that by respecting the personal life path.
Reiki also complements the energies of other therapies the recipient might choose. Whether those are herbal, acupuncture, chiropractic, conventional or other types of assistance does not matter to Reiki. It simply seeks out areas where it may be of service. This includes assisting the therapies already present.
This means that, as Reiki practitioners, we would not ever discourage anyone from choosing any type of support that they feel is necessary. Even if we would not personally make the same choices, we complement their choices by simply offering Reiki to support them in their choices.
Since Rei means sentient life-force energy, the sharing of Reiki energy frequencies is not done as a protocol, but as an intimate conversation between the person receiving Reiki and the Reiki energies. The Reiki Practitioner holds space for that interaction to occur. The best tools we have to assist others are:
- Our presence. Though it might feel as if we are not “doing” things during a Reiki session, at least in the way we are used to, meaning “fixing” or otherwise directly intervening, we are performing a very important function. By opening a Reiki channel and holding space for the recipient to work with the energy frequencies that come through, we are creating an atmosphere of trust and acceptance that can enable the recipient to release issues that cause pain, inflammation and other challenges.
- Our awareness. We can also assist by describing the flow of energy that we feel. I have found that describing what I feel from an area of the body that is sending up Byoki, or in other words, asking for attention, to complement the recipient’s awareness of a need for support in that area.
- Sharing thematic insight. One way that Reiki or other energetic therapists can get off track is by sharing personal insight. This can lead to strong feelings coming out, especially if we have had a similar challenge and struggled to find a way through it. If we stick to themes, always asking how the recipient is experiencing their current life path, rather than advising, based on our own experience, we will benefit the recipient far more. Remember that even if others are going through something similar to what we have experienced, that the point is for them to gain what they need from that experience. Well-meaning advice can become invasive instead of complementary. Talking through the themes around the issues and remaining open and respectful of the recipients’ experience is much more valuable to them.
If we remember that each time we begin a Reiki session, that we are simply connecting to the life-giving energy frequencies of the universe, and that our job is to hold space for and be aware of the energetic interactions, no more and no less, we will be effective complementary Reiki practitioners. Being a complementary Reiki practitioner also encourages self-awareness and self-reliance in our recipients.
Namaste