Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 1

Cover by Dmitriy Konyushenko, [email protected]

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III (Reiki Master) By Margaret Cheasebro, Ph.D, Reiki Master Words and Wellness, LLC Copyright 2012 Margaret Cheasebro All rights reserved LICENSE NOTES This ebook is licenced for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords,com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

OVERVIEW OF HEALING AND GROWING WITH REIKI Three-in-one ebook about Reiki from a basic understanding to Master level.

Exploring Reiki I ……………………………………………………….

p. 3

Exploring Reiki II ………………………………………………………

p. 126

Exploring Reiki III (Reiki Master) ……………………………………..

p. 188

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 2

DISCLAIMER

This book is based on many years of experience giving Reiki treatments to myself and others and on a great deal of research I’ve done about Reiki and related subjects. I have done my best to provide all the information you will need to know to understand what Reiki is and how to use it once you have received Reiki I, II, and/or Reiki III attunements in person from a Reiki Master. The attunements involve a process that help to reawaken you to the knowing that Reiki energy has always been a long forgotten part of you. Although it’s very likely that if you learn this information, you can practice Reiki successfully, I’m not responsible if it doesn’t work for you. However, I can’t imagine it not working if you learn the information and follow all the directions. I do not have a medical background. The information I’ve provided about how the chakras, the aura and Reiki positions affect the body is gleaned from people who do have extensive medical backgrounds. It is based on my understanding of what they wrote about in their wonderfully helpful books. If there are any mistakes, they are a result of my misunderstandings. I strongly suggest that if you have any medical concerns, you discuss them with your doctor before you try Reiki.

PART I EXPLORING REIKI I

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR EXPLORING REIKI I Table of Contents ………………………………………………………………………… 4 Chapter 1 – My Introduction to Reiki ………………………………………………… 10 Illustration of Reiki symbol and its meaning ……………………………………… 12 Chapter 2 – How Reiki Works …………………………………………………………. 14 Reiki Removes Energy Blockages ……………………………………………….. 14 Earth Has Electromagnetic Field ………………………………………………… 15 Illustration of electrostatic field …………….…………………………………… 15 Reiki Enhances Medical Treatments …………………………………………….. 16 Reiki Energy Affects the Autonomic Nervous System …………………………

17

Reiki Does Not Deplete Our Energy ……………………………………………. 18 Reiki Will Flow Even If You Feel Sick …………………………………………. 18 How Reiki Passes from Teacher to Student ……………………………………... 19 How to Tell What a Reiki Attunement Is ………………………………………… 20 Reiki and Angels …………………………………………………………………. 20 How to Prepare for the Reiki I Attunement ……………………………………… 21 What You Can Expect after the Reiki I Attunement ……………………………. 21 Perfection Is Not Required to Receive Attunements …………………………….. 22 Chapter 3 – Origins and History of Reiki ……………………………………………… 24 Mikao Usui ……………………………………………………………………….. 24 Japanese Information about Usui ………………………………………………… 26 Usui Practices Reiki ……………………………………………………………… 27 The Original Reiki Ideals ………………………………………………………… 28 Dr. Usui’s Treatment Methods …………………………………………………… 29 Dr. Chujiro Hayashi ……………………………………………………………..

30

Hawayo Takata ………………………………………………………………….

32

Takata Plays Leading Role in Bringing Reiki to the West ……………………..

34

Takata’s Foundation Treatment …………………………………………………

35

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 5

Chapter 4 – Layers of the Aura ……………………………………………………….. 37 Etheric Body ……………………………………………………………………... 38 Astral or Emotional Body ………………………………………………………… 38 Mental Body ……………………………………………………………………… 39 Causal Body ……………………………………………………………………… 39 Barbara Brennan’s Layers of the Aura …………………………………………… 40 Illustration of Brennan’s Layers of the Aura …………………………………….. 40 Reiki Helps the Aura to Heal …………………………………………………….. 42 How Energy Flows through Our Body …………………………………………… 42 Hara Line …………………………………………………………………………. 43 Illustration of Individuation Point ..………………..…………………………….. 44 Conception and Governing Vessels ……………………………………………… 46 Illustration of Energy Traveling through Conception and Governing Vessels …. 46 Chapter 5 – The Chakras ………………………………………………………………. 48 Root Chakra ………………………………………………………………………. 49 Sacral Chakra …………………………………………………………………….. 52 Solar Plexus Chakra ………………………………………………………………. 54 Illustration of Belt Flow Exercise ………………………………………………… 57 Heart Chakra ……………………………………………………………………… 57 Throat Chakra …………………………………………………………………….. 59 Brow Chakra ……………………………………………………………………… 61 Crown Chakra …………………………………………………………………….. 63 Self I-Dentity Ho’oponopono ……………………………………………..……… 65 Chapter 6 – Reiki Hand Positions for Self Healing …………………………………… 67 How to Hold Your Hands ………………………………………………………… 67 The Importance of Being Grounded …………………………………………….. 68 What to Do When Reiki Doesn’t Seem to Be Enough ………………………….

69

The Reiki Self-Healing Positions ………………………………………………..

70

Position 1 –Hands over Eyes …………………………………………………….. 70

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 6

Illustration for Position 1 ………………………………………………………... 70 Position 2 – Hands Cupped at Sides of Brow and up onto Crown …………….... 71 Illustration for Position 2 ………………………………………………………… 71 Position 3 – Hands over Cheeks, Thumbs Just under Ears ………………………. 72 Illustration for Position 3 …………………………………………………………. 72 Position 4 – Hands Cup Back of Head …………………………………………… 73 Illustration for Position 4 …………………………………………………………. 73 Illustration for Alternate Position 4 ………………………………………………. 73 Position 5 – Hands by Throat …………………………………………………….. 74 Illustration for Position 5 …………………………………………………………. 74 Illustration for Alternate Position 5 ………………………………………………. 74 Position 6 – Over the Heart ………………………………………………………. 75 Illustration for Position 6 …………………………………………………………. 75 Illustration for Alternate Position 6 ………………………………………………. 75 Illustration for Another Alternate Position 6 …………………………………….. 75 Position 7 – At Solar Plexus ……………………………………………………… 76 Illustration for Position 7 ………………………………………………………… 76 Position 8 – Over the Middle Abdomen ………………………………………….. 77 Illustration for Position 8 …………………………………………………………. 77 Position 9 – Over the Lower Abdomen …………………………………………… 78 Illustration for Position 9 …………………………………………………………. 78 Position 10 – Over the Pubic Bone ……………………………………………….. 79 Illustration for Position 10 ……………………………………………………….. 79 Illustration for Alternate Position 10 ……………………………………………… 79 Position 11 – Inside of the Thighs ………………………………………………. 80 Illustration for Position 11 ……………………………………………………….. 80 Position 12 – Front of the Knees …………………………………………………. 81 Illustration for Position 12 ………………………………………………………. 81 Illustration for Alternate Position 12 …………………………………………….. 81

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 7

Position 13 – Back of the Neck ………………………………………………….. 82 Illustration for Position 13 ……………………………………………………….. 82 Position 14 – Middle Back ………………………………………………………

83

Illustration for Position 14 ………………………………………………………. 83 Illustration for Alternate Position 14 ……………………………………………. 83 Position 15 – Lower Back ……………………………………………………….

84

Illustration for Position 15 ………………………………………………………. 84 Illustration for Alternate Position 15 ……………………………………………. 84 Position 16 – Back of Spine ……………………………………………………..

85

Illustration for Position 16 ………………………………………………………. 85 Position 17 – Back of the Knees and Ankles …………………………………..

86

Illustration for Position 17 ………………………………………………………. 86 Illustration for Alternate Position 17 ……………………………………………

86

Position 18 – Bottoms of Feet …………………………………………………..

87

Illustration for Position 18 ………………………………………………………

87

Chapter 7 – Reiki Hand Positions for Healing Others ………………………………

88

Switched Energy and Its Effects ……………………………………………….

89

Making the Reiki Session Comfortable for the Client …………………………

90

A Cautionary Note ………………………………………………………………

91

Byosen Scan ……………………………………………………………………..

91

Reiki Hand Positions for Healing Others ………………………………………..

93

Position 1 – Hands over Eyes …………………………………………………… 93 Illustration for Position 1 ………………………………………………………... 93 Position 2 – Cup Hands at Sides of Brow ……………………………………….

95

Illustration for Position 2 ………………………………………………………..

95

Position 3 – Hands over Cheeks, Thumbs under Ears ………………………….

96

Illustration for Position 3 ………………………………………………………..

96

Position 4 – Hands Cup Back of Head ………………………………………….

97

Illustration for Position 4 ……………………………………………………….

97

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 8

Position 5 – Hands by Throat …………………………………………………..

98

Illustration for Position 5 ……………………………………………………….

98

Position 6 – Over the Heart ………………………………………………………. 99 Illustration for Position 6 ……………………………………………………….

99

Illustration for Alternate Position 6 ……………………………………………… 99 Position 7 – At the Solar Plexus Below the Breasts …………………………….. 100 Illustration for Position 7 ………………………………………………………… 100 Position 8 – Over the Middle Abdomen ………………………………………… 101 Illustration for Position 8 ………………………………………………………..

101

Illustration for Alternate Position 8 ……………………………………………..

101

Position 9 – Over the Lower Abdomen …………………………………………. 102 Illustration for Position 9 ………………………………………………………..

102

Position 10 – Over the Pubic Bone ……………………………………………… 103 Illustration for Position 10 ………………………………………………………. 103 Position 11 – Insides of the Thighs ……………………………………………… 104 Illustration for Position 11 ……………………………………………………….. 104 Position 12 – The Knees and Ankles ……………………………………………

105

Illustration for Position 12 ………………………………………………………. 105 Illustration for Alternate Position 12 ……………………………………………. 105 Illustration for Crossed Pattern Position 12 …………………………………….. 105 Have the Person Turn Over ……………………………………………………..

106

Position 13 – Back of the Neck …………………………………………………

107

Illustration for Position 13 ………………………………………………………

107

Position 14 – Middle Back ………………………………………………………

108

Illustration for Position 14 ………………………………………………………

108

Position 15 – Lower Back ………………………………………………………

109

Illustration for Position 15 ………………………………………………………

109

Position 16 – Back of Spine …………………………………………………….

110

Illustration for Position 16 ………………………………………………………

110

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 9

Position 17 – Backs of the Knees and Ankles …………………………………..

111

Illustration for Position 17 ………………………………………………………

111

Illustration for Alternate Position 17 ……………………………………………. 111 Illustration for Alternate Cross Pattern Position 17 ……………………………. 111 Position 18 – Bottoms of Feet …………………………………………………… 112 Illustration for Position 18 ………………………………………………………. 112 Repeat the Byosen Scan …………………………………………………………. 113 Ending the Session ………………………………………………………………. 113 Chapter 8 – Deciding When or If You’re Ready for the Next Step …………………. 115 Notes ……………………………………………………….……………………………. 116 Chapter 1 …………………………………………………………………………. 116 Chapter 2 …………………………………………………………………………. 116 Chapter 3 …………………………………………………………………………. 116 Chapter 4 …………………………………………………………………………. 118 Chapter 5 …………………………………………………………………………. 120 Chapter 6 …………………………………………………………………………. 124 Chapter 7 …………………………………………………………………………. 125

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 10

EXPLORING REIKI I CHAPTER 1 MY INTRODUCTION TO REIKI I had a vague notion that Reiki was some kind of relaxing technique, but that’s all I knew until I experienced it. My world changed when I stepped through the front door of a single wide mobile home in northwest New Mexico and found myself in a living room that was the work space for a Reiki practitioner. When my massage therapist suggested I go to this woman, I didn’t realize she was not only a Reiki Master but also a medicine woman, who had discovered her healing abilities as a child. Short in stature with long hair, a smiling face and tattoos on her arm, she welcomed me into her Reiki room. It contained a massage table, feathers, rattles, tuning forks, ear cones, live plants, a water fall, and an assortment of other tools. Without preamble, she told me to lie on the table. I heard rattles, felt feathers and soon fell into a restful state deeper than sleep. When the session ended, I felt so refreshed that I wanted to experience more. After several treatments, she suggested that I could give Reiki to myself if I received the Reiki I attunement in a special one-on-one ceremony. Because I loved the way Reiki made me feel, I agreed to move forward even though I wasn’t sure what an attunement was. She told me to read Essential Reiki: A Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art by Diane Stein. I bought the book, and read it as well as Reiki, the Healing Touch: First and Second Degree Manual by William Lee Rand. Armed with a better understand of what I was getting into, I called her to schedule the attunement. The ceremony took less than half an hour. I sat on a piano stool with my eyes closed and followed her directions as she moved around me, drawing in my hands and doing something above my head and down my back. When the ceremony ended, I began to cry. Something had opened and expanded in me. “This is not new to you,” she said. “You have been a Reiki healer before. Your guides are so happy you have chosen this pathway again.” That felt right, even though my conservative Christian background didn’t recognize guides or past lives.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 11

For about a week after the attunement, my body buzzed with so much energy I felt like I’d stuck my finger in a light socket. I discovered that touching trees helped ease the overcharged energy. Trees willingly took some of it from me. I gave myself Reiki every day for a month and a half before I scheduled a Reiki II attunement, which took me deeper into the healing method. I began to practice on friends, and their responses increased my confidence. They told me that they found relief from pain or discovered better ways to handle personal relationships and challenging events. I wanted to learn more so I could teach Reiki and practice it on an even deeper level. Six months later, I received the Reiki Master attunement from the medicine woman. Her method didn’t include much teaching, so I read everything I could about Reiki. For a year and a half I gave free Reiki sessions at a local community college to introduce Reiki to others and to give myself practice. Then I began working with other professionals at a local alternative healing clinic. A year after receiving my Reiki Master attunement, I taught Reiki to someone else and passed the Reiki I attunement to them. Since then, I’ve taught other workshops and passed Reiki I, Reiki II and Reiki Master attunements to other students. My practice doesn’t involve feathers, tuning forks, and rattles. My tools are simpler – a Reiki table, prayer, and sometimes a few crystals, which help to focus or intensify the healing energy. The more experience I have with Reiki and the more I learn about it from other gifted healers and writers, I have come to understand certain things about this amazing healing art. Reiki, which flows with the light of unconditional love, draws people into a place of deep rest and relaxation. In this place, it’s easier for the body’s incredible healing abilities to work. Reiki is a Japanese word, which means spiritually guided universal life energy. The word rei describes universal, higher knowledge, or spiritual consciousness, while the word ki refers to the non-physical energy in all living things. Though giving and receiving Reiki is a spiritual experience, it is not a religion. It’s a healing art. You don’t have to adopt any set of beliefs to practice it. You don’t even have to believe that Reiki will work. It works whether you think it will or not.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 12

A healer’s hands help to guide the flow of Reiki energy. Some people follow a set pattern of hand positions. Others intuitively sense where to place their hands. During the healing session, a connection forms between those who give and receive Reiki. They both benefit from it. So do many others, because Reiki spreads far beyond your physical location. It goes for miles, benefitting anyone who is willing to receive it. When you practice Reiki, you share unconditional love with countless others you may never meet. The symbol for Reiki helps to explain the healing practice. The first character, rei, shows that, just as plants need water for healthy growth, people flourish when they combine prayer and work. Raindrops are pictured as four lines within a cloud. Three squares represent mouths open in prayer. A reclining H, which looks like an early farm tool to prepare the ground for planting, shows the concept of work. The ki character paints a picture of steam coming from cooked rice or of water vapor rising from the ground and turning into rain, which brings nourishment to plants. The earth nurtures plants, and the sky waters them, creating the energy of new life. 1

Reiki Symbol and Its Meaning

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 13

In a similar way, God directs the flow of Reiki energy. It travels through Reiki practitioners to those who need it, helping to sustain, nurture and heal them. If you feel uncomfortable with the word God, use whatever term you like to refer to the source of unconditional love, the creator of all that is.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 14

EXPLORING REIKI I CHAPTER 2 HOW REIKI WORKS Have you ever felt really good when you’re around one person and uncomfortable when you’re around someone else? You may be picking up on their energy. If they’re positive people who spend their time focusing on upbeat things, you will likely feel good, even energized, around them. Their energy is vibrating at a higher frequency, closer to the light of unconditional love. If they’re negative people who are often mad about something, who criticize others, are envious or greedy, or who have other issues that drag them down, your own energy may start to slump when you’re around them. If you tend to be judgmental or let your thoughts flow in unpleasant directions, negative energy can cause blockages in the energy flow that runs through your body. Your reaction to environmental issues such as electromagnetic interference, including everything from appliances and cell phones to computers and communication towers, can also have an adverse affect your energy flow. When certain parts of your body are deprived long enough of needed energy, physical illness may occur.

Reiki Removes Energy Blockages Reiki helps to burn or melt away those energy blockages. If Reiki burns them away, the affected part of your body may feel warm. You might feel heat coming from the practitioner’s hands. If Reiki melts away the block, you may feel a cool sensation in your body. Once the blockage is gone, energy flows more naturally, bringing greater health to your organs and tissues and helping you to feel more upbeat about life in general. Eastern health practitioners have known for thousands of years that our body has energy coursing through it and that our physical and emotional well-being can be affected by blockages in the flow of that energy. However, Western practitioners have been slower to recognize the body’s energy system. In 1985, Robert O. Becker, M.D., and Gary Selden wrote a revolutionary book called The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life published by William Morrow and

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 15

Company, Inc. Through his research on the ability of some animals to grow replacements for body parts that had been destroyed, Becker discovered the existence of electrical currents in the nervous system. His discovery led to further research that helped people better understand the nature of life itself. 1 Over the years, more and more has been learned about the body’s electromagnetic field and the energy that courses through it. These discoveries have played a role in helping people to recognize that Eastern practices such as acupuncture are valid healing techniques.

Earth Has Electromagnetic Field Not only do we have an electromagnetic field, but so does Earth. Imagine a circle within a circle within a circle. Earth is the innermost circle. Just outside Earth lies a circle called a dielectric, which contains the layer of air in which we live and move. The outermost circle is Earth’s atmosphere, the ionosphere, which absorbs most of the energetic photons from the sun. 2 A photon is a measure of electromagnetic energy.

Electrostatic field

In that three-circle image, the innermost circle, Earth, carries a negative ionic charge. The

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 16

outermost circle, the ionosphere, carries a positive ionic charge. The circle between the ionosphere and Earth contains a layer of air. If Earth and the ionosphere had wires to directly connect them, these negative and positive charges could create electrical energy, as a battery does. However, they are separated by the dielectric, that layer of air between the ionosphere and Earth. A dielectric does not conduct electricity, but it is an efficient supporter of electrostatic fields. Electrostatic fields are filled with reflective electrical charges that travel in waves of energy and affect everything and everyone they touch. Like the rings of water that form after a pebble drops into a pond, energy waves from one small thought or action spread across the dielectric around Earth. As a result, we are affected by the energy of everything around us. Our positive and negative thoughts, emotions and actions have an effect on that layer of air in which we live and move. The unkind words we speak, the angry and judgmental thoughts we think have an effect on the dielectric. So do the kindness, love, joy, generosity and peace we radiate. When people practice Reiki, the flow of spiritually guided universal life energy has a huge effect on the dielectric. It creates harmony, balance and peace for miles around, and it has a positive effect on many people. If you learn about Reiki and decide to practice it, you will be improving the quality of life for people you may never meet in your neighborhood, work place and beyond. You may even feel more energized yourself after treating someone else. When Reiki flows through you to the person you are treating, you get the benefits of that energy. It also brings a healthy influence to the dielectric in which we all live.

Reiki Enhances Medical Treatments Reiki energy also enhances medical and psychological treatments by reducing negative side effects. People who undergo chemotherapy, surgery and other treatments or who have suffered emotional trauma often heal faster and have less pain and stress after a Reiki treatment, and they feel more optimistic. Patients who receive Reiki tend to leave the hospital earlier than those who don’t. 3 This is not surprising, because emotions such as optimism can alter and balance the electromagnetic

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 17

currents in our bodies that control pain and healing. 4

Reiki Energy Affects the Autonomic Nervous System One of the most commonly reported effects of Reiki is relaxation and stress reduction. However, the scientific proof of these effects has been few and far between. Nicole Mackay, a clinical physicist in the United Kingdom, did a study to prove that Reiki really does affect our bodies. She reasoned that if energy healing has a physiological effect, it will likely be triggered by the autonomic nervous system. That system oversees functions of the body that we do not consciously control, among them respiration, blood pressure and heart rate. While working at the Institute of Neurological Sciences at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland, she and her supervisor received permission to do a research study on how Reiki affects the autonomic nervous system. The study involved 45 healthy volunteers who were randomly placed into three groups: a Reiki group that received rest and Reiki treatment from a Reiki practitioner involving six specific hand positions, a placebo group that received rest and treatment mimicking the hand positions in the Reiki group but done by someone unfamiliar with Reiki, and a control group that received only rest. Each group contained 15 volunteers. During the study, “Eight physiological parameters were recorded: heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure, cardiac vagal tone, cardiac sensitivity to baroreflex, skin temperature, and respiration rate,” Mackay explained. 5 Baroreflex is one of the body’s homeostatic mechanisms for maintaining blood pressure. Homeostasis refers to ways in which the body regulates its internal environment. There were no significant changes in any of those parameters in the control group, which the researchers had expected. However, they found significant differences between the Reiki group and the placebo group. The Reiki group showed significant reduction in heart rate and diastolic blood pressure that did not appear in either the placebo or control groups. There also was an observed increase in skin temperature and an increase in cardiac sensitivity to baroreflex, which might explain the blood pressure reduction. Though members of the placebo group also showed an increase in cardiac sensitivity to baroreflex, their blood pressure didn’t go down.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 18

Mackay concluded from these results that, “The nervous system appears to be responding differently to Reiki than to placebo Reiki, which strongly indicates that Reiki has some effect on the autonomic nervous system.” 6

Reiki Does Not Deplete Our Energy Reiki energy is not stored in the body. It merely flows through the practitioner’s body from Source to whoever receives it. You will never deplete that energy by letting Reiki flow from you to others. It does not come from you, and you don’t store it. It just passes through you. It will flow whenever there is a need for it. Though some forms of energy healing can leave the healer exhausted and depleted, Reiki will never do that. As a Reiki practitioner, you don’t generate the energy. When you let it flow through you, it has a positive effect on both you and the person who receives it. In the world of healing methods, it’s a win/win technique.

Reiki Will Flow Even If You Feel Sick Reiki energy can flow through you even when you don’t feel well. However, if you aren’t well, you may be more susceptible to bacteria and viruses that others carry. A good rule of thumb is if you don’t feel energetic enough to give a treatment with ease or if you think you’re contagious, cancel the session and reschedule. People who have serious, non-contagious illnesses but are strong enough to give Reiki treatments can be effective practitioners, says Dr. Brian D. Dailey, M.D. He uses Reiki in his practice, and he has taught Reiki workshops at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. People come to Reiki circles with Dailey to receive treatments for cancer, arthritis, heart disease, high blood pressure and other conditions. Once they discover how powerful Reiki energy can be, they often study it and receive Reiki attunements so they can heal others. Many are still not well when they begin to practice Reiki, but Dailey said they are incredible healers. 7

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 19

How Reiki Passes from Teacher to Student Reiki is passed from teacher to student through a series of attunements. A common division of the attunements is the Reiki I attunement in which students learn to use the energy to heal themselves, the Reiki II attunement in which they learn three symbols to use when they give Reiki to themselves and others, and the Reiki Master attunement in which they learn more symbols. Reiki Masters may teach Reiki workshops and pass attunements to others. The attunements activate the power of the Reiki symbols. The written symbols come from Japanese, Sanskrit (the ancient scholarly language of India and Tibet), and kanji sources. In reality, all of us already have Reiki, but we have forgotten. The attunement is an awakening process that helps us remember and, therefore, reactivate the energy and the symbols. Kanji is Japanese writing that uses Chinese characters. The different writings in which the symbols appear indicate that this ancient healing art was practiced in several different countries on its journey from ancient origins to the present. The passage of symbols from teacher to student is what separates Reiki from other energy healing techniques. The symbols by themselves do not have power until students receive them through an attunement received in person from a Reiki Master. When students receive the attunement, it triggers a remembering in them that Reiki energy has always been part of them. That awakening sparks the memory of this ancient healing practice. During an attunement the Reiki Master places the Reiki symbols into a student’s hands and head. As those symbols pass from the master to the student, they are activated and stored in the student’s causal body. That’s what wakens the memory that Reiki is already part of them. The causal body is the highest layer of the aura, an energy field that surrounds your body. This activation occurs in a divinely orchestrated process. When pupils are given the Reiki symbols to memorize before the attunement, they do not find the symbols effective. Once they receive the attunement, they recognize the power is there. Every time they give others a Reiki treatment, Reiki energy will flow, bringing with it wisdom, love and healing as needed. One sign that the energy has been activated is that a student’s hands may grow warm when they practice Reiki. Not all Reiki providers sense that their hands are getting warm, but if they are channeling Reiki, their clients will feel warmth in the healer’s hands when a blockage is

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 20

being burned away.

How to Tell What a Reiki Attunement Is As Reiki has grown by leaps and bounds in popularity, a variety of ways to practice it have developed. Some of those Reiki variations are profoundly effective. To find a credible Reiki practitioner or Reiki Master, look for these four qualities that define Reiki as it was developed by Dr. Mikao Usui. He founded Reiki in the early years of the 20th century. 8 1. The ability to perform Reiki comes from receiving an attunement in person from a Reiki Master. It is not an ability developed over time or through meditation or various exercises. 2. Reiki is part of a lineage created when a teacher passes an attunement to a student. The lineage begins with the first teacher who passed an attunement to a student. That lineage continues as the student becomes a teacher and passes attunements to other students, and those students pass attunements to others. Ask your Reiki Master to show you his or her lineage. 3. Reiki is guided by God. Practitioners do not guide it with their minds. God knows exactly what the person needs and delivers the energy at exactly the right vibrational frequency for that individual. Be sure the practitioner you go to operates with that understanding. 4. Reiki can do no harm. It originates from the unconditional love of God, and that love never harms. Be sure the practitioner you choose does not claim that Reiki can be used to manipulate others or to cause harm. That kind of energy has nothing to do with the unconditional love from which Reiki flows. Reiki cannot be misused to harm or manipulate others. It never deviates from its origin of unconditional love. Ask if the Reiki practitioner practices on himself or herself. It is important that practitioners give themselves Reiki. It shows they not only believe in its power but they regularly allow it to flow through their energy system. This keeps their energy pathways open and unblocked so they can handle the large amounts of energy sometimes needed to help others.

Reiki and Angels When people practice Reiki, they receive guidance from God, from Jesus, Buddha, and

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 21

other master healers, and from Reiki guides divinely assigned to them. They also receive help from Reiki masters of all times and dimensions and from angels and archangels. Many people who receive the Reiki I attunement cannot yet sense the presence of these helpers. By the time they receive the Reiki II attunement, they become more aware of the help that surrounds them. When they receive the Reiki Master attunement, they usually recognize that those helpers do most of the healing work. Often people feel hands touching one part of their body when the Reiki practitioner is working on a different body part. Those are the hands of spiritual helpers who assist during every session. No matter how many spiritual helpers lend you their aid, sometimes the person you are working on will need to seek help from a doctor, naturopath, or psychotherapist. Developing a network of medical personnel who recognize the value of alternative healing techniques will help you become a better Reiki practitioner. Though Reiki helps everyone, some people will need additional care. If you have established a trusted network of specialized caregivers, you can refer people to them with the assurance that they will get the help they need.

How to Prepare for the Reiki I Attunement A few days before you receive an attunement, eat foods that are healthy for you. Reduce your intake of red meat as it will make you energetically heavier. That heaviness will make it harder to adjust to the energy of the attunement. Stay away from tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs as you prepare for receiving the attunement. If you hold any grudges against others or blame yourself for something, work on forgiving yourself and others. A much more detailed explanation of why it’s important to pay attention to your diet and other influences in the days preceding an attunement are available in Exploring Reiki II in the Healing and Growing with Reiki ebook series. You can get it at www.wordsandwellness.com.

What You Can Expect after the Reiki I Attunement The Reiki I attunement makes physical adjustments to your energy channels so they can carry an increased flow of energy at a higher frequency level. Energy obstructions are cleared

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 22

away. This allows Ki energy to flow through you for self-healing and for giving Reiki to someone who is physically present. Receiving that attunement can change your life as you experience the healing energy that flows through you. It activates when you put your hands over anything or anyone that needs to be healed. After you receive the attunement, you may discover that you are responding to the world around you in a different way. Your attitude and temperament may become more mellow. You may find life situations more manageable, and you could discover more effective solutions to problems. There is normally a 21-day cleanse that occurs after each Reiki attunement. You may feel super charged as your body learns to handle the higher frequency levels of Reiki energy that flow through it. If the adjustment period is uncomfortable, there are several ways to ease the symptoms. Giving Reiki treatments to yourself and others will help. Ask a tree to share your excess energy. This may sound strange, but trees are alive, and almost all of them are very receptive to Reiki energy. Buy a bottle of Bach’s Rescue Remedy, a mixture of five flower essences. Put four drops under your tongue a few times each day until the symptoms ease. In the unlikely event that problems persist, seek help from your Reiki Master. During the cleanse, you also may feel mild flu-like or cold symptoms without feeling ill. They happen as your body clears away physical toxins. Normally, the symptoms are easy to handle and will last only a few days. Some people have no reactions. Don’t let temporary side effects scare you away from a Reiki I attunement. The positive results are well worth it!

Perfection Is Not Required to Receive Attunements People who receive any of the Reiki attunements, including the master attunement, do not have to be perfect or enlightened. Each person’s level of spiritual development will vary, but all Reiki masters have the ability to let Reiki energy flow from them to others. If a person had to be perfect to teach Reiki or give Reiki treatments, there would be few, if any, teachers or practitioners. Reiki energy is life altering and will increase the consciousness level of the person who

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 23

practices it. The more you practice Reiki on yourself and others, the more spiritually mature you will become. Though people who receive attunements do not ever have to practice Reiki, the advantages to using Reiki are significant. The energy provides an avenue that will assist you in moving to a higher level of consciousness, where you will find greater peace and greater appreciation for life. It will help to keep you in better health, and it will benefit people and the environment for several miles around you. Even if you never decide to practice Reiki, the Reiki attunement remains with you for life. It will be ready to use if you should ever change your mind.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 24

EXPLORING REIKI I CHAPTER 3 ORIGINS AND HISTORY OF REIKI It is not clear how Reiki originated. Though it was once thought to have developed many centuries ago in India and Tibet and then to have traveled to China with Buddhism before reaching the rest of Asia and eventually the West, 1 a different understanding is emerging as Reiki masters such as Frank Arjava Petter and William Lee Rand research its history. Hawayo Takata, who brought Reiki to the West, taught her students that Dr. Mikao Usui rediscovered the formula for Reiki in a Buddhist sutra, or holy book, that he read in Sanskrit in a Zen temple. However, she did not say in which sutra he found it, nor has anyone else been able to locate it. Usui maintained it was an original form of healing, both in the handbooks he gave to his students and in statements he made later about Reiki. 2 Some Reiki students have been taught that Usui found symbols for the Reiki technique in the Tibetan Tantra Lotus Sutra, which may have been written in the second or first century B.C., but that there were no instructions for how to activate the symbols’ healing power. 3 Over the centuries, according to that version of the story, knowledge of how to practice Reiki remained with a small number of Buddhists, who used the healing method but did not tell people how to practice it.

Mikao Usui Though we may never know the truth about how Reiki originated, we do know that in the early 1900s a Japanese man named Mikao Usui went on a quest that led to his discovery, or rediscovery, of Reiki. Usui was born Aug. 15, 1865, in the village of Taniai in the Yamagata district of Gifu prefecture, Japan. In the late 1800s, he studied medicine, psychology and religion and also practiced Kiko, the Japanese version of qigong. It is a health and healing discipline based on developing and using life energy. He learned the art at a Tendai Buddhist temple on Mt. Kurama, a sacred mountain north of Kyoto. 4 But when he practiced Kiko on others, he discovered it depleted his own energy. He was an avid student and traveled to Europe and China to continue studying many

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 25

things that interested him. They ranged from medicine and psychology to religion and spiritual development. Eventually he became the secretary to Shinpi Goto, who was head of the department of health and welfare. Goto later became mayor of Tokyo. The connections Usui made in that job helped him to become a successful businessman. Usui also belonged to Rei Jyutu Ka, a metaphysical group whose members wanted to develop their psychic abilities. 5 Hawayo Takata, who brought Reiki to the West, taught a version of Usui’s story in which she claimed he was raised by Christian missionaries. She said he eventually became a Christian minister and head of the Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. When his students asked him to show them by what method Jesus healed others, he could not answer them. According to Takata, he believed he owed the students an answer, so he resigned his position and went on a quest to find that healing method. When he questioned Christian leaders in Japan, they told him the healing method was not talked about and not well understood. So he looked for answers among the Buddhists. Buddhist monks told him the ancient spiritual healing methods used by Buddha and Jesus had been lost and the only way to get a sense of what those healing methods might have been was to learn Buddhist teachings. Usui then traveled to the United States, Takata said, where he lived for seven years. He entered the University of Chicago Divinity School and received a Doctor of Theology degree while studying comparative religions and philosophies. He also learned to read Sanskrit. During his studies, he became even more aware that the teachings and healing ministry of Buddha and his disciples were similar in many ways to those of Jesus and his disciples. He could not find specifics about the healing method Jesus used, so he decided to return to Japan where he thought the answers might lie. There is no other mention of Mikao Usui as a Christian or a minister. He is identified as a Buddhist who returned to Japan and lived in a Zen monastery. 6 When Reiki Master and hypnotherapist William Lee Rand made a study of Usui’s life, he contacted the Doshisha University and the University of Chicago Divinity School. The Doshisha University had no record of Mikao Usui ever having been a principal, teacher or student there. The University of Chicago’s Divinity School said there are no records of his attendance there or of any degree earned by him there. 7

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 26

Takata may have invented these aspects of Usui’s history to make them more palatable to a western audience. She brought Reiki to the West during the turbulent years of World War II when attitudes toward anything Japanese were negative. She may have thought Western people would not accept Reiki unless Usui had Western and Christian connections. Though she embellished his history, she built it on the reality of Usui’s search for truth.

Japanese Information about Usui Japanese information about Usui indicates that some time after his business career took a turn for the worse in 1914, he became a Buddhist monk. 8 As he continued to search for answers to his spiritual questions, in March 1922 he attended a three-week period of meditation, fasting and prayer at a Buddhist temple on the 1,870 foot high Mt. Kurama. It was a familiar place to Usui, because he had received his early Buddhist training there. His experiences on Mt. Kurama may have included standing under an artificial waterfall. Water hitting the head was believed to activate the crown chakra. 9 During his stay on the mountain, Dr. Usui did the Morning Star meditation. Morning Star, which refers to the planet Venus, is a complex and lengthy meditation that involves reciting a special mantra many times. During a 21-day meditation, the mantra would have to be repeated about 50,000 times each day to complete the number required. 10 In one widely told version of his experience on Mt. Kurama, Usui chose a meditation site and placed 21 small stones in front of him to mark the passage of each day. For a long time nothing happened. Then on the final morning, in the darkest hour before dawn, he saw a projectile of light coming toward him. At first he was frightened and wanted to run from it. Then he decided the experience might be an answer to his prayers, so he chose to experience it no matter what the results might be. The powerful light struck him in the middle of his forehead, and for a short time he may have lost consciousness. Usui had an enlightened experience in which the light’s energy poured into him. In bubbles within that light, he is said to have seen each of the Reiki symbols and to have understood how to activate them. He called the energy Reiki, and recognized that he had received a Reiki attunement, which awakened in him the remembrance of this ancient healing

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 27

art. With the gift of the attunement, he could pass Reiki on to others. When he practiced Reiki, he discovered that it worked. As he walked down the mountain after his life changing experience, legend has it that he stubbed his toe. When he applied Reiki to his toe, his hands felt hot, and his toe healed. At a house at the bottom of the mountain where pilgrims were served, he asked for a full meal, which is not wise after being on a 21-day fast. He ate the meal without discomfort. A woman who served the meal had a toothache. He placed his hands on her face, and her pain went away. Back at the Buddhist monastery where he lived, he discovered that his abbot was in bed, suffering from arthritis. He gave the abbot a Reiki treatment, and the man was healed. 11

Usui Practices Reiki The next month, in April 1922, Usui moved to Tokyo, where he started a healing society. He called it Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, which means Usui Reiki Healing Society. That society is still in existence today. He also opened a clinic in Tokyo, where he taught classes and gave treatments. At first, students received the ability to practice Reiki simply by spending time with Usui. Their intention to become accomplished at it helped them to succeed. When the Reiki movement grew so much that Usui could no longer teach in such a personal way, he developed a formal attunement process similar to what we use today. 12 Kozo Ogawa worked with Usui and headed a Reiki center. His adopted son, Fumio Ogawa, told Reiki Master and Reiki history researcher Frank Arjava Petter that Usui had six Reiki training levels. The beginning levels were numbered six, five, four and three. They were called Shoden, meaning Beginning Level. Hawayo Takata combined the four beginning levels and taught them as Reiki I. Usui called the fifth level Okuden or Inner Teaching. It was divided into two parts and corresponds to the Reiki II attunement. The sixth level was called Shinpiden, meaning Mystery Teaching. It was the master level, but Usui did not use the word “master”. That was a term Takata created when she began teaching the highest level in 1970. In Japan today, the term Reiki Master is not used, because it refers to

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 28

someone who has become enlightened, a spiritual accomplishment few people ever achieve. People who receive the highest degree in Reiki do not have to be enlightened or highly spiritually developed. 13 In 1923, an earthquake and fire damaged Tokyo, leaving more than 140,000 dead and over half the houses and buildings damaged. Many people were hurt. Usui and his students tried to help as many of them as they could at his clinic. Demand for Reiki became so great that in 1925 he built a much larger clinic in Nakano, Tokyo. His reputation as a healer spread throughout Japan, and he began to travel to expand his teaching and healing services. He was teaching when he had a stroke and died on March 9, 1926. He taught more than 2,000 students, and initiated 16 people as teachers of Reiki. 14 During the years in which Usui taught students, he gave them a detailed description of hand positions for treating diseases. Frank Arjava Petter and his wife, Chetna, researched Dr. Usui’s original Reiki healing system. Petter wrote The Original Reiki Handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui, which details each of Usui’s hand positions and how he used them to treat various illnesses. “Reiki was taught and learned very intensively under Dr. Usui,” wrote Petter. “The students met once a week to meditate, apply Reiki together, and practice scanning the body until they succeeded in reaching a type of energetic diagnosis. If this was the case, the corresponding areas of the body were treated immediately.” 15

The Original Reiki Ideals After the Reiki symbols were revealed to Mikao Usui in his mountain-top experience, he wrote down the Reiki ideals, ways of looking at life that promote health and harmony. These Original Reiki Ideals actually came from the Japanese Emperor Meiji. Usui thought they were so important that he suggested they be prayed and chanted daily. It is recommended that everyone who practices Reiki repeats these ideals every day. Just for today, do not be angry. Do not worry, and be filled with gratitude. Devote yourself to your work, and be kind to people.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 29

Every morning and evening join your hands in prayer. Pray these words to your heart, And chant these words with your mouth. 16 The Reiki ideals are inscribed on the Usui Memorial at Saihoji Temple in the Suginami district of Tokyo. The memorial is located next to Mikao Usui’s gravestone in a public cemetery at the temple. It was created by the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai in 1927 shortly after Usui’s death. The memorial is still maintained by the organization, which has continued to operate since Mikao Usui’s time. The group has been led by a series of presidents over the years. Members of the group never stopped using or teaching Reiki, and they continue to be actively involved in it. 17

Dr. Usui’s Treatment Methods In addition to the five Reiki ideals, Dr. Usui based his system on Gassho, Reiji-Ho, and Chiryo. Gassho means “two hands coming together.” Reiji” means “indication of power,” and Ho translates as “methods,” while Chiryo means “treatment.” Gassho is a form of meditation in which the palms of the hands come together as in prayer in front of the chest. Usui told students to focus their entire attention on the point where the tips of their two middle fingers met. He recommended that students do Gassho 20-30 minutes each morning or evening. It helps to switch off the ego so people are guided by Reiki energy, not by their own mind. Reiji-Ho includes three short rituals done before each treatment. In these rituals, the practitioner lets go of any attachment to the outcome and, in effect, says to God, “Your will be done.” The first Reiji-Ho ritual involves folding your hands on your chest in the Gassho position, closing your eyes, connecting with Reiki energy, and asking it to flow through you. The second ritual is praying for the recovery of the client on all levels and recognizing that Reiki energy understands better than any practitioner what that recovery should look like. It may be a recovery on the spiritual rather than the physical level, or it might involve a completely unforeseen blessing. The third ritual is folding your hands in front of your third eye and asking

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 30

Reiki energy to guide your hands to wherever the energy needs to go. Chiryo involves the actual process of treating the client. Once clients are lying on a treatment table, practitioners place their dominant hand on the person’s crown chakra and wait for direction as to where the hand should go. They use intuition to move their hands to the appropriate areas and hold the position as long as the energy is needed in that spot. 18 Dr. Usui also taught his students a breathing technique to cleanse their spirit. It included several steps. *Sit with your spine as straight as comfortably possible and inhale slowly through your nose. While inhaling, imagine you are breathing air in through your nose and Reiki energy in through your crown chakra. *Draw the energy into your tan tien, a Chinese word that describes your energy center, which is two or three finger widths below the navel. The tan tien is considered to be the center of the body and the seat of vitality. *While holding your breath, imagine that energy spreads from the tan tien throughout your entire body, energizing it. *Exhale through your mouth, while imagining that your breath and Reiki energy are flowing out of your mouth and from your fingertips, the tips of your toes, and your hand and foot chakras. 19 In addition, Usui taught his students to touch the diseased parts of the body, massage them, tap them with the little finger side of the fist, stroke them, blow on them, gaze on them for two or three minutes, and give them energy. 20

Dr. Chujiro Hayashi Chujiro Hayashi became an important part of Reiki history after he learned Reiki from Usui. He later trained Hawayo Takata in the healing method at his clinic. Hayashi was born Sept. 15, 1880 in Tokyo and was part of the 30th graduating class at the Japan Naval Academy in 1902. He served in the Port Patrolling Division from 1902 through Sept. 5, 1906, when a peace treaty was signed that ended the Russo-Japanese War. He remained active in the Japanese military for many years. In 1918 he was named director of Ominato Port

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 31

Defense Station in northern Japan. 21 He also was a medical doctor. 22 As Usui traveled to teach Reiki, he met Hayashi, a retired naval officer still on reserve status. Hayashi became interested in Reiki, and Usui trained him in the healing method. Hayashi opened a healing clinic in Tokyo, where he trained teams of Reiki practitioners. Over the years of his Reiki work, he trained 16 or 18 Reiki Masters. Sources vary as to the actual number. 23 Hayashi’s clinic was located in Tokyo. It included 10 tables. There, each patient received Reiki treatments from two practitioners. 24 Some time after Usui’s death, Hayashi broke away from Usui’s method and developed his own Reiki treatment plan, which he called Hayashi Reiki Ryoho Shishin. It was similar in many ways to Usui’s methods. One aspect of Hayashi’s Second Degree Reiki training technique involved a blood circulation treatment. It consisted of gentle massage-like motions down the spine, across the back and down the legs that helped to relax clients and improve their blood circulation. The Hayashi Reiki Manual, written by Petter and two co-authors, includes step-by-step directions with color photos demonstrating how to use this technique. The book also contains many hand positions to treat different diseases. 25 Both Usui and Hayashi gave their students handbooks showing hand positions for a variety of illnesses. In addition, Hayashi gave his Reiki students Japanese fans on which the Reiki Ideals were written. He also provided them with a book of poems written by the Meiji Emperor. 26 Hayashi used to chant poems when he passed attunements to students. Usui’s Reiki successor was a man named Juzaburo Ushida. After Usui died, Ushida became president of Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, the organization that Usui began. Ushida spearheaded the project to create and erect the Usui Memorial stone and to make sure that the grave was maintained. 27 The tombstone contains an epitaph written in 1927 by Ushida in which he records Usui’s prophecy that the practice of Reiki would spread around the world. It would heal people as well as the earth itself. If Usui could witness how widespread Reiki is today, he might be heartened to learn how accurate his prophecy was. 28 Reiki has been used not only to treat people but to help in the healing process of trees, mountains and rivers.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 32

Hawayo Takata A Japanese woman named Hawayo Takata came to Hayashi’s clinic in 1935 and learned Reiki from him. It was Takata who brought Reiki to the United States, Canada and Europe. Takata was born on Dec. 24, 1900, in Hawaii, to poor Japanese immigrant parents. They were pineapple cutters and lived on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, at Hanamaulu. Because she was too small and frail to work on a plantation, she found other work while she also attended public school. She helped to teach younger children, and she worked as a soda fountain clerk. After she completed her schooling, she was employed as a servant in the home of the plantation owner. She eventually became the housekeeper and bookkeeper. While living there, she met the plantation’s accountant, Saichi Takata. They married in 1917, and had two daughters. In Oct. 1930, when Saichi was only 32, he died of a heart attack. 29 Over the next five years, Takata shouldered the task of raising her children alone. In the process, she developed nervous exhaustion and many physical problems. She was diagnosed with gallbladder disease that required surgery. Because she had a respiratory condition with breathing difficulties, anesthesia was dangerous for her, and doctors said it could kill her. But without surgery, they said she would probably die. Her parents had returned to Japan some time before this. When one of her sisters died in 1935, Takata went to Japan to tell her parents about the death. While there, she entered a Japanese hospital, where she rested for several weeks and tried to get strong enough to undergo surgery. By that time, she had also been diagnosed as having appendicitis and a tumor. The night before her surgery, Takata heard a voice that said, “The surgery is not necessary.” She heard it again on the operating table while she was being prepped for anesthesia. She climbed off the table and asked her Japanese doctor if there was a non-surgical way to heal her condition. He told her there was if she could stay in Japan long enough. He explained that his own sister had been healed at Chujiro Hayashi’s Reiki clinic, but the treatment took time. Takata insisted on going to the Reiki clinic, so her doctor took her. She spent four months there and received Reiki treatments from Hayashi after which she was healed. Hayashi then trained her in Reiki. She was initiated into the First Degree over a four-day period. On the first day, she learned basic hand positions for treating people above the neck for

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 33

conditions and diseases common to that area. She learned hand positions to treat conditions that affected the front of the body on the second day. On the third day, she learned hand positions that treated conditions involving the back. She learned about treating acute cases and accidents on the fourth day, the same day she was exposed to Reiki’s spiritual aspects and the Five Ideals. She received a copy of Hayashi’s healing guide, including a list of diseases and the hand positions used to treat them. She heard Hayashi say that if Reiki practitioners could find what was causing the condition and eliminate that cause, they could eliminate its effect on the body. Then Takata spent an internship year working in pairs with other students in Hayashi’s clinic. They treated patients in the morning and made house calls in the afternoon. After one year, she was initiated into the Second Degree of Reiki. More training followed. Takata returned to Hawaii in the summer of 1937, and Hayashi came to visit her there. For six months, he gave classes and treatments with Takata, first in Kauai, then in Honolulu. She was attuned as a Reiki Master on Feb. 21, 1938. Then Hayashi returned to Japan. 30 That trip to Hawaii had unfortunate consequences for Hayashi. In the tense moments leading up to World War II, the Japanese government suspected Hayashi of being a spy because he had traveled to Hawaii. As the war grew more intense, Hayashi anticipated he would be called up for military service any time, perhaps even as a medical officer. The healing power of Reiki was more effective than any other healing method he had tried. He knew his country would not let him give Reiki treatments on the battlefield. To make the situation even more unpalatable, he knew he could not make himself take a life if he were forced into combat. He faced what to him seemed an impossible choice: being forced to go to war where he would have to give soldiers what he considered inadequate medical treatment or refusing to return to military service, which meant being imprisoned and executed as a spy. Instead, he decided to die with dignity at his own hand. His wife, Chie Hayashi, and some of his students were present with him when he died on May 11, 1940 at his villa in Atami, a hot spring resort near Mt. Fuji. 31 After he died, his wife continued her husband’s work by teaching Hayashi Reiki seminars throughout Japan. 32 Takata told students that she was at Hayashi’s bedside when he died. His family does not remember the events that way.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 34

According to Takata, she had an experience one night in which she saw Hayashi standing at the foot of her bed. She interpreted that to mean he was calling her to Japan, so she traveled to his Japanese clinic. There, he told her a great war was coming, and he was afraid that Reiki would be lost to the world. She maintained that to keep Reiki alive he made her his successor. 33 When she taught Reiki classes in the West, she claimed she was both his successor and the only Reiki Master in the world. As a result, most people didn’t research the history of Reiki, because they thought she was the only authority. 34 Later study of the history of Reiki in Japan by authors such as Frank Arjava Petter and William Lee Rand revealed that there were a number of other Reiki Masters in the world. The organization that Mikao Usui began in Japan, Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, continues to operate to this day, building on the Reiki Masters that Usui attuned. Numerous Reiki students and teachers continue to practice Reiki in Japan. 35 Many years later, when Frank Arjava Petter and Tadao Yamaguchi were researching The Hayashi Reiki Manual, they found a person who had attended Hayashi’s memorial service in 1952. By then most people who attended the service had died. The person recalled that Takata came from Hawaii to the memorial service to pay her respects and that Mrs. Hayashi asked her to return to Japan to take over the Hayashi Reiki seminars. Takata declined, the witness recalled, saying it had been too long since she learned Hayashi’s Reiki methods, and she had already begun to alter and popularize them in Hawaii. 36

Takata Plays Leading Role in Bringing Reiki to the West Not long after Takata received her Second Degree Reiki training from Hayashi in 1937, she studied massage at the National College of Drugless Physicians in Chicago, Ill. She thought a massage degree would help her avoid licensing issues involving her use of Reiki. She received the Reiki Master attunement from Hayashi in 1938. In Oct. 1939, she moved her office to 2070 Kilauea Ave. in Hilo. The sign on her office read, “Hawaii Health Studio. Steam baths, Swedish massage, nerve, gland, short wave treatments. H. Takata.” 37 She had several clinics in Hawaii. She gave Reiki treatments and initiated students into Reiki I and II. She taught her first Reiki Master class in 1970. 38

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 35

Her classes were taught in Hawaii until the 1970s when she began teaching on the mainland. It was not until 1973 that she taught a mainland class attended by students who were not of Japanese origin. That class took place on Orcas Island off the Washington state coast. She often held classes in people’s private homes. Her Reiki I classes were usually taught in three or four evenings of two or more hours each. 39 She did not let students take notes or tape record her workshops, nor did she provide them with a manual or with any printed materials. She maintained that the strict rule was a necessary part of Reiki Master training in the Usui system. Researchers learned later that Reiki is not just an oral tradition. Both Usui and Hayashi gave written material to their students. 40

Takata’s Foundation Treatment When Takata taught Reiki and gave treatments, she used what she called a foundation treatment that included four hand positions for the torso and three for the head. First, she covered the areas of the stomach, pancreas and spleen. Then she moved to the liver and gall bladder. Her third position involved the transverse colon and small intestines. That was followed by a hand placement over the reproductive system, ascending and descending colon, and the bladder. She called the front torso the “main factory,” which processes fuel taken in by the body. She taught students to spend half their treatment time there. Then she moved to the head, using three or sometimes four positions. In the first head position, she covered the eyes. Then she placed her hands on either side of the head. The third position involved cupping her hands around the person’s neck. Sometimes she treated the back of the head. Occasionally she reversed the process and started the foundation treatment at the head followed by the torso positions. After the foundation treatment, she began searching for the cause of the patient’s distress. Then she applied Reiki to specific areas related to the cause. She emphasized the need to treat both the cause and its symptoms, because the cause often was at a different location than the symptoms. If students treated both the symptoms and the place where the disease originated, she said patients would recover. Otherwise, they would have only temporary relief. She used her intuition and her recognition of energy vibrations to reveal where the illness began. 41 For people who had experienced trauma, she recommended a hand placement over the

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 36

adrenal glands. If the adrenals were not treated, she thought shock from the trauma would remain in those glands, and adrenaline would continue to pour into the person’s body, creating an unhealthy situation. In that case, she maintained, an injury might show temporary improvement, but the symptoms would return. 42 She recommended daily Reiki treatments for chronic conditions. Often she taught patients how to give themselves Reiki every day so they could continue the healing process. She also gave members of the family Reiki attunements so they could treat the patient more frequently at home. Over the course of 40 years, Takata trained 22 Reiki masters. She trained many other students in the Reiki I and Reiki II levels. She recommended that her students give themselves Reiki frequently to help them be more effective Reiki healers. The last Reiki Master attunement she gave was on Oct. 12, 1980, two months before she died on Dec. 11. She would have turned 80 on Dec. 24, but she looked much younger than her years.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 37

EXPLORING REIKI I CHAPTER 4 LAYERS OF THE AURA Anything that has an atomic structure has an aura, which is an energy field with different layers around the body. It is easier to detect the energy fields of animate life such as people, animals, trees and other plants because those atoms are more active and vibrant than are the atoms of stones and other inanimate life. Yet, even stones have auras. 1 The aura is invisible to many people, but some can see it. To healers who can discern it, the aura reveals information about a person’s health. One exercise to help you sense your aura’s presence is to put your palms together. At a slow pace, move them about a foot apart horizontally. Then slowly move your palms close together. Continue to do this so that your palms are moving back and forth like an accordion. As you move them toward each other, see if you can feel a gentle resistance. This is your body’s electromagnetic field, or aura. Now try to bounce the energy back and forth from one palm to the other. As you do this, your palms may feel tingly, or you may feel them start to pulse. This is your reaction to your body’s electromagnetic field. The aura of an average, healthy person extends about eight to ten feet around the body in an egg shape. The more physically and spiritually healthy a person is, the farther from the body the aura will extend. Many artists have painted Jesus and saints with halos around their heads. This is the easiest part of the aura to see. As every personality is different, so every aura has its own unique energy frequency. Like a snowflake, no two auras are exactly alike. You will feel the most rapport with people whose auras vibrate at an energy frequency similar to yours. Those energy frequencies come from your subtle bodies, which are the layers that make up the aura, and from your physical body. Though the physical body is comprised of tissues, bones, organs, and other matter, it is also laced with energy channels that connect with the aura. “The subtle bodies are bands of energy of varying intensity that surround and interpenetrate with the physical,” said metaphysical teacher Ted Andrews. “Their predominant function is to help coordinate and regulate the soul’s activities in the physical life.” 2

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 38

The aura is interconnected with seven major and several minor chakras, which could be described as revolving wheels or funnels of energy. They take higher voltage energy and ramp it down to a lower level that our body can tolerate. That energy feeds different organs, glands and other body systems. The chakras will be discussed in depth in Chapter 5.

Etheric Body The etheric body gets its name from the word “ether,” which means a state between energy and matter. It is superimposed over the physical body and is composed mostly of energy lines that shape and anchor the body’s physical tissues. They also help to guide the body’s growth and to maintain and sustain it. These energy channels connect the physical and etheric bodies and can be affected by techniques such as acupuncture. People trained in this ancient Chinese healing method place needles at various points along the body’s 14 meridians, which supply our organs and tissues with energy. For those who can see this layer of the aura, it varies in color from light blue to gray. It extends from a quarter of an inch to two inches beyond the physical body and pulsates at about 15-20 cycles per minute. 3 If the etheric body becomes distorted, physical disease soon follows. 4 This body is connected mainly with the first and second chakras. Under normal conditions, it extends about an inch from the physical body. 5 Reiki done regularly can help the etheric body stay better balanced. As a result, the physical body stays healthier.

Astral or Emotional Body Next to the etheric body is the astral body, also known as the emotional body because it is considered to be the seat of human emotions. It normally extends six inches to about two feet from the body. When you are excited or emotionally active, it can expand even further. It is connected mainly with the solar plexus and heart chakras, and it can have many different colors, depending on how the person is feeling. 6

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 39

The astral body is composed of matter whose energetic frequencies are well beyond what normal humans can perceive. It is thought to be the seat of our sensual appetites and desires, language, mood, feelings and fears. People who sense they were traveling in their sleep may have been doing just that. The astral body can move throughout the environment, even far into space, and interact with it while we sleep. It remains tethered to the physical body by a silver cord, similar to an umbilical cord. When the physical body dies, it is believed that the silver cord is severed, leaving the physical body to decay. 7 Yet the astral body still exists and contains the individual’s personality.

Mental Body Beyond the astral body is the mental body, which vibrates at a higher frequency level than the astral body. If you compared frequencies to an energetic piano scale, it would vibrate an octave above the astral body. It is the way we manifest and express our concrete intellect. Our thought forms at this level represent mental ideas that we have been or will be working on. 8 This part of the aura sometimes radiates a yellow light. It expands and becomes brighter as we use our mental faculties. It extends about three feet from our physical body and is connected with the throat and third eye chakras. Besides thinking, it also relates to activities such as planning, communicating, and visualizing. 9

Causal Body Above this layer is the causal body, or spiritual body, which contains what is sometimes called our higher self, our inner being, or our soul. It is a repository for everything we have ever learned and experienced in every lifetime we have lived on the physical plane. 10 It deals with abstract ideas and concepts and with the essence and underlying nature of things. Some people who can see this layer say it looks like strong but tiny threads of gold-silver light. It provides a firm layer of protection around the person’s entire energy field similar to the way an egg shell protects a developing chick. It extends two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half feet or farther from the physical body. 11 Not only does it contain past life memories, but it also contains our purpose in this life. It

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 40

is connected with our highest spiritual aspirations and experiences. It is here that our connection to Reiki occurs, and the Reiki symbols are stored here after we receive an attunement. The causal body becomes stronger as we develop spiritually. It is connected with the crown and third eye chakras. 12

Barbara Brennan’s Layers of the Aura When healer, psychotherapist and scientist Barbara Brennan explained the human energy field in her book, Hands of Light, she described seven layers of the aura. They are worth noting, because they detail what she sees when she looks at the aura. Her observations give us another way to understand the aura.

Brennan’s Layers of the Aura

The first three layers that Brennan sees, the etheric, emotional and mental bodies, are associated with the physical world, and they metabolize those energies. The fourth layer, the astral body, has an association with the heart chakra. It connects the first three layers with the aura’s three spiritual layers, the etheric template, celestial, and causal bodies. The etheric body has the same structure as the physical body down to the anatomical parts and organs. Its field exists before the physical body and provides the shape into which the physical body grows. 13

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 41

The emotional body is more fluid than the etheric body and does not duplicate the physical body. It contains all the colors of the rainbow. The colors contain brilliant clear hues when the energy that creates them is clear. They look dark and muddy if we feel confused. 14 The mental body is composed of finer substances than the emotional body. It is related to thoughts and mental processes and contains the structure of our ideas. Brennan finds this body the most difficult to see because humans are just beginning to develop their mental bodies and use their intellects with clarity. 15 The astral body might be thought of as the fire of the heart and often contains the rose light of love. The physical energies of the first three aura bodies must pass through this crucible to become spiritual energies of the fifth, sixth and seventh aura bodies. Likewise, the spiritual energies of the upper aura bodies must pass through the fire of the heart to be transformed into the lower physical energies. 16 The etheric template body contains the perfect blueprint of everything that exists on the physical plane. If something is disrupted anywhere in the aura, it must be fixed here for physical health to return. The empty, or negative, space formed by the etheric template creates a place in which the etheric body can rest in the etheric template’s perfect blueprint, while distortions are corrected there. When the corrections are made, the etheric body then interfaces with the physical body through energy pathways to help it heal. 17 The celestial body is the layer through which we experience spiritual ecstasy. We can reach that state through meditation or other spiritual practices. At this level we see the light and love that exists in everything. 18 We know we are one with God at the layer of the causal body. It contains the main power current that runs up and down the spine. A band at the head-neck area usually contains the past life you’re working to clear as you live in your present life. It is the last layer on the spiritual plane that is directly related to your current life, and it contains your life plan. 19 Brennan also can see two layers beyond this level, both of which appear to be crystalline and to have very fine, high vibrations. The eighth layer is mostly fluid, while the ninth layer appears to be a crystalline template of all the layers below it. 20

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 42

Reiki Helps the Aura to Heal Chakras pass through each layer of the aura, and every layer is interconnected. Reiki energy brings healing to whatever aura layers and chakras need attention. When you scan a person’s body and feel blocked energy, you are feeling blocks in the aura, chakras or energy pathways that feed them. If the blocks have been there long enough, they may have created physical distress in the organs and tissues. Applying Reiki to those areas helps to release the blocks. Once the energy flows freely again, the body can begin to heal itself. With regular Reiki treatments, people are more likely to maintain a state of harmony and balance, which promotes health. With each treatment, energy flows more easily and effectively through the body. If blockages have been there long enough to create significant disease, it might be necessary to consult a medical doctor. Reiki is a wonderful tool, but other healing techniques may be needed as well.

How Energy Flows through Our Body Energy flows through the physical body using three primary channels. They are called by different names in various countries. The different names and slightly different ways of explaining the movement of energy can be confusing. The following is an attempt at a simpler explanation. The three channels are the hara line, the conception vessel and the governing vessel. Together, they are called the Kundalini in India. Kundalini energy sits like a coiled snake at the base of the spine and rises up the channels during a spiritual awakening. Reiki works by bringing ki energy through the body along these three channels and through branching energy pathways to the hands. When a person receives a Reiki attunement, Reiki energy opens and clears the three primary channels, the chakras and related energy pathways, and enhances the ability of those channels to transmit Reiki energy. It usually takes awhile to adjust to the enlarged channels and to the increased amount of energy that can flow through them. The conception and governing vessels are sometimes called the central and governing channels, which are two of the 14 meridians that travel through the body, carrying energy to and

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 43

from many places. In actuality, there is only one long meridian. It surfaces 12 times. The central and governing meridians connect equally with each part of that one long meridian. They act like storage batteries for energy that travels through the meridians, and they affect how energy enters and leaves the body. 21 Positive and negative energy flows through all 14 meridians and helps various parts of the body communicate with each other. The meridians are named for the life function with which they are associated. In addition to the central and governing meridians, there are ten organ meridians that feed energy to various organs in the body. Also, two function meridians affect the circulation of all body fluids and regulate temperature, immune response, metabolism, passions, and survival responses. The meridians have been measured and mapped electronically, thermally and radioactively. 22 Even though western medicine has not emphasized these energy pathways, they play important roles in the body. Two excellent resources for people who want to learn more about the meridians are the books Energy Medicine by Barbara Eden with David Feinstein and Touch for Health by John and Matthew Thie.

Hara Line The hara line, which carries a neutral energy charge, runs vertically through the spinal column and links with the central nervous system and the chakra system. It is our connection to the earth. It lies a quantum level deeper than the aura. It is the earliest expression of our individual core essence and contains our soul’s intent and purpose for coming into physical existence as well as our unique qualities and gifts. We are born with disturbances in our hara line that are a result of things our soul still needs to learn. We create more splits in our hara line as we build sophisticated and complex defenses to avoid facing our fears. Those splits make it harder for us to recognize who we really are. 23 About one third of an inch wide, the hara line extends from approximately three-and-ahalf feet above our heads, at a place called the individuation point, and travels deep into the earth’s core. The individuation point is our connection to God.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 44

Individuation Point

The hara line contains our reason for being alive. To those who can see it, its top point above the head looks like the narrow end of a funnel pointing to the sky. The wider end of the funnel, about one-third of an inch in width, points down over the head. If this narrow point gets clogged or distorted, people can feel as though they have lost their connection to God. They may become cynical and unhappy with organized religion or see it as a way to control people because they don’t believe a divine power exists. 24 Reiki energy can help to heal the hara line. From the individuation point, the hara line continues down to the soul point under the throat and above the heart. This point is usually one to two inches in diameter but can expand much larger during meditation or prayer. It is where we carry our spiritual longing and where we can find everything we long to be, do or become. 25 If the soul point becomes dysfunctional, people have a hard time sensing what they want right now or in the future. They carry a deep sadness. They may decide to give up, or they may say they don’t care. 26 Reiki can help to energize this section of the hara line and make it healthier. The hara line continues traveling from the soul point to the tan tien, the place where we hold our life force energy, our will to exist in our physical form. It is stored in the space between the second and third chakras in front of the kidneys in the center of the body, about two-and-ahalf inches below the naval. This point is about one-and-a-half inches in diameter and does not

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 45

change shape. Healers use it to help them ground deep into the earth’s core from which they draw much healing energy. Sometimes the tan tien can get off balance by moving too far forward, too far backward or to one side or the other. It can lose its proper shape, or the membrane around it can tear. When the tan tien is too far forward, the person may try to jump ahead and not be content to stay in the present moment. If it is tilted too far back, the person may become less involved with life. Both these conditions may result in lower back pain. If the membrane around the tan tien is torn, people might become emotionally unstable or very weak. The tan tien needs to be repositioned and repaired before healing can occur. 27 If you sense the tan tien may be torn or off balance, focus Reiki energy there and allow the energy and your spiritual helpers to fix it. You don’t control the energy. You simply allow yourself to channel Reiki energy from God through you to the client, trusting that it will flow in the right amount and to the right place for healing to occur. From the tan tien, the hara line continues deep into the center of the earth’s core, helping to firmly ground people. When people are grounded, they are fully in the present moment. Ungrounded, they may feel like they are drifting and not well focused on the task at hand. When they do not have a well balanced hara line, they tend to argue, procrastinate, do sloppy work, or feel confused or misunderstood in their relationships with others. 28 Most people have trouble keeping their hara line balanced. When Reiki energy flows through the hara line, it helps to straighten and realign it. Another way to heal your own tan tien is to learn and practice correct tai chi movements. An exercise to help straighten and realign the hara line is a grounding practice that I call Streams of Light Energy. Ask God to send Streams of Light Energy from above the top of your head down through your body. It naturally follows the hara line. It also surrounds your entire body with protective and healing energy. Ask the light to ground you deep into the earth. Then ask the earth to send nurturing and nourishing energy to connect you back up to God. Do this exercise two or three times until you feel a strong connection. If you do this every day, you will help the hara line maintain better health.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 46

Conception and Governing Vessels In addition to being part of the body’s meridian system, the conception and governing vessels are connected to the hara line. They play an important role in the way Reiki travels through the body. The conception vessel is feminine, or yin, and carries a negative energy charge. It begins at the Hui Yin (pronounced Way Yin) point where your legs meet your body. It’s in the general area of the perineum and the root chakra. The conception vessel moves up the front of the body and ends just under the lower lip. 29 The governing vessel is masculine, or yang, and carries a positive energy charge. It also begins at the perineum. Then it moves up the back along the spinal column, over the top of the head, ending above the upper lip. 30 When your tongue touches the roof of your mouth, it completes the circuit of energy that flows through the conception and governing vessels.

Governing and Conception Vessels

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 47

During Reiki attunements, especially the Reiki I attunement, energy moves through the hara line and the conception and governing vessels, opening and clearing each channel and healing and conditioning the crown and heart chakras. Energy also moves through meridian pathways to other parts of the body, including the hands. It is this opening and clearing of energy channels that can make people who receive the Reiki I attunement feel like they’re buzzing with more energy than they know how to handle.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 48

EXPLORING REIKI I CHAPTER 5 THE CHAKRAS Our auras are interconnected by seven major chakras and many minor ones. The word chakra comes from a Sanskrit word that means wheel or revolving disc. The chakra system takes higher vibrating energy and converts it to lower vibrating energy that the body can handle. The chakra system is mentioned in ancient yogic literature and for many years was ignored by Western science. Today, as subtle-energy technology develops in the Western hemisphere, ways are being found to measure chakras. Studies by people such as Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama of Japan and Dr. Valerie Hunt of UCLA have discovered ways to measure the body that seem to confirm the existence of the chakra system. Motoyama created a lead-lined recording booth electrically shielded from outside electromagnetic disturbances that measured the human bioelectrical field at a distance from the body’s surface. By using this booth, Motoyama measured the chakras of people who were experienced in using chakra energy. He discovered that some people could project energy through their chakras. Motoyama was able to detect significant electrical field disturbances coming from those chakras. At least one other researcher duplicated Motoyama’s findings. 1 Dr. Hunt used EMG (electromyography) electrodes to study bioelectrical energy changes in areas of skin that corresponded to chakra positions. These electrodes normally are used to measure the electrical potential of muscles. The measurements she obtained revealed that the chakra areas had cycles per second frequency ranges much higher than what has traditionally been found to radiate from the body. She also discovered that different wave patterns recorded at the chakra points on her subjects’ skin were associated with certain colors of the aura. 2 Studies such as these help to confirm that, even though most of us can’t see them, chakras do indeed exist. They play an important role in helping to keep us healthy both physically and spiritually. Each of the lower four chakras is symbolic of our planet’s ancient four elements of earth, water, fire and air. 3 The three higher chakras are associated with higher spiritual energies. In pictures, chakras look like funnels of energy attached to the body at various points. Chakras that appear on the front of the body flow through the endocrine glands and through

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 49

nerves in the spinal cord; they connect through the spinal cord to their chakra counterparts on the back of the body. The front chakras generally correlate with our feelings, and the back chakras relate to our will. 4 The crown, or seventh chakra, which flows into the top of our head, brings energy from God. The root, or first, chakra is located at the perineum where our legs meet our torso. Its energy moves downward and into the earth to help us stay grounded. Each of the seven major chakras is associated with a nerve plexus and a major endocrine gland. 5 If one of these major chakras is out of balance, blockages can form. The blockage affects the nerve plexus and endocrine gland associated with the chakra. When people are exposed to viral, chemical, emotional or other body stressors, the chakra that is most out of balance becomes the weak link as the body tries to handle the stress. Reiki helps to balance the chakras so people can maintain better health. Many illnesses that manifest as a result of chakra imbalances occur because our subconscious mind has filed away faulty information picked up in early childhood. People told us things about ourselves that may not have been accurate, or we overheard conversations about ourselves, and we decided that what other people said about us was true. Our subconscious mind has no truth filter. It accepts everything it hears, sees and experiences as fact. Some of that input is false, and those incorrect pieces of information create glitches in our system. In many ways our body is similar to a computer. When a virus attacks a computer program, the program stops functioning properly. In the same way, faulty information that our subconscious mind picks up causes our aura and, eventually, our physical body, to malfunction. These glitches in our system can create a host of difficulties until they are cleared away through a variety of methods, among them Reiki.

Root Chakra The lowest major chakra in the body is called the first, or root, chakra. It is associated with tribal issues and with our need for food, clothing, shelter and basic life necessities. It is located between the legs at the perineum. The feet, ankles, knees, legs, coccyx, sacrum, spine, and immune system are physical areas affected by the root chakra, as are openings of excretion

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 50

such as the rectum, anus and urethra. The root chakra resonates with the musical note C. It has a basic frequency of 7.8 HZ, or hertz, which is a base unit of frequency. 6 It is related to the color red, the earth element and the sense of smell. The root chakra is associated with the sacral-coccygeal nerve plexus, the reproductive physiological system and the gonads endocrine system. It supplies energy to the spinal column and kidneys and also has an association with the adrenal glands. 7 People who suffer from things such as hemorrhoids or who have trouble assimilating food or excreting body wastes may have root chakra issues. 8 They also may suffer from such things as coccygeal pain, sciatica, varicose veins, rectal tumors or rectal cancer, depression or immune disorders. 9 The root chakra affects survival, fertility, and our will to live. It is related to our sense of body position and body movement, and it supplies the body with physical vitality. 10 It carries the instincts that make us want to procreate, to carry on the species. Here people deal with issues of trust that develop as early as infancy based on whether or not they received adequate food, clothing, shelter and nurture. If people’s earliest needs were not met, the root chakra will continue to carry a sense of lack, and they will fear that their survival is at stake. Sometimes they will hoard food even though there is no current scarcity in their lives. At the root chakra we also experience the drives to eat, stay safe, and protect other family members. Ethnic conflict, religious fervor, honor and loyalty are impulses governed here. 11 This is where fear of physical injury is felt. It provides the main impulse that triggers the fightor-flight response. 12 If energy is balanced and healthy in the first chakra, people have a strong will to live. They often emit a sense of power and vitality, and they energize others. They have a strong tribal and family bond. They are loyal, and they honor and support others. People with blocked energy in this chakra often avoid physical activity, have low energy and may feel sluggish. 13 This chakra affects our ability to stay grounded. It exerts its energy down the legs, providing support; it also carries the life force up through our body. 14 When properly grounded, we feel a connection with Mother Earth. In this well grounded state, we sometimes can feel energy flow from our feet into the earth, creating a bond of strength and presence. There are

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 51

excellent grounding tools available to aid in the grounding process. An excellent one is a guided meditation on CD called Down to Earth created by Donna Murray of Durango, Colo. Contact her at www.bodyandsoulhealing.com. A quick exercise, though not nearly as comprehensive, is what I call Grass Grounding. Most people who don’t have a background in energy work find it comfortable to use. Imagine you are lying on soft, green grass. Feel your body connect with the ground all the way from your feet and legs to your torso, arms and head. Feel the coolness and the firm support it provides. Smell the earthiness. Feel your connection to the ground in every cell of your being. Take a deep breath and let it out. Notice how relaxed you feel. When we’re well grounded, we can more easily discharge emotional energy that we accumulate. If we have weak root chakras, we will have a harder time staying grounded. In that case, our emotions tend to stagnate in our body, and we don’t have the vitality to meet new challenges. We may feel stuck, as though we can’t make any progress. If we are not well grounded, we are less able to make day-to-day decisions based on our own needs. People who have too much energy in their root chakra may feel paranoid and react defensively. When this chakra is unhealthy, people might develop a victim consciousness in which they think they no longer have the ability to choose. They don’t feel responsible for the circumstances in which they find themselves. One of the first steps people can take on their return to good health is to recognize that they’re really not victims. Once they identify that faulty belief, they have taken the first step to empower themselves to make choices and to balance their root chakra. To maintain this chakra in a state of health, connect with the part of yourself that remains eternal, sometimes called the inner being, higher self, or soul. Meditate or do things you love long enough that you lose track of time. When this chakra is healthy, creativity flourishes. The root chakra is considered the seat of kundalini. It can be compared to fuel for the furnace. If this energy is not awakened so that it can be channeled upward through the chakras, your creativity cannot blossom. The kundalini is powerful subtle energy symbolized as a coiled serpent ready to leap upwards through the spinal pathways that connect the chakras. It can travel upward only when a person’s attitudes have changed through prayer,

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 52

meditation, counseling or other self-awakening methods. People who experience joy, inner peace or harmony as they pray or meditate know what awakened kundalini energy feels like. To experience the flow of kundalini energy, the root chakra must be open and balanced with the crown chakra. When this connection is balanced and open, it allows a power current to run up and down the spine. That keeps the proper pressure within the chakra system so the kundalini can move. 15 Sometimes people feel a sudden, unsettling rise of their kundalini energy, which can leave them out of balance, overwhelmed and unable to cope well with life for a period of days, weeks, or, in extreme cases, even months. If that happens to you, find someone who understands kundalini energy to help you through the transition. Normally, the rise of kundalini energy is a pleasant, enlivening experience.

Sacral Chakra The sacral chakra, sometimes called the second, navel, gonadal or belly chakra, is associated with the color orange, the water element, and the sense of taste. It resonates with the musical note D and has a basic frequency of 15.6 HZ. 16 It supplies energy for reproduction, the enjoyment of sexuality, and physical attraction in relationships. In terms of sexuality, the root chakra is associated with the instinct to procreate, while the sacral chakra focuses more on sensuality and the pleasure of being sexually active. Appetite is governed by this chakra, and it is here that people have a sense of well-being, prosperity and abundance. With a balanced second chakra they experience pleasure, happiness and contentment. 17 Guilt hides here, and the shadow self has its main location in this chakra. 18 “Our shadow is made up of the thoughts, emotions, and impulses that we find too painful, embarrassing, or distasteful to accept,” said Debbie Ford, author of The Secret of the Shadow and co-author of The Shadow Effect. “We have all hidden away and repressed pain-filled, shame-filled moments, and, over time, these emotions harden into our shadow,” Ford said. “These are the unexpressed fears, the horrifying shame, the gnawing guilt. These are all the issues of the past that we have never faced.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 53

… Whatever we have hidden away in shame or denied out of fear holds the key to unlock a self that we feel proud of, a self that inspires us, a self that is propelled to action by great vision and purpose rather than one that is created out of our limitations and the unhealed wounds of our past.” 19 The shadow self contains wonderful potential if we are brave enough to examine it. The sacral chakra is located about four finger widths below the belly button. It can extend anywhere from the top of the pelvic bone to the navel. 20 This chakra affects the sacral nerve plexus and the genitourinary system, which includes reproductive organs and the urinary tract. 21 It is also associated with the large and small intestines, appendix and lumbar vertebrae. 22 If this chakra is not well balanced, people may have low back and pelvic pain, obstetricgynecologic problems, prostate issues, bladder problems, and various types of sexual dysfunction. Problems with sciatica can originate here, as they can in the first chakra. 23 Energy blockages may lead to illnesses such as colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, cervical and uterine cancer, bladder tumors, and diseases of the small intestine related to poor absorption. 24 Issues arising from problems with sexuality, fertility, or past abuse can be resolved when this chakra returns to health. 25 The sacral chakra also involves the ability to show integrity, respect for others, creativity and imagination. It affects the sense of personal identity and emotional boundaries. People can feel out of control or under someone else’s control if this chakra is unbalanced. When it is well balanced, they feel they can survive on their own, take risks and recover from loss. 26 People with an unhealthy second chakra often sacrifice their own sense of fulfillment, creativity, health and well being for what they perceive to be the good of others. They see this as acceptable behavior and expect others to sacrifice for them. 27 To break out of the martyr role, people can do things that give them pleasure. In that way, they revitalize their energy and open the door to abundance, prosperity and success. This chakra is governed by faith and trust in the larger picture and does not require people to make sense out of things. When healthy, it reveals a person’s innocent core before it was hardened by life’s circumstances. People with a strong second chakra often make others feel

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 54

cared for and comfortable. 28

Solar Plexus Chakra The solar plexus, or third chakra, relates to our sense of who we are, our self-esteem, selfworth, personal power and our confidence to take action in the world. It is associated with the color yellow, the fire element and the sense of sight. It resonates with the musical note E and has a basic frequency of 22.4 HZ. 29 It is located near the diaphragm in the upper middle abdomen below the sternum’s tip. 30 This chakra is associated with intuition. Here we sense our relationship to the universe and to others and develop our belief about whether or not we have what it takes to succeed and to take care of ourselves. 31 It’s related to our inner child and all the things we came to believe about ourselves as children. It’s where the ego develops along with self-consciousness and our sense of personal power. Because this chakra generates huge amounts of energy during our interchanges with others, it’s sometimes called the power chakra. Used positively, this energy gives direction and purpose to life. 32 A mental chakra, it functions best when it’s directly related to the person’s emotional life. That’s because mental processes regulate the emotional life. The person’s mental understanding of the emotions being felt puts those emotions into an orderly framework. That framework, whether accurate or not, defines reality for the person An open, harmoniously functioning third chakra provides people with fulfilling emotional lives that don’t overwhelm them. People may not feel anything if this chakra is closed. If a protective membrane over an open third chakra is torn, the person will experience uncontrolled emotional swings, and diseases such as adrenal exhaustion could follow. 33 This chakra is logical as opposed to the more artistic second chakra. Its energy can be cunning, suspicious, inflexible, and bound by a rigid sense of responsibility. 34 It affects the digestive system, the adrenals, and the solar nerve plexus. It supplies subtle energy to most major organs involved in digestion and purification, including the stomach, pancreas, liver, gall bladder, spleen, adrenal glands, kidneys, and intestines. 35

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 55

It also affects the upper abdomen, the umbilicus to the rib cage, and the 12th thoracic through the 2nd lumbar vertebra. If this chakra is not well balanced, it can lead to stomach and small intestinal ulcers or tumors, diabetes, pancreatitis, indigestion, anorexia or bulimia, hepatitis, cirrhosis, adrenal excesses or deficiencies, arthritis, and transverse colon problems. 36 Alcoholism and food issues can crop up in people who have a weak or imbalanced third chakra. 37 It is a common site of energy blockages. When people have poorly functioning third chakras, they may break commitments to themselves, manipulate others to gain their approval, and have poor personal boundaries. 38 They have a hard time seeing their own value, making it easy for others to manipulate them. People who have weak third chakras often think of themselves as servants. They don’t believe they’re worth much and don’t think they deserve anything better out of life. They often give away their personal power and ignore their personal needs. They tend to maintain a low profile and are often self-effacing. 39 Sometimes they feel the sweetness has gone out of life. When this chakra is healthy, people understand what is helpful and harmful for them. They’re good at setting firm boundaries that are flexible when necessary. The third chakra is strengthened when people learn to love, value and honor themselves and when they do not depend on others to make them feel good about who they are. One way to empower the third chakra is to do something you want to do but haven’t let yourself do in the past, maybe because you were afraid or didn’t think you were good enough. The more you take control of your life, the more you begin to recognize your strengths and abilities. You also can strengthen this chakra by taking pride in your work, by trusting your intuition and by keeping your word. 40 It’s important to keep this chakra strong if you want to remain physically healthy. Because it’s associated with the fire element, it relates to the burning energies of food digestion. If those energies aren’t properly regulated, they can burn a hole in the wall of associated organs. Duodenal ulcers are one example. Since the solar plexus is the seat of anger and aggression, those fiery emotions can flare when energy is out of balance. If the issues are not resolved and the chakra remains unbalanced, people can be preoccupied with a need to dominate and control others. Or they might exhibit tendencies on the other end of the spectrum, such as being

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 56

cowardly, meek or submissive. Sometimes, they may flip flop between those behaviors. 41 Because the third chakra has an association with the adrenal glands, it also can be affected by the fight-or-flight instinct and its cousin, the tendency to freeze in the face of danger or fear. When a fight-or-flight response begins, adrenaline rushes to various parts of the body to provide energy to meet perceived danger. Sometimes when enough perceived or real dangers have been experienced by someone, the fight-or-flight response becomes stuck in the switched on position, making the adrenal glands constantly work overtime. The excess fear related energy can create blockages if it can’t find a way out of the body. Eventually, that stuck energy can lead to physical or psychological symptoms. Learning to release that trapped trauma will help to heal the third chakra and move the entire body toward health. One way to switch off that fight-or-flight response and release the excess energy is to seek help from a professional trained in healing trauma and to learn more about how trauma affects the body. Healing Trauma is an excellent book and CD that explains how to successfully work with trauma’s aftermath. It was written by Peter Levine, who has a Ph.D. in medical and biological physics and a doctorate in psychology. It includes a 12-phase healing trauma program, which explains his Somatic Experiencing methods. In addition, he wrote Waking the Tiger that explores in greater depth how to heal trauma. Reiki also can be effective. It flows through the body, burning up or melting away stuck energy. Another thing that affects the third chakra’s health is the belt flow or channel, which healer Barbara Eden describes as an energy system that goes around the waist between the second and third chakras. It is the only energy channel in the body that runs horizontally. All other channels run vertically or diagonally. If the belt channel is not flowing well, it can create a wall above the second chakra, cutting it off from the third chakra and chakras above it. When there is a glitch in the flow, as often happens in Western cultures, people may be tormented by self-hatred. This happens as the third chakra tries to create an identity at odds with the second chakra’s natural childlike qualities, including spontaneity and trust. 42 Stretching exercises or Yoga help to open up the belt flow. A specific breathing exercise also helps. Breathe in as though you were breathing into the navel. As you keep breathing in, imagine that the breath separates into two streams, traveling

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 57

around the waist to the back and joining at the spine. Breathe out from the spine position and imagine the breath going back around the waist to the navel. Repeat this nine times. When you’re done, you may feel more power in that area of your body. 43

Belt Flow Exercise

Heart Chakra The heart chakra, or fourth chakra, is related to love. It is located behind the breastbone or sternum. The front part of the chakra relates to love, and the back part relates to will. 44 It has a connection to the color green, the air element and the sense of touch. It is associated with the musical note F, and it vibrates at a basic frequency of 30.2 HZ. 45 The heart chakra’s challenge is to learn to forgive and to love unconditionally. Love is the only authentic power, and lack of forgiveness is the greatest personal poison. 46 Learning to love ourselves and others unconditionally helps the heart chakra become more open and balanced. It is one of the two main chakras through which Reiki energy enters our body. The other one is the crown chakra. The heart chakra converts energy from the lower chakras into subtler energy forms used

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 58

by the upper chakras. It plays an important role in converting ideas associated with the fifth, sixth and seventh chakras into the physical reality that’s associated with the first, second and third chakras. In that way, it helps us to stay grounded as we handle daily life issues while we also stay connected with the more spiritual parts of our being. The heart chakra affects the heart nerve plexus and the circulatory system. It supplies energy to the heart, blood, and vagus nerve. It is also associated with the thymus gland, 47 which produces hormones that helps people fight off disease. It provides subtle energy to the bronchial tubes, lungs and breasts and affects the way the entire circulatory system functions. An imbalance in this chakra can lead to strokes and other circulatory diseases, and it may result in heart disease. 48 It also affects the diaphragm, rib cage, and esophagus. It shares arms, shoulders, hands and esophagus with the fifth chakra. Diseases such as asthma, lung and breast cancer, pneumonia, and problems with the thoracic spine can result from an energetic imbalance in the fourth chakra. 49 When people learn to sustain a healthy flow of subtle energy through their heart chakras, the thymus gland works more effectively, providing a healthy immune response. Prolonged periods of grief, stress, loneliness or depression can reduce the effectiveness of a person’s immune system, making it harder to fight off diseases. People with unbalanced heart chakras can become involved in co-dependent relationships. 50 They sometimes carry deep resentments about past hurts that block their ability to experience love. They may confuse infatuation with real love, or they may become narcissistic, infatuated with themselves. 51 They may crave love but feel terrified of it and put up defenses to protect themselves from it. They may feel that no one loves them, that they are controlled by others, or that they have been emotionally wounded beyond recovery. 52 Individuals with a healthy heart chakra are not judgmental. They draw people to them because of their positive, affirming attitude. They are able to forgive when they have been hurt. They can live in the present rather than dwelling on past hurts or worrying about future ones. 53 Living in a state of non-judgment takes practice. In involves retraining your brain. This is one exercise that may reduce recurring thoughts that bother you about what someone did or said. Breathe in the light of unconditional love through your heart. Imagine it flowing to you from

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 59

God and from others who love you. Then breathe out that unconditional love to your persistent negative thoughts. Watch love surround and fill the person or event with healing light until your agitation disappears. Repeat the exercise if the troubling memory returns. This chakra can be strengthened when you work on living in the present moment. Learning to love every aspect of your life, from the joyful to the painful moments, is part of that present moment experience. Forgiving yourself and others for whatever happened in the past is another important step toward wholeness. Be willing to look at every person and every event, and allow forgiveness to flow into every memory. Recognize that you have a right to love and be loved. 54 This is not easy work, and you may need someone to help you through that process.

Throat Chakra The throat chakra, also known as the fifth chakra or psychic center, is related to will, to giving, receiving and speaking truth. It is associated with the color blue and the sense of hearing. Some people see the color as aqua or turquoise. It resonates with the musical note G, and it has a basic frequency of 38 HZ. 55 The fifth chakra influences major glands and structures in the neck. It lies directly over the thyroid gland and the larynx. 56 Located on the front and back of the throat, it is associated with the respiratory system, the thyroid gland and the cervical ganglia and medulla nerve plexus. It supplies energy to the thyroid, the bronchi, lungs and alimentary canal. 57 This chakra influences the parathyroid gland, which regulates calcium metabolism in bone cells. It produces thyroid hormone, which regulates the metabolic activity of all the cells in the body. It also influences the mouth, teeth, gums, vocal cords, trachea, cervical vertebrae, the parasympathetic nervous system, and general skeletal activity. 58 It shares the shoulders, arms, hands and esophagus with the heart chakra. 59 People with imbalanced fifth chakras may have an over-active or under-active thyroid and may be susceptible to problems with teeth, throat or gums, temporomandibular jaw disorder (TMJ), cancer of the larynx, voice problems, scoliosis, or parathyroid gland tumors. 60 This chakra holds the knowledge that lying to ourselves or others violates both body and spirit. When the throat chakra is balanced, people have faith in their ability to make decisions.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 60

They understand that divine will is for their highest good, and they align their personal will to it. They have faith, self-knowledge and personal authority. They speak the truth and do what they say they’ll do. They recognize that their words have power, and they express themselves well in any situation. They are direct and positive, because they understand this overcomes negativity. They learn to trust that what they have to say is valuable and worth expressing. They do not complain or engage in gossip, because they know these activities deplete their energy. 61 The fifth chakra channels mental energy to the mind and heart. It is strengthened every time people keep their word and express themselves honestly and with integrity. Sometimes called the center of the will and of higher creativity, this chakra supplies energy to help people speak, think, write, sing, and express themselves in other creative ways. It also can help with clairaudience, contemplation and inner guidance. 62 When this chakra is not well balanced, people feel that they lack authority and don’t have the power to make choices. They may tell lies, experience shame and let others define their needs and wants. 63 They may have difficulty speaking up, putting thoughts together, and expressing themselves coherently, or they may speak up too much and fail to listen or to comprehend what others have to say. 64 The fifth chakra is an important communication hub, because it holds information from all the chakras. It contains seven columns, or chambers, that form bridges going up and down the throat from other chakras, connecting the brain with the torso. Three columns on the throat’s left side break down energy, while three on the right side build and synthesize energy. A seventh column runs in front of the throat and maintains a balance between the energy break-down and build-up occurring in the other columns. This action sets the body’s metabolism. Energies that cross the right and left brain hemispheres also cross at the throat chakra. 65 When people place their hands on their throats, sometimes they can sense that one side is more full of energy than the other. The hyoid bone sits in the center of the throat chakra and acts as a gyroscope, balancing the right and left cerebral hemispheres and setting a good balance between fast and slow metabolism. If the hyoid bone is stuck, it can’t carry out its functions well. If people massage their throat in an effort to free up the hyoid bone, they can help it to function

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 61

better. A balanced hyoid bone can lead to a more harmonious relationship between the throat and the parathyroid glands, which help to break down calcium. 66 People with imbalanced fifth chakras tend to suppress their negative feelings, and they don’t reveal past hurts. Others stagnate, limit the development of their personality and become depressed. Sometimes they numb their feelings with alcohol, drugs, tobacco and food. They struggle to make themselves heard and may feel that their thoughts and opinions don’t count. These people often have tight neck muscles. They sometimes become tight lipped, have chronic problems with their mouth and jaw, and experience sore throats and hearing difficulties. 67 They often have sleep disorders, are afraid to speak up or be heard, have weight related issues, and cannot tell when people are being insincere. They may believe they can never know what is really true. Sometimes they have trouble being consistently truthful with themselves. 68 To help balance your throat chakra, you can engage in creative endeavors, learn to express your thoughts and feelings, and change your negative emotions to positive ones. Working with a trusted friend or therapist to express your feelings can help. Once energy flows upward in a balanced way through the spine and passes the heart chakra into the throat chakra, it gives you strength to stand firm in the face of opposition, to say no and mean it. When heavier energy vibrational frequencies such as anger, pain or fear flow through a balanced throat chakra from the lower chakras, they are processed and transmuted into more positive emotions such as joy. 69 Once this chakra is balanced and active, we become aware that we exist in the subtle world and physical world at the same time and that both worlds are real. 70 Too often we discount the intuitive messages we get, and we don’t recognize when God is speaking to us. An active fifth chakra allows us to recognize, accept and value the reality of both the seen and the unseen. When that happens, we function on a more deeply authentic level.

Brow Chakra The brow chakra, also known as the third eye or sixth chakra, is related to wisdom and intuition. It is associated with indigo, a blue-purple color similar to the night sky. It resonates with the musical note A and operates at a basic frequency of 46.8 HZ. 71

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 62

It is located in the brain behind the space between the eyebrows. The chakra’s front part is related to conceptual understanding, and the back part relates to carrying out ideas. 72 It is associated with will power and spiritual strength 73 and with clairvoyance, or clear vision. The brow chakra is related to the hypothalamus and pituitary nerve plexus, the autonomic nervous system and the pituitary gland. It supplies energy to the lower half of the brain, the left eye, both ears, the nose, and nervous system. 74 It has an effect on the pineal gland, the spinal cord and the sinuses. The crown, or seventh, chakra, also affects the pineal gland. When the seventh chakra is open, the brow chakra has an energy polarity between the pituitary and pineal glands. However, if the seventh chakra remains closed, the brow chakra’s energy polarity flows between the pituitary gland and the medulla oblongata, which is part of the brainstem. 75 When the brow chakra does not function well, people may develop diseases caused by not wanting to see what is important to their soul’s growth. An unbalanced sixth chakra also can result in brain tumors, strokes, blindness, deafness, seizures, learning disabilities, generalized spinal problems, panic and depression. Depression is a symptom shared with the seventh chakra. 76 A strong sixth chakra is related to focused thought, inspiration, emotional intelligence, an ability to evaluate insights with detachment and to integrate creativity and intuition. This chakra provides us with an inward way of focusing that gives us greater awareness, clearer insights and new understandings about the causes for events that happen in and around us. It helps us to analyze information and circumstances, and it gives us discernment, intuition, and wisdom. It is the seat of psychic and artistic gifts. 77 A healthy brow chakra allows us to balance the skills of our computing, analyzing left brain with our intuitive, artistic and psychic right brain. People who have a dysfunction in this chakra tend to over-intellectualize instead of using their intuitive intelligence to understand and solve their problems. Worry or going over endless mental gyrations stresses this chakra.78 A weak sixth chakra leads to fear of truth and discipline. It also contributes to fear of sound judgment and of our shadow self. 79 People weaken this chakra when they hold onto grief, insist on logical explanations for

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 63

their internal experiences, and close their minds to possibilities that don’t make sense to their rational minds. People with healthy sixth chakras are willing to take emotional risks, to recognize that there are multiple solutions to challenges, and to follow their hunches. 80 When this chakra is opened, a person’s conscious and subconscious states merge, helping to create a self that remembers every experience accurately from birth onward without fear and with unconditional love. 81 People with an open sixth chakra see all life forms as precious manifestations of God. They care, support, protect and nurture all of life. They believe in the benign nature of the universe, that everything has a potential for goodness and love, and that all things happen for the highest good even if they are painful or difficult in the moment. 82 The more people love and honor themselves, the healthier they allow this chakra to become. Various meditation practices also strengthen it. Different exercises can help to open your third eye as well. One involves placing the middle finger of your right or left hand at the bridge of your nose. Push up a couple of inches while you breathe deeply. Imagine that you are opening the eyelid of your third eye. Then imagine that you see light traveling up from your root chakra, through your second, third, fourth and fifth chakras to your sixth chakra. If the sixth chakra is open, the light will bend there and shoot out of your third eye. Another exercise involves taking a deep, calming breath, then asking a question that you direct from your sixth chakra to your root chakra. Feel the question settle into your root chakra’s energy. Then ask the light to move from your root chakra up your spine to your sixth chakra, carrying with it the answer to your question. Imagine yourself pulling up on the eyelid of your third eye. Let yourself sense the answer. 83

Crown Chakra The crown, or seventh chakra, is located at the top of the head. Associated with the color violet or white, it resonates with the musical note B and has a basic frequency of 54.6 HZ. It relates to our sense of being connected to God and our ability to live in the present moment. 84 It is one of two main entry points for Reiki energy. The heart chakra is the other entry point. 85 Giving yourself Reiki at the crown chakra will help to balance your energy.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 64

The crown chakra supplies energy to the upper half of the brain and to the right eye. 86 It is tied to the nerve plexus involving the cerebral cortex and pineal gland and to tasks of the central nervous system. 87 The sixth chakra also has an effect on the pineal gland. For the crown chakra to function well in a fully awake state, the body, mind and spirit must be balanced. When we have an open crown chakra, we also have an energy polarity between the pineal gland and the right and left cerebral hemispheres. In this state we can enter into the highest states of consciousness. When energy flow is blocked or congested in this chakra, people could develop various types of cerebral dysfunctions such as psychosis. 88 Diseases of the muscular system, skeletal system and skin are often influenced by the seventh chakra. Psycho-energetic dysfunctions of all kinds, including mystical depression that causes people to feel spiritually bereft, are associated with this chakra. Among them are chronic exhaustion not due to physical illness and extreme sensitivity to light, sound or other things relating to the environment. 89 Its strengths include a sense of unity with God and a belief that every aspect of our life, even suffering, has meaning and purpose. It emphasizes values, ethics, courage, selflessness, humanitarianism, faith and inspiration, spirituality and devotion, and the ability to see the bigger patterns in life. It helps to integrate the spiritual and physical aspects of ourselves. It is most open when we are involved with the deep inner searching of a spiritual quest. 90 A healthy crown chakra helps us to experience the height of beauty, refinement and spirituality. It lets us tap into joy and bliss and to feel at one with God. 91 People with healthy crown chakras don’t identify with negativity or limiting circumstances. They express gratitude and recognize that one of their purposes is spiritual growth. Weaknesses involving this chakra relate to loss of meaning, lack of purpose, a sense that there is no God and that there is no life after death. 92 People further weaken this chakra when they put conditions on their spiritual experiences and refuse to recognize that some guidance may be helpful even if it comes in a form that’s foreign to them. 93 People with an unhealthy crown chakra often focus on the left brain and tend to be arrogant. They find fault with other people’s imperfections and often find themselves lonely and isolated. They believe their ego is their greatest strength, and they deny a higher power. 94

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 65

When healing occurs here, so does the awareness of how they are connected with all things. In Western cultures, people whose crown chakras are wide open may be diagnosed as needing psychiatric medication. What they really need is training on how to become more balanced and grounded by learning to also rely on their first, second and third chakras. 95 Sometimes people who travel extensively by plane can open their seventh chakras so wide that they have trouble staying grounded. One way to counteract that is to spend time in nature, even holding onto a tree, if necessary, to become better grounded. 96 Or you can lie on green grass and feel your body connect with the cool, solid ground. People who like to take flight through their seventh chakras and travel outside their bodies may have trouble staying grounded and may even be angry about having to return to their physical shell. For those people, spending time in nature is crucial. Walking through grass, touching trees, wading through sand on the beach, listening to a flowing river’s rhythmic sound, or sitting on a lawn can help balance all their chakras so they can more easily ground to the earth. We help to establish a healthy crown chakra by learning to love ourselves and others. That means letting go of all the false, negative impressions about ourselves. Those impressions may have come from other people or from our own inner critic. It means forgiving ourselves and others for any past hurts and taking time to experience the wonder and delight of who we are. 97 When we experience a connection with God and practice living in the present moment, the energy of this chakra grows stronger.

Self I-Dentity Ho’oponopono An excellent tool to help us heal from incorrect impressions about ourselves, which have lodged in our subconscious mind, is by using Self I-Dentity Ho’oponopono. Roughly translated, Ho’oponopono means to make things right. This Hawaiian method of healing, updated from an earlier method, was developed by Kahuna Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona, a healer who taught it to Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len. In the book Zero Limits, Joe Vitale tells about meeting Dr. Len and learning the method. 98 Dr. Len was a staff psychologist in a ward for criminally insane prisoners at the Hawaii State Hospital for three years. When he arrived, the ward was an unpleasant, dangerous place to

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 66

work. When he left after practicing Self I-Dentity Ho’oponopono, the prisoners had vastly improved. Some were discharged because they were well, while others had their medicines significantly reduced. The ward became a pleasant environment. in which to live and work. But Dr. Len never did therapy with any of the patients. He didn’t even attend meetings or do required paperwork. His method was so simple that people didn’t believe it could work until they saw the prisoners’ remarkable improvement. He sat is his office alone and looked at the prisoners’ files. Whenever he had a negative reaction to anything in the files, he spoke to his subconscious mind and said four simple phrases: I love you, I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you. As he healed himself, the prisoners began to heal as well. The method works because on some level we are all connected. When we heal ourselves, healing also occurs in others. If we can say those four phrases to our own subconscious mind when we think negative or hurtful thoughts, we can dislodge the misconceptions that have settled there. In the process, we heal ourselves and contribute to the health of the rest of the world.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 67

EXPLORING REIKI I CHAPTER 6 REIKI HAND POSITIONS FOR SELF HEALING Once you have received the Reiki I attunement, you may use Reiki to heal yourself and to heal others who are in your presence. It is helpful to use the Reiki hand positions for self-healing every day for at least one month. After that, you can do it whenever you feel the need for Reiki. Daily self-healing during the first month helps you to learn the hand positions and become more familiar with Reiki energy. It also helps your body’s expanded energy channels carry Reiki energy more comfortably. Reiki self-healing may be used any time. One of my former students, who is now a Reiki Master, does Reiki self-healing over her abdomen every night. It helps her to fall asleep.

How to Hold Your Hands Whether you are doing self-healing or working on someone else, the recommended way to hold your hands is with your fingers close together and your thumb beside your index finger. Do not force your fingers to touch each other, but practice keeping them as close together as possible. This keeps the Reiki energy focused. However, in Reiki your intent is paramount. If you intend the Reiki to flow, it will flow even if your fingers are not held closely together. First, learn the recommended way to hold your hands. Then deviate from it when it seems appropriate. This is true of the hand positions too. First learn the positions in sequential order. As you become more practiced, you may sense the need to start at a different point on the body or to use a hand position different from anything you have learned. Trust that you are being guided. When you start to practice self-healing, at first you may feel nothing. Then you may feel a pulsing in your hands or some other indication that Reiki energy is flowing. If the pulsing is strong, you have a great need for Reiki at that spot. Reiki is helping to break up energy blockages so that energy can flow more smoothly, increasing the body’s ability to heal itself. Sometimes you will feel very hot. That means the Reiki is burning away an energy blockage. Leave your hands there until you feel the heat subside. Sometimes you will feel cool instead of hot. In that case, Reiki is melting an energy blockage. On occasion, you might feel your hands being gently

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 68

pushed away. That means it’s time to move to the next spot. You may sense different non-physical nudges telling you that it’s time to move on. Stay focused so you won’t miss the subtle clues. If you have been in one position longer than five minutes and the Reiki energy still has not subsided, you may go to the next position. This is helpful to know in case you are operating under time constraints. If you leave an area too soon, trust that angels and Reiki guides who assist you will continue sending Reiki to that place while you work on a different part of the body. If you are not under time constraints, keep your hands in one position until the energy subsides.

The Importance of Being Grounded It is important to ground yourself before you start doing Reiki. It will help keep you focused and will give excess energy a way to return to the Earth without getting stuck in your body. There are many effective grounding exercises. Use whatever exercise feels most comfortable to you. I have found this one to be effective. Imagine the white light of unconditional love flowing from God through the top of your head, traveling down your body, through your legs and feet and deep into the Earth. When your Earth connection feels firm, see nurturing energy traveling from the Earth up through your body, out the top of your crown chakra, and connecting you back up with God. Sometimes when I see that Earth energy, it appears like rich black soil with tiny sparkling black stones in it. It provides nourishing and nurturing energy throughout your body. Again, visualize the energy flowing from God through your body and deep into the Earth, then returning through your body and connecting back up to God in a continuous loop. Keep the loop going until you feel well grounded. This is similar to the Streams of Light Energy technique mentioned in chapter 4. Both are excellent ways to ground yourself. A simple and quick technique is to imagine you are digging your toes into the earth. See your feet fitting snuggly into a few inches of soil. Sense a solid connection. When you are working on clients, ask them to ground themselves. They need to make their own connection between earth and God, and doing the exercise under your supervision will

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 69

help them gain experience. One of the kindest things you can do is to teach them that, not only do they have the power to ground themselves, but it’s safe for them to do so. Talk them through a grounding exercise, using one just mentioned or a different exercise that works well for you. If your clients are not well grounded, they may feel disconnected or out of balance, and they may not be able to relax into the Reiki treatment. If they are ungrounded, you may detect very little energy when you do a body scan to identify where the energy blockages are. Called a Byosen Scan, it is done by running your hand slightly above the client’s body from head to toe. You will find more about how to do the scan in chapter 7, Reiki Hand Positions for Healing Others. When you don’t feel anything during a scan, it’s a strong indication that the non-physical part of the person has temporarily left the body, though it is still tethered by a silver cord. This lack of grounding can be caused by things such as stress, pain, or trauma. If it happens frequently, it could indicate that the person was once severely traumatized. It is fairly common for people who have been traumatized to dissociate by energetically leaving their bodies when something triggers a memory of that trauma and overwhelms them. Dissociation is a coping skill they used to survive during tough times, and they continue to use it when it’s no longer necessary. People who frequently dissociate may need the help of a good psychotherapist. The best grounding tool I have ever found is the CD, Down to Earth, which integrates the physical and spiritual aspects of who you are. Created by professional intuitive healer and life counselor Donna Murray of Durango, Colo., the CD is available through her website, http://www.bodyandsoulhealing.com, and at http://www.Amazon.com.

What to Do When Reiki Doesn’t Seem to Be Enough Reiki is a wonderful tool, but it should not be used to the exclusion of other treatment. It enhances and complements medical and psychological treatment. If physical or emotional problems persist after you have had several Reiki treatments, you may want to seek help from your doctor, naturopath, chiropractor, psychotherapist, or other health care provider. Don’t assume that Reiki will solve all your problems. However, the more Reiki treatments you receive,

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 70

the easier it will be for you to heal faster and at a deeper level. Even so, Reiki is not effective for people who aren’t ready to let go of a problem. They may be unaware that they’re clinging to the problem because it provides a secondary benefit. The problem could be giving them attention, a way to protect themselves, a way to punish others, an or excuse not to take action. In some cases the problem may highlight certain lifestyle or attitude changes that the person needs to make. Until those changes are made, the symptoms will remain.

The Reiki Self-Healing Positions Position 1 – Hands over Eyes

Position 1

Place your hands over your eyes. Your palms should cover your eyes without touching your eyelashes, because that may feel uncomfortable or ticklish. Your palms will cover your face, including your third eye chakra. Be sure not to cover your nose or mouth. This Reiki position helps with issues of the eyes, the frontal lobes of the brain, the pituitary and pineal glands, the nose and sinuses. It also helps to reduce headaches. 1 It addresses

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 71

issues of the mouth and facial muscles and helps to awaken the third eye. 2 Placing your hands in this position reduces emotional stress and puts you in a meditative state. It balances hormones that affect the pineal and pituitary glands.3 It also improves the clarity and quality of your thoughts, increases mental energy, and improves attention span and concentration. It helps you make better decisions, develop confidence, and improve intuition. 4 It also balances the left and right sides of your brain and reduces eyestrain. 5

Position 2 – Hands Cupped at Sides of Brow and up onto Crown

Position 2

Place your palms at each side of your brow beside each eye. Your fingers will cup the top of your head. This position harmonizes both sides of the brain, helps to ease stress and depression, and calms the mind. 6 It treats the scalp, cerebral cortex and crown chakra. It also strengthens your connection to God and increases the strength of your Reiki energy. 7 Some Reiki books interchange positions 2 and 3. Some don’t include position 2 at all. Likewise, different Reiki books number several positions in a slightly different way. Don’t let

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 72

this difference confuse you. Learn one set of positions thoroughly. Then you can experiment with other positions as your intuition guides you.

Position 3 – Hands over Cheeks, Thumbs Just under Ears

Position 3

Place the palms of your hands on the sides of your cheeks. Your thumbs will sit just under your ear lobes. This position helps to balance the male/female aspects of the body and mind. It opens your mind to new ideas and new ways of thinking and being. It helps to deal with issues involving headaches, seizures, shock, motion sickness, and problems with vision and the ears. It stabilizes emotions. 8 It nurtures feelings of security and comfort and helps the whole body to relax. 9 This position also affects the upper muscles of the neck, blood flow to the brain, and the upper spinal vertebra. 10

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 73

Position 4 – Hands Cup Back of Head

Position 4

Alternate position 4

Cup your hands around the back of your head with the wrist end of your palm at the base of your neck and your fingers pointing up toward the top of your head. An alternative position is to place your palms sideways across the back of your head, one palm on the lower part of your head, the other palm above it. Either way, your hands are over your upper head and your occipital ridge, the large strong bone forming the base of the skull. This covers your crown chakra and the back of your third eye chakra. It also reaches the causal body of your aura. 11 It improves your long-term memory, switches off and releases repetitive worries, and helps to relax you. It relieves depression and aids in letting go of issues from the past. 12 It calms your mind and helps you feel more secure. 13 Issues involving the entire nervous system, weight, and pain relief are addressed here. 14 This position treats cranial bones, cerebral spinal fluid, the base of the brain and upper cervical vertebra. 15

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 74

Position 5 – Hands by Throat

Position 5

Alternate position 5

Place the palms of your hands close to both sides of your throat, or you may place one palm just under your throat and your other palm below that hand. Be careful not to actually touch the throat. This area is so vulnerable to everything in the environment that it needs to be treated with special care. This position helps to improve confidence and your ability to communicate honestly and openly. It helps to make you calm and to think more clearly. Speech problems are addressed here as are issues involving the lower jaw, mouth, teeth, larynx, thyroid, lymphatic system and blood pressure. 16 Using this Reiki self-healing position may help a sore throat to feel better. Other issues of the throat as well as the throat chakra itself are addressed here. 17

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 75

Position 6 – Over the heart

Position 6

Alternate position 6

Alternate position 6

Place one palm slightly under the throat, the other palm just below it. Another position is to place your palms, fingertips almost touching, over the area of your breasts. Or you can cross your arms over your chest. If you feel weak or depressed, this position can help you become more vitalized. 18 It also helps to increase confidence, courage and an ability to feel love, joy and compassion. It relieves stress and helps you feel more caring and concerned about others. Problems related to the heart, lungs, thymus gland, immune system and circulation are addressed here as are asthma and other bronchial disorders. 19 This position also focuses on the thyroid, parathyroid, upper thoracic vertebra, esophagus, and heart chakra. 20

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 76

Position 7 – At Solar Plexus

Position 7

Place your palms, fingertips almost touching, below your breasts. In this position, your right hand is over your liver and gallbladder, and your left hand is over your pancreas, spleen and stomach. 21 This position helps the body to release fear and aggression, and it promotes a growing sense of well-being. It improves self-expression and self-determination. Here, issues involving the liver, gallbladder, stomach, spleen, digestion, pancreas, nervous system and diabetes are addressed. This position helps you feel strong enough that you can handle difficult emotions without being overwhelmed by them. As your solar plexus chakra becomes stronger, you are not so easily distracted or influenced by others. 22 This position also addresses the adrenals, mid-thoracic vertebra, and the solar plexus chakra. 23 It helps to give yourself Reiki here when you have experienced trauma, because it helps to calm the adrenal glands, reducing the amount of adrenaline that discharges into your system.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 77

Position 8 – Over the middle abdomen

Position 8

Place your hands, fingertips almost touching, over your middle abdomen at or just below the waist level. This position helps to balance sexual feelings. It helps you address a sense of guilt and assists in successfully handling feelings of attraction, obsession and repulsion. It improves your ability to digest new ideas and to think clearly without letting strong emotions distract you. It addresses issues of the abdomen, intestines, colon, and bladder. It also helps you deal with food allergies. 24

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 78

Position 9 – Over the lower abdomen

Position 9

Place your hands, fingertips almost touching, over the pelvic bones. At this level, Reiki energy reaches the intestines and the second chakra. 25 It also impacts the ascending and descending colon, hips, and upper lumbar vertebra. 26 It addresses issues of creativity and the capacity to build energy that keeps us strong. It also deals with our true beliefs about sensuality and sexuality. This position helps us better develop personal relationships with others, as opposed to group or tribal connections. 27

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 79

Position 10 – Over the Pubic Bone

Position 10

Alternate position 10

At the area of the pubic bone, place one palm above the other. An alternative position is to place both palms over the pubic bone so they are side by side but slightly at an angle, forming a “v” shape. This is the location of the root chakra. On women, this position covers the uterus, ovaries, bladder and vagina. On men, it covers the bladder and testes. 28 It also addresses the lower lumbar vertebra, sacrum, reproductive organs, root chakra, 29 the lymphatic system, hips and intestines. 30 This position affects your sense of safety and security and relates to sexual pleasure. It addresses the adrenal glands when fear or stress triggers a fight, flight or freeze response. Treating yourself here can help to release strong emotions and to end offensive or habit-forming behaviors. 31 You may sense improved energy, vitality, self-awareness and alertness when you do selfhealing here. You also may find relief from constipation and diarrhea. 32 Any time you have difficulty staying grounded, give yourself Reiki here. You will soon feel your root chakra start to calm down, and you may feel more grounded.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 80

Position 11 – Insides of the Thighs

Position 11

Place your left palm on the inside of your left thigh and your right palm on the inside of your right thigh. This position assists in the healing of emotional issues. It helps to release deep seated fears often held in the stomach. 33

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 81

Position 12 – Front of the Knees

Position 12

Alternate position 12

Use the palms of your hands to cover the fronts of your knees. An alternate position is to cover the knee of one leg with one hand and the ankle on the same leg with the other hand. This alternate position, which focuses on one leg, may help you get a better impression of issues you are dealing with on that side of the body When the Reiki energy slows, move the hands to the knee and ankle on the other leg. This position treats the knees, hips and legs. It addresses issues of how powerfully you can walk through various life situations. The knees often hold fear of death, fear of change, and fear of letting go of the ego. 34

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 82

Position 13 – Back of the Neck

Position 13

Place the palms of your hands over your shoulders, covering the top of the large muscles between your neck and shoulders. Many people hold their tension in these muscles. Here, Reiki energy helps to release heavy emotional and mental issues that have been ignored or not adequately addressed. 35 This position addresses the back of the heart and lungs as well as the lower neck, shoulders, and mid-cervical vertebra. 36

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 83

Position 14 – Middle Back

Position 14 (slightly higher than this position shows)

Alternate position 14

As much as possible, move your hands around to your back and place them over your ribs and on the shoulder blades. This is the mid-back area. If you cannot get your hands into that position, hold them as close as possible to that place on the back without straining. If this is still too uncomfortable, place your hands on the solar plexus position on the front of your body and say, “On the back side by intent.” In this position, Reiki addresses the mid-spine, upper lumber vertebra, kidneys, adrenals, lower lungs, pancreas, stomach, spleen, and liver. 37 It helps to improve physical and psychological strength. It also helps to release emotional trauma and burdens you have carried. Treating this position helps to improve your mental stability and the power of your thoughts. 38

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 84

Position 15 – Lower Back

Position 15

Alternate Position 15

Place your hands on your back below your waist. Your fingertips should almost be touching. If you cannot reach this position, hold a position as close to it as possible. As an alternate position, put your hands below the front of your waist, and say, “On the back side by intent.” This location addresses the intestines, bladder and lower spine. It helps you relax and enjoy balanced, healthy sexual expression. It helps you to better accept, express and understand strong emotions. 39 This position helps you let go of stress, pain and issues of the past. 40

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 85

Position 16: Base of Spine

Position 16

Place your hands on your lower back over the sacrum, a thick, triangular bone at the lower end of the spinal column where it joins the hip bones. This position involves the lower back, hips, sacrum, male and female reproductive systems, and the root chakra. It increases your mental power and helps you react in a more positive, creative, and instinctive way in difficult situations. In this position, Reiki will help you release old, ineffective behavior patterns so that you can make room for new ideas and more healthy habits. It helps you let go of built-up emotions from the past and allows you to handle and release current emotions more easily. 41 Unreleased, these emotions can create negative thinking patterns.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 86

Position 17: Backs of the Knees and Ankles

Position 17

Alternate position 17

Place the palm of one hand on the back of one knee and the other palm on the back of the ankle on the same leg. When Reiki energy subsides, move your hands to the same positions on the opposite leg. Alternatively, you may place one hand on one knee and your other hand on the other knee. After staying in this position for awhile, place your hands on both ankles. This position addresses fear of death and issues of how powerful you feel. It helps to release tension in the knees and to let go of other fears. 42 When you use the alternate position in which you treat both legs at the same time, you can help to evenly balance the energy between the legs.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 87

Position 18: Bottoms of Feet

Position 18

Place both your hands on the bottoms of your feet. This helps to ground you, and it completes the healing. It helps your body integrate all that happened during the self-healing session. Imagine energy running from your feet up through your body and out the top of your head. If you notice any areas where the energy seems to be stuck on its way upward through your body, move your hands there and give that spot extra Reiki energy. Then return your hands to your feet and see if the energy flows more smoothly through your body. If not, give more Reiki to the spot where energy is sluggish. If you have the Reiki II attunement, use those symbols as needed to help the energy flow better. Placing your hands here helps to strengthen the root chakra. 43 This position treats the feet, the feet chakras, and the legs. It also helps the energy flow through your entire body. 44

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 88

EXPLORING REIKI I CHAPTER 7 REIKI HAND POSITIONS FOR HEALING OTHERS Reiki hand positions for healing others are similar to those for healing yourself. Some hand positions involve lightly touching the client’s body. In other positions, your hands will be slightly above the body. You may give Reiki to others when they are in your presence after you have received the Reiki I attunement. Reiki will flow through you to others, making you an effective healer. Once you receive the Reiki II attunement, you can use three symbols. They are activated in the causal body of your aura during that attunement. One is the distant symbol, which lets you treat others even if they are halfway around the world. If you receive the Reiki Master attunement, other symbols will be available to you as well. The symbols provide additional tools to make your Reiki sessions more effective. Before you give a Reiki treatment, be sure that you are grounded. Ask the people you work on to ground themselves as well. Use the grounding exercise in Chapter 6 on Reiki Hand Positions for Self-Healing unless you know one that you like better. It is important for you to be grounded and in the present moment so you can focus on what your client needs. If your mind starts to wander, ground yourself again and ask God to help you stay focused. When you give Reiki to others, do not touch them in intimate, private areas. Touch is often unnecessary. Some practitioners find it easier to tell what’s happening energetically if they keep their hands an inch or two above the person’s body. To help a person relax and let go of distracting thoughts and feelings, place one hand about an inch above the person’s forehead and your other hand over the lower abdomen. 1 As you become more sensitive to Reiki energy, you will learn to move your hands where the energy is needed. Sometimes if you are working on a person’s head, your attention may be called to the legs. Take that guidance seriously. It may mean there is a blockage of energy at the legs that needs to be addressed before you continue to work at the person’s head.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 89

Switched Energy and Its Effects Be sure that neither you nor the person you are working on crosses their arms or legs during a session. This can make it more difficult for energy to flow effectively through the body. It also can switch the body’s electrical circuits. If they switch, you may sense that the person needs Reiki on the right side of the body when the need is really on the left side, or vice versa. This switched energy is sometimes called a hemispheric disorganization. Your electrical circuitry also can switch if your body has been injured on one side. If that happens, the other side must take on more of the work load. Energy from the strong side will be funneled to the weak side to help it function, switching your electrical circuitry. It also can switch if one leg is shorter than the other or if one gland or organ is functioning poorly, making it necessary for others to work harder. If the people you work on are switched, they can cause your electrical circuitry to switch as well. In the same way, if you are switched, you can cause their electrical circuitry to switch. Here is a simple exercise to unswitch yourself. Teach your clients to use it to unswitch themselves. Put one palm on your belly button and the other palm under the front of your neck at the K-27 point, which refers to the end point on the kidney meridian. It doesn’t matter which hand goes where. The K-27 point is located just below where two bones stick out high on your chest. This point is at about the place where a man would knot his tie. Rub the K-27 and belly button spots for 5 to 10 seconds. It doesn’t matter what direction you rub. Once the spots are stimulated, your electrical circuitry should start flowing in the correct direction, at least temporarily. If the circuitry does not switch, it may need more attention. In that case, place one palm on your belly button and the other on your lower back near your tail bone. Rub those two spots for 5 to 10 seconds. Have the person you’re working on do the same thing. Those two exercises should get the electrical circuitry in both your systems flowing in the right direction long enough for you to complete the Reiki session. If the electrical circuitry switches before you’ve finished the treatment, re-stimulate the points mentioned above on yourself and have the other person rub their points again as well. That should make the energy travel in the right direction long enough for you to finish the session.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 90

Making the Reiki Session Comfortable for the Client When you are ready to give a Reiki treatment to someone, put on gentle, relaxing music at low volume. Not only does this set a quiet, peaceful tone, but it helps to calm negative energy. Begin each session with prayer, asking for help from God. Ask for assistance from the Holy Spirit, from your Reiki guides, from Reiki masters of all times and dimensions, from your angels and your client’s angels, from archangels, master healers such as Jesus or Buddha, and all available helpers who operate in the light of unconditional love. If you feel it’s appropriate, you may ask clients to think about something they want to gain from the session, such as relaxation, insight into a problem, or help with a physical problem. Once they have the goal in mind, they can relax and release the thought. Say something like, “Know that whatever happens in this session is for your highest good, whether it’s what you had in mind or not.” This is not the time to carry on a conversation. If you receive an impression that you think would help the person, you may share that information when it comes to you. If the person seems to be in a deep state of relaxation, wait until the end of the session to reveal what you discovered. Some people enjoy getting this kind of feedback. If people feel uncomfortable with it, keep the information to yourself or find a way to share it in a way that’s acceptable to them. Sometimes impressions you get are meant only for you. As you gain experience, you will better grasp what information is intended for the person you’re working on and what is meant only to help you understand what Reiki energy is doing. If no impressions come to you, don’t be concerned. Know that Reiki is doing exactly what it needs to do. When you think you’re failing a client because you’re getting no messages, your ego has stepped in and is attempting to control the situation. If that happens, reground yourself, then focus on Reiki energy and on God from which it comes. If the ego continues to intrude, firmly but kindly tell it to be quiet. If you know which people will see you that day, take time before you see them to ask God what each person needs to know. You can seek this guidance the night before or the morning of the treatments. Focus so you can hear the response. Many times, you will be given a message for each individual. If no message comes, it means there’s nothing special the person

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 91

needs to know that day. When a message does come, it often contains information about an issue with which the person is grappling. It may come in the form of a picture, sound, feeling, smell or sensation. Whatever the message is, it will help you work with the person. If you think it’s appropriate, share your insight during the session.

A Cautionary Note Though Reiki can never do harm because it comes from God, the source of unconditional love, you can run into trouble if you try to perform the healing yourself by forgetting that you are only an instrument through whom God directs the flow of Reiki energy. You also can have trouble if you try to manipulate the outcome. That’s because you’re attempting to operate under your own power instead of letting Reiki do its divine healing work as it flows through you. Learn to be unattached to the outcome. Reiki will provide the person with whatever is needed. Keep your ego out of the process and remember that Reiki comes through you, not from you. If you forget that, you may open yourself to negative, disruptive energy. This can create an imbalance in your energy system or result in other uncomfortable side effects. If that happens, seek help from a Reiki Master you trust who can rebalance you and remove unhealthy energy. The important thing to remember is that you are not doing the healing. Step out of the way and let Reiki flow through you without trying to manipulate it or take credit for it. After you finish working on clients, be sure to break your energetic connection with them. Once the Reiki session is over, you no longer have permission to stay connected with their aura. If you forget to break the connection, you may pick up uncomfortable emotional, energetic or physical residue coming to you from them. As soon as you realize you’ve forgotten, break the connection and the symptoms should disappear. Ask God to disconnect any energy cords that may have become attached to you during a Reiki session. Then express thanks for the help.

Byosen Scan It is helpful to do a Byosen Scan at the beginning and end of each session. Both Mikao Usui and Chujiro Hayashi practiced this technique, and it is still used in Japan today. The word

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 92

Byosen combines two Japanese words. Byo means disease or sickness; sen means line or place Combined, the words mean place of sickness. The Byosen Scan indicates areas that need Reiki. 2 This scan involves using the hand with which you feel the Reiki energy most easily. Often that is your non-dominant hand, but sometimes your dominant hand is more sensitive. The use of your non-dominant hand can help to keep your ego from getting involved in the process. Use whichever hand gives you the best results. Your palm will be face down a few inches above the person’s body as you scan the client from head to toe. When you receive a Reiki attunement, your palm chakras become more sensitive to the human energy field. As a result, when you run your hand over the person’s body, you will be able to detect energy blockages. However, when you first practice using the Byosen Scan, you may not feel anything. Don’t let that discourage you. The more you practice, the better you will get. After saying a prayer to ask for divine guidance, start at the client’s head, holding your hand over the crown chakra. When you sense a rapport with the person’s energy, work slowly downward, noting where you feel tension or energy sluggishness, temperature changes, or a sense that something isn’t quite right. Those impressions may indicate an energy blockage. If you feel so much sluggishness at the head that it’s hard to move your hand through it, start at the feet and work up the body. See if the sluggishness is still there when you reach the head. Sometimes just running your hand over the person’s body will help the energy start to shift. If you do feel areas of energy blockage, give those places extra Reiki. You may use the Byosen Scan any time during the session to check on the energy flow. At the end of the session, do a final Byosen Scan to see if the energy has cleared. If it hasn’t, give the congested area more Reiki. When Dr. Hayashi taught Reiki, he told students to be aware of five different feelings during the Byosen Scan. They might feel warmth, a more intense heat, a tingling sensation, a pulse-like sensation, or even pain. The tingling sensation in the hands or fingers tends to become stronger or weaker about three times during a 30-50 minute treatment, according to Hayashi. After the third peak and valley, he said clients often start to feel better.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 93

The pulse-like sensation is the awareness of Reiki causing blood vessels to expand and contract, improving the client’s blood circulation. The stronger the pulse-like sensation, the more energy the client is taking in to help the blood flow smoothly. The pain sensation can move from a practitioner’s palms to the backs of the hands, up the wrists and into the elbows. Sometimes it even moves into the shoulders. Usually, the pain is not severe. If you feel pain when you work on others, that’s an indication their situation is severe. If the pain gets too intense, take your hands off the person for a few seconds and shake your hands to relieve the pain. 3 The pain does not mean that you have received negative energy from the person. Reiki is safe for both the person receiving and giving it. However, pain is a strong clue that the person you’re working on may need several treatments to peel back enough layers of stuck energy and toxins to alleviate the problem.

Reiki Hand Positions for Healing Others Place clean sheets on the table before you see each client. Have the person lie face up on the Reiki table. Place a pillow under their knees to reduce back strain. Some people will need a pillow under their heads too. Cover them with a blanket if they are cold.

Position 1 – Hands over Eyes

Position 1

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 94

Stand or sit by the person’s head. Cup your hands over their eyes without touching the eyelashes. Don’t cover the nose or mouth as it can make people feel claustrophobic or afraid that they can’t breathe. If the person is dealing with a prominent fear or concern, you may receive an impression about it in this position. Though their physical eyes are closed, in your mind’s eye you may see their eyes open wide in fear or worry about some issue. Once when I sensed a client’s eyes open wide with a questioning look, in my mind I heard the message, “You are forgiven.” I gave him that information at the end of the session. During the next two days, he had other experiences that confirmed the message. Do not panic or be disappointed if no impressions come. Trust the Reiki energy to do its work in each position, whether you sense anything or not. The more you practice, the more aware you will become of divine guidance. This position helps in the following ways: * Reduces headaches and eye strain * Balances hormones that affect pineal and pituitary glands * Addresses issues of eyes, brain, nose, sinuses, mouth, facial muscles, frontal lobes of the brain, and the third eye chakra * Reduces emotional stress and promotes a meditative state * Improves clarity and the quality of thoughts * Increases mental energy * Improves attention span and concentration * Promotes better decision making, more confidence and improved intuition.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 95

Position 2: Cup Hands at Sides of Brow

Position 2

While standing or sitting by the client’s head, cup your hands at the sides of each brow. Your fingers should be slightly above the ear and beside each eye. Your palms will cup the top of the head, covering the crown chakra. This position helps in the following ways: * Harmonizes both sides of the brain and balances energy * Eases stress and depression * Calms the mind and helps with emotional issues * Treats the scalp, cerebral cortex, and crown chakra * Strengthens the connection to God.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 96

Position 3 -- Hands over Cheeks, Thumbs under Ears

Position 3

While you are standing or sitting by the client’s head, place your hands over the person’s cheeks. Your little fingers should rest lightly against each ear. This position helps in the following ways: * Balances male/female aspects of both the body and mind * Opens the mind to new ideas and new ways of thinking and being * Deals with issues involving headaches, seizures, shock, motion sickness, and those that relate to the eyes and ears * Nurtures feelings of security and comfort and helps the whole body to relax * Treats ears, upper muscles of neck, blood flow to the brain, and upper spinal vertebra.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 97

Position 4 -- Hands Cup Back of the Head

Position 4

While standing or sitting by the client’s head, gently lift the head with your hands and cup your palms around the back of the person’s head. Notice if the client’s neck wants to elongate. That is a sign that Reiki energy is helping the person to relax. This position helps in the following ways: * Improves long-term memory * Switches off and releases repetitive worries * Nurtures a more open and clear mind * Helps to relieve fears and depression * Calms the mind and emotions and helps people to feel more secure * Addresses the entire nervous system, weight, the spine, pain relief and speech problems.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 98

Position 5 -- Hands by Throat

Position 5

Stand or sit at the client’s head or position yourself near the side of the person’s head, whichever feels more comfortable. Place your hands below the client’s throat and over the collarbone. Be careful not to touch the throat. This area is so vulnerable to everything in the environment that it must be treated with special care. Some people panic if they feel hands on their throat, especially if they have been choked or strangled or have had some other neck injury. This position helps in the following ways: * Improves confidence and an ability to communicate honestly and openly * Promotes a feeling of calmness * Helps people to think more clearly * Speech difficulties are addressed here as are problems relating to the jaw, teeth, larynx, thyroid, lymphatic system and blood pressure * May help sore throats feel better * Treats the throat, throat chakra, lower jaw and mouth.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 99

Position 6 – Over the Heart

Position 6

Alternate position 6

At this point, you may find it easier to move to one side of the client. It is best not to touch the client’s body in this position because it is an intimate place, especially for women. With your hands an inch or two above the body, place one hand above the chest and the other across it. An alternate position would be to place both hands over the chest caravan style. If you notice that the person is taking in a lot of energy when your hands are in that position, pay close attention to impressions you get about what’s happening elsewhere in the body. This is true of any position, but it can be especially helpful with the heart. Check the solar plexus to see if there is an energy blockage. Sometimes people feel strongly about something they love to do (heart), but they lack the self-confidence, drive, or opportunity to accomplish it (solar plexus). If the energy feels sluggish or blocked at the solar plexus, place one hand over the heart and the other over the solar plexus. Let your intuition guide you. If the solar plexus feels weak, it might have a tear in it. Ask your angels to mend any tears that might be there. Focus Reiki energy there to promote healing. This position helps in the following ways: * Revitalizes people if they feel week or depressed * Increases confidence, courage, and an ability to feel love, joy and compassion * Relieves stress, helps people to feel more caring and concerned about others

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 100

* Addresses problems related to heart, lungs, thymus gland, immune system, circulation, asthma and other bronchial disorders *Addresses thyroid, parathyroid, upper thoracic vertebra, esophagus, and heart chakra.

Position 7 – At the Solar Plexus Below the Chest

Position 7

While standing at the client’s side, place your hands below the chest, one palm in front of the other in a caravan position. This position helps in the following ways: * Releases fears and aggression and allows you to handle strong emotions better * Improves self-expression and self-determination * Addresses issues involving liver, gallbladder, stomach, spleen, digestion, pancreas, nervous system and diabetes * Balances the thinking. Helps people to be less distracted and less influenced by others * Addresses adrenals, mid-thoracic vertebra, and solar plexus chakra.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 101

Position 8: Over the Middle Abdomen

Position 8

Alternate position 8

Place your palms in a caravan position just below the waist so they point horizontally across the body. Or you may place your hands side by side with the thumbs almost touching. As you practice with these different positions, you will discover one is more comfortable for you. This position helps in the following ways: * Addresses issues of abdomen, intestines, colon and bladder * Deals with food allergies * Balances sexual feelings, guilt, and feelings of attraction, obsession and repulsion * Improves the ability to digest new ideas and to think clearly.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 102

Position 9: Over the Lower Abdomen

Position 9

Place your hands across the pelvic area and above the pubic bone in a caravan position. If there are second chakra issues here, you may sense them. If you are drawn to some other area of the body while you work in this position, you can place one hand over that area and keep the other hand over the second chakra. Bounce the energy back and forth between your palms to help the Reiki energy move freely between those two spots. The bouncing energy helps to relax the body. This position helps in the following ways: * Helps the ascending and descending colon, small intestines, hips, upper lumbar vertebra, and second chakra * Addresses issues of creativity and increased energy * Helps people grasp their true beliefs about sensuality and sexuality. * Helps clients better understand their personal relationships with others and with God.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 103

Position 10 – Over the Pubic Bone

Position 10

Place your hands in a V-shape above the pubic bone. Keep your hands an inch or two above the body as this is a private area. This position helps in the following ways * Addresses hips and intestines * On women, it addresses the uterus, ovaries, bladder and vagina. On men, it addresses bladder and testes * May result in improved energy, vitality, self-awareness and alertness * May relieve constipation and diarrhea * Addresses the sense of safety and security * Helps release strong emotions * Helps to stop behavior that is offensive or habit forming * Deals with sexual pleasure.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 104

Position 11 -- Insides of the Thighs

Position 11

Place one hand on the inside of each thigh, keeping your hands about one inch above the body. This position helps in the following ways: * Helps to heal emotional issues * Helps to release deep seated fears often held in the stomach.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 105

Position 12 -- The Knees and Ankles

Position 12

Alternate Position 12

Crossed Pattern Position 12

While you stand or sit by the client’s legs, place one hand over the knee and the other hand over the ankle on the same foot. When you sense that Reiki energy has subsided, move your hands to the knee and ankle of the opposite leg. You do not need to move from where you are standing. Just stretch across the client to reach the other leg. An alternate technique is to treat both knees at the same time. Then move your hands to cover both ankles. The disadvantage of touching both legs at the same time is that it’s harder to sense the needs or strengths of each leg. After you have finished working on both legs, you may feel the need to put one hand on the right knee and the other on the left ankle and vice versa. It might indicate that the person’s energy is running in a confused pattern and needs to be balanced. Follow your internal guidance to determine if this crossed pattern is needed. You do not have to understand why the crossed pattern is needed. Just let the energy do its work.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 106

This position helps in the following ways: * Treats the knees, hips and legs * Addresses issues of how powerfully people can walk through various life situations * Can release fear of death.

Have the Person Turn Over At this point, ask clients to turn over on their stomach so you can work on their back. If you have a Reiki table with a head rest, which is recommended, put a paper or cloth towel or a washcloth or pillow slip over the head rest, making sure there is a space through which the person can breathe. If you use a paper towel, tear a hole in the towel big enough for the nose and mouth. If you use a cloth towel, drape it around the head rest so the nose and mouth are unobstructed. If you don’t have a head rest, take a bath towel, fold it in half horizontally, then roll it up and form it into a “U” shape so the head can rest in it. Some people find this uncomfortable and would rather turn their head sideways on the table. Let them use the position that is comfortable for them. Put a pillow under their ankles to give their feet support. There are times when it may not be appropriate for people to lie on their stomach. This is especially true if they are pregnant or have a neck or back injury. If they are in a deep state of relaxation, it is often best not to ask them to roll over onto their stomach. In those cases, let them remain on their back. Place your hands in the various positions over their stomach and say in your mind, “On the back side by intent.”

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 107

Position 13 -- Back of the Neck

Position 13

Place your hands on the back of the client’s neck where the big muscles, called the trapezius muscles, meet the shoulders. This position helps in the following ways: * Addresses tension in the muscles between the neck and shoulders * Releases ignored or inadequately addressed heavy emotional and mental issues * Addresses the lower neck and shoulders, heart, lungs, and mid-cervical vertebra.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 108

Position 14 -- Middle Back

Position 14

Place your hands in a caravan style, one palm in front of the other, below the shoulder blades across the back. This position helps in the following ways: * Addresses mid-spine, upper lumbar vertebra, kidneys, adrenals, lower lungs, pancreas, stomach, spleen, liver and second chakra * Improves physical and psychological strength * Relieves emotional trauma and burdens * Improves mental stability and the power of thoughts.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 109

Position 15 – Lower Back

Position 15

Place your palms in a caravan style at the waist line. This position helps in the following ways: * Addresses intestines, bladder, and lower lumbar vertebra * Promotes relaxation and the enjoyment of balanced, healthy sexual expression * Helps to accept, express and understand strong emotions in a healthier way * Assists in letting go of stress, pain, and issues of the past.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 110

Position 16 – Base of Spine

Position 16

Place your hands in a caravan style near the base of the spine. This position helps in the following ways: * Involves lower back, hips, sacrum, male and female reproductive systems, and root chakra * Increases mental power and helps people to react in a more positive, creative and instinctive way in difficult situations * Helps to release old behavior patterns that are no longer effective. Makes room for new ideas and more healthy habits * Assists in letting go of built up emotions from the past. Helps to handle and release current emotions so they do not create negative thought patterns.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 111

Position 17 – Backs of the Knees and Ankles

Position 17

Alternate position 17

Cross pattern for position 17

Stand or sit by the client’s legs. Place one hand over the back of one knee and the other hand over the back of the ankle on the same leg. When it feels like that position has received enough energy, repeat the process on the other leg. You do not need to move to the other side of the table to treat the other leg. Just stretch across one leg and put your hands on the other leg. An alternate position is to use your hands to cover the back of both of the client’s knees, then the backs of both ankles. After you have completed this position, you may sense the need to place one hand on the knee of one leg and the other hand on the ankle of the opposite leg in a crossed pattern. This can help the energy flow across the body in a more balanced way. Follow your guidance. This position helps in the following ways: * Helps you return to present time * Addresses fear of death and issues of how powerful you feel.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 112

Position 18 – Bottoms of Feet

Position 18

Stand at the person’s feet and place your palms against the bottoms of their feet. Hold that position until the Reiki energy subsides. This position integrates and completes the healing process. It helps people to ground, and it reorients them to their surroundings. While you are holding their feet, focus on how well the energy is moving up through their body. If energy seems stuck any place, move to that spot and give it more Reiki. Then go back to the feet to see if the energy flows up through the body better. If it’s still sluggish or blocked somewhere, give the congested area more Reiki until the energy flows all the way from the feet, up through the body and out the top of the head. If the energy continues to have trouble traveling through an area, you can use Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), a tapping technique that balances the meridians, to help clear the disturbed energy. EFT will be taught during the Reiki II Attunement Workshop. In the meantime, you can learn more about it at www.eftuniverse.com. Combining Reiki and EFT can have powerful benefits for the client.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 113

This position helps in the following ways: * Assists in grounding the person * Strengthens the root chakra * Helps the client integrate all that took place during the healing session * Treats feet, chakras in the feet, and the legs.

Repeat the Byosen Scan Repeat the byosen scan to check on the energy flow. It should feel smooth with no obstructions. If the energy starts to congest again, often it is because the person is dwelling on some negative thought that unbalances the energy system. In that case, ask them if they are willing to talk about what they're thinking. Just verbalizing their concern sometimes reduces the stress. Send more Reiki to the blocked or congested area. Then do another byosen scan to check the energy flow. It should be improved.

Ending the Session To end the session, comb through the person’s aura. This promotes a relaxed feeling. Place your hands about eight inches above the body and move them quickly from the head to the torso several times, then from the torso to the legs, and finally from the legs to the feet. This helps the person return more quickly to a conscious and grounded state. 4 When you have received the Reiki II attunement, you can draw a large Cho-Ku-Rei, the power symbol, over the person’s body to allow the healing energy to stay in place longer. Once you are done, gently touch the person on the shoulder, call them by name, and say that you are done. Using the person’s name helps to draw them back to present time. Say, “Beth, we’re finished. Lie there until you feel ready, then get up slowly.” It is important that people give themselves a minute or two before they climb off the table. Reiki takes people to such a deep place that they need time to reintegrate their body and soul. They may feel dizzy and spacey if they get up too fast or too soon. Tell the person you will be back in a moment. Leave the room and wash your hands in cold water. This will break the energy connection between the two of you. It is important to do

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 114

this. If you don’t, the other person’s energy may cause you to feel out of balance, uncomfortable or in pain. If no running water is available, shake your hands vigorously or clap them together to break the energy connection. When you have received the Reiki Master attunement, you can draw the Raku symbol on the palm of each hand. Say the name of the symbol out loud three times. Intend that the energy connection between you and the client be disconnected. Another way to disconnect is to send love to the person you worked on. Then ask your angels and guides to disconnect any energy cords that attached themselves to you during the session. Call on Archangel Michael for help if you don’t feel disconnected. Then thank all your helpers for their assistance. Bring a glass of water to your client and suggest that they drink at least eight cups of water a day for the next two or three days. Drinking water after receiving a Reiki treatment is important because the body releases many toxins during and after a treatment. Water will help to flush them out faster. Some people may experience emotional detoxification after the treatment. They might see images, feel a variety of emotions, or have unusual dreams. It is helpful to allow those images and feelings to come without resisting them and to journal about any dreams that occur. Through the journaling process, healing information can emerge. It may take several Reiki sessions to resolve long-term difficulties. Giving yourself or your clients regular Reiki treatments will help to reduce current problems and make future ones easier to handle.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 115

EXPLORING REIKI I CHAPTER 8 DECIDING WHEN OR IF YOU’RE READY FOR THE NEXT STEP Congratulations on making it through this exploration of Reiki I! You have demonstrated that you have what it takes to go farther with Reiki. You may be ready to decide if you want to attend a Reiki I workshop so you can receive the Reiki I attunement from a Reiki Master. If you choose to receive a Reiki attunement, the energy channels in your body will be expanded to allow more energy to travel through them. This takes time to adjust to, and you may experience mild flu-like or cold symptoms without feeling sick. It’s all part of getting used to the changes in your body. In most cases, the adjustment time is not difficult to handle. You may notice subtle changes in your attitudes that make life seem more manageable. Your ability to assist others will add meaning and joy to your life. When you give Reiki to yourself or others, you can be sure that Reiki energy will have a positive effect on anyone receptive to it for several miles around you. With Reiki, you really can help to change the world!

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 116

EXPLORING REIKI I NOTES CHAPTER 1 – MY INTRODUCTION TO REIKI 1. Hosak, Mark and Lübeck, Walter. The Big Book of Reiki Symbols, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wis., 2006, pp. 433 and 434

CHAPTER 2 – HOW REIKI WORKS 1. Becker, Robert O., M.D., and Selden, Gary. The Body Electric, Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life, William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York, NY, 1985, p. 21 2. Morehouse, David. The Remote Viewing Training Course, Sounds True, Inc., Boulder, Colo., 2004, p. 81 3. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, First and Second Degree Manual, Vision Publications, Southfield, Mich., 1991, p. I-11 4. Becker, Robert O., M.D., and Seldon, Gary. The Body Electric, p. 242 5. Mackay, Nicole, “The Science of Reiki,” Reiki News Magazine, Vision Publications and the International Center for Reiki Training, Southfield, Mich., Summer 2005, Volume 4, Issue 2, p. 46 6. Ibid, p. 46 7. Dailey, Brian, D., M.D. “Teaching Reiki to Physicians: Introducing Ancient Techniques to Modern Medicine,” Reiki News Magazine, Spring 2005, Vision Publications and the International Center for Reiki Training, Southfield, Mich., Volume 4, Issue 1, p. 48 8. Lübeck, Walter; Petter, Frank Arjava; and Rand, William Lee. The Spirit of Reiki, pp. 22-23

CHAPTER 3 – ORIGINS AND HISTORY OF REIKI 1. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, The Crossing Press, a division of Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA, 1995, p. 95 2. Lübeck, Walter; Petter, Frank Arjava; and Rand, William Lee. The Spirit of Reiki, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wis., 2004, p. 29

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 117

3. Bullock, Raymond R. Understanding Reiki, Caxton Publishing Group Ltd., London, 2001, p. 28 4. Lübeck, Walter; Petter, Frank Arjava; and Rand, William Lee. The Spirit of Reiki, p. 13 5. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, First and Second Degree Manual, Vision Publications, Southfield, MI, 1991p. I-23 6. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 9 7. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, p. I-15 8. Lübeck, Walter; Petter, Frank Arjava; and Rand, William Lee. The Spirit of Reiki, p. 14 9. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, p. I-23 10. Hosak, Mark and Lübeck, Walter. The Big Book of Reiki Symbols, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, WI, 2006, p. 276 11. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 12 12. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, p. I-24 13. Lübeck, Walter; Petter, Frank Arjava; and Rand, William Lee. The Spirit of Reiki, pp. 14-15 14. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, p. I: 25 15. Usui, Dr. Mikao and Petter, Frank Arjava, The Original Reiki Handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui, Lotus Press, 2007, p. 7 16. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, p. v 17. Ibid, p. A-6 18. Usui, Dr. Mikao and Petter, Frank Arjava, The Original Reiki Handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui, pp. 15-19 19. Ibid, pp. 22-23 20. Ibid, p. 25 21. Petter, Frank Arjava; Yamaguchi, Tadao; Hayashi, Chujiro. The Hayashi Reiki Manual, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, WI, 2003, p. 13 22. Ibid, p. 63 23. Stein, Diane, Essential Reiki, p. 13 24. Petter, Frank Arjava; Yamaguchi, Tadao; Hayashi Chujiro. The Hayashi Reiki Manual, p. 13 25. Ibid, pp. 51-61

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 118

26. Ibid, p. 63 27. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, pp. I – 25-26 28. Petter, Frank Arjava; Yamaguchi, Tadao; Hayashi Chujiro. The Hayashi Reiki Manual, p. 7 29. Stein, Diane, Essential Reiki, p. 13 30. Streich, Marianne, “How Hawayo Takata Practiced and Taught Reiki,” Reiki News Magazine, Vision Publications and the International Center for Reiki Training, Southfield, MI, Spring 2007, p. 11 31. Petter, Frank Arjava; Yamaguchi, Tadao; Hayashi Chujiro. The Hayashi Reiki Manual, pp. 13 and 26 32. Ibid, p. 27 33. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 14 34. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, p. I-30 35. Ibid. p. I-30 36. Petter, Frank Arjava; Yamaguchi, Tadao; Hayashi Chujiro. The Hayashi Reiki Manual, p. 27 37. Streich, Marianne. “How Hawayo Takata Practiced and Taught Reiki,” Reiki News Magazine, Vision Publications and the International Center for Reiki Training, Southfield, MI, Spring 2007, Volume 6, Issue 1, p. 11 38. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, p. I-29 39. Streich, Marianne. “How Hawayo Takata Practiced and Taught Reiki,” Reiki News Magazine, p. 12 40. Lübeck, Walter; Petter, Frank Arjava; and Rand, William Lee. The Spirit of Reiki, p. 27 41. Streich, Marianne. “How Hawayo Takata Practiced and Taught Reiki,” Reiki News Magazine, pp. 12 and 14 42. Ibid, p. 14

CHAPTER 4 – LAYERS OF THE AURA 1. Andrews, Ted. How to See and Read the Aura, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, Minn., 1999, p. 2

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 119

2. Ibid, pp. 4 and 8 3. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Hands of Light, Bantam Books, New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland, 1987, p. 49 4. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, Bear and Company, Rochester, Vermont, 2001, p.121 5. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, Sounds True, Boulder, Colo., 2005, p. 18 6. Ibid, pp. 18-19 7. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, pp. 138-140 8. Ibid, pp. 153-154 9. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, p. 19 10. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, p. 167 11. Brennan, Barbara. Hands of Light, p. 53 12. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, p. 19 13. Brennan, Barbara. Hands of Light p. 49 14. Ibid, p. 50 15. Ibid, p. 51 16. Ibid, p. 51 17. Ibid, p. 219 18. Ibid, p. 53 19. Ibid, pp. 53 and 54 20. Ibid, p. 54 21. Eden, Donna. Energy Medicine, Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York, NY, 1998, p. 271 22. Thie, John and Matthew. Touch for Health, A Practical Guide to Natural Health with Acupressure Touch, DeVorss Publications, Camarillo, CA, 2005, p. 31 23. Brennan, Barbara. Time to Examine Our True Intentions, http://barbarabrennan.com/bbshe/column_10E.html, pp. 1-2 24. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Light Emerging, Bantam Books, New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland, 1993, p. 292 25. Ibid, p. 289

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 120

26. Ibid, p. 291 27. Ibid, Brennan, p. 291 28. Ibid, p. 290 29. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, The Crossing Press, a division of Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA, 1995, p. 81 30. Ibid, p. 81

CHAPTER 5 – THE CHAKRAS 1. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, Bear and Company, Rochester, Vt., 2001, p. 132 2. Ibid, pp. 133-134 3. Ibid, p. 377 4. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Hands of Light, Bantam Books, New York, 1987, p. 45 5. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, pp. 128 and 130 6. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, Sounds True, Boulder, CO, 2002, p. 29 7. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Hands of Light, p. 48 8. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, p. 389 9. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 29 10. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Light Emerging, Bantam Books, New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland, 1993, p. 28 11. Eden, Donna. Energy Medicine, Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York, 1999, p. 146 12. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, p. 389 13. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Hands of Light, p. 72 14. Eden, Donna. Energy Medicine, p. 144 15. Sherwood, Keith. Chakra Therapy for Personal Growth and Healing, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, Minn., 1988, p. 135 16. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 32 17. Wauters, Ambika. Chakras and Their Archetypes, Uniting Energy Awareness and Spiritual

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 121

Growth, The Crossing Press, Freedom, Calif., 1997, pp. 51 and 62 18. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, Sounds True, Boulder, Colo., 2005, p. 20 19. Chopra, Deepak, M.D.; Ford, Debbie; Williamson, Marianne. The Shadow Effect, Harper One, New York, NY, 2010, pp. 85-86 20. Eden, Donna. Energy Medicine, p. 148 21. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, p. 370 and 387 22. Ibid, p. 387 23. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 32 24. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, p. 388 25. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, The Crossing Press, a division of Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA, 1995, p. 33 26. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 32 27. Wauters, Ambika. Chakras and Their Archetypes, p. 54 28. Eden, Donna. Energy Medicine, p. 149 29. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 34 30. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, p. 128 31. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Light Emerging, p. 28 32. Shapiro, Deb. Your Body Speaks Your Mind, Sounds True, Inc., Boulder, Colo., 2006, p. 60 33. Brennan, Barbara. Hands of Light, p. 75 34. Eden, Donna. Energy Medicine, p. 153 35. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, p. 385 36. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 35 37. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 33 38. Weissman, Dr. Darren R., The Power of Infinite Love and Gratitude, Hay House, Inc., Carlsbad, CA., 2005, p. 138 39. Wauters, Ambika. Chakras and Their Archetypes, pp. 71-72 40. Weissman, Dr. Darren R., The Power of Infinite Love and Gratitude, p. 138 41. Gerber, Richard M.D. Vibrational Medicine, pp. 385-386 42. Eden, Barbara. Energy Medicine, p. 153

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 122

43. Doctor, Barefoot. The Urban Warrior’s Way to Health, Wealth, Happiness and Good Looks!, a CD series published by Nightingale Conant, Niles, Ill., 2006 44. Brennan, Barbara Ann, Light Emerging, p. 28 45. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 37 46. Ibid, p. 37 47. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Hands of Light, p. 48 48. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, p. 376 49. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 37 50. Wauters, Ambika, Chakras and Their Archetypes, p. 92 51. Villoldo, Alberto, Ph.D. Mending the Past and Healing the Future with Soul Retrieval, Hay House, Inc., Carlsbad, California, 2005, p. 6 52. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 37 53. Wauters, Ambika. Chakras and Their Archetypes, p. 101 54. Ibid, pp. 101-102 55. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 39 56. Gerber, Richard. Vibrational Medicine, p. 128 57. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Light Emerging, p. 28 58. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, pp. 374-375 59. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 40 60. Ibid, p. 40 61. Wauters, Ambika. Chakras and Their Archetypes, pp. 119 and 122 62. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, p. 20 63. Weissman, Dr. Darren R., The Power of Infinite Love and Gratitude, p. 139 64. Eden, Donna. Energy Medicine, p. 157 65. Ibid, p. 156 66. Ibid, pp. 158-159 67. Wauters, Ambika. Chakras and Their Archetypes, pp. 109 and 111 68. Villoldo, Alberto, Ph.D. Mending the Past and Healing the Future with Soul Retrieval, p. 6

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 123

69. Sherwood, Keith. Chakra Therapy for Personal Growth and Healing, p. 150 70. Ibid., p. 149 71. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 42 72. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Light Emerging, p. 28 73. Sturgess, Stephen. The Yoga Book, p. 18 74. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Hands of Light, p. 48 75. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, p. 374 76. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 42 77. Wauters, Ambika. Chakras and Their Archetypes, p. 127 78. Ibid, p. 128 79. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 42 80. Weissman, Dr. Darren R., The Power of Infinite Love and Gratitude, p. 139 81. Sherwood, Keith. Chakra Therapy for Personal Growth and Healing, p. 153 82. Wauters, Ambika. Chakras and Their Archetypes, p. 137 83. Eden, Barbara. Energy Medicine, p. 162 84. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 44 85. Rand, William Lee, The Reiki Touch, p. 21 86. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Hands of Light, p. 48 87. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, p. 370 88. Ibid, p. 373 89. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm. M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 44 90. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, p. 373 91. Wauters, Ambika. Chakras and Their Archetypes, pp. 146 and 155 92. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm. M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, p. 44 93. Weissman, Dr. Darren R., The Power of Infinite Love and Gratitude, p. 140 94. Wauters, Ambika. Chakras and Their Archetypes, p. 147 95. Eden, Donna. Energy Medicine, p. 163 96. Ibid., p. 164 97. Wauters, Ambika. Chakras and Their Archetypes, p. 159

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 124

98. Vitale, Joe. Zero Limits, the Secret Hawaiian System for Wealth, Health, Peace and More. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NH, 2007, p. 21

CHAPTER 6 – REIKI HAND POSITIONS FOR SELF-HEALING 1. Vennells, David F. Reiki for Beginners, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, Minn., 1999, p. 163 2. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, Sounds True, Boulder, Colo., 2005, p. 38 3. Honervogt, Tanmaya. Inner Reiki, An Owl Book, Henry Holt and Co., New York, 2001, p. 68 4. Vennells, David F. Reiki for Beginners, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, Minn., 2002, p. 163 5. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, The Crossing Press, Berkeley, Calif., 1995, p. 35 6. Honervogt, Tanmaya. Inner Reiki, p. 68 7. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, p. 39 8. Vennels, David F. Reiki for Beginners, p. 163 9. Honervogt, Tanmaya. Inner Reiki, p. 68 10. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, p. 39 11. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 35 12. Vennels, David F. Reiki for Beginners, p. 164 13. Honervogt, Tanmaya. Inner Reiki, p. 69 14. Vennells, David F. Reiki for Beginners, p. 164 15. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, p. 39 16. Vennells, David F. Reiki for Beginners, p. 164 17. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, p. 39 18. Honervogt, Tanmaya. Inner Reiki, p. 69 19. Vennells, David F. Reiki for Beginners, p. 165 20. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, p. 39 21. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 35 22. Vennells, David F. Reiki for Beginners, p. 165 23. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, p. 40 24. Vennels, David F. Reiki for Beginners, pp. 165-166

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 125

25. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 35 26. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, p. 40 27. Tompkins, John Jr. Mastering Reiki, A Practicing and Teaching Primer, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, Minn., 2002, p. 39 28. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 35 29. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, p. 40 30. Vennells, David F. Reiki for Beginners, p. 166 31. Ibid, p. 166 32. Ibid, p. 166 33. Honervogt, Tanmaya. Inner Reiki, p. 70 34. Horan, Paula. Empowerment through Reiki, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, WI, 1998, p. 101 35. Vennells, David F. Reiki for Beginners, p. 166 36. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, p. 39 37. Vennels, David F. Reiki for Beginners, p. 167 38. Vennels, David F. Reiki for Beginners, p. 167 39. Ibid, p. 167 40. Honervogt, Tanmaya. Inner Reiki, p. 70 41. Vennells, David F. Reiki for Beginners, p. 167 42. Honervogt, Tanmaya, Inner Reiki, p. 70 43. Ibid, p. 71 44. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, p. 41

CHAPTER 7 – REIKI HAND POSITIONS FOR HEALING OTHERS 1. Honervogt, Tanmaya. Inner Reiki, An Owl Book, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2001, p. 69 2. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, Sounds True, Boulder, Colo., 2005, p. 62 3. Petter, Frank Arjava; Yamaguchi, Tadao; Hayashi, Chujiro. The Hayashi Reiki Manual, pp. 23-24 4. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, The Crossing Press, Berkeley, Calif., 1995, pp. 43 and 47

PART II EXPLORING REIKI II

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 127

EXPLORING REIKI II TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents ………………………………………………………………………… 127 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………… 130 Chapter 1 – What Reiki Attunements Are …………………………………………….. 131 Differences between the Reiki I and Reiki II Attunements ………………………. 132 Emotional and Mental Cleanses ………………………………………………….. 133 Chapter 2 – Preparing for an Attunement …………………………………………….. 135 Dietary Considerations …………………………………………………………… 135 Stay Away from Tobacco and Illegal Drugs ……………………………………… 137 Reduce Exposure to Television, Movies, Books and Magazines ………………… 137 Forgive Yourself and Others ……………………………………………………… 138 Practice Reiki after an Attunement ……………………………………………….. 138 Getting Together after the Attunement …………………………………………… 139 Chapter 3 – Western Scholars Study Energy Fields …………………………………. 140 Dr. Wilhelm Reich ………………………………………………………………. 140 Our Energy Field Affects Our Health …………………………………………… 142 Dr. Bjorn Nordenstrom ………………………………………………………….. 143 The Energy of Feelings Affects Water ………………………………………….. 145 Emotions Affect Our Body ………………………………………………………. 147 Brain Waves Have Different Energy Patterns …………………………………… 147 Physical Changes during Meditation …………………………………………….. 149 Military Harnesses Heightened State of Awareness …………………………….. 149 Healing Energy Is Real …………………………………………………………… 150 Measuring Energy Fields …………………………………………………………. 151 Chapter 4 – The Reiki II Symbols …………………………………………………….. 152 Reiki Symbols Are Sacred ……………………………………………………….. 152 Draw the Symbols Carefully with the Intent to Heal ……………………………. 153 Reiki Symbols Were Once Kept Confidential …………………………………… 153

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 128

Some Signs of Reiki’s Effectiveness ……………………………………………. 154 Counter-clockwise Cho-Ku-Rei Symbol …………………………………………. 155 Clockwise Cho-Ku-Rei Symbol …………………………………………………… 155 Cho-Ku-Rei ……………………………………………………………………….. 155 What the Cho-Ku-Rei symbol represents ………………………………………… 157 Sei-He-Ki Symbol …………………………………………………………………. 158 Sei-He-Ki …………………………………………………………………………. 158 Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen Symbol …………………………………………………….. 162 Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen …………………………………………………………….. 162 How to Use Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen ………………………………………………. 163 Protect Yourself from Negative Energy …………………………………………. 165 Balancing the Client’s Electrical System ………………………………………… 167 Chapter 5 – Aura Bath: Effective Way to Clear Negative Energy ………………….. 169 Aura Bath Recipe ………………………………………………………………… 169 Chapter 6 – What to Charge for Reiki Sessions ……………………………………… 171 Appendix I – EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) ………………………………..

173

Psychological Reversal ………………………………………………………….. 174 The Setup ………………………………………………………………………… 175 The Sore Spot ……………………………………………………………………. 175 Sore Spot Illustration ……………………………………………………………. 176 Karate Chop Point Illustration ………………………………………………….. 176 The Sequence …………………………………………………………………….. 177 Face Points Illustration ………………………………………………………….. 178 Collarbone Point Illustration …………………………………………………….. 178 Below Nipple Point Illustration ………………………………………………….. 179 Under Arm Point Illustration …………………………………………………….. 179 Gamut Point Illustration …………………………………………………………. 180 9 Gamut Procedure ………………………………………………………………. 180 Tapping Points on the Hand Illustration ………………………………………..

181

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 129

Reminder Phrase ………………………………………………………………… 182 Intensity Meter …………………………………………………………………… 182 Intensity Meter Illustration ………………………………………………………. 182 Different Aspects of the Problem ………………………………………………… 183 Make Setup Phrase Specific ………………………………………………………. 183 Notes …………………………………………………………………………………….. 185 Chapter 1 …………………………………………………………………………. 185 Chapter 2 …………………………………………………………………………. 185 Chapter 3 …………………………………………………………………………. 185 Chapter 4 …………………………………………………………………………. 186 Chapter 5 …………………………………………………………………………. 187

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 130

EXPLORING REIKI II INTRODUCTION Welcome to Exploring Reiki II. This is a big step in your Reiki life. Once you receive the Reiki II attunement in person from a Reiki Master, four times the amount of healing energy will flow through your body. It will help you relax into a more restful, peaceful state. Your body’s remarkable healing system will get a boost so it can function even better, and your body, mind and spirit will work together more efficiently. This exploration of Reiki II is not meant as a substitute for physically attending a workshop taught by a Reiki Master. It is meant to acquaint you with information you’ll need to know so that you will be more comfortable and less stressed when you do take an in-person workshop. Everything you need to know is right here, so if you forget something you’ll know where to go to find it. Once you receive the Reiki II attunement, you will have the use of three amazing symbols to enhance your healing work. I hope this section will help you feel more prepared to receive the Reiki II attunement.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 131

CHAPTER 1 WHAT REIKI ATTUNEMENTS ARE Reiki is passed in person from teacher to student through a series of attunements. It is a process unique to Reiki. The energy transmitted from the teacher flows into the top of the pupil’s head, travels through the body and out of the student’s hands. It reawakens the knowing within students that they have always been connected with Reiki energy and the unconditional love from which it flows. After each attunement, people need time to get used to the higher energy frequency at which their bodies are now vibrating. They also need time to adjust to the cleansing process that occurs on physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels. After an attunement, it’s not unusual for students to develop cold or flu symptoms without feeling very sick, to break out in pimples for a short time, or to have other physical symptoms that indicate a cleanse is happening. Some students may feel emotional and relive old hurts. Don’t despair. The symptoms usually are mild, easy to tolerate, and don’t last long. Normally, a 21-day cleanse happens after each Reiki attunement, including Reiki I, Reiki II and the Reiki Master attunements. After you have received the Reiki I attunement, it may be a month or more before you’re ready for the Reiki II attunement. The adjustment period varies from person to person. After you receive the Reiki II attunement, it’s wise to wait six months to a year to receive the Reiki Master attunement. Some Reiki masters pass all three attunements on the same weekend. If that happens, some recipients may have a hard time adjusting to the increased energy flowing through their bodies and handling the emotional cleanse. Their bodies may detoxify at a faster rate than they’re able to handle with ease, creating discomfort or even a healing crisis. If students come into the attunement process with many physical and/or emotional challenges, they may experience days, weeks, or even months of unpleasant symptoms. There’s no need to rush into receiving an attunement. It’s better to take your time so you can treat your body with respect and love. Trust your body to tell you when the time is right for the next attunement. When in doubt, it’s better to wait. If you give yourself time between each attunement, you’ll more easily adjust to the

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 132

energy. You also will have more time to master the Reiki hand positions and to practice using the Reiki symbols you’ve learned. Giving yourself plenty of practice time will benefit not only you but your future clients. If you’re thinking about getting an attunement from a particular Reiki Master, first ask how the Master divides up the attunements and how much time the teacher recommends between attunements. The different approaches to teaching Reiki and passing attunements will not change the effectiveness of Reiki energy, but one approach may be more comfortable for you than another. Reiki is an evolving energy healing technique. It was evolving even when Mikao Usui and Dr. Chujiro Hayashi practiced it.

Differences Between the Reiki I and Reiki II Attunements There are several different attunements available. Some Reiki Masters have established schools that offer an expanded number of attunements. This is acceptable and may be helpful, but you can receive the full benefit of Reiki in three attunements – the Reiki I, Reiki II, and Reiki Master attunements. Certain Reiki symbols are taught and passed to students during the Reiki II and Reiki Master attunements. The Reiki I attunement opened your energy channels and cleared energetic obstructions in your body so Reiki’s healing energy could flow through you more effectively. That energy has been given different names by various cultures and people. I think of it as the light of unconditional love. The Chinese call it chi, and Japanese know it as ki. It’s known as prana in India and mana in Polynesia. The Latin word spiritus means divine breath or inspiration, 1 and the term Holy Spirit refers to divine breath that acts as a teacher, comforter, healer, and guide. Sigmund Freud, who founded psychoanalysis, identified an instinct energy or life force that he termed libido. Austrian psychiatrist and innovator Wilhelm Reich called it orgone. Whatever the energy is called, more of it is capable of flowing through someone who has received a Reiki attunement. The Reiki I attunement allows the person remember their connection with Reiki energy and to use it for self-healing and for giving Reiki to someone who is physically present. During the Reiki II attunement, students learn three symbols. One is called Hon-Sha-Ze-

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 133

Sho-Nen, a tool for sending Reiki to people who are in a different physical location. This is called distant healing. The symbol has other uses as well. Students also learn a power symbol called Cho-Ku-Rei and a mental/emotional symbol known as Sei-He-Ki. The Reiki II attunement involves cleansing and releasing emotional and mental issues. It will increase the level of your vibrational energy four times, 2 making you even more effective in your Reiki practice. It works to adjust the etheric body. The sixth chakra, or third eye, is affected, and often you will discover greater intuitive abilities. “Reiki II changes who the healer is in relation to herself and her world,” said Reiki Master Diane Stein. “The changes are highly positive, but may be disconcerting. For about six months after the attunement, all of the healer’s outgrown emotional and mental patterns are challenged. What is no longer positive is cleared from her emotional and mental bodies; she becomes someone who feels differently and thinks differently than she did before.” 3

Emotional and Mental Cleanses The emotional and mental cleanse each person goes through will differ. It can be negligible to mild for many people. However, for those who have experienced significant trauma, especially during childhood, the cleanse can be more intense. Your face might break out in pimples after years without acne. Don’t despair. This is a good sign. It means your body is releasing toxins. You may discover that Reiki energy seems to run erratically through your body so that you heat up at odd times. You might experience other symptoms that you didn’t have before the attunement. They will subside as you become more adept at handling Reiki’s higher vibrational frequency. Vivid or unusual dreams could occur as you sleep. Negative feelings you haven’t had for a long time may surface. At first, you might feel more disorganized or busier than usual. You may realize that situations in your life lack the integrity by which you now want to live. Perhaps you will sense the need for a lifestyle change. Consider this awareness a sign of growth, an indication of healing on a deeper level, and be willing to work through it. It helps to get regular Reiki treatments from a Reiki practitioner when you are dealing with emerging emotional issues. Getting through the adjustment may be easier if you give yourself lots of Reiki and if you

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 134

give Reiki to others as well. Should the cleanse becomes too difficult to handle on your own, ask your Reiki Master for a Reiki treatment. Using Bach’s Flower Remedies also can help, especially Bach’s Rescue Remedy, which promotes calmness, grounding, balance, clarity, trust and healing. Put four drops under your tongue. You can purchase it at most health food stores. Once you have received the Reiki II attunement and begin practicing it, you may notice an increased ability to understand what your clients need. When you received the Reiki I attunement, you were assigned one or more Reiki guides, spiritual healers who assist you as you practice this healing art. Most people aren’t aware of their presence after receiving the Reiki I attunement, but once they receive the Reiki II attunement, they soon begin to notice a difference. Initially, as a new Reiki II practitioner you may be aware of greater guidance, which seems like heightened intuition. A thought or piece of information pops into you heads that is just what’s needed. As the months progress, you will realize you are getting help from Reiki guides who do most of the work for you. You also may call on help from angels, archangels and master healers such as Jesus. They’re only a request away.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 135

EXPLORING REIKI II CHAPTER 2 PREPARING FOR AN ATTUNEMENT

Dietary Considerations What you eat, what you read, and what you watch on TV or at the theater can affect the ease with which you adjust to an attunement. The fewer physical, mental and emotional toxins that affect your body, the easier you will be able to receive and acclimate to the attunement. Two or three days before you receive an attunement, limit your diet as much as possible to fresh fruits and vegetables. Stay away from meat, sugar, carbonated or alcoholic beverages, and anything made with white flour. Give up chocolate during this time, because it contains three chemicals that can interfere with attunements and Reiki treatments. The three chemicals are sugar, theobromine, and phenylethylamine. Sugar has a high glycemic index, which means that foods containing sugar make blood glucose levels rise rapidly before they plummet. Those rapidly rising and falling glucose levels affect a person’s mental function. They also significantly reduce the effectiveness of white blood cells, which defend the body against pathogens such as bacteria, fungi, parasites, and other germ carrying organisms. A weakened immune system affects your aura, making you more susceptible to psychic attack and psychological challenges. If you need a sweetener during this time, try Stevia or agave nectar. Many diabetics can use these sweeteners because they tend not to raise blood sugar levels. However, diabetics should consult their doctors before using any sweetener. Honey and artificial sweeteners should be avoided during this time. Theobromine, found in cacao beans, is a member of the caffeine family and has an effect on the nervous system’s neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemicals made in the body that allow signals to transmit from one neuron to the next across junctions called synapses. They help our brain, spinal cord and nerves to function in a healthy way. Phenylethylamine can make people feel hyper, and it also can have an antidepressant effect. It increase dopamine in the brain and causes other brain chemistry changes. Dopamine has

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 136

an effect on our behavior, our motivation, sleep, mood, attention, working memory and ability to learn, among other things. Meat, including chicken and turkey, makes the body energetically heaver and can lower its vibration. Lower vibrational frequency levels attract fear and other negative emotions. Higher vibration levels are more attuned to love and other positive emotions. Though meat has positive energy and provides nutrition, it also carries the energy of death. The animal was killed to be eaten, so it carries whatever fear the animal felt at the time it died. When people eat meat, they consume that energy along with chemicals the animal produced when it was afraid. Though the caffeine content in carbonated beverages can temporarily boost your energy and make you feel more alert, these drinks create distortions in the way the nervous system functions, throwing it out of balance, and making it harder to channel higher vibrating Reiki energy. Alcohol acts as a depressant that can make people feel temporarily relaxed and euphoric. However, it also reduces awareness of physical and emotional pain and lessens a person’s sense of responsibility. Besides impairing judgment and giving people a sense of false confidence, it reduces attention span, slows reaction time, and increases clumsy behavior. It is toxic and makes the liver work harder in its efforts to remove alcohol from the system. It damages dendrites, which are the branched ends of nerve cells in the brain that bring messages to each cell. Even drinking a small amount of alcohol creates imbalances in the energy field, which affects the ability to channel the more refined frequencies of Reiki energy. White flour no longer contains nutrient laden bran and wheat germ. Though some white flour products are enriched with vitamins, they aren’t absorbed by the body as well as vitamins, minerals, and fiber that occur naturally in bran and wheat germ. The flour is white because it’s bleached, a process that involves the use of several chemicals, among them chlorine, chloride, nitrosyl and benzoyl peroxide. Residues of those chemicals that remain in the flour are not healthy for people. White flour also has a high glycemic index, creating rapid swings in the blood sugar level. Not only do white flour products lower your vibration level, but they also reduce your strength, weaken the stability of your energy field, and make it hard to channel Reiki energy.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 137

Stay Away from Tobacco and Illegal Drugs Do not smoke in the days preceding your attunement, and don’t use illegal drugs. Continue to take medications that your doctor has prescribed for chronic or acute conditions. Drugs, including tobacco, can confuse the mind and body. They dull your ability to assimilate information, bring your body to a lower energy vibration level, and play havoc with your body’s chemistry. If you are so dependent on tobacco or drugs that you would go into withdrawal if you stopped taking them, wait until you have passed the withdrawal stage to seek a Reiki attunement. The more toxins that remain in your body, the harder it will be for your body to process Reiki energy. 1 Much of the above information was gleaned from an excellent article, “Enhance Your Reiki Energy with a Healthier Diet,” written by William Lee Rand in the Fall 2008 issue of Reiki News Magazine. That magazine is a wonderful resource for any Reiki practitioner. In the article, Rand wrote, “In terms of channeling Reiki, our nervous systems are analogous to fiber optic cables. In order to channel the higher frequencies of Reiki energy, the nervous system must be in its most natural state, be pure, and in a condition of balance. If the functioning of the nervous system and other important organ systems in the body is distorted by stimulants or other drugs, or blocked by toxins, or if our vibration is lowered by the kind of food we eat, then the body will be unable to hold the more refined frequencies of Reiki, and the nervous system will be unable to channel them. And while some Reiki will flow, it will be the lower vibrations that come through that do not possess the greater healing potential that is possible.” 2

Reduce Exposure to Television, Movies, Books and Magazines Limit the amount of time you spend watching television or movies in the days leading up to an attunement, and don’t read books or magazines that promote violence or negative emotions. They carry an energetic heaviness that can make people feel angry, confused, hyperactive, depressed, or agitated. If you indulge in any of those pastimes, it could take your body longer to adjust to the attunement, and you could have temporary unpleasant side effects as you release emotional toxins.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 138

Forgive Yourself and Others Do your best to forgive others for any real or perceived injustices before you receive an attunement. Forgiving does not free the other person from the consequences of their acts, but it allows you to let go of resentment and negative attachments to the past so you can move toward greater health and happiness. The energy you once expended to hold a grudge will be available for things you love to do. There is no method more healing and powerful than to forgive ourselves and others. That’s because in the act of forgiving, we recognize the divinity in all of us. We recognize that on some level we are all One.

Practice Reiki after Your Attunement Immediately after you receive an attunement, practice Reiki on other students who attended the workshop with you. Later, practice on family members and friends. Rub your hands vigorously together before you start. This helps to stimulate your palm chakras. Sometimes you will feel a buzzing sensation in your hands when you do this. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes when you practice on other people. Reiki energy will never harm the practitioner or the recipient, no matter how inexperienced you may be. Because Reiki energy comes from God, it also comes with the awareness that, as A Course in Miracles states, we are all spirit, holy children of God, forever innocent, forever loving and forever loved, as limitless as our creator, completely changeless, and forever pure. 3 We are all connected. As long as you allow Reiki to flow through you from God and recognize that you are not doing the healing yourself, you will be fine. Be sure to break the connection between yourself and the other person after the session ends. It is important to get plenty of sleep and to drink at least eight cups of water a day in the weeks following an attunement. This will help your body to expel the toxins, and it will help your organs and tissues adjust to the changes. Sometimes an organ that has been weak will become stronger after you receive a Reiki attunement because the energy helped to heal it. A healthy organ may have gotten used to working overtime to compensate for the weaker organ. Now that the healed organ is ready to carry its own responsibilities, the organs must learn to

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 139

rebalance the work load. This places a temporary stress on the body. 4 Your body will learn to make the adjustment, but it will take some time.

Getting Together After an Attunement About three weeks after you have received an attunement, you may want to meet again with your Reiki Master and other students who were attuned with you to exchange experiences, ask questions, and practice giving Reiki to each other. It can help to practice Reiki with other Reiki practitioners once every month or two for awhile to give you more supervised experience. These meetings are commonly called Reiki shares or Reiki healing circles. They are sometimes held in churches, hospitals, health clinics, or elsewhere. An excellent article describing Reiki shares can be found beginning on page 10 in the Reiki New Magazine’s spring 2005 issue. 5

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 140

EXPLORING REIKI II CHAPTER 3 WESTERN SCHOLARS STUDY ENERGY FIELDS Before we discuss the Reiki II symbols and how they will help your body energetically and physically, let’s delve a little deeper into energy fields. An aura, chakras and energy channels flow around and through each of us. This vital energy that makes up our energy system was first mentioned in Western literature in about 500 B.C. by the Pythagoreans, who believed in the transmigration of the soul and in numbers as the ultimate elements of the universe. 1 Pythagorean philosophy was the prime source of inspiration for Plato and Aristotle. If you have already read Exploring Reiki I in the Healing and Growing with Reiki ebook series, you learned a great deal about the layers of the aura and the chakra system. If you haven’t read it yet, it contains much information that will be helpful when you practice Reiki. It’s available at www.wordsandwellness.com Western scholars in various centuries have recognized this vital energy, at least to some degree. They recognize that, among other things, energy can interact between individuals at a distance.

Dr. Wilhelm Reich An Austrian psychiatrist named Dr. Wilhelm Reich was one of those Western scholars. Reich, who began his private psychoanalytic and psychiatric practice in 1922, worked as a clinical assistant at Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic Polyclinic in Vienna. In 1939, Reich came to the United States to teach at the New School for Social Research in New York City. Freud had hypothesized the existence of a biological sexual energy in the body, which he called the libido. Over time, Freud put less emphasis on the libido and considered it speculative. However, Reich’s clinical work convinced him that this energy was very real and that “the function of the orgasm is to maintain an energy equilibrium by discharging excess biological energy that builds up naturally in the body.” 2 He believed if this energy release was disturbed, it could fuel neurotic disorders.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 141

He gave the name “orgone” to a universal energy he discovered in connection with his studies of sexual energy. It was an energy that did not obey known laws of electricity or magnetism, and it seemed to permeate all substances. He used a specially built high-powered microscope to observe orgone energy pulsating from microorganisms. He also noticed that it pulsated in the sky and surrounded all organic and inanimate objects. Over time, he developed a psychotherapeutic method to release blockages in orgone energy. He was able to clear negative mental and emotional states when he released these blockages. He built a machine called an accumulator in the 1930s and 1940s, and used it to study the orgone field. He maintained that the accumulator could concentrate orgone energy and that he could charge objects with that energy. He also claimed orgone could increase the nuclear decay rate of a radioisotope. 3 He eventually built an accumulator large enough so that cancer patients could sit in it. His experiments showed that orgone resulted in pain relief and weight gain in cancer patients. It shrunk and sometimes eliminated tumors, and it promoted healthier blood conditions. 4 He built a cloud buster machine that he said could affect weather patterns by altering concentrations of orgone in the atmosphere. 5 Some blueberry farmers in Maine asked for Reich’s help during a drought that threatened their crop. Though the weather bureau forecast no rain for several days, local newspapers credited the cloud buster with the two inches of rain that fell during the next few days, saving the blueberry crop. In 1947, an article in New Republic magazine cast a critical eye on Reich’s sexual theories and orgone research. It challenged medical authorities to take action against him. Reich’s accumulators and several tons of his publications were destroyed following a court injunction initiated in 1954 by the Food and Drug Administration that claimed orgone energy does not exist. More about the details of the court case and the two-year federal prison sentence that Reich received can be found at www.wilhelmreichmuseum.org. Reich died of heart failure in 1957 while serving his sentence at the Danbury Federal Penitentiary in Lewisburg, PA. Other people also have studied this vital energy, and some have given it different names. No matter what they called it, they all were observing the effects of what Eastern medicine has

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 142

known for thousands of years: We have an aura, a chakra system, and energy pathways that run through our body.

Our Energy Field Affects Our Health Our bodies are made up of a complex network of interwoven electromagnetic fields nourished by subtle energetic systems that coordinate a variety of functions and structures. Our emotions and our level of spiritual balance affect these energy systems, as do nutritional and environmental factors. These, in turn, influence cellular growth patterns. Doctors who practice allopathic medicine often use a variety of drugs and surgical techniques to treat diseases. When the symptoms recur, other surgical and drug techniques are tried. “The key to treating such recurring conditions of disease may not lie in simple, ‘quick fix’ physical solutions, but in the realm of repatterning the organizing energy fields which direct the cellular expression of dysfunction,” said Dr. Richard Gerber. 6 Gerber, who received his medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine, has devoted his life to research and clinical application of energy based medicine. He wrote Vibrational Medicine, a comprehensive book on the subject. Other doctors in the 20th century noted a correlation between energy patterns and illness. These energy patterns seem to relate to our aura and chakras. In general, Western medical doctors have not received training in energy based medicine and many are uncomfortable with it or indifferent to it. However, integrative medicine is growing in popularity. It emphasizes a partnership between doctor and patient to treat the whole person, including the mind, body and spirit. Several institutions across the country provide training and treatment in integrative medicine, and some offer Reiki as part of a patient’s treatment program. One of the better known institutions is the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Over the years, some medical people with pioneering spirits have researched and developed out-of-the-box treatments that showed promise. As in the case of Wilhelm Reich, their ideas were sometimes met with skepticism or worse.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 143

Dr. Bjorn Nordenstrom One of those pioneers, Dr. Bjorn E.W. Nordenstrom, a medical doctor and researcher, delved into the study of electricity in the body during the last half of the 20th century. Though his groundbreaking work is seldom mentioned, it deserves greater attention and could lead to cures for diseases that still perplex us. An innovator, Nordenstrom developed several clinical radiology techniques routinely used in hospitals today. He was a professor of diagnostic radiology at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden and became head of diagnostic radiology there in the 1960s when the institute was known as the world’s pre-eminent radiological research laboratory. He wrote a 358-page medical book called Biologically Closed Electric Circuits published in 1983. Written after more than 20 years of research, the book explained his discovery of an electrical circulatory system in the body. It is “a system not only as complex as the circulation of the blood but also one which intervenes in all physiologic activities,” said Jacques C. Hauton, a French professor of biochemistry. 7 Bernard W. Watson, professor of medical electronics at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, England, noted that Nordenstrom’s discovery “offers a unified theory even for such diverse phenomenon as acupuncture and the effect of electromagnetic fields on man and increases our understanding of the mechanism of tumour growth.” 8 Nordenstrom developed his theory that energy conversion occurs in tissue over biologically closed electric circuits after he observed some corona structures in an x-ray of a lung in 1954. He noted similar structures in some other lung and breast x-rays. They would appear like a halo of light colored streaks radiating from the edges of a tumor mass. Because the image reminded him of the sun’s rays, he called it a corona. Some tumors were surrounded by coronas, while others were not. There was no known explanation for what caused the images. After meticulous research, Nordenstrom concluded that the structures represented tissue modification over a biologically closed electric circuitry system in the body, which was activated by an injury to the tissue. 9 He saw that as evidence of the body’s attempt to heal itself. Nordenstrom believed that biologically closed electric circuits are switched on by an injury, infection, tumor or even by normal activity in the organs. As a result, “voltages build and

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 144

fluctuate; electric currents course through arteries and veins and across capillary walls, drawing white blood cells and metabolic compounds in and out of surrounding tissues,” wrote Gary Taubes in the April 1986 issue of Discover magazine. It detailed Nordenstrom’s discovery. “This electrical system, says Nordenstrom, works to balance the activity of internal organs and, in the case of injuries, represents the very foundation of the healing process. In his view, it’s as critical to the well-being of the human body as the flow of blood. Disturbances in this electrical network, he suggests, may be involved in the development of cancer and other diseases.” 10 Fellow doctors took little note of Nordenstrom’s work and couldn’t understand why he was so intrigued by coronas. Nordenstrom did not let that stop him. He had never been afraid of new ideas. One technique he pioneered, the percutaneous needle biopsy, was considered radical and too dangerous in his day. He redesigned a biopsy needle that could penetrate deep into the body, and he redesigned x-ray equipment needed to steer the needle to the tumor. Today, percutaneous needle biopsy is routinely used in major hospitals around the world to diagnose deep tumors. As Nordenstrom continued his studies, he learned it is the energy released by injured and dying cells that provides the power for electrical circuits in the body. As they fluctuate between positive and negative voltages, they become a kind of battery to keep the electric currents going during the healing process. Over the next several years, Nordenstrom spent much time experimenting and researching until he identified all the elements of the body’s electric circuitry. He also continued his administrative position at Karolinska Hospital, in which he oversaw a department of 250 people, including 48 doctors. He resigned in 1979 to write his book. When he finished it, he could not find a publisher and had to raise $50,000 to publish 2,000 copies of the book priced at $135 each to cover his expenses. He sold only 400 books. It is difficult to find a copy of his book today. Even so, he believed he had discovered something that would help people heal. Karolinska Hospital’s ethics committee gave him permission to work on patients whom the medical establishment could no longer help. On these severely ill patients, he used a DC (directcurrent) treatment processor, which he helped design, to increase the body’s ability to fight

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 145

tumors. Using platinum electrode needles, he would place a positive electrode in the center of the tumor, whose position had been determined by x-rays, and a negative electrode a few inches below the first. Then he would turn on the treatment processor, which sent electricity into the patient’s body through the needles. It modulated between positive and negative voltages. The treatment could sometimes last for two hours. It triggered several tumor-fighting reactions. Among them were the production of more white blood cells to fight the tumor, a change in the environment caused by the electric field that made cancer cells more vulnerable, and an acidic reaction around the outside of the tumor that killed or damaged red blood cells, reducing their ability to deliver oxygen to the tumor. Of the first 20 patients he treated, 10 saw their lung or breast tumors regress. In seven of those 10 people, the tumor died completely. As he learned more about the voltages to apply, his success rate rose. He also combined electrical and chemotherapy treatment so he could target the chemicals to specific locations. He studied tumors of the lung and breast because he was most familiar with them, but he thought the procedure would work on other tumors as well. Even though he met with considerable success, his theory has not had much impact on the medical community. If Nordenstrom is right and a biologically closed electric circuit does exist in the body, it makes sense that Reiki energy could stimulate that system and promote healing. In fact, Reiki practitioners sometimes witness physical and/or emotional improvement during treatments.

The Energy of Feelings Affects Water An internationally known Japanese researcher named Masaru Emoto conducted experiments in which he demonstrated how the energy of feelings had a direct affect on water. In his book, The True Power of Water, published in 2005, he told about his experiments and what he discovered. He has also written several other books about his experiments, among them The Hidden Messages in Water and The Miracle of Water. After Emoto was introduced to a type of water that helped to reduce his foot pain, he became convinced that water absorbs information. He read in a book that no two snow crystals are alike. That made him think if he could freeze water and look at its crystals, he might be able

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 146

to see those differences. Kazuya Ishibashi, a researcher in the trading company where Emoto worked, agreed to try to form and photograph water crystals. After working at it for two months, he succeeded. The men began studying water from various rural and city sources around the world. They also studied tap water, bottled water, mineral water, and water filtered through the earth after rainfall. Some was so polluted it would not form crystals. Others formed crystals of varying beauty. Emoto began to suspect that the quality of water crystals could be affected by more than where it came from. He thought it might be affected by the information it received. So he poured water from the same source into two glass bottles. On one bottle, he taped the words, “Thank you.” On the other bottle he taped, “You fool.” After the water in both bottles was frozen, it created very different crystals. The water in the “Thank you” bottle formed beautiful hexagonal crystals. The water in the “You fool” bottle formed only fragments of crystals. He concluded from this experiment that “the information we give to water changes its quality.” 11 Emoto and Ishibashi continued to experiment with water. After they put different words on bottles of water from the same source, they photographed the water crystals. Water from bottles with positive words taped to them produced beautiful crystals. Bottles of water to which negative words were taped resulted in fragmented crystals or no crystals at all. The most beautiful water crystals were formed in bottles to which Emoto taped the words, “Love and gratitude.” When he put the word “war” on bottles, the water could form no crystals at all. 12 Emoto concluded that water is sensitive to a subtle form of energy he called hado. His use of that word encompasses all the subtle energy in the universe. The energy can be positive or negative, it vibrates at differing frequencies, and it can easily be transmitted to other existing things. 13 The True Power of Water contains beautiful pictures showing what water crystals look like when exposed to positive and negative information. “Since the quality of water improves or deteriorates depending on the information given to it, the corollary for humans, who are made up primarily of water, is to take in good information,” Emoto noted. “When we do, our mind and body can become healthier. Conversely, when we take in negative information, we can get sick.” 14 Reiki provides positive energy that helps every level of our auras and chakras. When we

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 147

let Reiki flow through us to others or when we give ourselves Reiki treatments, we are providing nourishing, positive energy that is good for us and for those around us.

Emotions Affect Our Body Just as taping positive words onto bottles helps water to form beautiful crystals, so does meditating in a state of love affect our body in a positive way. Researchers at the Institute of HeartMath in Boulder Creek, Calif., discovered that the electrocardiogram patterns of people who meditate in a state of love, compassion and caring have greater coherence than the patterns of those who are simply resting or who have negative emotions. 15 The researchers noted that during times of focused love and peace, “the heart center sends out a coherent energy pattern to the rest of the body, including the brain.” 16 The electrocardiographic pattern of meditating people went from randomly chaotic to highly ordered and coherent when they felt unconditional love. They also produced more saliva, which indicated enhanced immune functioning. 17 As a result of their studies, researchers hypothesized there is an energy-field system of communication in the body. They referred to this system as cardioneuroimmunology. It strengthens the idea that there is a link between the heart chakra and the thymus and its connection to the immune system. Similar experiments, also at the Institute of HeartMath, showed that when the subtle energy of a healer and client are linked, each of them has an alpha-theta brain wave pattern of about 7.8 Hertz, or cycles per second. This pattern resonates with earth’s magnetic field. As the electromagnetic energy flows from the healer to clients, the clients’ “energy fields undergo restructuring and repatterning that ultimately affect biochemical processes at the cellular level,” said Richard Gerber, M.D. 18 That energy also has a positive effect on the earth’s magnetic field.

Brain Waves Have Different Energy Patterns Brain waves have certain rhythmic patterns that are measurable. Those brain wave frequencies have been crudely correlated with states of consciousness. 19 The brain wave cycles have slightly different measurements depending on which source of information a person studies.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 148

Delta waves can vibrate from about .5 to 3 cycles per seconds. They indicate sleep with the slowest cycles registering in deep, dreamless sleep. Infants have this brain wave pattern when they are both awake and asleep. Theta waves indicate a trance or a drowsy state and normally vibrate at 4 to 8 cycles per second. You may experience these waves just before you fall asleep and when you are waking up. People who don’t remember the last several miles they’ve driven on the freeway tend to be in a theta state. This is a common brain wave pattern for children ages two to six. People are more creative, inspired and full of insight when in the theta wave state. Adults tend to have a hard time maintaining this state on their own. During relaxed, wakeful or meditative states, alpha waves are generated. They normally measure between 8 and 14 cycles per second. Children ages six to 12 are usually in this state, which may explain why they often seem alert but mentally unfocused. During active everyday consciousness, beta waves form. They usually vibrate at 14 to 35 cycles per second. Most children over 12 and adults operate in this fully awake state. It is a time when their minds are actively engaged in tasks. People who receive Reiki frequently talk about how relaxed they feel, as though they have accessed a state deeper than sleep. The alpha-theta brain wave pattern may produce this deep sense of relaxation that promotes healing. The conscious mind is still in operation, and the person is awake, though sometimes drowsy, and aware of what is happening. The more deeply people move into the theta brain wave pattern, the less their conscious minds are engaged and the less aware they are of their surroundings. It is an extremely restful state sometimes experienced by clients during a Reiki session. It affects the autonomic nervous system which controls such things as the heart rate and blood pressure. The relaxed state experienced by people who receive Reiki occurs because of the energetic communication between healer and client. The Reiki energy flowing from God through the Reiki practitioner creates a subtle energy vibration in the person who receives Reiki. This vibration is similar to the hado described by Emoto in his work with water crystals. If our bodies could be photographed after a Reiki session in the same way the water crystals in Emoto’s research were, we might see beautiful crystals forming inside of us too.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 149

Physical Changes During Meditation For a long time, Western science did not accept this relaxed state as a reality because no one had been able to measure it. Then in 1967, Robert Keith Wallace, an American doctoral student at UCLA, began his Ph.D. research on the physiological changes that occur during transcendental meditation. Wallace eventually became a physiologist. Over a period of several years, he measured the brain waves, blood pressure, heart rate and other indicators of physical change while subjects meditated for 20 minutes. “Within a few minutes of beginning their practice, his subjects entered a state of deep relaxation, marked by slower breathing and heart rate, by the appearance of alpha waves in their EEGS (electroencephalograms), and decreased oxygen consumption detected in the breath,” wrote Deepak Chopra, M.D, in Quantum Healing. 20 Their metabolic rate dropped to a point lower than is usually achieved after a person has been asleep four to six hours. Their oxygen levels decreased significantly. Meditators were able to achieve this state in a few minutes. They remained fully awake and had a heightened sense of awareness. They experienced inner silence and peacefulness in a deep state of relaxation that had never been recorded before Wallace conducted his studies. Wallace called this state of awareness hypometabolic wakefulness. He concluded that he had measured a new state of consciousness, which he called the fourth state. In this state, people experienced a deep transcendental awareness. What the study did, Chopra said, “was to legitimize the mind-body connection. It is now accepted fact that one’s body spontaneously responds to one’s state of awareness.” 21

Military Harnesses Heightened State of Awareness This state of awareness has been used by the United States military through a technique that teaches people to enter an altered state. In this state, they can “see” what is happening in places physically removed from them, sometimes on the other side of the world. Coupled with information from other sources, the state of awareness has given the military information about areas that might have been difficult to reach any other way. David Morehouse, who was trained in this technique, developed The Remote Viewing

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 150

Training Course in which he explained how to use the method. It involves understanding how energy affects us. “In quantum physics,” Morehouse said, “nothing is solid; it only appears to be. In actuality, once all matter is distilled down to its smallest form, at the subatomic level, it all exists as energy in the form of waves. These waves can affect other waves with positive and negative effect.” 22 Waves have two components called frequency and amplitude. Frequency refers to how many waves occur in a certain time period. Amplitude involves the strength of the wave as measured by its height. If we apply the concept of energy to prayer, the wave frequency would show how many times we prayed for a person. The amplitude would apply to the strength of our commitment or intent as we prayed. 23 These energy waves are in everything, including both animate and inanimate objects. The energy can be used for many purposes. People who were trained by the military to enter altered brain wave states learned to ride the energy waves and use very specific techniques to record the impressions of what they “saw” at target sites. They learned to harness these skills so effectively that the military used their services on many occasions to peer into areas that were difficult to access any other way.

Healing Energy Is Real Though the words “energy work” still make some individuals roll their eyes, it has gained credibility as more and more people have used scientific techniques to study it. Energy acts in predictable ways and can be focused to enhance the healing process. It has been measured and manipulated and even harnessed as a spying tool by the military. Reiki energy helps to balance the body, making it easier for us to stay healthy. Studies have shown that it affects the autonomic nervous system. When masculine and feminine energy, or yin and yang, are flowing in a balanced state, they promote a harmonious condition that benefits the body. Some ancient medical practitioners knew more about healing energy than we have yet to discover, and they practiced it with skill. Some who followed after them studied the fragmented evidence of what they could find about those techniques and took them a step farther. Mikao

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 151

Usui of Japan was one of those people. After he began to teach and develop Reiki, which has ties to ancient healing techniques, more and more people have learned to practice it. Its popularity continues to grow. As a result, Reiki energy has spread around the world. It’s a tool we can use to help bring peace and healing to our planet, to the universe and beyond.

Measuring Energy Fields Thanks to the work of people mentioned in this chapter and numerous others, acceptance of energy fields in the body is becoming more wide spread. Machines used in many medical institutions today read information about those energy fields. The results help doctors to diagnose more accurately. Among the machines are CAT (Computerized Axial Tomography), MRIs (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), PET (Positron Emission Tomography scans), and mammography. So even though conventional medicine sometimes has not always embraced energy techniques such as Reiki, it has recognized the contribution that energy scanning devices play in helping to diagnose health problems. The emergence of integrative medicine lends hope that medicine of the future will better combine current medical practices with ancient knowledge about the energy system so the art of healing can be raised to an even higher level.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 152

EXPLORING REIKI II CHAPTER 4 THE REIKI II SYMBOLS

Reiki Symbols Are Sacred Reiki symbols are sacred and transcendental. They not only affect the subconscious mind, but they connect us directly with our conscious awareness of God. 1 They cannot be activated or used effectively until a person receives the appropriate attunements from a Reiki Master. It is important to treat the symbols with respect, because they not only provide sacred representation of ancient energy but they also contain healing energy. Mikao Usui used his considerable knowledge of many different teachings when he adapted the symbols used in Reiki. He drew from Esoteric Buddhism, whose origins are much older than Buddhism itself. In Esoteric Buddhism, certain teachings are only transmitted from teacher to student during an initiation. He also mined his knowledge of shamanism, the magical Taoism of China, an ancient Japanese religion called Shinto, and a form of Japanese magic known as Shugendo. Three symbols are taught during a Reiki II workshop. They include a power symbol, a mental/emotional symbol, and a distant symbol for healing at a distance. The Cho-Ku-Rei, or power, symbol comes from Shugendo and Shinto, while the Sei-HeKi, or mental/emotional symbol can be traced to Esoteric Buddhism. The Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen distant healing symbol, which was invented by Usui, has its origins in both magical Taoism and Esoteric Buddhism. 2 When Usui developed the Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen symbol, he dipped into his extensive knowledge of many healing methods. The symbol is a combination of five compounded Chinese characters. Practitioners use it when they want to send Reiki to people who are not in their physical presence. Distance is no obstacle with this symbol. Usui created the symbol because he wanted to help his students be free of the limitations of time and space when they used Reiki. 3

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 153

Draw the Symbols Carefully with the Intent to Heal Some people, including Reiki Masters Mark Hosak and Walter Lübeck, believe that deviations in the way the symbols are drawn can reduce the effect of their power because the symbols were created for specific purposes. Hosak and Lübeck suggest that symbols drawn most closely to the way Dr. Usui shaped them are more effective. However, as in all things about Reiki, intention is the key. If practitioners intend that the symbol be used for its original purpose, God will honor that intention even if healers don’t draw it perfectly. Reiki Master William Lee Rand, who teaches Reiki around the world, explained it this way: “The symbols were never meant to be exact, and variations do exist between teachers.” 5 Before an attunement, Reiki masters show students the symbols that will be passed during that attunement. When the attunement occurs, the images the students saw are linked to metaphysical energies represented by those symbols. 6 Those energies are placed in the causal body of each student’s aura. They are activated every time the person uses or thinks about the symbol. When Hawayo Takata, who brought Reiki to the West, taught Reiki workshops, she did not let students keep copies of the symbols. They had to memorize them. Since memories are fallible, people remembered the symbols in slightly different ways. Even Takata did not draw the symbols exactly the same way each time she taught or used them. There are variations in all of the symbols, though Sei-He-Ki seems to have the fewest versions. Its design is less complex, making it easier to remember. Even when slightly different versions of any symbol are used, the purpose of each symbol remains unchanged. Reiki will still flow, and clients will still benefit from the energy.

Reiki Symbols Were Once Kept Confidential Reiki symbols traditionally have been kept confidential as a demonstration of respect for the sacred symbols and out of consideration for those who have not received attunements. The power of the symbols is activated only during an attunement, so people who try to use the symbols when they have not been properly attuned may feel confused. They may think they are

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 154

able to use Reiki when, in reality, they cannot. 7 If they give what they think are Reiki treatments to clients, those clients will not receive Reiki energy. They may benefit from the practitioner’s healing abilities, but those benefits will not include Reiki energy. The traditional stance against letting anyone see the Reiki symbols changed when Reiki Master Diane Stein included the symbols in her book, Essential Reiki. She chose to reveal the symbols because she believes Reiki is one of the endangered mysteries. It is endangered partly because of the Chinese occupation of Tibet, which is resulting in destruction of ancient libraries where information about Reiki is believed to have been kept for centuries. It is also endangered because Western teaching of Reiki has sometimes been inadequate. When people are shown the Reiki symbols and given attunements without adequate training, the information is too diluted and people will have to study on their own to find the needed facts. If they don’t do that extra studying, their understanding of Reiki will be limited. 8 Though the symbols are included in this book, they are effective only if you are attuned in person by a Reiki Master. If you have received Reiki I and Reiki II attunements from a Reiki Master, you can effectively use the Reiki II symbols, but you will not be able to activate the energy in the Reiki Master symbols until you are attuned to them. Nor will your body be ready to handle the increased energy that comes with the Reiki Master attunement.

Some Signs of Reiki’s Effectiveness When clients receive a Reiki treatment from a Reiki practitioner, they can feel the Reiki energy. One sign that people have been attuned to Reiki energy is that their hands often heat up when Reiki is burning away energy blockages. Practitioners may not always be aware that their hands are getting hot, but their clients can feel it. They may say things like, “Did you do something to heat up your hands?” or “Your hands felt so warm.” Reiki practitioners are not the only healers whose hands heat up. The heat is an indication that healing energy is flowing. If you have just received a Reiki attunement, it can be reassuring to feel your hands grow warm especially if you’ve never experienced that sensation before. You know you have received something that’s new to you. Once a Reiki session is complete, the person who receives it usually feels more relaxed

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 155

and sometimes even lighter. That’s because energy blockages and “heavy” negative energy have been released. If you are thinking about getting a Reiki attunement from a Reiki Master, ask to receive a Reiki treatment from the Master first. Notice how relaxed you feel during the session and how the Reiki energy affects you over a few days’ time. Then decide whether or not you want to learn from that person. When you are ready to receive the Reiki II attunement, you will learn to draw the three symbols. Though you may draw them before you receive the Reiki II attunement, you cannot activate their healing energy until you are attuned to them. Once you receive the attunement, you will notice a difference when you draw the symbols. They will enhance your work as a healer. Draw the symbol and say the name three times or think about the symbol to activate it.

Counterclockwise Cho-Ku-Rei

Clockwise Cho-Ku-Rei

Cho-Ku-Rei Cho-Ku-Rei is known as the power symbol. It is pronounced Cho Koo-Ray. “Cho” rhymes with “low”. It is sometimes called the light switch. This symbol increases the power of

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 156

Reiki energy at a specific location. Cho-Ku-Rei focuses on the physical body. When you use the symbol over a certain part of the body, the energy in that area is stimulated and purified. Cho-Ku-Rei also stimulates a harmonious flow of energy throughout the body. The symbol’s vibration has an immediate effect on the aura’s etheric layer through energy channels that link the physical and etheric bodies. The higher frequency vibration causes the release of toxins. Cho-Ku-Rei can be translated in several ways. Among the meanings are “By divine decree,” 1 “Put the power here” or “God is here.” 2 Cho-Ku-Rei may be used any time during a treatment. It is especially effective at the beginning to increase the healing power and at the end to seal the healing energies around the person. When an energy blockage persists anywhere, you can use Cho-Ku-Rei to help release it. 3 Put your hands over the blockage, draw the Cho-Ku-Rei symbol and let Reiki flow until you feel the blockage release. You may have to draw the symbol more than once to completely clear the blockage, depending on what influences created it. If people are being verbally attacked to their face or behind their back, you might need to draw the symbol once for each attacker. This is not always necessary. However, if the blockage does not release after you draw the power symbol once, draw it again and send more Reiki to the spot. Continue that procedure until the blockage clears, even if you must draw the Cho-Ku-Rei symbol three or more times. You will know when you have drawn the symbol enough times, because energy will flow smoothly again through that area. The symbol also works to clear a room of negative energy. Draw it in the corners of the room and on the floor and ceiling. Use it to protect yourself and others and the things you love. You also may use it to bless others. 4 Draw it over food to increase its nutritional value and as a way to express thanks for what you are about to eat. But before you do that, draw the Sei-He-Ki symbol over the food to cleanse and purify it of any toxins. 5 Use your common sense. If you think something isn’t safe to eat, toss it out even if you’ve given it Reiki. One of Cho-Ku-Rei’s functions is to integrate spiritual energies by building a bridge between the material and spiritual worlds so you can remember the spiritual being that you are. 6

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 157

By applying this symbol, you invite God to become active in the present moment. As you become grounded in the now and in your connection with God, you can more easily manifest, or create, what you want in your life. Cho-Ku-Rei often is used to enhance the power of another symbol. First, draw the other symbol, then add Cho-Ku-Rei with the intent that it will strengthen the first symbol. Each part of the symbol stands for something. The top horizontal line represents the energy of God’s creative presence. The vertical line helps that creative presence to materialize step by step into the material realm. The circles around the vertical line represent the elements of air, fire, water and earth. 7

What the Cho-Ku-Rei Symbol Represents

The traditional Cho-Ku-Rei symbol is drawn counterclockwise. Reiki Master Diane Stein

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 158

was taught to draw the symbol with a clockwise motion. In metaphysical or energy work, “clockwise motion in the Northern Hemisphere is the direction of invoking and increase, and counterclockwise motion is the direction of decrease and dispersion,” she said. “In the Southern Hemisphere it is the opposite.” 8 If you sense negative energy in a client, experiment by drawing counterclockwise ChoKu-Rei over that area when you are in the Northern Hemisphere. Once the negative energy seems to be gone, draw a clockwise Cho-Ku-Rei symbol over the same area so that positive energy fills the spot. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, draw the symbol the opposite way. Let your intuition guide you, and recognize that Reiki energy will do whatever is for the client’s highest good. Even though you are drawing the symbols, you are not providing the energy. You are simply letting it flow through you from God.

Sei-He-Ki

Sei-He-Ki Sei-He-Ki is pronounced Seh-heh-key. It is known as an emotional symbol but has some

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 159

mental properties as well. It can be used for emotional healing, purification, protection and clearing. 9 It resonates with the etheric body. It also balances the right and left sides of the brain. It aids in healing relationship challenges, and it can be used with people who exhibit deeply rooted emotional and mental problems. If someone has a hard time expressing emotions, Sei-He-Ki can help. The symbol means to activate the source within. It also has been translated as “Key to the universe” or “Man and God becoming one.” 10 It awakens and purifies kundalini energy, which is energy coiled at the base of the spine. It also repatterns the brain and uses the subconscious to heal the mindbody connection. 11 The Sei-He-Ki symbol has a relaxing and calming quality. It supports and balances the body’s natural energy flow. It allows divine wisdom to interact with our human energy patterns, and it balances and aligns the upper chakras. 12 It is a cleansing symbol that dispels negativity. It also can be used to heal addictions, to correct unwanted habits and to address issues that affect weight. It helps to improve memory and to enhance the use of affirmations. It addresses sleep related problems, depression and nervousness. It also helps to calm the minds of people who are studying or taking tests so they can think more clearly. 13 The Sei-He-Ki symbol can be used to clear negative energy from your home or to harmonize the energy in a room. To do this, use the symbol in the house corners and over the windows. Be sure to protect yourself first, or negative energies in the house or room could attach to you. These are a few ways to protect yourself. Wear one or more of these crystals or put them in your pocket: marcasite, purpurite, or citrine. Though other crystals may be helpful, these have worked well for me. Surround yourself with the white light of unconditional love, the gold light of angelic presence, and the silver light of protection. Before you start the cleaning process, ask God to protect you. Afterwards, give thanks for that protection. When combined with Cho-Ku-Rei, Sei-He-Ki is effective to cleanse and purify food. Use Sei-He-Ki to cleanse any impurities or to remove negative energy left by people who grew, harvested, butchered, packaged, handled or cooked it. Then draw Cho-Ku-Rei over the food to

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 160

increase its nutritional qualities. 14 Sei-He-Ki is the symbol most often used when working with animals. Because pets have taken on the job of clearing disturbing energy from their people and homes, they sometimes need a little extra help to do it. 15 Giving pets Reiki with the Sei-He-Ki symbol will help them clear energy that’s hard to transform, especially if the family is in crisis or if a family member or guest is dealing with challenging emotional issues. Some people use only the Sei-He-Ki symbol with animals; others use all the symbols. Either method is acceptable. Experiment to see what works best for the animals to whom you send Reiki. Though it seldom happens, people might relive painful emotions during a Reiki session. Draw the Sei-He-Ki symbol to help them navigate through those feelings. If they are willing to let the emotion surface and to sit with it for a few minutes, it will soon release. Its power will be gone. You can use other tools in combination with Sei-He-Ki to deal with severe physical reactions. The following techniques are some that can enhance the Reiki experience. EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique, involves tapping on meridian end points in the body to balance the energy system. If overwhelming memories of past events come up during a session, EFT can help people work through them. EFT was developed by Gary Craig after he learned a more complicated tapping method called Thought Field Therapy from clinical psychologist Dr. Roger Callahan. Craig’s simplified method is based on the theory that the cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body’s energy system. When you show people how to tap on specific meridian end points on their body, the intense body sensations usually reduce or disappear in a few minutes. That’s because tapping puts the energy system back into balance. If people arrive for a Reiki session in an agitated state, a round or two of EFT will help them relax into the Reiki treatment more quickly and deeply. A free manual on how to use the tapping technique is available at www.eftuniverse.com. To learn more about Thought Field Therapy, read Callahan’s book, Tapping the Healer Within. You will find much more about EFT in Appendix 2 of this ebook. Sometimes a person may start to shake and tremble on the treatment table. That’s a sign that energy, which was trapped in muscle cells or the nervous system after an unpleasant or

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 161

traumatic experience, is releasing and allowing healing to take place. Once the stuck energy flows out of the body, the negative symptoms usually disappear. If the shaking persists, EFT may help. If people find the shaking too difficult or embarrassing to handle, you can slow it down by having them focus on a favorite food or activity. Ask them to describe their favorite food in detail. Encourage them to tell you how it looks, what ingredients it contains, how it tastes and smells, and what it feels like in their mouth. Or have them describe their favorite activity, what motions they go through, and how it makes them feel. Have them experience it through as many of their five senses as possible. This takes their mind off the shaking, which soon subsides. Another way to reduce unpleasant body responses is to have clients wave back and forth between the challenging sensation and a positive memory that makes them feel powerful or loved. In a minute or two the unpleasant body sensation usually fades away. That waving back and forth method between a positive memory and an unpleasant sensation or emotion is an aspect of resourcing, one of several methods used in Somatic Experiencing. It was developed by Peter Levine, Ph.D. His book, Waking the Tiger and his CD program, Healing Trauma, explain his successful method for helping patients work through side effects of trauma that have plagued them for years. Once people release the stuck energy that resulted from the originating trauma,they often feel lighter, and their emotional, mental or physical symptoms decrease or leave entirely. The more times people receive Reiki or give Reiki treatments, the more easily their body handles the flow of Reiki energy. At the same time, they move closer to wholeness.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 162

Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen

Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen transcends distance, space and time. Also known as the distant symbol, it can be used to heal people who are not in your physical presence. It is pronounced Honn-Shah-Zay-Show-Nen. It works because the same divine consciousness is in all of us, connecting us and making us one. Reiki II practitioners can use the symbol to send Reiki next door, across town or thousands of miles away. Distance is no obstacle to divine consciousness. Because it resonates with the mental body, this symbol works on the mental level and opens up intuition. It is connected to the third eye chakra. It allows healers to transmit healing energy, as if over a bridge, for long distances to people, animals, trees and other plants, topographical features such as mountains and streams, and disaster areas or war zones. 16 The Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen symbol resembles a tall pyramid or building and looks somewhat like the human body. The symbol speaks of connecting our spirits to promote healing. It spells a sentence that means, “No past, no present, no future.” 17 When Dr. Usui used this

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 163

symbol, he said, “Human being, Crown of Creation, return to your natural original state.” 18 With this symbol, you can send Reiki into the future when you know you will need it to face a difficult challenge. Reiki stores itself at that time and place to help you. 19 You also can send Reiki into the past. Ask that it to go to the initiating cause of your current problem and heal it there. Coupling the use of Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen with Sei-He-Ki in cases of past trauma can be powerful.

How to Use Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen If you decide to send healing Reiki to someone long distance, it is important to first get permission. You can do this by asking the person and by arranging a time for the distant session. Tell the person to be in a quiet place, ready to receive Reiki. Or you can ask permission from the person’s Higher Self. You will get either a positive or negative response. In your mind, you may see the person turn toward you. Perhaps the person’s head will nod yes or shake no, or you will notice another response. Respect the wishes of those who do not want to receive Reiki. If you don’t get any response or if the person chooses not to accept it, you may send Reiki energy anyway and instruct it to go to whoever wants it in that geographic area. Distant healing is a process of visualizing while in a prayerful or meditative state. Always ground yourself before you send distant Reiki. Through one or more of your five senses, imagine the people to whom you want to send Reiki, or look at a picture of them. Once you have connected with them by drawing the distant symbol, you may send them love or light, pray for them, or think positive thoughts about them. Here are several suggestions for how to send the distant healing symbol. In each method, either draw or visualize Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen and say or think its name three times. *Place a picture of the person in front of you and draw the symbol in the air. Send Reiki to the picture, and it will go the person. *After drawing the symbol, hold the picture between your hands and ask Reiki to flow to the person. Draw the symbol on the roof of your mouth with your tongue since your hands are occupied holding the picture, or just think about the symbol. Say or think the symbol’s name

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 164

three times. It will activate by your intent. Drawing it may help to focus your attention. *Write the person’s name on a piece of paper, then draw the distant symbol and hold the paper between your hands. Think about the person to whom you are sending Reiki. *Hold your hands in the direction you think the person is located. Draw the symbol, then send Reiki to that person. *Use a teddy bear to represent the person. Say the individual’s name three times, then draw Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen down the front of the bear’s body. Imagine the bear is the person, and do a Reiki treatment on the bear. *If you are driving, have the steering wheel represent the person to whom you want to send Reiki. Think of the symbol, draw it on the roof of your mouth with your tongue, then say the name of the individual, and Reiki will flow to the person. *Use your leg as a symbol of the person to whom you want to send Reiki. Draw the symbol on your leg, say its name three times, then pat your leg and, using a forward motion, push the symbol in the direction you think the person is located. *Imagine that the person is lying on a Reiki table in front of you, and give the individual a Reiki treatment. *Imagine that the person is floating horizontally in the air in front of you. Place your hands in the positions you would use if the person were physically in front of you, and proceed with the Reiki treatment. *Talk long distance by telephone with the person while you are sending Reiki. When you talk with them, you may discover that you can sense what part of their body needs Reiki. As you get better at this, you can give effective Reiki treatments by telephone to people anywhere in the world. Always break the energy connection with the person after you have sent Reiki, even when you use the distant symbol. Do this by running cold water on your hands or by rubbing or clapping your hands vigorously together. Breaking the connection is important. If you do not break it, you may be susceptible to anything that comes from that person, such as pain or depression. If you neglect to break the connection, your energy may become lopsided, with one side

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 165

heavier than the other. Give yourself lots of Reiki, or seek help from a Reiki Master if this happens. You will save yourself a lot of discomfort by grounding yourself before a session and breaking the connection immediately afterward. Once you have finished sending Reiki, you no longer have permission to remain energetically connected with the person. Make a habit of breaking the energy contact after any kind of healing session you conduct, whether it is Reiki or something else. If you send distant Reiki to certain people on a consistent basis over several days, weeks or months, you may discover that once you draw the Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen symbol, their spiritual presence comes to you. Sometimes they can even tell you what other symbol they need in what place on their body. I discovered that after I would send distant Reiki to the same person four or more times within a few days, the person would appear in my mind as soon as I started drawing the distant symbol. Sometimes the person carried something, perhaps a walking stick or lantern, to give me clues about what they needed. This same phenomenon can occur if you send Reiki to trees or topographical features on a regular basis. After they receive a few distant Reiki sessions, they will recognize the Reiki energy and want it so much that their spiritual essence will appear in your presence. It is another indication of the limitless power that Reiki has to travel anywhere and to unite not only humans but other living beings.

Protect Yourself from Negative Energy Reiki was conceived as a mistake-proof healing system. It is guided by God and will never harm anyone. If people try to use it in a negative manner, no harm can occur. 20 However, it is possible to pick up negative energy from people if you do not protect yourself. You can provide protection by grounding yourself well and by surrounding yourself with the white light of unconditional love, the gold light of angelic presence, and the silver light of protection before you start to work on anyone. Another technique is to surround yourself with Streams of Light Energy. The energy flows from God through the top of your head, filling and surrounding you. It grounds you deep in the earth, then draws from the earth all that is nourishing and nurturing and connects you back

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 166

up to God. When you surround yourself with protection, don’t do it out of fear. Do it from a place of honoring who you are. When you come from a place of valuing yourself and your divine energy, you recognize that you deserve to be safe, whole and healthy. When you honor yourself, that creates a much different and stronger energy than if you come from a place of fear. Broad leafed plants, such as ivy, in your Reiki treatment room will help to absorb and process negative energy without harming the plants. Some healers place boxes of Epsom Salts in different corners of the room to absorb negative energy. Normally, the boxes do not need to be replaced. In addition, some healers burn sage or incense. Soft, calming music can tranquilize negative emotions. Play it low so it’s barely audible. If someone you work on releases negative energy that does not dissipate but lingers in the room, call for help from Archangel Michael and his band of angels. Ask them to take the negative energy to the light, where it can be transformed into something positive. Trust them to carry out that process. If you think you may have picked up negative energy from someone, try this exercise. Take three big breaths. Then bring all your energy into the general area of your heart. Take another deep breath. Drop your shoulders. Speak to your angels, guides and other helpers who operate in unconditional love. Say, “Please clear any energy connected with my energetic field that is not in alignment with my divine energies. Take it from me now. I give it willingly.” Exhale after that prayer. Then take another breath. Exhale and send your breath in a circle around you, clearing everything in that space. Say, “So be it. It is done. Amen.” Any threads of energy connected with your energetic field that are not in divine alignment with you cannot exist within that circle. To protect yourself when you’re not sure what kind of situation you might face, use this technique to place a bubble around yourself. Take three deep breaths and bring your energy into your heart area. Then take another breath and imagine that energy moving upward through the bottom of your feet. Imagine breathing all the way up into your head and out through your crown chakra. Exhale and imagine that you’re standing in a fountain of colorful waves of breath. See the fountain bubble around you, cocooning you in safety. When you create a space of breath

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 167

made of your own energy, nothing can penetrate that bubble unless you give it permission. Sometimes, no matter what you do to protect yourself, other people’s energy keeps hooking into you, draining you. If that happens, you may have agreed in one or more lifetimes to be a caretaker. Many people mistakenly believe it is healthy to put others first and themselves last. Now we understand that isn’t for our highest good. We must first take care of ourselves so we have the vitality and the means to effectively help others. You can negate any past agreements you have made about caretaking by saying with strong intent, “I permanently revoke all permissions I have given for people to attach to my energy field in all lifetimes.” The most important thing to remember is that you have powerful help around you when you provide Reiki sessions. You are surrounded by the light of God’s unconditional love as you assist others. Trust in that help, because it will protect you. You make yourself vulnerable in several ways: * When you let yourself be afraid of how negative energy could impact you * When you want a certain outcome * When you ignore your inner guidance to exercise caution * Or when you overextend yourself and don’t take a needed break. Always remember that you are not producing or manipulating healing energy. You are simply letting it flow through you from God to your client. God will determine what the person needs. Get your ego out of the way and let God do the work. You are simply a vessel through which divine energy travels, and it travels best when you take care of yourself and when you rest and recuperate as needed. Once you have learned the symbols and received the Reiki II attunement, you are ready to use those symbols when you practice Reiki on yourself or others. The more you practice them, the more comfortable and proficient you will become with them.

Balancing the Client’s Electrical System As your hands become more sensitive to Reiki energy, you will be able to sense the client’s energy flow at each of the chakra centers. Hold the palm of your hand over the person’s crown, and practice sensing whether the energy is flowing clockwise, counterclockwise or not

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 168

flowing at all. If it’s stagnant, you won’t sense any movement in your palm. A clockwise flow is healthy, while a counterclockwise flow is negative. When it flows negatively, that means the body’s energy system has gotten mixed up and is flowing backwards. People who are in the hospital or are ill at home often have stagnant energy in some or all of their chakras. If you sense that a person’s energy is flowing backwards or isn’t flowing at all, simply pay attention to how the palm of your hand feels. Ask God to let the energy flow clockwise again. Soon you will feel the energy moving clockwise as you continue to hold your hand over their crown. Do the same thing at each of the other major chakra centers. It’s often helpful to do this over the knees and ankles too. Once people’s energy is balanced, they often will say they feel relaxed. Their body will then be able to more effectively work at healing itself. If you know how to use a pendulum, you may find it quicker to use the pendulum at each energy center. Tell the pendulum to spin clockwise if the energy is flowing as it should, and counterclockwise if it is flowing backwards. Tell it not to spin at all if the energy is stagnant. When I see clients in my Reiki treatment room, I usually use a pendulum, because it’s faster than sensing the energy through my hand. However, if I am working in a hospital setting, I usually use my hand to sense the energy flow. Some medical staff or patients in that setting might be uncomfortable with the use of a pendulum.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 169

EXPLORING REIKI II CHAPTER 5 AURA BATH: EFFECTIVE WAY TO CLEAR NEGATIVE ENERGY Aura baths help to keep your aura clean no matter what circumstances you face. You may want to take an aura bath after a stressful experience, when you return from traveling, or if you sense that someone’s energy has attached to you in spite of all your attempts to protect yourself. Aura baths clear negative energy you can pick up anywhere. If you feel sluggish, agitated, ill at ease, or sad and can’t figure out why you’re feeling that way, you may have picked up some negative energy. Aura baths also are helpful if you must make a difficult decision or are struggling with an emotional issue. Ask for guidance as you step into the aura bath, and state clearly the issues about which you seek help. Aura Bath Recipe You will need these ingredients: 1 cup of fresh lemon juice (5-6 lemons). Squeeze the juice in a hand juicer. Do not use an electric juicer. 1 cup sea salt 1 t. vanilla without alcohol Sage Matches Set up the bathroom with candles, relaxing music and whatever else you need to help you feel the sacredness of this event. Then follow these steps. 1. State your intention for taking the aura bath. Perhaps you need to cleanse your aura after being in a place that negatively affected you. You may want answers to a question or relief from a particular situation. Whatever your intention is, state it clearly so that your angels understand what you seek. 2. Start filling the bathtub with water as warm as you can handle. 3. Pour the lemon juice into the bath water. Use a figure eight pattern the length of the

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 170

tub to spread out the lemon juice. Ask that the water be blessed and that it will provide healing. Swirl the Cho-Ku-Rei symbol into the water as you say its name. Do this three times. 4. Pour in the sea salt. Use a figure eight pattern to spread out the salt. Ask that the water be blessed and that it will provide healing. Swirl the Cho-Ku-Rei symbol into the water as you say its name. Do this three times. 5. Sprinkle in the vanilla. Ask that the water be blessed and that it will provide healing. Swirl the Cho-Ku-Rei symbol into the water as you say its name. Do this three times. 6. Undress. Use a match to light the sage enough so that it smokes. The smoke creates a smudging effect that is protective and can dispel negativity. Smudge yourself from head to toe with sage. Include your armpits, between your legs, behind your back, and under your feet. Be sure the sage is in a safe container so a fire doesn’t start while you taking your aura bath. 7. Step into the bath water, thinking about what you want from the aura bath experience. Meditate and pray in the water. Seek guidance for whatever you need. Give thanks for the ingredients in the water and for their willingness to be used for your benefit. 8. You must get wet all over. Submerge yourself at least once so that your entire body gets wet, including your hair. 9. As you soak in the aura bath, continue to meditate and pray. 10. When you feel that you are done, stand up and take time to savor your clean aura. 11. Before you drain the bath water, scoop a cup of it into a container. 12. Dry yourself off. Again smudge yourself with sage. 13. After you get dressed, take the cup of bath water outside, thank Mother Earth for it, and pour it onto the ground. Ask the Earth to accept the ingredients and cleanse them from any impurities collected during your bath. If you like to journal, write down your experiences in the aura bath. Occasionally reread the guidance you received and the inspiration that came to you through the experience. It will help you remember significant insights that you might otherwise forget.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 171

EXPLORING REIKI II CHAPTER 6 WHAT TO CHARGE FOR REIKI SESSIONS Once you have received the Reiki II attunement, you may start a business and offer Reiki sessions to others. The question of what to charge for those sessions will be answered differently by each person. It is important to charge something. You have taken a lot of time to learn your Reiki skills. You need some form of compensation so you can continue to offer your services. It seems reasonable to charge a fee comparable to what local massage therapists charge. This can provide a living wage for the Reiki practitioner. Call a few Reiki practitioners and massage therapists in your area. Ask how much they charge for their treatments. Then set your prices accordingly. If people are not able to pay, you have the option of offering your services at a reduced rate or trading for something other than money. Perhaps the person raises chickens, cows or goats and could bring eggs or milk in payment. Maybe a client makes signs, and you need a sign for your business. If you decide to barter, approach it with caution. It can create an energy imbalance or hard feelings if you are not careful. When you’re starting out, you may need the experience that giving free Reiki treatments provides. Once you have enough experience, you will need to charge a fee, but people may not want to pay because they are used to receiving Reiki free. Some people may undervalue what you offer because they haven’t had to pay for it. On the other hand, if you consistently give away your services, people may feel indebted to you with an accompanying sense of guilt. Others may develop an attitude of entitlement that often has origins in a “poor me” victim mentality. Charge an amount that will give you a reasonable income so you can continue to provide this important service. Some of Dr. Chujiro Hayashi’s students had to stop practicing Reiki because they could not earn an adequate income. 1 A medical doctor and naval officer, Hayasha learned Reiki from Mikao Usui and practiced it in a clinical setting in Japan. When you must take on another job to make ends meet so you can offer free or reduced cost Reiki treatments, it’s time to reevaluate your priorities. You are limiting your ability to

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 172

provide this valuable service, and you may be exhausting yourself in the process. That’s not healthy for you or your clients. In the long run, you may burn out by fragmenting yourself in too many directions. Value the service you provide by charging a fair amount for it. It is sometimes wise to call these Reiki sessions rather than Reiki treatments so people don’t misinterpret what you offer as a medical treatment. However, there are some situations in which you will want to use the word treatment. If you are working in an academic setting, people may think the word “session” means a class on Reiki. Tailor your description to the environment in which you are working. People who use your services should be called clients instead of patients. The word “patients” creates the false assumption that there is a medical connection to what you are doing. Do not wear a white coat or other clothing associated with doctors or nurses. You are not diagnosing or treating illnesses. You are offering Reiki energy so people can relax, which promotes balance and helps them to heal naturally. If they continue to have physical or emotional symptoms that do not improve after several Reiki sessions, recommend they visit a medical doctor, naturopath, or psychotherapist for treatment. You are not trying to take the place of people in the medical establishment. You offer a different approach, and it may not meet everyone’s needs all the time. Establish a network of health care providers who recognize the value of alternative treatments such as Reiki. Then, as needed, you can confidently refer clients to them. Though the spiritually guided universal life energy that is Reiki can do marvelous things bordering on the miraculous, it should never be looked upon as the one and only way to help others heal. If you see yourself as a partner with other health care providers, you will foster a more open attitude about Reiki in the medical community. That may provide an opportunity for you or others to offer Reiki in hospitals, long-term care facilities and other health care sites.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 173

EXPLORING REIKI II APPENDIX I EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) EFT is a tapping technique used to balance the meridians in the body. The meridians carry energy to many parts of the body such as organs and glands. EFT is based on the theory that the cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body’s energy system. When we tap on certain points on the meridians, we help to correct the imbalance caused by whatever disrupted the energy balance in those meridians. That disruption could have been caused by a distressing thought or memory, a traumatic event, or something else. Stanford-trained engineer Gary Craig developed EFT to simplify the more complex Thought Field Therapy developed by clinical psychologist Roger Callahan. Callahan treated patients in his home. When he learned about the energy meridians in the body he decided to study them out of curiosity. He had been working with a patient named Mary for about one-anda-half years to help her overcome a water phobia. Mary had seen other psychologists for the same problem without success. Callahan used all the techniques he knew about to help her, including edging her closer to the swimming pool in his back yard over a long period of time. Nothing worked. One day, Mary complained of stomach discomfort. Having learned that the stomach meridian ended under the eye, Callahan tapped on that point under her eye. With a startled look, Mary exclaimed, “My water phobia is gone!” She ran to the back yard swimming pool and began splashing water on her face. Callahan watched with amazement. He later came to understand that when he tapped under Mary’s eye, he balanced the stomach meridian whose disrupted energy had led to her fear of water. Once the imbalance in her stomach meridian was gone, her fear of water disappeared as well. Intrigued, Callahan began to experiment with tapping on other meridian end points, and over time he developed Thought Field Therapy. It includes many different algorithms for a variety of emotions and problems. People had to learn each of the different algorithms that involved tapping in a slightly different pattern. Callahan used a kinesthetic muscle testing

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 174

technique to discover which of the algorithms was needed. After Craig took Callahan’s Thought Field Therapy course, his engineer’s mind told him there had to be an easier way to use the tapping method. He decided to use all the tapping points for every situation so people would have to learn only one routine. He surmised that if people tapped on all the points, they would balance whatever meridian was out of place and the other meridians wouldn’t be hurt by the tapping. His method worked! EFT spread like wildfire because it was so simple and because Craig generously provided a free booklet that explained how to use EFT. It is available at http://www.garythink.com. Using EFT is as simple as following a basic recipe. A brief version of the basic recipe is provided here. It’s taken from my understanding of EFT information in Craig’s booklet. First, you create the setup, which will help you get around any self-defeating, negative thinking that happens outside of your awareness. These recurring thoughts can create a psychological reversal in your system. They occur about 40 percent of the time. The setup is a way to set up your energy system as though it were a set of bowling pins. The bowling pins are really subtle energy circuits. By using the setup, you are helping your energy system to be properly oriented before you tap to remove the disruption that’s in it. If the psychological reversal is not removed, the tapping won’t work.

Psychological reversal The psychological reversal acts like an interfering blockage that takes the form of a polarity reversal in your energy system. The result is similar to what would happen if you installed the batteries backwards in a flashlight. The + and – markings on a battery indicate their polarity. If you line up those markings correctly when you install the batteries, your flashlight will shine brightly. If you install the batteries backwards, the flashlight won’t work. A similar thing happens when a polarity reversal is present in your energy system. When we talk about our energy system, we call the polarity reversal a psychological reversal. It has a wide range of applications in all areas of healing and personal performance. The psychological reversal is the reason why some diseases are chronic and respond poorly to conventional treatments. It’s why some people have trouble losing weight or giving up food,

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 175

alcohol, tobacco or other cravings. It’s what causes us to self-sabotage. If the psychological reversal is not corrected, the basic recipe will not work. It only takes a few seconds to do the setup, so it makes sense to do it every time just in case a psychological reversal is present. If it’s not there, that’s okay. The setup has no harmful effects.

The Setup There are two parts to the setup. 1. Repeat an affirmation three times. 2. While you repeat that affirmation, rub the Sore Spot or tap the Karate Chop Point. Both the Sore Spot and Karate Chop Point will be explained shortly. The affirmation involves a neutralizing statement. If you have a fear of public speaking, the affirmation would be: Even though I have this fear of public speaking, I deeply and completely accept myself. If you have a different challenge, substitute your issue for “this fear of public speaking.” Among the substitutions could be this headache, this anger towards my father, this war memory, this stiffness in my neck, these nightmares, this craving for alcohol, this fear of snakes, this depression, this chocolate craving, this smoking habit, or whatever else fits your situation.

The Sore Spot Once you have decided what the affirmation will be, find one of the two Sore Spot on your upper right or upper left chest. Find the place by going to the base of your throat about where a man would knot his tie. Find there the u-shaped notch at the top of your sternum, or breastbone. It’s between two bones that stick out at the base of your throat. From that notch, move down about three inches, then move right or left about three inches. You should now be touching the upper left or right side of your chest. This is where lymphatic congestion occurs, and it tends to make those spots sore. In a clockwise circle rub the sore point on whichever side of your chest is more tender, and repeat the affirmation three times in a voice that indicates you really mean what you’re saying.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 176

Sore spots

Even though I have this ______________, I deeply and completely accept myself. Even though I have this ______________, I deeply and completely accept myself. Even though I have this ______________, I deeply and completely accept myself.

If you prefer not to use the sore spot, you may use the Karate Chop Point instead. It’s located at the center of the fleshy part of the outside of either hand between the top of the wrist and the base of the baby finger. It’s the part of your hand you would use to deliver a karate chop.

Karate Chop Point

Instead of rubbing the Karate Chop Point, vigorously tap it with the index and middle fingertips of your other hand. Though you may use either hand for the Karate Chop Point, it’s

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 177

usually easier to use the fingertips of your dominant hand to tap the Karate Chop Point on your non-dominant hand. Using either the Sore Spot or the Karate Chop Point will work, but the Sore Point is slightly more effective. While you tap the Karate Chop Point, repeat the set-up phrase three times just as you did for the Sore Point. If you had a psychological reversal, the set-up will most likely remove it long enough to let your tapping be effective. If it doesn’t remove the psychological reversal or if the reversal comes back too fast, what you can do to solve that problem will be discussed shortly.

The Sequence Now it’s time to do the tapping sequence. It involves tapping on the end points of the major energy meridians in the body to correct any imbalance in them. The correct way to tap is to use the fingertips of your index finger and middle finger on either hand. Using two fingertips allows you to cover a slightly larger area than just one fingertip would cover. Tap solidly, but not hard enough to hurt yourself. Tap about seven times on each of the tapping points. That will give you time to say the reminder phrase that will help you keep in the forefront of your mind the issue that you’re addressing. If you tap without being focused on the issue you’re dealing with, your results will be less effective. All the tapping points, except for those under your nose and on your chin, exist on either side of your body, so it doesn’t matter which side you tap on or which hand you tap with. You can tap on one side of the body for one point and on the other side for another point if you wish. It will not reduce the tapping’s effectiveness. As you tap, it helps to know that each energy meridian has two end points, or, if you will, a start and an end point. To do the Basic Recipe, you need to tap on only one end of the meridian. That will be enough to help the meridian’s disrupted energy rebalance. Because the end points of each meridian are near the body’s surface, they are more easily accessible than other points along the meridians that may be more deeply buried in the body. These are the points and the sequence in which you will tap them. Begin with the face points.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 178

Face points

1. The eyebrow point is called EB for short. It’s just above and to one side of the nose. This is on the bladder meridian. The emotions that can most easily disrupt it are frustration, tension and trauma. 2. The side of the eye point, SE for short, is located on the bone that borders the outside corner of either eye. It is on the gallbladder meridian, which can carry rage. 3. The under the eye point, UE for short, is located on the bone under either eye, about an inch below your pupil. The stomach meridian ends here, and it can carry stress and anxiety. 4. The under the nose point, UN for short, is located in the small area between the bottom of your nose and the top of your upper lip. It’s on the governing vessel, or meridian, and can carry embarrassment. 5. The chin point, Ch for short, is located midway between the point of your chin and the bottom of your lower lip. It’s on the conception vessel, or meridian, and can carry shame.

Collarbone Point

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 179

6. The next spot is called the collarbone point, or CB for short. It’s located at the junction of where the sternum (breastbone), collarbone and the first rib meet. This point is the end of the kidney meridian, which can be affected by fear and sexual energy.

Below Nipple

7. The below nipple point, or BN for short, is located one inch below the nipple on men. On ladies, it’s where the underskin of the breast meets the chest wall. This is the end point of the liver meridian, where anger can be held. This point often is not used in tapping because it’s awkward to tap on it when you’re in a group of people. However, if you have problems with physical toxins or with anger, this point can be an important one.

Under Arm

8. The under arm point, UA for short, is located on both sides of your body about four inches under your arm. It’s even with the nipple on men and the middle of the bra strap on

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 180

women. This is the end point of the spleen meridian, which can carry anxiety about the future.

9. The next position is the Gamut Point. It is perhaps the most bizarre looking process within EFT. It helps to fine tune the right and left sides of the brain through a series of eye movements, humming and counting. The right, or creative, side of the brain is engaged when you hum a song, and the left, or digital side, is engaged when you count.

9 Gamut Procedure The 9 Gamut Procedure is a process that takes perhaps ten seconds to do. During that time, nine brain stimulating actions are performed while you continuously tap on the Gamut Point. To locate the point, which is on the back of either hand, make your hand into a fist. Locate the knuckles at the bottom of the baby finger and the ring finger. Consider those two points to be the base of a triangle. Imagine the top of the triangle coming to a point in the direction of the wrist, about halfway between the knuckles and the wrist. That’s the gamut point where you will tap. While you tap and think about your issue, perform these nine actions: 1. Close your eyes. 2. Open your eyes. 3. While holding your head steady, move your eyes hard down right. 4. While holding your head steady, move your eyes hard down left. 5. Roll your eyes in a circle as though your nose is at the center of a clock and you are trying to see all the numbers in order. 6. Now roll your eyes in the opposite direction. 7. Hum two seconds of a song, such as “Happy Birthday”. If that song has sad or unpleasant memories, choose another song such as “Jingle Bells” or “Row, Row, Row Your

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 181

Boat”. 8. Count rapidly from 1 to 5. 9. Hum two seconds of the same song you hummed in 7. The remaining tapping points are on the hand.

Tapping Points on the Hand

10. The thumb point, Th for short, is on the outside of the thumb. Tap beside the thumb nail. It’s located on the lung meridian, which can harbor emotions of distain, intolerance, hautiness and grief. 11. The index finger point, IF for short, is on the outside of the index finger. Tap beside the nail. It’s on the large intestine meridian, which can carry guilt. 12. The middle finger point, MF for short, is on the outside of the middle finger. Tap beside the nail. It’s on the meridian that has a couple of different names. It’s sometimes called the pericardium or the circulation-sex meridian. This meridian can be affected by regret, remorse, jealousy or sexual tension. Skip the ring finger, because it’s on the meridian that runs through the Karate Chop Point. You stimulate that meridian when you tap on the KC. 13. The baby finger point, BF for short, is on the outside of the little finger. Tap beside the nail. It’s located on the heart meridian, and it can be affected by issues of the heart and of anger and control.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 182

14. If you used the Sore Point for the setup, then you will tap on the Karate Chop Point now. It’s on the small intestine meridian and can be affected by sorrow. If you used the Karate Chop Point instead of the Sore Point for the setup, you won’t need to tap on it again.

Reminder Phrase The last ingredient in the Basic Recipe is the reminder phrase. That phrase helps you tune into the problem so your mind will be clear about what issue you are trying to resolve. If you used the setup phrase, “Even though I have this fear of public speak, I deeply and completely accept myself,” your reminder phrase could be “this fear of public speaking,” or “afraid to speak in public,” or something similar. Every time you tap on a point, you repeat the reminder phrase. At the eyebrow, you say “this fear of public speaking.” At the side of the eye, you repeat the phrase, and so on through all of the tapping points.

Intensity Meter It’s important to have a measure of how effective the tapping has been, so before you say the setup phrase and before you start to tap, measure the intensity you feel right now about the problem you’re addressing. Imagine an intensity meter that travels from 0 to 10 with 0 being no intensity at all and 10 being the most intense you could possibly feel about it.

Intensity Meter

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 183

Make a note of what that number is. Then proceed through the setup and the tapping sequence. When you’ve completed one round, check your intensity meter again. Has the number fallen? Has it climbed? If it didn’t move or it only fell a point or two, you may not have gotten around the psychological reversal. Your next step will be to repeat the setup phrase with a slight difference. You will say, “Even though I still have some of this fear of public speak, I deeply and completely accept myself.” Substitute “fear of public speaking” with whatever concern you’re addressing. Repeat this phrase three times. You may have to say it with great firmness and gusto to overcome the psychological reversal long enough to make the tapping effective. When you repeat the tapping series, your reminder phrase will change slightly. You will say, “This remaining fear of public speaking.” Repeat that phrase at every tapping point. When you have completed the entire sequence, check the intensity meter again. If it hasn’t fallen or it went up, your subconscious mind may have jumped to another aspect of the problem.

Different Aspects of the Problem If you’re dealing with fear of public speaking, perhaps the issue has moved from standing in front of a group to seeing the people’s faces in the audience, hearing them laugh or watching looks of boredom cross their faces. Each of those is a different aspect of the problem, and each may need to be addressed before your intensity meter can drop to 1 or 0. To address each aspect, state a new setup phrase. If you are addressing hearing people laugh, check your intensity on the intensity meter. Then say something like, “Even though I’m afraid people will laugh at me when I speak in public, I deeply and completely accept myself.” Repeat that phrase three times and go through the entire tapping sequence. Check the intensity meter again and see if there’s been a change. That statement is a fairly global one which addresses a general possibility, not a specific event.

Make Setup Phrase Specific To make EFT even more effective, make your setup phrase as specific as possible. For example, you might say three times, “Even though when I was giving a book report in third

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 184

grade, the kids in my class looked bored and it made me feel stupid, I deeply and completely accept myself.” A setup statement that hones in on a particular distressing memory has a greater chance of bringing your intensity level to 0. Address each aspect of the problem that comes up using the same method. If you have 100 different aspects to the same problem, you won’t have to address each one. After you’ve dealt with, perhaps, 10 or fewer, the rest of them usually collapse. Imagine the problem as though it were a table with many legs on it. The legs represent different aspects of the problem. If you tap on enough of those legs, pretty soon the entire table will collapse even though you haven’t tapped on every single leg or, in this case, every single aspect.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 185

EXPLORING REIKI II NOTES

CHAPTER 1 – WHAT REIKI ATTUNEMENTS ARE 1. Jawer, Michael A. and Micozzi, Marc S., MD, PhD. Your Emotional Type, Healing Arts Press, Rochester, Vermont, 2011. p.9 2. Horan, Paula. Empowerment through Reiki, p. 57 3. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 66

CHAPTER 2 – PREPARING FOR AN ATTUNEMENT 1. Rand, William Lee, “Enhance Your Reiki Energy with a Healthier Diet,” Reiki News Magazine, Vision Publications and the International Center for Reiki Training, Southfield, MI, Fall 2008, pp. 27-33 2. Ibid, p. 28 3. A Course in Miracles, Foundation for Inner Peace, Mill Valley, CA, 1996, Workshop for Students, p. 455 4. Rand, William Lee. Reiki Master Manual, International Center for Reiki Training, Southfield, Mich., 2003, p. 2:3 5. Rowland, Amy and Gaia, Laurelle Shanti. “Reiki Shares,” Reiki News Magazine, Vision Publications and the International Center for Reiki Training, Southfield, MI., Spring 2005, pp. 10-12

CHAPTER 3 – WESTERN SCHOLARS STUDY ENERGY FIELDS 1. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Hands of Light, Bantam Books, New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland, 1987, p. 30 2. http://www.wilhelmreichtrust.org/biography.html, p. 3 3. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Hands of Light, p. 31 4. http://www.wilhelmreichtrust.org/biography.html, p. 6 5. Ibid, p. 7

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 186

6. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, Bear and Company, Rochester, Vermont, 2001, pp. 43-44 7. Nordenstrom, Bjorn E.W., M.D. Biologically Closed Electric Circuits, Nordic Medical Publications, Stockholm, Sweden, 1983, p. VII 8. Ibid, p. VIII 9. Ibid, p. 1 10. Taubes, Gary. “An Electrifying Possibility; a Swedish Radiologist Posits an Astounding Theory; the Human Body Has the Equivalent of Electric Circuits,” Discover, April 1986, pp. 24-25 11. Emoto, Masaru. The True Power of Water translated by Noriko Hosoyamada, Beyond Words Publishing, Inc., Hillsboro, Oregon, 2005, p. 12 12. Ibid, pp. 14 and 17 13. Ibid, p. 21 14. Ibid, p. 16 15. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, Bear and Company, Rochester, Vermont, third edition, 2001, p. 527 16. Ibid, p. 528 17. Ibid., p. 527 18. Ibid, p. 530 19. Becker, Robert, M.D. The Body Electric, William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1985, p. 88 20. Chopra, Deepak, M.D. Quantum Healing, Bantam Books, New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland, 1990, p. 189 21. Ibid, p. 190 22. Morehouse, David. The Remote Viewing Training Course, Sounds True, Inc., Boulder, Colo., 2004, p. 66 23. Ibid, p. 68

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 187

CHAPTER 4 – THE REIKI II SYMBOLS 1. Rand, William Lee. Reiki Master Manual, International Center for Reiki Training, Southfield, Mich., 2003, p. 3:3 2. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, The Crossing Press, Berkeley, Calif., 1995, p. 64 3. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, First and Second Degree Manual, Vision Publications, Southfield, Mich., 1991, p. II-9 4. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, p. II-9 5. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 72 6. Hosak, Mark and Lübeck, Walter. The Big Book of Reiki Symbols, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisc., 2006, p. 203 7. Ibid, p. 422 8. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 57 9. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 58 10. Ibid, p. 64 11. Ibid, p. 60 12. Ibid, p. 59 13. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, p. II-10 14. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 72 15. Ibid. p. 59 16. Honervogt, Tanmaya. Inner Reiki, p. 124 17. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 60 18. Hosak, Mark and Lübeck, Walter. The Big Book of Reiki Symbols, p. 371 19. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, p. II-12 20. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 55

CHAPTER 5 – WHAT TO CHARGE FOR A REIKI SESSION 1. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, First and Second Degree Manual, Vision Publications, Southfield, Mich., 1991, p. A-8

PART III III

EXPLORING REIKI III III (REIKI MASTER)

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 189

EXPLORING REIKI III TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents ………………………………………………………………………… 189 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………… 191 Chapter 1 – Choosing a Reiki Teacher ……………………………………………….. 193 Chapter 2 – Reiki Master Symbols and the Hui Yin …………………………………. 195 Usui Dai-Ko-Myo ………………………………………………………………... 195 Traditional Usui Dai-Ko-Myo illustration ………………………………………. 196 Modern Usui Dai-Ko-Myo illustration ………………………………………….. 196 Raku illustration ………………………………………………………………….. 199 Raku ………………………………………………………………………………. 199 Tibetan Fire Serpent illustration ………………………………………………….. 200 Tibetan Fire Serpent ……………………………………………………………… 200 Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo illustration ………………………………………………… 201 Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo ……………………………………………………………... 202 Hui Yin ……………………………………………………………………………. 202 Chapter 3 – Preparing for and Adjusting to a Reiki Master Attunement ………….. 204 Chapter 4 – Reiki Affects Your Consciousness Level ………………………………… 206 How to Calibrate Consciousness Levels …………………………………………. 207 Muscle Testing with a Partner …………………………………………………… 208 Illustration of Muscle Testing Arm Points ……………………………………….. 209 Thymus Thump ………………………………………………………………….. 211 Other Tools to Keep You Balanced ……………………………………………… 212 Some Cautions about Using Muscle Testing …………………………………….. 212 Muscle Testing without a Partner ………………………………………………… 214 Illustration of Muscle Testing with Thumb and Middle Finger …………………. 214 Use Muscle Testing to Determine What Clients Need ………………………….. 215 Chapter 5 – What to Charge for Reiki Attunements …………………………………. 218 Chapter 6 – Some Reiki Success Stories ……………………………………………….. 220

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 190

Chapter 7 – Innovative Ways to use Reiki ……………………………………………

223

Chapter 8 – Helpful Reiki Tools ……………………………………………………….. 225 Healing Attunement …………………………………………………………….

225

Aura Clearing ……………………………………………………………………

232

Appendix 1 – Reiki Symbols on One Page ………………………………………….…. 239 Appendix 2 – How to Give a Reiki I Attunement …………………………….……… 240 Appendix 3 – How to Give a Reiki II Attunement ……………………….…………… 248 Appendix 4 – How to Give a Reiki Master Attunement ……………….……………… 256 Appendix 5 – Suggestions for Using This EBook Series as a Teaching Tool ………… 264 Reiki I Workshop …………………………………………………………….….. 264 Reiki II Workshop ………………………………………………………….……. 265 Reiki Master Workshop ………………………………………………………..… 266 Appendix 6 – Samples of Certificates You Can Make on a Computer …………….… 268 Reiki I Attunement Certificate ………………………………………..………….. 268 Reiki II Attunement Certificate …………………………………………………… 269 Reiki Master Attunement Certificate ……………………………………………… 270 Appendix 7 – Book, Magazine and Website Resource Hand-out for Students ……… 271 Bibliography …………………………………………………………………..………….. 275 Notes ………………………………………………………………………………..……. 279 Chapter 1 ……………………………………………………………………..….. 279 Chapter 2 ……………………………………………………………………..….. 279 Chapter 3 ……………………………………………………………………….... 280 Chapter 4 ……………………………………………………………………..….. 280 Chapter 5 ……………………………………………………………………….... 281 Chapter 6 ……………………………………………………………………..….. 281 Appendix 2 ……………………………………………………………………….. 281 Appendix 3 ……………………………………………………………………….. 282 Appendix 4 ……………………………………………………………………….. 282 About the author …………………………………………………………………………. 282

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 191

EXPLORING REIKI III INTRODUCTION Welcome to Exploring Reiki III. Making a decision to get the Reiki Master attunement is one of the biggest steps you will ever take in your life. Ten times more Reiki energy will flow through your body than it did after you received the Reiki I attunement. Once you master the material and adjust to the attunement, you will be able to teach Reiki to others and pass attunements to them. This is a joyful opportunity and a sacred responsibility. It will bring satisfaction and fulfillment to your life in a way you may never have experienced. Traditionally, the Reiki Master attunement was given only to people who chose to dedicate their lives to teaching Reiki. Today, the need for Reiki energy is so strong in our world that the Reiki Master attunement is not as exclusive as it once was. However, it is recommended only for those who are serious healers or who plan to teach Reiki. If you choose to receive the Reiki Master attunement, you will function at an even higher energy frequency level, and you will notice changes in the way you perceive familiar places and situations. The changes may be subtle, but they represent profound shifts in the way you relate to the world. Circumstances that used to bother you may seem trivial. Issues that once brought turmoil may seem insignificant. Your interests and friendships may change. You may discover you have gifts you never realized you had. When you give Reiki treatments, you will be much more aware of divine help assisting you. This exploration of Reiki III is not meant as a substitute for physically attending a workshop and receiving an attunement from a Reiki Master. It is meant to acquaint you with information you’ll need to know so that you will be more comfortable and less stressed when you do take a Reiki Master workshop. Everything you need to know is right here, so if you forget something, you’ll know where to go to find it. If you are a Reiki Master and need ideas for how to put together classes that you will teach, this ebook will help. If you teach what’s in it, your curriculum will already be mapped out for you. I have used the materials in Reiki I, Reiki II and Reiki Master workshops often enough

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 192

to know that they are a effective teaching tools. Learning about Reiki is a constant exploration. As you study and practice Reiki, you will encounter new information, and you will understand on a deeper level other aspects about this spiritually guided universal life energy. Once you receive the Reiki III attunement, you will have a stronger power symbol to use called Usui Dai-Ko-Myo. You also will have three additional symbols that are important in passing attunements and in your healing work. You came into this world with a purpose, a perfect plan for your life. Reiki will help you better understand and follow that plan. I wish you great joy and fulfillment as you learn more about this sacred healing art.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 193

EXPLORING REIKI III CHAPTER 1 CHOOSING A REIKI TEACHER Because you are reading this ebook, you have demonstrated that you are serious about wanting to delve deeper into the healing and life changing gift that Reiki is. Congratulations on taking this important preparatory step. Before you decide what Reiki Master workshop to attend, ask different Reiki instructors what you can do after they train you. Will you receive all the training you need to initiate others into all the Reiki degrees, including the Reiki Master level? Some teachers arrange the workshops in different sections, so it’s an important question to ask. You may think you will get all the training you need until you discover at the end that something has been left out and you’ll need another Reiki degree or an additional workshop. Will your teacher spend time in class teaching you how to perform the attunements? You will find complete instructions for giving all the attunements in appendixes at the end of this ebook, but it’s helpful to practice the attunements under the watchful eye of an experienced teacher. The instructor can give you pointers about hand positions and answer on-the-spot questions. For example, if you have trouble getting an energy blockage to dissolve, the Reiki Master can give you suggestions. Ask teachers how much time they spend in class practicing the new symbols in a Reiki treatment setting and how much time they spend helping students learn how to give attunements. It’s also important to know how much support you can expect from them after the workshop is over. Can you call them up and ask them questions? Will they be supportive when you need advice? Decide if the teacher is a good match for you. Will you feel comfortable learning from this teacher, or could there be a potential personality clash? Many Reiki teachers will have learned other techniques that help to enhance the Reiki experience. This could be an asset for you by providing you with tools to enrich your Reiki practice. Find out what the curriculum includes and if it will suit your needs.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 194

Then make your decision and move forward. If you’ve struggled with what your purpose is, Reiki will help you find it. The Japanese name for the master class is Shinpiden, a word that means mystery teaching. It refers to the mystery of God’s love, wisdom, power, guidance and grace. The more you learn and experience, the more your own healing deepens and your awareness expands. You will never fully understand the mystery no matter how fully you heal or how much you develop, but you will experience great satisfaction and joy as you explore its depths. The more you learn about and practice Reiki, the easier it will be for you to let more refined and compassionate levels of Reiki energy flow through you. 1 Usui Dai-Ko-Myo, a stronger power symbol you will receive during the Reiki III attunement, helps you connect to that part of yourself which is already enlightened. By using that symbol, you are connecting with the deepest, most important aspect of your nature, your GodConsciousness, which knows that you contain within you a part of God. When you receive an attunement, as Reiki energy flows into your crown chakra, it brings the remembrance that Reiki energy is already within you. The attunement reawakens that knowing. When we are born into this world, we forget our divine connection. Our limited awareness makes us forget that we’ve always known about this sacred healing art. Attunements awaken us to the memory that we are already one with it. 2 This life changing healing energy has the power to help you improve the world in a positive, dynamic way. As a Reiki Master, you will have the ability to teach and pass on the remembering of this boundless, loving energy to others so they too can help to heal the Earth and offer that healing to everyone and everything in it. It is a sacred trust, and your decision to learn more about Reiki will open a new world of understanding to you and others.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 195

EXPLORING REIKI III CHAPTER 2 REIKI MASTER SYMBOLS AND THE HUI YIN When you receive the Reiki Master attunement, you will receive the use of four symbols. They include Usui Dai-Ko-Myo and three other symbols used in the attunement process. Some teachers divide the Reiki Master teachings into two workshops. They teach the Usui Dai-KoMyo symbol in one workshop. During a second workshop they teach the remaining three symbols so that you can pass attunements to others. There is nothing wrong with dividing the workshop into two parts, but I find it more helpful to teach all four symbols in one Reiki Master class. Their use is intertwined in many ways. When people decide to take a Reiki Master class, they are ready to learn all four symbols. Unlike the Reiki I and Reiki II attunements, which can involve significant adjustments for the body and mind, the Reiki Master attunement does not present those physical challenges. It works on the level of the soul. In addition to the Usui Dai-Ko-Myo, the other symbols taught are Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo, Tibetan Fire Serpent, and Raku. All four symbols have different purposes, both in healing work and in passing attunements.

Usui Dai-Ko-Myo There are two Usui Dai-Ko-Myo symbols, the traditional one used by Dr. Mikao Usui and a more modern one that Reiki Master Diane Stein uses. Both are effective, and students may use either of them, depending on the situation. There are times when one works better than the other. Your intuition, prompted by your Reiki guides and by other divine helpers who operate in the spirit of unconditional love, will help you decide which to use in each circumstance. The Usui Dai-Ko-Myo symbol creates a stronger channel between your physical self and your higher self. It allows more of God’s wisdom and power to manifest on the physical plane. 1 Its focus is on healing the soul. 2 Both the traditional and modern versions of Usui DaiKo-Myo transmit the Reiki attunements.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 196

Traditional Usui-Dai-Ko-Myo

Modern Usui-Dai-Ko-Myo

When translated using a Japanese/English dictionary the secret name for this symbol is “Great being of the Universe, shine on me, be my friend.” It also has been defined as “Treasure house of the great beaming light,” which is a Zen expression for being aware of the enlightenment experience. 3 It also means great light or great enlightenment 4 and “By divine decree.” 5 Its power can light even the darkest places and provide hope in seemingly hopeless situations. It carries the power of the sun, representing yang energy, and of the moon, representing yin energy. 6 This symbol connects us with divine truth and with the experience of being truly enlightened. It is reminiscent of the Biblical verse, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”(John 8:32 NIV) 7 Though similar to Cho-Ku-Rei in many ways, Usui Dai-Ko-Myo operates on a much higher frequency level and provides the use of greater divine power. It intensifies and focuses the Reiki energy. Once you learn Usui Dai-Ko-Myo, use it first, because it will empower the other symbols. It also can provide a greater feeling of wholeness, fulfillment and completion. 8 Working on the aura’s causal body level, its highest level, Usui Dai-Ko-Myo provides

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 197

powerful healing by finding the original cause of the disease and healing at the point where the problem began. Because the causal body contains the perfect blueprint from which the physical body is built, healing at this level sometimes can seem miraculous and life changing. 9 The Usui Dai-Ko-Myo symbol may have origins in Shintoism or in the shamanic tradition. Mikao Usui drew from his studies in religion and metaphysics to develop the symbol. 10 It looks a little bit like a person standing with arms and legs extended to the sides. 11 You may use this symbol to clear, charge, and program crystals and gemstones and make them self-clearing. To accomplish that, hold the crystal in your hand and send it Reiki. First, visualize Usui Dai-Ko-Myo. Then send it Sei-He-Ki to clear any negativity or pain that it absorbed earlier. Use Cho-Ku-Rei to program it for healing or some other positive purpose. If you plan to use the crystal for healing, also visualize Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen. Finally, once again visualize Usui Dai-Ko-Myo and ask the crystal to self-clear from now on. It may still need to be cleared but not nearly as often. 12 You may use the crystal clearing exercise on your own body or on someone else. Use it to cleanse and empower whatever organ or gland needs assistance. If you have trouble with asthma, use the technique over your lungs. Let your intuition guide you in the placement of your hands as the exercise progresses. If you have overtaxed adrenal glands, a condition common in our fast paced world, use the technique over the adrenal glands. If you have a problem with your kidneys, use the crystal clearing exercise on that vital organ. Use it over any other part of your body that needs to be healed or rejuvenated. Before you begin, use Dr. David Hawkins’ Map of Consciousness Scale to measure where the organ, gland or other body part calibrates. It’s a scale that goes from 1 to 1,000 and can reveal the level at which anything is calibrating. In the case of a body part, how high it falls on the scale gives you an indication of how healthy it is. You can use kinesiology, or muscle testing, to determine the body part’s calibration on the scale. Both muscle testing and Hawkins’ Map of Consciousness Scale are explained in greater depth in Chapter 4. After you send Reiki to the body part, check the organ or gland’s calibration on the Map of Consciousness Scale again to see what progress you have made. In almost every instance you will discover that the calibration has increased. Continue this treatment daily over a period of

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 198

time, about three to five weeks, until the organ or gland’s consciousness level plateaus. At first, you may not see much change, but after a week or two, the body part’s consciousness level may rise rapidly from day to day. After it remains at a steady energy level, stop doing the treatment for a few weeks, then check the organ or gland again. If its level of consciousness has lowered, give it Reiki over a period of several days until it plateaus again. Keep rechecking it every few weeks to see if it needs more Reiki. To experiment with the power of the Usui-Dai-Ko-Myo symbol, try expanding your heart chakra in this way. When you do Reiki self-healing, trace the Usui Dai-Ko-Myo symbol over your heart chakra. This will stimulate your thymus gland, which plays an important role in your body’s immune function. 13 You may feel profound energy shifts as you trace Usui-Dai-KoMyo over your heart. If that happens, enjoy the experience and be grateful for it. Before you start the experiment, record your heart chakra’s Map of Consciousness level. After each treatment, check the Map of Consciousness level again and see if your heart chakra’s consciousness level has change. You may see dramatic improvement if you treat your heart chakra daily for at least three weeks. This is not something you should do in lieu of medical treatment. If you have any medical issues, please consult your doctor or naturopath about them before doing these Reiki exercises. Reiki offers amazing help, but it is not meant to replace medical attention. To balance anything, including a gland or organ that has gathered too much negative energy, draw a counterclockwise modern Usui Dai-Ko-Myo symbol over the area. Once the negative energy is gone, draw a clockwise modern Usui-Dai-Ko-Myo symbol in the same area. This will encourage positive energy to fill that space in a balanced, healthy way. Though you can do the same thing with the Cho-Ku-Rei symbol, once you learn Usui-Dai-Ko-Myo you will be aware of its greater strength.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 199

Raku

Raku Raku, pronounced Ray-koo, is known as fire energy. It looks like a lightning bolt and traditionally is only used in passing attunements, not in healing work. At the end of the attunement, it helps to ground the student. It also activates the Hara Line and helps to bring Reiki energy through the student’s energy channels, grounding it in the Tan Tien, the body’s power and balance center located slightly below the navel. 14 Raku is drawn from the head down to the feet. This symbol also breaks the connection between the Reiki Master and student at the end of an attunement. When the aura of the teacher and student are joined during the attunement process, Reiki guides use Reiki energy to release any negative energy that students carried from past experiences. The teacher, usually unaware that the process is happening, receives what is released from the student through her own aura and grounds it. When Raku is used at the end of the attunement, it separates the auras of teacher and student and leaves both of them with more original life energy than either had before. This release of negative energy helps to explain the physical and emotional cleansing and the reorganization that follows some attunements. 15

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 200

One Reiki Master I know has discovered that Raku is useful during healing sessions. Drawn over the back, it can help to straighten the spinal column. At the end of a session, it helps people come back from deep relaxation, deeper even than sleep. Sometimes, they feel like they went somewhere and left their body lying on the treatment table. To help clients reconnect with their physical bodies, comb their aura at the end of the session, then draw Raku above them. This grounds them. 16 It also grounds the emotions that they released during the session, and it helps to stabilize their energy. 17 Use the Raku symbol on yourself after a session if you feel a lingering connection with a client even though you have washed your hands in cold water. You may feel an emotion or physical discomfort that you recognize is not yours. In that case, use your right hand to draw Raku in your left palm. Then, use your left hand to draw Raku in your right palm. Draw a large Raku down the front of your body. You may feel an immediate release from the energetic connection with your client. The negative sensations that didn’t belong to you will be gone.

Tibetan Fire Serpent

Tibetan Fire Serpent The Tibetan Fire Serpent symbol is used during the attunement process. It is drawn down

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 201

the student’s back. This joins the student’s chakras and helps energy to enter and flow through the body more easily. Some people can feel the energy undulating through them after the symbol is used. This undulating action helps to clear energy blocks and allows the symbol to travel more deeply into the body’s energy system. 18 It also is helpful during a treatment. At the beginning of a Reiki session, draw this symbol down the front or back of the client’s body starting with the crown and placing the coil at the root chakra. It causes all the chakras to join together and helps energy move more evenly through the body. 19 If you still detect energy blockages or sluggish energy in the person, try drawing the symbol from the top of the client’s head to the bottom of the feet. This helps to join all the major and minor chakras in the entire body. I have seen this symbol clear stubborn energy blockages that would not clear in any other way. It looks similar to a softened version of the Raku symbol, but it has slightly different healing effects on the body. While Raku focuses more on grounding the person and separating the energy of the student from the teacher, the Tibetan Fire Serpent offers healing at a physical, emotional and spiritual level. Both have separate applications in the attunement process.

Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 202

Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo Though the energy of this symbol is similar to Usui Dai-Ko-Myo, many feel it works more gently and powerfully. It provides deeper and longer lasting healing. It is used in the attunement process as part of the Violet Breath. The symbol also can be used during a Reiki treatment. The holistic healing energy it creates vibrates at a higher level than the Reiki II symbols. It helps to heal a variety of health conditions more quickly. It also can be used to balance negative energy. 20 I have found that it balances the left and right brains and the entire energy system in a deeper and stronger way than the Sei-He-Ki symbol does. If people need Sei-He-Ki, in my experience they usually need Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo as well. The symbol complements and enhances Sei-He-Ki. When you use this symbol, you may draw it on both of your palms, visualize it, draw it in the air in front of you, or draw it above the spot that needs healing on the person’s body. 21 Its deep, gentle healing properties make it extremely effective.

Hui Yin The Hui Yin point (pronounced Way Yin) is also known as the perineum. It lies between the anus and the genitals in the area of the root chakra. The Hui Yin refers to a muscular contraction used when passing attunements that closes the perineum, allowing energy to flow in a circular motion through the Reiki Master’s body. It is important that masters learn to keep the Hui Yin point contracted so the energy flows in a continuous loop from the perineum to the roof of the mouth and back to the perineum. 22 Reiki Masters put their tongue on the roof of their mouth to connect the conception and governing vessels, which meet at the upper and lower lip. The tongue held on the roof of the mouth closes the upper level of these vessels, keeping energy from flowing out the top of the head, flowing instead back down to the root chakra. When the Hui Yin is contracted, the energy can’t flow out the legs into the ground. Instead, it flows through the perineum and moves upward to the roof of the mouth. The loop makes a continuous circle between those two points throughout the attunement.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 203

This circular motion, which does not let the energy escape through the head or out through the feet, intensifies the ki energy. With nowhere else to go, some of it exits through the teacher’s hands. This energy flow pushes the Reiki symbols from the teacher’s hands into the causal body of the student’s aura. 23 This energy is never forced on a student. Though it’s propelled from the teacher’s hands, the receiver always has the option of saying, “No, thanks.” In that case, Reiki will transmit as healing energy to anyone or anything in the vicinity that wants to absorb it. Presumably, anyone who seeks a Reiki attunement will want to receive the energy. Even so, people can change their minds at any time, and Reiki will honor that decision. At the end of the attunement, Reiki Masters simultaneously relax the muscles in the perineum and remove their tongue from the roof of their mouth. This sudden release allows the looping energy to whoosh out of the teacher’s body and into the students, who receive the full impact of the powerful attunement energy. Don’t stress over the continuous looping. When you’re at work or doing chores or relaxing at home, practice contracting the perineum muscles. Like any regular exercise, it will strengthen those muscles so it’s easier for you to keep them contracted during the attunement process. Keeping your tongue on the roof of your mouth is easier to do and more natural. When you think of it through the day, put your tongue there. You may be surprised to realize that, more often than not, your tongue already rests there. When you’re ready to pass an attunement, make it your intention to loop the energy in a circle from the perineum to the roof of the mouth and back down. Do your best to keep the loop intact. If you momentarily forget, reestablish the loop as soon as possible. The more you practice, the better you’ll get. Your Reiki guides will fix your mistakes as long as you make a willing effort to improve. Hawayo Takata didn’t use the Hui Yin point when she passed attunements. 23 My suggestion is that you learn to use it, then experiment to see how successfully you can pass attunements with and without it. I’ve never been good at consistently holding the Hui Yin point, but students tell me the attunements pass effectively anyway. Many of them have powerful experiences during the attunement, which they relate with a sense of awe. Your intention, as much or more than your circulating and released breath, will pass the Reiki attunement.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 204

EXPLORING REIKI III CHAPTER 3 PREPARING FOR AND ADJUSTING TO A REIKI MASTER ATTUNEMENT Give yourself plenty of time to decide if you want to receive the Reiki Master attunement. Though a six month waiting period is recommended between receiving the Reiki II and Reiki Master attunement, some people will be ready for the master attunement sooner. Others may need a year or longer to feel ready. Trust your inner guidance to know when the time is right for you. Spend time in prayer and meditation before you make a decision about the Reiki Master attunement. You’re under no obligation to receive it. Many people decide the Reiki II attunement is enough for them. However, if you want to teach others how to use Reiki and to pass attunements, you will need to receive the Reiki Master attunement. You may decide later that you don’t want to teach. Reiki will honor whatever decision you make. The attunement will never leave you. The energy will be available to you if at some future time you decide to teach Reiki classes. If you opt to receive the Reiki Master attunement, spend several days beforehand in preparation. During that time, watch your diet and stay away from TV programs, books or magazines that promote negative attitudes or show traumatic events. Stay away from alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs, and, as much as possible, forgive yourself and others for real or perceived transgressions. If they committed a crime against you, they will still have to experience whatever criminal or civil court decisions are meted out, but you will no longer wallow in anger, frustration or a sense of injustice. Once you forgive yourself or others, you disconnect from the energy that fed your negative emotions. Now you can use that freed-up energy for more productive things that bring you pleasure and fulfillment, including more easily adjusting to the Reiki Master attunement. After you receive the adjustment, keep the rest of the day, including the evening, as free as possible so you will have time to pray and meditate and spend time in nature while you adjust to the attunement. It’s recommended that you don’t try to pass an attunement to someone else for

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 205

about a year after you receive the Reiki Master attunement. This time period will fluctuate from person to person, but the longer you wait, they more easily your body and soul will adjust to the higher frequency energy and the better you will absorb the wealth of information presented to you during the attunement. When people receive a Reiki Master attunement, changes occur at the spiritual level. Those changes usually show up as a growing self-understanding and a greater feeling of connection and oneness with God. 1 These and other changes are going on in your body at a level deeper than you realize. Passing an attunement will take more energy than you may be able to handle for several months. Honor yourself and others by waiting to pass attunements until you’re ready so that your students can receive all the energy they need to receive a complete attunement. One of the benefits of becoming a Reiki Master is that every time you pass an attunement you also experience benefits from the energy. Each time, you are healed at a deeper level.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 206

EXPLORING REIKI III CHAPTER 4 REIKI AFFECTS YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS LEVEL Each Reiki attunement that you receive will raise your consciousness level. After the attunement, you will discover that you’re vibrating at a higher frequency level. It’s an indication that your consciousness level has increased, and this increased level is measurable. In the book Power Vs. Force, medical doctor and psychiatrist David R. Hawkins explains how to use applied kinesiology to ascertain the consciousness level of people, institutions, businesses, ideas, books, medical diagnosis, the truthfulness of what people say, their motivation, and many other things. Included in his book is a Map of Consciousness Scale that details emotions, life views, and other aspects pertaining to different consciousness levels. The Map of Consciousness climbs from 1 to1,000 with different emotions manifesting at various levels. The numbers on the scale are calibrated logarithmically, which means that an increase from one number to the next is an increase to the tenth power. 1 The consciousness level can be determined with the use of a kinesiology muscle testing technique. It will be explained shortly. It can be helpful for Reiki practitioners to understand these levels of consciousness. When your clients’ attitudes improve, their consciousness level may be rising too. The way they see the world will change for the better. Anything that calibrates at 200 or above on the Map of Consciousness Scale is considered positive. The number 200 is associated with integrity and truth. Anything below 200 is considered negative. The primary focus of people who calibrate at less than 200 is personal survival. At 20, feelings of hopelessness and depression are found with little or no desire for personal survival. 2 As numbers rise above 20, the feelings range upward from blame, despair, regret and anxiety to craving, hate and scorn. As numbers exceed 200, they represent a movement of feelings that range from trust, optimism, forgiveness, understanding and reverence until they reach serenity, bliss and pure consciousness. In the 500s, the motivating factor is the happiness

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 207

of others. Enlightenment begins at 700. People who calibrate from 700 to 1,000 are dedicated to humanity’s salvation. To understand more about consciousness levels, it helps to know that consciousness is associated with what Hawkins calls attractor patterns, highly organized energy fields that pull everything in a certain system toward them. 3 Positive attractor patterns draw similar positive things to us. Negative attractor patterns draw to us similar negative things. These attractor patterns have varying strengths that relate to the levels of human consciousness to which they are linked. These patterns exist behind every behavior, thought, and belief. They also relate to the degree of health and disease. Powerful attractor patterns are associated with love, forgiveness, joy and peace, and they make us strong. Weak attractor patterns are linked to anger, resentment, fear, desire and grief, and they weaken us. 4 “Failure, suffering and eventual sickness result from the influence of weak patterns; success, happiness, and health proceed from powerful attractor patterns,” Hawkins said. 5

How to Calibrate Consciousness Levels Everyone and everything has a consciousness level, and those levels can be calibrated by using kinesiology muscle testing techniques developed by Dr. George Goodheart, a physiotherapist from Detroit, Mich., and Dr. John Diamond, a psychiatrist and one of many holistically oriented physicians who have used Goodheart’s applied kinesiology methods. Goodheart discovered that the strength or weakness of every muscle correlated with the level of health of certain corresponding body organs. He also discovered that individual muscles are associated with certain acupuncture meridians. His findings demonstrated that muscles instantly become weak when the body is exposed to things that aren’t good for it. When the body is exposed to things that are healthy for it, the muscles become strong. 6 It takes a team of two people to accurately calibrate the level of consciousness of any person, place or thing, whether in the past or present. This kinesiology technique transcends personal opinions, beliefs and perceptions. Hawkins describes kinesiology as the “wormhole between two universes – the physical, and the mind and spirit – an interface between dimensions.” 7 It is a way to tap into the truth

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 208

uncluttered by our illusions. Using muscle testing to calibrate consciousness levels works because our individual humans minds are like a computer terminal linked to a giant database, which is human consciousness itself. “This database is the realm of genius. Because to be human is to participate in the database, everyone, by virtue of his birth, has access to genius,” Hawkins said. “The unlimited information contained in the database has now been shown to be readily available to anyone in a few seconds, at any time and in any place.” The database transcends time and space, Hawkins explained. Though our individual knowledge is limited, the database is not. 8 If you calibrate the consciousness level of someone before a Reiki session and recalibrate it after the treatment, the person’s consciousness level almost always climbs a few points. This is significant, because a climb from one number to the next is an increase to the tenth power. It’s one more indicator that Reiki energy is a powerful and positive force. Having a copy of Power Vs. Force in your personal library can be important in your work as a healer.

Muscle Testing with a Partner If you want to use the Map of Consciousness Scale to learn the calibration level of a book, idea, philosophy, or statement, including such things as a used car salesman’s claim about an automobile, find a partner. Stand with your non-dominant arm stretched out beside you at shoulder level parallel to the floor, kind of like a one armed scarecrow. If an imaginary board were placed horizontally across your chest, your arm would follow the line of the board. To help insure the accuracy of this test, the person who is being tested should remove any eye glasses, especially if they have metal frames. They also should take off jewelry or quartz wristwatches and any hats, particularly ones made of synthetic material. Synthetic items worn on the head make a person weak in terms of muscle testing no matter what question is asked. 9 Fluorescent lights, artificial sweeteners, toxic chemicals, and pesticides also make people weak.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 209

Muscle Testing Arm Points

While standing in front of you and slightly to the side, your partner will place one hand on the shoulder of your non-dominant arm and the other hand on the wrist of the same arm. Your partner will then ask you to say, “Yes.” After you say, “Yes,” your partner will try to push your arm down, using the hand resting on your wrist, while you try to resist. Your arm will be strong; your partner will not be able to push it down. The word “yes” is positive and gives you strength. This is not an arm wrestling contest, so your partner does not need to apply undo pressure, and you don’t need to resist with all your strength. Don’t look your partner in the eye during the muscle test. Eye contact can skew the results. Then your partner will ask you to say, “No.” When you say “no,” your partner will try to push your arm down again. This time, you will not have the strength to resist. The word “no” is negative; you lose strength when you say no. Now that your partner has an idea of what your arm feels like after you say “yes” and “no,” you are ready to find answers to questions. If you use the Map of Consciousness Scale, Hawkins recommends that you make a statement such as “On the Map of Consciousness Scale of 1 to 1,000 where 200 is the level of integrity or truth, ____ (name of the person, institution,

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 210

diagnosis or other thing you want to measure) calibrates at ____.” In the last blank, your partner will state a number somewhere between 1 and 1,000. 10 If your arm remains strong when your partner tries to push it down, it indicates that whatever you are measuring calibrates at that level or higher. Your partner should keep naming higher numbers until your arm goes weak. The highest number at which you are still strong is the calibration level of whatever you are measuring. If your arm goes weak after your partner says the initial number, whatever you are measuring does not calibrate that high. Have your partner continue saying lower numbers until your arm tests strong. When it tests strong, you have found the number at which that object or person calibrates. If you want to find out the level at which you calibrated when they were born, have your partner say, “On the Map of Consciousness Scale of 1 to 1,000 where 200 is the level of integrity or truth, ______ (name of person) calibrated at ___ when he/she was born.” It is important to use this phraseology or something similar to it so the specific scale to which you are referring is clear. When you do this test, you are connecting to a communal database of consciousness. 11 You need to specify which scale you are using so the database knows what information to retrieve. Mankind’s collective level of consciousness stayed at 190 for many centuries, Hawkins said. It wasn’t until November 2003 that it jumped to 207 worldwide. 12 Most people move only a few points from their calibration at birth through their entire lives. However, that calibration can change dramatically when people get a Reiki attunement. After the attunement, their calibration may go up by several dozen points because they are vibrating at a higher energy frequency level. This is evidence that divine energy flows through them, assisting in their spiritual growth. Though it can be interesting to calibrate your Map of Consciousness Scale at birth and later, be careful that you don’t get caught up in the information. If your ego gets involved, your perception of what your number should be could contaminate the results, especially if you are muscle testing without a partner. Should you find yourself getting too enamored by the numbers, consider it a caution to stop calibrating yourself.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 211

Thymus Thump Occasionally if you or your partner encountered a lot of negative energy or were exposed to something toxic, muscle testing will lead to incorrect answers. To clear yourself of these negative influences, you can both do the thymus thump, a technique developed by Dr. Diamond after he learned about Dr. Goodheart’s methods and experimented with them. Located behind the top part of the breastbone, the thymus gland is the central control for the body’s acupuncture energy system. 13 It is an important part of the body’s immune system. The thymus can be temporarily derailed if exposed to negative energy fields or to allergy provoking stimuli. That, in turn, can make the body weaker, including the arm used for muscle testing. To insure accurate muscle testing responses, use the thymus thump to strengthen the gland. To practice the technique, clench your fists and pound lightly but firmly over the thymus gland. Don’t pound hard enough to cause a bruise. It’s a chest thump similar to the one made famous by the fictional Tarzan. After doing this several times, smile and think of someone or something you love. Every time you thump your chest, say, “Ha-ha-ha.” 14 This restores the thymus gland to its proper functioning level. The thymus thump also helps to correct a type of body confusion that involves an imbalance in the brain’s cerebral hemisphere. Goodheart coined the term “switching” to describe this body confusion. If the right and left hemispheres of the brain are out of balance, people will not handle stress well. People who have a dominant left hemisphere will tend to function with an excess amount of nervous and emotional stress. If their right hemisphere is dominant, they will tend to fantasize and avoid unpleasant feelings. Most people operate with imbalanced brain hemispheres due to activities as simple as holding the telephone more often to one ear than the other. Listening with your left ear encourages left hemisphere dominance, and listening with the right ear encourages right hemisphere dominance. The thymus thump will restore hemispheric balance. Other things that help to balance the brain hemispheres are reading poetry in a rhythmic way and looking at landscape pictures, especially those by William Turner. 15

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 212

Other Tools to Keep You Balanced In addition to the thymus thump, you can tap on two other areas to keep you energetically balanced. One is the K-27 point at the end of the kidney meridian. It’s located at the base of the neck just below where two bones protrude, about the place where men knot their ties. Most people have a small indentation here. This point will energize you if you feel tired and help you focus if you have trouble concentrating. 16 Tap on this point about 20 seconds while you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth. You also may tap on your spleen neurolymphatic reflex points. That will help to raise your energy level, balance your blood chemistry and strengthen your immune system. Tapping here also synchronizes your body’s rhythms, harmonizes its energies and hormones, removes toxins, fights infection, counters a feeling of dizziness, and helps you metabolize food better. 17 To find the spleen points on both sides of your body, move your fingers from your nipples straight down beneath your breasts to the rib just below them. Then move them about an inch in the direction of your under arms. Use several fingers to tap under both breasts for about 15 seconds while breathing deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth. If you do the K-27, thymus, and spleen thumps before you muscle test, you will increase the accuracy of your results.

Some Cautions about Using Muscle Testing A variety of influences may cause false muscle test readings. For example, people who grit their teeth can short out their jaw, resulting in an incorrect reading. You can be your own worst enemy if you think you know what the right answer is before you muscle test. As soon as you think you know the right answer, you are not asking the question you think you’re asking. You have made an assumption that is clouding the results. You must get yourself out of the way. Stop anticipating. Stop wanting a certain response. Stop trying to please someone else. Trust that the process will work. When people hold their arm out so you can muscle test them, be sure they don’t lift their arm up as they resist your attempt to push it down. That extra resistance on their part makes them

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 213

think they have to be strong no matter what. It could give you a false reading. If they lift their arm when they resist, tell them, “Resist, don’t try to lift up.” Ask only one question at a time, and ask each question clearly. If the question is not clear, the muscle testing response may be incorrect. People who have chronic fatigue, jet lag, fibromyalgia, low blood sugar, or who are exhausted for other reasons may not give consistently accurate muscle testing results. If people wear hats made of synthetic material, they will consistently have weak muscle testing results. Fluorescent lights, artificial sweeteners, toxic chemicals, and pesticides also can make a person test weak. So can wearing metal framed eye glasses, jewelry, or quartz wristwatches. Though most music has a strengthening affect on people and can be therapeutic, certain kinds of music may weaken the body. Dr. Diamond discovered that some rock music makes people go weak no matter how loudly or softly it is played. He attributed rock’s anapestic, or dada-DA, beat with a pause at the end of it, as the cause. When people hear that pause, it is as though they subconsciously come to a halt. When people hear rock music played fast enough to eliminate the pause, they stay strong if the music isn’t too loud. Loud noises can weaken the body.18 Playing the isolated note C in any octave on any instrument also can make a person test weak. Notes farther from C, such as F and G, make the person test strong. Why the note C has that kind of effect is unknown, but if you want to show people that their bodies react to sounds around them, play an isolated C note, then muscle test them. They will go weak. 19 When people listen to music that weakens them, their body becomes confused. That’s because symmetry between the two brain’s hemispheres is lost. That imbalance causes the body to switch. When switching happens, certain subtle perceptual disabilities begin, and people feel stressed. The body goes into a state of alarm. This may be one cause for hyperactivity in children. 20 If someone in that state is being muscle tested, the muscles will give incorrect responses. Other things that can cause switching include injured limbs or weak glands or organs on one side of the body. In those situations, the weak side robs energy from the stronger side, causing the person’s energy patterns to switch. One consequence is that muscle test results won’t

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 214

be accurate. For example, if someone has a problem with their right arm, when you muscle test with the statement, “You are experiencing a problem with your right arm,” the person will go weak, indicating a “no” answer. If you say, “You are experiencing a problem with your left arm,” the person will test strong, indicating a “yes” answer, even though there is nothing wrong with the left arm. The brain’s hemispheric balance is off because the body is sending more energy to the left arm so it can carry an extra load while the weaker right arm heals. If you are near toxic chemicals, your reaction to the toxins can muddle muscle testing results. People who are dehydrated often give false results. The body is made up largely of water, and if it’s low on “fuel”, it won’t function right. In spite of the pitfalls of muscle testing, it is an excellent tool. The more you practice it, the better your results will be. With increased experience, more neural connections develop in your brain to help you become a better tester. Muscle testing is not a necessary skill for Reiki. However, if you plan to use the Map of Consciousness Scale, you need to know how to muscle test.

Muscle Testing without a Partner You can use muscle testing on your own without a partner. There are several ways to do this. Just be aware that your results can be more easily contaminated without the objective influence of a partner.

Muscle Testing with Thumb and Middle Finger

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 215

The method I find easiest is a one-handed technique. Put the tip of the thumb of your non-dominant hand over the tip of the middle finger on the same hand. The underside of your thumb opposite the thumb nail will rest on top of the nail of the middle finger. In a “yes” response, you will not be able to flip the thumb and middle finger apart. If the response is “no”, you can flip the thumb and third finger apart with ease. You may encounter other muscle testing methods as well. Choose one, get comfortable with it, and practice it regularly. Over a period of many months, you will begin to trust it as neural connections develop in your brain to increase your skills. At times, it is possible for operator influence to affect the results when you muscle test without a partner. Operator influence means you have not gotten yourself out of the way, and you or your perceptions, conscious or unconscious, are trying to influence the answer. If you suspect that is happening, muscle test with a partner. The cautions for muscle testing with a partner also apply when you muscle test alone.

Use Muscle Testing to Determine What Clients Need When you are giving Reiki to a client and you think the person needs a Reiki symbol but you aren’t sure which one, silently say, “This client needs a Reiki symbol.” Use the self-muscle testing method you like best to determine the answer. If you get a “yes,” silently say, “This client needs a Cho-Ku-Rei symbol.” If the answer is “no,” continue naming one symbol at a time until you get a “yes” answer. The client might need more than one symbol. Though most of the time you will intuitively know what symbol a person needs, it’s nice to have muscle testing in your tool kit when you’re not sure what to do. For example, I used the muscle testing technique on myself to ease the pain and diarrhea symptoms of a stuck open ileocecal valve. The ileocecal valve is located between the ileum, the last portion of the small intestine, and the cecum, the first portion of the large intestine. It keeps food in the small intestines until the digestive process is complete. Then it opens to release food into the large intestine. It blocks waste materials in the large intestine from backing up into the small intestine and creating toxic conditions in the body. 21 Peristalsis, the contraction of smooth muscles that move contents through the digestive tract, helps to keep back-up from occurring.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 216

When the ileocecal valve is stuck open, it can create a host of symptoms, among them right shoulder pain, right side pelvic pain, low back pain, pain surrounding the heart, flu symptoms, tinnitus, nausea, headache, bad breath, face pallor, dark circles under the eyes, dizziness, or diarrhea. It can cause dehydration as the body uses more and more fluids to flush out toxins that, in spite of peristalsis, manage to creep past the stuck open ileocecal valve back into the small intestines. In severe cases, it could cause liver problems. Often the body becomes depleted of ascorbic acid and zinc, which it uses to fight the invading toxins. 22 A stuck open ileocecal valve can have a variety of causes, among them eating wheat, sugar or popcorn. The wheat’s glutinous nature can make the valve stick open or shut. Emotional upset, dehydration, overeating or eating too quickly, and consuming carbonated drinks, alcohol, caffeine, chocolate, raw foods or hot spicy foods also can cause the valve to stick open or shut. A stuck closed valve can make people feel sluggish, have constipation or headaches. It is less common than a stuck open valve. To help my ileocecal value close, I used muscle testing to determine if the valve was stuck open by stating, “My ileocecal valve is stuck open.” The answer was yes, so I muscle tested to see if Reiki would help it close. The answer was yes, so I asked which Reiki symbol was needed. Sei-He-Ki tested positive. After giving myself Reiki for a minute and using Sei-HeKi on my lower right abdomen, I felt a shift. Muscle testing confirmed the valve had closed. The diarrhea symptoms subsided within an hour, and by the end of the day the pain was almost gone. Muscle testing is not the only way to figure out how to treat certain conditions. There are Reiki books available to show you hand positions for a variety of symptoms. Both The Original Reiki Handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui by Mikao Usui and Frank Arjava Petter and The Hayashi Reiki Manual by Frank Arjava Petter, Tadao Yamaguchi, and Chujiro Hayashi have extensive photographs showing hand positions for healing a variety of ailments. They are listed in the bibliography at the end of this book. The advantage of using muscle testing is that it lets you focus on the needs of a specific individual. Hand positions listed in books may work for many people, but they do not always work for everyone in every circumstance. If you use muscle testing, consider it one tool among many to help you find an answer.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 217

Though it doesn’t give you 100 percent accurate information all the time, it’s a valuable aid. The more you practice it, the more you will understand when it’s most effective to use.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 218

EXPLORING REIKI III CHAPTER 5 WHAT TO CHARGE FOR REIKI ATTUNEMENTS Once you are a Reiki Master, you may want to teach Reiki workshops and pass attunements. If so, you will need to decide what to charge for your workshops. There is no set amount to charge for workshops and attunements. They range from very modest fees to several thousand dollars. I recommend modest fees of $100 per person for the Reiki I, $200 per person for Reiki II, and $300 per person for Reiki III. Whatever fees you decide to charge, remember to be fair to yourself. It takes time, effort and some expense to prepare for and present a workshop. Your time is valuable, and you deserve payment for the work and effort you put into presenting workshops and passing attunements. It is helpful to have three to five students per workshop. That gives you adequate reimbursement and provides them with one or more partners on whom to practice Reiki during the workshop. If you accept more than five students, it may be difficult to provide one-on-one help. The more experienced you get at giving workshops, the more comfortable you may feel handling more students. Just be sure you can give them the individual help they need. If you’re not sure what to charge, check with other Reiki Masters in your area to learn their fee structure. Then set your prices accordingly. It is important to value your work and to be compensated for it fairly so you can continue to offer the important services you provide. When Hawayo Takata began initiating Reiki Masters in 1970, she charged $10,000 for a Reiki Master attunement. Her workshops reportedly took only one weekend. 1 This high fee made it hard for people to afford the training, and it slowed the spread of Reiki. It was normal for Chujiro Hayashi and other Japanese Reiki Masters of his day to charge high prices for attunements. Hayashi’s attunement workshops usually lasted five days. One person who wrote an article in 1928 about the experience said it cost “a fortune to be attuned” by Hayashi. 2 Hayashi sometimes gave students Reiki training, but not attunements, in exchange for working in his clinic. When he gave people Reiki treatments, he charged whatever they could

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 219

afford. If they were poor, he treated them for free. 3 The bulk of his Reiki related income came from passing attunements. He held seminars five days a month at which he passed Reiki attunements. 4 After people learned Reiki for those five days and were attuned, they could give effective Reiki treatments. 5 Today, Reiki is more widespread and taught by a larger number of Reiki Masters than it was in Usui’s and Hayashi’s days. What you decide to charge will reflect the wider availability of training. Once you decide what to charge for teaching a Reiki workshop and passing an attunement, the next decision is how much time to schedule for them. I find it helpful to plan them on a weekend. A practical time frame is from 6-9 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. It takes at least that much time to teach students what they need to learn, to pass the attunement and to give them Reiki practice time. I like to offer a free two-hour follow-up meeting about three weeks after the workshop so students can discuss their experiences, ask questions, and give each other Reiki. If you’re not sure what to teach in your curriculum, check out Appendix 5. It has suggestions for how to use the information in this ebook to teach and schedule Reiki workshops. It also explains how to prepare students for the workshops so they come to them in a healthier physical condition and mental frame of mind. In addition, it offers an icebreaker idea for building cohesiveness in the group.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 220

EXPLORING REIKI III CHAPTER 6 SOME REIKI SUCCESS STORIES During my years working as a Reiki Master, I have seen Reiki help people in subtle and sometimes remarkable ways. It’s gratifying to see how powerful this spiritually guided universal life energy can be. It has provided relaxation and energy balance for people, and often has helped them deal with emotional and physical challenges. One man came to me after experiencing significant problems with a boss at work. After running out of other options, he had filed harassment charges against the person, but difficulties continued. During the Reiki session, I detected energy congestion in several parts of his body. Toward the end of the treatment, I placed my hands on his feet to check how the energy was traveling through his body. It couldn’t get it past his shoulders. I sent Reiki energy to his shoulders and used the Cho Ku Rei symbol there, but the energy blockage remained. It wasn’t until I drew the Cho Ku Rei symbol at his shoulders three different times that the blockage released. Three energetic pulsations that reminded me of chattering monkeys rocketed off his shoulders. When I checked the energy flow again, it coursed easily from his feet to his head. My sense was that three people at work had been verbally attacking this man behind his back. Once the negative energy created by that vicious gossip was released, his energy balance returned to normal. A woman who worked at a local clothing store was sent to me by her boss because she couldn’t sleep. She had a three-year-old at home and seldom got more than three hours of sleep at night. Almost as soon as the Reiki session began, she fell asleep and did not wake up until the treatment ended. She reported feeling refreshed and rested. Another woman came for a treatment as she neared retirement after a long career in education. She wondered what to do next. A few minutes into the treatment, it became apparent that her throat chakra was blocked. Something kept her from expressing what she truly believed about herself. When the blockage cleared, she felt enthusiastic about examining post-retirement options she hadn’t thought of before.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 221

One woman came for Reiki after a day of work at a stressful job. I saw an image of black boards pressed against her feet, keeping energy from flowing through her. As the session continued, the black boards disappeared, and other energy blockages in her body cleared. When I saw her in passing the next day, she said she’d had the best night’s sleep in a long time. A teenager came, grieving over the death of two friends in an auto accident. Energy at her first, second, and fourth chakras was sluggish. She went into such a deep restful place during the treatment that it took 10 minutes for her to begin moving after the session was over. The energy sluggishness completely cleared. Her mother called me later that evening to report that her daughter felt much better. A Navajo college student scheduled a session because she wanted to satisfy her curiosity about Reiki. Pictograph images of horses formed around her. So many Native American images emerged as I worked on her legs that I couldn’t begin to remember them all. Gray smoke resembling an ancient, wise spirit emerged from her throat, and a bird sang there. I sensed that she had greatness in her and the ability to speak ancient, healing wisdom. After the session, she said others have told her she has greatness in her as well, but she’d always shrugged it off. This time, she gave it a second thought. A teacher came with concerns about friction in a relationship with another educator. She relaxed deeply during the session, and her energy balanced well. The next day she called to tell me she had a dream that night which helped to resolve her conflict with the other teacher. She’d been suffering from pain in her knee, and the pain disappeared. Though I hadn’t known about the pain when I worked on her, Reiki energy dealt with the problem anyway. A man came to me out of curiosity. His wife had experienced relief after a Reiki session, and he wanted to try it. He reported feeling a slight buzzing sensation, almost like mild energy, as I worked around his head and shoulders. Later his wife told me that in the past he could not get a lens prescription for glasses because of the severity of his eye problem. After the Reiki session he thought he could see more clearly. He went to the eye doctor, who gave him a lens prescription for the first time. A middle aged man who’d had most of his colon surgically removed following a serious accident, came to me with pain in his upper colon. As I did a body scan at the beginning of the

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 222

session, my left hand felt like it sizzled over his colon. Several other areas had energy blockages, and eventually they all cleared. After he climbed off the table, he sat carefully in a chair, then tentatively reached down and tied his shoes. When he stood up, he stretched his hands down toward his toes, then raised them into the air. He grew so excited he could hardly express himself. Between bursts of “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he told me it was the first time since the accident that he’d been able to tie his shoes, and the pain in his colon was gone.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 223

EXPLORING REIKI III CHAPTER 7 INNOVATIVE WAYS TO USE REIKI Reiki is an evolving healing art. Because of that, people are discovering new ways to apply this spiritually guided universal life energy. A few innovative ways are listed here. You probably will find additional ways for Reiki to help you. One man discovered that his guitar strings lasted three times as long when he gave them Reiki. Others have used Reiki to find lost objects or to improve the way machinery performs. If you have difficulty opening packages or jars, give them Reiki so they will open easier. Some people give themselves Reiki to relax and sleep at night. Still others send Reiki to animals in physical or emotional distress. Struggling plants will benefit if they receive Reiki. Send Reiki to mountains, rivers, and trees to improve their health. When these elements of nature are in a healthier state of balance, they can better fulfill their purpose. If you stand beside a river or mountain or under a tree, you will sense some of the powerful, healing energy these beautiful aspects of nature can give you. Thank them for their gifts by sending them Reiki or praying for them. In the process, you will help to heal the planet. Scoop a cup of water out of a river, lake, stream or ocean. Send Reiki to the water, then pour it back into the body of water from which you took it. The water will spread Reiki energy everywhere it flows. Some people send Reiki to areas that are experiencing earthquakes or other natural disasters. Reiki can even be sent to war torn parts of the world in an effort to nurture peace. Use the distant symbol to do this. Teachers, business people and others may use Reiki to clear classrooms or meeting rooms of negative energy before anyone arrives. If you plan to take a difficult exam or speak to a group of people, you can send Reiki into the future to the place where you will take the exam, give the speech, participate in an emotionally charged family reunion. It will be there to help you through the challenging experience. Reiki increases the energetic frequency at which certain organs or glands vibrate. That

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 224

not only helps them function more efficiently, but it helps people move to a higher level of consciousness, where they can experience greater love, joy, and peace on their journey to enlightenment. Send Reiki to a particular organ or gland in your body or in someone else’s. Then notice what changes occur. The key is to experiment with the symbols and with the task at hand. You are limited only by your intent and your imagination. The more you use Reiki, the more faith you will have in its ability to work and to do no harm.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 225

EXPLORING REIKI III CHAPTER 8 HELPFUL REIKI TOOLS Two helpful Reiki tools are the healing attunement and the aura clearing. They address challenging issues that stand in the way of allowing a person to heal. They can be helpful when you work with clients who have stubborn energy congestion patterns. As you become more experienced with Reiki, you will find other techniques that enhance your practice as well.

Healing Attunement The healing attunement does not pass the use of any Reiki symbols to others, but it provides more powerful, effective and higher frequency healing energies than a regular Reiki treatment does. Clients are not initiated into Reiki, because the symbols are not placed in their hands. The healing attunement opens the aura and creates a more receptive state for healing. It is highly effective in removing negative energy from clients. During the attunement, the client’s eyes should be closed, and the attunement should be given in private. 1

The healing attunement also helps people to achieve goals more easily. If they have trouble reaching their goals, something may need to be healed first. They may have unconscious, negative feelings or thoughts about the goal that makes achieving it feel unsafe or unwise. If someone harmed them, they may refuse to achieve the goal as a way of punishing the person. In reality, they only hurt themselves. Perhaps they think that reaching the goal will make other people jealous, that it will expose them to ridicule, or give them more attention than they want. If they were mistreated or abused as a child, they may think that being overweight will cause people to ignore them and, thus, keep them safe. Maybe they are so afraid that they’ll fail and make a fool of themselves that they unconsciously self-sabotage to keep themselves from being successful. These are called secondary benefits, and people may not realize they have them. Often these fears can be released during a healing attunement, and people can gain insights to help them achieve success. 2

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 226

Use these steps to conduct a healing attunement. Other steps you may read about will work equally as well. Most of these steps are paraphrased and expanded from Reiki Master Manual by William Lee Rand and are used with his permission. 3 It is an excellent resource book and can be ordered from the International Center for Reiki Training, 21421 Hilltop St., #28, Southfield, MI, 48034. Their phone number is 800-332-8112. Their web site is www.reiki.org.

1. Before the attunement, prepare the room in this way. A. Draw a Cho-Ku-Rei on each wall, on the ceiling and on the floor. B. Draw a Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo, Usui Dai-Ko-Myo, and Cho-Ku-Rei on your palm chakras. Draw a large Cho-Ku-Rei down the front of your body. C. Draw a Cho-Ku-Rei on each one of your chakras, starting with the root chakra and ending with the crown chakra. D. Draw six Reiki symbols in the air in the center of the room and intend that their energy fill the room. The six Reiki symbols are Cho-Ku-Rei, Sei-He-Ki, Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen, Usui Dai-Ko-Myo, Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo, and Tibetan Fire Serpent. E. Say a prayer asking for a blessing on the healing attunement. Ask that angels, archangels, Reiki guides, and master healers be present to assist you. Be sure to specifically name the healing attunement in your prayer. You have around you many angels and Reiki guides prepared to help with the attunement. Stating which attunement you plan to pass lets them know which Reiki energies to use. Even if you don’t draw the symbols precisely, are unsure of yourself, or do not sense anything happening, the attunement will succeed anyway because of your intent.

2. Explain that you will touch the person’s head, shoulders and hands. Lead the person in a grounding exercise. One simple meditation is to have the person imagine white light flowing into the top of their head, through their body, and exiting the soles of their feet deep into the ground. Another is to have them imagine lying on soft green grass and feeling the firm, dependable support of the Earth.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 227

3. Explain that people must be willing to let go of any condition that may be blocking forward movement or healing in their life. Ask them to focus on the block with the intention of releasing it during the attunement. If they want to achieve a certain goal, explain that they need to expect the guidance to come. That guidance could include how to make plans for the goal or how to recognize if the goal is not in harmony with their life purpose. They must be willing to take responsibility for achieving and, if necessary, modifying or changing the goal. They also must be willing to release any unconscious negative attitudes about it. Without that willingness, the attunement cannot continue.

4. If they’re ready to continue, tell them to sit with their feet on the floor and their hands palms down on their thighs.

5. Ask them to describe the issue for which healing is sought.

6. Have them close their eyes and meditate on the issue.

7. Ask, “If this problem were in a part of your body, which part would it be?” They may be able to identify the body part because of discomfort in that area. If that is not possible, ask them to guess, and assure them that there are no wrong answers.

8. Ask them to look into the problem area and give it various characteristics. Ask: If this problem had a shape, what would the shape be? If this problem had a color, what would the color be? If this problem had a texture, what would the texture be? If this problem had a weight, what would the weight be? If this problem had a sound, what would the sound be? This is done to give the client a clear image of the block. Any answer is okay, and the person does not have to answer all the questions.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 228

9. Move behind them. With your non-dominant hand about eight inches from their head and shoulder area, draw the fire serpent down their back, starting with the arch over the top of their head, moving down their back, and placing serpent’s coil at the base of their spine.

10. Place both hands on top of their head, and close your eyes. Meditate briefly to gain energetic rapport with them.

11. Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth and contract the Hui Yin. Then do the Violet Breath. Continue holding these two positions during the rest of the attunement.

The Violet Breath A. Breathe in, imagining your breath as a white mist coming through your crown chakra, through your tongue and down the front of your body. With this motion, your breath is traveling through the conception vessel from under the lower lip to the Hui Yin point. Let it continue to travel through your Hui Yin point and then up the back of your spine. On this route along your back, your breath is following the governing vessel. Let it continue to move up the back of your skull to the top of your head. When you sense the energy of your breath has reached the middle of the top of your head, imagine the white mist filling your head.

B. Allow the white mist to turn blue and rotate clockwise. As it rotates, imagine it turning violet.

C. Within the violet light, picture the Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo. The violet light continues to rotate, but the Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo does not move.

D. Open your hands and breathe in the Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo and the violet light. Imagine the symbol moving from the middle of your head through your breath into the person’s crown chakra as you blow out while your tongue remains on the roof of your mouth.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 229

E. With your hand, make a motion that moves the Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo to their heart chakra. Do this in three steps by pointing to: * Their crown chakra * The center of their head * The back of their heart. As you do this, say Dai-Ko-Myo once at each of the three positions. (Note: When you are doing a Reiki I, II or Master attunement, the symbols go to the base of the brain; in a healing attunement the symbols go to the heart.)

This completes the Violet Breath. Now continue with the rest of the attunement. 12. Draw the Usui Dai-Ko-Myo symbol vertically over their head. With your hand make a motion moving the symbol to their heart chakra in three steps by pointing to: * Their crown chakra * The center of their head * The back of their heart.

13. Draw the Cho-Ku-Rei symbol vertically over their head. With your hand make a motion moving the symbol to their heart chakra in three steps by pointing to: * Their crown chakra * The center of their head * The back of their heart.

14. Draw the Sei-He-Ki symbol vertically over their head. With your hand make a motion moving the symbol to their heart chakra in three steps by pointing to: * Their crown chakra * The center of their head * The back of their heart.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 230

15. Draw the Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen symbol vertically over their head. With your hand make a motion moving the symbol to their heart chakra in three steps by pointing to: * Their crown chakra * The center of their head * The back of their heart.

16. Move to the person’s front. Vertically draw the Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo over the: * Crown chakra * Third eye * Heart * Solar plexus Gently tap the top of their head three times with your fingertips.

17. Vertically draw Usui-Dai-Ko-Myo over their: * Crown chakra * Third eye * Heart * Solar plexus. Gently tap the top of their head three times with your fingertips.

18. Vertically draw the Cho-Ku-Rei over their: * Crown chakra * Third eye * Heart * Solar plexus. Gently tap the top of their head three times with your fingertips.

19. Vertically draw Sei-Ke-Ki over their: * Crown chakra

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 231

* Third eye * Heart * Solar plexus. Gently tap the top of their head three times with your fingertips.

20. Vertically draw Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen over their: * Crown chakra * Third eye *Heart * Solar plexus. Gently tap the top of their head three times with your fingertips.

21. Using a hand motion, gently blow toward their solar plexus, then up to their heart, their third eye, and their crown. Continue blowing back down to their solar plexus and up again to their crown. Do the blowing in one smooth continuous breath. The pattern is to blow down, up, down, then back up. On the final up path, have a strong intention to move up and out all negative energy, imagining it in the shape that the person described. Imagine the negative energy moving completely out of their body and up into the light.

22. Move behind the person. Place your hands on their shoulders and look down through their crown chakra. Imagine that you can see into their heart. Look for a soft pink ball of light. That light might appear to you as a white, green, lavender or gold color. If you can’t see it, imagine that the light is there. With love, place a positive affirmation in their subconscious mind. Do this by repeating the affirmation to yourself three times. You can make up your own affirmation or choose one of these. “You are completely healed by divine love now.” “You are completely guided and cared for by God now.” “You are empowered by divine love, wisdom and power to achieve your highest spiritual purpose now.”

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 232

23. Place your dominant hand on the back of their heart chakra and your non-dominant hand on their shoulder. Repeat this phrase three times to yourself: “I perfectly seal this healing process with divine love and wisdom.” While you say that sentence, picture a door with Cho-Ku-Rei on it being closed and locked over their heart chakra. As you do this, intend and feel that the healing process is sealed and complete.

24. Place your hands on their shoulders and feel that both of you have been blessed by the experience.

25. Stand in front of them. Hold your hands with your fingers pointed in toward your own heart chakra. Say a prayer asking God to bless and heal the person.

26. Inhale, and briefly hold your breath. Then exhale while releasing the Hui Yin point and the tongue point simultaneously. Intend that the released energy is a blessing flowing to the person. As you release the Hui Yin and tongue points, move your hands outwards toward the client and the intent to bless.

27. Draw a Raku symbol to break the connection between your aura and theirs.

28. Ask them to breathe slowly and deeply, then to slowly open their eyes.

29. Ask them if the negative shape is still there or if it has changed.

If more work is needed, schedule an aura clearing at a later date, and follow it up with a standard Reiki treatment. Suggest that the person takes an aura bath at home that evening.

Aura Clearing Another useful technique is the Aura Clearing. It helps to clear a person’s aura if

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 233

something is keeping them from healing. It is especially helpful when working with people who have significant emotional issues.

This technique involves extending your Reiki fingers. Practice extending them before you try this method on a client. Extending Reiki fingers is a technique taken from Qiqong, a Chinese breathing practice that contains many healing aspects.

To extend your Reiki fingers, take these steps: 1. Grab hold of your fingers with one hand. Imagine they are taffy and that you are stretching them out 12-18 inches.

2. As you do this, breathe in through pursed lips, making an audible sound. Do this several times.

3. Draw a Cho-Ku-Rei on the ends of your extended fingers. Tap them to affirm they are extended and have substance even if you can’t see them.

4. Repeat this process with your other hand.

5. Move your hands around. Imagine you can feel your extended fingers and the power they contain.

These Aura Clearing instructions are taken from a technique developed by William Lee Rand and outlined in his book, Reiki Master Manual. 4 They are used with his permission. It is an excellent resource book and can be ordered from the International Center for Reiki Training, 21421 Hilltop St., #28, Southfield, MI 48034. Their phone number is 800-332-8112, and their website is www.reiki.org.

Before you start, pray for guidance and protection. Ask that the white light of God’s

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 234

unconditional love, the gold light of angelic presence, and the silver light of protection surround you so that only positive, helpful things will affect you and your client. Anything else will bounce off the white, gold, and silver lights and go back, with love, to the person who sent them. Because you will be drawing out negative energies, this protection will help to keep you safe.

The client may stand or sit for this clearing or lie on a Reiki table.

1. Identify the cause of the problem by asking the person to think about the issue for which healing is sought. They don’t need to state what the issue is unless they want to.

2. Ask them to close their eyes and meditate on the issue.

3. Ask, “If this issue were in a part of the body, what part would it be?” They may be able to identify the body part because of discomfort in that area. If not, ask them to guess, assuring them there is no wrong answer.

(If you have completed the Healing Attunement and are performing the Aura Clearing because the negative shape did not disappear after the attunement, be sure to repeat the process of naming the body part and defining the shape, color, texture, weight and sound of the problem. It is important to have the person redefine the way the problem looks now because it may have changed somewhat after the Healing Attunement.)

4. Ask them to look at the problem area and name its characteristics. Ask: * If this problem had a shape, what would the shape be? * If this problem had a color, what would the color be? * If this problem had a texture, what would the texture be? * If this problem had a weight, what would the weight be? * If this problem had a sound, what would the sound be? This is done to give the person a clear image of the block. Any answer is okay, and the

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 235

client does not have to answer all the questions.

5. Ask if they are willing to completely let go of the cause of the problem and to be healed now. Tell them you will send the problem to God.

6. Ask them to focus on the shape of the problem and meditate on letting go of it. Ask if they are willing to learn any lesson or receive any information necessary for the healing process to take place. If they are willing, continue with step 7. If they say no, there is no point continuing with the Aura Clearing. Suggest that you begin the process at a later time when they are willing to learn whatever lesson or receive whatever information is needed for the healing to occur. Assure them that whatever decision they make is okay even if they never feel ready to confront the issue. Continue with step 7 only if they are open to learning the lesson or receiving the information necessary for healing to take place.

7. Move in a way that they can’t see what you’re doing. * Draw Usui-Dai-Ko-Myo on both of your hands and gently clap them together three times. Repeat Usui-Dai-Ko-Myo to yourself each time you clap. * Draw Cho-Ku-Rei on both of your hands and gently clap them together three times. Repeat Cho-Ku-Rei to yourself each time you clap. * Draw Cho-Ku-Rei down the front of your body for protection. * Draw small Cho-Ku-Reis over each of your chakras to empower them.

8. Then extend your Reiki fingers.

9. Say a prayer asking God, your Reiki guides, angels, archangels, anyone who operates in the light of God’s unconditional love to work with you to create the most powerful healing possible. Ask that the healing take place in divine love and wisdom so the highest good is created for all concerned. Keep focused on your intention to see the client’s aura cleared. It is through your focused intention that your Reiki guides and other helpers can work.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 236

10. Ask them to visualize where the cause of the problem is in their body. Have them point out that place to you. Ask them to visualize the shape, color, texture, weight and sound of the problem.

11. Ask them to focus on the area and be willing to let go of the shape so they can be healed.

12. Draw a Cho-Ku-Rei over the area where the blockage is located.

13. Stand in a position that makes you feel powerful. Use the full strength of your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual being. Imagine that you are reaching in and grabbing the negative energy with your extended Reiki fingers, pulling it out and sending it to God.

14. As you pull the negative energy out, breathe in vigorously through partly closed lips. Make an audible sound as you breathe in. Imagine that you are breathing the negative energy into your hands and not into your lungs. This will keep you from pulling the negative energy into yourself.

15. When you release the negative energy to God, breathe out vigorously, making an audible sound.

16. Repeat the reaching in, pulling out, and sending to God process as many times as needed. When you feel a change in the area, you will know you are making progress. Pay attention to guidance that comes to you about how to pull out the energy. You may need to pull from different angles and from different sides. You may even be directed to expand the area you are working on or to move to a different place on the body. Don’t question the guidance. It is there because you asked for help before you started the aura clearing.

17. Continue the process for one or two minutes. Then ask the client if the negative

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 237

energy seems to have changed in any way. * If they say the shape is gone, ask them to look around to be sure it’s gone. * If some of the shape is still left, continue to do the aura clearing, periodically asking what the shape looks like. Continue the process until it is completely gone. * If the shape is still partially there, continue to pull the negative energy out until the client reports that it is gone or that it has been replaced with positive energy. 18. If the shape has not changed much after you have done a complete aura clearing, the problem may have something to communicate to the client before it is willing to leave. In that case, draw Sei-He-Ki over the area and send Reiki to that spot. Speak directly to the cause so the client can hear you, telling it that you respect the information it has to offer and that you are ready to listen. Ask what it needs in order to heal. Ask the person to tell you what comes to mind, no matter how silly, strange or senseless it may sound. If the person has trouble responding, you may say anything that comes to your mind, and recognize that you are being guided. Ask if your words have any meaning to the client. The issues that come up could cover almost any emotion from anger and jealousy to guilt and bitterness.

19. Once you have an idea of what the person needs to do to let go of the problem, ask them if they are willing to take that action now. If they say yes, continue to send Reiki to the affected area while they focus on the issue and how to let go of the negative emotions. Does the person need to forgive a family member or to let go of anger or jealousy? Is there a need to face a fear? Have the client tell you when the process feels complete. (Note: If the client is not willing to let go of the negative emotion, there is no point in continuing the process. Suggest doing the aura clearing another day. If necessary, recommend that the client see a counselor or psychologist.)

20. After the shape is gone, fill the place with Reiki energy so the healing can continue.

21. Then step back and make a karate chop in the air between you and the client to break

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 238

any connection. You also may draw a Raku symbol to break your connection with the client’s aura.

22. Retract your Reiki fingers by pushing them back into your physical fingers while making a blowing sound.

23. Do a byosen scan to see if any energy blockages remain. If you find some, send Reiki to the spots to see if they clear. If they don’t, follow up the aura clearing with a Reiki treatment as needed. Additional aura clearings may be needed at a later time if the problem has deeper layers.

Aura clearings work well, and often one session is all that’s needed. Sometimes a few more sessions will complete the healing process.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 239

EXPLORING REIKI III APPENDIX 1 REIKI SYMBOLS ON ONE PAGE

Clockwise Cho-Ku-Rei

Traditional Usui Dai-Ko-Myo

Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo

Counterclockwise Cho-Ku-Rei

Modern Usui Dai-Ko-Myo

Sei-He-Ki

Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen

Raku

Tibetan Fire Serpent

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 240

APPENDIX 2 HOW TO GIVE A REIKI I ATTUNEMENT Explain to students that there are many different techniques for giving Reiki attunements. All are effective if they are given in person by a Reiki Master. Two important aspects of giving an attunement are your intention and your desire to do the best job you can as you pass on this incredible physical, mental and spiritual healing tool. The method for giving attunements has changed over the years and will continue to change because Reiki is an evolving healing art. However, it is helpful to have a framework to use for the attunement. The one offered here works very well, but others will work too. Do not become so attached to one form of attunement that you cannot see the benefit of a slightly different method. During the Reiki I attunement, you will draw only the Cho-Ku-Rei symbol in the student’s hands. This symbol is used to empower the hands, but it does not give students the use of the Cho-Ku-Rei symbol during treatments. In later attunements, you will draw other symbols in their hands. What goes into the students’ hands is what makes the difference between the attunements. The Reiki I attunement does not give students anything new. It simply opens, expands and aligns the energy pathways that are already there and allows people to be channels for the spiritually guided universal life energy of Reiki. It also increases your students’ capacity to carry life force energy so they can heal others without feeling depleted. This attunement primarily lets students do Reiki self-healing. However, they also may do healing sessions for others who are physically present. This is called direct healing. If you have five students or less in the workshop, you may seat them all in straight back chairs or on seats without backs to receive the attunements together. You might find it easier to pass the attunement if students sit on backless chairs. However, some students may need the support of a chair with a back. Do what works best for each individual. If there are more than five students in the workshop, think about breaking them up into

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 241

no more than five people to a group. In that way, the attunement energy you send to each student does not become diluted by the time it reaches the last person. Dilution has the potential to occur if you send energy to too many students at one time. While those in the first group receive their attunements, instruct the other students to silently watch so they will know what to expect when their turn comes. It is important for them not to talk during this time to honor the sacredness of the attunement experience for the remaining students. It also is important for you to keep your mind focused as you pass the attunements. It’s harder to concentrate if you hear other students chattering. After students in the first group have received their attunements, give them several minutes to meditate quietly on what they experienced. Then have them practice giving Reiki to themselves and to each other. Have one or two Reiki tables set up for this. Ask them to notice if the people they work on can feel heat coming from their hands. Some students may feel spacey, disoriented, unbalanced, uncomfortably hot, or they may experience a mild sense of illness or emotional upset after receiving an attunement. This is because of the increased energy moving through their bodies. The best way to balance that energy is to have them immediately give Reiki to someone else. Once students feel Reiki energy move through their hands, the unpleasant symptoms usually go away. Occasionally, you will need to offer more help if a student has a hard time adjusting to the Reiki energy. Keep a bottle of Bach’s Rescue Remedy handy for these situations. Place four drops of the liquid under the student’s tongue to relieve anxiety. The student should feel better in a few minutes. 1 Another tool is to use Gudrun Perselin’s Bach Flowers Unfolding cards. While their eyes are closed, have the person choose one card. That card will contain a message of advice or direction from the spirit of that flower. When the student picks a flower card, have them old it between their hands. The card will grow warm in a second or two. Suggest that they go to a health food store and purchase a bottle of that particular flower essence. Taking a couple of drops of the essence each day for several days may be helpful for them. Still another way to release excess energy is to go outside and find a tree willing to share some of that energy.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 242

Once the first group of students who received the attunement are quietly busy giving each other Reiki, pass attunements to the next group of students. If only five or less students took the workshop, you will not need to pass a second round of attunements. Use these steps to conduct a Reiki I attunement. There are many different and acceptable ways to pass attunements. This is one that works well. Most of these steps are paraphrased and expanded from Reiki Master Manual by William Lee Rand and are used with his permission. 2 It is an excellent resource book and can be ordered from the International Center for Reiki Training, 21421 Hilltop St., #28, Southfield, MI, 48034. The center’s phone number is 800-3328112, and the web site is www.reiki.org.

1. Before the attunement, prepare the room in this way. A. Draw a Cho-Ku-Rei on each wall, on the ceiling and on the floor. B. Draw a Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo, Usui Dai-Ko-Myo, and Cho-Ku-Rei on your palm chakras. C. Draw a large Cho-Ku-Rei down the front of your body. D. Draw a Cho-Ku-Rei on each one of your chakras, starting with the root chakra and ending with the crown chakra. E. Draw six Reiki symbols in the air in the center of the room and intend that their energy fill the room. The six Reiki symbols are Cho-Ku-Rei, Sei-He-Ki, Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen, Usui Dai-Ko-Myo, Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo, and Tibetan Fire Serpent. F. Say a prayer asking for a blessing on the Reiki I attunement. Ask that the angels, archangels, Reiki guides, the Holy Spirit and master healers be present to assist you. Specifically name the attunement in your prayer. You have around you many angels and Reiki guides prepared to help with the attunement. When you state which attunement you plan to pass, you announce your intent, which is powerful, and you let your angels and guides know which Reiki energies to use. Even if you don’t draw the symbols precisely, are unsure of yourself, or don’t sense anything happening, the attunement will pass to the student because of your intent and because of the help your Reiki guides provide.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 243

2. Explain to the students that you will touch their heads, shoulders and hands at different times during the attunement. Lead them in a grounding meditation. One simple meditation is to have them imagine the white light of unconditional love flowing into the top of their head, through their body, and out the soles of their feet deep into the ground. Imagine the Earth’s light flowing back up through them and out the top of their head. Or have them imagine they are lying in soft green grass, feeling the cool, comfortable support of the earth.

3. Ask students to hold their hands, palms together, in prayer over their chests. Tell them that when you tap them on the shoulder later in the attunement, they are to raise their hands, palms together, above their heads. If they get confused during the attunement or forget to raise their hands, use your hands to gently guide them

You will perform steps 4-13 with each student. Finish all the steps with one pupil before you move to the next student. 4. Move behind each person. With your non-dominant hand about eight inches from the pupil’s head and shoulder area, draw the fire serpent down their back. Start with the arch over the top of their head and move down their back, making the serpent’s coil at the base of their spine.

5. Place both hands on top of the student’s head and close your eyes. Meditate briefly to gain energetic rapport with them.

6. Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth and contract the Hui Yin, or perineum. You should continue to hold these two positions for the rest of the attunement. Now you are ready to do the Violet Breath.

The Violet Breath A. Breathe in, imagining your breath as a white mist coming through your crown chakra,

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 244

through your tongue and down the front of your body. With this motion, your breath is traveling through the conception vessel from under your lower lip to the Hui Yin point. Let it continue to travel through your Hui Yin point and then up the back of your spine. On this route along your back, your breath is following the governing vessel. Let it continue to move up the back of your skull to the top of your head. When you sense that the energy of your breath has reached the middle of the top of your head, imagine the white mist filling your head. B. Allow the white mist to turn blue and rotate clockwise. As it rotates, imagine it turning to a violet color. C. Within the violet light, picture the Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo. The violet light continues to rotate, but the Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo does not move. D. Open your hands, and breathe the Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo and the violet light into the student’s crown chakra. Your tongue remains at the top of your mouth as you blow out. Don’t forget to continue holding the Hui Yin point. E. With your hand, motion the Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo to the base of the skull. Do this in three steps by pointing to their: a. Crown chakra b. Center of their head c. Base of their skull. As you do this, say Dai-Ko-Myo once at each of the three positions.

This completes the Violet Breath. Now continue with the rest of the attunement. 7. Draw Usui Dai-Ko-Myo over the student’s head vertically. Then motion the symbol to the base of the skull in three steps by pointing to their: A. Crown chakra B. Center of their head C. Base of their skull. As you do this, say Dai-Ko-Myo to yourself, once at each position.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 245

8. Draw Sei-He-Ki over the student’s head vertically. Then motion the symbol to the base of the skull in three steps by pointing to their: A. Crown chakra B. Center of their head C. Base of their skull. As you do this, say Sei He-Ki to yourself, once at each position.

9. Draw Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen over the student’s head vertically. Then motion the symbol to the base of the skull in three steps by pointing to their: A. Crown chakra B. Center of their head C. Base of their skull. As you do this, say Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen to yourself, once at each position. (Note that you have temporarily skipped Cho-Ku-Rei.)

10. Touch the student’s left shoulder which signals the pupil to raise prayer-clasped hands to the top of their head.

11. Draw Cho-Ku-Rei in the air over the student’s upraised hands. Then motion ChoKu-Rei to the base of their skull in three steps by pointing to their: A. Hands and their crown B. Center of their head C. Base of their skull. As you do this, say Cho-Ku-Rei to yourself, once at each of the three positions.

12. Gently move the student’s hands from the top of their head back down in front of their heart.

Starting with the first student, perform steps 13-15 with each student.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 246

13. Move in front of the student and open the person’s hands flat, supporting them by putting your left hand under their hands. Reverse this if you are left-handed.

14. With your right hand, draw Cho-Ku-Rei in the air above the student’s hands. Picture the symbol moving into their hands as you silently chant Cho-Ku-Rei three times and motion the energy into their hands. Pat the student’s hands three times.

15. Bring the student’s hands together and move them back in front of their heart. Hold your hands so that they cup the person’s hands, and blow over the hands. Continue blowing down the client’s solar plexus, up to the third eye and crown, back over the hands to the solar plexus, and ending at the person’s hands. This is a down, up, down, up pattern.

Starting with the first student, perform steps 16-19 with each person. 16. Move behind the student and place your hands on the person’s shoulders. Look down through the crown chakra. Imagine that you can see all the way down to the person’s root chakra at the base of the spine. Look for a red ball of fire or imagine that you can see one in the person’s root chakra.

17. Place a positive affirmation in the student’s root chakra such as: You are a successful and confident Reiki healer, or Divine love and wisdom guides and empowers you in your use of Reiki. Repeat this affirmation three times. Imagine that you are placing this into their root chakra. Intend that it be accepted by their subconscious mind.

18. Bring your hands together, placing your thumbs at the base of the person’s skull. Repeat this phrase three times to yourself: “I now seal this process with divine love and wisdom.” At the same, time, picture a door with Cho-Ku-Rei on it being closed and locked. While

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 247

you do this, intend and sense that the process is sealed and complete and that the student is now connected directly to the Reiki source.

19. Place your hands on the student’s shoulders and feel that both of you have been blessed by the experience.

Do steps 20-23 with all the students simultaneously. 20. Move in front of the students. Hold your hands with palms pointed toward your heart chakra. Silently say a prayer asking that they be blessed and healed.

21. Inhale and hold your breath briefly. Then exhale while you release the Hui Yin point and release the tongue from the roof of your mouth. As you release the energy so that if flows to the students, move your hands toward the pupils and intend that the energy blesses them.

22. Draw a Raku symbol in front of you to separate your aura from the auras of the students.

23. Ask the student to breathe slowly and deeply, then open their eyes when they are ready.

It is helpful to give students time to remain seated in their chairs and absorb the attunement. Some profound experiences may follow these attunements if students know they don’t have to rush into the next activity. Then gather the students together and give them time to share, at their discretion, what they experienced.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 248

EXPLORING REIKI III APPENDIX 3 HOW TO GIVE A REIKI II ATTUNEMENT Have up to five students sit in a row in straight back chairs or in seats with no backs such as a piano stool. It is sometimes easier for the Reiki Master to pass an attunement when a student is sitting in a backless chair, but some students need or prefer a chair with back support. Ask them to be in a state of meditation and prayer as they prepare to receive the attunement. If there are more than five students in the workshop, think about breaking them up into no more than five people to a group. In that way, the attunement energy you send to each student does not become diluted by the time it reaches the last student. Dilution has the potential to occur if you send energy to too many students at one time. While those in the first group receive their attunements, instruct the other students to silently watch or to give each other Reiki treatments. It is important for them not to talk during this time to honor the sacredness of the attunement experience for the remaining students. It also is important for you to keep your mind focused as you pass the attunements. It’s harder to concentrate if you hear other students chattering. After students in the first group have received their attunements, give them time to meditate quietly on what they experienced. Then have them practice giving Reiki to each other while you pass the attunement to the next group. Be sure to have one or two Reiki tables set up for Reiki treatments. Some students may feel spacey, disoriented, unbalanced, uncomfortably hot, or they may experience a mild sense of illness or emotional upset after receiving an attunement. This is because of the increased energy moving through their bodies. The best way to balance that energy is to have them immediately give Reiki to someone else. Once students feel Reiki energy begin to move through their hands, the unpleasant symptoms usually go away. Occasionally, you will need to offer more help if a student has a hard time adjusting to increased Reiki energy following the attunement. Keep a bottle of Bach’s Rescue Remedy handy for these situations. Place four drops of the liquid under the student’s tongue to relieve anxiety.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 249

The pupil should feel better in a few minutes. 1 Another tool is to use Gudrun Perselin’s Bach Flowers Unfolding cards. With eyes closed, the student should choose a card. will contain a message of advice or direction from the spirit of that flower. When the student picks a flower card, have them hold it between their hands. The card will grow warm in a second or two. It will be beneficial for the student to purchase a bottle of that particular flower essence at a health food store. Taking a couple of drops of the essence each day for several days can help the person to adjust to the Reiki energy. Still another way to release excess energy is to go outside and find a tree willing to share some of that energy. When you give the Reiki II Attunement, you will place the three Reiki II symbols in the students’ hands. They are Cho-Ku-Rei, Sei-He-Ki, and Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen. Use these steps to conduct a Reiki II Attunement. Other steps you may learn will work equally as well. Most of these steps are paraphrased and expanded from Reiki Master Manual by William Lee Rand and are used with his permission. 1 It is an excellent resource book and can be ordered from the International Center for Reiki Training, 21421 Hilltop St., #28, Southfield, MI, 48034. The center’s phone number is 800-332-8112, and their web site is http://www.reiki.org.

1. Before the attunement, prepare the room in this way. A. Draw a Cho Ku-Rei on each wall, on the ceiling and on the floor. B. Draw a Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo, Usui Dai-Ko-Myo, and Cho-Ku-Rei on the palm chakras of both of your hands. C. Draw a large Cho-Ku-Rei down the front of your body. D. Draw a Cho-Ku-Rei on each one of your chakras, starting with the root chakra and ending with the crown chakra. E. Draw six Reiki symbols in the air in the center of the room and intend that their energy fill the room. The six Reiki symbols are Cho-Ku-Rei, Sei-He-Ki, Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen, Usui Dai-Ko-Myo, Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo, and Tibetan Fire Serpent. Say a prayer asking for a blessing on the Reiki II attunement. Ask that angels, archangels, Reiki guides, the Holy Spirit and master teachers be present to assist you. Be sure to specifically name the attunement in your prayer. You

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 250

have around you many angels and Reiki guides prepared to help with the attunement. Stating which attunement you plan to pass will let them know which Reiki energies to use. Even if you don’t draw the symbols precisely, are unsure of yourself or do not sense anything happening, the attunement will pass to the student anyway because you had that intention and because your Reiki guides were helping you.

2. Explain to the students that you will touch their heads, shoulders and hands. Lead them in a grounding meditation. One simple meditation is to have them imagine the white light of unconditional love flowing into the top of their head, through their body, and out the soles of their feet deep into the ground. Imagine the Earth’s light flowing back up through them and out the top of their head. Or have them imagine they are lying in soft green grass, feeling the cool, comfortable support of the earth.

3. Ask students to holds their hands, palms together, in prayer over their chests. Tell them that when you tap them on the shoulder later in the attunement, they are to raise their hands, palms together, above their heads.

You will perform steps 4-12 with each student. Finish all the steps with one student before moving to the next pupil. 4. Move behind each student. With your non-dominant hand about eight inches from the pupil’s head and shoulder area, draw the fire serpent down their back, starting with the arch over the top of their head. Move on down the back and draw the serpent’s coil at the base of their spine.

5. Place both hands on top of the student’s head and close your eyes. Meditate briefly to gain energetic rapport with the person.

6. Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth and contract the Hui Yin. Then do the Violet

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 251

Breath. You should continue holding these two positions for the rest of the attunement.

The Violet Breath A. Breathe in, imagining your breath as a white mist coming through your crown chakra, through your tongue and down the front of your body. With this motion, your breath is traveling through the conception vessel from under your lower lip to the Hui Yin point. Let it continue to travel through your Hui Yin point and then up the back of your spine. On this route along your back, your breath is following the governing vessel. Let it continue to move up the back of your skull to the top of your head. When you sense that the energy of your breath has reached the middle of the top of your head, imagine the white mist filling your head. B. Allow the white mist to turn blue and rotate clockwise. As it rotates, imagine it turning to a violet color. C. Within the violet light, picture Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo. The violet light continues to rotate, but the Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo does not move. D. Open your hands and breathe the Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo and violet light into the pupil’s crown chakra. Keep your tongue at the top of your mouth as you blow out. E. With your hand, make a motion to move the Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo to the base of the skull. Do this in three steps by pointing to their: a. Crown chakra b. Center of their head c. Base of their skull. As you do this, say Dai-Ko-Myo once at each of the three positions.

This completes the Violet Breath. Now continue with the rest of the attunement. 7. Draw Usui Dai-Ko-Myo over the student’s head vertically. Make a motion to move the symbol to the base of the pupil’s skull in three steps by pointing to their: A. Crown chakra B. Center of their head

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 252

C. Base of their skull. As you do this, say Dai-Ko-Myo to yourself once at each of the three positions.

8. Touch the student’s left shoulder, which signals the pupil to raise prayer-clasped hands to the top of their head. If they forget to do this, gently move their hands to the correct position.

9. Draw Cho-Ku-Rei in the air over the student’s hands. Then motion Cho-Ku-Rei to the base of the pupil’s skull in three steps by pointing to their: A. Hands and crown B. Center of their head C. Base of their skull. As you do this, say Cho-Ku-Rei to yourself once at each of the three positions.

10. Draw Sei-He-Ki in the air over the student’s hands. Then motion Sei-He-Ki to the base of the pupil’s skull in three steps by pointing to their: A. Hands and their crown B. Center of their head C. Base of their skull. As you do this, say Sei-He-Ki to yourself once at each of the three positions.

11. Draw Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen in the air over the student’s hands. Then motion HonSha-Ze-Sho-Nen to the base of the pupil’s skull in three steps by pointing to their: A. Hands and crown B. Center of their head C. Base of their skull. As you do this, say Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen to yourself once at each of the three positions.

12. Gently move the student’s hands from the top of the head back in front of their heart.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 253

Starting with the first student, perform steps 13-17 with each student. 13. Move in front of the pupil and open the student’s hands flat, supporting them by putting your left hand under their hands. Reverse this if you are left-handed.

14. With your right hand, draw Cho-Ku-Rei in the air above the student’s hands. Picture the symbol moving into their hands as you silently chant Cho-Ku-Rei three times and motion the energy into their hands. Pat their hands three times.

15. With your right hand, draw Sei-He-Ki in the air above the student’s hands. Picture the symbol moving into their hands as you silently chant Sei-He-Ki three times and motion the energy into their hands. Pat their hands three times.

16. With your right hand, draw Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen in the air above the student’s hands. Picture the symbol moving into their hands as you silently chant Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen three times and motion the energy into their hands. Pat their hands three times.

17. Bring the student’s hands together and move them back in front of their heart. Hold your hands over their hands and blow over their hands. Then continue blowing down to the solar plexus, up to the third eye and crown, back over the hands to the solar plexus, and end at the student’s hands. This is a down, up, down, up pattern.

Starting with the first student, perform steps 18-21 with each person. 18. Move behind the student and place your hands on their shoulders. Look down through their crown chakra. Imagine that you can see all the way down to their root chakra at the base of their spine. Look for a red ball of fire or imagine that you can see one in their root chakra.

19. Place a positive affirmation in their root chakra such as:

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 254

You are a successful and confident Reiki II practitioner, or Divine love and wisdom guides and empowers you as a Reiki II practitioner. Repeat this three times. Imagine placing this phrase into their root chakra and that you intend it to be accepted by their subconscious mind.

20. Bring your hands together and place your thumbs at the base of the student’s skull. Repeat this phrase three times to yourself: I now seal this process with divine love and wisdom. At the same time, picture a door with Cho-Ku-Rei on it being closed and locked. While you do this, intend and feel that the process is sealed and complete and that the student is connected directly to the Reiki source.

21. Place your hands on the student’s shoulders and feel that both of you have been blessed by the experience.

Do steps 22-25 with all the students simultaneously. 22. Move in front of the pupils and hold your hands with palms pointed toward your heart chakra. Silently say a prayer asking that the students be blessed and healed.

23. Inhale and hold your breath briefly. Then exhale while you release the Hui Yin point and your tongue from the roof of your mouth. As you release the energy, make a motion with your hands outward toward the pupils and intend that the energy blesses them.

24. Draw a Raku symbol in front of you to separate your aura from the auras of the students.

25. Ask the pupils to breathe slowly and deeply, then open their eyes when they feel ready to do so.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 255

It is helpful to give students time to remain seated in their chairs and absorb the attunement. Some profound experiences may follow these attunements if students know they don’t have to rush into the next activity. Then gather the students together and give them time to share, at their discretion, what they experienced.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 256

EXPLORING REIKI III APPENDIX 4 HOW TO GIVE THE REIKI MASTER ATTUNEMENT Have up to five students sit in a row in straight back chairs or on seats with no backs. It is sometimes easier for the Reiki Master to pass an attunement when a student is sitting in a backless chair, but some students are more comfortable with back support. Ask students to be in a state of meditation and prayer as they prepare to receive the attunement. If there are more than five students in the workshop, think about breaking them up into no more than five people to a group. In that way, the attunement energy you send to each student does not become diluted by the time it reaches the last student. Dilution has the potential to occur if you send energy to too many students at one time. While those in the first group receive their attunements, instruct the other students to silently watch or to give each other Reiki treatments on Reiki tables you have set up for that purpose. It is important for them not to talk during this time to honor the sacredness of the attunement experience for the remaining students. It also is important for you to keep your mind focused as you pass the attunements. It’s harder to concentrate if you hear other students chattering. Some students may feel spacey, disoriented, unbalanced, or uncomfortably hot, or they may experience a mild sense of illness or emotional upset after receiving an attunement. This is because of the increased energy moving through their bodies. The best way to balance that energy is to have them immediately give Reiki to someone else. Once students feel Reiki energy move through their hands, the unpleasant symptoms usually go away. Occasionally, you will need to offer more help if a student has a hard time adjusting to increased Reiki energy following the attunement. Keep a bottle of Bach’s Rescue Remedy handy for these situations. Place four drops of the liquid under the student’s tongue to relieve anxiety. The pupil should feel better in a few minutes. 1 Another tool is to use Gudrun Perselin’s Bach Flowers Unfolding cards. With eyes closed, the student should choose a card. will contain a message of advice or direction from the

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 257

spirit of that flower. When the student picks a flower card, have them hold it between their hands. The card will grow warm in a second or two. It will be beneficial for the student to purchase a bottle of that particular flower essence at a health food store. Taking a couple of drops of the essence each day for several days can help the person to adjust to the Reiki energy. Still another way to release excess energy is to go outside and find a tree willing to share some of that energy. This difficulty adjusting to increased Reiki energy is usually not a problem at the Reiki Master level. When you give the Reiki Master Attunement, you will place six symbols into the students’ hands. They are Cho-Ku-Rei, Sei-He-Ki, Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen, Usui Dai-Ko-Myo, Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo, and Tibetan Fire Serpent. You also will work with the Raku symbol. Use these steps to conduct a Reiki Master Attunement. Other steps you may learn will work equally as well. Most of these steps are paraphrased and expanded from Reiki Master Manual by William Lee Rand and are used with his permission. 1 It is an excellent resource book and can be ordered from the International Center for Reiki Training, 21421 Hilltop St., #28, Southfield, MI, 48034. Their phone number is 800-332-8112, and their web site is www.reiki.org.

1. Before the attunement, prepare the room in this way. A. Draw a Cho-Ku-Rei on each wall, on the ceiling and on the floor. B. Draw a Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo, Usui Dai-Ko-Myo, and Cho-Ku-Rei on the palm chakras of both of your hands. Draw a large Cho-Ku-Rei down the front of your body. C. Draw a Cho-Ku-Rei on each one of your chakras, starting with the root chakra and ending with the crown chakra. D. Draw six Reiki symbols in the air in the center of the room and intend that their energy fill the room. The six Reiki symbols are Cho-Ku-Rei, Sei-He-Ki, Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen, Usui Dai-Ko-Myo, Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo, and Tibetan Fire Serpent. Say a prayer asking for a blessing on the Reiki Master attunement. Ask that the angels, archangels, Reiki guides, the Holy Spirit and master healers be present to assist you. Be sure to specifically name the attunement in your prayer. You have around you many angels and Reiki

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 258

guides prepared to help with the attunement. Stating which attunement you plan to pass to students lets them know which Reiki energies to use. Even if you don’t draw the symbols precisely, are unsure of yourself or do not sense anything happening, the attunement will pass to the student anyway because you had that intent and because your Reiki guides helped you.

2. Explain to students that you will touch their head, shoulders and hands. Lead them in a grounding meditation. One simple meditation is to have them imagine the white light of unconditional love flowing into the tops of their heads, through their bodies and out the soles of their feet deep into the ground. Imagine the Earth’s energy flowing back up through them and out the top of their head. Or have them imagine they are lying in soft green grass, feeling the cool, comfortable support of the earth.

3. Ask students to holds their hands, palms together, in prayer at their chest. Tell them that when you tap them on the shoulder later in the attunement, they should raise their hands, palms together, above their head.

You will perform the following steps with each student. Finish all the steps with one student before moving to the next pupil. 4. Move behind the student. With your non-dominant hand about eight inches from the pupil’s head and shoulder area, draw the fire serpent down their back, starting with the arch over the top of the head. Moving down their back, draw the serpent’s coil at the base of their spine.

5. Place both hands on top of the student’s head and close your eyes. Meditate briefly to gain energetic rapport with the person.

6. Touch the pupil’s left shoulder, signaling them to raise prayer-clasped hands to the top of their head. If they forget what to do, gently move their hands to the correct position.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 259

7. Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth and contract the Hui Yin. Then do the Violet Breath. Hold these two positions for the rest of the attunement.

The Violet Breath A. Breathe in, imagining your breath as a white mist coming through your crown chakra, through your tongue and down the front of your body. With this motion, your breath is traveling through the conception vessel from under the lower lip to the Hui Yin point. Let it continue to travel through your Hui Yin point and then up the back of your spine. On this route along your back, your breath is following the governing vessel. Let it continue to move up the back of your skull to the top of your head. When you sense that the energy of your breath has reached the middle of the top of your head, imagine the white mist filling your head. B. Allow the white mist to turn blue and rotate clockwise. As it rotates, imagine it turning to a violet color. C. Within the violet light, picture the Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo. The violet light continues to rotate, but the Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo does not move. D. Open your hands, and breathe the Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo and the violet light into the student’s crown chakra. Your tongue remains at the top of your mouth as you blow out. E. With your hand, make a motion to move the Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo toward the base of their skull. Do this in three steps by pointing to their: a. Crown chakra, b. Center of their head, c. Base of their skull. As you do this, say Dai-Ko-Myo once at each of the three positions.

This completes the Violet Breath. Now continue with the rest of the attunement. 8. Draw the Fire Serpent over the student’s hands vertically. (Remember that at this point the student’s hands are still raised in prayer above their head.) Make a motion to move the symbol to the base of their skull in three steps by pointing to their:

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 260

A. Hands and crown chakra B. Center of their head C. Base of their skull. As you do this, say Fire Serpent once in each position.

9. Draw Usui Dai-Ko-Myo over the student’s hands vertically. Make a motion to move the symbol to the base of their skull in three steps by pointing to their: A. Hands and crown chakra B. Center of their head C. Base of their skull. As you do this, say Usui Dai-Ko-Myo once in each of the three positions.

10. Draw Cho-Ku-Rei over the student’s hands vertically. Make a motion to move the symbol to the base of their skull in three steps by pointing to their: A. Hands and crown chakra B. Center of their head C. Base of their skull. As you do this, say Cho-Ku-Rei once in each of the three positions.

11. Draw Sei-He-Ki over the student’s hands vertically. Make a motion to move the symbol to the base of their skull in three steps by pointing to their: A. Hands and crown chakra B. Center of their head C. Base of their skull. As you do this, say Sei-He-Ki once in each of the three positions.

12. Draw Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen over the student’s hands vertically. Make a motion to move the symbol to the base of their skull in three steps by pointing to their: A. Hands and crown chakra

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 261

B. Center of their head C. Base of their skull. As you do this, say Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen once in each of the three positions.

13. Gently move the student’s hands from their top of the head back down in front of their heart.

Starting with the first student, perform steps 14-21 with each student. 14. Move in front of the pupil and open the student’s hands flat, supporting them by putting your left hand under their hands. Reverse this if you are left-handed.

15. With your right hand, draw Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo in the air above their hands. Picture the symbol moving into the student’s hands as you silently chant Tibetan Dai-Ko-Myo three times and make a motion to move the energy into their hands. Pat their hands three times.

16. With your right hand, draw the Tibetan Fire Serpent in the air above their hands. Picture the symbol moving into their hands as you silently chant Tibetan Fire Serpent three times and make a motion to move the energy into their hands. Pat their hands three times.

17. With your right hand, draw Usui Dai-Ko-Myo in the air above the student’s hands. Picture the symbol moving into their hands as you silently chant Usui Dai-Ko-Myo three times and make a motion to move the energy into their hands. Pat their hands three times.

18. With your right hand, draw Cho-Ku-Rei in the air above the hands. Picture the symbol moving into their hands as you silently chant Cho-Ku-Rei three times and make a motion to move the energy into their hands. Pat their hands three times.

19. With your right hand, draw Sei-He-Ki in the air above the pupil’s hands. Picture the

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 262

symbol moving into their hands as you silently chant Sei-He-Kei three times and motion the energy into their hands. Pat their hands three times.

20. With your right hand, draw Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen in the air above the pupil’s hands. Picture the symbol moving into their hands as you silently chant Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen three times and motion the energy into their hands. Pat their hands three times.

21. Bring the student’s hands together and move them back in front of their heart. Hold your hands over the pupil’s hands and blow over their hands, down their solar plexus, up to their third eye and crown, back over their hands to their solar plexus, ending at their hands. This is a down, up, down, up pattern.

Starting with the first student, perform steps 22-25 with each person. 22. Move behind the student and place your hands on their shoulders. Look down through their crown chakra, imagining that you can see all the way down to their root chakra at the base of their spine. Look for a red ball of fire or imagine one being in their root chakra.

23. Place a positive affirmation there such as, You are a successful and confident Reiki Master, or Divine love and wisdom guides and empowers you in your use of Reiki. Repeat this three times and imagine you are placing this into the root chakra and that you intend it to be accepted by their subconscious mind.

24. Bring your hands together, placing your thumbs at the base of the student’s skull. Repeat this phrase three times to yourself: I now seal this process with Divine love and wisdom. At the same time, picture a door with Cho-Ku-Rei on it being closed and locked. While you do this, intend and feel that the process is sealed and complete and that the student is now

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 263

connected directly to the Reiki source.

25. Place your hands on the student’s shoulders while feeling that both of you have been blessed by the experience.

Do steps 26-29 with all the students simultaneously. 26. Move in front of the pupils and hold your hands with palms pointed toward your heart chakra. Silently say a prayer asking that the students be deeply blessed and healed.

27. Inhale and hold your breath briefly, then exhale while releasing the Hui Yin point and tongue. Intend that the releasing energy act as a blessing for the students. As you release the energy, move your hands toward them and intend that the energy blesses them.

28. Draw a Raku symbol in front of you to separate your aura from the auras of the students.

29. Ask the students to breathe slowly and deeply, then open their eyes when they feel ready.

It is helpful to give students time to remain seated in their chairs so they can absorb the attunement. Some profound experiences may follow these attunements if students know they don’t have to rush into the next activity. Then gather the students together and give them time to share, at their discretion, what they experienced.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 264

EXPLORING REIKI III APPENDIX 5 SUGGESTIONS FOR USING THIS EBOOK AS A TEACHING TOOL If you are a Reiki Master and would like to use this book as you prepare to teach your workshops, here are a few suggestions. The workshops fit well into a schedule from 6-9 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. A few days before the workshop, call students to remind them of the time and date. Suggest that three or four days before the attunement, they be careful about what they eat and to what they expose their minds. Suggest that they eat no red meat, sugar, chocolate, or flour, and drink no carbonated or alcoholic beverages. Ask them to stay away from tobacco and illegal drugs, and suggest that they not watch TV programs or movies, or read books or magazines that promote negative attitudes. Being exposed to those substances and influences will make it harder for their body to adjust to the Reiki attunements. Recommend that, as much as possible, they forgive themselves and others for anything. Letting go of grudges or guilty feelings will free up more of their energy so they can use it to learn about and adjust to Reiki. Ask them to each bring a sack lunch for Saturday’s workshop. This will be important for people who are on restricted diets. Provide healthy snacks, such as celery, carrots, apples and grapes, throughout the day for everyone. Also have bottled or filtered water available. Have a Reiki I, II or Reiki Master certificate available for each student, depending on which workshop you are teaching. Distribute the filled out certificates at the end of the workshop. There are certificate samples in Appendix 6 that you can create on your computer.

Reiki I Workshop On Friday evening, begin by having students write their names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses on a sign-in sheet. At the same time, collect the workshop fee. Then introduce yourself and explain how you came to learn about Reiki and why you

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 265

chose to teach it. Ask students to introduce themselves by stating their names, telling about any expertise they have in other healing fields and what made them want to learn about Reiki. This is a good icebreaker activity, and it will give you a sense of attendees’ expertise levels. It could make a difference about what facts you emphasize. Then teach Exploring Reiki I chapter 2 about how Reiki works and chapter 3 about the origins and history of Reiki. After a short break, cover chapter 4 dealing with layers of the aura and as much about the chakras in chapter 5 as you can. Be sure to end the workshop before 10 p.m. Most people will be tired and won’t absorb the material very well after that time. When you start again on Saturday morning, cover the rest of chapter 5. Then teach the Reiki self-healing and healing other hand positions in chapters 6 and 7. These are all in the Exploring Reiki I section Break for lunch. After lunch pass the attunements to students. Then have students practice the self-healing Reiki positions. Once they know those positions, let them give each other Reiki, using the Reiki hand positions for healing others. Offer assistance as needed. Just before you end the workshop, discuss the material in Exploring Reiki I Chapter 8 about deciding when or if they will be ready for the Reiki II workshop and attunement. Distribute the filled out Reiki I certificates. Schedule a time for a two-hour free meeting about three weeks after the Reiki I workshop so students can ask questions, discuss experiences and practice Reiki on each other. This is important to help them build confidence. Encourage them to call you if they have questions. When they meet for that free two-hour session, students might know if they want to proceed with Reiki II. If so, schedule the Reiki II workshop in the near future.

Reiki II Workshop On Friday evening, welcome the students. Have them write down their names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. At the same time, collect the workshop fee. Provide a few minutes for students to share their experiences with Reiki. Then go over the material in Exploring Reiki II Chapter 1 about what Reiki attunements are, Chapter 2 about preparing for an attunement, and Chapter 3 about western scholars’ study of energy fields. After a short break,

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 266

discuss the Reiki II symbols in chapter 4 and give students time to practice drawing the three symbols. Break before 10 p.m. On Saturday morning, review the symbols and discuss how to use the distant symbol. Answer any questions that came up overnight. Then pass the Reiki II attunements. After letting students share their attunement experience, have them give Reiki to each other. Break for lunch. If it’s warm outside and there are trees nearby, eat your sack lunches under trees. The trees will enjoy absorbing excess Reiki energy. After lunch, discuss Exploring Reiki II Chapter 5 about the aura bath and Chapter 6 about what to charge for a Reiki treatment. Some students may want to know about how to set up a Reiki business. If so, briefly share what you have learned from your personal experience about that process. Then teach the students EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) from Appendix I. After a short break, let students give each other Reiki treatments. Answer whatever questions they have. Just before you end the workshop, distribute the filled out Reiki II certificates. Discuss when students would like to get together for a free two-hour session in about three weeks so they can ask questions, share experiences and give each other Reiki. Encourage them to call you if they have questions.

Reiki Master Workshop On Friday evening, welcome the students. Have them write down their names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. At the same time, collect the workshop fee. Provide a few minutes for students to share their experiences with Reiki. Then discuss Exploring Reiki III Chapter 1 about choosing a Reiki teacher. After a short break, discuss the Reiki Master symbols and the Hui Yin covered in Chapter 2. Give students time to learn how to draw the Reiki Master symbols. Have them practice keeping their Hui Yin muscles closed and their tongue on the roof of their mouth. Discuss Chapter 3 about preparing for and adjusting to the Reiki Master attunement. Inform them that the Reiki Master attunement will be passed on Saturday morning. Break before 10 p.m.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 267

On Saturday morning, answer questions that came up overnight. Then pass the Reiki Master attunement to the students. Give them time to share their experiences. Let them practice giving each other Reiki, using the Reiki Master symbols. After a short break, discuss Exploring Reiki III Chapter 4 about how Reiki affects your consciousness level. Give students time to practice muscle testing on others and themselves. Go over information about the healing attunement and the aura clearing in Chapter 7. Break for lunch. If the weather is nice, eat sack lunches under the trees. After lunch, discuss how to give Reiki I, Reiki II and Reiki Master attunements. Let students practice giving each other one of the attunements. After a short break, briefly discuss what to charge for Reiki attunements in Chapter 5 and some Reiki success stories in Chapter 6. Suggest that students keep a journal so they’ll remember ways their own clients have benefited from Reiki. Point out Appendix 5, containing information about how to teach the Reiki I, Reiki II and Reiki Master workshops, using the material in this ebook. If possible, allow more time for students to practice passing attunements or to give each other Reiki. At the end of the afternoon, distribute the filled out Reiki Master certificates, and give students a copy of your Reiki lineage. If they ever teach Reiki Master workshops, they will want to pass on that lineage to others after adding their name to the bottom of it. Discuss when they would like to get together in about three weeks for a free two-hour session to ask questions, discuss experiences, and practice giving each other Reiki. Encourage them to call you if they have any questions.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 268

EXPLORING REIKI III APPENDIX 6 SAMPLES OF CERTIFICATES YOU CAN MAKE ON A COMPUTER Reiki I Certificate Note: To make this a horizontal rather than a vertical certificate, use the landscape choice on your computer’s page layout options.

REIKI USUI SHIKI RYOHO This is to certify that ______________________________________________________________________________

has successfully completed the

First Degree in the Usui system of natural healing Put your logo here if you have one

____________________________________________ (Type your name and title here, then sign on the line)

_______________________________ Date

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 269

Reiki II Certificate Note: To make this a horizontal rather than a vertical certificate, use the landscape choice on your computer’s page layout options.

REIKI USUI SHIKI RYOHO This is to certify that

______________________________________________________________________________

has successfully completed the

Second Degree in the Usui system of natural healing Put your logo here if you have one

______________________________________________ ______________________________ (Type your name and title here, then sign on the line)

Date

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 270

Reiki Master Certificate Note: To make this a horizontal rather than a vertical certificate, use the landscape choice on your computer’s page layout options.

REIKI USUI SHIKI RYOHO This is to certify that

____________________________________________________________________________

has successfully completed the

Degree of Master Practitioner in the Usui system of natural healing Put your logo here if you have one

______________________________________________ ______________________________ (Type your name and title here, then sign on the line)

Date

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 271

APPENDIX 7 Book, magazine, and web site resources hand-out for students A Course in Miracles, Foundation for Inner Peace, Mill Valley, Calif., 1996, p. 336 Alcamo, I. Edward, Ph.D. Anatomy Coloring Workbook, Random House, Inc., New York, 2003 Andrews, Ted. How to See and Read the Aura, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, Minn., 1999 Becker, Robert, O., M.D., and Seldon, Gary. The Body Electric, William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1985 Beliefnet editors, The Big Book of Angels, Rodale Inc. and Beliefnet Inc., 2002 Brennan, Barbara Ann. Hands of Light, Bantam Books, New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland, 1987. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Light Emerging, Bantam Books, New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland, 1993 Bullock, Raymond R., Understanding Reiki, Caxton Reference, London, England, 2001 Callahan, Roger J., Ph.D., Tapping the Healer Within, McGraw-Hill, 2001 Chopra, Deepak, M.D. Quantum Healing, Bantam Books, New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland, 1990 Chopra, Deepak, M.D.; Ford, Debbie; Williamson, Marianne. The Shadow Effect, Harper One, New York, NY 2010 Diamond, John, M.D. Your Body Doesn’t Lie, Warner Books, 1983 Doctor, Barefoot. The Urban Warrior’s Way to Health, Wealth, Happiness and Good Looks!, a CD series published by Nightingale Conant, Nile, Ill., 2006 Emerson, Barbara. Self-Healing Reiki, Frog, Ltd., Berkeley, California, 2001 Emoto, Masaru. The True Power of Water translated by Noriko Hosoyamada, Beyond Words Publishing, Inc., Hillsboro, Oregon, 2005 Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, Bear and Company, Rochester, Vermont, 2001. Hawkins, David R., M.D., Ph.D. Power Vs. Force, Hay House, Inc., Carlsbad, Calif., 2002 Hawkins, David R., M.D., Ph.D. Transcending the Levels of Consciousness, Veritas Publishing, Sedona, AZ, 2006

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 272

Honervogt, Tanmaya. Inner Reiki, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2001 Horan, Paula. Empowerment through Reiki, Lotus Light Publications, Twin Lakes, WI Hosak, Mark and Lübeck, Walter, The Big Book of Reiki Symbols, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, WI, 2006 Lübeck, Walter; Petter, Frank Arjava; Rand, William Lee, The Spirit of Reiki, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, WI 2001 http://healing.about.com/cs/conditions/a/aa_ileocecal.htm. “Ileocecal Valve Syndrome” by Phylameana lila Desy Levine, Peter A., Ph.D. Healing Trauma, Sounds True, Boulder, CO, 2005 Morehouse, David. The Remote Viewing Training Course, Sounds True, Inc., Boulder, CO., 2004 Murray, Donna. Down to Earth, a guided meditation on CD, available at http://www.bodyandsoulhealing.com and at http://www.Amazon.com Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, Sounds True, Boulder, Colo., 2002 Netter, Frank H., M.D. Atlas of Human Anatomy, Saunders, Elsevier, 2006 The NIV Rainbow Study Bible, Guideposts, Carmel, N.Y., 1996 Perselin, Gudrun. Bach Flowers Unfolding, Rainbow Healing Publishing, Wembley, Alberta, Canada, 1998 Petter, Frank Arjava; Yamaguchi, Tadao; and Hayashi, Chujiro. The Hayashi Reiki Manual, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, WI, 2003 Pulos, Lee, Ph.D., The Biology of Empowerment: How to Program Success at a Cellular Level, Nightingale Conant, www.nightingale.com Rand, William Lee, Reiki Master Manual, International Center for Reiki Training, Southfield, MI, 2003 Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, First and Second Degree Manual, Vision Publications, Southfield, MI, 1991, p. II-6 Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, Sounds True, Boulder, Colo., 2005 Reiki News Magazine, Vision Publications and the International Center for Reiki Training, 21421

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 273

Hilltop #28, Southfield, MI 48034. Telephone: 800-332-8112. Web site: www.reiki.org Articles: Dailey, Brian D., M.D. “Teaching Reiki to Physicians: Introducing Ancient Techniques to Modern Medicine,” Spring 2005, Volume 4, Issue 1, pp. 44-49. Mackay, Nicole. “The Science of Reiki,” Summer 2005, Volume 4, Issue 2, pp. 44-47. Streich, Marianne. “How Hawayo Takata Practiced and Taught Reiki,” Spring 2007, Volume 6, Issue 1, p. 12 Shapiro, Deb. Your Body Speaks Your Mind, Sounds True, Inc., Boulder, Colo., 2006 Sherwood, Keith. Chakra Therapy for Personal Growth and Healing, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, Minn., 1988 Shift, magazine of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, 101 San Antonio Road, Petaluma, CA 94952-9524. Telephone: 707-775-3500. Web site: www.noetic.org Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, The Crossing Press, a division of Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA, 1995 Sturgess, Stephen. The Yoga Book, Watkins Publishing, London, 2002 Taubes, Gary, “An Electrifying Possibility; a Swedish Radiologist Posits an Astounding Theory; Human Body Has the Equivalent of Electric Circuits,” Discover, April 1986, pp. 22-37 Tompkins Jr., John. Mastering Reiki, a Practicing and Teaching Primer. Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, Minnesota 55164-0383, 2002 Usui, Mikao and Petter, Frank Arjava. The Original Reiki Handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, WI, 2007 Vennells, David. F. Reiki for Beginners, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, Minn. 1999 Villoldo, Alberto, Ph.D. Mending the Past and Healing the Future with Soul Retrieval, Hay House, Inc., Carlsbad, California, 2005 Vitale, Joe and Ihaleakala Hew Len, Ph.D., Zero Limits, Wiley, Hoboken, New Jersey, 2007 Wauters, Ambika. Chakras and Their Archetypes, Uniting Energy Awareness and Spiritual Growth, The Crossing Press, Freedom, California, 1997

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 274

www.chiroweb.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=9074. “Homeopathy and Ileocecal Valve Syndrome: Correcting the Primary Cause of Autointoxication” by Frank King, DC www.ConsciousnessProject.org – A resource for spiritual aspirants and students of Dr. David R. Hawkins’ work www.eftuniverse.com. An extensive resource about Emotional Freedom Technique and related tapping techniques. www.garythink.com. An extensive resource about Emotional Freedom Technique provided by EFT founder Gary Craig. www.iarp.org – International Association of Reiki Professionals www.info4people.com – Produces brochures and advertising materials for therapies such as Reiki, massage and many other healing techniques. Information for People, P.O. Box 1038, Olympia, WA 98507-1038. 800-754-9790. www.thetappingsolution.com. Formerly known as “Try It on Everything,” The Tapping Solution explores meridian tapping, a fairly new discovery, which combines ancient Chinese acupressure with modern psychology to balance the body’s energy system. www.wilhelmreichmuseum.org/biography.html -- Biography of Wilhelm Reich as maintained by the Wilhelm Reich Museum in Rangeley, Maine www.wordsandwellness.com. The source for the Healing and Growing with Reiki ebook series: Exploring Reiki I, Exploring Reiki II, and Exploring Reiki III. Yoga Journal, 2054 University Avenue, Suite 600, Berkeley, CA 94704. Subscriptions: 800-600-YOGA. Web site: www.yogajournal.com

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 275

BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. A Course in Miracles, Foundation for Inner Peace, Mill Valley, Calif., 1996, p. 336 2. Alcamo, I. Edward, Ph.D. Anatomy Coloring Workbook, Random House, Inc., N.Y., 2003 3. Andrews, Ted. How to See and Read the Aura, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, Minn., 1999 4. Becker, Robert, O., M.D., and Seldon, Gary. The Body Electric, William Morrow and Company, Inc., N.Y.,1985 5. Beliefnet editors, The Big Book of Angels, Rodale Inc. and Beliefnet Inc., 2002 6. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Hands of Light, Bantam Books, New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland, 1987. 7. Brennan, Barbara Ann. Light Emerging, Bantam Books, New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland, 1993 8. Bullock, Raymond R., Understanding Reiki, Caxton Reference, London, England, 2001 9. Callahan, Roger J., Ph.D., Tapping the Healer Within, McGraw-Hill, 2001 10. Chopra, Deepak, M.D. Quantum Healing, Bantam Books, New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland, 1990 11. Chopra, Deepak, M.D.; Ford, Debbie; Williamson, Marianne, The Shadow Effect, Harper One, New York, NY, 2010 12. Diamond, John, M.D. Your Body Doesn’t Lie, Warner Books, 1983 13. Doctor, Barefoot. The Urban Warrior’s Way to Health, Wealth, Happiness and Good Looks!, a CD series published by Nightingale Conant, Nile, Ill., 2006 14. Emerson, Barbara. Self-Healing Reiki, Frog, Ltd., Berkeley, Calif., 2001 15. Emoto, Masaru. The True Power of Water translated by Noriko Hosoyamada, Beyond Words Publishing, Inc., Hillsboro, Ore., 2005 16. Gerber, Richard, M.D. Vibrational Medicine, Bear and Company, Rochester, Vt., 2001. 17. Hawkins, David R., M.D., Ph.D. Power Vs. Force, Hay House, Inc., Carlsbad, Calif., 2002 18. Hawkins, David R., M.D., Ph.D. Transcending the Levels of Consciousness, Veritas Publishing, Sedona, AZ, 2006 19. Honervogt, Tanmaya. Inner Reiki, Henry Holt and Company, N.Y., 2001 20. Horan, Paula. Empowerment through Reiki, Lotus Light Publications, Twin Lakes, Wis.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 276

21. http://healing.about.com/cs/conditions/a/aa_ileocecal.htm. “Ileocecal Valve Syndrome” by Phylameana lila Desy 22. Hosak, Mark and Lübeck, Walter, The Big Book of Reiki Symbols, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, WI, 2006 23. Levine, Peter A., Ph.D. Healing Trauma, Sounds True, Boulder, CO 2005 24. Lübeck, Walter; Petter, Frank Arjava; Rand, William Lee, The Spirit of Reiki, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, WI 2001 25. Morehouse, David. The Remote Viewing Training Course, Sounds True, Inc., Boulder, Colo., 2004, p. 42 26. Murray, Donna. Down to Earth, a guided meditation on CD, available at http://www.bodyandsoulhealing.com and at http://www.Amazon.com. 27. Myss, Caroline and Shealy, Norm, M.D. The Science of Medical Intuition, Sounds True, Boulder, Colo., 2002 28. Netter, Frank H., M.D. Atlas of Human Anatomy, Saunders, Elsevier, 2006 29. The NIV Rainbow Study Bible, Guideposts, Carmel, N.Y., 1996 30. Nordenstrom, Bjorn E.W., M.D., Biologically Closed Electric Circuits, Nordic Medical Publications, Stockholm, Sweden, 1983 31. Perselin, Gudrun. Bach Flowers Unfolding, Rainbow Healing Publishing, Wembley, Alberta, Canada, 1998 32. Petter, Frank Arjava; Yamaguchi, Tadao; Hayashi., Chujiro, The Hayashi Reiki Manual, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, WI, 2003 33. Pulos, Lee, Ph.D, The Biology of Empowerment: How to Program Success at a Cellular Level, Nightingale Conant, www.nightingale.com 34. Rand, William Lee, Reiki Master Manual, International Center for Reiki Training, Southfield, Mich., 2003 35. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, First and Second Degree Manual, Vision Publications, Southfield, Mich., 1991, p. II-6 36. Rand, William Lee. The Reiki Touch, Sounds True, Boulder, Colo., 2005 37. Reiki News Magazine, Vision Publications and the International Center for Reiki Training,

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 277

21421 Hilltop #28, Southfield, MI 48034. Telephone: 800-332-8112. Web site: www.reiki.org Articles: Dailey, Brian D., M.D. “Teaching Reiki to Physicians: Introducing Ancient Techniques to Modern Medicine,” Spring 2005, Volume 4, Issue 1, pp. 44-49. Mackay, Nicole. “The Science of Reiki,” Summer 2005, Volume 4, Issue 2, pp. 44-47. Streich, Marianne. “How Hawayo Takata Practiced and Taught Reiki,” Spring 2007, Volume 6, Issue 1, p. 12 38. Shapiro, Deb. Your Body Speaks Your Mind, Sounds True, Inc., Boulder, Colo. 39. Sherwood, Keith. Chakra Therapy for Personal Growth and Healing, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, Minn., 1988 40. Shift, magazine of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, 101 San Antonio Road, Petaluma, CA. 41. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, The Crossing Press, a division of Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, Calif., 1995 42. Sturgess, Stephen. The Yoga Book, Watkins Publishing, London, 2002. 43. Taubes, Gary, “An Electrifying Possibility; a Swedish Radiologist Posits an Astounding Theory; the Human Body Has the Equivalent of Electric Circuits,” Discover, April 1986, pp. 22-37 44. Tompkins, John Jr. Mastering Reiki, A Practicing and Teaching Primer, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, Minn. 2002 45. Usui, Mikao; Petter, Frank Arjava, The Original Reiki Handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, WI, 2007 46. Vennells, David. F. Reiki for Beginners, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, Minn. 1999 47. Villoldo, Alberto, Ph.D. Mending the Past and Healing the Future with Soul Retrieval, Hay 48. Vitale, Joe and Ihaleakala Hew Len, Ph.D., Zero Limits, Wiley, Hoboken, New Jersey, 2007 49. Wauters, Ambika. Chakras and Their Archetypes, Uniting Energy Awareness and Spiritual Growth, The Crossing Press, Freedom, Calif., 1997

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 278

50. Weil, Andrew, M.D. Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine that Can Transform Our Future, Hudson Street Press, New York, NY, 2009 51. www.chiroweb.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=9074. “Homeopathy and Ileocecal Valve Syndrome: Correcting the Primary Cause of Autointoxication” by Frank King, DC 52. www.ConsciousnessProject.org. A Resource for spiritual aspirants and students of Dr. David R. Hawkins’ work 53. www.eftuniverse.com. An extensive resource about Emotional Freedom Technique and related tapping techniques. 54. www.garythink.com. An extensive resource about Emotional Freedom Technique provided by EFT founder Gary Craig. 55. www.iarp.org – International Association of Reiki Professionals 56. www.info4people.com – Produces brochures and advertising materials for therapies such as Reiki, massage and many other healing techniques. Information for People, P.O. Box 1038, Olympia, WA 98507-1038. 800-754-9790. 57. www.thetappingsolution.com. Formerly known as “Try It on Everything,” The Tapping Solution explores meridian tapping, which combines ancient Chinese acupressure with modern psychology to balance the body’s energy system. 58. www.wilhelmreichmuseum.org/biography.html The Wilhelm Reiki Museum, Rangeley, Maine 59. www.wordsandwellness.com. The source for this ebook, Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III (Reiki Master) by Margaret Cheasebro, 2012 60. Yoga Journal, 2054 University Avenue, Suite 600, Berkeley, CA 94704. Subscriptions: 800600-YPOGA. Website: www.yogajournal.com.

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 279

EXPLORING REIKI III NOTES

CHAPTER 1 – CHOOSING A REIKI TEACHER 1. Rand, William Lee. Reiki Master Manual, International Center for Reiki Training, Southfield, MI, 2003, p. 5:6 2. Ibid, p. 5:6

CHAPTER 2 – REIKI MASTER SYMBOLS AND HUI YIN 1. Rand, William Lee. Reiki Master Manual, International Center for Reiki Training, Southfield, Mich., 2003, p. 3:10 2. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, The Crossing Press, Berkeley, Calif., 1995, p. 98 3. Rand, William Lee, Reiki Master Manual, p. 3:10 4. Hosak, Mark and Lübeck, Walter. The Big Book of Reiki Symbols, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisc., 2006, p. 379 5. Rand, William Lee. Reiki Master Manual, p. 3:3 6. Hosak, Mark and Lübeck, Walter. The Big Book of Reiki Symbols, p. 385 7. The NIV Rainbow Study Bible, Guideposts, Carmel, N.Y., 1996. p. 1,189 8. Rand, William Lee. Reiki Master Manual, p. 3:10 9. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 98 10. Rand, William Lee. Reiki Master Manual, pp. 3:3 and 3:4 11. Hosak, Mark and Lübeck, Walter. The Big Book of Reiki Symbols, p. 380 12. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, p. 99 13. Ibid, p. 99 14. Ibid, p. 101 15. Ibid, pp. 101 16. Ibid, p. 100 17. Emerson, Barbara. Self-Healing Reiki, Frog, Ltd., Berkeley, California, 2001, p. 109 18. Rand, William Lee. Reiki Master Manual, p. 3:12

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 280

19. Ibid, p. 3:12 20. Ibid, p. 3:12 21. Ibid, p. 3:12 22. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, pp. 83-84 23. Ibid, p. 109 24. Ibid, p. 107

CHAPTER 3 – PREPARING FOR AND ADJUSTING TO A REIKI MASTER ATTUNEMENT 1. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, The Crossing Press, Berkeley, Calif., 1995, p. 109

CHAPTER 4 – REIKI AFFECTS YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS LEVEL 1. Hawkins, David R., M.D. Power Vs. Force, Hay House, Inc., Carlsbad, Calif., 2002, pp. 68-69 2. Ibid., p. 70 3. www.Consciousnessproject.org, a resource for spiritual aspirants and students of Dr. David R. Hawkins, “Chaos Theory” by Scott Jeffrey, p. 1 4. Ibid, p. 1 5. Hawkins, David R., M.D. Ph.D., Power vs. Force, p. 145 6. Ibid, pp. 56-57 7. Ibid, p. 18 8. Ibid, pp. 34-35 9. Ibid, p. 63 10. Ibid, p. 66 11. Ibid, p. 5 12. Hawkins, David R., M.D., Ph.D., Transcending the Levels of Consciousness, Veritas Publishing, Sedona AZ, 2006, p. 28 13. Hawkins, David R., M.D., Ph.D., Power vs. Force, p. 64 14. Ibid, p. 64

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 281

15. Diamond, John, M.D. Your Body Doesn’t Lie. Warner Books, 1983, pp. 72-77 16. Eden, Donna. Energy Medicine, Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1998, pp. 63-64 17. Ibid, pp. 68-69 18. Diamond. John, MD. Your Body Doesn’t Lie, pp. 159, 161 and 166 19. Ibid, p. 167 20. Ibid, p. 164 21. http://healing.about.com/cs/conditions/a/aa_ileocecal.htm. “Ileocecal Valve Syndrome” by Phylameana lila Desy 22. http://www.chiroweb.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=9074. “Homeopathy and Ileocecal Valve Syndrome: Correcting the Primary Cause of Autointoxication” by Frank King, DC

CHAPTER 5 – WHAT TO CHARGE FOR REIKI SESSIONS AND ATTUNEMENTS 1. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, First and Second Degree Manual, Vision Publications, Southfield, Mich., 1991, p. I-29 2. Petter, Frank Arjava; Yamaguchi, Tadao; Hayashi, Chujiro. The Hayashi Reiki Manual, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisc., 2003, p. 33 3. Rand, William Lee. Reiki, the Healing Touch, p. A-7 4. Petter, Frank Arjava; Yamaguchi, Tadao; Hayashi, Chujiro. The Hayashi Reiki Manual, p. 31 5. Ibid, p. 33

CHAPTER 6 – OTHER HELPFUL TECHNIQUES 1. Rand, William Lee. Reiki Master Manual, Vision Publications, Southfield, Mich., 2003, p. 4:8 2. Ibid, p. 4:8 3. Ibid, p. 4:104. Ibid, p. 2:14

APPENDIX 2 1. Stein, Diane. Essential Reiki, The Crossing Press, Berkeley, Calif., 1995, p. 124 2. Rand, William Lee. Reiki Master Manual, Vision Publications, Southfield, Mich., 2003,

Cheasebro

Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III – 282

pp. 4:14-15

APPENDIX 3 1. Rand, William Lee. Reiki Master Manual, pp. 4:18-19

APPENDIX 4 1. Rand, William Lee. Reiki Master Manual, pp. 4:26-27

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Margaret Cheasebro is a Reiki Master with a master's degree in psychology, counseling and guidance and a Ph.D. in metaphysics. A retired elementary school counselor, she is a national award winning journalist, who writes articles on a variety of subjects, among them people, places and cultures of the Four Corners area where the states of New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Utah meet. She has provided Reiki treatments at an alternative health clinic and at a local college, and she has taught Reiki I, Reiki II and Reiki Master workshops. She wrote the teachers guides for Belle's Star, Belle's Trial, and Belle's Challenge, a three-book children's series written by journalist and radio personality Connie Gotsch about a dog who successfully overcomes a variety of challenges. The Belle books may be purchased at http://www.apbooks.net. To find out more about Cheasebro, go to http://www.wordsandwellness.com and http://www.margaretcheasebro.com.