A reiki treatment is sharing

I find it interesting explaining reiki to clients. Some clients have done their own research already (or have had treatments in the past). Some clients don’t really care to know exactly what reiki is: they are just open to trying it and finding out through experience what it means to them. Some clients hear about it from others.

I think the majority of my clients get their ideas of what reiki is by comparing it to other practices or what they’ve heard. So, because some practitioners combine reiki with massage, some call up for reiki massages. Some practitioners use crystals so I’m asked whether reiki is about crystals. And lots of clients (as I’ve written in other blogs) hope for some sort of clairvoyant ability to diagnose a problem and tell them something interesting or what they hope will be useful about them.

I try to gauge the interest of a client and I usually describe a reiki treatment as tapping into and looking for the same healing energy and space that we find in meditation, yoga and other practices, and when the brain is operating at that frequency, it feels good. It heals. In the quiet, present moment, it is different from worrying about the future or past. And the way the mind is connected with the body, clients often (but not always) feel energy and effects throughout their body, as well as usually feeling a deep sense of relaxation.

Bronwen Logan from the International House of Reiki recently wrote a blog post about how she describes reiki to clients: as ‘sharing’. I’d encourage you to read the whole post, since it’s really great and a nice perspective on what a reiki treatment is.

What I’d highlight are her words here:

In non-Reiki terms, you can also see that when we give a gift, for example, we also receive happy endorphins that support our wellbeing. At the same time the other person receives the gift, and they also give their thanks with their endorphins flying high too. So, giving and receiving exist in this same space, they share the space together with neither one dominating or standing out, just being. If you see it this way, then there is neither giving nor receiving, just sharing. And in the sharing space we can let go and just be together without fear or judgement or worry; a true healing space.

It’s such a beautiful, simple description, and I’m not sure all my clients will accept that reiki is or can be as simple as this. Some will hope there is a greater level of expertise or technicality. That I am doing something instead of just trying to be. But if you can accept the simplicity of the concept, that a reiki treatment is a shared experience between client and practitioner, and that simply being in a quiet, present place is healing, I think it is profound.

It also reminds me of another description I read, from a practitioner who was asked what she is doing to a client during a treatment. She said (I’m paraphrasing here, as I don’t remember the exact words) that she was not doing anything but simply loving her client, being there to love.

Discover the gifts and benefits of a session of Japanese reiki therapy, healing energy from an experienced practitioner. Visit my website or Facebook page for more information and SMS, email, call me or book online if you’d like to make an appointment. Since 2011, I’ve given nearly 1,900 reiki treatments.
Clients come to relieve stress, anxiety and for many other issues, or to just give reiki a try to see what it brings them. Folks visit from all over Sydney and elsewhere to see me. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney.

Chakra Con? I feel for you but do you really know what chakras are?

You have to be a certain age to understand the joke I made in the title of this blog post. When I was a teenager, Chaka Khan’s most famous song “I feel for you” was released and while I usually didn’t love pop music that sounded like hers, I did like this song. I couldn’t deny how catchy it was, and that she was all kinds of fabulous. But really, she has little to do with this blog post except that her name can be contorted into today’s question. Is the idea of a system of chakras a con?

You see, it’s one of the most common questions that I get as a reiki practitioner. You work with chakras, right? That’s what reiki is, isn’t it? It’s also one of the most common issues that clients come for. They tell me that they feel their chakras are blocked or unbalanced. If I ask them how they know this, they have often been told this by a clairvoyant or psychic, or by a friend or stranger, or they have looked it up themselves on the internet, and their symptoms (lack of energy, not feeling great, romantic problems, not feeling fulfilled) match up to a website that says that the reason may be because their is a blockage at a chakra: at the throat or heart, the third eye, or head, the navel or root.

Someone on one of my reiki Facebook groups posted a link to an article about chakras, written by Christopher Wallis, a scholar and researcher who looks into meditation, yoga, tantra and other practices. The Real Story on the Chakras is honestly not an easy read, as it goes into careful and detailed descriptions of the six most important things that you never knew about the chakras.

But I think this is part of the point. How did a system about the subtle body and energy centres from 1000 CE or earlier from Tantrik Yoga get translated to what is understood or believed today?

If you are interested, I do encourage you to read the article yourself, but some of the things that I found particularly interesting are:

  • While most Western sources use a system of seven chakras, there were in fact many systems of chakras, using 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 21 or other counts.
  • While many present the chakra system as an ancient one, the way they are described in the West comes from a more modern time.
  • Rather than the chakras being descriptive (“your root chakra is at the base of your spine and is red”), chakras were envisioned as a focal point for achieving a goal, to meditate on or to visualise something at that place.
  • Most of the way that the West understands chakras seem to come from a 1987 book, Anodea Judith’s Wheels of Life, in which she assigns an association with each chakra to “a certain bodily gland, certain bodily malfunctions, certain foods, a certain metal, a mineral, an herb, a planet, a path of yoga, a suit of the tarot, a sephira of Jewish mysticism, and an archangel of Christianity!”. Others associate each chakra with different crystals, colours, emotions and essential oils. These seem like modern inventions. Now, it may be that there is some truth to these associations. Or they may be completely made up! You might have heard about a writer named Louise Hay who became very popular for her self-affirmations. Her ideas were very widespread that diseases came from bad emotions or attitudes (which meant that you could be at fault for being sick, for not being positive enough). I was shocked to read a number of years ago that she basically made up all of these theories herself, which have no scientific evidence. But, like the ideas of chakras, her ideas are widely believed and popular.

I’m not saying that in order to believe something is true, you need to research it and understand it completely. In fact, that would really be shooting myself in the foot, as I don’t think clients need to know everything or a lot about reiki in order for it to be beneficial for them. But I do think that if you have taken on a set of ideas, like chakras, and you are applying them to your own sense of self and well-being, then you might want to look into where those ideas come from, and whether they really ring true for you or not.

I don’t think it’s useful for clients to believe reiki is about the chakras, nor for clients to believe that they have chakras aligned with their energetic bodies that are “blocked” or “out of balance”. As I’ve said in another blog post, I don’t think your energy is blocked.

I do think that most people can benefit from reiki, and the best way to come to a treatment is with an open mind, without set ideas about what it is, or self-diagnoses of your energetic problems. My aim is for the treatment to bring you what you need at this place and time.

Discover the gifts and benefits of a session of Japanese reiki therapy, healing energy from an experienced practitioner. Visit my website or Facebook page for more information and SMS, email, call me or book online if you’d like to make an appointment. Since 2011, I’ve given over 1,800 reiki treatments.
Clients come to relieve stress, anxiety and for many other issues, or to just give reiki a try to see what it brings them. Folks visit from all over Sydney and elsewhere to see me. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney.

Call me if you’re early or late

I’ve learned over the years that clients usually come early. This makes sense to me, as if you’ve never been here, you might not know how long it will take to find me. Or to find parking. Or to follow my somewhat detailed instructions on how to find me! And, from personal experience, I know that public transportation can also be unreliable in getting you where you want to go at a certain time.

I try to be ready 20 minutes before the official start time of an appointment, though I don’t *always* manage that.

Communication is so easy these days. It continues to surprise me. So, while I generally keep my phone to silent, I’ll be monitoring my phone for your calls if you’re coming to a treatment. If you arrive really early, don’t hesitate to text or call me to find out if I can take you early. I just might be able to do that, and I don’t want you waiting for no reason, particularly if it’s hot (or cold) outside or otherwise uncomfortable.

The same thing if you’re going to be late. Please let me know so I don’t wonder if you won’t show up or if we’ve made a mistake in the booking. While these things rarely happen, they *have* happened in the past, so it helps me out to know what you’re up to.

And finally, while I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: call me if you’re lost or don’t know how to get here. I’d much rather try to figure out where you are and direct you to me than have you wandering around lost in the neighbourhood, which can be stressful, and not the best state of mind to arrive in for a treatment!

I’m just a text or phone call away!

Discover the gifts and benefits of a session of Japanese reiki therapy, healing energy from an experienced practitioner. Visit my website or Facebook page for more information and SMS, email, call me or book online if you’d like to make an appointment. Since 2011, I’ve given over 1,800 reiki treatments.
Clients come to relieve stress, anxiety and for many other issues, or to just give reiki a try to see what it brings them. Folks visit from all over Sydney and elsewhere to see me. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney.

Are you cynical about reiki?

I usually don’t worry about people who don’t believe in reiki or think it’s all a hoax. Nearly all of my clients either believe in reiki, or are open to how it might work. So, it doesn’t seem a good use of energy to worry about those who are cynical.

But at the same time, I think it is useful for me to be able to explain to clients the ways that reiki might work, even though I’m not 100% sure. And what I especially like about this article, ‘Reiki Can’t Possibly Work. So Why Does it?’ from The Atlantic is how balanced, thorough and personal it is.

The author, Jordan Kisner, who writes beautifully, points out:

For decades, experts weren’t precisely sure how acetaminophen (Tylenol) eases pain, but Americans still took billions of doses every year. Many medical treatments are adopted for their efficacy long before their mechanisms are known or understood. Why should this be different?

But while she argues that we don’t need to know precisely how reiki works, there are a lot of reasons why and how it might work. Her approach is very close to mine: the truth is that I’m not exactly sure how reiki works, and I recognise to outsiders there are aspects of reiki that could seem quite unbelievable. But I feel it works and my clients report that it works in different ways. If what I am offering is simply my time, attention and “an act of caring” and that works for my clients, I’m happy to go with that.

Discover the gifts and benefits of a session of Japanese reiki therapy, healing energy from an experienced practitioner. Visit my website or Facebook page for more information and SMS, email, call me or book online if you’d like to make an appointment. Since 2011, I’ve given over 1,800 reiki treatments.
Clients come to relieve stress, anxiety and for many other issues, or to just give reiki a try to see what it brings them. Folks visit from all over Sydney and elsewhere to see me. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney.

Do your research

I don’t think that someone has to know anything about reiki in order to receive its benefits.

But I do think a person has to be open to the experience and willing to receive healing.

What I think could block being open to a treatment is having particular expectations about what the treatment will be like.

A while ago, two days in a row, I received two different enquiries about reiki treatments. One asked whether I do the seven-level system of reiki. I’ve heard of this but not paid much attention to it. My understanding is that someone created their own version of the traditional three levels of reiki. Why would they do this? A cynic might say that the more levels there are, the more courses you can offer your students, and receive more in tuition fees. And you can claim being better than others, because isn’t seven better than three? But I digress. My webpage and Facebook page are easily available, so if someone wants to know about the kind of reiki that I do (traditional Japanese reiki), I think the information can be found on my page. If you are looking for a particular kind of reiki, do some research and find the right practitioner for you.

Another enquiry, from someone who booked a session and then didn’t show up, was from someone who was very excited about reiki because a friend had told him to try it out, but he didn’t know anything about it. ‘Does it have hot rocks?’ he asked. In this case, I did ask him to do some research and look at my website, because I think if you really know nothing about what a reiki treatment entails, and then show up and wonder if you’ll have hot rocks (no) or have to take off your clothes (no) or expect particular results, I think that confusion or any expectations could interfere with relaxing into a treatment and being open to receive what it brings.

So, I hope that clients will do a little more than just google “reiki in Sydney” and contact me right away.

Those who want only a female practitioner, or who want two treatments at the same time, or who are hoping that I combine reiki with clairvoyance or chakra cleansing, will save themselves some time. But I do have a friend who does shamanic healing, if that’s what you’re after! I can send you to her. At the same time, with a little understanding of what reiki is and a treatment involves, you can arrive at a treatment feeling open and relaxed.

Discover the gifts and benefits of a session of Japanese reiki therapy, healing energy from an experienced practitioner. Visit my website or Facebook page for more information and SMS, email, call me or book online if you’d like to make an appointment. Since 2011, I’ve given over 1,700 reiki treatments.
Clients come to relieve stress, anxiety and for many other issues, or to just give reiki a try to see what it does for them. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney. A recent client told me she found me by googling ‘Best Reiki Sydney’. Come see for yourself. 

Reviews from Bookwell

Uluru

Here are the latest reviews from my Bookwell booking site. Bookwell has been so important for my business. I know they’ve got competitors now, but they always provided me with such a high level of service, even though reiki is not their usual service (they specialise in hair and beauty salons). I know my clients really value being able to check my schedule and then book an appointment at any time of day or night. And they’re an Australian company.

Ximena
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5 stars)
Visited November 2020

Advait
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5 stars)
Visited October 2020

Bhaama
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5 stars)
Visited November 2020

I have been contemplating trying out Reiki treatment for my anxiety and panic attacks. Had my first session with Andy and it was definitely an interesting experience. Felt good positive vibes and energy from the moment I walked in to see Andy. During the session I experienced some tingling and vibrations throughout my body. I felt at ease during the treatment and felt positive energies transferring to me. After the session I felt light headed but also quite heavy. Andy mentioned that the heavy feeling could be interpreted as a sense of being grounded and more centered. Definitely felt relaxed after the session. Worthwhile experience. Almost felt like a huge weight was lifted off me after the session. Would love to have another session with Andy soon.

Priyanka
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5 stars)
Visited October 2020

Loved the treatment, felt very relaxed afterwards.

Zoe
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5 stars)
Visited October 2020

Andy was brilliant ! From the moment you book an appointment he is attentive and caring in his approach. My session was exactly what I was hoping for. Leaving his wonderful space I felt centred – realigned with my energy and grounded again after a particularly difficult couple of months. Thanks Andy, much appreciated.

Larn
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5 stars)
Visited October 2020

I felt really relaxed and it allowed me some space to meditate and I received interesting insights.

Lauren
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5 stars)
Visited September 2020

Very pleasant and relaxing experience. Andy was very warm and friendly, made me feel very comfortable for my first treatment in Reiki

Lisa-Rae
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5 stars)
Visited September 2020

Andy is super attentive and exudes calm. I had no expectations and left feeling peaceful and at ease. I will be returning again ASAP. Thank you Andy

Diana
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5 stars)
Visited August 2020

I saw Andy for the first time in August and it was great. I felt completely replenished and that the intention that I had set coming into the session had been achieved. Thank you Andy!

Discover the gifts and benefits of a session of Japanese reiki therapy, healing energy from an experienced practitioner. Visit my website or Facebook page for more information and SMS, email, call me or book online if you’d like to make an appointment. Since 2011, I’ve given over 1,700 reiki treatments.
Clients come to relieve stress, anxiety and for many other issues, or to just give reiki a try to see what it does for them. Folks come from all over Sydney and elsewhere to see me. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney.

Thanks for complaining

I think we all feel sometimes a little like Grumpy Cat here (a friend of Maneki-neko, the Lucky Cat). But actually, I’m quite grateful to clients who complain, even though I’m sorry that there was something to complain about.

In fact, I’d like to thank all my clients who got lost getting here, which has encouraged me step by step to figure out how I can try to prevent that. I’ve put up a photo of my building’s entrance on the ‘contact’ page of my website. And I’ve changed and reworded the instructions I send out by text many times. And most clients these days are telling me the directions are very clear!

I would like to thank my client who at the very end of the treatment, when I asked her how she felt, she admitted that her hair had been digging into the back of her head the whole treatment, and it was uncomfortable! I’m sorry she didn’t say something earlier, but now I’ve gotten into the habit of making sure all my women clients who have their hair tied up in a bun or ponytail make sure that they take it out, or adjust it before the treatment so they are perfectly comfortable.

I also have to thank my client who admitted that the ticking of my wristwatch, when my hands were next to her head, was loud enough to prevent her from relaxing! It is weirdly loud, my wristwatch. So, I never wear my watch during a treatment.

No one has actually complained yet about it but I apologise for anyone who has heard my phone ringing during a treatment when I didn’t set it to airplane mode. Every once in a while, it happens again, but I try not to forget this. Also, sometimes I have problems with the sound system, either because I’ve forgotten to charge it up, or (and this I haven’t solved yet) the speaker seems to try to connect to someone else’s phone rather than mine!

Lastly, I need to thank the client who was disappointed that the room wasn’t dark enough for her, as when she had a reiki treatment in a spa in Bali. Even when I draw the blinds, when it’s sunny and during the day, the room can be relatively bright. The other thing is that I wasn’t sure whether my clients wanted that feeling of being in a completely dark room with a stranger! I wondered if my women clients would feel more comfortable in a dark but not completely dark room. So, it took me a while to figure this one out, but now I offer my clients a cover for their eyes. For hygiene, in these days of COVID-19, I put a folded tissue over the client’s eyes, and then an airplane mask (but without attaching it completely around the head, as one client told me it was uncomfortable as the strap dug into the back of her head) and then on top of that, an eye pillow. I’ve found so far that my clients are about half and half. Some prefer to just close their eyes and might find the covering distracting, and others like the darkness! It’s up to you!

Discover the gifts and benefits of a session of Japanese reiki therapy, healing energy from an experienced practitioner. Visit my website or Facebook page for more information and SMS, email, call me or book online if you’d like to make an appointment. Since 2011, I’ve given over 1,700 reiki treatments.
Clients come to relieve stress, anxiety and for many other issues, or to just give reiki a try to see what it does for them. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney. A recent client told me she found me by googling ‘Best Reiki Sydney’. Come see for yourself. 

Lucky city, lucky reviews

Rocks, Tasmania

I feel that Sydney is such a lucky city in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to so many other cities in the world, our rates of infection are so low, and the restrictions have been much fewer than elsewhere. It feels like a lucky country and a lucky place to be hiding out!

I also feel lucky that so many of my clients have agreed to leave reviews about their experiences. It makes me feel good about my work to see how a treatment helps a client, and the reviews definitely help bring people to Reiki Surry Hills.

Here are the latest from my Google listing. Thanks to those who wrote them!

🌟 Reuben said: Had my first Reiki experience with Andy and found it to be both relaxing and powerful. He’s calm, welcoming and its a nice space. At many times during the session I felt strong energies wash over me. Recommended.

🌟 Polina said: Just had an incredible experience receiving reiki from Andy. He is clearly very talented at what he does! The energetic movements within my body were undeniable during the treatment and it was like nothing I have ever felt before. Andy made me feel very comfortable and offered me some tea before the treatment began. If you’re looking for quality reiki healing then look no further as I suspect you will get everything you are looking for from Andy 🙂

🌟 David said: I wanted to try Reiki as during Covid lockdown I was meditating daily and was curious of becoming a little more spiritual. I also had the hopes of being more calm mentally, with the possibility of healing from past breakups, along with trauma growing up. After the treatment, I was surprised at how much I felt. During the treatment I was experiencing:
– Andy’s hands feeling very hot and soothing, along with pins and needles around my body.
– Felt a vibration at my third eye.
– Thoughts and happy memories of my life which almost made me cry.
– The most relaxed I have ever felt – deepest state of meditation I’ve been in.
I 100% recommend Andy if you’re feeling even the slightest bit constrained mentally or emotionally, it feels as if there’s been weight taken away. Will definitely be seeing Andy again in the future.

🌟 Ximena said: Amazing experience. This was my second time doing reiki and I found it very relaxing and revealing. Andy sets up a harmonious ambience perfect to relax and reconnect with yourself.

🌟 Jose left me five stars!

🌟 Advait said: I had an excellent experience whilst I was processing some difficult emotions that I felt physically manifest. Some chronic tension had built up in my chest and head that had become unbearable and vanished after the session. I would highly recommend anyone try it out. I tried Reiki for the first time without any expectations.

🌟 Rebecca said: Really beautiful and calm energy with a very pleasant experience today with my reiki session with Andy. I highly recommend and have already told friends about his fantastic service.

🌟 Dan said: The space is comfortable and safe, Andy is calm and professional. This is a small oasis in the middle of Surry Hills. Not sure what to expect, I am glad I had the opportunity to experience Reiki for the first time in such a positive manner. I was quite exhausted after the session and tired the next day but put this down to my mind allowing my body to rest finally. Thank you Andy, I will happily recommend you to my friends and family.

Such great reviews. I’m grateful for them. And feel lucky!

Discover the gifts and benefits of a session of Japanese reiki therapy, healing energy from an experienced practitioner. Visit my website or Facebook page for more information and SMS, email, call me or book online if you’d like to make an appointment. Since 2011, I’ve given over 1,700 reiki treatments.
Clients come to relieve stress, anxiety and for many other issues, or to just give reiki a try to see what it does for them. Folks come from all over Sydney and elsewhere to see me. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney.

Reiki during COVID-19

What a strange time for the world. I’ve never experienced or witnessed anything like it in my lifetime, where friends and family around the world are all living through the same crisis: affected in different ways, certainly, but most people are directly affected in some way, whether they are being asked to wear a mask, exercise social distancing, or are even on the frontlines, as some of my friends are who are healthcare workers. I feel very grateful to be living in Australia, this island nation, relatively protected from infections. Though Melbourne is in a harsh lockdown that is continuing at the moment, our numbers are really so small compared to the rest of the world.

They were also strange days at the beginning of the epidemic, trying to find out what was happening and what I should do in terms of my reiki practice. I closed down a few days before we were officially required to do so, and then cancelled any appointments that had come in for the lockdown period. My online booking service, Bookwell, put everything on hold. I still got enquiries occasionally, as well as notes from clients who said to contact them as soon as I opened up. It was the longest period that I’d not given reiki treatments since starting Reiki Surry Hills, but it was not something to worry about, in the grand scheme of things.

I was surprised, when I was allowed to open, after three months of being closed, that it took a while for clients to return, and none were in a rush to come back. It felt like we were all cautious about how to reengage with the world, and how much time to spend outside our homes. I think the biggest change that I noticed, which has continued, is that people are not planning far into the future. I have a much higher share of clients than before who book just the day before, or even the day of an appointment. When the news about COVID has been bad, with a higher number of cases, I have noticed that clients have been staying home. I’ve also had a higher number of clients who have requested the student or concession rate, and I’ve been more proactive about offering this price if I find out a client might be struggling financially.

Overall, I’m impressed with how clients are coping with these strange days. There have definitely been clients who have come in because they are dealing with COVID-related change and stress, moving back to Australia from overseas, living in circumstances that may not be ideal (such as unexpectedly living with family members), and stress about keeping, changing or losing a job. I gave treatments to at least two clients who had just come out of hotel quarantine. I think the biggest hardships have been for clients who are from overseas, and unsure of whether to ride out the epidemic here in Australia (with uncertain employment) or go back home (and cut short their plans of being in Australia for a period, and then be unlikely to be able to return to Australia to work on the same visa). Other clients have been separated from their loved ones, or unable to travel home for a celebration or a funeral, which is heartbreaking.

And yet, what can we do in these unpredictable times? Generally, I see clients living more in the present moment and accepting the uncertainty. Recognising when they are feeling stress or facing difficulties, and being proactive about seeking support, like a reiki treatment. Perhaps because we are so lucky in Sydney with a limited number of cases of COVID, I think it is generally possible for all of us to try not to worry about what we can’t control, but then be proactive about what we can do: take care of our mental health and be compassionate to ourselves and others.

Discover the gifts and benefits of a session of Japanese reiki therapy, healing energy from an experienced practitioner. Visit my website or Facebook page for more information and SMS, email, call me or book online if you’d like to make an appointment. Since 2011, I’ve given over 1,700 reiki treatments.
Clients come to relieve stress, anxiety and for many other issues, or to just give reiki a try to see what it does for them. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney. A recent client told me she found me by googling ‘Best Reiki Sydney’. Come see for yourself. 

I’m not sure your energy is blocked

If you type into Google ‘energy blocked’, depending on the day, it comes up with between 350 and 499 million results. Seriously.

A typical website, as from Integral Psychology, will tell you that people suffer trauma and the trauma gets stuck in the body. It comes from the field of Somatic Therapy, which ‘looks at the connection of mind and body and uses both psychotherapy and physical therapies for holistic healing’.

Many more websites will tell you how to find out why your chakras are blocked. How can you tell? A typical answer:

You may feel more tired or lacking energy, you may feel unmotivated or experiencing more anxiety 
and stress, dealing with digestive issues and just not feeling like your true self mentally, 
physically and spiritually.

I have to admit that when I first put up this website, and was trying to explain reiki, I explained reiki in this way too. I said that that we gather stress or blockages with time, and so reiki works to get rid of those blocks and help our energy move more freely.

I don’t know where I got that explanation from because I don’t believe it anymore!

I think my doubt started with so many of my clients coming for treatments for energy blockages and blocks in their chakras. But when asked how they were, the answers were much more simple. Rather than their heart chakra being blocked, preventing them from finding a good relationship or because they were hurt, it felt more true to me that they had been through a bad relationship, and that finding good relationships is difficult and needs work! Or that they were hurt, in a romantic or family relationship. When people said they are tired, it was likely that they live a busy life, or have young children to look after, or aren’t getting enough sleep. And the idea of ‘not feeling like oneself’? The older that I’ve gotten, the more I realise that we have many selves, and that it is a mistake to create a story about how we are always the same.

I feel a great fault of the new age movement and new age language is convincing so many people (and so many of my clients) that something is wrong with them: their chakras are blocked or not aligned; they have accumulated negative energy and they need a clearing. A few clients say they have negative energy and need it cleared, but this is a lesson, not necessarily easy, that we can learn for ourselves. If someone is angry at us, we can both see if there are valid reasons for it, and if there are not, to see that their anger is their issue, it is about them, not us, and try to not be affected by it.

What I also take issue with is the story that the older we get, that we accumulate pain and trauma and blocks: life is dangerous and we need to be healed from it. What if we told ourselves a different story, a more positive story? What if the older we are, and the more wise, the more we learn to be less stressed, less blocked and less troubled? I think that’s as good a theory as any. As my reiki teacher, Frans Stiene, says, if the energy in our body was truly blocked, we’d be … dead.

I should clarify what I’m saying. I don’t discount the idea that we can suffer trauma and that it can affect our bodies, and therefore our energy. But I don’t think it’s useful for most people to believe that we have suffered trauma and that it has affected our bodies. If you think this might be the case for you, DO see a somatic therapist or a psychotherapist or another counsellor, and uncover and define what trauma you might have suffered and address the issue directly. But don’t self-diagnose yourself and believe without questioning that you have something blocked in your body, which is the reason for not feeling great.

It’s just not healthy to walk around believing that there’s something wrong with us. There are a lot of good reasons why we might not feel great in our lives. Convincing people that our mysterious energy system is malfunctioning, I believe, takes away the power from people to address why we might not feel great. Many of the websites that tell people their chakras are blocked advise buying crystals or visiting someone who can clear their chakras. Has this all been invented as a commercial scam? I think it’s a terrible thing to convince people they are walking around with their chakras blocked and trauma stuck in their body. If you believe this, ask yourself why. How did you come to believe this?

If you know that work and life is busy, too busy for you, then you can consider finding ways of carving out time for yourself, of treating yourself well, and finding ways to slow down. If you feel tired, would taking time to yourself, or going for a walk, or doing some exercise, help you? It could be a physical issue that you should chat with a doctor or nutritionist about. If your heart is broken, perhaps talking to friends, or a counsellor, or treating yourself nicely, and also recognising that you are hurt and that there are good reasons for it, will probably help more than a rose quartz crystal for your heart. I believe that looking to ourselves to understand why we might be feeling low (or happy) is a way to give the power and responsibility back to ourselves to be able to do something about it.

A reiki treatment could be part of this. But rather than seeing a reiki practitioner to clear your blocks and align your chakras, I think the real healing comes in being proactive about wanting to feel better, gathering tools for your toolbox so you know what works for you in feeling better, and seeing your issues as something that, while they might not be easy to heal, can be healed with you taking an active part in making it happen.

Discover the gifts and benefits of a session of Japanese reiki therapy, healing energy from an experienced practitioner. Visit my website or Facebook page for more information and SMS, email, call me or book online if you’d like to make an appointment. Since 2011, I’ve given nearly 1,700 reiki treatments.
Clients come to relieve stress, anxiety and for many other issues, or to just give reiki a try to see what it does for them. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney. A recent client told me she found me by googling ‘Best Reiki Sydney’. Come see for yourself.