Reiki

[Sanity Claws]

I think this fits within the alternative healing part of the group.
I am attuned to Reiki 1 and would love to move on to Reiki 2 sometime in the spring. The self-healing I have been doing with it has really helped me with my own health. It has also made me more sensitive to subtle energies.
Please let me know if you know a Reiki Master in the New York City area who could attune me to Reiki 2. (My Reiki 1 was done twice, once 11 years ago at a place that doesn't exist anymore and again last year in Puerto Rico as part of spiritual retreat.)

Also, I would love to hear others' experiences with Reiki, whether as the giver or receiver of Reiki.

[Glorfindel]

1. I have been a recipient of Reiki

I approached it as a skeptic, but came to believe unreservedly in its benefits. The Reiki Master with whom I was acquainted has passed away. I hope you find someone who can attune you to Reiki 2.

[Sanity Claws]

3. I also approached it as a skeptic

This is probably why I waited so long to really use.
A friend has a serious diagnosis and the only thing I could offer her was Reiki. She was receptive to trying it, also with skepticism. At this point, we are both convinced that it does something. At first I thought that it enables the recipient to go into deep relaxation and tap into self-healing.
I now think that it is even more than that. I think it helps resolve deeply held trauma. Deeply held trauma and other emotions don't get released in a single session but over time, it does help release internalized trauma, IMHO.

[in2herbs]

2. I have had Reiki done a couple of times and each time, for a few days after, I experienced

emotional chaos. A Reiki Master told me that this after effect was likely due to the imparting of negative energy to me by the person doing the Reiki bc often times you go to a class and the students work on each other. It was only after I learned how to protect myself from negative energy that it stopped. That being said, I think Reiki (done right) is a great way to open the door to higher forms of energy work that aren't Reiki and that can result in empathic abilities.

I get an acupuncture treatment once a month and while lying on the table I use energy first to feel the flow of energy in my body, second to pinpoint "stuck" areas, and third to unblock those areas. It increases the healing from acupuncture.

I don't live in NY so can't help you. Sorry. My suggestion to you is not to limit any Reiki work that you might do to humans. Animals are soooo receptive to energy healing. Learn to "throw" your energy, first by starting a few inches away from an animal, then graduating to being a few feet, yards away, and soon you will be able to throw and receive energy anywhere around the globe. Master this and a whole new form of communication with the Universe opens. Please let me know how it goes.

Namaste,

[Sanity Claws]

4. I do want to work toward other forms of energy healing

Sorry to hear about your experience with Reiki. I would hate to think that anything negative could be sent by Reiki. Is it posible that the emotional chaos was part of releasing some trauma or other internalized emotion?
After the emotional chaos was resolved, how did you feel? Could the chaos you felt have been part of an emotional release?

[in2herbs]

5. Reiki is not negative, but sometimes the humans performing Reiki do not realize what they

are bringing to the experience, and that is what could be the negative. Of course, it could also be an emotional release by the receiver of Reiki creating their emotional chaos. Energy works both ways. Other than deciding that I would not allow Reiki to be performed on me ever again I can't remember how I felt a few days later after the chaos subsided. I work in another energy form now, but don't do healing work except on animals.

One thing to understand: energy, whether called Reiki or something else, is all around us. It is not "sent" to us. Reiki is just one tool for harnessing and using the energy.

Because of the empowerment this brings I fully understand why more women are drawn to energy work than men and why they succeed in their goals.

I assume you have been doing some reading. Care to share the book titles?

Namaste