Is Reiki just a type of meditation or is it a healing modality?

The true meaning of Reiki is to reconnect us to our truth. Our “truth” being that we are simply love, light, pure consciousness, that we are whole. That every one of us is this energy and therefore there is no separation, no disconnection, no duality, but only unity and oneness. This isn’t so dissimilar to meditation or any other spiritual practices. Reaching this state is often referred to as enlightenment. So what makes Reiki a little different to other forms of meditation and how can we then use it with other practices?

The pathway to enlightenment isn’t an easy one and certainly not something many of us will even expect to obtain in this lifetime. However, I believe it is easy and accessible for each and every one of us to experience glimpses of what this means – of our truth. I don’t believe it’s actually the end goal that matters – the end goal being a supreme and continual state of enlightenment. Afterall, once we are there we have obtained pure consciousness – nothingness and where is the fun in that?! 

The most important thing is the path to get there. The experiences we move through, the devotion that evolves and strengthens for the practice in simply learning to love the self unconditionally. 

When we learn to love the self – there of course is no more need to project onto others, to judge or to suffer. There is no more comparison because there is no more duality. We move into this space of acceptance for all there is, understanding that we are the entire Universe and the entire Universe is us. It’s in this space, we let go of who we are – we move beyond the need for healing anything at all. In complete balance and harmony. 

And in our spiritual practice we catch glimpses into what this feels like. The more we practice, the more familiar it becomes for us to be in this state. Like a muscle, it continues to strengthen and becomes easier for us to get into this space.

The challenge of course, is always bringing this into our dualistic world that we live in. To remember that our suffering is from a place that has been created by us, an internal place, our inner world. That’s not to say that how you feel or what you have experienced is not your reality or that it is not significant. But it’s assuming responsibility that we in our human form, are the ones who have decided at some point in our life that this has made us feel a certain way. We have attached meaning and a story to it.

If the goal is to move to a more non-dual space, where all is nothing and everything, then there is a journey that we must go through in order to get there. 

It’s not about bypassing the feels and the story simply to get to “love and light”.

Bypassing is the desire to skip the part where we learn to love and accept ourselves regardless of the shame, the guilt and the fear that we feel. Bypassing never works because it’s a mind-fuck. It’s the belief that you can just think your way to stillness – to non-duality. It’s ignoring the reality that you are still form. Yes, you are energy and you are a spiritual being, but for as long you live and exist in this world, you are form expressed through your body. And in your body, you store memories of the suffering you created. Whether you loke it or not, you are the embodiment of all that you have been, are and will be.

If I was told by a teacher in school that I’ll never be good enough, I can push that memory down in my mind as much as I like. But on that day, my body was present. My body felt the threat of how unsafe it felt to be me that day. The embarrassment of trying and failing. The guilt of letting others down, and so on. My body remembers this moment every time from then on that I feel the same way.

This is how triggers work. It’s a mind game, but it’s also a body game. And until we learn to bring all three together in our practices, we will continue to struggle to get to the place of oneness. It’s at this place where we are one with the Self and one with all around us, not just people, but the entire Universe. If you have been practicing meditation for a while, you would have caught glimpses of this space. Where your awareness is so heightened that you have let go of the separation of who you are. The disconnection of “I am Loretta,” and all that means – all the stories associated with that transmute into a space of just “I am”.

Before Reiki, I learnt other types of meditation – mindfulness and buddhist practices mostly and then mantra based meditation based on Vedic practices. And I struggled particularly with the ones that asked me to “still the mind” to quiet it down to nothing. How do I shut down the thing that so desperately wants to attach to something? I am human and have a human mind after all, but I am also just so curious,I am an analyser, I am a researcher, I am a teacher and I love learning. Mostly, I love thinking, even if it’s simply just to think about how to practice not thinking. The practice bubbled up shame that I wasn’t doing it right, that I wasn’t spiritual! 

It wasn’t until I found Reiki and I embraced using crystals and other tools that I realised there are different ways to obtain the same result. And if it doesn’t work for you then it’s not for you right now. Of course, as we evolve, different practices evolve with us. But you should never feel ashamed about where you’re at or feel like you’re not good enough to practice. 

Types of meditation, including Reiki, are simply tools available to us to help us reach this place of nirvana. The same destination. There is no one way that is best and there are no rules around how they should work for you. Some people need a lot of structure to make a modality work for them, and others, like me, need to make it their own so it works and evolves with them. Sometimes it’s the modality that supports us and sometimes it’s simply finding the right teacher for us where we are at right now. 

When I found Reiki, I felt like I had permission to think in my meditation practice. Whilst the goal may be oneness, stillness and the like, the journey there is liberating for those of us who want to connect with our bodies and thoughts and soul all at once during meditation. 

Reiki gently asks you to witness where resistance or discomfort shows up in the body when it is held in a space of love.

It is upon noticing the discomfort, we are invited to place our hands over the self – the part of the body where it shows up. Where the memory is stored. You then can use self-inquiry to try to understand the sensation some more if you want to… you have permission to analyse, to think, and to remember. Often, I have found that many students and clients, like me, find it easier to let go once we’ve understood the discomfort and resistance in the first place. It almost gives us permission then to let go.

And you don’t have to enquire into anything if you don’t want to. Reiki, remember, is about reconnecting to your truth – not Usui Sensei, not mine. It’s your path and your truth. 

The most beautiful thing I believe is that you can just sit with it. Sit with the uncomfortableness that can sometimes happen when we are simply being. Allow yourself to connect to that place that is Reiki – that is reminding you that you are love and light. That you are the Universe. Your truth, your way. It’s here that Reiki can be a practice of facing the fear of not being worthy enough for love and acceptance. The practice of Reiki shows you that this is untrue. It invites you to be seen and held, despite the fear. To prove yourself wrong. To a point where this becomes your new familiar place. 

It may not happen the first time and that’s why it can be, like all meditation, called a “practice”. There is a need to keep showing up and to try. But not push through, not to dismiss the discomfort or ignore it. There is no need for bypassing. There is just a tender invitation to love. 

There is no prize for who gets there first. Because the prize is in showing up. It’s in the present moment. It’s the reminder that we are Reiki. We are whole. 

“But isn’t Reiki a healing modality?” You may be asking…

Yes, you are absolutely right. Because it is on this journey to return to wholeness and to our truth that we heal. Not just  because we have awareness and the realisation of non-duality, but we truly embody and become the energy that there is nothing to heal. It is here that we let go. 

You may not get there at this moment, you may not get there today. But just for today, we choose to show up and to believe we are worthy of reaching that place. 

“Just for today, let go of anger. 

Just for today, let go of worry.

Just for today, have gratitude.

Just for today, live in your highest truth. 

Just for today, be kind to yourself and others.” Mikao Usui 

All my love, 

Loretta xo