King's Touch Reiki

 Last week, we made small ATC (artist trading cards) with one of the other moderators in our Red Thread Circle. Making small cards for affirmation, to-dos, setting intention, or prayer flags is one of my favorite small projects.  In many traditions, flags of paper or cloth are hung to send prayers, praise and blessings on the wind. We recently used strips of fabric and sharpies in our church courtyard, for our monthly farmers market booth, and participants tied their prayers on clotheslines hung between the trees.  Chakra flags - Batik fabric I invite students to make prayer flags for the Reiki Principles in our First Degree classes. These remind us of these precepts, we can choose one to work with for a day or week, or recite them ... This is a simple way to bring the principles to life, and deepen with Reiki.  Flags on brown paper bag I used the cards begun in last week's Circle for the Japanese words, and pull them out for the morning and evening Hatsurei-Ho medi...

What stories run your life? Can you imagine learning ways to identify and clear the ones which no longer serve? Can you feel into living unrestrained by the old patterns? Reiki and the soulful story process offer you that opportunity! Many of us live with past beliefs and old responses, which keep us from living the lives we long for. When we bring those old stories to light, we have a Golden opportunity to change the script. Reiki and Intentional Creativity alchemise the transformation, making a path for true change. The Reiki principles offer a set of guidelines which can help us define core values and  Soulful Story Cards change the stories. Adapting them from  principles set forth by the Meiji emperor, Reiki founder Mikeo Usui offered these ideals to his students: For today only Anger not  Worry not With appreciation do work To others be kind Show gratitude Reiki and Intentional Creativity offer many tools for personal growth and positive shifts...

In her Reiki Webinar earlier this Week, East Coast Master Pamela Miles stressed the importance of developing a daily Self-Reiki practice . Initiated in the mid-eighties, Pamela began doing self-Reiki daily after that first class, & has continued. Her primary question to any Reiki student or practitioner experiencing problems 'Do you practice Daily Self Reiki? I remember my Master Analyse suggesting we fall asleep with one hand on our belly & one on our heart. Other masters suggest alternating between a full Self-treatment and one on the chakras. When was asked about Certification and Completion Requirements. Pamela chuckled & said she doesn't offer certification, but she does have some requirements. For First Degree: she invites her students to practice Self Reiki Daily, and she asks them one question ....  On her blog, Pamela shared her simple morning practice:  "To offer myself a full Reiki self-treatment, I place my hands on these areas of my body, in...

Here we are, at the end of the year! As we prepare for the first session of our Reiki class this Sunday, January 5, I'd like to share links to the 'History of Reiki' posts I've done over the last couple of months. When Takata brought Reiki to the West in the late 30s, & began telling the story of Reiki to people outside of Japan, she 'edited' her tell for her Western audience. In recent years, as communication between Reiki practitioners in Japan has opened up, a more accurate picture has emerged. I've enjoyed revisiting the Reiki stories, & look forward to sharing more of them with you! Here are links to my posts on the history of Reiki: Mikeo Usui: Mountaintop Experience                     Reiki - The word                     Reiki Principles , as Usui taught them Chujiro Hayas...

Chujiro Hayashi was born in 1879 or '80 in Tokyo. Like Usui, he was married, with two children. He served in the Japanese Navy, & in 1918, became commander of the defence station of Port Owinato. Hayashi trained in Western and Chinese medicine, and his traditional Japanese spiritual practices included Soto Zen & Shinto. His student Mrs Yamaguchi relayed he was also Christian (Methodist). This would not be uncommon in Japan, even now. Hayashi retired from the Navy, & in 1925, became a student of Mikeo Usui, 10 months before Usui's death. Several other Naval officers joined the school not long afterward, & continued his healing/spiritual work under the title 'Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai.  In 1931, Hayashi began developing his own clinic & school for healing, which became known as Hayashi Reiki Kenkyu Kai - Hayashi Spiritual Energy Research Society. His clinic had a treatment room where eight clients could be treated, with two practitioners at each futon...

When Takata brought Reiki to Japan in the mid-late 1930s, she told many stories about the beginnings of Reiki as we know it. Over the years, others have visited Japan & brought forward more information.  Our modern practice of Reiki has been handed down from Mikeo Usui, who was born Aug 15, 1865, into a Samurai family in Teniai (now called Miyama cho) in the Gifu Prefecture in Japan. Little is known of his early life, but as a child of the privileged class, he likely began his studies with the Chinese & Japanese classics, learned martial arts, music, read & wrote poetry. Born into a Buddhist family, Mikeo Usui became a lay Tendai priest , who married (Saduko Suzuki) and had two children. It seems he introduced his teachings, Usui do, as a means toward enlightenment, with the healing that took place for students 'a wonderful side effect.' His inclusion of attunement or reiju , which facilitated spiritual alignment. ' It seems that all students of Mikao Usui r...

Reiki is written in two Japanese kanji or characters,  Spiritual (&) Energy The word 'Reiki' is used in the West to denote a healing system. The founder of our Modern Reiki System, Mikao Usui didn't use this term, his teachings were more commonly called 'Usui Do' (the Way of Usui) and the healings 'Usui teate' or Usui's form of hands-on healing. Later, the word Reiki was added or substituted, to signify the system utilized spiritual energy. In Chinese, the same two kanji are used for 'Ling Chi'   "Ling Chi is the subtylest and most highly refined of all the energies in the human system and the product of the most advanced stage of a practice, whereby the ordinary energy of the body are transformed into pure spiritual vitality. This type of highly refined energy enhances spiritual awareness, improves all cerebral functions, and constitutes the basic fuel for the highest level of spiritual work." (Ling Gung: Harnessing th...

When I began teaching 4 day Reiki Workshops at Breitenbush Hot Springs with harper Karen Bruner, in the spring of 1993, I envisioned working with one principle each day. This was a lovely way to integrate the principles, which Mikeo Usui based on teachings from Emperor Meiji. Just for today - Do not Worry Breathe it in .. as you exhaloe, let the earth, the air, the fires beneath the earth, the river take & transmute your worries, your fears, any doubts. Let them surface, to be released to the elements. As worries arise during the day, pay attention to the movement of breath in the body, & let the breath assist you in releasing them. As you walk about, imagine your worries sinking into the earth, like compost, to provide nourishment. What can you do about persistent worries? Is there an action needed? Some shift you need to make in how you move in the world? Some task  to complete, or one you need to set aside for now? Ask your guides to help you find appropriate ac...