JC: Are they, are they some conditions or some challenges where Reiki works incredibly well and some of the challenges that it takes more effort to see results?
Sarah: The place that I find that I run into taking more effort is from childhood conditioning. If in childhood a client was conditioned to not forgive themselves, it can take more active attention for the roots to dissolve. Sometimes unforgiveness can show up as knee and, or hip issues. But when one is willing to do the mental work to forgive oneself, they often realize they’ve learned the lesson, gone through it, but stub their toe on continuing to hold judgment against themself. When it feels comfortable to release the judgement, it can feel scary, because it gives us freedom! The empowerment can be almost too much. The Romans used to take, if somebody had killed somebody, they would take that dead body and attach it to them. That person would obviously leave the city, and then it wouldn’t take too long, and that person would die as a result of having the dead body that they were carrying around. I have that picture sometimes, when I’m working with somebody, and talking about forgiveness, it just feels like they’re just carrying around this literally dead weight that is poisoning their future.
Sarah: I’m not a psychologist and when people come to me, I tell them that and they sign a paper saying that they know that I do Reiki. So, at this point I might remind them of that.
Sarah: I’ll just say, feels like that there’s something in here that, maybe it be worthwhile you doing some work on it and we can work on this together. You can set an intention at the beginning of a Reiki session. And so, if you want to set the intention that we work on, that that’s completely fine. But some were raised by parents who were doing the best that they could but were limited in their understanding or in their experience of forgiveness. And this fully functioning adult just feels like they’ve had their wings clipped and are trying to figure out how to give themself permission to forgive themself. We choose to forgive, not because we are gifting the behavior a pass, but in order to live life with no longer carrying the burden.
JC: That makes sense because I heard and you probably heard it too, that not forgiving someone it’s like taking that poison and expect the other person to pay for that. And even though a lot of times people have already passed on, people still carry that with them. It’s like the dead body you’re talking about.
Sarah: Yeah. And I also think that we if our last conversation with someone before they cross over was a volatile one, we can feel that there’s this continual undoneness. And then add onto that, the pandemic that we’ve had, where we had loved ones who were dying alone. So now you have the undone plus the guilt plus the, all the things.
JC: All that’s combined…
Sarah: It is. Let me share a bit about the levels of Reiki training. Reiki Level One is hands on, and no symbols are used. However, there are three symbols in Reiki Level Two for distance. The reason we use symbols in Reiki Level Two is that our earthly experience has us dealing with time and space. Those are two things that are very, very much part of our human experience.
Sarah: And so, what if we could use Reiki, this connection to force that doesn’t force? What if we could use that to go back and heal things? What would happen if the roots of old bitterness between family members were dissolved? What if I no longer demand someone else change? What if I do the work and I choose to change? Yes. And I can share from personal experience. There was a deeply strained relationship I thought I’d never see come together. And, although that wasn’t the intended focus, I was joyously surprised to experience ease of conversation when I changed. And when we change, it forces others to change, as well. In that space of being able to say when I feel the conflict, when I notice that it’s there, I have choices. And if I want to be living a life that’s designed by peace, then I get to see these eruptions and decide what I want to do with them. Do I want to engage with them and how? Is it the time to engage with them? Part of that is opening up intuition and allowing Spirit to speak through that.
Sarah: Reiki is no longer just for yogis. I was raised in a Christian home and definitely inside the Christian/Catholic communities there can be some pushback from people. If they want to have a quieter conversation, I’m really happy to engage. Because for me, Reiki really began to open up a whole new understanding of the One I call Papa. Rather than just experiencing a connection on Sundays, I deeply realized this spiritual connection was an ongoing relationship and could positively impact every aspect of my life, just not some aspects of my life. And I talk about it as the force that does not force. That’s what we know Spirit to be. Reiki is not a religion, but it is a spiritual practice just like donating, and tithing. We become better people because we choose to see that there’s a need and we choose to show up in those spaces, even if we aren’t the end person touching the life. We are involved in that pipeline, so to speak.
