Feng Shui Your Reiki!

				to be that you follow the system rigidly and
Many of you will be familiar with Feng Shui, the				ignore your hands. How sad.
Oriental art of placement, where you arrange				Now standard hand positions are useful when you
your living environment to allow smooth flow of				first learn Reiki: it’s reassuring to have some
chi through your home, eliminating areas where chi				sort of system to follow. But we can move
will stagnate, and slowing down the speed of				beyond those standard hand positions in a couple
fast-rushing chi. So what has that to do with				of ways. When we ‘scan’ the body we
Reiki? Well they both deal with chi, but what I am				night discover areas that are drawing lots of Reiki,
really thinking of is applying the basic principles of				but they aren’t covered by the
Feng Shui to our practice of Reiki. This may seem				‘standard’ hand positions… we can alter
a little strange, but please bear with me…				our hand positions accordingly, or add extra
The basic principle of Feng Shui, the first thing you				positions, to make sure we’re directing the
have to do before you do anything else, is to get				energy into the areas that are drawing the most
rid of your clutter, because a cluttered				Reiki. We can use intuition, too, to control our
environment leads to a cluttered life. Only once				hand positioning, and this has great benefits for
you have rid yourself of your unnecessary bits				the recipient because we are directing the energy
and pieces should you move in to apply the other				into just the right combination of positions for
more specific principles of placement. So could we				each person we are working on. We might feel
de-clutter our practice of Reiki, what would that				inexplicably ‘drawn’ to a particular area,
be like, and how could we achieve that? Is our				we might just ‘know’ that we ought to
Reiki cluttered now? How could we pare it down				be treating a particular area, or we might be
to the essentials and leave the unnecessary stuff				practicing “Reiji Ho” from Japan, where
behind?				our hands are drawn by ‘invisible
We do seem to have a tendency in the West to				magnets’ to the right areas to treat. Again
make things endlessly complicated, almost on the				we are leaving the rigid standard positions to one
basis that if it’s more complicated then				side and going with the flow. That was Usui’s
it’s better. We like to introduce rules and				way: there were no real standard positions. You
regulations and restrictions and dogma, maybe				simply put your hands where they wanted to go.
because rules make us feel supported and safe,				Distant healing is another area where lots of rules
or maybe because we just can’t leave a				and regulations have crept in over time. Some
simple thing alone! Yet the system that Usui				people are taught quite complicated rituals that
Sensei taught to his surviving students wasn’t				they have to carry out when they perform
complicated. It wasn’t cluttered. It was simple				distant healing, with a set form of words that
and elegant and profound, and I think that				‘have’ to be used in a particular way, and
we’ve drifted away from that in many ways.				with various required visualisations. Yet the bare
We’ve introduced rules and restrictions and				bones of distant healing are to know where the
dogma into many aspects of Reiki practice:				energy is to go – to set a firm intent – to
connecting to the energy, treating someone, hand				use the distant healing symbol maybe, and to
positions, distant healing methods, situations where				merge with the recipient, allowing the energy to
you ‘should not treat’. This is all clutter				flow. Anything beyond that is optional. People have
and we can do without it. Freeing ourselves from				different styles: some like to actively visualise and
this burden of technique and method and limitation				develop a detailed ritual, and that’s fine, but
would be a great and beneficial clear-out. We				it’s not actually necessary. Others like to
don’t need it. It holds us back. Let’s look				keep it simple, and that works just as well. Even
at a few examples of unnecessary clutter…				the use of the distant healing symbol is optional,
A while ago I was contacted by a poor girl who				though it does help us to focus on merging with
had been taught that she needed to go through a				the recipient, a way of experiencing
fifteen-stage ritual in order to ‘connect’				‘oneness’ with the person you’re
to Reiki. She and the other students on the				sending the energy to. Distant healing is perfectly
course were quite worried, obviously concerned				possible at First Degree level, too: it’s simple a
that if they didn’t get all the stages right then				matter of intent, of focusing your attention in a
the energy wouldn’t come through properly				particular way. The energy follows your thoughts,
and their treatments would be ineffective.				it follows your focus.
Naturally they wanted to do the very best they				The final area where we could give our Reiki a big
could for the people they were working on, and				‘clear out’ is in the rules and restrictions
they were focusing hard on getting all the				that can control who we should and should not
necessary stages right.				treat. Some people are given a long list of
Yet ‘connection’ with Reiki is simply a				‘contraindications’: situations where you
state of mind; you connect when you intend to				should not give Reiki because it might be
connect. Some people will hold their hands in a				dangerous. Some contraindications that I have
particular position (hands above them with palms				come across include: pregnant women, babies,
uppermost to the sky, hands to the sides with				people with pacemakers, diabetics*, people
palms face up, hands in the prayer position, hands				undergoing an anaesthetic, people wearing contact
in their lap with palms up, hands folded over the				lenses, people with cancer, people suffering from
Dantien). Maybe they will say a set form of				stress, people with broken bones, people taking
words, but all these are optional. Bring the energy				homoeopathic remedies, people undergoing
through your crown to your Dantien and bathe in				chemotherapy, people with a torn muscle. There
the light, flood the energy through your body, be				will be many more examples taught in different
still; you are connected when you intend to be. It				lineages. These restrictions are nonsense, they
is a matter of focus, a matter of where your				have no basis: there is no proper evidence –
attention lies.				even anecdotes – to back up the restrictions
Some people are taught that they must always				that are taught in some lineages. Reiki is safe, the
keep one of their hands in contact with the				person’s body draws it to the right areas to
recipient when they treat, based on the idea that				treat, and Reiki is seen as divinely inspired,
if you take both hands off then you have lost				intelligent, it is seen as pure unconditional love.
your connection to the recipient and the energy				That view hardly sits too well with the suggestion
will not flow properly. But your connection to the				that you can hurt someone using Reiki. We think
recipient is a state of mind too: you focus your				too much, we worry too much, and we create
attention on them, you merge with them and				problems where there are none.
become one with them, and that is sufficient no				So a practice of Reiki that follows the first
matter what you are doing with your hands. In				principle of Feng Shui will be a simple practice, free
fact your treatment starts as soon as you are				from rules, restrictions and self-imposed limitations.
standing by the table with your attention directed				Feng Shui’d Reiki will be free from dogma,
towards the person. Your treatment has already				and free from rituals that you ‘must’
started when you are scanning, or feeling the				follow for Reiki to work effectively. It will be a
energy field. Reiki works just as well when you				practice that is based on simple intent and
have your hands off the body, though Reiki is				intuition, where you merge with the recipient,
basically practised as a hands-on method.				where you become one with them, and where
Some Reiki people are taught rigid				you let the energy guide you. Let’s get rid of
‘standard’ hand positions that have to be				all that clutter and free up our practice, and just
used every time you treat, and there is the view				let the energy flow.
that if you are not using ‘the’ hand				[ * There is some anecdotal evidence that some
positions then you haven’t been taught				diabetics may experience a short term alteration
properly. Some even have a rigid time limit that				in blood sugar levels following a Reiki treatment.
has to be followed, so you can only keep your				They should be made aware of this possibility and
hands in each position for so many minutes…				monitor their sugar levels accordingly. However,
you can buy Reiki CDs which make a little				this does not mean that you should not treat
‘ping’ sound every three minutes (or				diabetics using Reiki, as is suggested in some
whatever), and everyone changes hand positions				quarters. It just means that diabetics should keep
like a robot. Yet what if your hands are going like				an eye on their blood sugar levels following a Reiki
crazy, what if there energy needs to flood into a				treatment or a course of Reiki treatments. They
particular area for a long time and you need to				should be checking their blood sugar levels
keep your hands there for 5 minutes or 10				routinely in any case.
minutes or 15 minutes? The answer would seem