once upon a time, on a different blog, i compiled all my thoughts about reiki. i am posting it again, here, for the sake of posterity.

and just so you know, i am a reiki person, in case you are intrigued and want to try reiki for yourself.

yes. it’s true. i don’t understand how reiki works.

when i first explained reiki, i gave the explanation i heard in class: reiki is energy that is guided by a higher power and works by flowing through the energy field and healing any disruptions in the life force energy.

you know how you can tell when someone is saying something that they don’t really believe? that’s what i hear in my voice when i try to give that explanation.

later, i tried to explain it in another way. i said that i felt the original explanation made reiki seem confusing and inaccessible. (i still think this.) then, i explained that what reiki did for me was to help me feel safe and supported enough to start learning who i was and what i needed. (i still think this as well.)

even then, i didn’t come right out and say the thing i was thinking. i was afraid. i was afraid that people wouldn’t want to work with a reiki person who doesn’t know how reiki works and isn’t sure she believes the reason she was taught.

but that is the truth of it: i don’t know how reiki works.

sometimes i wish i knew how reiki worked, but mostly i don’t really care.

maybe it works the way they say it does – that it’s spiritually guided energy that comes through me and into the receiver.

maybe it has something to do with large clusters of nerve endings or accupressure points and somehow they can be affected even without direct touch.

maybe there are chakras or an aura and it has something to do with one or both of them.

maybe energy really does follow thought.

maybe there is something in quantum physics that explains it. i know i’ve read a few things that make me think, “hey! that could totally explain how reiki works!” (i immediately proceed to forget them which is why i am not mentioning any specifics.)

maybe it works because the power of the mind comes into play and we cause something to happen because we are expecting something to happen.

maybe it’s one of them or all of them or none of them. i don’t know.

hows and whys aside, i believe there is something magical about creating space for things to happen.

there is something to be said for setting aside time where your focus is on you and your well-being.

there is also something to be said for knowing that – for that same period of time – someone else’s focus is on you and your well-being.

our bodies want to talk to us. they are trying to talk to us all the time.

i do believe that even the simple act of giving them a space where they know we are open to hearing from them can cause something to happen.

and yes, even if i don’t know how reiki works, i do believe that it does work.

i have had many interesting experiences with reiki and have shared some of them. either they are direct experiences, or they are indirect experiences in that the practice made me more mindful and aware.

in the end, i don’t think you need to believe that something will work in order for it to be useful for you.

i didn’t believe reiki would work when i started and it has given me so much.

at the same time, i do think you need to be open to the idea that maybe something will happen. if you’re thinking of trying something solely because you absolutely positively believe that it doesn’t work and you want to prove that it doesn’t, maybe it would be best to save your money and your time for something that you feel a bit more positively about.

along with that, i don’t think it really matters whether you believe that something works how people say it works in order for it to be useful for you.

the hows and whys of things are interesting, but they’re not all there is. what is even more interesting is your direct experience with something and your feeling about whether it was useful for you.

just for fun, do you want to know how i really think reiki works?

i like to think of it as a little flashlight that’s going through me, shining a light into dark and dusty and dim spaces and saying, “oh, sweetie .. you really are ok. and if you’re interested, here’s something you might want to look at.”

yes. like that.