I used to be a headache sufferer. I wouldn’t get one everyday, but it was often enough that I would from time to time end up at home, after work, massaging my head and taking pain killers until it passed. It wasn’t for many years after I started to examine my habits and routines, that I realized that I was in a constant state of anxiety and tension. Unknowingly but consistently I was doing things that “begged” headaches on; simple, everyday things like under-drinking water and overdrinking caffeine and soda.
Intent on feeling better I took steps to eliminate the habits that were working against my well-being and pick up habits that would enhance it. Again, simple things like drinking enough water each day -- I haven’t had a soda in years, and valuing my ability to relax naturally as much as I value my ability to get things done.
Finally, I found Reiki. I received a Reiki attunement and committed to a consistent self-Reiki practice. My self-Reiki practice means that now, everyday when I am in bed about to go to sleep, I give myself Reiki for 15 minutes.
My self-Reiki practice allows me to naturally relax now. However, I can still sometimes get those headaches. Nowadays I can tell when they come on that if I’m already drinking enough water that I might need to be doing more self-Reiki. This is my indication to myself I might be Reiki depleted.
You can ask yourself if you’re Reiki depleted if you have symptoms like:
-headaches
-irritability
-anxiety
-getting into mental circles
-constipation
-trouble sleeping
Because Reiki works on the physical as well as the aura, the symptoms of Reiki are often physical in nature. This also means that sometimes thing we attribute to just “having a hard day at work” or “I just slept wrong” might actually be a symptom of Reiki depletion.
If you know you are taking good care of your physical body and yet you still feel something is missing, Reiki is an exceptional next step. Reiki is meant to help with the normal wear and tear we get just living in the world. If you are not doing your own self-Reiki and are not receiving Reiki from a Reiki practitioner, there’s a very good chance you’re Reiki depleted.
If you have a Reiki attunement and have any symptoms like this, first examine your hydration levels, but also consider examining other areas of your life including how much self-Reiki you do everyday. If you don’t have a daily self-Reiki practice, here again there’s a good chance you’re Reiki depleted. Having a Reiki attunement will increase the amount of Reiki you pick up in the world everyday, but even this isn’t enough. If you haven’t been consistent in at least 15 minutes of self-Reiki everyday, try more consistency and frequency with it and see if the symptoms abate.
If you don’t have a Reiki attunement, I recommend you see a Reiki practitioner who treats Reiki as an energy medicine and see if a few sessions of Reiki help to alleviate those symptoms. If you find that you were Reiki-depleted, you may want to consider receiving a Reiki attunement. Not only does a Reiki attunement help you pick up more Reiki that you receive from the world, but it also provides you the method to make Reiki part of your self-care practice everyday. With a Reiki attunement you can “turn on” the flow of Reiki just by cupping your hands over your body. This will begin your self-care practice. Just like water, if you could turn on your faucet at home to get all the water you need for a day, after a while you would probably do that instead of buying water in a store. Once Reiki self-care is part of your everyday life and your self-care, you probably will never want the faucet to turn off again!
By Carol Smith, Reiki Practitioner and contributing writer for Healing for People, an Energy Medicine clinic in Marin County, California. www.HealingforPeople.com.
Comments