Joy Vernon posed the question – “What do you recommend to beginners interested in Reiki?” This can be from the point of view of a teacher and how they start beginners out, or from the point of view of a student and what you found most helpful in getting started or wished you had known at the beginning.
When you start to learn anything new, then there are going to be lots of questions that pop up… When it comes to Reiki, then I think it is important for a student to consider how they want to get the answers to their questions…
I guess, my first piece of advice would be to find a teacher you are drawn to and then ask them how they teach and what is involved. There are many styles of Reiki and ultimately your choice will be your personal preference. No system is any better or any worse than any other and in the long-term, if you go down the Reiki path, you will find that you develop your own ways of doing things. There are as many ways of teaching as there are teachers so speak to teachers but I’m willing to bet that a key thing that all good teachers have in common is that they want you to find the right person and so they are happy to answer your questions to help you decide who to learn with… I do believe that a good teacher will signpost you to someone else if they feel that that teacher would be a better fit for you.
So, before you approach a teacher, think about how you like to learn and the environment that you want to be in. Think about the class size that you would be comfortable in, do you even want to be in a group or would you prefer 1:1 tuition. I think one of the things I wish I had known at the beginning was that there is much talk of Reiki Circles and I wish I had realised that being in a circle did not actually equate to standing in a circle and being with people… Being in a circle can be having lots of 1:1 connections with a network of people you meet but you do not all have to be in the same place at the same time… My circle is more of a web and not everybody on that web has yet met…
Think about your reasons for wanting to learn… for example if you are looking to go into business then it may be a good idea to see a teacher who is business minded and who can help you with that aspect as well… If you are focused on a spiritual journey then yes, the right teacher may just appear but exercise a little caution if there is too much talk of synchronicity… especially if it starts to sound like cliched patter… There are people out there who are solely interested in your money… a few questions will quickly reveal these people… In my opinion, there is a bigger risk of landing in a pitfall with a teacher who coaxes your into being taught by them for free… Yes. of course, there are people who teach for free because that is where their heart is truly at but there are also those who teach for free because they like to feel needed… they like to feel that they save people…
It is a potential minefield to find the right teacher as price offers no measure nor guarantee of quality plus what works well for one student does not always work well for another. I know many practitioners who have gone off and set up a good client base after a weekend of fast-track training… equally I know many who have come away from fast-track feeling totally overwhelmed by the experience, stepping back from the whole thing then returning to learn slowly and from scratch the whole thing so that they can build their confidence to work with others…
Personally, I prefer to teach one to one so the pace and content can be tailored to that particular student’s aims and objectives… My aim is to have my student leave feeling confident to work at the level they chose to work at.
My general approach is to have a lengthy chat with a potential student to discuss different ways to do things… Then I advise them to go away, think about it and also ask a few other teachers…
If they return, then I do tend to advise that they stay away from the books at this point and start by looking at their general lifestyle and how life is going for them. Books are there to be read but there are so many, that I think it’s best to see what questions naturally arise before opening the books. I think also, Reiki is by its nature very experiential so it can be disappointing to read about how others see visions etc… I think my least favourite question from a student is when they say something like X says that when you do this, this should happen, I don’t get that? Am I doing it wrong? When it comes to Reiki, comparison and competition are not your friends! You have to learn to feel and trust for yourself…
Most things are fluid with Reiki with no real hard definitions of this is right… The points that I do stress as being right and wrong are the mundane but very important matters of personal safety, getting insurance, being aware of where you place your hands so you don’t accidentally end up getting people mumbling #metoo when they leave your premises never to return again…
The other main concept that I like to stress and debate is the healing/curing dichotomy but I think I may leave that for another day as we wanted to think about beginners and so I want to boil it down to two points to think about…
- Take time to know yourself…
- Take time to get to know your teacher…
And on that note, I will signpost you towards the links and you can go learn more about Jay and Joy, both with their own ways and both people who I consider to be important elements of my Reiki Circle that is in no way round, today it’s a triangle… but we’re certainly never square yet these people are good to have in your corner 🙂
The pure and blessed way 
I love our Reiki triangle! I also love your two main points — get to know yourself, get to know your teacher. That is it in a nutshell!!! Yes, books with misinformation or that glorify one experience over another can be a problem. I often am fighting against the whole having visions thing. Also, Diane Stein’s book says in the first chapter that Reiki practitioners always have warm hands–that’s been a hard one to undo as well! People think that if their hands don’t get warm, they aren’t doing Reiki. Yes, that’s a common experience, but not everyone has the same experience as everyone else! Anyway, see you on the Tarot BlogHop next week!
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When I started to learn I had a couple of people recommend that book and I just felt an aversion to it… someone even lent me a copy which I returned unopened and unread. I did eventually read a few pages when I stumbled across a copy in a 2ndhand bookshop. I’m glad that was not the first book I read as i would not have gone on to learn Reiki at all…
See you on the equinox tbh for more waxing lyrical 😁
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That was how it was for me, I found the teacher/master by chance through a random search they were local and I knew the woman who’d recommended her very well. I am really glad that I did find them because since then I have stumbled across a few masters that are not that nice.
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Yes there are nice and not so nice people out there, just as there are in any sector. It’s wise to get a recommendation and also wise to trust your gut 😁
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Great advice!
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