REIKI WORLD MAGAZINE - WINTER 2021
Tools for Listening to Reiki Energy by Dr. Duncan Cross I’ve been an Usui Reiki Master Teacher since 2000, (through a Beth Gray lineage) and have also undertaken training through the John Harvey Gray Lineage with Lourdes Gray and have had training in Holy Fire® III and Karuna Master Holy Fire® III. I’ve also been a teacher of language and communication skills, medical education and teacher training since 2001 and teach at a University in the UK. During some of my other training, we were discussing teaching and supporting the development of sensing the energy during the Reiki 1 class and also when going into practice. I brought in my experience of teaching and supporting learning using metaphysical causations of illness (metaphysics for the rest of this article) as a tool for developing listening to the energy, yourself, and the client. Some may be familiar with this idea from Louise Hay and her books ‘You Can Heal Your Life and You Can Heal Your Body’, but I’m writing to share with the community who may not be familiar with this concept. I also presented about this at the 2021 Reiki Rays summit. Learning to listen to (or perceive) the energy with the hands and intuition can be difficult for many who are coming to Reiki for the first time. It can also be difficult for those who have been practising for some time but don’t know how to express, interpret and communicate what they are sensing. This difficulty can lead to lots of confusion, anxiety, and feelings of inadequacy, especially if others in a class or Reiki share are discussing sensations, perceptions, or intuitive responses. Regardless of what we teach regarding listening to perceptions or intuition, 8
REIKI WORLD MAGAZINE - UKRF
some find it harder to hear or understand the guidance they may be receiving from the energy. Also, some have an ingrained fear of what we are teaching and of listening to the energy. Moving beyond this obstacle can Dr. Duncan Cross be tricky, but it’s important to provide a scaffold for our learners to grab onto to support their development. One of the first things I discuss with my students is knowing when to move hand positions, which can be tricky even for those who can feel the energy. I always tell them to ask the energy, “Is it time to move on?” and go with that first strong answer of yes or no. For some, this question can be the first building block of developing their skills, but what next? For those of us who are teachers, our job is to give some direction or guidance to our Reiki students to find a way for them to process and understand what they are receiving. Practitioners may just want another tool or technique to support their development. Metaphysics is one tool that we can use to give a framework of understanding that can be built upon during further practice.
What are Metaphysical causations of illness? Louise Hay, in her little blue book ‘Heal Your Body’,
