So often I run in to people that mention that they learned 1st degree Reiki but they never went any further with it. Their dismissive attitude tells me clearly that they didn't get to feel empowered in their 1st Degree. To be empowered in Reiki you feel it in your bones, in your heart and soul, viscerally, and you never forget it. Reiki especially at the 1st Degree level of initiation has the power to change your life. Be assured that with your initiation you have engaged with an incredibly elegant and powerful self-healing technique. There are a few things to understand to enhance your sense of empowerment in 1st Degree.
Reiki is easily and commonly taught with basic misconceptions.
i) that students at the 1st Degree level are only at an initiatory level of Reiki.
ii) that it is learned as a modality with which to treat others.
iii) that right from the beginning you become a 'channel' for universal energy.
Believing in each of these 3 unfortunate misconceptions compounds finally in creating a weakened relationship with Reiki. If the teacher fails to recognize the true implicit beauty and potential of the 1st Degree practice how can her students hope to experience it fully?
Try not to think of Reiki as a channeling technique - it is actually an embodiment of universal energy. You don't become attuned to channel energy - you become attuned to awaken the universal life force energy aspect within yourself. As you awaken your entire personal energy field you will resonate with the universal energy forces and rhythms of life energy as they exist universally all around you. In Reiki 1st Degree students are attuned to wake up their own latent energy force and step into a harmonized relationship with universal life force rhythms. Sounds big doesn't it? That's because it is.
The potential of 1st Degree Reiki offers the student a complete body of knowledge independent of how far you choose to go with it. Interestingly, even though all 2nd Degree students must take 1st Degree, most don't understand what 1st Degree is about, they have only considered it as being a small stepping stone to get to 2nd Degree. There are a few solid though simple components that must be practiced extensively before one is ready to move competently on to the next level of learning.
1. In 1st Degree students are given 4 attunements because that's what it takes to wake up after our energetic system has been sleeping for a long time. It's like hitting the snooze button over and over. With each attunement you wake up a bit more until there is no chance of slipping peacefully into your previous slumber. Consider the attunements to be gentle incremental nudges to stimulate your awakening. With each subsequent degree you get more attunements all for the same reason - to wake you up to be more energetically aware! Of course, the Reiki attunements can only be passed on by a Master Teacher who is aware and awake her self. Usui also gave weekly Reiju Empowerments (mini attunements) for the same purpose.
2. In 1st Degree you learn various meditations that were designed by Usui to bring a fully conscious awareness to witnessing and experiencing yourself as a spiritual being of light. On a sub-atomic level we are comprised of molecules vibrating at a specific frequency. Under a high-powered microscope that frequency looks like light. We are light - luminous beings capable of continuously creating and generating life. Imagine! In the practice of Reiki we learn to amplify our light body as if we were using a dimmer switch.
3. In 1st Degree you learn a series of 5 Precepts that Usui developed to guide us into thoughtfully contemplating our spiritually moral and ethical responsibilities in life on a daily basis. Living to the best of our ability within these 5 precepts promotes happiness, compassion, peace of mind and ultimately health. Deep personal reflection is needed to understand our motivations, actions and way of being in the world.
4. In 1st Degree you learn how to give yourself treatments. Doing daily self-treatments is the single most important aspect of Reiki, yet so few students are even aware this is possible. In 1st Degree you also learn how to give others treatments. All students of Reiki feel compelled to share their energy with others. It's natural to share what we learn. Unfortunately, until we learn how to patiently sit in our own healing energy we are not able to be effective as a healer to anyone else. People are always more apt to help others than help themselves. 1st Degree teaches us first and foremost to start with the self.
It is customary to take a minimum of 3 months to fully learn to embody universal energy and experience the awakening that is possible through the daily practice of 1st Degree. In Second Degree students learn how to use their ever awakening status to assist healing in another person effectively in person and at a distance. But there is no hurry, universe and Reiki are timeless experiences. There will be ample opportunity to heal the world - but it has to start with you. I encourage you all to re-visit your 1st Degree teachings and come to experience the essential nature of Reiki as it moves you in harmony with your universe.
Andrea Connell is a full time practicing Reiki Master, metaphysics teacher and energy practitioner. She has been using Tarot Cards and energy work to assist people in their life transitions for over 15 years and is passionate about teaching people the tools they need to feel empowered in their own lives. She is a popular teacher and offers many programs, seminars and workshops in self-empowerment, metaphysics, meditation and Reiki. When she isn't teaching she's busy working on her book. Find out more on her website http://www.centreforappliedmetaphysics.com and her blog at http://www.andreathielconnell.wordpress.com/.
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