Choosing a Master / Teacher

The single and most important step on your Reiki journey, choosing a Reiki Master will seem daunting at first but once you have decided what is important to you in a Reiki Master the decision will become much easier.

Below are some of the factors to consider when choosing your master followed by a detailed examination of each factor.

• Lineage - Is the Reiki Master able to produce a copy of their lineage ? This is something that they should also pass to you upon completion of your first attunement and must show Usui Mikao as the founder, the names of all other Masters that the Reiki has been passed down through, all the way down to your Reiki Master and finally showing your name at the end.  
• Spiritual Connection - Compatibility with your Reiki Master is also very important, if you do not feel comfortable with your Master and their teachings then how will you be able to discuss personal issues along your journey and how will you be able to intergrate those teachings into your life ? Get to know them before your course and give yourself time to make your decision.
• Support - Is there any offer of ongoing support further to your attunment ? A good Reiki Master will be available for you during their lifetime. You should be able to ask questions of them and when they cannot provide an answer you should feel comfortable that they will be honest and tell you that they are unsure (as obviously no one can possibly know everything) and that they will then attempt to search for an answer for you.

As I have already mentioned the importance of lineage in choosing my Master on the lineage page I will move on to spiritual connection. When the decision  was taken for me to progress to Reiki Master it wasn't something that I had actively seeked. I knew that I did want to take my Masters but also knew I needed the right Master to teach me and was prepared to wait as long as it took to find them. It was around that time that my friend lent me the book The Japenese Art of Reiki and I was hooked, what a wonderful perspective Frans and Bronwen Stiene have on Reiki! Shortly after becoming hooked on their teachings I accidently found their website along with details of their World Tour, including a date in Glasgow and I knew I had found my Master.

Spiritual Connection is something very personal to the individual but you will know when you have found yours just have the faith to keep searching until you find it.

Variation of courses available - Things to consider

When you first attempted to ride a bike or take a swim, how would you have felt without your stabilisers or your water wings ? This is how some people are taught Reiki, courses which cram Reiki 1, 2 and sometimes even 3 into just one day are available! In theory this would mean you could complete all your Reiki training in a day and go off and start to teach other people Reiki..... a very scarey concept indeed! Just like being thrown into the water and left to sink or swim.

However, besides from the issues of how can you learn it all in just one day, would you even want to ? A Reiki 1 attunement can be a very profound experience and further to your attunement you will want time to adjust to the energy and to discover the changes Reiki brings to you and your life. I have found the process of each attunement exciting and eagerly awaited my next step. Reiki 1, 2 and 3 will each bring their own things to the mix and to experience and adjust to each one individually is really, in my opinion, the only way to experience becoming Reiki. Experiencing Reiki in this way also means that you have the full knowledge and experience of each attunement and its effects so that when it becomes your turn to teach you will have experienced all the steps for themselves and have the ability to share this with your pupils.

On top of adjusting to the new experience of feeling the energies in and around you, you are also taught to use Reiki in many ways to assist you in your life or if you are completing a more advanced course you will be taught how to assist others.

Enjoy each step of your journey.

Why study with me ?

When the time comes that you finally decide to embark on your first Reiki course, as I have already mentioned, it can be a little daunting trying to decide on a Reiki Master.

It is only really once you begin your path that you start to feel clear about what is right for you. This is one of the reasons why I suggest that you join me for a chat or call me for a chat before signing up for a course. 

During my Reiki journey I have made many discoveries about Reiki and its variations. Western Reiki is taught from a very different perspective than Japanese Reiki and it is up to the individual which route feels right for them. For me personally, having discovered Japanese Reiki I could not possibly look back as it has been such a positive and life changing experience and a path I shall continue to travel down with glee.

As I have already mentioned, I teach Japanese lineage Usui Reiki Ryoho. It is a life changing experience to have your very first attunement with many people even experiencing profound feelings during the actual attunement itself.

On such a life changing journey it is of such importance to have an open minded Reiki Master as everyones experience and interpretation of their journey is entirely unique. A Reiki Master will give you your attunement to Reiki and all the background information that you need to get started, after that they should offer support and advice when required but otherwise remain quietly in the background whilst your journey unfolds before you.