Pre & Post Treatment guidelines, Healing Crisis and more!

A very Happy New Year to everyone! 

In this concluding section on Reiki fundamentals, we'll explore pre- and post-treatment care that clients often ask about. We'll also discuss the important concept of healing crises and explain how Reiki readings occur.

How should one prepare for a Reiki treatment?

No specific preparation is needed except willingness and openness to the treatment. In my experience, you are also not ‘required’ to have strong faith in the reiki practice; even in the face of skepticism, the energy will do its work. The energy operates independently. Thus, the best support you can offer is to simply ‘allow’ it to do its job. Of course, it is beneficial to release any doubts or fears, as those create added layers of congested energy in the process. During the treatment, simply relax and surrender, if possible with trust and that’s it.

What to do after a Reiki treatment?

Each treatment impacts and helps clients in the process of healing differently. Reiki activates and recharges one’s own energy/kundalini flow, so to help ease the process, it is good to keep the body hydrated, have plenty of fluids, and allow the body to ease and rest in the immediate couple of days. For those who tend to reflect and introspect, writing is an excellent way to release any rising thoughts or emotions. The shifts and changes will unfold and reveal themselves slowly in their own time. The next part answers what to do if you experience any “healing crisis.”

What is healing crisis and how to deal with it?

Though the therapy is always gentle, some clients may experience a "healing crisis." A healing crisis is a common phenomenon in alternative and natural health therapies during which symptoms may briefly worsen before beginning to improve. It's a temporary phase, usually mild, and often referred to as a "detox" or "cleansing reaction." If it occurs, it typically happens within the first 1-2 days as some detoxification processes take place. This detox isn't necessarily only physical; some clients experience old, suppressed emotions resurfacing.

This is always good news because dormant issues will rise before they can be released. Imagine a jar of liquid with heavy residue at the bottom. The Reiki energy, activating and working through your own energy/kundalini, stirs it up. As in science, the residue that was at the bottom rises to the top. This surfacing of issues is beneficial as it confirms that the energy is working!

It is important to be observant and take time to reflect on what emotions or thoughts that arise. These resurfacing emotions or thoughts imply that they were suppressed in the past; hence, the unresolved versions remain present in your energetic body. I understand that re-experiencing buried emotions may not always be comfortable. However, this process ultimately serves the highest good by allowing negative and unserving energies to be released from our system and physical bodies. Therefore, it's beneficial to release them through reflection, introspection, journaling, or similar practices.

It's also important, and wise, not to associate this situation with fear should it occur. It's ideal to remain calm, grounded, and neutral, and to not lose faith in your own intuition that led you to seek Reiki treatment.

Whenever I experience a "healing crisis" through any spiritual practice, I slow down, allow the experience to unfold, and let it pass. It's similar to how muscles can be sore after a workout before they grow stronger. Or, in a more poetic turn of phrase that I read online and found so inspiring, the dahlia flower blooms by contracting slightly before expanding each new layer. Similarly, before stepping into a new, more authentic, and healed version of ourselves, we often go through a brief pullback moment.

What is a ‘reading’ and where does it come from?

During any session, when working as a channel and remaining in their truest integrity, it is common that Reiki practitioners experience a state of 'heightened intuition'.

Thanks to the additional skills and techniques I have learned from my teacher and developed over the years, I often receive information related to the on-going session during this experience of intuitive state. This can take various forms, such as messages that are relevant to what the client is currently going through in life, insights about a timeline or event that may have caused an energetic congestion, suggestions for foods, herbs, or activities to incorporate into their lifestyle etc.

It is hard to predict in advance what info will be received or what theme the treatment will revolve around. However, this info —what I refer also as “the reading”—to be unique to each session and client, tailored specifically to what they need at that moment in their life. After the session, it is shared in detail with the client and together, we explore actionable steps for their healing journey, emphasising the importance of individual initiative and self-reflection throughout the process.

Summary

I hope this recent set of posts has helped to draw a clearer picture of what Reiki does and how it works. Though often relaxing as our nervous systems slow down, it puts us in a state of ease, while also healing and unveiling our layers, one by one. This is a journey. Unlike a spa or massage treatment, healing journeys challenge us to consciously choose to put in the work towards self-growth. As we know, where our focus goes, energy flows, and hence, whatever it concentrates on evolves.

In other words, our lives are shaped by what we choose and focus on, slowly, step by step over a period. And we always have a choice to make it more and more positive.

Thank you for taking the time to read through, see you in few days with our next post!