Monday, October 10, 2011

Misconceptions

On the phone today, during a coaching call with one of my students, I heard that there is someone on the big conference circuit who is teaching a workshop in "everyday shamanism." Sounds nice. She's up there with Doreen Virtue, Gregg Braden, and other bigwigs. Except that my student reported that this person is telling Reiki practitioners that Reiki energy is "lower level" and the symbols are "blocking higher forms of energy from getting through." Then she brings Reiki practitioners up to the stage so she can "remove their symbols" through a "deattunement" process and thus free them from their energetic limitations.


Oh dear, I think I feel my blood boiling. Must be the reason smoke is coming out of my ears.


Grounding...yes...a good thing for moments like these.


And now to set the record straight.


Reiki is not a "lower level" of healing. Reiki is a specific frequency of healing. And Practical Reiki, furthermore, is an expanded frequency because it includes Earth (Kundalini) energy in the mix. All energy healing techniques work with specific frequencies of energy. Qi Gong, Quantum-Touch, Polarity, and more, all have methods, techniques, and subtle energetic frequencies that activate to create energetic change. Think of an orchestra, and each method is a specific instrument in a family of instruments. One who learns to play a range of instruments has more tools for his use, in combination or singly. It's not that one is "better" than another, but the more one uses, the more energetic ranges are affected for healing and balance.


Symbols are a way of setting the intention for the energy to work. I teach a method of Reiki that does not use symbols. I do not "remove" symbols for people who use them (as if that were possible!!), but instead I teach that the use of symbols is optional. I teach people to access intention through words instead of symbols so they have a choice. I also give everyone an understanding of what symbols really are - shortcuts for directing intention. Speed-dial. When people learn Practical Reiki, they learn, experience, and then practice directing Reiki energy by thoughts and words only. There are no hand positions or symbols. This isn't a higher level of healing, it's a higher level of understanding about what's really going on behind the scenes when one is practicing Reiki.


What this person is doing, actually, is the same as what I'm doing, but her way is misleading. She doesn't have the power to remove symbols. There is no "symbol removal" necessary or even possible, even if symbols were used in one's attunements (as many are). In essence, that's not what she is doing. But by making people think that after she does her little ritual, they will magically be "free" of the "limitation" of using symbols, these people are now ready to believe that they are practicing a higher form of healing - without "needing" to use symbols. Ta-daa! I no longer need those symbols!! It's mind manipulation.


By being a person at the forefront, accepted as a authority, and speaking alongside others who are at the top of this energy healing and metaphysical field, she is responsible for the accuracy of what she teaches. And I have to say that I totally resent her giving the impression that Reiki is sub-par or that a Reiki practitioner needs an energetic "deattunement" of any kind in order to move forward. That's just wrong.


Increasing the strength of the intuition and the power of one's energy healing ability is done through mindful practice and dedicated learning. It is good to become attuned to various systems, as long as one takes the time to fully learn and incorporate these new energetic frequencies into his or her own. I'm trained and familiar with several methods of energy healing and going to a workshop to learn another method in November.


But you will never hear me telling someone that one method is "lower level" than another. Because just as methods are different, people are too. Different methods will naturally resonate with different people. I'm very resonant with Reiki. My good friend and colleague Ernie Betz is very in tune with Quantum-Touch. We've each learned Reiki and Quantum-Touch both, and we both experience profound results in our practices. But we both understand that it's about the practice and the person's comfort level that makes the difference. As long as one is mindfully practicing, one's intuition gets stronger, and the results continue to show themselves as valid and powerful.


Anyone who doesn't understand this does not belong in the spotlight teaching others.


(Alice steps off the soapbox...for now.)

8 comments:

Divine Lotus Healing said...

Wow, that is strange...this woman does not know what Reiki is if she is teaching such fear based material. What a shame that the folks in the audience don't realize they are being brainwashed. I send Reiki blessings to everyone effected, including the misguided woman. Thank you Alice for highlighting this!

Em said...

I had no idea this was going on--how strange. I've had the experience of hearing some teachers assert that their form of Reiki was somehow better, more pure, yadda yada, but I have never heard of symbol deattunement. I personally like the symbols and the "speed dial" aspect they represent, but respect that others may feel differently or better respond to different techniques.

Anonymous said...

She needs sey hey ki & hon sha ze sho nen to release that mindset & become more open to possibilities... :-) Reiki is not a limitation but an expansion. <3 ^j^ ;-)

40 reiki audio attunements said...

i had similar experience :(

reiki for all - cosmic energy activation said...

guys did you hear about the reiki manifestation or the cosmic energy activation ?

Alexander Gottwald said...

Hi Alice,
I know that kind of "teachings" ... it's used in the German speaking realm to promote Christian sects ("Reiki is from the devil - let me give you God"), so called "new energies" ("Reiki is an old energy - I sell you a new one") or any kind of energy/body work ("Reiki is blocking your chakras - I sell you a session to free you from this") ... in my view, there's two main reasons for that: 1. Reiki is one of the most searched esoteric keywords on google. So it's worth using it to attract attention from readers. 2. relates to 1: As people genetically are more attracted to bad news than to good news, it attracts all the fearful people to those teachers ...

So in a way, even they do their work in a good way, because they distract the fearful, so they can learn another lesson, not to believe in fear and can return to their hearts ...

All (IS) love,

Alexander Gottwald

Alice Langholt said...

Thanks so much Alexander, for your thoughtful comment. I find it hard to spin this misinformation in a good light, but I guess it can lead a person the long way to discover truth for themselves. Maybe not so much for the leaders who are making the false claims.

Blessings,
Alice

ThreeBecomeFour said...

Thank you for sharing this information. This has passed me by thus far so it's useful to know what other people are teaching. I've encountered many different approaches to teaching Reiki and agree that we each work with what resonates the best with us. I feel sad that someone would sell mistrust to people in order to promote their own teaching. I, for one, don't feel that my Reiki practice is threatened by this but feel sad that other people may believe this person and feel confused. So, on this subject I will work very hard at "just for day, do not be angry".......