My Reiki Journey - Part 10: Developing A Sensory Language
Reiki training gives us a basic framework in which to shape the experience of our reiki practice, but it is our continued practice that gives us the deeper sensory language and more detailed set of experiences through which to understand and communicate what is happening during reiki sessions.
Initially, I only sensed changes in temperature, then as I practiced more I began to sense tingling. This meant that initially, I could only communicate basic sensory changes to clients, but with even more practice, I began to notice that sometimes that tingling had more of a pulse that could change over a short period of healing focus. As my experiences grew, my ability to be more acute in what I was sensing started to grow as well. I started to notice that I wasn't just feeling the sensations in my hands, that sometimes I would feel it in other areas of my own body, which would help provide additional information that wasn't available just through what I could feel in my hands. Since every individual body has different signals to provide, I learned more ways of sensing and developing my sensory language as I practiced on more people. This is how practicing reiki on others helps us develop a deeper and more acute sensory language above and beyond our own self-care practice.
Below are some of the most common sensations that can be perceived on and around the body during reiki sessions. If we can document these sensory experiences with each person we work on, we can return to that documentation to identify what areas are changing or staying the same when working with a client multiple times.
Temperature
Changes in temperature are most commonly perceived by both the client and the practitioner during a reiki session. Temperature is a common thing we sense and understand throughout our life and we have many ways of measuring it, so it feels most real to our body and mind. During Reiki I, I mostly observed changes of hot and cold in my hands while doing a session. It was pretty obvious when some area had a different temperature over another area. I could easily sense a coolness over an organ that is usually known for generating heat, or a hotness over an area that I would expect to be more cool and fluid. Through communication with multiple reiki practitioner peers and clients, I would learn that certain types of hot and certain types of cold would mean different things about what was going on under the surface.
Tingling
Tingling is the second most common sensory experience perceived by both practitioner and client. It's like that tingling sensation you feel before numbness, which acts as a signal for your body to move or change something in order to avoid reaching a point of numbness. You might also recognize that tingling feeling after being out in the cold for a long time and then returning to a warm area where you feel the tingling sensation of your face and hands relaxing and gaining normal feeling again. Or perhaps you recognize it as the electrical tingling that comes with feeling goose bumps all over the body, but with reiki it may only happen in a small area. The tingling that can be felt in the hands during a reiki session is unique because we know we haven't just walked in from the cold or are doing anything that might cut off our circulation, but can still feel a very real energetic signal happening in a localized area.
Pulsing
Pulsing is different than tingling because it has a clear rhythm with points of separation. Similar to feeling your own pulse if you were to hold your fingers on a pulse point, but with reiki, we can feel this type of pulsing sensation at the energetic level and we may not need to touch the body at all to feel the pulsing of energy happening in an area of the body. There is an energetic electrical pulse that can be sensed around the body which helps provide additional information to energetic movement in the body. The rhythm of this pulse can be quick, slow, weak, or intense, and may demonstrate measurable change while holding one area of the body during reiki sessions as a signal that energetic healing changes are occurring in an area.
Humidity
The body exhales water and fluid in many more ways than just perspiration, urination, or through the breath. The entire body system depends on a large amount of water moving through in order for everything to keep working and floating around in healthy ways. Occasionally, the body may signal an excess of humidity emanating from an area, or a lack of humidity in an area where it would normally have some level of humidity. We can commonly use this to help us determine when someone is dehydrated, or where there is a moisture imbalance in the system that can be moved for improved through energy work.
Magnetic Push & Pull
Have you ever tried to force two of the polar north ends of a magnet together and felt the resistance of the magnets pushing back on each other? Have you tried to get a magnet close to a magnetic surface before it sticks to see where it feels like it starts pulling itself without your effort? The body provides similar magnetic resistance of pushes and pulls through its energy system to help communicate boundaries, balance, and imbalance. This electromagnetic push and pull can also be consciously communicated and controlled through the mind into the sphere of the aura so that people who are sensitive will be less likely to enter your emotional sphere on a bad day.
Pressure
Changes in the air pressure around the body are like changes in environmental air pressure. If you've ever flown in an airplane or gone above a certain elevation, you've likely experienced the feeling of more sudden or dramatic air pressure changes and the need to release that pressure to feel normal again. The body doesn't exhibit such dramatic changes in air pressure, but once we become sensitive to what the subtle changes in air pressure feel like around the body, we can sense where the air pressure drops or rises to provide an indication of an area in need of some extra focus.
Air Flow
Is the air flowing upward and away from the body, like an exhale, or is it flowing inward and down toward the body like an inhale? Does it seem to move in a spiral clockwise or counter clockwise? Does it feel like it crosses the body or only moves upward and downward? If we can sense the subtle direction of air moving around the body and if it has any patterns to it, we may be able to sense if the movement seems normal or unusual for that area of the body. As we become familiar with how air flow moves around different organs, it becomes easier to understand when something feels off or in need of greater balancing.
Any Others?
Have you noticed any other sensations that are easy to distinguish during a reiki session? Can you relate that sensation to something that is already measurable or easy to observe? I'd love to read your answers in the comments!
Anne Ruthmann, Certified Reiki III Master Practioner, www.abundantsphere.com
Initially, I only sensed changes in temperature, then as I practiced more I began to sense tingling. This meant that initially, I could only communicate basic sensory changes to clients, but with even more practice, I began to notice that sometimes that tingling had more of a pulse that could change over a short period of healing focus. As my experiences grew, my ability to be more acute in what I was sensing started to grow as well. I started to notice that I wasn't just feeling the sensations in my hands, that sometimes I would feel it in other areas of my own body, which would help provide additional information that wasn't available just through what I could feel in my hands. Since every individual body has different signals to provide, I learned more ways of sensing and developing my sensory language as I practiced on more people. This is how practicing reiki on others helps us develop a deeper and more acute sensory language above and beyond our own self-care practice.
Below are some of the most common sensations that can be perceived on and around the body during reiki sessions. If we can document these sensory experiences with each person we work on, we can return to that documentation to identify what areas are changing or staying the same when working with a client multiple times.
Temperature
Changes in temperature are most commonly perceived by both the client and the practitioner during a reiki session. Temperature is a common thing we sense and understand throughout our life and we have many ways of measuring it, so it feels most real to our body and mind. During Reiki I, I mostly observed changes of hot and cold in my hands while doing a session. It was pretty obvious when some area had a different temperature over another area. I could easily sense a coolness over an organ that is usually known for generating heat, or a hotness over an area that I would expect to be more cool and fluid. Through communication with multiple reiki practitioner peers and clients, I would learn that certain types of hot and certain types of cold would mean different things about what was going on under the surface.
Tingling
Tingling is the second most common sensory experience perceived by both practitioner and client. It's like that tingling sensation you feel before numbness, which acts as a signal for your body to move or change something in order to avoid reaching a point of numbness. You might also recognize that tingling feeling after being out in the cold for a long time and then returning to a warm area where you feel the tingling sensation of your face and hands relaxing and gaining normal feeling again. Or perhaps you recognize it as the electrical tingling that comes with feeling goose bumps all over the body, but with reiki it may only happen in a small area. The tingling that can be felt in the hands during a reiki session is unique because we know we haven't just walked in from the cold or are doing anything that might cut off our circulation, but can still feel a very real energetic signal happening in a localized area.
Pulsing
Pulsing is different than tingling because it has a clear rhythm with points of separation. Similar to feeling your own pulse if you were to hold your fingers on a pulse point, but with reiki, we can feel this type of pulsing sensation at the energetic level and we may not need to touch the body at all to feel the pulsing of energy happening in an area of the body. There is an energetic electrical pulse that can be sensed around the body which helps provide additional information to energetic movement in the body. The rhythm of this pulse can be quick, slow, weak, or intense, and may demonstrate measurable change while holding one area of the body during reiki sessions as a signal that energetic healing changes are occurring in an area.
Humidity
The body exhales water and fluid in many more ways than just perspiration, urination, or through the breath. The entire body system depends on a large amount of water moving through in order for everything to keep working and floating around in healthy ways. Occasionally, the body may signal an excess of humidity emanating from an area, or a lack of humidity in an area where it would normally have some level of humidity. We can commonly use this to help us determine when someone is dehydrated, or where there is a moisture imbalance in the system that can be moved for improved through energy work.
Magnetic Push & Pull
Have you ever tried to force two of the polar north ends of a magnet together and felt the resistance of the magnets pushing back on each other? Have you tried to get a magnet close to a magnetic surface before it sticks to see where it feels like it starts pulling itself without your effort? The body provides similar magnetic resistance of pushes and pulls through its energy system to help communicate boundaries, balance, and imbalance. This electromagnetic push and pull can also be consciously communicated and controlled through the mind into the sphere of the aura so that people who are sensitive will be less likely to enter your emotional sphere on a bad day.
Pressure
Changes in the air pressure around the body are like changes in environmental air pressure. If you've ever flown in an airplane or gone above a certain elevation, you've likely experienced the feeling of more sudden or dramatic air pressure changes and the need to release that pressure to feel normal again. The body doesn't exhibit such dramatic changes in air pressure, but once we become sensitive to what the subtle changes in air pressure feel like around the body, we can sense where the air pressure drops or rises to provide an indication of an area in need of some extra focus.
Air Flow
Is the air flowing upward and away from the body, like an exhale, or is it flowing inward and down toward the body like an inhale? Does it seem to move in a spiral clockwise or counter clockwise? Does it feel like it crosses the body or only moves upward and downward? If we can sense the subtle direction of air moving around the body and if it has any patterns to it, we may be able to sense if the movement seems normal or unusual for that area of the body. As we become familiar with how air flow moves around different organs, it becomes easier to understand when something feels off or in need of greater balancing.
Any Others?
Have you noticed any other sensations that are easy to distinguish during a reiki session? Can you relate that sensation to something that is already measurable or easy to observe? I'd love to read your answers in the comments!
Anne Ruthmann, Certified Reiki III Master Practioner, www.abundantsphere.com
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