5 Reiki Self-Healing Mistakes To Avoid

No one is perfect, and even experienced reiki healers can make some mistakes. But the more familiar they get with reiki, the more practice they have, the less number of mistakes they make. The same goes for Reiki self-healing practices. Once you start practicing on yourself, you'll get more confidence with each self-healing session.

And I want to help you grow, I want to help you succeed… That's why I've decided to highlight the most common Reiki mistakes that I see new practitioners are making (and mistakes I made when I just got started) so that you can learn from them.

 

WAIT! If you’re more of a visual learner, check out my YouTube video where I detail everything in this post.

 

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I'm about to share with you the five things many novice Reiki healers are making and how you can use your awareness of these to become a more effective Reiki healer faster than you thought possible. Let's go!

 

Wearing uncomfortable clothes

And the first mistake is wearing uncomfortable clothes during the session. During your Reiki self-healing session, it's important to make sure that you feel comfortable, engaged and nothing distracts you. And the clothes you are wearing really make a difference. So, if you ever felt uncomfortable during your self-healing session, it simply might be the clothes you were wearing, like tight jeans or a button up shirt that squeezed your neck and belly.

I usually practice in the morning, or before going to bed. So, I'm usually wearing a basic t-shirt, or a t-shirt with leggings or my nightgown, on colder days it might be a sweatshirt with leggings and cozy socks. I find these garments the most comfortable. They don't make me feel cold or hot. They don't get in the way when I'm changing my hand positions. Also, what's more important, they don't squeeze my body parts and thus, don't disrupt breathing.

Holding your breath

The second mistake I made during my first couple of sessions was holding my breath. The thing is, I simply didn't realize it and it happened unexpectedly. The reason behind this mistake, as I later understood, was the tension I carried with me. But once I realized that, I began to control my breath intentionally during the whole session. And, in about a month it became a habit. So, if this is your case, too, you may want to try this technique as well. Another helpful way to breathe normally is to do a quick breathing exercise before your Reiki self-healing session.

Pushing too hard

Ok, the next mistake I made at the very beginning was pushing my palms too hard. Especially when it came to my temples and my throat. This was happening unintentionally and automatically as well. Doing it made me feel tired and uncomfortable instead of relaxed and filled with energy. So, I used the same principle as I used for my breath. For about a month I intentionally controlled the pressing force of my palms and adjusted it accordingly. Now, I use a light, gentle touch automatically. And sometimes I don't even touch my skin at all. The Reiki energy works just fine at a distance, so it's totally fine. If you are pushing too hard or feel uncomfortable when touching your head or temples or throat or any other part of your body, you may exclude it at all.

The last two mistakes are the most common ones, when it comes to inexperienced reiki practitioners. If you make them too, it means you have not fully understood the theoretical part of Reiki and I recommend you get back to your notes, or the course materials once again.

So, what are these mistakes?

Treating the exact issue

Let's start with this one: treating the exact issue. Let's say you feel your head aches or your leg hurts. So, what some new practitioners do is they concentrate their hand positions on that very part of the body instead of setting intentions and using Reiki symbols. This way, a self-healing session, on the one hand, becomes less effective and on the other hand, energy-consuming and tedious. My advice here, as I've already mentioned, is to re-read the Reiki course theory and to not practice self-healing or healing others until then. In short, Reiki energy goes where it needs to go.

Trying to control timing

And the last mistake is also connected to misunderstanding of the Reiki concept. That is, trying to control the timing of each hand position. Instead, I suggest you set a timing for the whole session, and set the intention before you start. A typical Reiki self-healing session lasts between 20 and 90 minutes. So, once you define the session timing, count the number of positions you are going to use and estimate the average timing for each position. This method works fine when you don't have much time but still want to put a quick session into your day's schedule.

The more effective method, from my experience, is when you don't set timing at all. And rely on your intuition and feelings during the session. My guiding hint during the first months of practicing was the warmth of my palms. Once they get warmed and more relaxed in this or that position, I know that it's time to move on to the next one. So, I suggest you listen to your intuition, notice the hints your body gives you and follow them.

 

Progressing with Reiki self-healing

Once you become more advanced and confident in self-healing, each next session will become more intuitive, effective and rewarding. So, keep practicing and let me know in the comments below if you have any questions about the self-healing process. We are here to support each other and to learn from each other, so I'm ready to help.