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So I've been given a Reiki 2 attunement and have still apparently not made the progress I've wanted to with addictions. I believe it has something to do with my simply loving every facet of existence and not caring what existence ends up being my own. Anyways, I was just wondering if anyone has had any experience or has any words to say about reiki and drugs (in my case mary jane, lucy, and those fun guys [although the real culprits may be sugar, caffeine, poor nutritional foods available, unhealthy water supply, and alcohol]) and/or reiki and addiction?
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Re: Reiki and drugs
Fri, December 12, 2008 - 8:15 AMHi. I'm not so certain that the "fun guys" you mention (and their relatives mary jane & lucy) are addictive, per se. They're not classed as addictive substances. It's probably that you've developed a dependency on them.
When I was a young guy who'd gotten into the same sort of dependent relationship with those sorts of substances, two things shifted my life away from them: One was that I began to reflect on myself and apply reason to the situation, and decided I did not like the feeling of being dependent on them (and wanted to have the joy, sense of connection, meaning, and sensitivity in my life without them, too). The other thing was that a person I respected said to me, "You know, they are actually medicines - and not meant to be your diet."
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Re: Reiki and drugs
Fri, December 12, 2008 - 9:08 AMIts for that reason that when I teach, I emphasize traditional
stories of Usui and Takata's lives, the five lifestyle principles,
and having a daily spiritual practice.
Many of my students are followers of A Course in Miracles,
are daily meditators, in recovery (doing the 12 steps), or
seeing a therapist (or life coach) for personal growth. Daily
Reiki self-treatment will help, but the energy itself won't cause
transformation of the mind, unless you are actively working
on those areas-- not in an airy-fairy, new-agey sort of way, but
seriously, commitedly confronting your stuff (bagage, stories, etc.)
When people do that, Reiki's help is dramatic, when people don't
do that, Reiki doesn't help much. -
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Re: Reiki and drugs
Tue, December 16, 2008 - 7:31 AMWhat both Mark and Tenamon said is true. Reiki does not discriminate, nor does Reiki really care if you are high. I have been soaring on canadian beer medicine (kok&e) and had Reiki turn on and be very effectuall when someone close to me needed it. I empathize completely with your plight and myself am one month into a six month vow of sobriety, cleanliness and celibacy. There are many medicines available to us, some expanding and some not, but all with their uses. It is when our actions lack consciousness that the trouble begins. There is one medicine I do not have personal experience with but is available in other countries to deal specifically with addictions, it is the african plant Iboga. The one medicine available to you now and for free is daily practise: www.dhamma.org/
Good luck in your journey.
give thanks,
give love.
K* -
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Re: Reiki and drugs
Fri, December 19, 2008 - 11:32 AMI dont agree. it is always better to be straight when you use Reiki or any other invacive technec. You are in another persons body. -
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Re: Reiki and drugs
Fri, December 19, 2008 - 3:49 PMIn my opinion, based on experience, the Reiki
energy will flow, if necessary even when the
practitioner is drunk. However, the efficiency
of the flow is somewhat impaired. As for drugs,
a mucked up channel, will not facilitate a strong
flow. -
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Unsu...
Re: Reiki and drugs
Fri, December 19, 2008 - 6:11 PMright, because we are channels or "conduits". If the pipe is messy or clogged and the energy needs to flow through, well... there ya go. -
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Unsu...
Re: Reiki and drugs
Fri, December 19, 2008 - 6:16 PMand because I grew up around a "hippie" family group(s) and I am very familiar with drug vibrations -I can usually sense when someone is on a drug, even if they are not visibly exhibiting behavior- I wouldn't think twice about slapping the hand away that tried to pass energy to me while they were intoxicated by something not out of natures cabinet.
Also there is something to be said about someone who just takes drugs (not pointing at the poster here, generalizing) for recreational purposes -that's intent or lack thereof- versus a shaman who has spent years of training working with a controlled natural substance to produce a specific state of being.
Very dangerous grounds to mix the two in many instance, Reiki being from the greater source, having a seeming intelligence, i would suspect that it would flow or not as necessary but I would not engage in the process of mixing. One might find themselves opening up in ways that they are not prepared to metaphysical experience that could be psychologically and spiritually damaging. And I speak from experience on that one. :)
Scott
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Re: Reiki and drugs
Wed, January 14, 2009 - 10:35 PMits not YOU in the body.. its REIKI
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Re: Reiki and drugs
Tue, January 13, 2009 - 8:22 AMSome of the more traditional Japanese Reiki practices are very reminiscent of Zen and Qigong practices, in my opinion. The practices are more focused on personal spiritual growth and development, less focused on "treatments". The traditional practices contain meditation and personal exercises that work with the Ki. I think that these practices are more supportive of the kind of transformation that Mark is referring to than self-treatment - or even other-treatment - alone. Meditation can be a very powerful tool for transformation.
One needs the intention to change, and be mindful of passing the responsibility for that change off to a force seen as an "outside" influence - which seems to be how some practitioners view Reiki. Many practitioners refer to "channeling" the energy, which is a useful metaphor, but Reiki is not magic fairy dust sprinkled on from the outside. It is also the stuff we are made of! Reiki can't change you - unless you are willing to use it as a tool for change.
I once had a client who was receiving treatments of various kinds. Reiki, massage, doctors. She found Reiki very helpful, so I suggested that she take a class and learn to treat herself. She responded vehemently that she was not ready to be responsible for her own care and treatment!
Perhaps you can ask yourself what your real intention is in treating yourself. Are you expecting Reiki to do all the work of changing your behaviors, so you don't have to do the deep dive into your habituated choices?
All the best ! I know you'll choose what you need at this time!
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Unsu...
Re: Reiki and drugs
Sat, December 20, 2008 - 12:28 PMIt would appear as though the symbol sei he ki is appearing in your life. I have noticed that with students addiction stuff
comes up at the second attunement. Have you spent intentional time with sei he ki? Hopefullly your teacher has shared
this symbol with you, if not you can find the symbol online.
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Re: Reiki and drugs
Thu, December 25, 2008 - 12:39 PMThe only way to get over an addiction is to do the foot work for it. I have found, with all the transformation from just my first attunement, the only way to keep the healthy life is to continue doing it. If the drugs have become an issue in your life you will need to seek help from others, be that a councilor, NA or AA group, or just friends who are really supportive. Friends being supportive means they will be there when you are crashing and still love you when your dealing with mental issues that come from addiction.
Mark said it best. Reiki can help, but only as an aid. Good luck on your path. -
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Re: Reiki and drugs
Fri, December 26, 2008 - 3:54 AMI would say that anything deamed as recreational stimulant would effect your ability to be balanced in your chakra's, blocking some flow as mentioned above. We all have personal issues we will need to grow from for the rest of our lives, however, removing stimulants that provide a false sense of balance would be a great place to start. Maybe the Reiki HAS attuned you in the fact that you even ask the question? You must sense the need to remove these things simply by asking the question. Hmmm? -
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Re: Reiki and drugs
Wed, January 14, 2009 - 12:13 PMThanks for the discussion and posts everyone, there was lots of great love and support, and although I know all the words you spoke are true there is little that is new to me from these words.
What it seems my dilemma is, which is a personal one I guess, is an intentional choice to remove myself from these addictions. The difficulty doesn't lie in taking the necessary steps but rather in forming the resolve and intent to remove negative aspects from one's life. It's interesting that I (and anyone for that matter) can observe the negative effects certain addictions are having on my well-being and yet continue to choose the positive, perhaps unhealthy, rushes/highs/etc.
It seems ultimately what's at stake with any addiction is the decision to choose long-term over short-term. Simply put. Perhaps humans are always thinking in one way or another.... and if long-term is better why don't we always do it? Is short-term just as equal and will we then always have desires and addictions? Clearly I'm getting into different questions of time here; but hopefully I can remember to choose long-term in my life from now on.
Peace
(Btw I still wonder if this new age stuff is all crazy!) -
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Re: Reiki and drugs
Wed, January 14, 2009 - 6:17 PMWho says this is "new age?" -
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Unsu...
Re: Reiki and drugs
Fri, February 20, 2009 - 8:09 PMtrue, most "new age" is really "old age."
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Re: Reiki and drugs/Intention
Wed, January 14, 2009 - 11:17 PMI wonder what the problem with addictions are if the intent is always to be open, meditative, loving, and joyful?
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Re: Reiki and drugs/Intention
Thu, January 15, 2009 - 9:20 AMIntent isn't sufficient.
Between means and ends, it's means
that determines the end.
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Re: Reiki and drugs
Wed, January 21, 2009 - 1:39 AMSome things come to mind.
Some current thinking about addictions propose a model where the neurochemical dopamine is favored and behaviors which produce a strong dopamine response are reinforced. You might want to do some research down this road to see if any of this thinking applies to you. I was first exposed to this line of thinking by my hypnosis teacher who was both in recovery and worked with people wanting to make a change in the area of their addictions. Mediating the dopamine loop can sometimes be accomplished with good nutrition and the proper use of nutritional supplements.
Another pathway to working with addiction is to work with someone who is skilled in the art of motivational interviewing. Basically the idea here is that it is up to you to figure out if this "addiction" is problem enough for you to want to do something about it. If and when you want to change the counselor is available to help surface the type of change you would like to explore and ways to go about implementing changes. If your current behavior is a source of discomfort or pain, you might go this route.
If you have time for a short read on the subject of psychedelic substances and the life of spirit, I can suggest the book "Zig Zag Zen". This book presents a balance view of the use of substances as part of ones spiritual path as experienced in the Buddhist community during the 60's and 70's as remembered by participants from that era. Very interesting stuff. Google ayahuasca and you will find all sorts of good information from southamerican shamans and their followers regarding the use of sacred plants in traditional indigenous societies.
My most powerful sense of reiki came to me while I was channeling reiki while participating in a long dance ceremony one summer solstice while having ingested a beverage made from a psychedelic cactus. The reiki was phenomenal.
One of the methods I use for working on myself when I'm confronted with conflicted emotions is to employ the reiki precepts as a dynamic meditation. You would do this by reciting the precepts as a group and then take each of the precepts and relate your current concern to the precept.
I'm worried about my drug use. For today only worry not. I want to release any anxiety I have about my drug use. Compulsion to use is a form of anxiety. This is different than being at choice. So it is possible to set the intention to be free from worry in this moment. Sounds a bit like the AA mantra, "one day at a time". When you are clear about your intention you can then begin a self reiki session. This can result in the removal of anxiety.
If you are not having anxiety, then maybe this is not a problem and you simply enjoy being high and societal prohibition creates a sense of dis-ease. Here again you can maybe go to the precept, "For today only, anger not" and intend to release your simmering anger regarding others anti drug attitudes so that you can truly enjoy your bliss. Do the self-reiki. Whatever.
Blessings,
Mike
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Re: Reiki and drugs
Wed, January 21, 2009 - 7:43 AMIn Bryan's original post, he wrote: "just wondering if anyone has had any experience or has any words to say about reiki and drugs (in my case mary jane, lucy, and those fun guys [although the real culprits may be sugar, caffeine, poor nutritional foods available, unhealthy water supply, and alcohol]) and/or reiki and addiction?"
Okay. Addiction, per se, is probably an irrelevant concept. Why? Because "mary jane" is marijuana. "Lucy" is LSD. And the "fun guys" (i.e., fungi) are mushrooms. These are the psychoactive agents that Bryan emphasizes in what he wrote, but these do not produce what medical people term "addiction." Drugs like the opiates, cocaine (incl "crack"), and the amphetamines are among the addictive ones. Bryan does mention alcohol, but has not emphasized that he has a problem with it (though I won't assume that he does not).
Perhaps he has become dependent on the psychoactive effects of the entheogens/psychedelics that he lists. People often come to rely on the feelings of release, integration, connection, imagination, trippiness (etc) that can be among the effects that these substances can have... hence many people repeat their usage of these substances.
But a "dependence" is distinguished from an "addiction" and I'm sure there is a great deal of information available on the Web concerning what the distinctions are, for those who want more info on that.
If Bryan really wants to try 'cleaning up his life' and doing without the substances he mentions that he has apparently become dependent on, then I'm confident he can do it. Usually, with the entheogenic substances he's named, physiological imbalances (if any) are not so extreme that pharmaceutical therapy is needed.
After leaving them alone for a whie, he can compare how he feels, overall, with how he felt overall during his drug-using phase(s) of life. To my own way of looking at things, there is an advantage to carrying on one's spiritual practices without the influence of drug dependency. But Bryan will have to decide things for himself.
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Re: Reiki and drugs
Sat, January 24, 2009 - 10:17 AMwhat I do is if there is something I would like to no longer have in my life, is I allow the thing to come up and choose in the moment whether to eat it, take it, smoke it, drink it...whatever. I choose consciously and usually make a ritual of it. For me this involves offering it up to Spirit. Deepak Chopra talks about this way of dealing with addictions. To do what we are compelled to do, but to do them mindfully. As the muscle of actively choosing to do something, without guilt or regret becomes more flexed, I find that muscle eventually comes into play to help me remove something I want to remove from my life. Most recently for me, it was wine. From the purity of my diet, I found that drinking wine was making me ill, even one glass. Yet I still wanted it. So when it came up that I wanted it, I would drink it, thereby eliminating the desire for it and any sort of deprivation programming was appeased, but I made sure that I actively chose to do so, and mindfully which means for me observing the ritual of it, the way it made me feel, the mental processes attached. In the last month, I have found that I no longer want the wine.. This has worked for me in eliminating cigarettes, unhealthy food and unhealthy relationships. I feel it's an approach worth looking into.
Peace! -
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Unsu...
Re: Reiki and drugs
Fri, February 20, 2009 - 2:18 PMi use to use drugs along with healings. my trance state was powerful and energy flowed very strongly. some chemicals are beter than others. for me at least. chemicals can be a crutch if you depend on it to feel powerful. it might take longer to get into that strong trance state when you are sober but the effect is the same. i am at a part in my life where i cant do drugs anymore due to chemical imbalances in my brain. maybe from the drugs.at this point in my life they hinder and rather than help. i still drink sometimes and its the only chemical that is helpful . the other medicines make me go coo coo. so i guess choose your allies wisely some are for you some arent.
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