Something that is common knowledge amoung reiki people and not very well known by others is the concept of clearing symptoms.

What are clearing symptoms?

What sort of clearing symptoms should I expect from a reiki treatment?

Reiki is actually a very powerful healing practise. Perhaps clearing symptoms are part of the reason people like to put reiki in the bodywork category.. because most of the clearing symtoms are physical symptoms in the body.

The most common clearing symptoms are things like:

* laughing

* crying

* more frequent visits to the toilet

* vomitting

Geez! I hear you say.

Who would want to practise anything that produces those kinds of things. (smile) The main reason I wanted to write this post was because I was chatting to a good friend of mine who was telling me a story about his beloved mother. She had heard about this reiki stuff.. and decided to go along and have a complimentary session.. as an introduction.. which is a great idea.

Unfortunately, the practitioner did not really know what they were doing.. and beloved mother had some pretty strong clearing symptoms after the treatment (she vomitted violently).

Needless to say my friends mother has not set foot in another reiki treatment room (or within 200 feet of one) since. A great shame.

There is absolutely no reason for something like that to happen.

If the person giving the reiki has been increasing their intuition. Increasing their empathy and perception. And, I guess this is the start of talking about some of the qualities you want to be looking for in a potential reiki practitioner, if you are looking.. Perceptive. Sensitive and perceptive.

But, I am going to write some posts about the qualities of teachers in the near future, not here.. so, back to the discussion..

Reiki is a gentle and peaceful healing energy.

But, as I said above it is very powerful. Some people deeply wish for healing.. (we all do really).. and have perhaps alot more potential than they might be manifesting at a particular time. For these people the amount of healing their subconcious and their concious may desire may not be exactly congruent. Every person is at a different point of waking up their soul.. so to speak.

Quick tangent -> waking up your soul life is part of what will happen if you pursue the reiki path.

Back.

The more aware of their soul life.. the more congruent will be the conscious expectations and the subconscious. For my friend’s beloved mother.. who is actually a deeply spiritual person.. currently living somewhat of a superficial life.. those expectations are very different.. consciously she goes into the session looking for relaxation and some nice warm sensations.. what she gets is what her heart/higher self/soul needs.. which is much more powerful than that.. which could be for loads of reasons.. perhaps as a result of her rejecting her deeper inclinations and inspirations.

It was the same for both my wife and I, when we first started our reiki path. (that being living in denial of the value and deep yearning toward the spiritual life) But, fortunately our reiki “friend” (rather than “teacher”) was a little more skillful and perceptive.

Dont get me wrong. I am not saying this stuff is easy. And it is surely not very easy to have clear intuition and subtle empathic skill. But, if you dont.. then perhaps it is a good idea to simply ask the person you are giving reiki to.. as you go along.. “how are you feeling”

Should I be throwing up after my reiki treatment? No. Is the simple answer.

Another tangent time-> if you are a practitioner, and you are giving a treatment and you feel the person may be getting some nausea from the session.. very simple way to avoid that is to give reiki to the person’s feet. For say half the treatment.. and remember it is not going to break the “mood” if you gently ask the person “how do you feel”.. And.. ask after the session too. You can always give them a little more reiki on their feet. I will post about why giving reiki to the feet helps again in later posts.

It is important to remember that clearing symptoms are a good thing. Really. They show you that the energy is healing. I dont really want to go into an in depth discussion about karma here but, quickly.. every cause has an effect.. and the activity that happens in between the cause and the effect determines how that cause will be experienced (the effect). Once there is a cause there will always be an effect, no getting around it.. (except for enlightenment.. cannot wait to post on that one!) Which is good news for positive potential.. never lost.. Good news really for the rest too.. Because you can do something about it! (that is the activity in between). For example, a cause that might have resulted in a car accident.. because of the activity in between.. of giving yourself reiki.. may result in having a nightmare about having a car accident instead.. or stubbing your toe.. or another clearing symptom!

Conclusion

• Reiki is a peaceful and gentle healing technique.
• Sometimes clearing symptoms arise during and after treatments
• Laughing, crying, coughing, stiffness, weak bladder, even vomitting are normal
• There is no reason for someone to experience strong clearing symptoms without being prepared
• There are techniques to reduce the severity of clearing symptoms
• Clearing symptoms are good, they show the energy is healing.