Take Responsibility for Your Own Needs (Reiki Practitioners All Need to Read This)

Various types of people come to me for help, and in a variety of ways. Some I meet and are drawn to me. Some hear about me, and some are already in my life. Some know exactly what I do, how, and why. Some have an idea, and some were just referred to me and don't really know what I do. These people tend to fall into distinct categories. Some people just want me to fix things for them. They come to me when they're desperate. I help them as best I can and try to give them the tools to help themselves. They go on their merry way, intending to help themselves, then don't. So they come back to me when they are again desperate, whining and crying. Some of them eventually listen, and begin to help themselves. I will only respond to these people on a limited basis once they repeatedly ignore the tools and messages.

Some come to me and use the tools I give them, to various degrees. I really like working with these people. Some come to me because they're actively seeking, and I really like that too. I'm happy to share all I can with these two types of people, to help in every way I can.

The last category are those who are actively working on themselves regularly. They come to me to share or bounce ideas and messages, and sometimes to be "tweaked." I'm in this category too. Today a dear friend came over and gave me a very powerful energy treatment, and we spent a long time talking. One of the subjects was our responsibilities to heal ourselves and what we've been doing about it, our progress. We compared notes. And we made a pact to support each other in the areas where we're still not where we want and need to be.

This is not the blog I was going to finish and post today. That might come tomorrow. Instead, this is the theme of the day, that's been building for 2-3 weeks now. We must take responsibility for our own needs and healing. This has been a recurring theme for me for quite awhile now, and I've finally started fully responding to it. As a Reiki Practitioner, my first responsibility is to do Reiki on myself as close to daily as possible! Yet I haven't talked with any Reiki Practitioner who is doing this! Most of us either don't do Reiki very often or only do it for others. Most of us only get Reiki at a Reiki Share or Exchange. Most of us only get it once in a blue moon (there is one this month, by the way).

I'm finally reading Diane Stein's book, "Essential Reiki" and her manual for Reiki teachers. She talks about the importance of starting with and continuing self-Reiki. She makes it clear that it's the first responsibility of everyone attuned to Reiki I, the first step to becoming a practitioner. I had actually already started doing Reiki on myself daily though. What she did was cement the notion that I had to write this subject, and reading her works has led to lots of other personal messages. The time was right for this. I wouldn't have gotten all of this from reading her books a few months ago, when I wasn't ready to hear it. That's just it - we progress as we're ready, as we're supposed to. So I certainly don't look down on those who come to me and want me to fix everything without them doing the work. I simply can't help them enough. Because ultimately, we can only fix ourselves.

Medical doctors can cure diseases but if the root cause isn't also fixed, the diseases often return or something else takes it's place. It's our responsibility to take care of our minds, bodies, emotions, and spirits/souls - whatever term(s) you wish to put in that final place. Efforts to improve our lives and health have to be on all levels, and we have to be the main ones to do it. Think of it this way - you go to the doctor and he diagnoses a disease and gives you a prescription with instructions for taking it. If you don't believe you'll get better or don't believe the diagnosis, chances are you won't follow through and take the medication. Your emotions are involved here, as is your mind, and those decisions affect your body if the medication is correct for you. You either follow through and take it and get better, or you decide not to believe and take it. The spiritual part can come into this with those who don't believe in modern medicine and doctors. So, our health takes active participation on our part. We all also know that diet and exercise plays a huge role in mind/body improvement, which also requires total participation.

What we each need to be doing follows. We need to be taking the best care of our bodies as possible. That doesn't mean a diabetic can never have regular ice cream. It means you save it for a rare treat. But we need to actively and daily listen to our body's needs for water, nutrition, rest, and exercise. We also need to be working to clear our thoughts and emotions of all that no longer serves us. No one can do these things for you unless you're forced into an institution, and then the most drastic measures are used on you. I highly recommend paying attention to your thoughts because they're mirrors to what's inside you. Negative thoughts need to be transformed, whether about yourself or others. No matter how good I feel some days, I continue my routine devotions. I start with prayers of gratitude. I move on to prayers for myself and others. Then I greet my council of teachers, guides, and angels, and talk with them about specific needs. Then I read my "I Am" statements aloud, then my manifestation statements. Then I work with specific angels who work on specific needs and issues. I personally need all of it. And when a new issue comes to the surface, I deal with it immediately. I pray, and call on Archangel Michael (my go-to angel) for help in whatever way I need it - understanding, if needed, and release. I've been doing this work for nearly or about a year now and it's transformed my life. I no longer need others to work on me. Instead, it enhances and speeds the process for me when I do get help.

Some really heavy things were released today, including a lot of sexual shame from being molested as a child and exploited as an adult. That only took place because of all the work I've been doing on my own. It was deep rooted at the core of me, has been building for at least 50 of my 56 years (not sure how old I was when it started but it quit being added to a year ago). My dear friend was kind enough to do the energy work on me, and teach me things while he did it. One of the benefits to him was our bonding, and he was learning too as he received angelic guidance and messages. Also, you never truly help another without benefiting in some way, always at least by expanding your heart.

The final message is that if you aren't attuned to Reiki I, you should get attuned so you can have an added tool to help you help yourself. And if you are attuned to any level of Reiki, you should be doing Reiki on yourself every day. If you aren't doing Reiki on yourself at least several times a week, you have absolutely no business asking anyone else to do Reiki on you, even if you're willing to pay that person. If you aren't willing to help yourself, you're wasting the time of others, just like those who only seek help in crisis and don't follow through. It's true that when you do Reiki on others you benefit because the energy channels through you. But I've come to understand that just regularly doing Reiki on others isn't the same or enough. You have to be willing to invest your time, energy, and care into yourself. You have to fully participate in meeting your own needs. This also means setting boundaries with others, and this applies to everyone. I had no choice as a child but I was exploited as an adult because I hadn't healed enough emotionally and mentally so I didn't know how to set the boundaries. In the last few months I've felt overwhelmed and used at times by those coming to me for help, because I wasn't setting boundaries. So boundaries are necessary for everyone, whether energy worker or not. Without boundaries we lack control in our lives and that always fails us, causes our problems. I've been setting boundaries and continue to refine them. I've found it makes a huge difference. I turn off the phone at times, ignore messages and calls. I do this when I'm eating, busy with someone else, or needing to rest or sleep. I'm paying attention to my body, mind, emotions, intuitions, spirit - my needs. Sometimes I put myself first and sometimes I choose to respond to the needs of another and make mine wait or take a back seat. But these have become choices instead of responses. It's made me much more patient and compassionate. I understand that I'm a limited quantity with unlimited resources as long as I'm a wise steward of them. Being a wise steward means doing all I can every day to take care of what I was given - my life, body, mind, (emotions) and spirit.
I hope I haven't stepped on anyone's feet here, especially other Reiki Practitioners. But it's been coming to me that all this really needed saying. Because I often talk with others who need better self-care and show the burn out from not doing it, both energy workers and non.