As a new Reiki practitioner, the first time that I went to a Reiki share, I was surprised to hear seasoned practitioners with many years of experience commenting on their many ailments. If Reiki works and these people had been practicing for years and years, why were they in pain? Some doubt about my new practice crept in, but I knew that it had brought me much relief from pain brought on by Fibromyalgia and I knew I couldn’t let this doubt stop me from practicing Reiki. Still, I couldn’t understand how people who were doing the marvelous healing work every day could still be suffering in so many ways.

At that time, I did not fully understand the difference between healing and curing. I thought I did. I thought that healing mean things would get better, even if they could not be cured. I thought that it meant that are pain would be lessened or we would be able to tolerate if better. I thought that healing meant some sort of relief, even if full recovery is not possible. Now, I understand that this idea I had of healing was more like partial curing. It was actually fairly accurate in terms of the dictionary definition of healing, but not so much in the terms of spiritual healing practices.

I now understand that we seldom understand what most needs healed in our life. Often the things we think need healed are just symptoms of our real problems and we need those symptoms to continue in order for us to have the motivation to fix the real problem. To take away pain that is motivating us to look deep and find our core issue, may not be in our highest good, so even as we work on healing, we may continue to feel pain. Sometimes our suffering is necessary for spiritual growth and personal development. If so, Reiki will not take it from us, because it would not be for our highest good.

Our pain or suffering will only be eased by Reiki if we have gotten what we need out of and it is no longer serving us. We often become accustomed to our suffering. We learn to expect it to be there and we focus on it. This is where Reiki can help. It takes our focus off the suffering and puts into the healing process. Reiki can help us let go of the expectation of our suffering, which often prolongs it long after it is no longer serving us. It gives us hope. Reiki can strengthen our resilience and make our suffering easier to accept. Once we have accepted it, we can begin to move beyond it. Reiki can help us begin to heal the deep root causes of our pain and as those heal, our symptoms will begin to ease.

Just because Reiki does not always take away our aches and pains or prevent our illnesses, doesn’t mean it is not working and bringing healing to our lives. When you look for evidence of Reiki’s benefits for you, don’t focus on what is still bothering you, but rather look for what is going right. Maybe your back is still hurting, but you are able to sleep more soundly; or your migraine didn’t go away, but some old emotional wound that may have contributed to it is a little less painful and easier to accept. Your body may not be perfectly restored, but your soul is healing.