Reiki Intentions

Are they necessary and can they do harm?

Part of my goal for opening Reiki Tribe was to answer questions about the practical application of Reiki. There’s not a lot of support for practitioners once they complete their training and a lot of folks don’t have a Reiki community to share their joys and tribulations. This blog is the blossoming of one such community.

I invite questions from subscribers and will freely offer my thoughts and opinions. Know that I am not the absolute authority on Reiki! Or anything really. I’m just a lady who suffered a lot, found this amazing technique for healing, and used it consistently for 20 some years. I have a lot of experience doing this work, but that doesn’t make me an expert. I am a practitioner; meaning, I practice. A lot.

But I’m not perfect and I hope you won’t view my words as the gold standard. Take what resonates and leave the rest.

Here’s a great question from a friend and former student:

How much guidance does the reiki require, as far as setting intentions? Will reiki 'go where it is most needed' if the practitioner has set a specific intention that might directly oppose 'for the highest good'? 

Love it! I used to spend a lot of time wondering why we bothered with intention setting if Reiki was always going to serve the highest good. Truth is, it doesn’t need any guidance from us. The simplest practice is to activate Reiki and let it flow, knowing it will go wherever it is most needed.

And… sometimes your have a desire for a specific outcome. My highest good might be healing my digestive system, but if my knee is hurting, it’s no surprise that I’d like some relief. I consider these to be add-ons. “Reiki please carry on, proving the healing energy that will help me most, and if I could also have a little extra love for my knee, I’d be ever so grateful.” This is what I’m really wanting beneath my “Reiki for my knee” goal.

While there’s no need to set an intention, if there’s something on your wish list, absolutely ask! Why not? Reiki isn’t stingy.

Photo by Fineas Gavre on Unsplash

Now for the second part of the question. What if the intention is in direct opposition to the highest good? That’s intriguing. I believe that Reiki will never work against our best interests.

I remember the time the time when my year-old niece got her hands on a pair of scissors (not on my watch, btw!) and fought like crazy to keep them. Her intention was clearly detrimental to everyone’s wellbeing despite her fierce desire.

I believe that Reiki can help us harmonize the intention in a way that will bring it into alignment. It might mean helping us see things differently or connect with a person, class, book or opportunity that will reveal unforeseen benefits. It can help reveal the bigger plan. Yes, we are all spiritual beings, but most of us have not yet developed full-time access to that level of awareness.

What if my knee is hurting because my soul wants me to rest more or stop going out into the woods by myself or to motivate greater self-care by tending my joints? Eliminating pain won’t be in my best interest unless I first integrate the message it carries. Reiki can help with that integration, thereby removing the reason for the pain. The path won’t be linear, but Reiki can still help me get there, provided I’m willing to receive the message and act accordingly.

I don’t worry about making a mistake with my intentions because of this built-in failsafe of “for the highest good of all” that Reiki provides. But I do choose my words with care.

I do want to mindfully select my words, claiming all the power that is available to me and also pointing my Reiki efforts in the direction they’ll be most effective. Just like placing the sprinklers so the water hydrates the flowers instead of the pavement, we direct our efforts wisely to cultivate the optimal impact.  

(While our thoughts, words and beliefs are very powerful, I disagree with the law of attraction teachings that they are all powerful. I think the web is much more complicated and includes ancestral and collective patterns, karma and soul contracts, and divine plans and timing. And surely things I’m not yet aware of too!)

So that’s a long way of saying, to the best of our ability, we want to choose intentions that are most aligned with our highest good and trust that if they are not, Reiki has our back.

If you’re interested in getting Reiki Tribe notifications and already subscribed to A Soul’s Journey, you can edit your settings (top right), scroll down to subscriptions, click on A Soul’s Journey and check the Reiki Tribe box. Sorry it’s a bit clunky- I’m trying to send people only the emails they want to receive. (This is one of the reasons why my marketing advisor fired me. :)

Paid subscribers may enter questions about practicing Reiki in the comments below. Each week, Reiki will point me to one and I’ll do my best to answer.