5 Ways To Remind Yourself That Reiki Practice Is Sacred Not Serious

By Kim FleisherWhen I first began my Reiki Master Teacher Training in 1997, my teacher's children were quite young. One day I was at their house and I snapped a candid, extremely close-up picture of Yonaton (her second to youngest) picking his nose and smiling.I eventually developed the image (no digital cameras back then) and printed a 5 x 7 which I stapled to the inside cover of my then Reiki journal. I put a caption over the top of the image which read, "Reiki, Sacred Not Serious."This image and thought has carried me through all of my Reiki journey.If you ask any elder from a deep healing tradition, they will tell you that taking things too seriously is bad for your health.  As spiritual practitioners we might be interested in reaching enlightenment, or becoming a 'being of light.'  I'm here to tell you that you don't get any lighter by being too serious.Our practice is one of the most sacred things we can do. It gives us support and nourishment for living our daily lives as best we can. Just for today, I encourage you to play, and to explore your Reiki practice in a less-than-serious way. This does not have to compromise your dedication or commitment to being a credible practitioner. See what it feels like to lighten up and have fun with your practice.Here are some ideas:1. Give yourself a Reiki treatment while listening to your favorite music (not the peaceful, new-agey stuff).2. Give a Reiki treatment to a willing 3 yr old or a puppy. Let go of attachment to what you think the session should look like.3. Find a Reiki practitioner from another style of practice and take them out to lunch.4. Create a Reiki joke. Here's my favorite:  What does a Reiki practitioner need to practice on someone else?  An attunement.  Get it? Attune-mint. So their breath doesn't smell. Hilarious!5. The most radical one:  Let go of any ideas that you have about your Reiki practice, and just place your hands on yourself. See what happens.Let me know how it goes, and feel free to share your ideas on being sacred-not-serious in the comments!