On this week's podcast, I am talking with Karen Caig. You guys have let me know that you love it when I talk with Karen. So she and I have made a plan to talk at least once a month and do a podcast together. I love it when I talk to Karen too. And Karen, Can I just tell you that every time I talk to you down in Ecuador, you just look happier and more glowy, like every single time.
You are living your best life, aren't you? I love it. I love it down here. Yeah. The energy is very good for me.
I love it. And in our last podcast, we mentioned and we'll just further develop that if you are guided to go and study in person with Karen in Ecuador, reach out because there is a very, even though most of your classes, I think, are registered as online. There's a very real possibility of making that happen. Yeah,
there's interest. I can certainly hold in person classes here. It's there are a lot of sacred sites sacred waterfalls to hike to really beautiful pre Incan sites. So pre interested. Let me know. Yeah, pre Incan. Yeah
I'm interested in that care and so I will be down as soon as we
can figure it out.
That would be amazing. On this week's podcast Karen and I are talking about uniting souls in Reiki circles. One of the reasons that William Rand created the ICRT in the first place. There's a part of our manual where it talks about the center's purpose and philosophy. He, one of the reasons was to encourage the establishment of Reiki support groups. Where people can give and receive Reiki sessions.
And of course, another reason is to help people develop and use their Reiki skills, which is something we can actually do in those support groups. So we wanted to talk to you a little bit about those today. Before we begin, I'd just like to let you know that if you'd like to join us in later in September, there is an Animal Reiki Level 1 in Campobello, and that will be the last whale class that we'll be teaching in Campobello, September's of 2021. Fabulous time to see the whales.
Usually all three species, the finbacks, the minkies and the humpbacks have arrived by then, I guess the humpbacks are very flamboyant. I didn't have much opportunity to see that last year, but I'm really looking forward to getting out there on the water and getting a little more of a glimpse of them this year. Of course, sometimes the whales also come.
Into our very own base so that we see them from the living room window and then I have a little bit of difficulty keeping the class focused because everybody gets up to the window to see the whales. But do join us if you'd like and in October. I've got a full range of Reiki classes level one and two masters.
Animal Reiki one and two and masters and in November, I'll be moving into Karuna Reiki and I believe there's an animal communication class as well toward the end of November and beginning of December. So please join us if those speak to you. Karen, what have you got going on this fall?
In September and in November, I've got animal Reiki 1 and 2 and animal Reiki master. And then in October, I have regular Reiki 1 and 2 and regular Reiki master and in December, I'm offering a Karuna Reiki the 1st week of December.
Fantastic. Yeah, I think I'd like to come down in December
when it starts to get cold here. Yeah, because here on the equator, it's. It's the same year round. It's a little rainier, like some October to March, but. It's it's the same.
You must love that because I know that you loved Arkansas, but you found it very hot, very warm, and Hot and humid,
yes. Hot and humid, and it's cool. High and dry. High and dry. Yeah, it's, yeah. We have all four seasons in one day, so the night is winter. It drops down to the 40s, the high 40s, lower 50s, and then Morning is like spring. It begins to warm up. And then when that Andean sun breaks through, it is hot on your skin, but the temperature is only in the seventies, but our UV index is like over 11. So people say you look so radiant. I'm like, man, it's the Andean sun.
You got to put your sunscreen on. And then it starts to cool off again in the evening. So we really do. We have all four seasons in one day.
I love that, that you must really enjoy
that battle. Yeah, I do and it's dry so I'm at 8, 000 feet here. When you come to keto, we'll be at 9, 000 feet and I'll probably take you up to top of a volcano at about 11, 000 feet. There's a swing. We can swing up there is a sort of swing off the mountain.
Oh, my gosh. My. Childlike wonder that was reestablished with animal Reiki is going to love that. I am looking forward to our visit whenever we do get it together. I got
your room ready. Thank you.
I'm going to be dragging Pierre with me this time. I think he would love, he loves you. He would love
to come and see you. I think so. Get somebody to take care of the cats. There you go.
Guys, I'm going to invite everybody to bring your hands into gassho for a moment. Just activating your Reiki energy, taking a deep breath, inviting your symbols and your guides to join you and go ahead and place your hands comfortably on your body. And today we're going to talk about establishing a Reiki circle, but one of the first steps to that might be attending one.
So go ahead and just allow your mind to wander and allow Reiki to guide you to see if this is something that would be of benefit to you. One of the reasons I love doing a monthly Reiki circle is I love seeing my students faces and meeting new people. You don't have to have Reiki to join the monthly Reiki circle, and I love to be together in community. I think of the proverb, whenever one or more, whenever two or more shall gather in my name, I will be there.
And it makes me realize that any time we come into community, just like we're coming into community now with this podcast, there's a synergy that develops and we're more than the sum of our parts. I invite you to open your heart to the unification consciousness that happens in community. And Karen and I want you to know that just for today, we are grateful that you are part of our community. Unified in our purpose as light bringers to create wellness on the earth today.
And that begins with each of us creating wellness within ourselves. Thank you for the light that you are and that you spread into the world. Namaste.
Well, Karen,
I wanted to talk a little bit about what a Reiki circle is. And how it just brings about that sense of unity or that unification consciousness among participants. And at one time, Reiki circles were only possible physically, or at least that's what we thought and believed. And now with the option for online Reiki circles, it really Opens things up. So in your
opinion,
what is a Reiki circle? And how does it create
that unity? I think that as you mentioned, to go biblical with it, like we're two or three are gathered in my name, so am I, but the coming together with the common purpose
of
sharing healing energy with each other is a beautiful experience, whether it's online or in person. And people are so hungry. For community, I led a retreat this past summer with Kathy Milanowski, and that it wasn't a Reiki retreat, but part of what we were hearing was a lot of Reiki people.
Part of what we were hearing was that they were looking for a place to come together and be with like minded people, whether they had Reiki or not, but when you come together to share Reiki, you feel, you don't feel so alone in the world, it can be a lonely
path. I'm sure you've heard that from your students as well.
Like I've had students say nobody in my family knows I'm taking this class. I don't have anybody to talk to about Reiki. I don't practice Reiki because I don't know anybody who really wants it. I'm afraid to ask people, would you like to try some Reiki? Or, they, they really need that sacred space. They just need someone to hold sacred space where people can come together and share Reiki energy. And I've done, am I lagging? I hope I'm a little bit, but it's okay.
It looks like it's, I think it's really windy here and it's lagging a little bit and now my cat's trying to open the curtains. I'm sorry. We can just segue right into sometimes you just need a space where you can be away from your cats and, your kids, you're lagging internet and all of that. And just to come together and with the common purpose of healing and practicing.
Reiki flowing through you as the more people practice Reiki in a safe space where they don't feel like people are judging them. I've had students say, I'm so afraid I'm going to try Reiki on somebody. And what if they don't feel anything? There's a. There's a real need for just a safe, sacred space to, to practice. Yeah.
It's nice to have somebody I know I used to use the term Reiki orphan. Like when I first learned Reiki, I didn't have a community. And so I felt like a Reiki orphan and actually my teacher did hold a Reiki share, but I didn't. really feel comfortable. The one time I went and I did and one time I went and I didn't.
So I, I love the fact that Reiki circles can be an opportunity to get together with like minded people, to ask questions, be in companionship, feel part of a group and to practice or to let Reiki flow through you. Although I have to admit that A lot of times my reiki shares are more receiving, like more the my students come in and I create a meditation where they receive.
But if there is time after I'm done teaching or talking and they're done in their meditation and done receiving, we sometimes share and sometimes also share Reiki. One of the things that. I love is in addition to Reiki circles. I have a Reiki Facebook group for my students, but my Reiki shares at first used to be in person. They were held here at the farm and I could really only fit it into my schedule four times a year.
They wound up being a bit of an all day event because people would come and they would stay. You'd have to prepare and get ready. And then people would stay and talk and. whatever. And so it pretty much wiped out a whole Saturday. And when Reiki went online during COVID, there was a real freedom in that for me because I could offer my Reiki circles once a month.
And Not only could the people who lived around my community attend, my students from Australia could attend, my students from the U. S., from Canada, from the United Kingdom, from China, and so I, from Brazil, I loved it. Thank you. That you don't know who you're going to be in the Reiki circle with and it's just I think that when we get together like that, we raise each other's vibration. Do you find that too?
Yeah, I think that is part of the need of. Wanting to come together is that we need that sort of boost of energy and we, because we do raise each other's vibration. And there are lots of different ways to have Reiki circles which that you may talk about
in a minute, but, and why don't you, why don't you go ahead and give us
some examples. So the first. When I 1st started teaching I didn't really know how to do a rakey share. And we use those terms interchangeably really like share circle. When I 1st started teaching, my students wanted to practice. And so we would just once a month get together and they would just we would have a sort of a little opening grounding prayer. And then we just get on the tables, and they would just like 2 or 3 people give to 1 person and then switch out.
And we also opened it eventually to other people that weren't my students. And so we had. I can remember a Reiki practitioner who'd studied with someone else and she'd also studied shamanism and she had some different techniques. She would sometimes like clear energy and then put it into like water, for example, and my students were like, what is she doing? I was like that's just a different. Modality or a little bit different things, so they would sometimes learn techniques from each other.
And then I also did another Reiki share with a student who had space in Little Rock, Arkansas and. We would open it to anybody. And so people would come who didn't have Reiki, and they were just curious about it, and that was a good way to get students, if people who are listening who are Reiki practitioners or Reiki teachers, it's a good way to introduce people to Reiki.
And we would tell them just get on the table and receive, we'd talk a little bit about what it is, if we had people who weren't Reiki practitioners. And then. We would have them participate by just holding the feet maybe, and we would tell them just, everybody has energy. Reiki, the unique thing about Reiki is that it is its own energy, and the Reiki practitioner is only a channel.
So we would tell them just think loving thoughts, and just put your hands on the person, and then I had a friend who did a circle in Tucson with Anne Baldwin, she and Anne Baldwin would do once a month. I know I'm lagging, right? No, you're lagging. It's okay. Good. But they would charge, I think, 10 for a Reiki share. And it would be like a Reiki talk.
And then it would set up tables they would talk about what is Reiki, how does it work, and then so it was mainly for non practitioners, but people who were curious about it, and then they would get on the tables and receive, and they would invite their students to come and be the Reiki practitioners, so the students got to practice on non Reiki people, just like they would for their practice, so that's another different, a different way of sharing Reiki.
And then the online circles I love, because like you said, you can get people from all over and it can be where you're doing an experience and then putting them into breakout rooms. Yep. We did, for a while, I did a, it was like a Karuna, we call it Karuna Club, and I did it with Andrea Kennedy and Kathy Milanowski and my student Duncan.
It was his suggestion, he was in England, but he said, he said, nobody practices Karuna, nobody wants to chant, everyone's embarrassed to chant, we need to practice. And so that's what we did, it was just for Karuna Reiki Masters, and we would practice. Chanting and toning because, that's awkward. It's intimidating. Yeah, it is intimidating.
And so that particular Reiki share was just for Karuna Reiki masters to share Karuna Reiki and practice chanting and toning so that they wouldn't feel so uncomfortable. Those are fantastic ideas, Karen. Yeah, but it's a way to benefit your students. And come together with colleagues, you learn from each other. Some people do a circle where it's a question and answer, maybe have a topic.
I've seen just Reiki master circles where Reiki masters can come and share and ask questions and then give each other Reiki maybe at the end or you can do it just for practitioners. Any. Anywhere there's a need, you hear your students asking or people saying I wish I wish there were a place I could just get some Reiki once a month. Maybe you feel guilty for charging. I tell my students with Reiki too sometimes where they say, I feel weird about charging.
What about people who don't have enough money for Reiki? You could do, a circle where you offer Reiki to people for free just once a month.
That's one of the things I loved. And over time I really struggled with charging for Reiki. And of course the Reiki energy would sometimes, as I gained experience and went further in my journey, I would get guidance to raise my prices. And I always resisted that. I actually had a student once and I was hearing that I needed to raise my prices, but I was resisting. And she came to me and said, I heard a very clear message for you. You, do you mind if
I share it? I said, no. And she goes, the energy told me
you're charged. You're not charging enough. You need to raise your prices. And. So I laughed and I said, yes, I've been hearing that for a while. And I know once it started coming through my students, I knew, okay, I'll listen. Fine. But offering Reiki through a Reiki share made me know for certain that even if I had to raise my prices, or even if I was guided to that people who didn't feel they could afford it.
We're still going to be served and so that was just a really nice way, I never thought of it, but when you mentioned my first Reiki circles, because I don't have a very large living room and I had a student that would, and I'm also quite a ways outside of town. And so at first, one of my students hosted me. And it was lovely. She knew that her space was going to be blessed with all of that Reiki energy and she had a very nice large room so we could all fit in.
We could take the Reiki tables and it was lovely and one time, just once, I did a Reiki share with the horses where, and there's some Photos of that in an article I wrote I'll include the article in the notes of the podcast so you can see some pictures. But my horses all had Reiki and so we just, we asked and four horses wanted to volunteer. So we took the four horses and we set out four tables and the horses would go over and actually do reiki for the students.
So that was, yeah, that was really lovely. I really enjoyed that and the students did too. And then we also had a table set up outside. We kept the horses on the lead line just sometimes the horses nudge a little too hard as they're doing Reiki if there's a stuck energy and they don't realize how much bigger they are than us or how much stronger.
So we keep them on a lead line just so we can remind them that no, that's A little too much and so some of my students who were both Reiki and riding students assisted me and that was a really magical Reiki circle or a Reiki share and we also had a table outside for people who didn't want to be in with the horses and preferred to receive from humans and so much fun so I had thought of another one that I wanted to share but now it's Slipped my mind, but I, I so enjoy getting together.
With my students like that one of the things I always wondered, because I noticed that at first I always used to just invite my own students and then after a while, the energy guided me to open it to everyone and it can be a nice way for a prospective student to get to know you and see if you're a good fit. For them, I noticed that sometimes people come to my circle and check me out and then, either come to class or not, but it was a way for them to know whether we were a good fit.
And but I couldn't quite understand how do I'd like to invite people who don't have Reiki, but what do they do when we share Reiki with Each other and Colleen said, show them the hand positions and just tell them to send loving thoughts and so it's not going to take away from their energy, they get a little bit familiar with what Reiki is like and what Reiki people are like. And then if they decide to go ahead and take a Reiki class, they feel a little more.
A little more comfortable, and yeah, so those are a few stories. Why do you think the collective energy enhances the healing energy in these circles?
I think it's just like you have one match and that's warm and throw some light, but you bring a lot of matches together and It's warmer and it's brighter. That's it's just yeah, exactly. And when you do in person or online, if you end up doing a 1 person receiving, and maybe 2 or 3 people sending the energy is so much more intense that you make it shorter. You're not going to do a full hour. It's true.
A lot of times, if you've got to, if you've got there, I remember we didn't have many tables 1 time and we were, we had, I think, be like, 5 people on each. Table and the energy in the room was so high, I started to get like dizzy and I had to remind him, I said, we need to go outside and ground the energy. It really gets
intense. And
so it's important, of course, to ground before, with the guy show and or imagining that your feet have roots, growing down into the earth. But we had to go outside, take our shoes off and literally stand on the earth for a minute to, yeah. Ground that energy because it was so intense. Wow.
That's amazing. One time I'm remembering one time after when placements came along to take the place of attunements back when Holy fire three in 2016 I remember hosting a Reiki Sharon, of course, then it was all only my students and everybody there had already received level one. or level one and two or masters, but everybody had all received at least level one. And I remember thinking you Sui sensei used to, that's how he started his business was, it was a membership club.
And if you were part of the membership club, you went. To regular meetings and at each meeting, you would receive a laid you or an attunement. And I thought now we can do this group attunement. And I was brand new to it. I hadn't tried it yet. I hadn't taught a class with it. I thought I'm going to. I'm going to try it with my students who had the other style of attunement and see what they think. And so that was a lovely way to do that Reiki share.
I haven't really had an opportunity to do anything like that since, but it was really fun. And the dog. And this was hosted by my friend at her house and her dog, her older dog attended. And about partway through, he finished,
got up, shook, and took off. Animals don't seem to take as long for attunements as humans, no, I haven't done an animal review this year. Have you done an animal review, Sue? I never have, but that
would be fun. Wouldn't it? Everybody's up with their animal. You could even do an online
one. Yeah, I would have to be. Yeah. Online I think would be the best animals didn't. Yeah, it could get along. He would do it. I know he would. I think that's
a great, I think that's a great idea. And you know something, Karen, there's something that some people think that's only at the master level that you can host a Reiki share, but that's not true. You can host a Reiki share as a level two practitioner as well, where you just, maybe nobody else. In the space has Reiki, but I've actually led a share before where everybody, while they were in the silence of a Reiki meditation. I went around and just did Reiki on everybody's feet for a little while.
And then, once I'd made my way all the way around the circle, I came back And joined the circle and then brought everybody back. And that was a nice way to do it. And then we went to the tables and shared. I always seem to wind up I love doing healing experiences in my circles.
And now that I'm just doing an hour and a half In my Reiki shares, I don't, there's not always time for us to share Reiki, but even if we just take five minutes and share to each other on the screen, it's powerful receiving from that many people.
Yeah. Yeah. Makes me think, Karen that I want to share something that I did when I was also struggling with my, at the time that I increased my prices, I actually approached a yoga studio and with Holy Fire Reiki at the master level, we have several healing experiences that we can do with groups of people. And so once a month, I would hold a Reiki retreat.
Meditation and share there where it was more of a meditation, but there's something about getting together in community to receive Reiki that really is powerful for people. Don't you find?
I think so. We talked about intention in a previous podcast, but when people take the time to go to a space. To receive healing, they have set an intention that they are ready to release something or they're ready to receive something. And by simply offering the sacred space for that to happen, that's that's important, and that's an important part, I think, of being a Reiki master, too.
I, since I moved to Ecuador, I haven't dropped, I had an online circle I was doing with my friend, Kathy Milanowski, and we haven't started it back up, but I feel like that's part of being a Reiki master is providing that space for people to who want to set an intention to come and release or heal. To do it. Yeah. I
love that. What are some of the benefits to the
people who participate? I think one, if it's a, if it's a new Reiki practitioner, it gets them in the habit of using Reiki, on others, because of course we, we preach in the most important is to do self Reiki every day. But to practice on other people, that's how you gain experience.
Scanning, a lot of people don't have a lot of sensitivity in their hands when they first start for Biosyn scanning, for example and so if you regularly participate in a Reiki share, you get an opportunity to feel other people's energy, to, to practice scanning and to get validation of feels a little different here. It's Oh, because I had a hip replacement. Oh, with different people, I know you're there with different people. So that's one benefit is just to gain experience.
And of course, if you're on the receiving end, it's great to get Reiki regularly. Many times as Reiki practitioners, we are giving Reiki all the time. And we give self Reiki, but it's nice to get from other
people. It really is. I love being on the receiving end and I remember sometimes I climb up on the table and my students tell me I'm a little intimidated to give Reiki to you and I just said don't be. I love Reiki anytime, anywhere, from anyone. Please don't be intimidated. You will not do this wrong and I will really appreciate it. And so I know, I don't know about you, but when I've done in person shares, I help up on the table.
If I do online shares quite often, if I'm able I'll join a breakout room and share Reiki with my students that way as well.
That's good. Yeah. If I've stopped talking long enough, then we can get to doing Reiki. Yeah, me too. But it's good to set that precedent, show, show them that it's okay to receive. I love to receive. I'm moving into retreats, doing more retreats and more and more I'm seeing that there's a need really for heal the healer sort of retreats. We just don't take time for ourselves. We just, it's for some reason you can be a Reiki master and you just, you forget about yourself.
You do self Reiki, but there's something about us that's we just forget about ourselves, but it's okay to lie down on a table and let other people
give to you. Yeah, I agree. And that's, I agree with you, Karen. That's one of the things that with our horses, I have an energy lesson on Thursday nights. It's my favorite one. And I love all my lessons, but the energy lesson is the one that and it's for energy practitioners of all different kinds to feed themselves, because I noticed the same thing that we often get so busy helping others that we do forget about it. Ourselves.
And so one of the things that's really important in a Reiki circle is just creating a safe, nurturing environment. What are some tips and strategies for fostering a sense of trust, openness and connection within the circle? What are some of the things that you've done?
One thing I think it's important because many times you have different levels. And you mentioned this a minute ago it's okay if you only have level 2. Many times I'll say, if you are just level 1, Mrs. Takata worked in Hayashi's clinic with just level 1, they're, all Reiki is good Reiki and not to be intimidated and also, especially during online shares where I may be putting people into breakout rooms, I'll have to remind them to sometimes just stick to Reiki.
Because we do have a lot of different modalities, and sometimes people get messages while they're doing Reiki because they're, they have medium abilities. And so many times, I will remind them that this is Reiki. Just stick to Reiki because if you are, say, like a level 1 or 2 practitioner.
And you're in there with someone who has medium capabilities, and they give you a session, and then they start giving you all this stuff, and then it can have the effect of gosh, I can't do that, and I must not be a very good Reiki practitioner. And so I frequently will say just stick to Reiki to, do what you do. And just a reminder that it's not to get out of their head, get out of the way, and just let the Reiki flow. You can't do it wrong, and Nobody's better than anybody else.
Yeah. That's important. I remember one of the most powerful sessions I ever received was at a Reiki share from one of my level one students. And I was just like, wow, what is she going to be like when she
goes to the master level? Yeah, strong at level one,
and it was, and she felt it strongly as well. And, and and I, and a lot of it really. I enjoy receiving from somebody at level one, just as much as master level and beyond. But that's a good advice to remind people just to stay in the lane of Reiki, at least for the purpose of the share, because sometimes people might offer another modality or other abilities and the person receiving may not want to hurt their feelings, but maybe, came for Reiki and maybe didn't
want that. And sometimes with the messages, sometimes they're personal. And maybe they don't want you to share that with everybody.
Yeah that's a good point. I actually remember being in a circle once and being very uncomfortable because one of the ladies in the circle and the teacher had introduced her as this is my second in command. She helps me teach and this lady, I was. At her table, and when it was my turn to get on the chair, she loudly, or on the table, she loudly proclaimed to everybody in the room, Woo!
I sometimes get
hot when I'm doing a Reiki session, but I gotta take my shirt
off with this one. Girl, you got some energy to
move. And it, I was fairly new as a Reiki practitioner. I was so embarrassed. Looking back, I know that I did have a lot of energy to move because I'm an empath and because I'm a strong empath and, but I didn't know that then I just thought, good Lord, what's wrong with me that she has to single me out and make me feel so uncomfortable. There must be something wrong with me.
And, so just my teacher at that time was very gentle and quiet and maybe was also preoccupied doing Reiki over on the table she was at. She didn't really do or say anything, but as somebody who does host Reiki shares, I'm very conscious. Of what is happening in that dynamic and just reassuring people if if anybody does make a comment that could be perceived as negative or that they could misunderstand. So I don't know if you've ever had anything like that, but
no, but there is something to be well, yeah, I've had I can remember a couple that came to and they work together frequently.
And one was at the head, one was at the feet, and they were sending energy back and forth, and you could, the person could, they could feel it but there is something to be said for not participating in the share, and just standing back and watching and commenting, especially if your students are present, because, you could, then you can say, now that is not traditional Reiki practice, in our lineage, or, just to guide and comment and corral comments sometimes.
Yeah. One of the things I like to do, depending on the size of the group and whether there's time, and I always do this within person, and I try to do it with online is I try to get everybody to Say their name and if there's time to talk a little bit about themselves, and I find that just breaks the ice and people start to realize that they have things in common.
And like I said, the in person Reiki shares used to be an all day affair because, you'd have, you'd be cycling through people doing Reiki, but you'd also have people that just met their soul family and wanted to talk to people. And I loved fostering that. It just, I just had to be aware that it took a certain amount of time. And with my busy schedule it four times a year was all that I really could fit that in. So I think that can be. Really lovely.
With online shares, one of the things I sometimes do is just ask people maybe to put their name, where they're from, and sometimes just like a fun fact in the chat. Like I remember one time I said, I had a very large group, and I said, hey everybody, could you put your name, where you're from, and what the temperature is where you are today? Because at the time when I The temperature was fluctuating and, we were all jealous
of the person from Florida. A really
great temperature. And then we all felt bad for the guy from Minnesota, who it was like
minus 50. We were all like, okay, I don't feel so bad about my minus two. That can
be a nice way to break the ice as well. And another thing that I do is I always do tend to lead some sort of Reiki meditation, whether it's an invocation or a healing meditation. I bring people into the energy, and if we're going to share. With each other. I do that first so that everybody's in the energy. Everybody's already in the space of releasing and then and then they go and share. And I don't know. I just find it grounds. Everybody. It has the energy flowing beautifully.
And yeah, invocations.
Yes. I
love that too. And a lot of times we'll get a lot of diversity in a Reiki share or even in Reiki classes. I know recently I had a beautiful trans individual in a transsexual individual in my class. And on one of the breaks, he began explaining the history of. He called them the transcestors and I love the diversity that can come together in these groups and in these classes and how it gives us new perspectives and how we can learn from each other.
Do you have any examples of that or anything you'd like to add about that?
Do you mean diversity in just not just Reiki lineage, but just the diversity
in lifestyle, diversity and nationality, diversity and or sexual orientation, just, I find that diversity that we often get in these circles. So enriching to the entire.
Of course, most of mine were held in Arkansas, where it's not the most diverse area in the country, that's for sure but I did, once I moved to Northwest Arkansas it is more diverse because that's the Walmart headquarters, so I had people of different ethnicities, we had some Indian people who had learned Reiki Elsewhere, they were not holy fire. So that was beautiful. We had some African Americans and white, some Christians, some Buddhists, some, some Hindu, we had a large Sikh population.
I had yeah, some diversity there and it becomes clearer, what a unifying thing Reiki is when you can see it with different people, but they all have Reiki hands.
And it's it shows you what's
possible. It really does show Reiki as a unifying force. You've got people from different religions, different ethnicities, and what they have in common is healing hands. And even if the frequencies are different, even if they're some holy fire, some Ussui, Tibetan, some Jikiten, all these different kinds of Reiki, but it was beautiful. It shows us how alike we are. I'm sorry, I'm lagging. I know why. I know I must be lagging. It's all right.
Now, I think the diversity is important and and yeah, I love. the fact that this becomes a possibility. Is there anything, any stories or any moments that stand out to you with your Reiki circles? And do you think you're going to
start a Reiki circle there where you want in person one? Yeah, I think it may be a kind of Reiki circle that serves, if I do start teaching in person, but that serves. The community I think Heather McCutcheon, who founded Reiki Brigade in Chicago, are you familiar with her? No. She works, it's called Reiki Brigade, and she started because she was helping veterans with PTSD. Because, Reiki is really effective for that. Really effective. It's what she ended up doing.
She does teach and she takes her students to like the police force. She's done a lot of work in that area. Of course, Chicago is really big, but she's done a lot of work opening people's minds, educating about Reiki and she holds Reiki shares for the police. And give Reiki to the police. And then they also have an event once a year where they have a stadium and her students come, Reiki practitioners come, and veterans line up. And they do chair Reiki on them.
There's a YouTube video where she recorded after one of the guys said, he said, man, he said, if they've had this before, he said, if you gave this to people before going to battle, he said, nobody'd want to fight. And so I would love to do something, if I start training people in person here in Ecuador, I would love to do we actually have a video. I don't know a lot about it yet, but we do have a domestic violence center here. So that's a problem. It's a problem everywhere.
But so that could be like a monthly Reiki share where I could have students go and they could practice. And it would be also a benefit to the community. It's a different kind of Reiki share, but, and I need to get the online one going again, because at least for my students. Because I always tell my students that the class is just the beginning. It's not the end when you finish and you get your certificate. That's just the beginning.
And not they don't all participate and it's hard to find a time, that works for everybody. Yeah. But but I think it's important for them to have a, to have contact with me too. I love to see their
faces. I, yeah.
What have you been
doing? I record my Reiki share for the podcast for, because I had so many people
just distraught that
I was holding a share, but they couldn't get there this month or they couldn't ever get there or they couldn't. And I said, you know what? I'll make it into the podcast. So you won't miss it. Because I had so many people reaching out like, Oh no, I don't want to miss the share. And so that's when I got the idea that, okay I'll turn it into a podcast so people can get my Reiki share. After the fact on the podcast, but I love it. I love seeing their faces and I love people to turn up.
And I'm getting larger and larger groups turn up every month. And I love it. The group cannot get too large as far as I'm concerned, because and I know I have a Reiki share tonight, actually. And I am, it's a shorter one where it's, what I have planned, because I do want us to have an opportunity to go into breakout rooms and get to know each other a little bit. And
and yeah, because that connection that they make with each other. Like you said, I think earlier that sometimes they meet their soul family. Yeah,
yeah, I agree. I love that Karen anything.
So it was a radio. Sorry. Go
ahead. Go ahead. We should check with Heather McCutcheon if she would mind if we shared some of her contact information since we mentioned her. Oh, maybe
yeah. She probably wouldn't. Yeah. We should ask her if you know her maybe reach out. I just, yeah. Okay. But she's, I love what she's doing. I think that's a good way to thank
you too. It's fantastic.
Reiki educate and help people. I was just going to mention that it was a Reiki share, my own Reiki share, Where I experienced Holy fire energy. And the reason I, cause I don't know if I've said it in one of your podcasts, but I was really resistant to taking Holy fire. Really? I was happy as I am with my Usui Tibetan. I was like I don't need Holy fire. What's up with that? I wasn't a licensed teacher yet. And I thought I love my Usui Tibetan. I'm fine.
But someone came to my Reiki share who had gone to, this was in the little rock who had gone to Sedona and taken the Holy fire. And I think I, I was aware that, he had taken Holy fire or whatever, but anyway, it was my turn on the table. I was lying on the table and I jumped up there and close my eyes and I wasn't aware. But I thought, what is that down there by my right foot? What is that? I could feel something different and.
When I opened my eyes, it was that stupid man with his stupid holy fire. I thought, ah, it is different. I feel it. So that's what prompted me to take holy fire was actually a rapie share. I think that's interesting. You you can get exposed to different techniques, different. Frequencies, and
I love that. I also noticed that whenever you do a Reiki share and there are animals around, they can't get enough of it. They're usually right in the
middle of the
mix. Does anything stand out to you about your Reiki shares? Anything that was really special?
Mainly that People would have some deep healing sometimes if it were a small enough group and they felt safe and comfortable, like you were saying, like you create that at the beginning. I know you're going to jump right here. Come on. And here he is that they have deep crying releases and yeah it's, then you realize, wow, that happened not probably because I said, let's have this space. Yeah. Yeah. It's just. It's just that intention of, let me make a space and let's see what happens.
I remember Laurel Gaya writing about how, I forget the community, it might have been Colorado, but they had moved into a community and there was a lot of competition among the Reiki practitioners there. And she wrote an article about it. And so what they decided to do was to hold a Reiki circle and invite All of the different lineages and all the different people to come together.
And what happened was from this divisive community this divisive Reiki community, they created they brought in unification consciousness and they created this beautiful, unified, supportive community. Where Reiki practitioners and Reiki masters from different lineages supported each other, supported the crossover of their students. And she said it really, she could sense, I believe if I'm paraphrasing this right, that she, it raised the vibration of the region.
Just by bringing this together and it eliminated the competition and the issues that were existing between the different lineages so they can be really powerful.
And Yeah, build
bridges. So what would typically happen during a Reiki session? If somebody's never been to one, could you walk us through
what to expect? It's at a Reiki chair and a regular Reiki. Yeah. Typical Reiki chair or circle. Yeah. If someone comes and they've never had Reiki, they, the first thing they should know is that they need to be open and not attached to any sort of an outcome. And that Reiki respects free will if they're worried about anything weird happening, like I'm here with a bunch of these weirdos. I don't know what they're doing. Reiki respects free will.
It's not going to do anything that they it's not going to release anything. They're not ready to release. It's not going to do anything that they don't want. And they're in a safe space. And when they get on the table they could expect people possibly moving their hands over them, scanning their energy field. They'll be fully dressed. They'll be fully dressed. They don't take their clothes off. They're in control of the session.
If they feel uncomfortable at any point, they say stop, I feel uncomfortable. With whatever you're doing, I can imagine if you had a Karuna master who starts to chant over them, that might make them feel weird. So that, that kind of comes back to, whoever's hosting, you need to set those boundaries and let people, if you have people who are new to Reiki, you need to let them know sometimes people chant sacred sounds. But they are in control.
If anything feels weird, you just say, I feel weird, stop. Okay. That's enough. But people are going to be scanning your energy field, just feeling what they feel. Sometimes they might feel where the energy feels denser and that maybe where they focus their attention. They may feel warmth. They may feel tingling. They may fall asleep. Many people, even if they're just getting a 15 minute session, five minutes in there, that little Reiki snore, but that's completely normal.
They shouldn't worry about the Reiki snore there. It's different from a regular snore with a regular snore. You're not aware that you're doing it with a Reiki snore. You're aware you're just too relaxed to care.
Exactly. They have it all. I'm drooling. I'm making noises. Yeah. And you don't have to worry about that's completely normal. Nobody's judging you. It's a very intimate experience. It's sacred work to most people who are doing Reiki. You're in their energy field. That's more intimate than sex. It is you're feeling something like oh man, your heart feels really blocked. That's really personal stuff. And may not say that out loud, but they know that they feel that some people are
worried that you'll know all their secrets, but it's not really
like that.
It's more of a feeling, a denser energy that needs to release. You don't want to know what it is. You don't know all the details. You just think, Oh,
there's a dead one. Cause we're not doing anything. We're just like, Oh, I need to hold my hands here. Yeah,
because I feel a dense energy there and you allow the Reiki to flow and the dense energy releases so it's not that, I don't know sometimes people worry that I'm going to know everything
about them. And we don't. And it's really common to cry. It's very common. I've had people say, I don't know why I'm crying. It's oh, that's just old emotion, it's just releasing that's completely normal just let it out. Yeah.
If you're hosting a Reiki share, load up on Kleenex and load up on toilet paper because those are the two biggest forms of releases,
digestive,
renal and and tears.
Those are, and to tell, you could tell people that as well. Before they get on the table or even before they leave remind them like you may experience some congestion, like runny nose or any other stuff, because you're releasing toxins drink lots of water. So Yeah. And that mainly it's just really relaxing. Yeah.
And no, explain with an online reiki share your teacher might put you in a group with one or two or more other people, and you might have. The members of the group work on one person for a short time and then switch so that everybody gets an opportunity to receive Reiki. I love the online shares, Karen, because a lot of people aren't necessarily confident about their ability to spread Reiki at a distance. Yeah. That really breaks down that barrier when you realize wait, they noticed.
They could feel me working on them there or I was working there and they told me, yes, that's where I had a problem like I, I find it really helps boost people's confidence, especially when they're new to Reiki,
right? Because where else are they going to get it? I always tell my students, your circle of friends will get smaller and smaller as you go. Hey, you want some Reiki? I mean, you need a new circle of friends. He's on this path with you. It's not that you're going to lose your old friends, but they have, it's possible that they have no interest in the, Sam, don't eat my earrings. Sam's pulling your earrings. He's you're not paying attention to me, woman.
Oh, they think about the circle of friends and people who are, discovering on the same path of discovery. Wow, isn't this amazing. You could feel that. And also somebody that you're not trying to say of course I'm a Reiki practitioner and I'm doing this and that, to have that space to explore Oh, I felt that wasn't that weird. That, that
exploratory space. Yeah, I agree. It's a safe place to experiment and get to know what, what happens. And some Reiki shares are my Reiki shares often me leading a meditation and then sometimes people sharing afterwards what they experienced. And so there can be that. What if somebody is not sure about joining a Reiki circle? How would you address their concerns or reservations?
You can always leave. Seriously, it's I would say like it's a supportive environment. And if someone is, I've never had anybody not be supportive. I think the worst that you might get is someone who's I guess from time to time over the years I've had someone who they're maybe over overly confident in their abilities to do Reiki and they want to tell people how to do their Reiki. Yeah, it's usually the people with the least experience. Yeah, exactly.
I'll tell him like that's probably the worst you're going to run into. And if so, just, just take everything with a grain of salt. Every, you are always in control. That's the main thing is you can always leave. You can say, no, that doesn't resonate with me. Thank you. And that's the main thing. It's not a cult. It's not anything. I don't know, maybe I'm weird in some ways, but yeah. Not that weird.
No weirder than any other Reiki practitioner, like any, anything that makes you feel uncomfortable that you are not, you are under no obligation whatsoever to, participate in.
So I remember one Reiki share that I participated in and My friend Tanis was, I could feel her working over my third eye and that was before I was comfortable with my intuition. I had firmly closed my third eye when I was 12 years old and there I was in my 40s, but I wasn't ready to open it yet. And Afterwards she and she worked and I could feel the heat and I was just smiling to myself because I was like, no, I closed those curtains. You're not going to open them.
And when afterwards she took me aside and she's just the sweetest lady and she said, Pam, I was working and working on your third eye and. Boy, I don't get it because it's wide open, but there's some kind of a block there. And as hard as I tried, I couldn't release it for you. And I started laughing.
I said, Tannis, I put the block
there. You couldn't release it because I didn't want it to release. And yet that very weekend, that was a Thursday night, Friday, I was in a trans, formative horse clinic. And the first thing and I was in the horse clinic, I just wanted to learn to be a better horse woman. I wasn't interested in opening intuition or anything like that. But the, and I just was saying, how do I become? a better horse woman. I was a horse trainer. I was and, but I wanted to be better.
I had Honey one of my horses that I couldn't get through to, and I wanted to try to help her. And the horse was very clear. He said, you've got to open your third eye. You've got to open your intuition. So she really start by her doing that, even though I kept the block in place, It really started this ball rolling that led to me being comfortable with my intuition. And finally at the master level, I said, fine, open it. And I've never looked back, honestly, it's been so much more comfortable.
As, as frightened as I was to. Open to my intuition and my intuition was very strong. So it was sometimes overwhelming. But with Reiki, Reiki balanced it so that it was no longer overwhelming. So that I only saw what I wanted to see and nothing that I didn't. And and it really began this really huge transformation for me. I'll forever be grateful to Tanis for that. So Reiki share that a Reiki share.
That my teacher facilitated and the one chair made me, I think I only attended two and then I think she stopped doing them, but the one chair she facilitated and the other one I felt really comfortable and then when she stopped doing them, I felt like a Reiki orphan, like there was nobody I could talk to about all these miracles that were happening in my life and in my animals lives and in my family's lives. And yeah.
When I started teaching myself, I really thought like I want to build community. And, I think about William Rand and the ICRT and one day Colleen and I were talking about the unification consciousness that exists within Holy Fire Reiki and that exists within Reiki, other lineages, Reiki as well as Reiki as a whole, and we were talking about the importance of community.
With Reiki
and the ripple effect that these Reiki communities have and that made me think about William with the ICRT and with his encouragement of us to start and create these Reiki circles with his encouragement of us to build communities, his encouragement of us to practice and to teach if we're guided to, and the support when we do decide to do, I got thinking
about all the ripples. Yes, that the ICRT
has instigated and other Reiki organizations as well have instigated around the world and It was a really good feeling a really good feeling about just thinking about that ripple effect that these communities have.
I'm glad you said that because I think, what would you say now I'm asking you questions. Okay. What would you say if somebody said I'd like to have a Reiki circle but I couldn't start one. What do you what qualifications do you need to start a Reiki circle? I believe
if you get two people, two friends together, you're in a, you have, that's a Reiki
circle. Yep. Don't have to be a licensed teacher. Don't have to be a Reiki master. Don't have to, it's daunting though. How do you advertise it? I've had people ask me that, how do you get a Reiki circle started? How do you do that? Yeah.
One thing I like to plan ahead so I actually sit down with my calendar every year and to be honest, my 2023 and 2024 Reiki circles are and shares are already on the books. And so when people sign up, I actually have them sign up just through MailChimp for my Reiki.
Circle and it's different from signing up for my newsletter and because not everybody on my newsletter necessarily wants to attend the Reiki share, but once they sign up once every month, I send them a zoom link and an invitation and I let them know what the share is going to be about, because I'm usually leading something and if they're interested. They attend and if they're not, they don't. And so online circles can be really easy to facilitate.
Somebody just getting started might just take somebody that they resonated with in class and say, Hey, do you want to get together once a month? And share Reiki with each other, and it might be a way to help you continue to learn and grow. I've had lots of students that have done that, maybe stayed in touch with one or two or three other students from the class that they really resonated with, and then they continue to share Reiki, share ideas.
Some of my students some of those connections have really led to a tremendous amount of support for each other. And I had people across continents Connecting that way and having to work with time differences and things like that, but you could, you can create a Facebook event. I'm going to have a Reiki circle.
It could be something organized, like what you said, you might, it occurs to me that if you teach animal Reiki, maybe you want to take your students, maybe you have five or six students who would like to go with you to a shelter and do Reiki together for the animals, you're still in community. There's so many ways. That it could be approached.
You could invite three or four friends over for a Reiki talk and then you give them Reiki or you could invite another friend who has Reiki and the two of you do Reiki on a few friends. There's so many ways you could approach a yoga studio and do a bigger like I, like what I did there. Yeah. What are some ideas you have, Karen?
No, I think that's my students. I have trouble getting them to. So they said, Oh, I can't come to your share at that time. I'm like, why don't you do a share? I have a Facebook group, just you have permission, go out there and make a time when you are available and ask if there's anybody, sorry, anybody else who would like to get together with you. I think that they think they have this feeling like no, I need you. I need you, Karen to lead it. I
had a student who, when I could only do four. Sessions a year because my busy life and I used to teach horseback riding and my horsemanship clinics and classes almost every weekend. And so it was hard to facilitate a Reiki share more than. Four times a year. And I had one student in particular who was like, you need to do it once a month. I want to come once a month. And I said, look, I just don't have the time, but why don't you do one? I'll try to come.
If I'm free, I'll come, then I don't have to clean my house. I don't have to get all the beverages ready and I don't have to make snacks. And I,
and they never did, but I, gosh, if you're listening today. Maybe this is a call out for you to think about how can I create a circle of my own and we're going to go into a meditation to maybe work with
Reiki and maybe help
you see how you might create a Reiki circle and how you might want to proceed. We'll go in and get Reiki to guide
us in that. Don't be afraid, just do it. Just do it. Be the change you want to see in the world. You want a Reiki circle? Yep. If you build it, they will come. They will come. And even if they don't come, you've got the night off. What's, you're so breaky. Yeah.
But, yeah. Anything else, Karen, on this topic? I love talking about this with you today. I really, I'm with you. I encourage, if you're thinking about it, do it. Just we're going to walk through how it might work best for you.
And don't, oh, I was gonna say, I used Meetup, by the way, when I was Oh, meetup.
Or for the West Coast, I find on the East Coast we use Eventbrite.
Oh yeah, Eventbrite, I like, Eventbrite is free. It's free. So yeah, that, and that reaches one thing. The thing about Meetup, I was just gonna caveat about it is that people will sign up. Yes, I'm gonna come. And then once you've reached so many, People in your meetup, then they start charging you. So I think Eventbrite may be a better idea and just Facebook. Facebook.
You can create a Facebook event as well and invite people. You could create an Instagram post as well. And and just so that you don't have, get overwhelmed or have a whole bunch of people show up and don't come, you could charge for it. A really great idea, Karen. I just thought of this. You could charge for your Reiki share. And then give people a coupon of that same value off of your Reiki class or a Reiki session.
That's a great idea. And that might build
your business and but sometimes just depending on where you are and depending on if you're advertising to people or a community that you know or not you might want to charge just to get that commitment. So that if people say they're going to come and you only have a limited number of spots, they actually come because sometimes when you offer something for free, people have great intentions, but they don't necessarily follow through. Yeah.
I think if it's non Reiki people that you're offering the share to, I think it's good to charge the nominal fee. Yeah. Also because they will receive the healing better because they'll receive more. Yeah. By investing in it.
Agreed. Yeah. These are some great ideas. And you can even start your share just with a talk about Reiki and maybe a group experience and then the share.
You may be surprised who's going Oh man, I always wanted to do this. I was waiting for somebody to do this.
I know. And you can even Just put a poster up at your favorite health food store or crystal shop, yoga studio, something like that and if you wanted to not open it to the public, but open it beyond people, go to a place that you feel comfortable or that, like your own yoga studio or your own crystal shop and say, okay I'm probably going to be comfortable with the people who show up from here, especially if you're doing it in person, you may want to, and yeah.
You don't have to do it at your house. You may not want to invite people into your home. It's fine to rent a space or something like that. And of course sometimes
public libraries will let you use their space if you're not charged. Public libraries will let you use their space. If there are still public libraries in the United States, we haven't defunded them all.
That's a fantastic idea. I didn't realize that you could.
Yeah, I have done shares there and talks. As long as you're not charging, they will let you use their conference rooms for
free. Sometimes churches and community centers will too.
Yeah, they do. Especially Unitarian churches in the United States, they're very open to Reiki. Unitarian churches, yeah.
And sometimes you can even do it by donation. I know that enough people started saying to me look, I get a lot from your Reiki shares, but I,
I don't feel comfortable.
You put so much of yourself into it. I'd like to. do something or compensate. So I did finally put a donation button when I share the link and I do notice that just depending on what people receive from it I just have the donation going to the horses the horses hay. And I have a, one of the codes that you can scan to make it easy as well. And I do notice that some people go in and click the link or scan the code and send a donation, especially if it's a particularly healing experience for them.
They want to honor that. So that's always that's an idea too. So
yeah, I just noticed the time. Okay. Do you have to get going? Yeah. Could you lead the meditation and I'll just. I sure
can.
Okay. Thank you so much for joining us, Karen. Thank you. It was wonderful to be here again. I love talking about this. Thank you, Karen. See you later.
Podcast this week with a guided meditation. Go ahead and close your eyes as we embark together on a journey to unite our souls through the powerful energy of Reiki circles. Find a quiet space where you can sit or lie down and make yourself completely comfortable. Closing your eyes. Bringing your focus to your breath, inhaling and then exhaling with gentleness, bringing your hands into gassho, activating your Reiki energy, and then placing them comfortably on your body, wherever you feel guided.
Go ahead and visualize a beautiful light emanating from your heart center that expands with each breath that you take. This is your Reiki energy. It's a radiant source of healing, unification, consciousness, and peace. Now imagine yourself stepping into a circle. This is no ordinary circle. It's a Reiki circle. Just looking around you and noticing that you're not alone.
There are other souls here with you, each radiating their own beautiful, unique light as we bring together everybody who's listening to this podcast. Feel the connection you share with these souls. Noticing that Reiki energy is a common denominator with all of us. It's a tapestry of light woven from the threads of compassion, healing, and shared spiritual journey. Acknowledge each soul, feeling their energy and noticing their essence. And as you acknowledge each soul, feel your energy.
Expand, growing brighter and more vibrant. This is the synergy that occurs when we are together in community and in circle. This is the power of unity and the unification consciousness. This is the strength of community. Now let's focus on sending healing energy throughout the circle with each breath. Just imagine the Reiki energy within you as a luminous wave of love and healing rippling across the surface and touching each soul, intertwining your energies.
Just notice how the strength of this energy amplifies as it is passed from one soul to the next, strengthening the bonds of unity and healing. It's a symphony of energy and a testament to the power of collective healing and compassion. Hold this vision of the Reiki circle in your heart. This is... A testament to the incredible power of shared energy, shared intention, and shared love.
We're going to remain here, just sharing Reiki with each other as I join the circle with you for several breaths. And if you feel that you would like to facilitate This experience of expanding and enhancing energies with others, of growing in confidence and in strength and in vibration. We invite the energy to just begin a flow of ideas, thoughts, pictures, feelings.
Throughout your mind, your body and your energy, just to give you some clues as to who you might invite and how you might invite them. We give you some clues of how you might hold your Reiki circles in person, online, from your home, from another space. You have everyone sharing reiki or will you lead a type of experience? Will you invite people who also practice reiki or people who are new to it? And it's okay to start on a very small scale and we'll just breathe here.
Allowing the thoughts and ideas to flow, guided by the Reiki energy. When you feel ready, gently bring yourself back, carrying the image of your own Reiki circle in your heart, this symbol of unity, healing, and shared spiritual growth. As you open your eyes, remember this shared experience. This is the beauty of Reiki circles. We come. into them as individuals, but we leave as part of something greater, a collective energy that vibrates with love, unity, and healing.
Thank you for joining Karen and I on this journey today. We hope this experience inspires you to Namaste.