Talk Back

[ariel05]

I wasn't able to finish this book.

The thing that made me stop reading the book was the author's insistence that the only truly valid way to perform Reiki on somebody (when they're with you) is through touch and hands-on. This is absolutely not true. Granted, it CAN be done through touch. When I give myself a self-treatment, I lay my hands on myself (it means I can totally relax into the treatment). And when I give a treatment to animals, or my husband, I will use a hands-on approach. BUT.. here in Utah (and, I understand, in many other places), using a hands-on approach with Reiki is illegal, unless you're licensed in something that uses touch as a part of the therapy (ie chiropractic or massage). In Reiki, even at the lowest level of initiation, it's perfectly acceptable, and just as effective, to hold your hands an inch or two (or more) over the treatment area. And, at higher levels of Reiki, you can send Reiki to somebody who's not even in the room with you.

Personally, I don't feel comfortable touching other people (unless it's somebody I'm intimate with, and even then I'd ask permission).

Another thing I have a huge argument with is the way the author tends to present her personal experiences with Reiki as the only way it could happen. Even in my very limited experience of 7-1/2 months, I'm already experiencing Reiki in many different ways than she writes about. Reiki is a very subjective healing modality - it's never the same for individual practitioners or client, though there are some points of commonality.

I have other complaints about the book, but they're not as major as the ones I wrote about.

To be fair, there IS some good information in this book, of what I've read, such as how Reiki can work with conventional Western medicine, but it's in no way a comprehensive guide. I'm not sure WHAT I'd call this book. It mainly appears to be an attempt to explain Reiki to a mainstream audience.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anybody. If they have Reiki experience, it will waste their time with a lot of information they already know, or can get from a better source. If they have no experience, it could give them a very wrong impression, and some potentially dangerous information.

Unfortunately, this book was gifted to me, and it's a hardcover book, so I can't just get rid of it. And even if I bought it, I wouldn't feel comfortable giving it to somebody else, or donating it to the the library. And I hate throwing away books, and I won't burn them, so I guess I'm kinda stuck with it.