How do you choose a good Reiki Teacher?
The ideal Reiki training program is one with a good, local Master who has a weekly support group to help students internalize the knowledge and skills, answer their questions, to receive a personal treatment, and to gain additional knowledge and valuable experience in treating others under the Master's guidance. Length of instruction for each level is some indication of it's value.
If you are studying privately, look for a full day private or semi-private instruction in Reiki I, or a full weekend in a group setting. The longer time allows for plenty of experiential work.
If you are studying Reiki II, look for a full two-day program that you take only after some time to internalize what you learned in Reiki I. If you are not getting the hours, you are not getting the information; however, hours alone do not guarantee the quality of information.
The ideal Reiki Master training is an apprenticeship program that allows prolonged observation of an experienced and sufficiently trained Reiki Master, private sessions for your own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual healing, assisting at all levels of classes and practice sessions called "sharings". Interview Masters. Here are some questions that you might ask them:
- When did they first start learning Reiki and how long have they been actively doing it? How long was their training?
- How long did it take them to go through the various levels to become a Master? For example, did they take Reiki from beginning Level 1 to Master in one weekend or was it spread out over time?
- Did they have just one teacher or a variety? What kind of Reiki were they taught? For example, while all Reiki comes from Usui, some teachers or schools have added various things that makes them different, i.e. was their teacher from the Reiki Alliance, or Karuna Reiki, Tera Mai Reiki, etc.
- When did they become a Reiki Master? How long have they been actively teaching?
- How has Reiki impacted upon their life?
- Do they have any Sharings that you could attend before making a decision to study with them?
- How do they teach Reiki I -how many hours, how many attunements, do they get a book or handouts, and is the class followed by get-togethers to practice what they learn?
- How to they teach Reiki II - how many hours, how many attunements, do they get a book or handouts, is there a waiting period between Level 1 and Level 2, and do they teach mental/ emotional healing or just distance healing?
- What other skills/ knowledge/ abilities do they bring to Reiki? Are they teaching their students how to incorporate these additional modalities?
While it is very had to know who is good when you are a beginner, the best advice in selecting a teacher is to pray to be guided to one that is right for you, talk to a few different ones, go to their Sharings if they have one, and listen to your gut instincts.
If there are no Reiki Masters in your area, or if you feel uncomfortable with those that are, or question the quality of their classes, then seek outside of your area. Find the best teacher you can and ideally bring that Master to your hometown to teach several others at the same time. Then set up a weekly Sharing on your own and phone your Master and discuss your experiences. See if your Master will periodically come back to continue your training, participate in your Sharings, and give you further advice.
If you cannot get a new Reiki class in your town, go with a friend or relative to study with a non-local Master, but then practice at home on one another. Stay in contact with your Master by phone.
Reiki even in the traditional or conservative programs is still a very fast healing modality to learn-just 1 year from beginning to Master, or beginner to the start of the Master Apprenticeship Program, depending on the school.
Nonetheless, due perhaps more to marketing and financial gain, there are cropping up shorter and shorter programs that seriously concern many of us that have been in Reiki for a while. Abbreviated programs abbreviate the information conveyed and greatly shortchange the quality of training. If poorly trained Masters are going out and training others, the training continuously becomes diluted and eventually meaningless.
It is important to study only with someone with whom you feel safe, comfortable, and can respect. Your teacher should respect your free will and boundaries. Your teacher should teach you sufficiently to instill confidence in your own ability to do Reiki. Most importantly, Reiki is a healing path and a spiritual partnership. A Reiki Master should walk their talk. Only then can they teach you in a constructive way. If anything about a prospective teacher makes you question their character, integrity, emotional health, or their commitment to your well-being, seek elsewhere.
A good Reiki Master disciplines their sexual energy so that that it does not enter into the session, and teaches students to do the same. It is the Master's job to make your learning and healing a safe experience.
Masters need to be committed to teaching tools to empower their students. They need to be committed to their own healing, while at the same time they need to separate their issues from those of their clients or students. They should be focused on offering value and service for the money they receive, rather than focusing only on the money that your patronage offers.Look for a Master who repeats the attunements for each level. It is traditional to offer four attunements for Level I. I do four attunements at each level. Each attunement is not only a powerful blessing and detoxifier, but I understand that any given time the student or the teacher may be off center. Only if the teacher's and the student's mind are calm and centered, open to make high-level spiritual contact, fully willing and accepting of both receiving and giving healing energy, does it flow in its greatest form.