Headaches caused by Reiki session

Hello everyone,

When a client experience strong headaches during or after a session (hands-on or distant healing), how do you explain it.

I appreciate your input,

Joseph

That's another new one to me... I've never heard of anyone experiencing pain once a Reiki treatment began, rather the complete opposite -- their pain became significantly less or disappeared altogether during the treatment and for several days thereafter.

I would try to rule out physiological reasons for the headache first -- and included in those reasons would be any incenses or scents to add to the ambiance of the treatment room. Next I would consider the clients nutrition because manufactured foods containing "all natural" ingredients (Coca-Cola is "all natural") may be causing the headaches.

Thank you for the reply. I read an old post of yours in a post titled "Painful healing?"
"Here's an old saying: "if it's painful, it ain't healing." It triggered my question and I would appreciate if you could explain more about the different level of energies that you mentioned.
I never use incense and only water is used (even with distant healing, I ask people to drink water).

Re: http://www.reikilearninglounge.com/t1795-painful-healing#17653

Hi Joseph.

What are your questions about energy levels as mentioned in my other post (referenced above)?

There is is part that I could not understand:

LightBody wrote:First is the Crystallized karma, and the last part is about different level of energy?

If others feel pain when you direct energy to them, then it's because it includes a portion of your crystallized karma, along with a significant portion of immediate bio-energy. Crystallized karma would be emotionally traumatic events that you suppressed in this life, and possibly past lives. Bio-energy is the energy closest to the physical body.

The karma thing will work itself out in time if you are open to that, and it will be a long path of spiritual exploration (it's just that way for everyone). The bio-energy is something that you can immediately effect with meditations, but it's also helpful if you experience an energy treatment or two from someone who already works with universal life force energy.

One part of the dilemma is that just because someone tells you it's universal life force energy doesn't mean that it is... they might have experienced bio-energy from someone else, been told it was universal, and then continued to transmit that to others because that's what they were told it was.
Another part of the dilemma is that even when you do experience the universal aspect of the energy from someone else, a portion of their bio-energy will be present, and as an Indigo you're going to be very aware of both types of energies (but those energies at this time may only be perceived as one energy).

Learning to distinguish different levels of the energy takes years, and once you begin to become comfortable with one level of energy and think you understand it, then that understanding will change when you begin to sense and understand other levels.

Hi LightBody,

If I may explain my worries about this issue and why I got interested in your posting.

I talked about the issue with few Masters, some said that we should never position the hands on the Crown chakra, others said do not not cup your hands on any part of the body and position in a way for the energy to release. Some said that pain is a sign that people are releasing something and we should not treat that pain as it affects the release. I read about people with epilepsy saying that they experienced seizures whenever the energy is directed to the Crown chakra.
But none of that really triggered my curiosity than your post, I started to wonder if this has to do with the relation between me and certain people, our karmas and our vibrations are not matching, or could it be that I am doing something wrong in my treatment.
Appreciate.

Joseph

Hi Joseph

I have a more down-to-earth explanation for headaches or other, sometimes unpleasant, symptoms occurring either during or after a Reiki session.

Reiki initiates a move towards balance and one way that it can do this is to break down and remove toxins that have built up because the body is under constant stress and the usual mechanisms that deal with this are overwhelmed.

When toxins move around the body it can feel unpleasant and give rise to headaches and feelings of nausea (if you have ever experienced a hangover from drinking too much then you will know this! )

When they are actually released this can be in the form of sweat, shivering, diarrhoea, runny nose, strong urine, aching limbs etc. (though this latter can sometimes occur when only one side of the body has been treated because that is where the pain was felt but in reality toxins were present on both sides and the other side has now become more noticeable).

Both Chujiro Hayashi and Hawayo Takata talked about these 'healing reactions' as being a good sign that healing is underway.

As Buck said, though, it is also important to rule out any other physiological reason for such symptoms as well e.g. environmental factors or emerging infection etc.

Hope that helps
Colin

Hi Joseph. Thanks for elaborating on your question by narrowing it down. ;-)

If I may ask just a couple more questions of you:

How do you feel or perceive energy or energies during a treatment (distance or in-person)?

If you slowly motion your hand over any one of a person's primary chakra (root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, third-eye, crown), can you perceive some sort of difference in the energy (that at the very least suggests there is a chakra present)?

Thank you Colin for your reply. I have experienced many of these symptoms and at times I never understood some of them as they were intense beyond my expectation. Lightbody is right about the environment, diet and may be the worst case I had with people treated with the wrong medication by doctors treating the wrong causes.

As for LightBody question about my perception of energy, here are the steps:

Prior to the session, I meditate and cleanse the space and set protection.
I ask client to meditate or pray and focus on whatever brought him to Reiki.
I first test the Aura (energy field around the client) and based on that I test the chakras and their energies. After balancing, I do a scanning of the whole body and based on whatever feedback whether hands or inner guidance, I do whole body, then work on the areas that I detected that need the most attention.
If a person tells me that there is headache, or pain in certain area, I stop, and give time to the symptoms to go away or manifest in different part of the body. It usually depends on which part that I go back to the chakra related and balance it till the pain is gone. Does it work all the time? No. There are situation where I know why and others I do not.
( I apologize for my writing, English is not first language)

And thank you again.

Hi Joseph.

I will reply to your post as soon as possible.

Your English is excellent.

What is your native language?

I am originally from Lebanon, so it is Arabic, and French as second language.
I appreciate.

Joseph

Hi Joseph.

I have a small vocabulary with some Japanese words in the Hiragana and Katakana alphabet but have not applied myself towards studying the Kanji, yet. In time.

I completed four years of French in 1985 and did reasonably well with the language at that time. I can read French and understand most of it, but once in a while have to consult the online translator.

Arabic is a language I must learn for business and plan to begin studying it in January 2013. I bought http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/158901104X and http://www.amazon.com/Alif-Baa-DVDs-Introduction-Letters/dp/1589011023 with the hope it will help prepare me for formal study.

chamjo wrote:When a client experience strong headaches during or after a session (hands-on or distant healing), how do you explain it….

That's a very good question worthy of a response several pages in length. Fortunately Colin has already provided the simplest explanation: it's a detoxification.

Regular Reiki treatments and attunements will help the body cleanse itself of toxins as Colin has mentioned.

Prior to the year 2000, it was very common for Reiki teachers to tell their students that they will experience a detoxification that may result in the symptoms of illness for a short period of time after the treatment or attunement.

Around the year 2000, quite a few people began to share that they experienced no detoxification whatsoever, and felt something was wrong with the attunement because of it.

A debate followed that still continues in some Reiki circles today, and that debate is whether or not the detoxification process is psychosomatic… did the person experience the symptoms of illness because it was a real detoxification process that was occurring, or did they experience the detoxification symptoms because they were told that they would?

While it has been possible to reach a single answer to that question, the result has been that some Reiki teachers mention the detoxification process when they teach, and some others do not.

I feel that any combination of the above can happen. When I teach, I prefer the method of "informed consent" and present the different scenarios to those attending my classes. I also emphasize honesty to one's self.

If symptoms appear, then give them permission to do so and open the heart further to allow more Reiki to flow where it needs to go to help heal the process.

If no symptoms appear, then give that permission to be as it is, and open the heart further to allow more Reiki to flow where it needs to go so that one may discover new things and help others heal.

chamjo wrote:Prior to the session, I meditate and cleanse the space and set protection.

I ask client to meditate or pray and focus on whatever brought him to Reiki.

I first test the Aura (energy field around the client) and based on that I test the chakras and their energies.

After balancing, I do a scanning of the whole body and based on whatever feedback whether hands or inner guidance, I do whole body, then work on the areas that I detected that need the most attention.

If a person tells me that there is headache, or pain in certain area, I stop, and give time to the symptoms to go away or manifest in different part of the body.

It usually depends on which part that I go back to the chakra related and balance it till the pain is gone.

Does it work all the time? No. There are situation where I know why and others I do not.

I like that you give the symptom time to go away, and are aware that it sometimes can move and appear in a different area of the body.

I have met a lot of Reiki practitioners who concentrate their attention on removing negative energy and replacing it with healthy or loving energy.

I have usually known this to be effective in the short term, but not for the long term.

chamjo wrote:I talked about the issue with few Masters, some said that we should never position the hands on the Crown chakra, others said do not cup your hands on any part of the body and position in a way for the energy to release.

That's pure nonsense. Seriously.

chamjo wrote:Some said that pain is a sign that people are releasing something and we should not treat that pain as it affects the release.

Well, if the purpose of being a Reiki Practitioner is to help another person heal, then that pretty much defeats the purpose of practicing Reiki.

Yes, it may be a sign the client is releasing something. That something, the pain of the client, is their lesson to learn. The pain of the client represents imbalances in their life that they need to learn how to balance. As a Reiki Practitioner you are a healer, and your role, your responsibility, is to help them heal.

The next time you experience pain during a treatment, either within yourself or within the client, try this:

Simply be present with the energy, and when you are ready, say:
"Show me the pain in another way."

That will give the energy perceived as pain the opportunity to reveal itself to you in a way other than pain if it is appropriate. You may receive a vision that helps you understand why the client has pain in that area, and if that vision is shared with the client it may help them understand or discover what they need to do to balance that energy.

chamjo wrote:I read about people with epilepsy saying that they experienced seizures whenever the energy is directed to the Crown chakra.

I feel it is more likely that they relaxed into the process and as a result of the relaxation, their brain mis-fired.

If it were possible for most healers to stimulate epileptic seizures, then many more people would be having aneurisms and strokes when a healer gets angered. That is because energy is neutral – when the healer has the intent of it healing then it heals, but because energy is neutral, when a healer gets upset – well, if they have any degree of power then look out!

chamjo wrote:… I started to wonder if this has to do with the relation between me and certain people, our karmas and our vibrations are not matching, or could it be that I am doing something wrong in my treatment.

I think that you are doing everything right in your treatment, and are simply learning how to consciously identify how the different energies are interacting with their environment.

I believe that if you continue to observe things as you have that in time, you will come closer to finding the answers that are right for you.

Hi Joseph!

chamjo wrote: I read about people with epilepsy saying that they experienced seizures whenever the energy is directed to the Crown chakra.

I've a level 2 student who is both epileptic and manic depressive. We've never experienced this.

chamjo wrote:
But none of that really triggered my curiosity than your post, I started to wonder if this has to do with the relation between me and certain people, our karmas and our vibrations are not matching,

we're all individual. Karma and vibration rarely match for anyone.

chamjo wrote:
or could it be that I am doing something wrong in my treatment.
Appreciate.

Joseph

If you are laying your hands on an area you are taught and/or an area you are drawn to, then you are doing everything right,

warmest wishes

Wayne

First, I am honored to meet you all in this lounge, and thank you for sharing and taking your time to answer.
I hope that I do not go beyond the subject with this posting.

The beauty of Reiki is its simplicity and yet the danger of Reiki is its simplicity. Once we are attuned to second level, we open ourselves through the third eye to the spirit world. One has to learn how to control the third eye, in order not to suffer from dreams or be exposed with no protection. This is my Asian teaching. When I was attuned to Master Reiki, The Karuna Ki Master demonstrate the use of Dai-Ko- Myo for other purposes than healing and it is fascinating how much we can affect others with that symbol. It was for good intentions and yet it was manipulation with no permission. Was it the Aura or the symbol? I do not know.
My daughter is 21 years old. she was born with "1p36 deletion". She has seizures since she was 10. She has the mind of a 3 years old. Every time, any Master of Reiki or Qigong tried any healing, she suffers, we suffer and we ask to stop the healing. they fall in love with Samantha and they want to help. I tried and it triggered seizures.

Again thank you all Masters for sharing, what you said made me realize that it is time to work on myself and do some major cleansing.

I need to apologize to Wayne about the USUI system I follow. I was checking my old files, and found that it was REIKI SHIKI RYOHO (Nov 2003) and to Master in SHIKI and Karuna KI with Asian style.

To LightBody: If you want to learn Arabic, forget about books and DVDs.

chamjo wrote:...Every time, any Master of Reiki or Qigong tried any healing, she suffers, we suffer and we ask to stop the healing. they fall in love with Samantha and they want to help. I tried and it triggered seizures....

Oh my, I am very sorry to learn of this.

I have never worked with anyone who said they had anything other than mild epilepsy. I have also never heard of this happening before, so it is a learning experience for me.

I see that this is one of those times when I feel that I have reached a point of confidence in my understandings of how things work that something new presents itself to show me how much I still don't know and that there is much more to learn.

Thank you for sharing, and I sincerely hope everything works out for the best.

LightBody wrote:

chamjo wrote:...Every time, any Master of Reiki or Qigong tried any healing, she suffers, we suffer and we ask to stop the healing. they fall in love with Samantha and they want to help. I tried and it triggered seizures....

I see that this is one of those times when I feel that I have reached a point of confidence in my understandings of how things work that something new presents itself to show me how much I still don't know and that there is much more to learn.

be a great addition to my old fav subject on here of can Reiki cause harm!!!

i'll hunt out those topics later.

LightBody, thank you and please do not feel sorry.
I do not mean to play down the burdens that come with having a special need child. Reiki helped me to accept and deal with the challenges. For that, if man counts his blessings....

I apologize if I did not mention it from the start, but really it is not only with Samantha that this issue of headache and crown chakra came up as I stopped treating the epilepsy years ago.

I did not mean that Reiki causes harm, what Wayne said is very true and I have read testimonies about it. Other significant healing happened on other issues. It is just what's behind the reaction.
Joseph

chamjo wrote:

I did not mean that Reiki causes harm
Joseph

oh that's a shame Joseph! I have a student who was that severely affected by 'energy' via lyme's disease that she had terrible, debilitating reactions to Reiki. in that sense, as far as healing goes, the reaction to Reiki was so severe that Reiki was most definitely not the thing to do. And who knows the devastating effects it would have done had the person kept on trying

Hi Wayne,

May I should have been careful using the word harm because it is directly related to the intent of causing harm, and that is not what Reiki is.

Would that explain why in Reiki, it is advised not to do healing on a broken bone, or heart surgery and some masters teach not to send energy directly to tumors as you are feeding the cancer with good energy.


Cheers
Joseph

chamjo wrote:Hi Wayne,

May I should have been careful using the word harm because it is directly related to the intent of causing harm, and that is not what Reiki is.

no worries about what words ya use! It's my own opinion Reiki can cause harm. Tell that to the living organisms Reiki is used as a catalyst to destroy!!

chamjo wrote:
Would that explain why in Reiki, it is advised not to do healing on a broken bone, or heart surgery and some masters teach not to send energy directly to tumors as you are feeding the cancer with good energy.

I know some that kinda specialise in sending Reiki to cancer. Frank Short on here knows a bit about that.

I dont know why folks say these things bro. I suspect most who say it dont know also, haha!!!

It has been almost three months since the incident of the headache took place during a distant session. The Masters on this blog, LightBody, Colin and Wayne, shared valuable facts and helped me dispel some myths and at least helped me trust that I did not do any thing wrong..
The answer came yesterday when this person who works as flight attendant came to visit me in New York. She shared with me that the headaches were accompanied with neck pain. The headaches were managed with Advil, but recently she had to go for a checkup for her neck and the X-rays revealed that she had two discs. When I was doing the healing, I was feeling the strong blockage around the neck and I should have been more open to answers instead of trying to understand it myself (EGO).

Quotes form:

LightBody:
The next time you experience pain during a treatment, either within yourself or within the client, try this:

Simply be present with the energy, and when you are ready, say:
"Show me the pain in another way."

That will give the energy perceived as pain the opportunity to reveal itself to you in a way other than pain if it is appropriate. You may receive a vision that helps you understand why the client has pain in that area, and if that vision is shared with the client it may help them understand or discover what they need to do to balance that energy.


Colin's input about toxins: I was not aware of this
“(though this latter can sometimes occur when only one side of the body has been treated because that is where the pain was felt but in reality toxins were present on both sides and """"""the other side has now become more noticeable"""").


Wayne for your word of support and warnings about the harm caused by Reiki.


Blessings,
Joseph

Hi Joseph,

regarding the headaches after a Reiki treatment; I've come across this too during/after Reiki sessions with my girlfriend... Usually some other symptom would clear simultaneously or before hand. I put it down to the movement of "energy" and/or the clearing of toxins.

It usually indicates to me that more work needs to be done, but mostly on the part of the patient experiencing the symptoms. We as practitioners can only act to facilitate/initiate another persons healing process, we become part of the healing equation but "we" do not take on the responsibility of the person's healing process.

As mentioned before on this thread, different environmental factors could (and most certainly do) play a role in the persons well-being and their healing process, emotional, physical, dietary...etc. (some people even have some kind of vested interest in their "condition" - consciously or subconsciously.... as bizarre as that may sound).

The only way to "diagnose" this, is if we are entirely honest with ourselves.

You mentioned that you meditate before a session. It's always good to have a clear mind, especially when working with a patient. Is there anything in particular which you meditate on? As you mentioned that you "clear the space" and "set a protection"?

Have you introduced these rituals into your Reiki practice or have they been taught to you in your Reiki training?

I'm just curious! What is it exactly we are supposed to protect ourselves from?
Is it: "bad vibes"/entities/taking on a patients symptoms/passing on symptoms....,the boogieman that surfs the Reiki waves....??? All of the above perhaps or nobody really knows.... it just feels right because we live in a fear-based paradigm.

The problem I see in these types of rituals/practices is that we're unnecessarily feeding into this fear-based paradigm.

I've found that when I do "energy" work, It is far more beneficial for me and the person I'm working with to not try to diagnose problems or scan for "imbalances". But rather, just "play" with the energies/frequencies I am perceiving as long as they hold my attention/interest... then I move to another area. I find it a lot easier to perceive these energies (in whatever shape or form they come) with hands-off treatments. All I do is put my attention into my hands... "listening" for whatever comes and let the rest just happen.

After all the energies that are coming through us, are of a higher intelligence than our own... Do they really need to be directed or is that just our egos wanting to have control?

Best wishes,

Ben

an excellent post!!!

Folks that I assist are made aware
that a Reiki session is not a quick
fix. The root of a problem needs to
surface and that can take time. Some
times folks are not ready to allow
that to happen. It is not the Reiki
that creates the fear, its up rooting
and dealing with the physical,emotional
and spiritual problems.

LuvSoulJah wrote:Hi Joseph,

regarding the headaches after a Reiki treatment; I've come across this too during/after Reiki sessions with my girlfriend... Usually some other symptom would clear simultaneously or before hand. I put it down to the movement of "energy" and/or the clearing of toxins.

It usually indicates to me that more work needs to be done, but mostly on the part of the patient experiencing the symptoms. We as practitioners can only act to facilitate/initiate another persons healing process, we become part of the healing equation but "we" do not take on the responsibility of the person's healing process.

As mentioned before on this thread, different environmental factors could (and most certainly do) play a role in the persons well-being and their healing process, emotional, physical, dietary...etc. (some people even have some kind of vested interest in their "condition" - consciously or subconsciously.... as bizarre as that may sound).

The only way to "diagnose" this, is if we are entirely honest with ourselves.

You mentioned that you meditate before a session. It's always good to have a clear mind, especially when working with a patient. Is there anything in particular which you meditate on? As you mentioned that you "clear the space" and "set a protection"?

Have you introduced these rituals into your Reiki practice or have they been taught to you in your Reiki training?

I'm just curious! What is it exactly we are supposed to protect ourselves from?
Is it: "bad vibes"/entities/taking on a patients symptoms/passing on symptoms....,the boogieman that surfs the Reiki waves....??? All of the above perhaps or nobody really knows.... it just feels right because we live in a fear-based paradigm.

The problem I see in these types of rituals/practices is that we're unnecessarily feeding into this fear-based paradigm.

I've found that when I do "energy" work, It is far more beneficial for me and the person I'm working with to not try to diagnose problems or scan for "imbalances". But rather, just "play" with the energies/frequencies I am perceiving as long as they hold my attention/interest... then I move to another area. I find it a lot easier to perceive these energies (in whatever shape or form they come) with hands-off treatments. All I do is put my attention into my hands... "listening" for whatever comes and let the rest just happen.

After all the energies that are coming through us, are of a higher intelligence than our own... Do they really need to be directed or is that just our egos wanting to have control?

Best wishes,

Ben

(sorry I was having problem posting)

Thank you Ben, I appreciate your comments and your questions.

I agree with you on this part" We as practitioners can only act to facilitate/initiate another persons healing process, we become part of the healing equation but "we" do not take on the responsibility of the person's healing process."

--But my ego fails me sometimes and I do try to find answers, and I consider that to be a weakness. It usually happens when loved ones are involved and my emotions come into play. (like in this case).

--My meditation is simple with focus on breathing and quieting the mind.

As for this part of your comments"

You mentioned that you meditate before a session. It's always good to have a clear mind, especially when working with a patient. Is there anything in particular which you meditate on? As you mentioned that you "clear the space" and "set a protection"?

Have you introduced these rituals into your Reiki practice or have they been taught to you in your Reiki training?

I'm just curious! Smile What is it exactly we are supposed to protect ourselves from?
Is it: "bad vibes"/entities/taking on a patients symptoms/passing on symptoms....,the boogieman that surfs the Reiki waves....??? All of the above perhaps or nobody really knows.... it just feels right because we live in a fear-based paradigm.

The problem I see in these types of rituals/practices is that we're unnecessarily feeding into this fear-based paradigm."


--My answer:
My rituals(if you want to call it this way) based on personal experience and fear.
We come from different backgrounds, believe systems and schools.
I was taught about grounding, cleansing and protection.
For many, Reiki is one way of giving from healer to healee, for me I am part of the equation. Even in emergency requests, I need to take few minutes to be grounded, I need to pray and I ask for protection from the unwanted ones. I paid my dues for not following my rituals.
May I ask you if you ever experienced the same energies that you feel when doing Reiki on someone, when you enter a place or touch a wall or a antique items?


Best regards,

Joseph