Namaste to all the Reiki folks here! :) I am Elliott

I am just beginning my Reiki journey, and I am most excited. I am in Younstown Ohio and I have a friend who is a level 2 Usui Reki, and meeting him peaked my interest in this and I am pursuing it for myself now. There are many styles of Reiki and I like many new people am confused. I visited a site that had a "click on this" button for Usui Reiki and attempted to get a level 1 attunement, though I feel that may or may not have worked, I know that people can feel some power through meditation...and I am not sure that my Chakras have been opened, I can feel some tingling in my hands (possibly cut off my circulation?) when I do guided meditation but I cannot call forth the power of Reiki during medition or otherwise to actually heal, yet. I need to locate a Reiki master (even one who is online..if that works as well in everyones opinion?) who I can actually interact with that will help me the great potential to connect to the source that I am feeling. I have been reading and studying just need the correct direction. If there is anyone here who could take me under their wing that would be wonderful. Thanks to everyone who reads this and thanks even more to the kind people who will reply. I have a great desire to do good and like many things with meditation I know this is what I am supposed to be doing because it "feels" correct.

Love and light,
Elliott

Warm Welcome Elliot!

Get stuck into some of the topics here, ask questions as much as possible. Create a rapport with some of us, . Always best to have in-person training. If you're still around here in a few weeks, you & I could discuss distance stuff. It's not ideal though (for you) to be honest

Thank you very much MilaRepa, I am reading as much as I can, if you have specific suggested reading materials...please do indicate them. I want to make informed decisions and I would rather make better choices the first time though if possible that is where speaking to the nice folks who already have the experience helps.

Elliott

Hi Elliot, welcome.

Confused? Well, welcome to the Reiki community! You'll fit in just fine, here! hahaha.

As far as informed consent is concerned, I'll offer the following:

Websites:

For the most part, most Reiki books include information that is freely available on these websites:

James Deacon's The Reiki Pages
http://aetw.org

Rick Rivard's Threshold Reiki
http://threshold.ca

William Rand's Center for International Training
http://reiki.org

International House of Reiki
http://ihreiki.com


TRAINING IN GENERAL

Considering you are in Ohio, you might want to consider William Rand's center (http://reiki.org), or a newer non-profit called Reiki Education at http://reikieducation.org. Reiki Education is located on the East Coast, but they may be able to help you find training closer to your home.

The RLL has a section that presents interviews with Reiki teachers as a means to help those like you find the right teacher:
http://www.reikilearninglounge.com/c8-reiki-teacher-interviews

DISTANCE TRAINING

Regardless of whether or not a person pursues distance training, I strongly encourage everyone to get the experience of being trained in a live class setting--and not just a weekend seminar... an in-person class that takes at least 6 months to complete and requires regular practice with others is best.

The reason for my position is that if we strip all of the fancy spirituality and energy-working stuff out of Reiki, it simply boils down to this: helping people heal.

To help people heal, one needs to know how to interact, how to communicate at many levels, and unfortunately clicking buttons on the web that say "free reiki master attunement" just isn't going to improve one's communications skills in this physical reality.

Distance training can work, but in my opinion, it has had the unfortunate consequence of giving Reiki practitioners a very bad, disreputable reputation amongst those not in the community.

BOOKS

I'll initially recommend:

The Complete Reiki Tutor: A Structured Course to Achieve Professional Expertise
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1856752828/

And

The Original Reiki Handbook by Mikao Usui & Christine M. Grimm
http://www.amazon.com/The-Original-Reiki-Handbook-ebook/dp/B0026A6CD6/

Welcome to the Lounge, Elliott!



If you would like to read about Reiki practice in the context of Japan, I would recommend Light on the Origins of Reiki by Tadao Yamaguchi.

Thank you very much!

I think the book question is a very good one. I posted a thread here to continue the discussion http://www.reikilearninglounge.com/t1812-reiki-reading-list-2012