After a reiki treatment you may hear your practitioner talk about drinking lots of water and gentle after care - but what does that actually mean - and what can you expect after your reiki treatment?
Hopefully you are feeling more relaxed after your reiki meditation session, yet you may find this relaxation to mixed up with expectations. emotions and questions of 'what next'.
The seven core aftercare steps to implement after reiki - are
1. Drinking Lots of water
2. Allowing time for rest
3. Clean eating - avoiding stimulants, depressants and processed food
4. Being gentle with yourself - allowing your emotions to flow
5. Taking time to notice how you are and being patient with all that emerges
6. Being aware of detoxification symptoms
7. Being open to asking questions and being curious about the process.
Drinking lots of water:
Why? Reiki triggers your body's natural healing process, which means you will start a detoxification. Water helps to flush away these toxins and helps you have more energy and alertness when the healing process makes you feel tired and sleepy.
Rest - That said, rest will help the reiki continue to work!
Where possible book a reiki appointment when you can have time off after and take it gently! Always lovely if you don't have to go back to work and can enjoy a meandering walk, time to wind-down or even sleep. Try to have a break from technology in this rest period, switching off your phone, avoiding the urge to vegetate in front of the TV, choosing to read a book, sleep or have a soothing bath instead. Be gentle with yourself. Get an early night and lie in if you can.
Clean eating
- reiki begins this healing and clearing out process, which is supported by healthy eating and drinking.
Please try to avoid alcohol or caffeinated drinks, particularly for the first 48 hours.
Try a herbal tea - or picking a sprig of mint from the garden or cutting a slice of lemon and infusing it in hot (or cold water). Cucumber water (literally just cold water with cucumber kept in the fridge for an hour or two to allow the flavour to infuse), and strawberry water made with still or sparkling water are lovely alternatives to lemonade, cola or coffee. Make time for lots of tasty fruits and vegetables and low/no meat, cheese, dairy or processed food for 24-48 hours to really give your immune system a boost as the reiki works through you.
Being gentle with yourself and allowing emotions to flow - it is natural and common to feel emotional or to cry during or after a reiki treatment.
Emotional healing is a significant part of the process of reiki. Sometimes you think you are having a reiki treatment for comfort from pain or a physical health condition, and it triggers a deep emotional healing of a relationship or situation. Reiki flows where you need it most.
This experience can feel lovely - or deeply unpleasant. Trust that this too will pass. Some clients talk about feeling happy, relaxed, floaty and free; others have commented on feelings of fear, ferocity, sadness and grief. Know that this will pass.
Try to suspend your judgement of whether a feeling is good or bad and simply be present to the feeling, breathe into it, and exhale with the feeling. Gradually this feeling will shift, like a knot unravelling.
This being 'in the moment' and allowing your emotions to be from a point of equanimity, enables deep physical and emotional healing. You notice those times society and your fight for control in an uncertain world, taught you not to cry, and you can allow the healing power of your tears and emotions to rise and fall - and flow. Tears are good for you - these emotional tears actually also contain stress hormones and provide a natural release for them (reference).
After reiki its not all tears and herbal tea. You may find yourself laughing and smiling for no apparent reason or needing to beat up a pillow in anger or pound out frustration with a good session at the gym or in the Dojo. Try to be gentle with yourself during this process and know it too, will pass.
Notice - this gift of noticing how you are feeling and being really present to this moment - is sometimes called mindfulness.
You may like to take some time in meditation to deepen the integration of reiki. Yet a meditation or mindful practice, does not need to be still or have your eyes closed. What is key is paying attention to this moment right now and the process of noticing each and every moment.
Try it now.
Pay attention to how you feel physically. Observe if your feet are warm or cold. How do your legs feel, comfortable or tense? What do you feel in your stomach - are you hungry, feeling emotion in your belly? Now pay attention to the emotions rising and falling, name them if you like, and notice how you judge some feelings as good and the others as bad. But they are all just part of you and a natural part of the human process. Now see if you can be silent for a moment observing your thoughts and trying to just let them pass like clouds in the sky, without judgement.
Take time to Notice. Breathe (take a lovely long breath in and out) and Be at repeated intervals throughout your day.
Detoxification symptoms
- as your body gets rid of toxins and welcomes the energy of healing, you may feel discomfort or pain before you start to feel better. Stomach cramps, flatulence, upset tummy and diarrhoea, headache, sneezing, runny nose, muscular pain, exhaustion even soreness are sometimes called 'a healing crisis' - this is not a crisis to fear, but one to welcome. It means you probably haven't stopped and given yourself this permission to support your healing process for a while. Your body is cleansing away old beliefs, as well as physical toxins being released from your body. Clean eating and drinking water will help speed this up and make it an easier process.
Try to resist the urge to numb feelings for the first few hours with pain killers or processed, sugary food and opt for healthy eating, water, lots of sleep/rest and that process of noticing (as above) and this should start to shift.
Obviously if symptoms persist, please do contact a healthcare professional/ your GP.
Ask questions and be curious - as your reiki master I am here to support you. Part of this process is to be available to respond to your questions by email or text over the next few days - or schedule a phone call. I'll send you resources to help your healing that are usually channelled during your healing treatment - I have probably shared at least 3 re-balancing techniques with you and you'll get reminders of these in the days and weeks following your treatment to help you. For readers, there are some wonderful books to read/listen to (such as Dr David Hamilton's
Why Woo Woo Works), for visual learners - there are some amazing resources online and documentaries to explore (such as the documentary
Heal) and for kinaesthetic learners - try the techniques shared with you in your session - or just some empowered breathing techniques to help you with this next step (video clip). You can explore more in group and one-to-one sessions with Judy - see events coming up or
book some time
in together here.
Photo thanks to Katherine Hanlon on
Unsplash
