Beyond Thought Today is about bringing together the conventional and spiritual worlds. Here's a great example:
At the time I took my Second Degree
Reiki, 20 years ago, I was working in the electronics industry, on the quality
and reliability of the very latest silicon chips . . . such as were used in the
first digital telephone exchange (remember BT’s Buzby?). A world away, you
might think, from Reiki. Indeed, shortly after taking Reiki Masters I resigned my
electronics job to become a Reiki teacher. But there are many applications of
Reiki to the workplace and overlaps between my work then and with Reiki: not
least that both are concerned with subtle energies. And, even in those first
few months as a ‘Reiki 2’, I made good use of the symbols within the Research
and Developments labs where I worked.
For example, if one of our
product failed it would be my job to find our why and to ensure it didn’t
happen again. Continuous Improvement is key to any business be it holistic
health or electronics. We had and would follow systematic processes for
analysing the failure but, more often than not, no obvious or logical cause
could be ascertained. Enter Reiki. I needed to think laterally, to put myself
in the position of the user, for example; to take a step back and ‘see’ what
had happened a few days, weeks or months previously. If that’s not a job for
transcending time and space by using the Reiki symbols, then I don’t know what
is!
If we look at ‘healing’ in the
broadest sense, then Reiki is about building bridges, understanding different
perspectives and connecting, for example to colleagues, clients and suppliers,
beyond the hype and theory. This is fairly obvious in a therapy context: in
giving Reiki we’ll tune into our client and are often able to intuit factors
relating to the reason for visiting us. Exactly the same idea can be applied in
any working relationship.
Say, for example, we thought we’d
agreed a new project or collaboration but everything has gone quiet. We’re
getting anxious and frustrated that nothing is happening. What do we do? We
send absent healing to the situation, tuning in to those involved. More often than
not, in the stillness of such healing we’ll sense that the other party is just
very busy or got personal issues to deal with . . . or that they have changed
their mind. Either way, the Reiki can help us acknowledge the changing reality
of a situation rather than get stressed up about it.
Thus, the ability of Reiki to
connect us to ‘every thought and every feeling that ever was, is and might be’
(as I describe a distance healing in my Reiki 2 sessions), has huge potential in
any workplace. In the hustle and bustle of a business, particularly dominated
by so much on-line, instant everything, don’t we need, more than ever, to take
a step back to see what’s really going on beneath the promises and procedures?
It’s the ageless paradox: the reason Reiki is so needed in the workplace is
precisely the reason it seems so out of place there.
Not forgetting the obvious
Added to these benefits is the
obvious physical value of Reiki as a tool for relaxation and stress
management/prevention. An introductory Reiki session one lunch-time, for
example, will allow staff to sample the effects, feeling for themselves the
chilled results. Those most interested can then be offered First Degree
training, so they can do it for themselves whenever they need to.
All of the above uses of Reiki
can be offered under a broader umbrella. A few years ago, for example, I was
working with Bangor University on their Employability Award which provides
opportunities for students to gain credits for intern-ships, volunteering and
training to help prepare them for working life. I devised a series of workshops
called Working with Wisdom, aimed at
complementing a student’s subject-specific study with broader life-skills.
Included in the series was an introduction to Reiki (for relaxation), Making Friends with Time and Cultural Awareness, each looking at one
facet of being generally more aware. Besides including a specific Reiki
session, I referred to it in the others sessions and always included some
practical, reflective practice. Anything to help these students, often stressed
by academic pressures, to step back and tune in to a deeper reality
Always well received, these
sessions helped to get the idea across that being able to do well in a work
environment isn’t just about knowing one’s subject: it’s also about having a
deeper awareness of others (which we might call Emotional Intelligence) for
example. All too often the emphasis is on knowledge: facts and theories but, as
I’d found in my electronics days, often these are not enough. To make that
vital breakthrough, to get through a day effectively and efficiently one also
needs to be wise. And what better path to wisdom that Reiki!
But how?
That’s fine in theory, you may be
thinking, but how do we do Reiki in an office or other workplace? Remembering
that Reiki is something that can be done anytime, anyplace, anywhere, the
simple answer is to just do it. You’ll probably find that colleagues are so
tied up in their own dramas that they won’t even notice. And, if they do, what
better opportunity to tell them about the wonders of Reiki?
Here’s a few suggestions:
- Whenever you’re not actually doing anything, for
example whilst commuting, whilst on the phone, or even in a meeting, give
yourself some Reiki. No one is going to notice you with your chin in your hand,
or hand on your shoulder, on stomach, or clasped around the back of the head.
There are so many comforting places that we, naturally rest our hands: all that
is then required is to allow ourselves to go into Reiki mode as we do so.
(One
tricky part might be to do this Reiki with eyes open, or others may think we’re
sleeping! But it is perfectly possible to give ourselves Reiki whilst keeping
an awareness of what’s going on around us. Reiki, after all, connects us into
the here and now.)
- Remember the Reiki Principles, in particular: Just for today I will do my work honestly.
What is you real work? I found that, even in a busy office, the most important
work for me to do was often my own inner work. Or perhaps your real work in
your workplace is to be present, to heal that place of work?
- Use the symbols to heal whatever situation you
feel needs healing. Reflect on the situation and superimpose the symbols onto
that mental picture . . . and see what comes to you.
You may need a few minutes quiet
time to yourself to do some of this, but there’s always the comfort break or
the walk to get a drink. And don’t forget that Health & Safety at Work requires you to have regular rests from
computer screens: take them! And use the time to have a stretch . . . and use
those Reiki symbols.
