by Jason Hundley

Reiki is a wonderful technique that has brought about many amazing changes in my life and the lives of my clients and students but there are times when Reiki seems to be completely ineffective, even after multiple sessions. What is going on when Reiki isn’t working?

I’ve noticed over the years that many people think that, because they are Reiki practitioners, they can fix or heal other people. I believed this as well, for a while. However, I came to notice that no matter how successful my practice was, there were instances where nothing I did seemed to make any difference; Reiki simply wasn’t working. I began to see that the changes taking place in my clients weren’t a result of my actions on them, nor were they decisions made by “The Reiki Source”. Instead, my experiences were showing me that the client is the one in charge and that he or she determines the level and extent of transformation that occurs.

When Reiki isn’t working, we need to ask ourselves if something might be going on below the surface. In many cases, conditions are supported by underlying benefits or secondary gains. These are belief patterns the client holds that cause him or her to think, on some deep level, having their condition is better than not having it. If the client has a secondary gain that is not addressed, no amount of work you do will provide lasting change.

To illustrate the concept of secondary gain, I will provide a few examples:

Many of us learn at an early age that we get special attention when we are sick. I have seen several instances where a wife was sick and enjoyed the extra attention she received because of it. “It’s so nice. My husband takes such good care of me. He brings me breakfast in bed, cleans the house, washes the dishes and checks on me every half hour. I wish he would be like this more often”, she might say.

Another example is a friend of mine who has been a smoker for over twenty years. When I asked her if she would like to quit, she said she yes. I gave her Reiki for several weeks with no progress at all. Finally, I asked her what the downside to quitting might be and she said it would lead to weight gain and that was a serious concern for her.

I know someone who was addicted to pain medication after being prescribed pain killers for her migraines over a ten year period. Most of the time, Reiki would lessen or eliminate her headaches but there were times she would get one and no amount of energy work helped. Once again, Reiki wasn’t working. Only after she had satsified the secondary gain by getting more pain medication did she allow Reiki to help with her headache.

I could go on and on but the point I wish to make is that our clients either allow us to help them or prevent us from doing so, based on their willingness to let go of the core reason they have whatever condition they have. As Reiki practitioners, we must recognize that we only assist our clients in changing and nothing we do can force them to go in a direction they don’t wish to go.

Understanding that many people have underlying reasons for maintaining a certain condition and knowing how to find those secondary gains is invaluable to everyone practicing Reiki or any other modality. Once the benefit is discovered and made clear to the client, a decision can then be made on how willing he or she is to change it. If the client decides the core issue is not something he or she is ready to change at this time, respect the decision and realize that we all grow at our own pace.

If you find that Reiki isn’t working for your client, take some time to ask a few questions about the situation you are trying to help resolve. Questions like, “What’s the downside to changing this?” or “What would you have to do or face if you weren’t dealing with this?” or “What’s the upside to holding on to this problem?” can help answers surface. Your client might be surprised at what comes up. When you have a secondary gain and the client has chosen to release it, and then apply Reiki to the belief by having him or her hold the thought in mind while you use the mental/emotional symbol and any others you feel guided to use.

I hope you find this article helpful on your Reiki path. I wish you all the best!

Find out how you can learn Reiki online at The Online Reiki Course

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