I am reading a new book out on Kindle about Reiki, and I came across yet another fallacy about Reiki. In this book, the author says that a "healing crisis" is elicited every time someone has a Reiki attunement - not true, misleading, and may scare people off of having one.




The twenty day detox or cleanse elicited each time someone has a Reiki attunement, is NOT a healing crisis.  In Helen Haberly's book " Reiki - Hawayo Takata's Story", she describes several incidences where Mrs. Takata's treatments, elicited a healing crisis (I call her the "mother" of Reiki because she is responsible for spreading Reiki over the entire planet through the 22 Reiki Master Teachers she trained). It becomes quite clear in this book, that a "healing crisis" is very different from the detox/cleanse brought on by a Reiki attunement (the sacred ceremony/energy transmission process/initiation you go through in order to be connected to the energy of Reiki so that you can channel it and call yourself a Reiki practitioner, only performed by a Reiki Master Teacher or Shihan (the Japanese word for teacher). 


A healing crisis is the bodies response to having multiple Reiki treatments or sessions in succession (typically 2-3 sessions minimum the first week of treatment or more, followed by same the next week, and possible the next, depending on if the healing crisis occurred or not, and then tapering off as needed), which is the protocol for severe and chronic health issues as put forth by Mrs.Takata.

The Reiki Practitioner is actually trying to elicit this response in order to bring to the surface whatever is festering in the body or energy field that is the root of cause of the illness. In one of the many stories in Helen's book about  Mrs. Takata's treatments, she describes an old man who is so debilitated by arthritis, he can barely get around. Mrs. Takata has to go to his house to treat him, and along with some dietary change suggestions, he begins to heal but notices a red patch on his elbow beginning to form.  It grows and grows until one day it ruptures and began to spurt. Mrs. Takata wrapped in an old white sheet she found lying around, and eventually something like cottage cheese curds came out of it. She said it was calcium and that was what had caused the arthritis.  He was now cured!  This is the perfect example of a healing crisis! 

The detox/cleanse one goes through after a Reiki attunement is nothing like a healing crisis. Immediately after an attunement, the Reiki energy begins to open, clear and balance the root or base chakra for 24 hours, then moves up to the sacral chakra doing same for 24 hours, and so on, until it reaches the Crown (top of the head) chakra at the end of 7 days.  This process begins again in the root, progressing up as before, for two more 7 day periods. The purpose being to clears ones "channels" so that you can become a purer vessel for channeling Reiki energy (gets rid of old baggage).
Possible side effects of an attunement can be any of the following or combination of same: feeling either energized or fatigued, feeling like a flu or cold is coming on but it never materializes, feeling sad, angry or blissful, having more frequent bathroom visits either or both ways, finding certain odors or foods off putting, feeling nauseous, or feeling like a headache is coming on but doesn't actually materialize, just to name a few.  These symptoms can come and go throughout the typically 21 day or so cleansing process, and the student is advised to take it a little easier, drink plenty of fluids (preferably good clean water), eat a healthy balanced diet and rest if your body calls for it.   

I believe that it is vitally important that we get the real facts about Reiki out to the public so we don't scare or put people off who are in real need of our services, or feeling drawn to take Reiki training.