I learnt Reiki, back in 1994, in order to heal myself. I was already working as a Spiritual Healer but this method didn't work for self-healing. As I worked on others, I knew that in order to heal, we all need to cultivate self-love. I felt that I didn't have the tools or methods that I needed personally, to heal and grow as a person. I felt increasingly drawn to Reiki, I'd had friends who had trained but the time had never been right for me before and for various reasons it didn't happen.
Reiki comes to us when the time is right, when we're ready to receive, change or let go. I knew that my intention behind training was to help myself and also, hopefully, others. I didn't realise how life changing it was going to be! The emphasis behind the training I received was about self-love, which then helps us to learn to give and receive love unconditionally both to ourselves and others. If we don't love ourselves, we cannot help others and indeed if we do not look within ourselves, we cannot help others do the same. It's no good reading about it in a book and then trying to pass that wisdom on to others, but it is so much more powerful to continue the journey of self-love ourselves and to be able to counsel or teach from that truth and wisdom that comes from within, from the Higher Source, and from the Universe.
Many things block us from loving ourselves unconditionally, our upbringing, life experiences, cultural beliefs etc amongst other things. The journey of self-love is a personal and individual one, depending on many factors. We must all, however, learn to accept ourselves as we are right now and realise that the Universe loves and accepts us now, unconditionally! Self-acceptance is key to starting to love ourselves. All the time we believe we're not enough (see my earlier post Self-Worth: You're good enough now!) we attract lack. If we can't love and accept ourselves then no-one else will either, we inadvertantly attract people who reflect our innermost fears and beliefs about who we are or about what we can have/receive/deserve.
Small steps are usually good to begin with, make sure you give yourself time each day to check in with yourself, how do you feel? What do you need? What is your intuition telling you? Start to look after yourself, what would you expect from a best friend, or the best Mum in the world? Be that to yourself! We must all learn to be our own best friends, to listen, care and support ourselves unconditionally.
Be kind to yourself!
This is a big topic, as are most of the things I'm posting about, so I will be writing more over time. For today though, see if there's something that you can do for yourself that will help you feel better, if you're not sure what that is, devote some time to thinking about what you enjoy, what gives you a sense of well-being. Perhaps it's something new you'd like to try or that you've always felt drawn to doing. Follow your heart, that's the part of you that will guide you to self-love. Devote time regularly to doing these practices and you will find yourself feeling happier and being better able and more willing to serve others.
