Why Repeating Reiki Training Is A Good Idea

In this post, we want to bring your attention to some of the benefits of repeating Jikiden Reiki training, having initially attended the Shoden and Okuden courses. The option to repeat is available to all students of Jikiden Reiki. The cost to a student to do so is a fraction of the original training fees, and the price is set by the Institute in Japan for each country.

 

Reiki Training is an ongoing practice

The idea of repeating training is in keeping with the understanding that formal Reiki training is the starting point of your study. Let that point sink in. I encourage you to think of your training, as well as your individual study of Reiki, as an ongoing practice. I have personally found repeating a beneficial thing to do in my own study of Reiki. In addition to all the Reiki training courses I had attended before I found Jikiden Reiki, I have taken Jikiden Reiki Shoden and Okuden about six times now with three different teachers. I’ve taken Shihankaku four times and Shihan three. You will see the same picture of repeating with any dedicated Reiki teacher.

As with martial arts, your learning is not complete with one lesson, or attending one training course. I see a common view in our culture of 'I have taken the training course', as if the topic has been done or completed. Rather than dig into some reasons why this happens, I’d simply like to look at a few reasons why repeating the formal Jikiden Reiki courses might be helpful for you.

What can we gain from repeating courses we have already taken?

Firstly, as with any course, with the best intentions in the world, we do not retain all the information presented to us in our first exposure to it. I wrote a lot of notes the first time I took Jikiden Reiki training, yet found I made just as many notes the second time around. I was at a different place with my practice than the first time I took the training. Be aware that some questions will only appear after practice, so you won’t yet know what questions to ask when the content is new.

Repeating training can also be helpful in layering your technical ability and understanding of an approach or the idea being taught. An obvious example is the Kekko technique taught in the Shoden course. The way I tend to approach it in teaching it is, the first time of learning is about getting the sequence and process down, and trying it. The next time I observe the student performing Kekko (after a bit of practice), I can further coach and help them refine the finer points of the technique. The same is true with concepts such as Byosen.

What you also tend to find with attending different courses is that there are different people there, with different experiences, so the questions asked in the training tend to be different in each class. The mix of beginners, repeaters, those previously trained in more western approaches to Reiki and those who are professional practitioners, is helpful. It might even be a useful thing for a newly qualified teacher to observe how an experienced teacher delivers the content and manages the flow of the courses, to help them as they prepare to start teaching themselves.

Repeating Reiki training courses is also a great way to receive more or regular Reiju. The number of times you experience that clearing and coming back to true self that Reiju brings is of course, highly beneficial. With Reiju being delivered on five occasions over the two courses, it is especially supportive to your study and development with Reiki.

 

When and where to repeat Reiki Training

My advice, if you would like to repeat training, is that you will gain the most value when your first repeat is around 6 to 12 months after the initial course if you are going to be working with the public professionally or voluntarily, or maybe 1-2 years if using it for self and family and friends, when you have had a period of practicing what you learned. Many find it helpful to repeat the first time with the teacher they learned from. Beyond that, I would encourage you to consider taking some training with other teachers.

For example the Jikiden Reiki teachers in the UK have differing experiences and styles of teaching. Some are more focused on the practical, others have a lot of experience delivering treatments, some have lived in Japan and have more depth of understanding of Japanese culture, others have a lot of experience with western approaches to Reiki and appreciate the misunderstandings that have evolved with Reiki in the west. All this can aid your study of Reiki. My view is that once you have repeated training 1 or 2 times, you might then only wish to recap every couple of years. 

We have the benefit of having a pool of Jikiden Reiki teachers in the UK, all teaching the same content, so get to know who the teachers are – both in your area and further afield. You can have a look at the teachers map on the JRUKA website if you’d like to see where they all are.

Written By Shaun Mckeown

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