I recently taught Reiki 1 to my 7 year old nephew. He was very excited about finally getting to have his special Reiki day with Aunnie (that's me! :) I had taught my niece a couple years earlier (Part 1) and she had told him all about what to expect...hiking, lunch, coloring book...I'm not actually sure how much she remembers of the actual Reiki part, but that's okay. These kids are awesome and I think I end up learning just as much when I'm with them!
As it was the day after Hurricane Irene, we hit a few road blocks to my initial plans. The place I wanted to take him hiking at was closed, the restaurant I wanted to take him to lunch was closed. This involved a lot of driving, through major traffic intersections with no lights working, to find other places. But as my nephew pointed out, "we're going to make the most of today no matter what, right Aunnie?" Yes, yes we are. First stop, Joe's Rock in Wrentham for a little hike as we discussed energy. We were greeted at first arrival by the cries of a red-tailed hawk. This hawk, and about 4 others, seemed to follow us throughout our journey in the woods. It was pretty amazing. But even more amazing to him are the rocks. Ever since I started taking him hiking, he has been a rock hound. Usually my pockets are filled with the cool rocks he has discovered. He is a child after my own heart! We talked about looking for special rocks to use as part of his attunement and what it means to set an intention.
Then to American Joe's for lunch. I have this great little Reiki Kids coloring book and he was thrilled to work on it and talk about Reiki and Energy and Chakras as we waited for our meals. When I asked him to draw a picture of how he could use Reiki, he drew a picture of himself giving Reiki to someone who was sick. I think his favorite part was the energy ball I showed him how to make with his hands. It was so awesome to see his eyes look at me in amazement as he exclaimed he could feel the energy between his hands..."it's like something is there, it's like my hands are growing!"
Then we were off to my office so he could pick out a special crystal to be used as part of his Reiki attunement. Neither my office, nor my home had electricity at the time. I have a special Reiki Kids meditation CD, but I had explained to him we might not be able to do a meditation if there still was no electricity when we got home. He then told me he was going to say a special Reiki prayer that the electricity would be on by the time we got to the house. Holding his crystal in the back seat of my car, he very seriously said a prayer to himself. And believe it or not, we walked in the front door and the lights were on! It was a glorious moment! We finished the day with a Journey with the Dolphins guided meditation and then his attunement.
Truly, it was my special Reiki day and a day I know he'll always remember. I'll repeat what I wrote after the day with my niece: So there's no point here, except to share this beautiful day. Oh, and
maybe to share what I learned...the importance of honoring our children
for the wisdom they possess and encouraging them to discover it for and
within themselves. And the recognition that we have so much to learn
from these kids...so much to learn from seeing the world through their
eyes.
(For anyone interested in learning more about Reiki Kids: http://www.reikikids.ca/ )
