By April Ann D'Amato (c) Sept. 2007

Reiki is the magic that we need to teach our children. When I first learned Reiki, I was trying it on everyone I knew including my four year old niece.  She described Reiki ideally.  She was having a terrible time trying to breathe because she had asthma.  I asked her if I could do some Reiki over her head.  She said yes and I think it was because at this point, she was so tired of feeling sick that even she was willing to try anything.  I stood behind where she was sitting and placed my hands over her head a few inches not touching her and asked her if she felt anything. She nodded her little head yes.  She told me she felt warmth.  That was the consistent response I had heard from everyone, but what I didn’t expect was her description when I asked where she felt it.  She said, “in my heart.”  Her answer brought tears of joy in my eyes. (As I mentioned above, I had only placed my hands over her head.)  She had captured it perfectly.  My four year old niece had captured the essence of Reiki Healing: love.  Adults question and sometimes struggle with the concept of Reiki, but children they just know it so clearly.  She didn’t filter her response, she didn’t look for approval from anyone, rather she was just being her four year old self. 

That experience with my niece was what inspired me to want to work with children in a healing capacity.  They are so unencumbered to life’s experience which makes them the ideal channel for Reiki energy.  Some benefits to treating children with Reiki are:

Improves concentration

Enhances relaxation and sleep

Reiki is calming and balancing

Encourages self-awareness and enhances self-esteem

Reiki can help with emotional and physical issues (but doesn’t replace consulting your doctor)

A Reiki session with a child is a little different than a session with an adult.  Depending on the age of the child, a parent may or may not be present in the room.  The treatment time allotted for a child is much shorter than it is for an adult. When I meet with a child for the purpose of doing a Reiki treatment on them, I spent part of the session talking to them about what the energy is.  I teach them to play with the energy between their hands and use visual tools such as a pendulum to help them understand what the energy is.  Children become very relaxed and often have vivid, colorful positive “dreams” when they are receiving Reiki. Younger, livelier children that are not likely to stay still are still candidates for Reiki Healing, but not in the traditional sense of a treatment session.  These children would do better with distance healing or even while they are enjoying an activity such as reading a book.  While reading to them, I strategically place on hand on their back and channel Reiki to them in that way.  Children, even the younger ones, are intuitive beings and let us know when they are in need of Reiki and when they are not by staying present or moving away from the energy.  Because they are less encumbered by life experiences, children’s healing times are much quicker than that of adults.  Children are often fascinated by the experience and want to know more.

While I truly believe there are many benefits to performing Reiki Healing treatments on children, my thought is why not teach children Reiki?  When you bring together the openness and wonderment of children with the energy of Reiki healing you create the opportunity for magic here on Earth.  Children are teachers, guides and future leaders and teaching them Reiki enables their clarity and validates their inherent abilities as healers.  Why make our children wait to discover the magnificence of Reiki and what it could bring to them? 

Learning Reiki will keep children open as the natural channel that they are. Reiki encourages empathy, a feeling of connection to living things, plants, trees, animals that children will carry forward into their relationships with people.  Reiki can be instrumental in developing a child’s self esteem.  They will have a valuable tool to help them through the stresses of growing up. Reiki energy healing encourages self awareness and self empowerment in a child’s learning experience.   If you have been a student of Reiki, you know the potential healing and life changing experiences one can have.  Unlike adults, children have fewer blocks to work through; therefore, the practice of Reiki will provide them with the right forum for manifesting a life of love, peace and harmony.

The experience with my niece inspired me to want to teach children.  She asked if one day I would teach her and I told her when she is nine I will teach her.  I don’t really know why I said the age of nine, perhaps my friends who had children had daughters that were nine at the time and they appeared capable of understanding the concept.  I have already begun teaching children and the experience proved to be captivating for the children and exciting for me.  I have learned as much from their experiences of learning Reiki as they have from me. Children are so open, ready and imaginative making it that much easier to teach Reiki in a fun and easy way.   Beginning this fall, I will be offering Reiki Kids Classes.    The classes will be open to children aged 8 to 13 years old.   The class is designed with a child’s well being in mind.  The class will help them develop skills that they will take forward in to their adult life. This workshop will help children get in touch with the subtle energy and learn simple methods of using Reiki to help heal themselves and those around them: their family, friends, animals and plants.  The class is designed to be fun and interesting for children.  The environment will be a nurturing, supportive atmosphere where children will be allowed to discover their potential as an energy healer. They will leave the class with a greater feeling of self-confidence and empowerment. 

How do you know your child is ready to learn Reiki energy healing?  Do they see you learning about it?  Do they ask if they can try?  Do they come to comfort you when you are not feeling well and their touch is soft and gentle yet powerfully soothing and even healing?  Is your child having difficulty fitting in?  Does your child seem to have low self esteem?  Is your child one of the children already aware of their gifts?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, then your child may be ready to learn Reiki. 

Children are magical beings in just who they are.  With the knowledge of Reiki, children become empowered and self aware, making their world a better place and effectively changing our world as well.  Our children are the future of our world; why not provide them with a tool that will make their experience of growing up magnificent?   Why not give them the opportunity to begin now?