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Receiving Reiki and Learning Reiki Are Not the Same One of the most common questions parents ask is, “When is my child ready for Reiki?” To answer that clearly, we must first separate two very different experiences. Children of any age can receive Reiki. A parent can gently offer Reiki to a crying baby,…
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Reiki and the Nervous System: How Children Learn Calm Before Words When Calm Is Felt Before It Is Understood Children do not experience the world through explanation first. They experience it through sensation. Before a child can describe anxiety, frustration, or overwhelm, their body is already responding. Muscles tighten. Breathing changes. Emotions move faster…
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Emotional Safety Is the Foundation of Healing Healing does not begin with understanding. It begins with safety. For children—and often for the parents supporting them—emotional safety is what allows the nervous system to soften, the body to settle, and emotions to move without fear. Without safety, even the most well-intended tools can feel overwhelming.…
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Differences Explain Experience — Not Identity Every child experiences the world differently. Some feel deeply, some move quickly, some withdraw when overwhelmed, and others express emotion outwardly. These differences are often misunderstood as problems to fix rather than information to understand. When parents begin to view differences as explanatory rather than defining, something important…
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Connection Is the First Language Children Understand Before children understand words, expectations, or emotional explanations, they understand connection. Long before reasoning develops, the nervous system is already listening for cues of safety, presence, and responsiveness. This is why connection is not a reward for good behavior—it is the foundation that allows regulation to occur…
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Emotional Awareness Is Taught Through Experience, Not Instruction Children do not learn emotional awareness through explanation alone. They learn it through lived experience—through what they feel, observe, and absorb within their environment. Before a child can name an emotion, they sense it. Before they can regulate, they feel regulation modeled around them. This is…
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When children are overwhelmed, one of the most common responses they hear is some version of “calm down.” While well-intended, this phrase often has the opposite effect. Calm cannot be commanded, reasoned into place, or rushed. For children, calm is not a behavior to perform. It is a state the nervous system must…
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How Emotional Awareness Builds Resilience Over Time Resilience is often described as the ability to “bounce back,” but for children, it is not built through pressure or endurance. It is built through understanding, safety, and the ability to move through emotions rather than suppress them. Children who are allowed to feel their emotions—without being…