Unmasking Imposter Syndrome in the Reiki Journey - with Karen Caig

In this enlightening episode of "Reiki from the Farm," we sit down with Karen Caig to dive deep into the realms of imposter syndrome faced by many Reiki practitioners. Together, we explore the root causes, share personal experiences, and offer transformative techniques to help practitioners reconnect with their authentic selves and the true essence of Reiki.

Karen Caig is an LRMT with the International Center for Reiki Training since 2020. With a passion for helping others find relief from stress and pain, she continues to be guided on her own healing path by Reiki. Karen's mission is to train at least one Reiki Master for every family, to promote deep healing and make the world a better place.

Get in Touch with Karen:
Email: karen@arkansasreiki.com
Website:  www.Reiki-Institute.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArkansasReikiInstitute     


Pam Allen-LeBlanc is a scientist, businesswoman, and Licensed Reiki Master Teacher (LRMT) with the International Center for Reiki Training.  She is the author of "The Reiki Business Book" and a co-author of ICRT Animal Reiki training.  Pam teaches Reiki, Animal Reiki, and Animal Communication online and in person in Canada, the US, and Australia.

Get in Touch with Pam:
Email: pam@reikifromthefarm.com

Pam's ICRT Classes: 

• https://www.reiki.org/users/pamela-allen-leblanc#classes

Book a Reiki, Animal Reiki, or Animal Communication session:

• https://squareup.com/appointments/book/7dvtqlfp939e8g/LPSC51C92BN20/services

A special thanks goes out to Music from Pixabay for the intro music and to Nate Miller for the meditation music. 

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pam@reikifromthefarm.com

Transcript

Pam: 0:07

Hi and welcome to the Reiki from the Farm podcast brought to you by me, Pam Allen Leblanc from Hidden Brook Farm. I am a scientist, a businesswoman, and a licensed Reiki master teacher with the International Center for Reiki Training. Each week in this podcast you'll be entertained as you learn about a wide variety of relevant Reiki topics, helping you become a more knowledgeable and effective Reiki practitioner. We caution you though, this podcast may also dramatically improve your life, and we are so happy that you're here. On this week's podcast, I'm speaking with my friend and your favorite, Karen Kay. You always love it when we talk together. And so I thought I'd bring her in to discuss something that showed up recently with some of my students. And I thought, you know what? This shows up for everybody. Let's talk about this. We're going to talk today about imposter syndrome. So welcome, Karen.

Karen: 1:19

Thank you. Thank you for having me back, Pam. I think this is a really important topic, so I'm glad that you brought it up. Yeah, I think so too. We talk about it. We don't. We don't talk about it in the Reiki community, and I think it's a problem. We don't

Pam: 1:32

talk about it, but we all experience

Karen: 1:34

it. Yes. Yes. Yeah. I agree.

Pam: 1:38

Before we go too far in, I just wanted to let you know that later this month, I have a Kaurna Reiki class over four evenings in North America, four mornings in... the Southern Hemisphere. And so if you would like to join us, we'd just love to have you join us for Kaurna Reiki. Also in December, I've got six days of classes, Level 1 and 2 Animal 1 and 2, and Animal Communication Level 1 and 2. And so if you're an animal lover, The level one and two is a prerequisite to Animal Reiki one and two. So you can just join me for six full days around a weekend. It's a Thursday through to a Tuesday. And get all of it if you'd like or any part of it. And then of course in January, there's a full lineup of online classes. Would love to have you join us this time of year. It's all online for me because we just never know about the weather. How about you, Karen? What have you got coming up?

Karen: 2:35

I think by the time this broadcast I have really just one class in December. I have a Karuna class the first weekend in December, and then full lineups coming up in January. I'm going to be doing some exploring in November and the rest of December here in Ecuador looking for some good lodges and stuff because I plan to do some retreats and possibly some Reiki classes combined, like maybe animal Reiki with the Galapagos, and I'm going in November to the Amazon. I live high in the mountains where it's cooler, but I'll be checking that out so people can check my website to see, hopefully, next summer, maybe having some some classes here in Ecuador for people. That would be amazing. In English. In English, yeah. In English, yeah. Yeah. I'd love it. Si, porque no puedo hablar español bastante bien. I can't speak Spanish well enough to teach, but that's coming up too.

Pam: 3:26

I have done some teaching in French, but, I find as I get tired as the day wears on, I can't get my words as easily and I've I had one masterclass that I taught partially in French and I asked them, I said, would it be okay if I switch back to English? It was meant to be an English class, but I only had two French students in the class, and I said, Oh I'll switch and teach it in French. And as I got more tired and more tired, I said, Do you mind if I switch back

Karen: 3:53

to English again? Speaking of imposter syndrome, when I moved to Ecuador of course I can speak Spanish. And then I've said things like, how do you like my horse? Instead of your, my kajo instead of my Kajo. Yeah,

Pam: 4:09

In every I know just from speaking two languages every region has a different way to speak English. Every region has a different way to speak. French, like different accents, different pronunciations. And I'm sure the same is for Spanish as well.

Karen: 4:24

That's true. They've accused me of speaking like a Mexican. I'm like, I'll take that. I'll take that. That is not an insult to me.

Pam: 4:36

Something I did, I can't believe I forgot to mention this. But my daughter and I are also teaching some advanced business courses. And later we also do have we're going to redo the three week intensive marketing course. It was so popular. And so if you haven't studied that yet, we also have a three week intensive just starting your business course, business skills. And we have a one week. And when I say one week, pardon me, it just means three Monday evenings. or one Monday evening. It's three and a half hours. But they are intense courses. We try to pack as much in as possible. And we also do have a goal setting, how to set balanced goals and how to accomplish them. So we do have a few really fun things like that coming up. I hope you'll consider joining us for that. Let's bring our hands together in Gassho and just activate our Reiki energy. Then we can dive into this. conversation. I'd just like you to activate your Reiki energy now and your symbols and just think about some times in your life when you didn't feel you were able to be authentic. Either you didn't feel authentic because you were stepping into something new or maybe you were trying to fit in but just any times when you may have experienced imposter syndrome in the past when perhaps people. believed you to be something that you didn't believe yourself to be. And I just bring in a reminder that we are all created and we all contain the energy of source within us. And so we are beautiful and magnificent, and our potential is unlimited, and so often we do contain ourselves, define ourselves with limiting beliefs, and it's almost like we create a cage from which

Karen: 7:00

we can't escape.

Pam: 7:01

operate. And in today's podcast, we're going to invite you to release those limiting beliefs, release that cage, and just really step into your authentic power, your magnificence, who you truly are, rather than who you believe yourself to be. And we ask this in God's name, and we say thank you for the gift of Reiki, for as we believe ourselves to be beautiful, we will create our lives from that belief. As we shed our limiting beliefs, we will shed our limitations, be able to better realize the truth of who we are and the magnificence. Aho Mitakuye Oyasin. And Namaste. Oh, I'm feeling the energy around that one. It occurs to me, Karen, and this wasn't meant to be my first question, but a lot of you know that I'm stepping into politics and I feel like a bit of an imposter there. I don't feel like I'm really a proper politician. I'm just me. Yeah. Let's take a minute before we begin because some people might not understand what imposter syndrome is and why it might be so prevalent among Reiki practitioners. So I pulled up a definition. Imposter syndrome is also known as imposter phenomenon, and it refers to a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud. Now, despite external evidence of their competence, those experiencing this syndrome remain convinced that they are frauds. And they do not deserve the success they've achieved, and they often attribute their success to luck, or sometimes even as a result of deceiving others into thinking they're more intelligent or capable than they believe themselves to be. So Karen, why do you think... Imposter syndrome is so common for Reiki practitioners because it is. We all, I think every single one of us has experienced this at some point.

Karen: 9:41

I think so. I think I was going to say about, first of all, about your politics. I think anything that you step out of your comfort zone, You're going to, you're going to have a little bit of that imposter syndrome. So if you're feeling like, Oh God, I hope people don't find out. I don't know what the heck I'm doing. Then that's probably good. I think that's the good side of imposter syndrome is like, you can say, okay, that's just a sign that you're pushing out of your comfort zone, which means you're growing. So that's good. I think it's so common among Reiki practitioners because it's. It's such an incredible phenomenon. Reiki is and it's difficult to describe how it works. It's difficult to describe why it works. And there's so much still. So I think that's the beauty of it. It's that the mystery of energy, the grace, I think that's part of it too. There's so many people who are drawn to healing. First of all, we were wounded in some way, and that's what makes us want to help others heal. And sometimes it's because we don't want to focus on our own healing. It's easier to go here, let me help you with your problems. Because, I think that's a big part of many Reiki practitioners. They come, they're coming, first of all, from a wounded space. That's what makes them good healers. But that wound sometimes runs so deep that we doubt ourselves. Maybe a couple. I really, most Reiki practitioners I meet, like at a Reiki share very, I, you just never find Reiki practitioners who go here, let me put my hands on the person because I'm the best. We're just that kind of people, and so there's always a little bit of wonder. And for me, and it's always been like, how can I even possibly be worthy that this. This energy can be coming through me. How can that even be? I'm always a little surprised still when somebody has like a, Oh my gosh, that is so much better. How did you do that? I'm like, I didn't do it. It was Reiki. We do that, but there's also a little bit of man, I don't know. Are you lying? Did you really heal? Are you just trying to make me feel better? Are you just trying to make me feel better? It's probably the placebo effect. That's probably what it is. It couldn't possibly be that I'm channeling this energy. And in every Reiki one and two class, God love the students. They're like, I think there's something coming up. They, everyone struggles. I've struggled with the feeling worthy. And it holds so many people back. They won't practice because they're afraid that they're going to be discovered as a fraud. I'm sure that was just a fluke, that I felt the Reiki, they felt the Reiki, that their shoulder felt better. I'm sure that was just a fluke and they approach another session with some trepidation if it doesn't work this time, because I'm sure, it's all that negative self talk that they haven't been able to lift yet. And ironically, that comes from doing more sessions. Yeah the,

Pam: 12:46

Doing more sessions after a while. That's, and that's actually what I tell people, is it's actually not about you. It's actually just about getting out of the way and letting the Reiki flow. And You'll feel less like an imposter the more sessions you do because the more evidence you gather as you begin gathering more and more evidence, after about 45, 50 people that are like, Oh my God, this just changed my life. You can't ignore it anymore. And I know I was so skeptical. I always would say, if something just happened, would you please give me a sign? And one day the energy said, daughter, I've given you 386 signs. It's time for you to have some faith.

Karen: 13:29

You

Pam: 13:32

know, Karen here's another question for you. When did it show up for you? Because I was actually not too bad at level one and two. I didn't practice on other people. I only practiced on myself and my animals. So because I was really quiet and private about it, I didn't really stretch too far out of my comfort zone. But then with At the master level, when it was time to take the master level course, I had a lot of resistance and I just I wasn't even sure why, although in the end it turned out it was worthiness. I didn't know that I was worthy. And I've said, I've told this story before, but some people may not have heard it. When I met William Rand, I was so nervous. I really thought I really. In my heart thought he was going to take one look at me in his master class in England at Stonehenge and say you don't belong here little girl. It's time for you to go home. This isn't, you're not, this isn't for you. And so I tell people I mispronounced my own last name three times.

Karen: 14:41

I

Pam: 14:41

told him I was Pamela Blank and Pamela LeBlanc, and then finally I said it correctly, Pamela LeBlanc, I just said, I'm so sorry, Mr. Ren. I don't know why I did that. I'm just so nervous to be here. And he said, why are you nervous? And that's where, as an empath, I call it pathological honesty, I guess empath, it could be pathological, but It's actually just brutal honesty of empaths. I just blurted out without even thinking, because Reiki masters are wonderful and amazing people and I'm not, I'm just me. And William said something profound. He said, here is one of the most famous Reiki masters in the world. And he said, and I'm just me. I'm really glad you're here. So he didn't tell me I wasn't ready. He didn't, that, that was a big boost. But people say all the time I know you can do this. Can I do this? And I didn't think I could do it. Either. I asked for 386 signs that it was working

Karen: 15:40

because I

15:41

didn't

Pam: 15:41

believe that it was working. So what about you? What showed up for you, Karen, with imposter syndrome? I'm sure it showed up for you. It shows up for everybody.

Karen: 15:52

Oh, it does. It in the beginning, and I knew that I had something coming through my hands. I always did. And then, and I thought maybe that's just a fluke. Maybe I'm just hot natured. Maybe that's not any energy. And then after the Reiki attunement it, they, my hands just heated up faster and stronger. But then I thought that's probably just, maybe that's just my imagination. Or may maybe they don't really feel it, or maybe they think maybe it's like collective I don't know, imagination or something. I just, it was so diff, it wasn't difficult for me to believe that Reiki worked. It was difficult to believe that I could channel it. That's it. That's it. It's not difficult. It's the unworthiness. And I dunno where that goes back to. And I, all of us, I thought about, like, where does that start? I guess it, I tried to think about things in my childhood or I do remember one time I forgot to do my art project and my mother helped me, And it won like a blue ribbon. And I was like, Oh my God, that wasn't mine. My mother did most of that artwork. I don't know if that was some sort of a thing or you think at some point you just, you're something damages your self esteem and you think I couldn't do that. I'm sure like you like, Oh, I couldn't be a Reiki master. Oh, I couldn't. This is ironic. I ended up as a theater major speaking of imposter syndrome. Other than you or we have that saying fake it till you make it. And I'm a big proponent of that. Just do it, so what, if you can't do it, just get out there and do it. But then there is also that but what if it's not real? What if I'm not good enough? What if, yeah, and I think that you mentioned all, lots of things in your life. I remember with my son, I can remember telling him in high school oh, by the way, I said, I don't really know what I'm doing. When you're a peer. You don't know what the heck you're doing. Oh my gosh. And you feel like an imposter. You look at all those other mothers with their cute little ponytails and doing their thing and you're like, you feel like you're dropping everything. And I think social media does that too. You're comparing yourself to other people all the time with Reiki. You look and you go, if it's a Reiki share or you look at your teacher or you look at other people in your class, when you have Reiki one and two classes, some people are really clairvoyant. We do those healing experiences and some students come back and they're like, they have this elaborate vision that they had, and then you come back and you're like, I think I fell asleep. I got nothing. Yeah, you just keep comparing yourself to other people. And that's. That's like the death. That's what gets you up in your brain. And Reiki, you have got to, like you said at the very beginning, you've got to get out of your own way. Yeah. Yeah.

Pam: 18:26

I love it. You know what? I know that you've probably heard from lots of students and clients. What are some common signs or manifestations of imposter syndrome that, we should look for and be aware of? And just, I think it's just any time. you feel like you are being inauthentic or that you need to be inauthentic. I don't think you do need to be with Reiki. You're, I keep reminding people we are just a channel and every once in a while, miracles happen in our sessions. And I can remember just being blown away by those miracles at first. And now I'm very blase about them and people say, you've got to understand

Karen: 19:06

Pam. This

Pam: 19:09

doesn't happen in everybody's world. And it's Oh, it happens around here every day. But I remember even when the miracles first started happening, I'd call my teacher, Ellen, this just happened. And she'd say, yeah,

Karen: 19:23

why? Wow. Just couldn't wrap.

Pam: 19:30

Yeah. Head around it. But even when the miracles happen, I've had to just remind myself I'm just a channel. And my husband has pointed out, Pam, I think it's good that you get nervous whenever you do these new things because it shows that you really care. It shows that you're and, there's, Interestingly, there's not a lot. We often label something as nervousness or whatever when it's excitement as well. So maybe the different times when I felt that I was nervous, stepping forward with Reiki and other things, even politics, maybe it's excitement. Maybe

Karen: 20:07

I'm just mislabeling it. No, that's true. It does show you care. I used to have a director. He said, if you're not nervous before a show, he said. Then you don't have the right energy flowing, to go out there in the moment. And it's about, I've thought about this a lot. My students, I said you've got to get out of your head. Just be in the moment. When you get in the moment, I think one of your questions was, how did the Reiki ideals, one of your questions was you were going to ask me, I know I'm going to go ahead and jump on it. But it was like, how did the Reiki ideals help with imposter syndrome? And it's this, after, because I was thinking about all your questions, this is a really good topic, but I thought, yes. Because when you are in the moment, you are not thinking, Oh, this isn't me, or I'm not doing this right. I'm not good enough. Are my hands, you slip into this perfection. Are my hands in the right position? Am I doing that? But if you can bring yourself into the moment that just for today. Do not be angry. Do not worry. When you go through those Reiki ideals and sometimes if someone is really struggling with the Oh God, they're going to think I'm such an idiot or, Oh my God, what if this doesn't work? Or, Oh my, when you get into that that, that mindset, if they, if you could instead just start reciting the Reiki ideals, the Reiki principles, it will help bring you just for today. Like just in this moment, I will not be

Pam: 21:29

angry. I will not worry. I will not worry. I will be devoted to my work. I'll

Karen: 21:35

be filled with gratitude. I'll be kind. And I'll be kind. Yeah. And that's all Reiki asks of us, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. And it, cause it, when you're getting into when you're getting into your head, instead of here in your heart or here in, in that centered, when you get up here in your head and you start thinking that's when you're in trouble, but that's what we all do. We all do it. And students, yeah they'll text me like, have you ever had this happen? Or and I'm like, yeah. Yesterday. But I can tell that they're like, wow you weren't lying. I really am attuned to Reiki. They've been practicing for six months. Yes, you really are attuned to Reiki. It's flowing through you. It's doing those things. It wasn't. It wasn't like, I was just imagining it, or I thought maybe my partner in class was just saying that she was feeling it through the zoom, nope, it's actually, nobody does that.

Pam: 22:33

We're all pretty

Karen: 22:34

honest, but it's, but that's when you're getting into, it's that self doubt that, Oh, it is.

Pam: 22:41

There's so much self doubt, isn't there? And I love what you said though, Karen, about, about your director who said, if you're not nervous It's not the right energy. And, I think that's true. I think it's nor, it's so normal to be nervous when you're stepping out of your comfort zone and doing something new, isn't it? Yeah,

Karen: 23:03

absolutely. And, but what Reiki helps you with, once you just I think you start to understand at the master level. Sometimes students say why would I want to take, I don't want to teach, I don't want to take master level, but it's not just about learning how to teach other people how to do Reiki. It's a lot about, it's for you, if you're Reiki, yes, you get attuned and you're able to channel more energy, but what it's really about. Is clearing off the rest of that stuff. We make you practice for six months before you can take reiki master, but it to let you work through all this. Does this really work? Oh my gosh. Oh no, I didn't. And to work through just clearing some of the stuff. Clearing yourself, holding you back and Yeah. And at the master level though, and I was thinking, as I was thinking about your questions and this topic, I thought, I think I need to add a slide into the master level about imposter syndrome because. It's that higher level spiritual work, that higher spiritual work that you start doing in the master level. It's where this stuff comes up. Like, how could I possibly be a Reiki master? I can't teach. That's where people really start stalling. Oh, I couldn't teach other people. I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I don't know what I'm doing. How could I teach other people? I can't have a Reiki business. How could I have a Reiki business? I don't really know what I'm doing. I'm just, people just think I do. Or they get their certificate and they say, Oh, now I'm a Reiki practitioner. But then they think. That's when the imposter syndrome really sets in. They go what does that mean? Am I a Reiki practitioner? I finished a two day class. I don't know how to do anything. And you probably tell your students I know you do because you wrote the Reiki business book. Like this is just the beginning of your journey. But it doesn't mean that you're an imposter just because you don't know everything. That's that perfectionistic and I struggle with this workaholic, like I need to work hard. I need to be perfect. I need to, now I'm going to sound sexist, but I think women struggle with this more. Like you've got to do it better than the men, harder than the men. You gotta, and you realize I'm not that good. What if I'm not that good? Maybe I, maybe it would be better if I just didn't try. And then once that happens. Then that stops everything. It stops the flow. It stops all the gifts that you are starting to uncover. It just, it shuts you down. And really what

Pam: 25:19

you described, Karen, is the unhealed ego. It's the unhealed ego that really is Oh, don't step out of your comfort zone. Don't go here. Don't do this. Isn't

Karen: 25:30

it? Yep. You're going to fail. But see, I'm saying that's the master level work that you, you start talking. We talk about those issues in the master level. Yeah. The authentic self, the dormant, healed self, the unhealed ego, because as you begin to heal with Reiki, the more Reiki you do, the more you clear, the more you clear, the more Reiki comes through, the more stuff comes up to be healed. It's this ongoing process, but you come to the point after you've practiced long enough where you go, probably everybody feels like an imposter. I bet none of these people know what they're doing.

Pam: 26:07

I think back to William Rand and one of the things I love, one of the many things I love about William, but one of the things I love about him is that he's always very open about his mistakes, and the fact that indeed he made mistakes. during, and so I'm always pretty open about my mistakes too, because I really want people to feel comfortable with this energy. It's a friend. The Reiki energy, it can be a friendship. It's just, it can be the closest, most beautiful. relationship. But one of the things that he talked about was his very first class that he taught. And he experienced imposter syndrome. He attuned to the people, he didn't feel anything at all happening in the attunement. He was in and it was several of his friends that were very clairvoyant. and he knew they were clairvoyant and he was incredibly embarrassed. He went and sat in his seat as they were writing in their notebooks and he was shaking his head and he literally shared that he was thinking, oh no, nothing happened. I don't know how come I did everything the way I was supposed to do it, but obviously I'm doing something wrong. I'm going to have to offer these people their money back, and I'm going to have to go back to the drawing board and figure out what I did wrong, and then he shares, fortunately he wasn't the person who spoke first. Because once the other people spoke, and these were clairvoyant people who've been working with different types and forms of energy for their lifetimes, many of them, and for years and years. And when they started describing what happened and I love this example, Karen, because he realized, Oh, it isn't about me. It's about them and all I'm doing is facilitating their relationship with the energy so I didn't need to feel it and you know it's so and you know I do find myself like sometimes miracles happen it's not all that uncommon in my practice and People will sometimes give me the credit for the miracle, Karen, and I just, I chuckle because, honestly, all I'm really good at doing is just getting out of the way and letting Reiki

Karen: 28:29

do what it needs to do. to do.

Pam: 28:31

It has nothing. Yes, we've studied hard. So yes, we've studied a lot of hours as licensed teachers. And we're very passionate about what we do. And we spend so much time most of every day in the energy. So yes, we know it very well. Or we not know it, we've gotten to learn it very well. But the thing about being a Reiki master is And we mentioned this in another podcast together, but it's not that we've mastered Reiki, it's that we have allowed Reiki to master us, and we surrender to it, and we just get out of the way and say, Here Reiki, I don't know what this person needs, but you do, so please take over. And that's,

Karen: 29:19

What a Reiki session is my personal

Pam: 29:22

energy and ego stepping aside saying, okay, Reiki flow, because I don't know what this person needs you do. And so I do get a chuckle and I'm like, guys, it really wasn't me. It was the energy that did this, but thank you. But

Karen: 29:42

that's what makes it so difficult for, And different in Reiki imposter syndrome, as opposed to like mother imposter syndrome or the CEO. Yeah, I guess I'm the CEO of my own company, by golly. Yeah, I learned it just recently. Yeah, I am, yeah. Oh see, it's still there because I went, oh, yeah, I guess I am. No, I'm not. But yeah but the Reiki is because it's so ethereal. It's it's so difficult to put your, it's hard to believe that this is actually coming out of your hands or coming from your being, that you're channeling this. Yeah,

Pam: 30:14

through your eyes, through your breath, all the, yeah. It is hard to believe because it's such an amazing energy and it does facilitate such miracles sometimes,

Karen: 30:25

doesn't it? Yeah, and so you don't think of, yeah, yourself even associating with that or. Yeah.

Pam: 30:35

What do you think the inner dialogue what did you notice went on with your inner dialogue? For me, it was just that I felt that I couldn't do it, that other people could, but I couldn't.

Karen: 30:47

Oh, yeah. I think I can probably recite it. Let me remember. Yeah, it was Are you sure that's where you put your hands? I'm pretty sure that's not where you put your hands. Nothing's going to be coming out of your hands. I bet that person is really just sitting there on the table thinking, what is she doing? Oh my gosh, you should move to the side. You've probably been there too long on the head. Okay, you don't know what you're doing. And here you're just, this person has paid you money. I can't believe this person has paid you money and you don't even know what you're doing. Why did you even think that you could possibly do this? You need to get back in the classroom and just teach English. You should stick to poetry and literature. You don't know what the heck you're doing with this. This doesn't make any sense. What are you doing? Wow. That is good. That is good dialogue. Oh my gosh. It's I think that's a block there. No, that's not a block. That's just you imagining that there's a block there. Cause she told you that she was, her father died. So you're just imagining that there's a block in her heart. You don't really know what you're doing. That's, you're just imagining that we'll move on down to the solar plexus. It's just, it was just a constant dialogue. I had to, and if anybody's listening to this, And you have that kind of an inner dialogue going on. Seek help immediately. No. Just know that you've got to keep doing Reiki, because Reiki, that energy, that healing energy, is the only thing that is going to let those things go away. Yeah, and sometimes write it down. I don't know about you guys, but I had a really nasty inner negative critic. Oh, yeah. I

Pam: 32:16

actually had, Reiki actually sat my inner critic down at a desk in a meditation once for me and

Karen: 32:23

said, we're making a change of,

Pam: 32:25

How did it say? It was like an HR. Interview, human resources interview. It was so funny because that's something I would have understood. And it said, yeah, we're making changes in direction and the way that you do things intercritic, not going to work anymore. We're going to give you three chances.

Karen: 32:44

And then if you can't get kinder, you're out, you're going to get replaced.

Pam: 32:49

And it was hilarious. I had such a critical

Karen: 32:53

inner voice. Yeah, I found, and I got this from Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones. And this had to do with like writing, but it applies to Reiki as well. She said, write down exactly what that critic is saying, write it down. And then when it's on a piece of paper and you look at it, logically you go. That's not true. That's not true. And it takes its power away. Nice. I did that and gave Reiki to that, like wherever that comes from, use like Use the distance symbol. You don't even have to know where it comes from. Just use the distance symbol. Ask Reiki like, wherever this horrible voice comes from, please go back and heal that. Ask it to be kind. I'm open for constructive criticism, but this constant rattling of how stupid I am. And then it comes out in your own negative self talk. Pam, you still catch me. Sometimes I'll say, oh God, I'm so stupid. And you'll say, no, you're not But it, that's the root of the imposter syndrome is that feeling of that I'm unworthy, esp. And then the more miracles you see sometimes with reiki, you go, my gosh, this is amazing. How am I doing it so yeah. I.

Pam: 34:06

I think sometimes about some of our religious prayers, that there's some of our prayers that are, forgive me,

Karen: 34:12

father, for I am not worthy. Yeah, so I

Pam: 34:16

do think that it's endemic in our culture, both male and female. And I think it is something in our culture that whole worthiness thing, which is so interesting, because I've heard I know the first time I heard, I think it was Colleen Bonelli, say, as much as we look at the Ascended Masters and we're like, oh my gosh, and the Angels, and we're like, they're so cool, they're looking at us saying, oh those humans, they're so cool, like

Karen: 34:40

they're looking at us with the same thoughts,

Pam: 34:44

And that's so difficult for us to understand. Maybe it goes back, Karen to the root of worship. When we were creating the animal Reiki course it showed up that through translation and even perhaps some misinterpretation purposeful misinterpretation. The word worship was misunderstood. The word worship was meant to be, was taken as, oh, I am beneath you. And and it showed up in the energy that worship originally was meant, I'm not equal, I'm so far below God, I'm not even worthy to whatever. And the word worship actually meant to be in communion with, and That's more like my conversations with God. When I talk to God, it's more of this reciprocal, friendly conversation and and I feel like the word worship might have been misinterpreted for quite some time now that it was meant to be just and God will tell me I don't care what they say to me as long as they talk to me, just talk to me whatever name, You use for God whether it's science or biofield energy or whatever. But hi, Sam is

Karen: 36:00

Sam, I hear Sam, I know it's time to be on a podcast. Yeah. I'm glad you brought that up about animal reiki energy because I think that specific frequency of energy, it was certainly life changing for me, but it's so grounding and I think it helps. With the imposter syndrome, because it helps you understand I am part of this earth, and I'm part of this light, and Those two come together. I'm not less than, and I'm not better than, I am a part of a whole, and I think that really helps with that, Oh, I'm not good enough, because it takes away that hierarchy of here's God, the angels, this, and it puts it more into a perspective of an interconnected web. And when you sit with that and work with that energy for a while, then it helps with who am I trying to impress? I'm trying to, I'm not trying to climb up. I'm just me. Oh, I'm a part. I have a part to play in this. And then you just come forward and channel your energy and just. And you, I think that's a big part of it, the imposter means like I've stepped, Joseph Campbell used to talk about the hero's journey. Yeah. And he said, if you step into an adventure that you're not ready for, it's going to be a nightmare. But if you say yes to the adventure and you are spiritually ready for it, it's going to be a, a spiritually growing adventure. And I think, though, that we have to stop thinking about I'm stepping up or I'm stepping, I like the stepping out of my comfort zone. I'm expanding, but it's not like up up, because when you feel like you've stepped out of your, you've climbed out of your rightful place. That's where, there wouldn't, there would be no imposter. Animals don't think they're imposter. Sam's not man, I hope she didn't figure out I'm really a dog inside. He, animals don't do that, I think it has to do with that betterment. Oh, I've got to be this now. I'll get to be a Reiki master. Oh, I've got to be a mother. Oh, I've got to be a, whatever, a CEO or, whatever it is, you're fake until you make,

Pam: 38:02

Came through, didn't it? In the invocation. And you all know that I just listened for those and it came through about those limiting beliefs

Karen: 38:10

that we,

Pam: 38:12

yeah,

Karen: 38:13

I love that.

Pam: 38:15

What do you, how did you overcome? I guess you said already, you just, gave yourself lots of Reiki and I guess I did too. And I just remembered that it's not me doing the healing. It's the Reiki energy and I'm just I'm just a hollow tube

Karen: 38:33

channeling the energy. And the most important message if you've made this far on the podcast, the most important message is to just keep doing it because that's how you work through this imposter syndrome. And it's. Then it ripples out, if you'll just start with the Reiki, because so many people, a lot of my students contact me after class, but you know what? So many of my students don't, which tells me they're probably not practicing. They've let limiting beliefs stop them, and so that's my, probably my I don't really have fears anymore, but my greatest fear or disappointment would be like, that you let Those limiting beliefs about yourself stop you from practicing Reiki because that's the, you just keep doing it. And then that's the path. That's the most important message is just practice. That's why I call it a Reiki practice. You're supposed to practice it. Just practice. It's not it's not Oh, here's your certificate. Now go be great. Good luck. And you will

Pam: 39:34

be great. But that's an interesting question that you brought up. If somebody is experiencing imposter syndrome, do you believe it impacts the effectiveness or authenticity of their session, either for the practitioner or the

Karen: 39:48

recipient? I do, because sometimes the Reiki will stop flowing. If you get I could get up in my head so much sometimes. It was like squeezing the hose, like the Reiki was flowing through the hose. I thought what if she doesn't feel this? I'm not sure I feel it. Maybe I don't feel anything in my hands. Oh, my God, maybe she doesn't feel anything. Ah, the more you do that, it just, it does, it affects the flow of the Reiki.

Pam: 40:11

Yeah. Yeah, it can affect the flow, can't it? Thinking about that. And thinking about the fact that it's often something we don't talk about, how can some of our more seasoned practitioners and teachers, what can we do to help some of the newer entrants combat and overcome imposter syndrome? What do you think?

Karen: 40:36

I think the first thing is to be honest and share with them that everybody feels that. Everybody feels that they're not alone in it, in that. Encourage them to practice. And then during class, of course, you get to practice. You can give it as homework. But after class, I'm glad that you have your coaching program, your business coaching program, because it pops up. Sometimes you think, huh, that's right. I can do these sessions, but then it'll pop up in. But I bet I can't teach a class. Yeah. Or, and I actually have my own business. I bet I can. Exactly. It's gonna, conquer one at one. And then it's Oh, yeah. How about this? But you can't do that, huh? Something else is going to come up. I think what you're doing with your business coaching, your Reiki business book all of those things and talk, just talk about it. Yeah. It's it's like the uncomfortable things we don't talk about in society, childhood sexual abuse or something, that you have to talk about it. Yeah. Let people know okay, no, it's not just, it's not just something wrong with you. We all feel that way. Or it happens. Me too. It happened to me too. To bring it out and talk about, I think is the first step. And then to say, we all feel that way. And here's what you can do. You can breathe. You can recite the Reiki principles. You can come back to your breath, come back to your hands, focus on the client. Get out of your own. It's not about you. Like you said, it's not about you. It's not, it's watch. Yeah. Watch them. Yeah. Yeah. Watch them. It's about them in the Yeah. Yeah. Make it a game. Stop taking yourself so seriously. man, I took myself so seriously. Yeah. I don't

Pam: 42:14

know if I ever cracked a smile. I used to be so serious and now I'm never serious.

Karen: 42:21

And I. Not to diminish, sometimes people have like serious problems they've come to you with. But it's not the harder I try or gosh, I hope.

Pam: 42:33

I think that's the difference with Reiki and you said it at the beginning, Karen, it's a grace. And grace is a gift freely given. It doesn't have to be earned. And that's the thing about Reiki is we don't need to earn it. We don't need to constantly be worthy of it or anything like that. We just, once we're attuned, it's there. And every time we use it on ourselves or another, it grows. It's strength grows. And yeah.

Karen: 43:02

And then that imposter syndrome just floats away. Stop thinking about it. Exactly. And I guess that's, we talk about the authentic self, it's just stepping into, I was thinking about holy fire, the four qualities of holy, that's eight, the four qualities of holy fire, the purification, the healing, empowerment. And I think empowerment is the opposite of imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is always this constant voice saying that, Oh you're a fraud. They're going to find you out sooner or later that you're really a big dumb, they're going to figure it out. But when you really step into your. It's almost like an accepting. It's almost as if Reiki was like here, going right here. I just had to go, okay. And just accept that, okay, I can channel this energy now. There you go. I don't know why that was so difficult.

Pam: 43:48

No, I know. But I do think it's part of the journey for almost anyone. And do you, but do you think, and here's a question about that. Do you think that confronting and overcoming imposter syndrome leads to a deeper connection and understanding of Reiki? Because maybe that's why it

Karen: 44:06

happens. Yes, I do. That's a really good. If you didn't go through all of that, you wouldn't have that growth. Yeah, I remember I was making a social media meme for Carol in Mucil and I was looking for a good quote and I was scouring through some of her articles and stuff and I think maybe I found it on her website. She said the most difficult thing about teaching Reiki is convincing the students how easy it is. You know that they just, that it's easy. Yeah. And They don't have to earn it. That's a deep spiritual lesson and that if you didn't go through imposter syndrome, you wouldn't realize like life doesn't have to be this hard. It's not just Reiki, but it's like your life doesn't have to be this hard. Who told you it had to be so hard? I agree. And then you just allow it. I like that Colleen Vanelli always uses the word invite, invite Reiki, allow Reiki. It's not use Reiki, throw it around and then pull it in. It's a, it's an allowing. And then once you do that with the Reiki, then you start to do that with so many things in your life. And then that's how your whole life changes. And

Pam: 45:11

life gets so much easier. If there's somebody listening right now, who's doubting their abilities or feeling out of place in the Reiki community, what should we say to them? I

Karen: 45:22

would say every one of us has a part to play. None of us is better than, none of us is worse than, even thinking that you are worse than other people, it's just as bad as thinking you're better than other people. It isn't it? It is. It's putting all the emphasis on you. I'm unworthy. I've struggled with this a lot. I'm embarrassed because I've done this. Oh, I couldn't possibly be worthier. It's pulling all of this and then, Oh, sure, Karen, you can do this. It's still the same thing. I might as well be going like, Oh, I'm the greatest. It's out of balance.

Pam: 45:53

It makes me think that I had a conversation once, Jesus is my guide, and I had a conversation with Jesus, and I just, I was resisting some of the restrictive religious teachings that I had grown up with. at the time. And I was saying, let's get one thing straight before I agree to work with you, because I was just, just starting to work with Jesus. And I was resisting it a bit at first, because Reiki has always taken me to something uncomfortable, something I'm resisting and made me feel like, it always takes me into something where I don't feel worthy. I like you should start a podcast when I knew nothing about technology and I was an absolute Luddite. You should write a book when it was the thing that terrified me in the most probably in the world. You should buy a second home on the Reiki always, you should teach, you should all of the things you should do sessions. Every single step, creating a website, putting yourself out there, like every step was terrifying and and I think I felt imposter syndrome at each of them. And, I was talking with Jesus and this is probably something that really helped me a lot. This is a long, this is back in 2015 right after Karuna when I was guided to work with him and I said, Hey, Listen or at Holy Fire, my first Holy Fire class, I said, listen, let's get one thing straight. Are you really the Son of God? And I really thought, I really believed that Jesus was going to say, no, that's just something that the Romans made up and said because it allowed them to have power over people or something like that. That was my, what I expected. One of the things I love is I was learning to trust my intuition because you often feel like an imposter there as well learning to trust your intuition. is I love when I'm completely wrong because it's like clearly I didn't make that

Karen: 47:45

up

Pam: 47:46

because, and what Jesus said, when I said, let's get one thing straight, are you really the son of God? Jesus said, yes, I am. And I was shocked. I was just shocked. And he said, And so are you, and so is everybody else. And I think at that moment I realized the teachings that probably my church was trying to teach, or maybe they didn't even realize it, but that every one of us is a child of God. and every one of us. And he also said in Mark, in the book of Mark, you can do everything I've done and more. And so if you really look at the words and the teaching, he's always encouraging us. to do everything he did, be everything he was. And yet, that's really not how I understood it growing up. I understood who do you think you are? Jesus or something? And it's no, but I'm his sister. Just like Karen is. Everybody else. And yeah it, I have to say that really put everything into context for me that he didn't hold himself above. And he was really clear that every one of us Had the same capabilities, the same opportunity, the same possibility of doing everything that he did. And so now when I have the privilege of working with people who've been diagnosed terminal and then after some time become no evidence of disease and things like that, I just think, thank you Jesus for paving the way. for all of us. I really I've grown from my reluctance to work with him. I've grown into an appreciation for both him and Reiki that I simply don't think I can express in words. So anyway, I just had to add that, Karen. Yeah, no, and I'm

Karen: 49:47

now, as you were talking, I was wondering about Now I want to ask my Hindu students because they, like the Namaste, the divine in me recognizes the divine in you. I wonder if they struggle with imposter syndrome so much, or I'm thinking about the native people I live around here in Ecuador because they're such a collectivistic society and not so hierarchical or individualistic like the United States and not so much as the United States, but Canada too. Oh, yeah. They struggle with imposter syndrome. I don't. If you realize like I'm really just a part. of a whole, more rather than You're less than the son of God and you need to, it's a different culture. I wonder if there's trouble with it as much. I don't know.

Pam: 50:27

That would be so interesting to find out. That would be interesting

Karen: 50:30

for comments. Anybody's listening to this and that sort of a belief system. I'd like to know if you think it's, if it's easier. Last.

Pam: 50:40

thing on this, Karen, before we move into a meditation today to overcome imposter syndrome and just be our most authentic self in all areas of our life. Cause that's another thing. Sometimes you feel like an imposter in some areas and not in others, and it often has to do with how comfortable your comfort zone, just expansion of the comfort zone. But, if we do have people that are listening, who've been struggling with this, what's the One piece of advice or wisdom you would want to share with them that

Karen: 51:13

they are just as capable as anybody else. They may have to practice more, but they are deserving and capable. You are deserving and capable. We are all deserving and capable, or we wouldn't be here doing what we're doing. Then if we fail, I used to have a friend who would say, what's the worst they could do? Karen, hate you out loud. And I was like, they might. But then that image of people going we hate you. We hate you. And then that would make me laugh. But but seriously, what's the, if you fail if you're doing a Reiki session and, or I love that story you told about William and maybe you're not feeling anything in your hands. Give him a break. Maybe they don't feel anything. Maybe it doesn't go. We talked about that in class. Sometimes the person on some level doesn't want the Reiki and it just doesn't flow to them. That's not your fault. It's you're just the channel and like maintaining that. I'm capable and I'm worthy. And you have to let go of the outcome. We talk about that in class, you're not

Pam: 52:08

not attached to an outcome.

Karen: 52:10

Yeah, exactly. If they have a great miraculous healing, great, and if they get nothing sad, but that wasn't you

Pam: 52:18

either. I like to tell the story to my students of a client who was here because he had knee pain and it was our first session together, my first time meeting the client. We did the session and I kept being drawn back to his heart no matter how much I knew that we needed to work on the knees and I would work on the knees and I would go back to his heart, back to his heart, back to his heart because I, I did, that was the clear message that I received. And I have to say that after the session, he was disappointed. Because his knees really didn't feel much better. And when I said, look, I keep needing to, I kept needing to go back to your heart. And I know we were working on your knees, but sometimes the energy that causes something is somewhere else. And so I kept having to go back to your heart. And he said, No, it didn't make any sense to him at all. And I could tell that he was really disappointed. And he went home disappointed. I ran into him about between two and three months later on the street, and he came running over to me. And he said, Pam, it didn't make sense what you said when I was in your session room. And then I thought about it on the way home and I realized I still, my heart is still broken from a relationship that ended some time ago. And so he said, but whatever you did must have helped with that because I seemed to be able to let it go and now I've met somebody and I've fallen in love and I'm not going to see you again because I'm moving to a different city. We're moving. We're moving in together and I'm so happy. I've never been this happy in my life. And I realized wow, I, it was, yeah, it was not the outcome. Either of us were. intending, but just being open to the outcome. And I said, how are your knees?

Karen: 54:17

He said, they still hurt, but I don't care. I

Pam: 54:24

said, okay, if you ever get in town, maybe

Karen: 54:26

we could try your knees again. But I just love that,

Pam: 54:32

just the fact that, the Reiki energy always knows what's needed and sometimes it may not even make sense to your client at the time or they may not feel a lot at the time. It's more how it shows up in their life afterward. And I always tell them that we may not be aware of what just happened, but we know Reiki was doing its work. And so it's how it unfolds in your life. So yeah.

Karen: 54:56

Yeah. And so if people are struggling. Thinking Oh that's good for Pam, but it'll never happen for me. Just keep doing the Reiki and just see. Just be open. Say, let's see.

Pam: 55:07

Just remember that I thought Reiki masters were wonderful and amazing people, and I wasn't. I was just me. And it turns out, just being me was okay, because it was all about just letting the Reiki do its work.

Karen: 55:19

Absolutely.

Pam: 55:22

Karen, let's move into a meditation today so that if there is anybody who's experiencing this in any area of their life we can help them move through it. Okay, I'm just going to invite you to close your eyes, bring your hands into Gassho, and just imagine yourself seated comfortably in a warm, sunshiny meadow surrounded by tall, whispering grasses. The soft hum of life surrounds you and you feel supported by the earth below and the sky above. Now take deep, three deep cleansing breaths and with each inhale draw in the pure energy of Reiki and with each exhale just intend to release any doubts or fears or feelings of unworthiness. Place your hands on your heart and just visualize the Reiki symbols that you're attuned to there in your hands. Moving into your heart, glowing, pulsating, feel their power, just allowing these symbols to enter your heart and to fill you with each of their specific healing energies. And at the same time, just visualizing roots extending from the bottoms of your feet, from your seat, deep into the earth. Feel grounded, stable energy of Mother Earth rising up through you, assuring you of your rightful place. in this world, on this planet, in your life, in this moment in time. And as you continue to breathe deeply, I'd like you to repeat the following affirmations after me, either out loud or in your mind. I am capable. I am worthy. I trust in myself, in my skills and my intuition. Reiki flows through me, affirming my place as a healer. Now imagine a shower of divine Reiki light pouring down upon you. This light is bright. Filled with love, understanding, and acceptance, just allow it to wash away any remnants of self doubt, fear, or

Karen: 1:47:35

feelings of being

Pam: 1:47:37

an imposter. Now I invite you to imagine a beam of light connecting your heart to the hearts of all other. Reiki practitioners in the world. Feel the collective strength, wisdom, and experience of this community. Understand that you're not alone in your journey, and there's no right or wrong way to practice. There's just your unique way. Now acknowledge any lingering feelings of unworthiness or of imposter syndrome, and just imagine these feelings. move into a bubble of Reiki light.

Karen: 1:49:07

I invite you to thank them for the

Pam: 1:49:10

lessons that they've brought and on your next exhale, just release that bubble, allowing it to float away, leaving behind only feelings of confidence and self assurance. We say thank you now to our guides, to Reiki, the universal life force energy. And we say thank you to you for being here today, for participating in this healing journey. We invite you to remember that every experience, every doubt, and every achievement is a step forward on your path. I invite you to stay here as long as you'd like, and when you're ready, you can slowly become aware of the space around you, the meadow around you, in the room that you're in, and open your eyes. I'd like you to bring your hands into Gassho or prayer position once more and to just reflect upon this truth. Every Reiki journey is unique and yours is unfolding perfectly just as it is meant to. Trust in your path, your growth. yourself and the beautiful light that you bring in the world. Thank you for the beautiful being that you are and the light that you're sharing with others. We appreciate you. Aho Mitakuye Oyasin and Namaste. Erin, thanks so much for being here. I'm so glad that we can shed some light on this and put this out there for anyone who's ever feeling this or whose students feel it. Yeah,

Karen: 1:51:44

me too. Thanks for choosing this topic and thank you for having me again.

Pam: 1:51:48

It is always a pleasure. You take care of yourself down there in Ecuador and to the listeners, we appreciate you. We look forward to connecting with you again next week. Namaste.