a community of practitioners

Reiki and the male practitioner

I was just talking with a group of men who feel they are discriminated against by clients looking for reiki practitioners.I have heard men say this to me who practice massage,but I was not aware of this with reiki practitioners.
What are your thoughts on that idea?
Do you have any personal experience with discrimination due to your gender?
Please share your stories with me.
Peace,Emma

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sue Heldenbrand on January 1, 2010 at 5:40pm

I am not aware of this with Reiki male practitioners. I feel that a person looking for someone to do energy work or massage will go to someone that is compatible with their energy, whether they are realizing that or not. It's been my experience that more women are in the energy field then men at this time, but I feel that this is changing. Possibly having a female Reiki practitioner may feel more comfortable for them at this time, since that is what is familiar and what they are used to. I teach a subtle body energy class and the males that are into doing energy work don't seem to have any more problems then the females as far as working on someone.
Sue

Permalink Reply by Emma Torsey on January 1, 2010 at 5:56pm

My teacher was a 93 year old man,John Harvey Grey.

Sue Heldenbrand said:

I am not aware of this with Reiki male practitioners. I feel that a person looking for someone to do energy work or massage will go to someone that is compatible with their energy, whether they are realizing that or not. It's been my experience that more women are in the energy field then men at this time, but I feel that this is changing. Possibly having a female Reiki practitioner may feel more comfortable for them at this time, since that is what is familiar and what they are used to. I teach a subtle body energy class and the males that are into doing energy work don't seem to have any more problems then the females as far as working on someone.
Sue

Permalink Reply by Gerry Bunnell on January 2, 2010 at 8:05am

I feel the majority of people see women as more nurturing then men. Reiki is a very nurturing modality and I can understand why the public would trend towards seeing a woman instead of a man for such work. This is very similar to the prejudices male practitioners (including myself) have experienced in massage. The feminine gender is just naturally more predisposed to nurturing. It is a challenge that male practitioners in the healing arts will always be faced with.

Peace

Permalink Reply by Pat Ward on January 7, 2010 at 9:49pm

I teach Reiki classes and do a monthly Reiki share and more and more men are joining the ranks of practitioners. The women in my share group do not seem to mind it when the men work on them as a group. Perhaps the group setting is more comfortable than one on one for them. I do think that a person will go to a person they feel more comfortable with for Reiki and that may just mean that they would prefer to go to a female. It can be such an intensely personal experience so they need to feel perfectly safe and trust the practitioner they are using. But I think things are slowly changing and that is good!

Permalink Reply by Emma Torsey on January 9, 2010 at 2:36pm

Thank you all for taking the time to reply.
I was aware this went on in the massage field,but was blind sided to find it happens with reiki too.
Peace Emma