In Reiki I, students begin to sense that there is energy present in people, plants, animals, and crystals around them. The energy may feel like warmth, coolness, tingling, or just magnetism.
As our senses develop, we begin to notice that the energy we work with has a variety of feelings: it may change from a usual warm flowing to a cold stillness or back and forth or to something unrecognizable to us. We may also occasionally feel shapes in the aura or notice that the energy changes among the various levels of the aura.
What does this mean?
Clients may have a variety of problems for which we are treating them. They could have a chronic condition or blockage in the energy. They could have a recent injury, such as a fall, scratch, broken limb, or sickness.
In the case of a long-term or chronic condition, the energy would appear blocked. This might result in exactly the opposite feeling in the chakra that immediately precedes it. For example, if we are feeling the left side of the body (in most cases), we might notice a surplus of energy at the second chakra, but a blockage at the third chakra. This is because the energy is flowing up the left side of the body. The effect of the blockage at the third chakra causes a surplus at the second as a damming effect develops. The chakras would be reversed at the right side of the body as the energy moves downward.
Now, the $10,000 question is what various temperatures mean. A good way to find this out with you is to work with another practitioner in tandem to test with a pendulum. When you find a blockage on each other, notice the changes in temperature at that location. This will let you know how that energy feels for you. When you find a surplus as described above, notice the same thing. In my working with the energies, I feel blockages as warm and surpluses as cold, but this is different for everyone.
As you enter Reiki II or SSR I-II, you begin to notice that you can use the Mental/Emotional symbol or second Power Symbol for the areas of surplus and the Power Symbol for areas of deficit. This allows you to focus the energy and balance it across chakras.
I hope this helps those of you in Reiki I (or contemplating taking Reiki I) get a better idea of how we who practice do our energy sensing.