In
2003 I met with a Native American shaman who told me that I had potential to be a very powerful healer, that I should study
whatever books I could find, and to not follow just one way. That struck me as
true, and I’ve followed that advice. Two years later I studied Reiki and became
attuned to level one.
I
believe that becoming attuned to Reiki has opened up my Higher Self to more
spiritual experiences, and I've since become much more sensitive to
energy. This hasn’t always been easy, since it’s challenging sometime being around certain people and crowds. I’ve learned that when I’m feeling drained or negative, it isn’t always
from me. I’ve had to learn techniques to clear my aura, and be able to deal
with negative people and situations. The good thing about being sensitive to
others is that I can help people by empathizing with them, or validating them
in some way. I don’t generally talk about Reiki or my spirituality to most
people. Only the few people who are closest to me and people I trust know about
some of my spiritual beliefs and practices.
Reiki
is a Japanese energy healing technique that was developed in the 1920’s, but
it’s believed to be much older than that. It’s not associated with any
religion, and it’s not like massage. A Reiki practitioner feels or senses the
energy field of the client, and depending on the clients’ needs, places his or
her hands gently on or above areas of the body in certain positions. Usually
each hand position is held for 5-10 minutes. Reiki heals on physical, emotional
and spiritual levels, and the energy automatically goes where it is needed. The
practitioner isn’t really the healer. The client is the healer. We ALL have the
ability to heal ourselves. The Reiki practitioner is merely the channel for
Universal Life Force energy. By going through an attunement, which is a sacred
ritual in a Reiki class, you open yourself up to this energy and can be a
channel for Reiki at any time you intend to use it. I never got into Reiki to
make money from it, by the way. I only got into it to help my spiritual
development.
There
are four levels of the type of Reiki (Usui Reiki Ryoho) training that I have learned.
The different levels do not mean that you are a more powerful healer or channel.
But you do learn different things at each level, which for me was something I
wished to do. Level 2 Reiki teaches you three sacred healing symbols. One of
these symbols is the “distant” healing symbol, which enables you to send
healing long distance. I decided that I wanted to be able to send healing
energy to my mother, which is why I continued on to level 2 in 2006.
I
didn’t think that I would progress on to the other two levels, but I trusted
that if it were meant to be, it would happen at the right time. In 2011 I took
the classes for Advanced Reiki Training, then the following year I became a
Reiki Master. Being a Reiki Master allows you to teach Reiki, which I hope
someday to do.
Right
now I don’t have a good space to do Reiki, so I don’t have a true practice. I
of course do Self Reiki, which has helped me tremendously with various
illnesses and emotional issues. My mother has been a wonderful “guinea pig”,
and I’ve done sessions on various people over the years, as well as animals.
Animals are extremely sensitive to energy, and love Reiki! Whenever I’ve done a
session on a person with a dog or cat around, the animals want to be as close
to their human as possible, and I think they help in some ways! I think someday
I would like to have a practice that involves doing Reiki for pets. Those of us
who are true animal lovers of course want to help animals when they need it. I
have found that since getting into Reiki that animals and babies often react to
my presence in a profound way.
I
have done many distant healing sessions for people. This can be difficult in
some ways because I’ve never charged money for it, so people generally don’t take
it as seriously. It’s also difficult to get feedback on how the person feels
afterward when you’re doing it long distance. But I can tell you that when I do
these sessions I feel the energy in a very powerful way. Another great thing
about Reiki is that the practitioner also receives healing during sessions. I
sometimes forget about this until I start doing it, and sure enough, my sinuses
suddenly clear, or I feel a shift of some sort. It’s also possible to send healing to more than one person at a
time.
An important thing is that Reiki should never be done on someone without his
or her permission. Everyone has free will and their own life path, and so it’s
important to have their permission. However, in extreme situations (like if
someone is in a coma for instance), it’s OK to do Reiki on someone if a close
relative or spouse asks for it on their behalf. Nowadays many hospitals have
Reiki practitioners and/or nurses that do Reiki. I’ve often thought about doing
volunteer work again in a hospital, and when the time is right, I will
definitely do this.
Getting
back to how Reiki has impacted me, I’ll share a personal story. Back in March
of 2012 I was suddenly attacked by my parents’ dog. There was something wrong with him for quite some time, and he started
becoming aggressive. While I was visiting that weekend, I allowed him onto my
lap when he was in one of his “moods”, and was trying to calm him down. I was
very tired, and reached down and hugged him while he was still in my lap.
He attacked me in the face. For a while after the incident I was afraid of dogs. I also kept having
flashbacks, which were very upsetting. Two months later I won an award at work,
which gave me unexpected extra money, which I used to take the Reiki Master
course. After my first class (the class was spread out to three days over three months) I
suddenly was no longer afraid of dogs! It felt like a huge miracle
took place. A friend of mine who saw me not long after that first class also
mentioned that I looked and seemed very different. I truly believe that doing
the Reiki Master class at that time was a gift from the Universe!
I
plan to continue to learn more healing modalities. I have briefly studied
Qigong and Energy Medicine, and have dabbled in some other things such as
crystal healing, essential oils, and other stuff. There are other types of
Reiki out there, which perhaps someday I’ll look into more. But I believe that
everything happens in it’s own good time, so in the meantime I’ll just work
harder to meditate every day, take care of myself and trust that life will take
care of the rest.
