A good friend of mine recently became attuned in the first level of Reiki and offered me a session. She knows about the amount of pain with which I live. I spent a few hours with her this past Friday and it was interesting and relaxing, and definitely worth sharing with you.
What is Reiki?
Reiki describes both the process a practitioner uses to channel energy through a patient with little to no touch, and the energy itself. According to Reiki.org, Reiki is a kind of life force energy that clears the spiritual pathways of the body and to which practitioners must be attuned. A Reiki Master must train new practitioners to sense and manipulate this specific energy.
Does Reiki Interfere with Current Medical Treatments?
Reiki is about mindfulness and spirit and energy manipulation. It doesn’t affect any medications or treatments or care that you’re currently under. It’s a complimentary treatment. Reiki can be intensely emotional, however, so it is important to listen to the practitioner’s messages before an after your session. The practitioner should make themselves available for any questions. It is not covered by insurance.
The Preliminaries
My practitioner showed up on time, in scrubs, with her hair pulled back in a neat pony tail, with a travel case rolling along behind her. We hadn’t seen on another in a long time, so we embraced and exchanged our hellos and experienced the chaos that is my dog.
I had her set up in my living room. She had a massage table, which she covered with soft blankets and a sheet. She asked me if I had a preference about music that I like to listen to when I relax, and I let her choose something. I’m not picky. Any ambient music will do for me. She used her phone to stream music, and even brought her own speaker.
While she was setting up, she had me fill out paperwork that asked for information about my conditions and current medications and the standard contact information. Then she had a second sheet that she went over with me that covered topics such as what I’d like to address, what was my spiritual life is like, and if there were any other areas on which I’d like her to focus. She then asked if smell bothered me because she occasionally burns sage. Sage is fine for me. Before we concluded the paperwork she stated that she is in training and that she is not supposed to touch me. I granted her permission to place her hands on me because I know her and the session was as much for her to practice her craft as it was to help me. I’m comfortable with her. I merely asked that she be gentle with my head.
What My Reiki Session Was Like
I climbed onto the table and had a pillow under my head as well as under my knees to support my lower back. I closed my eyes and heard her scurry about me. She advised me that I might hear her write things down or turn pages while she worked. She let me know that she would give me quiet forewarning before she did anything so that there were no surprises.
She asked me to think positively and in specific ways. For example, she asked me to think things like, “I am healed,” as opposed to, “I will be healed.” Reiki focuses on the present. She also asked me to avoid mental thoughts like, “I am not in pain.” “Not” is a negative. I replaced that phrase with, “I feel good,” and tried to repeat the phrase over and over during the session.
She opened our session officially with a prayer.
Then the fun began.
I consider myself something of an Episcopagan. I’m a Christian but I was also Wiccan for a decade. I was obsessed with the paranormal and psychic phenomena as a kid and I have always had crystals and paid attention to my instincts. The next thing that happened was peculiar, but not entirely surprising, given the nature of the work she was doing. She asked if sound bothered me. I said that I should be okay. She then rang a chime in different places throughout the room to “raise the vibrations,” and I began to feel extreme pressure between my eyebrows. This is the spot I associate with my Third Eye. It was as if the chimes were waking something up in my body that hadn’t been awake for a very long time.
It was pretty cool.
I heard her warming her hands, which is a sound I’m familiar with from my time with massage and physical therapists. Then I began to feel a different kind of pressure building inside the center of my brain. It was as if something was trying to push its way in, or as if a balloon were inflating in my head. It wasn’t painful, mainly invasive. She then lightly placed her hands over my ears, forehead, and the crown of my head, spending several minutes at each.
After spending most of her time with my head, she then moved down the left side of my body, gently placing her hands at my shoulder and elbow, then elbow and wrist. It continued like this, drawing energy down the left side of my body in the path of my circulation down the left, then back up the right side of my body. She ended by focusing over my torso.
After the Session
When I was ready I moved back to my sofa and we chatted about what she found. She told me that my spiritual side, the left, was fine, but that my right side… the side with all of the yucky things that happen in life, was murky. She said I needed to laugh more. She asked me about some things in my past and present that aren’t common knowledge. All in all she was perceptive, professional, and compassionate.
Is Reiki for You?
Unlike massage and acupuncture and chiropractic treatments, Reiki is non-invasive. It comes from a place of love and compassion and spirituality. You don’t have to believe in it for it to work, but as my friend told me, it helps. The worst that can happen is that you get to relax for a while in a comfortable, quiet place with someone watching over you and wishing you well.
Will I Try It Again?
Yes. I need positive people and forces in my life in different shapes and forms. Spiritual healers who are also my friends? Bonus.
Image courtesy of http://www.healingpausepaws.com/
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