I believe in miracles because I have been touched by them. They have been on my mind lately as I contemplate my journey with Reiki, one that took me quite by surprise and compelled me to wake up even more to life. The first instance I felt Reiki energy flow through me was one of the most profound experiences yet in my life.
Over the years I had heard of Reiki. In my mind, it was a gift you were born with; either you had it, or you didn’t. But then, on a trip I took to India, I learned differently. On a bus from Puttaparthi to Bangalore, a woman who had seen me double over in agony from a jolt to a frozen shoulder when I stumbled, came to sit by me and offered Reiki. It was quick; over my clothes her hands barely touched me, but an intense heat and compassion emanated from them. Those few minutes sparked a curiosity and once I returned home, I scoured the library for books about Reiki, reading them one after another.
This led me to search for a teacher, a quest that took several months. I showed up for the class never having met the teacher and only having received Reiki one time. History and knowledge were passed on to us, but what creates a Reiki practitioner are the attunements given by a master that open a channel, allowing healing energy to flow through your body and out your hands to another. For some this might sound hard to believe. But every person I’ve met who practices Reiki has their secret treasure of stories where healings have manifested, large and small. I’m a communicator and a writer, so I want to share what I’ve discovered, and really, we could all use healing in some part of our lives.
I was eager to learn. After my attunement, being taught the hand positions and practicing with my classmates, I was relaxed, and my hands were a little tingly. It felt good to give and receive Reiki. But much bigger changes were in store. As a coincidence, or maybe not, during the class I found out that our teacher was also a massage therapist. Before I left class, I arranged for a massage with her a few days later.
On the appointed day, before starting my massage, she asked me how I had felt after the Reiki class. I told her honestly. After a soothing massage, she left the room for me to get dressed. Suddenly, still lying on the massage table, a humming current started in my core and began to travel up my body and surge out of my palms, like a coursing stream. I remained still to observe the feeling; it didn’t occur to me what it might be. After some minutes, which seemed eternally longer, I called out, asking her to come back into the room, hoping she might know what was happening. She told me it appeared that my energy channel was opening. I had tears in my eyes. I felt shaky and dizzy and wasn’t even sure I could drive home, so I sat in my car until the sensations lessened and I felt safe to drive.
From that moment on, whenever I experienced a loving intention to help someone, I would feel a tingling vibration and a pleasant pressure in my hands. The first week I did eight one-hour sessions for friends and family and these felt natural. While giving Reiki, I receive the same healing energy through my body, so it is a win-win experience, as relaxing for me as meditation. Without realizing it, I had been waiting for a gift like this to offer.
The following year I completed the second-degree Reiki training, where we learned emotional and distance healing, and then this past year I completed the Master Reiki class so now I can teach. Amazing experiences have come through giving and receiving Reiki — pain disappearing or improving, emotional releases, visions and guidance received and decreasing of stress through a deep sense of well-being and relaxation. My life has shifted in a very beautiful way. It has become a living meditation.
That first day of feeling energy course through my body will never be forgotten. It made me an instant believer; it gave me the confidence to start practicing immediately and to want to share with everyone what I have found. I am so grateful for the miraculous grace that led me to Reiki.
