So what the hell is this reiki thing anyway? Well, first of all i’m so glad you asked!
Reiki is a form of energy healing originating in Japan. Though it’s informed by other more ancient practices, it’s not even that old having been created in the 1920s. Ok great, but what does that mean?
It’s based on the belief that everything is made of energy. There is energy that runs through our bodies, and through the universe, a compliment to matter. Anybody can practice reiki, and many of us do without even knowing it. Ever kissed a kid’s boo boo? Or rubbed a loved one’s head when it hurts? Thoughts and prayers? Those simple actions are an instinctual and informal form of reiki - a nourishing energetic connection. Reiki practitioners however had been trained and attuned to reiki energy. Essentially we are all conductors, and if we think of it as being electricity all humans have some conductivity, the innate ability to transmit energy, though naturally we might be about as conductive as a potato. Getting an attunement takes you into the territory of water, or copper - much more highly conductive. Or think of it like a leaky faucet. It drips water without even thinking of it, like us when we hug a friend who is hurting. A reiki attunement turns the faucet on so there is an intentional (and often stronger) flow.
Ok but what does it DO?!
Well, reiki has been attributed with many healing properties. It can help reduce anxiety and stress, improve sleep, and depending on who you ask, even heal physical conditions. I am not here to make claims - but i am willing to share my experience with reiki and what you can expect from me.
If i’m being honest i don’t even remember when i first heard of reiki. , if i’m being REALLY honest when i first studied reik it came from a place of insecurity. I was a relatively new mother, pregnant with my second kid, and felt like i had a lot to offer but didn’t know how or what. My sister had been a yoga teacher for YEARS and while i was a yoga assistant, and had always dabbled with the idea of becoming a yoga teacher, the timing never really worked out. Yoga teacher training is intense! It can be both grueling and expensive. And while i don’t doubt or begrudge the transformative experience of yoga teacher training, it never seemed to FIT into my life. But I was big into manifestation and knew I was powerful but I didn't know how to harness or express that to others. So I searched for something I could have. Something to legitimize what I knew was innate. A certificate. A skill. Something marketable, some status to attach to my name. I searched the internet and as with yoga, reiki training was intense! It was expensive and I didn't know who to trust, so I started with an online course because what the hell. I’ll try it and if it’s a fraud i’m not out that much and love to be able to do things in the comfort of my bathtub rather than having to schedule time away and childcare etc. I finished the course quickly, and thought it was fascinating. I believed it, but i didn’t FEEL it. I was convinced reiki was real, but i wasn’t sure it was ‘for me.’ So i just sat with it. I hardly even practiced on myself.
Fast forward a few years and i was now an owner of a yoga studio with the aforementioned sister. We had teachers who were also reiki trained and offered it as a service. I didn’t think to put my training to work until a day when a client emailed asking for a session and our regular practitioner was unavailable. I checked in with my conscience and my sister (sometimes the same thing) and figured “What the hell, i’m qualified!” And while i never heard back from that client i did jump in to practicing reiki in person on friends and family. And it worked! Well, at least no one called me a fraud and people seemed to be pleased and reported experiencing things like relaxation, peace, and some other positive sensations. I began seeing clients, and one session was almost knocked straight on my ass with the overwhelming energy while pregnant (again). Lesson learned, you don’t have to stand to do reiki, so I bought myself a stool and carried on, creating a comforting but accessible environment for healing.
We all know the story of 2020. In person reiki was not something on anyone’s agenda and eventually our sweet little yoga studio closed. Without anywhere to practice reiki i stepped back for some time and i kept telling people (and myself) yeah, i could do distance reiki and will figure it out eventually.
Then, once again, as is my custom, a situation came up where distance reiki was “needed” and I checked in with my conscience and my sister and thought what the hell, let’s do this (after carefully reviewing my learning on distance reiki of course)! And I did. And it was powerful. So I began practicing on family and friends. For the longest time i just let the reiki do it’s work and it was hard occasionally to stay focused on the task at hand. But as i practiced staying mentally in my “reiki place” the energy became more focused.
One day i had a client and went to mentally focus in my reiki space and the energy just refused. It wasn’t going to my pavilion in the jungle, or even my secret underground sanctuary. We were in an upstairs bedroom with curtains blowing in a sea breeze and that’s that. So i told her that, and she said it reminded her of her grandmother’s beach house. Since then i’ve been offering to share these visual insights with clients during sessions (which can be done with or without these insights and with or without physical touch). It’s been empowering, rewarding, transformational, and so many other big adjectives. I’ve helped people find peace, given them insight into what might be triggering them or holding them back, and occasionally an ancestor or guardian will even pop in to say hi.
In late 2021 someone approached me about leading a reiki training. As it goes, I consulted my conscience, revisited my training, and figured what the hell, let's do it! And a new crop of reiki practitioners has blossomed, informing their lives and communities whether they are yet aware of it or not.
Now i’m offering full reiki sessions in person at a lovely massage studio, as well as reiki boosts virtually/distance. And it feels so GOOD! I'm thinking of upcoming trainings i'll offer with grateful excitement. It makes me laugh to think of my first reiki training when I thought “It’s great, but i’m not sure it’s for me.” And then i remember that the first time i met my husband socially i walked away thinking “Man, this dude is TOTALLY not my type.” For someone who likes to label themself as intuitive I can also be a little slow when it comes to my own life I guess.
I can’t speak for my clients, but if you’d like to hear their words you can check out the reviews.
What I can explain to you is what a session looks/feels like to me.
I begin by invoking reiki energy, by acknowledging and including my reiki lineage. I ask my spirit guides and yours to be with us, to protect us and surround us with love and healing messages. I ask that it all be for the highest good. I release my ego so that the truest highest good is not clouded by my idea of good.
I start at the clients head and work my way down along a series of predetermined points (of course subject to change based on intuition). If in person i do this physically, if distance i use something as a stand in. Usually this is something with its own magical energy like a crystal, though I have been known to use whatever’s handy. Often at each stop i get visions. These might be meaningful to me or they might be confusing to me but meaningful to my client when i share them. For example, at your chest i might see your heart is jade, splashing into a puddle of water. In distance work i have the time and will often look up symbolism before sharing my report.. Jade, for example, represents wisdom and tranquility. Water represents emotion. In person i will just share what i see as it comes if the client wishes. Sometimes it’s really “beautiful” like amethyst or an ever-blooming peony, other times i might see WWE wrestling at your throat (which leads me to believe there is a disconnect between how your words are planned and received). Sometimes guardians come through. A lot of times it’s someone’s granny. I don’t know why but grandmas love me. A reiki session is unpredictable i don't know ahead of time what will come through. But whatever does, it’s powerful for clients to be able to be seen. To have someone validate things they think or feel, or even to be able to explicate something they’ve had on the tip of their tongue but didn’t know how to express. Not the kind of powerful like a sovereign reigning supreme or priestess presiding over a sanctuary - but powerful as a humbling and awesome experience to share with another human like witnessing the northern lights. I leave sessions humbled by the ability to connect and exhilarated by how much is out there and within ourselves to connect to, to connect us. My clients seem to leave sessions at peace, seen and held, at the bare minimum cared for by someone else for just a little while. And that friends, is my calling.