How did Reiki first come into my life?

My own path to understanding the nature of Reiki and how it can benefit us began back in 2003. 

I had been interested in astrology, numerology and ‘energy medicine’ for a number of years, trying to get some vague understanding of how life on Earth and our place in the universe worked together. So when I spotted an advert for a large Mind, Body, Spirit fair that was taking place not too far from me in West London I was determined to go and take a look and see what I could learn. 

While I was there I had a session with a Numerologist who gave me the depressing news that not only had I been going through a prolonged period of difficulty in my life (tell me about it!!), but that it was due to continue for about another 10 or more years. Good grief, I thought, surely not! I was at breaking point already...Somewhere I have the tape cassette that he subsequently made for me having analysed the numerical details of my life that I gave him. I should dig it out and see how accurate it turned out to be. Although, in writing this, I realise that he certainly wasn’t far off. Things finally started to change for me around 2016...

Anyway, back to 2003 and the Mind, Body, Spirit fair! So, despairing at the future that had just been laid out to me, I cast my eyes around at what else I might explore that might be a little more hopeful. I noticed someone lying on a bed being given a Reiki session. I had been introduced to Reiki just a few weeks earlier by my lovely Aunt who, herself, had recently discovered it. I was agonising whether to sign myself up (though it didn’t feel like it would be a very private experience in the middle of a big hall rammed with people!) when I ran into my husband’s Aunt. As luck would have it, she was their with her own Reiki Master friend who had been supporting her with regard to her recent diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. The moment she heard that I was interested in having a session, the Reiki Master offered to take a quick look at me. Next thing I know, I’m sitting on a bench on the floor above, away from the crowds, and she’s scanning my aura with her hands - in other words her hands are about 6 inches away from my body and she is moving them slowly up and down, ‘feeling’ my energy. She kept going back to my heart and with the words ‘There is a lot of heat in your heart’ I suddenly burst into uncontrollable tears, overwhelmed that this stranger had tuned into the single biggest issue in my life at that moment - my heart. It was not a physical issue, it was a purely emotional and spiritual one. I am not going to go into the details as it would not be appropriate but, in a nutshell, I was deeply, deeply hurting, sad, miserable, troubled, searching, grieving, and a whole lot more besides. She had literally tuned into my immense and literal heartache, which had been slowly building up from my life experience over the previous 10 years or so.

I have always seen this as a pivotal moment in my healing journey as it was the moment that, to use a crude metaphor, the boil was lanced: all the pain and hurt and anger that I had held deep inside me, without even realising it (I’m someone who tends to wear my heart on my sleeve), began to be unleashed. 

However, on that Spring day in West London, I didn’t fully grasp what had happened, other than the fact that I felt some sort of ‘process’ had begun inside me. We were mere weeks away from moving north, to start a whole new life in a whole new place, a life decision that had been out of my hands. The Reiki Master who had scanned me offered to give me distance healing once I’d moved but I really didn’t understand what that was all about and simply couldn’t get my head round it at the time, so I never contacted her. I really should have done. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. 

The next few years were spent adjusting to my new life, overcoming chronic depression, and getting well again. There were various stages in this process but the first, most important one, was accepting responsibility to heal myself. I now realise that this was the gift that that single Reiki session had given me. It was not an easy journey and it took many years, but I am proud of having achieved it. It was such an important lesson to learn - that for deep and meaningful changes to take place, you have to want them to happen and you have to make them happen. You have to commit. Your body is an extraordinary creation: part pure science, part pure art, part physical, part metaphysical. Understanding the subtle but crucial need to balance both aspects is the gateway to a healthy, happy life. Reiki - like other forms of ‘energy medicine’ - is a universal life-force energy which helps make this possible when things have become unbalanced, gently harmonising all aspects of your person - your body, your mind, your emotions and your spirit - and allowing you to start your own process of self-healing.

I will examine this more in my next post.