Looking back, if someone were to tell me that I would be a Reiki Master, writing a blog about Reiki and how it changed my life, I would say what the bleep are you talking about? What is Reiki (RAY-key) anyway?   This is a question I get a lot when I am talking to people about this form of healing. Well, I say, hmmmm it is almost like you have to experience it yourself. You can look up definitions, such as one from www.thethirstysoul.com “Reiki is a healing practice that promotes relaxation and promotes a person’s natural ability to heal.” Another source of great information about Reiki www.reikirays.com states that “it is an energy healing method that is usually doneby placing the hands in a series of positions over or slightly above the body.” However, these definitions don’t quite give the practice of Reiki the justice it deserves. One really has to experience it for themselves. Each person is unique, with different ways in which Reiki can help them heal.

Some shy away from Reiki because they think it is a religion. I know my mother looks at me like I am performing a weird ritual on my daughter when I say I am going to give her a reiki healing. As the Reiki bible by Eleanor McKenzie says, “Reiki, as it has been widely taught, is not connected to a religious practice, yet it is a spiritual path. It does not require belief in God or some form of higher being, but encourages each individual to seek the truth for themselves.” I like how it explains that religion and spirituality are not the same thing. “A person who follows a religion may be spiritual, but not all religious people are spiritual.”

Ok, ok cut to the chase, right? How does it work? Essentially, as a practitioner, I have been attuned to a universal life force or energy that I can run through me to the client. Sounds voo doo ish, yes, but if you think about it, everything that is a thing has energy.. whether it is kinetic, magnetic, thermal, electric etc. I’m getting too sciency, even for my own good. Let’s think about radio frequencies. We know our radio is going to work when we turn it on…we know that our cell phones will call our friends, but we can’t see the electric and magnetic energy moving together, radiating through space in order for it to happen. We trust it will happen and that our radio or cell phone will “tune” into the frequency in order to get the signal. I am essentially the channel that is able to “tune” into energy and frequencies that the client is unable to access because of my attunement. This energy flows through the client, opening up their chakras and stimulating the healing process.

How did it change my life? Well, I received my Reiki I and II certifications a few years ago. I immediately started using it on myself, once in the morning and another in the evening before bed. To my surprise, I could actually feel this energy moving through me. I was as skeptical as the next person, so when my forehead started to tingle, I thought…wow this stuff is real! I grew obsessed, so when my daughter complained about her horrible stomach ache, I laid her down and performed Reiki while she was watching t.v. She immediately fell asleep, and when she woke up, her pain was completely gone. I continued to use this powerful healing on myself and my family (I was too chicken to try it on my friends or clients at the time). It has helped me tremendously with my OCD, anxiety, sleep, stomach aches, pain all over my body from a bout of food poisoning, etc. It has also worked on my husband (thank goodness), because he is the one person that I really wanted to convince. He was reluctant to let me practice on him, but one day he complained that his ankle was hurting because he had twisted it. I asked him if I could perform Reiki, and he begrudgingly agreed. So, while he was asleep, I simply imagined the Reiki running through his ankle, repairing it. I kept my fingers crossed that he would mention it in the morning, and to my surprise, he said, “hey, I think that stuff works..I feel zero pain in my ankle.” I just smiled and did an internal high five.

A few years ago, my sister and I received our Reiki master certifications. She was not feeling that hot after our attunements..in fact, she didn’t want to come back for the second day. I believe she was going through a spiritual detox. She had a headache, her stomach was upset, and she hadn’t slept well. The website www.reikirays.com explains it as stimulating the immune system to start the healing process. The attunement sparked a cleansing process, essentially releasing negative emotions and toxins. This is typical after attunements, and the receiver can experience not only physical detoxification, but spiritual healing, emotional cleansing and mental purification. This is temporary, but can be distressing at the outset. It just takes time and patience, and the positive residual effects far outweigh the initial negative experiences.

I underwent many of these stages after receiving my Reiki attunements, and I experienced a significant transition after opening up spiritually and emotionally. I no longer wanted to go to parties or drink alcohol. I didn’t care so much about materialistic things. I thought and felt more deeply about my relationships. I cried a lot because I was expressing deep emotions that were hidden my entire life. My soul was going through a cleanse, which can take a while. In fact, I think I am constantly cleansing. However, like I said, it is worth it! I am so blessed to have found this modality that brings peace and healing to me and my family. The more I practiced, the more changes I saw in myself and my family. I went outside of my comfort zone and began working on my friends and clients. I have conducted many sessions over the past few years. The transformations that I have seen in my clients have been astounding. I have to pinch myself every day that I am living out my purpose to help others’ heal. Want to know what a session is like? Check out my testimonials . Curious about my services? Let me know if you have questions!

Have you experienced the powerful effects of Reiki? If so, what have your experiences been like? Comment below!

Blessings!

~Michelle