Reiki: Embracing the power of gentle healing

People often ask me, “how does it work?” I always want to say, it just does!

I was introduced to Reiki 25 years ago through my Mum, who had started to receive Reiki following her diagnosis of secondary breast cancer. Mum went on to learn Reiki to Level 2 (Second Degree) and integrated these practices into her daily life. I found the whole practice fascinating, especially seeing how it positively impacted her emotionally and physically.

Two weeks before she died, she wanted me to drive her to meet her Reiki teacher, Irene Hill, who she had booked me in with for a treatment. I had read about it and Mum had described it to me, but I remember feeling a little nervous about going and had questions about how it all worked, how would I feel, what if I couldn’t ‘switch off’ or what if I started crying and couldn’t stop!

I also remember feeling like my head was full of chatter, I wasn’t sleeping well and I felt completely overwhelmed with emotion. My solar plexus was thumping like a drum. I was 4 months pregnant and I was already grieving for my Mum.

When we arrived at Irene’s house, I instantly felt at ease in her company. The house felt still and calm, not knowing at that time that this place would become my haven for the next 20 years.

During the treatment, she placed her hands in a series of hand positions from my head down to my feet, covering the energy centres of my body and areas that related to my elements. It was warming and soothing and I felt held and completely safe.
After my treatment, it felt like hundreds of tiny magnetic shards had been brushed off me and all the opened boxes in my busy brain had closed. I had this calmness and stillness I couldn’t quite make sense of. It felt like all the fogginess and heaviness that I had been carrying, just left, and yet nothing in my circumstances had changed.

It was Reiki and Irene that helped me through the weeks, months and years to follow. I would visit for sessions around every 4 - 6 weeks, receiving treatments and training in the system. Irene was incredibly knowledgeable and I benefited greatly from this knowledge and her mentoring. I was taught the original Japanese teachings and the Western teachings, both quite different approaches. During the training and teachings, it started to feel like I had little metal detectors in the palms of my hands, sensing areas of congested energy and through using the Japanese techniques I had been taught, detecting areas of depletion and excess in energy.

Reiki became a part of my daily life. Some days I would feel gentle shifts and changes in a thought pattern to a real sense of grounding and clarity. Reiki never really ceases to amaze me and gentle power of it. Keeping the practice simple, clutter free and from the heart, magical things can happen.

My mentor passed just over 5 years ago, leaving behind her teachings and the most valuable lessons in life, and each day I am grateful for being introduced to this simple but powerful therapy all those years ago.

Mikao Usui created and developed the original Japanese teachings of the system ‘Reiki’ in 1922. He created this from his own personal experience through his experiences with various religions, including Buddhism and Christianity. However, Reiki has no belief system attached to it and therefore can be practiced by anyone who wishes to. Through working with energy, visualisation and meditation it can promote emotional, physical and spiritual balance.

For more information please visit UK Reiki Federation www.reikifed.co.uk.

Journal.