Okay, I should preface this with the fact that I've been researching Reiki a bit. I've been considering getting trained in it because it is such a non-invasive way to help someone feel more centered, less stressed, more calm. And if you believe all the things that are said about it, it has the power to yield dramatic results: detoxing, healing, better sleep, etc...
No matter how you describe it, it's hard for it not to sound really New Agey. It is basically laying on of hands in specific positions and sequence, to open up a flow of energy, or rather to connect you with the universal energy. The only way I am reconciling that right now, is that I believe in God who would be the source of all energy in and around us, and I believe in the power of human touch, and if nothing else, it is a soothing, relaxing restful period where two people are connected with something larger, through platonic touch. Mostly through clothing and even a blanket except for the the head. There was a woman nearby offering free mini-treatments, so I went to check it out. Of course I was the only one that showed up, which is what I was afraid of before I went. I had decided in advance to really trust my gut, if I was feeling like it was too wierd or uncomfortable, I was just going to leave. Despite the somewhat strange stories she ended up telling me, I never felt uncomfortable, or manipulated, she never tried to sell me anything, and I actually really enjoyed the treatment. Here is what I wrote after I got back that night. (I tried to be as detailed as possible because I knew I would forget things later, so this does get a little long...)
When I got there, we chatted a bit about how she got into healing…she told me some stories about taking people on a trip to Tibet. How three times on the trip she was made aware the someone might die, and stopped her meditating to go work them through to save them. How three of them moved a truck with their minds that was stuck in the sand. You know, things I wouldn’t have told me if I knew how skeptical I was.
She said she been doing this for 22, or 24 years, she wasn’t good with numbers. I think I mentioned how when I first heard about Reiki I thought it was too ‘out there”. She seemed surprised, given that I was studying natural healing. I said I’ve come around to different energy modalities, but I do tend to want to be able to explain things scientifically, or at least show that something can be replicated even though clinical trials don't always lend themselves to proving certain modalities.
She gave me copies of a couple of articles about studies that had been done, and asked if I knew that many hospitals are including Reiki in their treatments now. I said I did notice that at least one hospital in our area offers it at their cancer center. She said she’s trained nurses, and doctors, over 50 nuns(but then, she’s not so good with numbers), and a priest…Not in a defensive way, just eager to share how widespread it has become.
Before we started she did some balance checking on me. She stayed seated across the room from me, and first had me hold out a piece of my hair above my head. Then she had me hold my hand (I chose to use the right hand) above my head with the palm facing down. Then hold my hand above my head with the palm facing up. Then she had me touch just below my collarbone on the left side with the same hand, and then just below the collarbone on the right. Then she had me put my thumb inside my fist and do the two collarbone placements again.
From this she said that I was dehydrated (the hair), that I had two or later she said three brain areas out of balance and my polarities were reversed. When I asked her whether she was seeing that or feeling it, she replied that she was dousing. To reorganize all of that, she had me cross my left ankle over my right, then cross my right hand over my left and clasp my hands and bring them up around to my heart. Then she had me breath in while putting my tongue behind my top teeth, and breathe out with my tongue touching my bottom teeth. We did that for about a minute, and then she retested (oh and she gave me some water) and I seemed more in balance. I did feel a little calmer, but the power of suggestion is strong…
She asked me if I had any physical or emotional issues she should know about before we started. I told her that I didn’t get as much physical exercise since I moved, and I think that has affected my body. And that emotionally the transition has been pretty hard. Living with the parents again etc…
For the Reiki, she had a massage table set up with a pillow and a sheet on it. I took my shoes and glasses off. I lay on my back and she put a pillow under my knees and a light blanket up over my shoulders. She told me she would touch my sternum at one point if it was okay, but she wouldn’t touch any sexual organs. She asked if any smells bothered me, and I told her usually just chemical ones. She asked me if I grew up with, or had any religious or spiritual belief, and I told her I was Catholic. She said that was wonderful and mentioned the nuns again. She asked me if I believed in Angels then, and I said that I suppose I do. She used two aromatherapy oils, I can’t remember the name of the first one, but the second one was frankincense. She also mentioned that they use it in church sometimes. Now I’m wondering if she was trying to connect to me on that level.
She started on my head, as she did the top, and side I started to feel a little achiness where I usually have it in my neck on the left side. It was almost as if the other parts of my head and neck felt good and warm and soothed, so it made that part stand out. I only mentioned it to her afterwards, but she said if I had told her she would have stayed longer on the back part.
I half opened my eyes when she was doing part of my face/throat area. One of her hands was hovering above my body and was drawing something away from my throat in the air. Every once in awhile she would breathe in and out loudly, almost as if she was expelling something out for me. I just focused on breathing.
When I had first come into the office, my hands and feet were both cold. As she went on, maybe after she worked near my heart, I realized my hands were warm. There were some hand placements she did on my stomach, and then my knees, and she ran her hands down from my knees to my feet, but the warmth never reached there.
She had me lay on my front towards the end because she was feeling like she needed to work the adrenals.
I definitely felt warmth from her hands, but sometimes she moved them and I almost wondered if she was trying to simulate the pulsating that people sometimes say they feel. On the other hand, I at times it felt like I could feel my heartbeat in the part of my body where her hands were, or maybe it was her heartbeat? Maybe that is what is meant by pulsating.
Oh there was a point when she was working on my head that I felt some tension or something welling up. Not to the point where I thought I might cry, but the point a couple of steps before that.
When she finished she went out to wash her hands, then came back and I sat up a bit, and she asked me to tell her what I felt, and then she told me her observations. I told her the thing about my head and neck, and the warming of my hands, but not quite my feet.
She said she felt like I was receiving solid energy very well. Actually I think the first thing she said was that my eyes looked brighter (or clearer?). She said she should have had me look in the mirror before we started. Even though I felt very relaxed during the treatment, once I flipped over to my front and she worked on my adrenals I felt very alert, much more so than when I got there, so I could imagine my eyes looking different. She also asked if I had ever had any energy treatments before. I said no. When she said the thing about the solid energy, I asked if that’s why she asked if I had received treatments before, like is there a foundation that has to be laid in order to receive it well? But she said no, that you take as much as you need, and that it stays with you, so that each time you go to a better place or level or something…you don’t start from scratch.
She said she felt something blocked in my throat, and I think she said she wasn't able to remove it just then. I asked if it was related to the cold I had last week, because I still have some congestion, but she said no, that it was emotional, and it had been there a long time. That’s when I remembered about the tension welling up in my throat like I might cry.
Then she said she felt my liver flushing, and to make sure I drank some water, and didn’t do anything to overly tax the liver in the next 24 hours. She didn’t think there would be any major detox issue, but just to be aware of it. And then she said she had been told to work on the adrenals (this may have been the point where she mentioned angels again, in such a way that I got the point that it was angels guiding her…like when she said she was "told" to work on a certain place) but when she when she went to the adrenals they weren’t as bad as she thought.
So I asked about her classes, and got on her mailing list, and thanked her and went on my way. I felt pretty good after, but I did start crying a little when I first got into the car. And then a bit more and harder, but not for very long on the drive home. I had the urge to be outside and breathe, and the moon was almost full and pretty amazing looking, so I stopped for a minute before I got to my house. But the moon was covered by clouds at that point. Still it felt good to just breathe the fresh air. And stop thinking for a moment and just be.
My feet are still cold, but I think I feel kind of good. No proof, but I think I would do it again. And I’m still thinking about taking the classes…
