Wrapping up 2020 with Reiki
[Originally written November 2020]
Dear friends, if it weren’t for this sweet woman I’m about to share with you, I wouldn’t be where I am today - getting ready to move into a space part-time as I expand my practice.
I met Chelsea Adair at an Embodiment workshop earlier this year before the Q, and from there, our friendship has blossomed into so much more. She is an expander for me for entrepreneurship, learning and leading from love, and soul-care practices. Her dedication to treating and taking care of herself actually inspired me to schedule at least one soul-care activity a week over the past two months. This included a massage, hair cut, facial, acupuncture, breathwork classes, and now Reiki.
WHAT IS REIKI?
Reiki was something I was introduced to first by friends from my yoga teacher training. I had never had a full session, and was excited to just be present with my body and energy. I honestly had to look it up to make sure I got this definition right. But here is what I found:
Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by "laying on hands" and is based on the idea that an unseen "life force energy" flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one's "life force energy" is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy.
The word Reiki is made of two Japanese words - Rei which means "God's Wisdom or the Higher Power" and Ki which is "life force energy". So Reiki is actually "spiritually guided life force energy."
A treatment feels like a wonderful glowing radiance that flows through and around you. Reiki treats the whole person including body, emotions, mind and spirit creating many beneficial effects that include relaxation and feelings of peace, security and wellbeing. Many have reported miraculous results.
Reiki is a simple, natural and safe method of spiritual healing and self-improvement that everyone can use. It has been effective in helping virtually every known illness and malady and always creates a beneficial effect. It also works in conjunction with all other medical or therapeutic techniques to relieve side effects and promote recovery.
-International Center for Reiki Training
Chelsea does so much more than Reiki, but dang, this was powerful and grounding all at once.
MY EXPERIENCE
She began with cleansing my aura with palo Santo, a harvested wood that is generally known to bring about positive energy. I got comfortable lying down on the table and used an eye mask to dive deeper into myself.
Over the time spent on the table, the most significant things I witnessed were the visions that crossed my consciousness, as if my future were on a movie screen, and the sensation of moving, flowing energy in my pelvis.
I watched myself walk down an aisle towards someone I obviously loved, and he loved me back. I watched myself walk over to an OB/GYN office that I’ve visited before to tell them I was moving into a space across the parking lot. And I watched myself admiring the man of my dreams holding a mini-version of me with her head on his shoulder. (If you haven’t read what I learned after a reading with an energy healer, here it is! This vision will make more sense) My mind was blown and all I could feel was even more excitement in my body.
What I noticed in my pelvis felt like a spiraling energy, and made me want to circle my hips. I’m not sure if I was actually moving my body, but it felt like I was dancing on the table! My thinking mind went straight to “oh, that must be my sacral chakra getting after it.” This has been a “problem” area for me over the last year, and it felt wonderful to finally feel bit more open and free flowing, rather than being in a stifled or stuck pattern that I’d felt before that has limited my creativity and sense of femininity.
The most poignant part of the sessions was Chelsea’s ability to feel exactly where I was needing connection: heart to head, and heart to solar plexus. After the session, she described to me what she had felt, and hearing her say it aloud helped me gain more clarity on how I was feeling inside. She didn’t tell me how to feel but finally, I had words to describe it. She shared that there were two mantras that kept coming up for her as she worked on me:
I release anything that’s not mine.
I receive love from Source.
This triggered some major feelings. Some of you may know that as an empath, you have to work hard at maintaining boundaries so that you don’t carry emotions and energy that aren’t yours. It feels inauthentic and sometimes very heavy when you hold on to other people’s “baggage,” and you feel the need to “clear it out.” This is something I’ve been actively working on, especially since I work closely with people one on one as well.
The second mantra has really stuck with me, because I’m also constantly trying to connect with Source/God/Universe/All. With all the changes from this year, it was difficult at first, but I can now see how much love and support I’ve received. Angels like Chelsea were sent to me. But sometimes, letting yourself receive gifts is the hardest thing to do if you don’t feel like you deserve it. This has also been a major part of my self-healing: rewiring old subconscious beliefs around WORTHINESS.
It’s crazy, but not crazy at all, that Chelsea hit these notes in me while I was on the table and afterwards when she pulled cards for me (another great way to connect to your self and Source).
I have to say, one session of Reiki will not be enough for me. I definitely feel the need to connect back to this healing energy work more regularly, which is how I feel about all of the soul-care practices I’ve tried lately. I feel the greatest sense of appreciation and gratitude for Chelsea and what she offers: open space for being and healing. She has a natural gift and a born healer, and I can’t wait to work with her again.
If you’re looking for something a bit outside of the box for your healing, Reiki could be the modality for you. Or maybe it’s any of the other modalities I’ve written about in the past. Whatever you choose to participate in is up to you! To all the Better Beings who read this blog regularly - THANK YOU for being with me on this journey of self discovery and self healing. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my experiences with you - judgement-free. I hope that you find some peace and continue to on your OWN journey as we travel into the new year.
