09/27/2021
•Why I Became a Reiki Practioner•
Hello, all!
I have been wanting to share personal stories about how I’ve used Reiki and the effects I’ve noticed from the sessions on myself and others for a while now; I just didn’t know how to get started.
Today I decided--The beginning.
That’s where I’ll start.
Reiki found me during the final days of my dear friend’s life. I just didn’t know what it was called at that point.
I was fortunate enough to be present for the last 11 days of Kathryn Jones’ life. She had been battling for a few years with a rare and aggressive form of cancer- Inflammatory Breast Cancer.
She spent the end of her life at St. Joseph’s hospital in our beloved Burbank, California. Her decline was a rapid and traumatic one which unearthed one of many very special gifts to me-- a true belief in healing energy through meditation and touch.
I have always believed in these things but for some reason felt like an imposter when practicing or talking about it with anyone else. Kat, on the other hand, wasn’t much of a practitioner or believer when it came to meditation and related practices, but we both became desperate enough in her suffering to give it a try.
Days into her stay at St. Joe’s, there was nothing that could calm her or give her any sense of physical comfort or peace. Her entire face was covered with a biPAP machine to help her breathe. That was extremely irritating for her because not only did it cover her entire face, it silenced her already muffled voice that had been stolen by the cancer that constricted her vocal chords. She would constantly remove the mask to communicate and feel less claustrophobic, and seconds after, her oxygen levels would plummet to around 70%, the level of organ failure. She would have to replace the mask to replenish her oxygen supply and continue this vicious cycle over and over. She was on high alert and hadn’t slept at all in days. Needless to say, she needed relief. We all did.
This is the point that I reluctantly asked her to allow me to guide her through meditation. To my surprise, she agreed. She was willing to try anything at this point.
It worked! As we floated up the serene, picturesque Verdugo mountain behind our apartments overlooking the San Fernando Valley, she relaxed. Her heart rate calmed, her breathing steadied, she became less fidgety and irritated. It made a difference! For me as well. It was a tool I had been using in my own life for quite some time, but had never shared it with anyone else. I’m a helper and caretaker by nature, so this was a wonderful feeling to finally be able to contribute anything positive in a hopeless and devastating situation that was completely out of my control.
The meditation worked so well that it became the only thing that could calm her. As I mentioned, she couldn’t talk so she communicated by writing at this point. I received confirmation of the benefits of our meditations when she wrote to me, “I like your stories.” After that, her support team of best friends and family all downloaded meditation apps on our phones so we could play meditations for her round the clock as we took shifts staying at her bedside.
This is when I became more confident in the healing abilities of what I had always believed in but never fully felt comfortable admitting or cultivating.
What came next would change the course of my life forever.
It was the final few days of Kat’s life. Though the meditations were helping, nothing could stop her rapid decline and discomfort. We were all depleted along with her. Tired and still, Meg and I sat on either side of Kat’s bed offering her silent support. Out of nowhere, Kat reached for my hand. She placed it on her cheek. I could feel a shift in her, and the evidence of the shift was apparent --slower heart rate, steady breathing, peace...relief.
Kat continued to find my hands as the hours became less bearable. She grabbed them and placed them on different parts of her body like a security blanket. I don’t really know what I was thinking at that point- I just knew I had to be available for my friend however she needed. It was Meg who put meaning to this experience. She was convinced that healing was happening. I believed her.
From that moment until her last breath, I knew to place my hands on Kat’s body as a vessel of comfort and transformation of energy when the moments became too intense. My hands were holding hers as she took her final breaths and remained on her body as her spirit transitioned out of it.
As I moved through my grief, I held onto that experience like a crutch. Meg continually reminded me of the name of the new path I was hobbling down- healing.
I moved forward in a completely unknown direction, each step compelling me to learn more about what I just experienced, each step bringing me closer to Reiki.
I started taking random classes involving anything in the healing arena. I came across Reiki certification and thought why not. I knew a little about Reiki because I won a session over a decade prior in a raffle, but didn’t really understand it and was skeptical of its ability. Even so,
I decided to give it another chance. I am so glad I did.
My mind was blown in the first class. I realized that my ability to sense energy was strong. I was very excited to learn more and cultivate. Unfortunately my studies were cut short with the outbreak of Covid 19. We didn’t make it past the second class. Several months later, the stars aligned and a friend of mine who has her Master certification in Reiki reappeared into my life. She offered to mentor me and I gladly accepted. I became certified and began to build on the foundation that was formed with Kat.
Since becoming a certified Reiki Practitioner, I have practiced daily on myself and others. During this time I have cultivated the tools, skills, trust and confidence to make healing not simply a practice, but a lifestyle.
In this time I have witnessed positive, tangible results, both physical and energetic, in a myriad of situations including moving through grief, in death and transitioning, pain management during miscarriage and emotional healing after, anxiety relief and relaxation, discovering and treating physical ailments, recovering from surgeries, breaking bad habits/addictions, and better sleep to name a few. I have built up a solid clientele of repeat visitors for both in-person and distant healing sessions.
My ultimate goal is to give Reiki to those who are hospitalized and/or near death-- all the while doing my daily part, in honor of Kat Jones, to fill as many people as I can with vital life force energy and enhance the time we have in this thing called life.
