I was sitting at my desk today working, lifted my arms up overhead to stretch…and wrenched my neck.  The pain was - and still is – rather excruciating.  For the past 15 years, I’ve had cervical spine problems that flare up from time to time.  I credit chiropractic and massage therapy with keeping me pain-free most of the time and with reducing my recovery time if my neck does somehow get whacked out of alignment. 

As a Reiki master, it’s tempting to think you can always heal yourself when you get hurt.  “I’ll just put my hands on the area, send some Reiki and be good to go.”  Sometimes that does happen with immediate and comforting results.  No such luck today.  Anything involving raising my shoulders or arms up to do hand placements on or near my neck is like being stabbed with a hot poker, especially since the radiculopathy (nerve pain) extends all the way down to my elbow at times.  So, I ice my neck, pop a couple of ibuprofin and make an appointment with my chiropractor.  I will continue to channel Reiki to myself regardless because I know it will help facilitate recovery, but instant pain relief seems futile today. 

This is one of the many lessons of Reiki – that healing may sometimes require the assistance of others, even for those Reiki masters who are skilled in channeling healing energy and have been witness to some fairly miraculous healing episodes.  It is necessary to receive nurturing and care from others.  We can fool ourselves into thinking we are self-sufficient, when really, we are all interconnected socially and spiritually and need to receive as much as we need to give. 

An interesting thing happened during my massage therapy session this afternoon.  I noticed my masseuse’s hands suddenly felt quite warm as she worked on my neck.  I thought it was unusual, but was far too engrossed in how good it felt to have that spasm in my neck attended to in order to mull it over further.  Afterwards, she and I got to talking about some other things and I found out that several months ago, she had received her Reiki I attunements.  That explains the hot hands!  She said she feels unsure as to whether or not she can really channel Reiki, which is not unusual for new practitioners.  I told her, “You just did!” 

I’m still in pain, but believe it or not, I feel fine.  Usually when I’m in this kind of pain, I am irritable and unhappy, but I’m actually in a pretty good mood.  I think it’s because I know and trust that recovery is happening aready even though the signs have not yet manifested in my physical body.  That’s what a set of healing hands can do. 

I wanted to honor the memory of the Rev. Dr. Mary Crist Brown, who passed away on May 20 after an inspiring and all-too-brief fight against lymphoma.  I met Mary Crist about a month before she was scheduled to undergo a bone marrow transplant.  She was referred to me by our chiropractor, who felt she would benefit from Reiki.  I immediately liked Mary Crist the moment I met her – she was self-effacing, direct and emanated warm, caring energy.  Sometimes you don’t have to know people for very long to realize they are going to affect your life in a positive way. 

Mary Crist was an active participant and I don’t think she would mind me sharing some of the things that came out of our Reiki sessions.  We both learned a lot from the experiences about letting go of control and allowing spiritual energy manifest itself within both of us.  She told me she would pray during much of the sessions and at some point, she realized she needed to “let go and let God.”  You hear a lot of people throw that phrase around, but for Mary Crist, an ordained minister and hospital chaplain, letting God in and allowing the Spirit to manifest within was her calling and vocation.  Her life was devoted to the service of soothing and healing people spiritually.  She felt she still had much life in her and work to do, and like any of us, wanted to cure the cancer and get on with things.  Letting go of the urge to try to control or direct that process takes courage, insight and faith.  For my part, I of course wanted to help heal her, and although I felt privileged that Reiki could allow me to assist in some way, I had to also realize I couldn’t control the process or results either.  I had to “let go and let Reiki.” 

We both felt the Reiki sessions were beneficial and I know I looked forward to working with her.  Just being in her presence was soothing and uplifting to me, even though she was there to receive treatment from me!  However, she underwent the bone marrow transplant in early April and I was unable to continue to treat her in person.  I continued to send Reiki to her whenever I could during her hospital stay.

Our spirits often exceed the limits of the human body.  I’m sad that we have lost Mary Crist, the woman, as I wish I had had more time to get to know her better.  However, I’m grateful for the fact that we did meet, because I learned from her how we can walk in the path of God in our daily life, and it is our sessions together that really motivated me to start a Reiki practice.  

My deepest sympathies and prayers to her steadfast and loving partner, Mary Margaret, their families and friends, as it is never easy to let go of the physical presence of the ones we love.  I do feel comforted knowing that Mary Crist is still among us somehow, continuing her call to be in the service of God. 

Thank you for taking the time to visit my site. After two years of practicing Reiki on myself, family and friends, I felt guided to pursue it professionally. For a long time, I have felt a calling to help people, which has manifested in different ways – volunteer work with non-profit boards, mission work (local and international), and various hands-on projects. All of these were educational, eye-opening and advanced my spiritual awakening. However, the first time I received energy healing and experienced profound improvement in my health, I had a moment of sudden insight that this was the direction I needed to pursue further. I followed my instincts and here I am.

Becoming attuned to Reiki and receiving/practicing it has changed my life on physical, emotional and spiritual levels. Reiki has connected me more deeply to those around me, because it has heightened my natural empathic abilities. It has sharpened my intuition and confirmed my spiritual beliefs. I have more emotional clarity and have experienced healing – or at least acceptance – from old hurts. I no longer experience symptoms of a painful inflammatory disease that required several medications each day as well as regular doctor’s visits. Reiki also helped me recuperate from a near-fatal post-partum hemmorhage after my daughter was born last year.

Reiki has also led me to some incredibly gifted and spiritually inspiring people – other Reiki practitioners and teachers I’ve worked with, other energy healers, and more importantly, some of the people I’ve treated. Even though I’m a Level III (Reiki Master) practitioner, I feel I’m really at the beginning of my journey as an energy healer and appreciate all that I learn from the people I encounter along the way.

The reason I chose the dragonfly to represent my practice is that they symbolize powers of light and transformation. The dragonfly represents our ability to see beyond self-created illusions that limit our ability to grow and change. In the last two or so years, I have had dragonflies spontaneously appear in front of me at times when something significant was evolving in my life (whether or not I was immediately aware those changes were occurring) and Reiki helped guide me through those transformative events.

A local shaman, Tom Lake, told me that I had “praying mantis energy” – in other words, the mantis was my spirit guide or perhaps a totem. I seem to attract the insect realm! The praying mantis represents meditation, contemplation, stillness and patience (see What’s Your Sign.) These are complementary qualities for a Reiki practitioner, but the mantis seems representative of my basic nature or inclination, whereas I was drawn to the dragonfly as a way to represent the evolution of one’s highest self – for both me and those who receive Reiki through me.

Please feel free to contact me or leave a comment on my site if you have any questions or wish to share your experiences with Reiki.