Thank you to Japanese instructor Nico Moorman and Riverwood High School in Sandy Springs for inviting me to talk about and demonstrate Reiki at their 3rd annual Japanese Culture Festival on January 22.  My set-up was not as visual or interactive as many of the other participants, so I was unsure how well Reiki would be received.  It was just me, my hands, a small table with some handouts and a chair.  One student was kind enough to make up a sign for me that said “Reiki” along with its Japanese kanji.  I was situated in between a demonstration of a chanoyu, or traditional tea ceremony, on one side and a lovely woman named Elaine Jo, the Executive Master of the Ichiyo School of Ikebana. 

To my surprise and delight, once one student sat down to receive a short 5-7 minute Reiki treatment, a small crowd formed.  After a while, I lost count of how many students I did Reiki on.  I actually ended up having to turn several of them away because between the Reiki I was channeling and the energy that a couple of hundred teenagers were simultaneously giving off, I needed a few minutes to sit and decompress! 

The students were very receptive to and were enthusiastic about the Reiki they received, which in turn got their friends interested!  Comments ranged from “I feel serene”, “It’s so relaxing”, “I feel waves of energy” and my favorite, “I can’t really describe how it feels.  It’s not like anything, but it’s really something.”  Even with all the noise and student activity circling around my table, they were able to tap into the healing calm that Reiki provides.  I can very effectively tune out noise and other distractions (which was really put to the test yesterday!) but I was impressed at how well the students sat, hands in their lap, taking in something completely different and less quantifiable than anything most of them have ever experienced before. 

My hope is that one day, at least one of those students I introduced to Reiki will want to learn how to do it themselves.  I’d like to think I was meeting our next generation of energy healers.  The momentum has slowly been building in Atlanta for complementary and alternative healing.  How wonderful would that be!