This is another in our series of “My Reiki Story” posts that we will be adding to the Reiki Evolution blog, where a Reiki person talks about their journey with Reiki. In today’s “My Reiki Story” we hear from Amanda Stec from Cambridge…
My Reiki story begins about two years ago when I was browsing a new age shop and picked up a leaflet without thinking much about it at the time. I got home and perused it: Reiki classes. It sounded intruiging, but I’d never heard much about Reiki before and so it went into my drawer. It sat in my room for a few months and every so often I would take out the leaflet, look over it, then put it back in my drawer. Looking back, I can see that Reiki came into my life at the right time, and it all started with my instinct to pick up the leaflet! Gradually my curiosity was peaked and I began researching it. I sent Irene Forsyth – who ended up being my Reiki master for three courses – a lot of sceptical emails which she patiently answered.
I didn’t find Reiki – Reiki found me, when I least expected it. Things happened in my life which pointed to the fact that I should take this course, so I did. I hoped to find inner strength and cleansing, to help others and to compliment my growing spiritual practice. I achieved all of this and more with the inspirational Reiki Evolution course. The experiences I had on the day were life-changing and mysterious. Since I began doing energy exercises daily, living the precepts and letting Reiki into my life, I felt reborn. It gave me hope for the future. My first empowerment made me feel nauseous like I was floating outside my body, like my head was in my Tanden or like I was praying with my forehead on the floor. In both my first and second empowerment, when I did ‘gassho’ I felt heat on my face like a radiator. In my second empowerment I felt no nausea at all but an increased focus on my Tanden and when I did ‘ghasso’ I felt a huge awareness on my third eye chakra. Nine months later, I became accustomed to working with the energy and felt ready to move on to second degree. I learned to listen to my heart more, listen to my body more and deal with stress. Irene reviewed the information learned in our study pack, sent empowerments and gave us many opportunities to get to grips with working with the energies. She also answered my questions and kindled my interest for taking reiki further. The most recent course I have taken has been the Reiki Deepening course, which really did what it said: it deepened my experience of Reiki and widened my horizons by showing me even more ways that I could apply the energy in my life. I became more sensitive to the energy and felt that my hands warmed up much quicker and were hotter when I did the meditations. I am also much more comfortable when working with intent now. I had never realized how intuitive I could be until I went on this course. It has really boosted my confidence in my ability as a healer and now reiji ho is my preferred method of treating.
During my treatments, I feel a strong connection to the energy source. I try to be trusting and not insecure or anxious that the treatment go well. I simply go through the motions as if doing an experiment, with a distanced and childlike curiosity. I listen to where my hands want to move and enter a trance-like state where I almost forget who or where I am. I feel one with the energy. I feel as if my mind’s eye is closing down and the voice in my head goes quiet. From time to time, my mind switches back on to ‘check-in’ on the process, passing judgments like ‘it’s going well’ or ‘what if I’m not doing it right’, but soon it leaves again. Doing the energy exercises frequently has meant that my energy is stronger and people who treated me have noticed this. Throughout the time that I have practiced Reiki, the transformation in me has been immense. I have done many other things – acupuncture, yoga, Alexander technique, cognitive behavioural therapy, meditation, rekindling my spiritual side – along the way, but Reiki has been at the heart of it all, giving me the strength to find all those other things. It has helped me let go of old habits and make space for new light in my life. Due to moving country, I did not practice Reiki for one week. I noticed that I felt out of control, as if I was sleepwalking passively through life, letting events wash over me without taking time to breathe. Upon doing hatsurei for the first time in a week, I felt instantly uplifted. With Reiki, I have more energy to give myself fully to events, situations and encounters with people. I have the clarity to live with intent instead of passively letting life happen to me. Because Reiki lets me be my full and true self, I am able to be less selfish and more compassionate with others. I can take the focus off of my needs and be more aware of the needs of others.
Amanda
If you would like to tell your Reiki story on the Reiki Evolution blog then send a jpeg head/shoulders photo of you, your name, and let us know about your story: when and why did you learn Reiki, what happened on your course, how do you use Reiki and how has Reiki changed things for you? Send your contribution to taggart@reiki-evolution.co.uk.
And if you like the sound of what Reiki can do for you, or if you’d like to take your Reiki further, remember that we have Reiki courses running throughout the UK, as well as multimedia home study courses.