Reiki
Reiki Master Practitioner - Certified by the International Association of Reiki Practitioners (IARP) 2003
Reiki or Universal Life Force is known by many names: Qi, Ki, Chi, Prana, Baraka, Sahala, Eckankar, etc. Every culture on Earth has a name for it. It doesn't matter what the name is, it's the same thing...the Universal life force which flows to and through everything, not just people but every living thing, including animals, birds, insects, plants, trees, water, the earth, the planets, the Sun, the solar system, the Universe.
It flows to and through you, me, and everyone, constantly. It flows into your body through the 7 Chakra centers which are located on the spine. The locations are: at the base of the spine(base Chakra), on the Sacrum(Sacral Chakra), at the belly button(Solar Plexus Chakra), halfway up the Sternum(Heart Chakra), halfway up the cervical spine(Throat Chakra), in between and slightly above the eyebrows(Third Eye Chakra), and at the center of the top of the head(Crown Chakra). (Google 'images for Chakra Bodies' for a visual of placements.) The Chakras act as step-down transformers for the high vibratory Reiki energy, just as the step-down transformers on the power pole outside your home, step down the high powered energy of the transmission lines into energy that can be used by the appliances in your home. If there was no step-down transformer outside your home, when you plugged anything electrical (refrigerator, radio, hairdryer, computer, etc.) into the outlet it would burn up the appliance. Chakras do the same thing...they step down the Reiki energy into the vibratory rate that your body can use and then sends that energy into your body through the Meridians (energy pathways throughout your body). Your body has 12 major meridians, one for each organ: Lung, Large Intestine, Stomach, Spleen, Heart, Small Intestine, Bladder, Kidney, Pericardium, Triple Heater, Gallbladder, Liver then starting over with Lung again. Energy flows through these meridians all the time but more energy flows through each meridian at their peak times starting with Lung-3 to 5am and ending with Liver-1-3am. (Google 'Cycle of tides Shiatsu' for an image and more information.) The Chakra centers and the Meridians can get blocked or plugged up or thrown out of balance and not work correctly. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) all illness and disease start with a disruption in the Chakras or Meridian system. An Acupuncturist will ask you detailed questions about your life, eating and eliminating habits, look at your tongue and feel your pulses to find blockages and then use needles to break up those blockages. What I do is different from that and there are no needles involved.
I am a Certified Reiki Master Practitioner, however, I prefer the term Intuitive Energy Worker since intuition works with and through my gift of empathic abilities. Being Empathic or an Empath means that I feel things, everything, energetically, physically and emotionally, incredibly deeply. As an example, I can not/do not watch movies where people are being killed or tortured or emotionally abused or hazed or bullied because my body reacts as if it were happening to me and it takes me several days to a week to recover from that emotional onslaught. However, as an energy worker, that negative empathic potential turns into a beneficial tool which helps me locate blockages in your body and release them, whether those blockages are energetic, physical or emotional.
The first thing about a Reiki session, with an Empath, that you need to know is that I don't see/feel the deepest, darkest secrets that you don't ever want anyone to know about. I may be in charge of the session but you are in control, whether we are talking about massage, hypnosis or Reiki, that is always the way it is, you are in control. Even when you 'let me in', I will not see/feel the cause of the blockage - I will only become aware of the blockage. I will not feel anything if you don't let me in. The more you let me in, the more I will feel - the more I feel, the more I can help you release. Usually, the first thing that I become aware of is energetic blockages. Then physical issues and finally emotional issues but that is not a hard a fast rule. Every person and every session is different. Also, I will only become aware of the blockages that you are ready to release and let go of.
I start each Energy Work session by holding your Crown Chakra and letting our energies become one, then I scan your body by turning my attention to my body. When, and if you let me in, I will become aware of blockages in your body by feeling them in my body, then I put a hand on the part of your body where I feel it. It could be in a Chakra, a meridian, an organ, muscle or fascia. I hold that spot until I feel it release completely or lessen, then I return to the Crown Chakra and scan your body again. This process of scanning and releasing is repeated over and over. I usually end the session by holding your feet and grounding both of us and finally I put my hands on your shoulders and separate our energies by sending your energy back to you and calling my energy back to me.
There you have it. That's what a session is like. I know it sounds very 'woo woo' but it's not, at least not for me. I've been doing this for so long now that, for me, it's just factual, just the way it is. Every bit as scientific as massaging a sore muscle to alleviate pain and soreness.
The really cool and interesting part about Reiki and Energy Work is that there is no need to be in the same room, same town, same country, same hemisphere. It's called Distance Healing and we can connect energetically at a distance just as easily and effectively as if we were in the same room. Remember, energy is everywhere - it's omnipresent. Everyone is always tapped into it, all the time. A phone session usually goes as follows: I call the client at an appointed time and have them either sit in a chair or lay on a bed or couch while we are in session. You do need to be calm and still for an accurate reading, so choose a time when there will be no distractions, put a do not disturb sign on the door or your room and turn off your phone. Then the session proceeds just like an in-person session except that I am imagining that you are laying on my massage table in front of me and I imagine that I am holding your Crown Chakra but that is where the imagination stops...I actually feel blockages in my body that you have in yours and then I imagine I am holding that area until I feel a release or lessening of the blockage. Then I re-scan, hold and release, re-scan hold and release.
Now for the question: What is a Reiki session like, for you?
That varies from person to person and even session to session. You may not notice anything at all, you may just feel very relaxed, you may fall asleep, you may feel warmth or heat in your body or from my hands, you may see colors or shapes, faces or images, you may hear things; sounds, voices that you can't understand or that you can, you may hear music, you may feel the presence of loved ones who have passed or of Guardian Angles or Guides, anything is possible. My advice is: don't expect anything but be open to everything and judge nothing.
After the session is over I always share with you what I felt, whether it was energetic, physical or emotional and why I worked where I did. If you would like to share with me your experiences of the session that is perfectly fine but it is not required. If you do decide to share with me, I will never share any information with anyone else, everything that is shared between us in the session room is strictly confidential. Also, I don't keep session notes on a Reiki session. The reason is that every session is going to be about what your subconscious mind and body are ready to release 'today'. What happened last time has absolutely nothing to do with what will happen today. It's not like reading a book...where you pick up where you left off last time. In that same vein - you may come in with a very specific issue that you want worked on and if your subconscious mind and body are not ready to release that specific issue, it's not going to be directly worked on in that session but it will be indirectly worked on because Energy has Intelligence and it will be where it is needed even if I'm not directing it there.
Lastly, what do I do when the session is over? Go about the rest of your day as usual. It will take anywhere from a day to a few days to integrate this new vibratory rate into your body. During this time you might experience strange or unusual dreams, if you do that's fine, remember, don't judge them, just experience them and let them go. Also, after a session, if you can take a bath with Epsom salt that is really good to help clear your auric field. If you don't have a bathtub, showering will also work to clear your auric field.