For my first experience with Reiki, I went in pretty innocent. I’d never heard of it, actually, but I received a gift certificate for a massage for my birthday back in 2013. When I called to make the appointment, the masseuse told me I had options. I could get a regular massage, I could get a Reiki massage, or I could get a full Reiki session. I didn’t know what Reiki meant so I asked her and she said that it was a form of energy healing using the placement of hands on (or above) the body to clear energetic blockages. Now, to me, this didn’t sound so wacky. Energy healing has been around since humans have been around. It is a natural, human impulse to place our hands on or touch people or animals that are hurting in some way as a way of comforting them. Reiki is simply an extension of that. However, at the time, I really didn’t have any physical issues to work through, but I was experiencing some stress and confusion regarding my life direction. She said Reiki would be great for that and so I decided to give it a try.
When I arrived to my appointment, we spent a few minutes chatting about what I’d hoped to get out of this session. I told her I really didn’t know since I’d never done this before. My main goal was to relax and pamper myself a little. After a small chat she told me that she would work to balance out my chakras, which would leave me feeling relaxed and good, at the very least.
To begin, she had me stand while she smudged my auric field with burning sage. For those who don’t know what that means, smudging is an ancient technique used to cleanse and purify stagnant energy by burning herbs. After that, she had me lie on the massage table, fully clothed. There was gentle music playing and a soft candle burning. The room smelled of oranges and vanilla, which I love. She showed me her chakra stones and asked if it was ok if she placed them on specific parts of my body correlating to my chakras. I said, ‘Umm, sure. Why not?’
I admit, I did feel a little cuckoo here. I had always loved crystals, but I guess I’d never openly shared my love for them, so this somehow felt awkward and natural, at the same time. Crystals are a very interesting subject to me and I think it could be a blog subject of its very own in the future. But I’ve always found them to be very beautiful and I know when I hold one, intuitively, I feel as though I am with a friend. Crystals are believed to vibrate to at various frequencies and when we place them on our body or hold them, we come into alignment with that particular frequency. So each of the stones she placed on me, theoretically, correlated to a vibration that along with her Reiki energy, would balance a particular chakra.
She told me just to relax and close my eyes. Her voice was very soft and soothing. She proceeded to place the stones in their various locations. The purple stone was placed above my head on the table, the indigo stone was placed between my eyebrows, the light blue stone was placed on my throat, the green stone placed on my heart, the yellow stone sat on my abdomen, the orange stone was placed just below my navel and the red stone was placed on the table, just beneath my legs. .
At this point, my eyes were closed and even with my eyes closed, I could sense her moving her hands over my body. I felt the heat as she waved her hand up and down about 6 inches from me. She didn’t talk much, but when she did, she gently whispered. She told me she was going to place her hands beneath my head. I’m a sucker for having my head touched, especially my hair, so immediately I relaxed.
And so we just stayed this way for about 7 or 8 minutes, me breathing, her touching my head, until she gently set my head down and moved to the space above my eyes. I admit, I had moments of thinking “dangit, I should have gotten the massage’ because in truth, this Reiki was extremely subtle. But after 15 minutes or so I realized I wasn’t going to tell her I thought it was kind of lame so I may as well embrace it. After that, I relaxed really deeply, actually, and at some point I realized I was having a dream but that I was also awake and alert, aware of where I was and what I was doing. I was in two places, if that makes sense. In my dream I was off in this wide-open hilly farmland with my daughter who, in the dream, was my little sister. We were young and we were in another time. We wore prairie skirts and our hair was long. The sky was yellow and there was a tornado coming but she was too terrified to move. The storm was coming fast and we took shelter in a small hole in the ground. I remember holding her close to me and telling her she was safe with me. At the same time I remember feeling my Reiki practitioner’s hands gently touching my abdomen. I could feel a tingling sensation rising in my abdomen, like my insides were made of soda pop. I could feel heat radiating from her hands.
Before I knew it, an hour had passed and it was over. She was gently calling to me to bring my awareness back to the room, back to my body. And slowly, I did. She told me to sit up when I was ready and readjust to my surroundings. As I lay there, I realized suddenly how ridiculously relaxed I was. Time had slipped completely away from me and as I thought about it, it became the funniest realization ever. I sat up slowly, looked at the clock in disbelief and just started to laugh uncontrollably. I laughed for a good 7 to 10 minutes, tears coming to my eyes, me apologizing to her because I simply could not stop. It occurred to me at one point during my laugh attack that I was high. I was as high as a kite and I could not believe it, which made me laugh even more. I asked her what this was and she said that sometimes this happens. She told me that laughter was a release of the energy she had just stirred in me and I was letting it go. Her advice was to just go with it. Similarly, when you smoke marijuana or have a glass or two of wine, it feels good to you because you are letting go of what you grasp so tightly to. I let go, for sure. She had me move to the couch in the room and sit up straight. She told me she wanted to ground me a little before I drove, because in a way, I actually was ‘high’ on energy. Using sweeping motions to the ground, she brushed the area around me sending my energy downward, anchoring me back to the earth.
I settled down a little and felt a more stable. But stable in a way that I had never understood ‘stable’ to mean before. The feelings I had at this moment can only be described as the purest of pure and most loving feelings I’d ever experienced outside the births of my children. I look back at this moment and I now believe this to be the greatest moment of “awakening” in my life. I was too present then to understand what was happening to me. Everything felt vibrant. Everything felt loving. I thanked her and hugged her like a long lost friend. When I left her space I went to my car and just looked around me for a few moments. Friends, the best way I can describe the way I felt was ‘in love.’ I felt love shooting toward me and from me in every direction. I looked around me and could literally see the fabric of the earth and sky and everything it was made of. Everything glistened. Everything had color. It sounds ridiculous, but I saw colors and patterns surrounding me like stars and rainbows. I felt hands wrap around me like a fuzzy warm blanket. I’m crying now even as I recall this moment.
I felt like this! "Rainbow Bubble" painting by Stephanie Weiss (that's me :))
It was truly one of the most beautiful moments of my life. I’ve never shared this whole story with anyone. But it was so lovely and so heavenly that I knew at that moment, my life would never be the same. It would never be the same because I knew, in that moment, who I really was and that I had not been living as my authentic self. In that moment, I was completely reassured that my life had a purpose and that ALL life has a purpose. I understood the complicated little inter-minglings of every tiny thing that had ever happened to me. In that moment, I understood what I was made of and what I was here to do. I understood who 'I' really was.
The rest of the day was pretty normal for me, grocery shopping, chores around the house, etc. But as I carried on that day, I saw flickers of color on everything and I felt like my insides were smiling. I always listen to the radio or to music, but that day I didn’t need to because everything was music.
This sounds so cheesy, but the funny thing was, this turned into one of the best days of my life. People said 'hi there, how ya doin?' or 'beautiful day, isn't it?' to me everywhere I went. Everything I was looking for at the store would suddenly appear before me. I had an older gentleman stop me as I left the grocery store and say “I’ll buy anything you’re selling because, young lady, you are lovely.” It was an awesome day.
Like yoga, Reiki is non-dogmatic, meaning it is spiritual but not religious. And honestly, I can’t say everyone’s experience with Reiki will be like this. In fact, I’ve had many Reiki treatments since then and they have not been quite as profound as my first time. Sometimes, I just take a nap. However, the treatments are always relaxing. Subtle, yet powerful, nonetheless. I always feel better and more in tune with myself.
In May of 2014 I was inspired to learn how to share this energy with others. I took a course from a local Reiki Master and became attuned to it at levels 1 and 2. At this level, I am qualified to share this energy with clients. One of the first things I learned about Reiki is that it goes where it is needed. I believe my first Reiki treatment was so powerful because I needed it to be. It was another in a series of jolts I needed to wake up to my life and begin making much needed changes, to start living more authentically.
Yoga and Reiki are both based around the chakra system (which I have talked about in a previous post, so please check that out.) Whether you believe in or understand the chakras or not doesn't matter. You can’t argue that everything is energy. Everything has its own energy, or vibration. Some are sensitive to it, some are not and it’s ok, but it’s still there. Actually, I believe we are all sensitive to it but not everyone was encouraged to trust those feelings from an early age. My parents were pretty laid back when it came to these things. I was never forced to believe things or not believe things, which I am grateful for so much. So I’ve remained sensitive to energy. I touch things and I know I don’t like the energy of it. Or I do. I eat something and it tastes funny, I know it’s probably not good for me. I talk with some people and I know I like their vibe. Or I don’t. Or their vibe freaks me out but I still like them. You just know. This is the energy. It’s so simple that we miss it sometimes.
I have nothing against Western medicine. Obviously, it has a very valid place. But I think we can all look around and see that this world is out of balance. There is more to us as humans than science can explain at this time....and I love science so please don't think I'm anti-science. But I also believe there is more to wellness than a pill can fix. For me, it is important to stay open to alternative methods of healing. As I move through life, I understand well-being to be a matter of balance on not just the physical, tangible level, but also on mental, emotional, and spiritual levels, as well.
As I study things like yoga, Reiki, nutrition, and the laws of attraction and reflection, I am learning that it is my mental level that affects my emotional level, which affects my energetic level, which then affects and creates my physical reality. Our thoughts create things, basically. When you think something enough, it really does become your life. Problems arise, however, when negative thoughts become subconscious. They become our habits.
Right now, I believe the world is subconscious, stuck in a pattern of negativity, and desperately in need of a wake up call. This is why things like yoga, meditation, massage and Reiki are becoming more popular. Intuitively we know we need something different, we need another way of doing things. Yoga, meditation, and Reiki help relax you and bring you inward, making you aware of your subconscious thoughts and allowing you the separation needed to make necessary physical changes. Have you ever met a relaxed person wanting to do harm? Probably not. Do you think our world leaders are relaxed people? Most definitely not and look at what they create. We need something different, we want something different, and yet we keep electing the same kinds of people in charge because they physically represent our subconscious. To change the outer world, we can't just complain about it and post things to Facebook. That does nothing. To make real change we must start from the inside and wake up to who we truly are. And while relaxation may sound simplistic, it is only in a relaxed state that we can be fully awake and in tune with ourselves. It is only in a relaxed state that we can be open to receiving any kind of change or healing treatment.
All my life I’ve had this feeling that I was here to help the world do something. What, exactly? I have not known, but it’s becoming clearer. I know I am an artist and I know I am here to share what I understand about the universe through art. I ask for inspiration and poof, suddenly, there it is. To me, that is a sign. But next to “artist” in my head has always been the word “healer.” This word has rattled in my brain since before I even knew what it meant. I’ve always been deeply empathetic, conscious of the emotions of others, and had a super strong urge to help. This urge to help used to overwhelm me and get me into trouble by overextending myself, but through my own inward journey, I have discovered ways of balancing this. I believe sharing Reiki, yoga, and my artwork are my little ways of helping to heal a hurting world.
This all sounds very New Age-y and I know that’s a major turn-off for some people. I totally get that. Some people even think it’s creepy. If that's you, you might ask yourself why that is and I'd only ask you to keep an open mind and try feel within you whether any of this resonates.
There are many ways Reiki can be used, in fact, that's a whole other blog, but to me, the most important way to use Reiki is to reduce stress. When stress levels are low, this is when the body can welcome, rather than fight, all other healing modalities. I do offer Reiki treatments and I’m always happy to answer questions. Please feel free to contact me with your questions anytime. That’s really all I’ve got for today.
Thanks for reading! Peace out and Namaste!
Stephanie :)
