The benefits of Reiki
People are beginning to recognise that the drugs don’t always work. And I don’t just mean recreational drugs, pharmaceutical drugs too. Sure, they might ease a symptom, but then another one appears instead. And on it goes, more trips to the doctor and still the matter is unresolved.
We all know that there are things we can do to support our health and wellbeing and the medics are encouraging this of us too - eat well, lots of fruits and vegetables, avoid processed food and intoxicants, exercise, get into nature and even jump in the sea.
We also know that there are holistic approaches to healing we can use and increasing numbers of people are recognising this too. Many turn to holistic means out of sheer desperation, and for others there is a curiosity. Most are surprised at the benefits the holistic approach offers, especially when adopted alongside other allopathic healthcare options.
It was desperation in many ways, which brought me to the holistic world. I had suffered with bouts of depression, anxiety and PMS since my early twenties, and having run the London Marathan at age 27, my body was a mess. It had been on my mind for a while, to practice yoga, but I didn’t have the confidence to get to a class.
So when the opportunity to attend a wellness day at Les Cotils arose I jumped at it and, accompanied by my supportive boyfriend at that time, I experienced a combination of yoga, aromatherapy hand massage, and a talk on nutrition by Carol Champion, who inspired me to the extent I signed up to see her privately.
This was a pivotal point in my life. Having suffered with an eating disorder since age 17, it was life changing to realise that we are what we eat and following a diet aimed at balancing my hormones, together with a prescription of vitamin and mineral supplements, really changed things for me. I lost weight, I had more energy and vitality and I felt a lot more positive about life.
My confidence grew to the extent that I attended my first yoga class with Vanessa Lasenby one autumnal Monday evening, with my brother, in St Martin’s Parish Hall. This was another life changing moment and I was hooked from the first session – there was something about the way the practice took me into my body and out of my mind, which felt great.
While I was a competitive sportswomen, playing netball and volleyball at Island level, this was an entirely different way of relating to my body, and gifted me the briefest of pauses between thoughts, which was such a relief. We don’t realise, until we realise, the manner in which our thoughts create our suffering, and as a thinker, I was often persecuted by them – frequently self-critical and self-depreciating – and to have a break from this was incredible.
Through this class I met a lady who would later become my Reiki Master, Alyssa Burns-Hill. She was running an ‘Escape from Stress’ meditation class, which I attended with my boyfriend. Another lady who was Reiki attuned also attended, and she and Alyssa talked about Reiki and pendulum dowsing. I wasn’t familiar with this more ethereal world, but there was something about their company that I liked, and the relaxation practices made a positive difference.
Strangely, I then chanced upon a flyer in the kitchen at work, about Intuitive Life Coaching using Reiki with Alyssa and while I had never spent money on myself like this, I found myself signing up. In many ways this action was another turning point for me. Carol had once said to me that people spend more money on their car, then they do on their own health and wellbeing and something about this has always stayed with me.
Taking responsibility for our health and wellbeing can, at times, appear costly, but health is essentially our wealth – without our health, all the money in the world is a little pointless. So investing in ourselves may well be the greatest investment we make. At the end of the day, only we know our own body and to truly thrive, we have to take our power back from believing others know what is best for us, assume responsibility, get to know ourselves and take action.
The Reiki sessions with Alyssa changed my life in ways that I couldn’t have imagined and within six months I had split up from my boyfriend, left my permanent job in the finance industry, sold my house and taken off to Australia to immerse myself in yoga and all things holistic. Inevitably the depression, anxiety and PMS dropped away as I started living my life on my terms, showing up for myself in ways I had never realised were possible.
So what is Reiki?
The word ‘Reiki’, which is Japanese and pronounced ‘ray-key’, means ‘universal life force energy’. Eastern medicine has always recognised and worked with this energy, which flows through all living things and is vital to well-being. Known as ‘ki’ in Japan, ‘chi’ in China and ‘prana’ in India, Acupuncture, T’ai chi and Yoga are also based on the free-flow of this energy in a person.
Ki energy can be activated for the purpose of healing. When we feel healthy and full of enthusiasm, the flow of ki energy in our body is high and free. Life feels easier to deal with and we have a higher resistance to illness and disease.
However, when our ki energy is low, because maybe we are under stress or feeling unhappy and tired, we will be more susceptible to disease and sickness, our attitude will be generally negative and we will find it difficult to deal with life’s challenges.
Think of it this way - Reiki is a healing modality that can be likened to a free flowing river. This river is like energy flowing easily down through the body. Occasionally a pebble or a rock (for example, human emotions, limiting belief, negative thinking, trauma etc.) may fall into that river making the flow of water a little more difficult. Over time this can build up, restricting flow, creating stagnancy, and often manifesting as physical and mental pain.
By receiving Reiki more energy is offered to the body. This extra energy is like a flood that washes down through our rivers removing and dissolving obstacles in its way. In the process, Reiki helps us to understand the root cause of any loss of wellness. In this way, Reiki not only supports our healing but also our personal and spiritual development.
In this way, Reiki helps us to understand the root cause of any loss of wellness, while encouraging a more restful and relaxed state of being. And this is where Reiki and other holistic therapies differ from allopathic care, because rather than just treating symptoms, Reiki (like yoga) tries to get to the root cause of any loss of wellbeing, so that the ‘weeds’ can be pulled out from the root.
Thus, Reiki not only supports our healing but also our personal and spiritual development and indeed empowerment. Furthermore, we not only feel better but our lives orientate in a more positive direction, opening us up to greater possibility and heart-felt alignment – the world appears brighter and our relationships with others improves.
Furthermore, the beauty of Reiki is that you can become attuned to the energy (like being tuned into a radio station) and give Reiki to yourself as a form of self-healing. Alyssa encouraged me to do this and back then I could never have dreamed that one day I would be teaching others about Reiki and offering it as holistic therapy, alongside yoga and Ayurveda. This is the thing with Reiki – you never know where it might take you, but you can guarantee you will feel better for it.
For more information about Reiki, and what happens during a treatment, please see herehttps://www.beinspiredby.co.uk/reiki
