My Reiki Journey…

...and where it has led me

I believe everyone can benefit from Reiki. Since receiving my first Reiki treatment, my life has improved in ways I could not have foreseen or imagined. I have experienced deep emotional healing through the Reiki treatments, attunements and instruction I have received to become an Usui/Holy Fire® III, Karuna® Reiki Master. It is my deepest wish to help others on their healing journey so they can live the life they want and deserve.

Before my first Reiki session, I knew nothing about it. I was at a low point, desperate and hurting. I had suffered from depression my entire adult life. Although I had contemplated suicide many times in the past, it was not an option for me. I didn't believe I would go to Hell (even though I'd been raised Catholic). I just knew I couldn't cause that kind of pain to my family. Still, it would rear it's ugly head as an attractive option from time to time. I didn't know what to do anymore. I finally surrendered and asked the Goddess for help.

A voice, clear as day, said "Reiki." Like she was standing right there. I was confused. I'd seen the word before but had never looked into what it was. It took me a week, with continued prompting by that voice, to look up a Reiki practitioner. And I found Melinda Kaur, Reiki Master and one of the most beautiful and loving human beings on the planet. I booked a session and that was when everything changed for me. After that first session, she said, "You'd be really good at this." She became my first teacher.

I was first attuned to Usui/Holy Fire® Reiki in June of 2017 by Melinda. She encouraged me to become a Reiki practitioner. I knew I still had a lot of healing to do so I dedicated myself to giving myself Reiki, meditating, being open to the guidance I received and practicing on my friends and family. I took Melinda’s Usui/Holy Fire® II Reiki Master class in July of 2018. In sessions with Melinda and her classes, Reiki continued to help me heal my religious trauma, ancestral trauma and childhood wounds. I shed the depression that had plagued me. I began to be able to develop my empathy so that I was no longer unconsciously picking up the emotions of others. I met my Reiki Guides. I finally felt like I knew why I was here on this planet.

I was ready to make the leap from giving friends and family treatments to being a professional Reiki practitioner. In August of 2018, I repeated the Reiki I & II and Master classes with Colleen Benelli, a Senior Professional Licensed Reiki Master Teacher for the International Center for Reiki Training. I benefited from new layers of emotional and spiritual healing in Colleen’s classes while getting to experience the style of another teacher. In January of 2019, I was certified as a Holy Fire® III Karuna Reiki® Master by Colleen. I am truly grateful to my teachers, Melinda and Colleen, and to Reiki for this incredible gift.

During a practice session with another student, that voice came back. This time it said, “Craniosacral.” And, again, I was like, “What? Really?” I’d had a craniosacral session before, years prior, but had never thought about studying it. But I had learned not to ignore the voice. So, as I researched craniosacral therapy online, I found Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST). I realized that this healing modality would be very compatible with Reiki.

In BCST, the primary healing energy is referred to as “The Breath of Life.” As with Reiki, BCST is a light touch healing modality that promotes the body’s own natural ability to heal itself by releasing patterns created by physical and emotional trauma. BCST facilitates the intrinsic reorganization of the body’s tissue, fluid matrix and energetic pathways. There is no direct manipulation in a BCST session. I completed my foundational training through Body Intelligence in British Columbia, March 2020.

My goal in studying BCST was to enhance my skills as a Reiki practitioner. While becoming proficient in Biodynamics, I gained a felt sense of the body as well as an understanding of anatomy and embryology. The body wants to be heard without judgement and without intention. I learned to interpret what the client’s body wants to tell me in its own time, at its own pace. I learned how to listen to the body, to witness its inherent health and honor its innate wisdom. In all of my Reiki sessions with clients, I incorporate the felt sense acquired through my training in Biodynamics to complement Holy Fire® Reiki’s spiritually guided healing energy.

Then, y’know, Covid happened. I had to give up my room in North Seattle and develop my practice online. Thankfully, you can give someone an awesome Reiki session from a distance. And William Rand and the International Center for Reiki Training developed a method for providing live Reiki classes online. As much as I love the “in person” experience, it’s truly a blessing to be able to practice and teach online.

My passion for learning and finding new ways to become a better person and a better Reiki practitioner didn’t end with learning BCST. Over 2021, I became certified as a HeartMath® Practitioner. HeartMath® techniques are powerful tools for self-regulation and healing. When appropriate, I teach people I work with HeartMath® techniques so they can use them as desired in their daily life to reduce stress and anxiety.

In January of 2023, a friend introduced me to another energy healing modality, Quantum Touch®. Being the energy nerd that I am, I completed the Quantum Touch® 1 and Supercharging workshops in January and February. Quantum Touch® uses breathing techniques to increase the vibrational field of the practitioner. This in turn allows the system of the "client" to entrain to the higher vibrational field, facilitating self-healing. (Similar in theory to BCST.) Again, learning this new modality has contributed to my own healing journey and my Reiki sessions with others.

Luckily, I believe there is no one path to healing and am naturally curious by nature because I then learned about PSYCH-K® after reading Bruce Lipton's book, The Biology of Belief. I was intrigued and took the Online 1 workshop to learn for my own benefit. I loved the class so much, I took the next available Online 2 class so that I could share this incredible process with some of my dear friends. It was facilitating PSYCH-K® sessions with my friends and seeing the remarkable outcomes they experienced that convinced me I needed to add this wonderful modality to my practice. I became a PSYCH-K® Preferred Facilitator in June of 2023.

I guess I should have called this musing, “My Reiki journey… …and where it is leading me.” Because it’s not like I’m finished learning or growing as a person and as a Reiki practitioner. Our journey is one that never ends. My journey is one that requires a life of learning through continued training, studying the teachings of those that have come before, meditation and dedication to my spiritual path. On this journey, I live my purpose in being of service to others. And I love this life and this path that Reiki guides me on…