A Reiki Story: How a Stranger’s Suggestion Changed My Life and My Health*

A Reiki Story

Oct 11

Written By Margaret Walker

There was a time, in the not so distant past, when I had heard of reiki but wasn’t sure what it was. My life since my first experience with reiki has changed dramatically. In fact, it has changed so much that I’m as likely to not have reiki in my day as I am to not brush my teeth - the circumstances would have to be extreme!

Reiki is Energy; a Divine Source Energy, Healing Energy, Life Energy. It is only positive and it only goes where it needs to go and only as much as the receiver of reiki energy will allow. Reiki does not cure, but may bring comfort. Because it is energy, reiki is not limited to easing physical pain, but can reach mental, emotional, and spiritual ills; conscious or unconscious.

Reiki was discovered/re-discovered by Dr. Mikao Usui in Japan in 1922. It is now 2022 and many people are still unaware of reiki and its many benefits. It so happens, that I was one of these people until just last Spring, when I was the recipient of my first reiki session.

To tell this story, I’m going to go back to the Spring of 2021 when I began my journey with Physical Therapy after painting my deck left my pinky numb and ring finger tingling. I kept my appointments and did my exercises and was so impressed with the results of PT that I decided I should also try it for my hips. My hips were achy when I slept, and when I stood to walk (especially from driving), I had to steady myself and move slowly until my body was ready to move forward effectively. Since I had a cross-country road trip planned, I wanted to make sure I could get out of my car at gas stations and rest areas without looking like I needed a walker to assist me. The PT exercises helped, but I had to do them, even (ESPECIALLY) on vacation. Of course, as the summer went on, an exercise walk paired with a bad choice of shoes left me with plantar fasciitis. There are PT exercises for that too, but in some cases (read: IN MY CASE) they bring little or no relief for a long, long, lonnnnnnnnnngggg time. And, to add insult and illness to injuries, last October, I got Covid and turning to cough into my elbow tweaked my back so badly that I couldn’t lift my butt to scooch over in bed (not to mention, there went two of my PT hip exercises!)…but I had Covid, so I couldn’t go see a doctor or a Physical Therapist until 10 days after my initial symptoms. I tweaked my back on Day 3. When the doctor touched my IT band and I burst into tears I got prescribed muscle relaxers. It took a couple more days to be able to do exercises again. And, my heel pain remained. In fact, my feet hurt between August ‘21 and April ‘22. That meant that at least one area in my body was in pain last year from April - April AND I WAS PHYSICALLY DOING WHATEVER I COULD TO TREAT THE CAUSES.

In March 2022, I went to Sedona, AZ with a friend and we booked sessions at a Wellness Center. The woman who gave me my healing asked me if I “did reiki”. I responded that I had heard of it and knew someone who taught it, but had never had it. She told me I needed to do it. Not being one to waste time, I got back to Minnesota, contacted my friend in Wisconsin who is a Reiki Master Teacher, and signed up for Reiki 1 class that she had scheduled on April 7th. It seemed prudent to have a reiki healing session first, so we squeezed that in the week before, and on March 30, 2022, I had my first reiki healing. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I heard it was something like Healing Touch, which I knew to be hovering of hands over the body.

Audrey Van Wey, RN, Certified Reiki Master Teacher, was very reassuring. We had time to talk beforehand and I told her of all my aches and pains, and my worries and hopes too. When it was time for the session she played some soothing music, had me lie down on her massage table, and I closed my eyes. First, she measured my energy at my chakras and meridians - which, if I opened my eyes, I would’ve seen her feeling the density of the air about 4-8” above me. When she finished that, she told which areas were low and that she would spend some extra time at those areas giving energy. Next, she started at my head, and with her hands hovering above me, she started giving energy. I could feel some tingling and in some areas my body twitched or spasmed, but mostly it was super-relaxing. For the next week, I felt more energetic than I had in a long time, and for the first time in a year I was able to keep up with my husband’s fast pace on our evening walk!

I was excited to learn Reiki 1, in part because I had had such a positive experience with my reiki session. I was also excited to be learning something new based on a recommendation from a woman I spent 45 minutes with in Sedona. It felt “right” - like the Universe had given me a sign and I was heeding it. Years ago my best friend had given me a little plate that says, “My Intuition is My Superpower”, and I felt like I was following my intuition for something bigger than picking out the perfect produce at the grocery store, and it felt empowering. When we left the class that day as newly attuned Reiki 1 Practitioners, we were given homework for the next 21 days. We were to give ourselves self-reiki everyday and keep an experience journal. As fate would have it, I had already begun keeping a daily journal (shoutout to my brother who got me the most beautiful leatherbound journal and made me some fancy pens for Christmas), and I was meditating each morning before journaling, so all I needed to do was add the self-reiki to my routine. The tough part was that we would be traveling before my 21 days were up, so I would have to make some adjustments when I wasn’t in my own home. I did though, and it was worth it.

Since April, my plantar fasciitis is GONE. I used to take 600-800mg of Ibuprofen fairly regularly (if not weekly, then definitely monthly) for headaches from allergies, tension, big temperature swings, and honestly, probably dehydration sometimes. My Costco-sized bottle was nearly empty last April and I have not purchased a replacement for it. If I’m in pain for any reason, self-reiki takes care of it within hours instead of days or weeks. This summer I was able to kayak until I felt my shoulders and not have them ache the next day. I was able to walk 6.5-10 miles a day for a week without training appropriately, and although my feet and legs were tired at the end of those days, they were not achy or blistery and I could get up and go again the next day. I have had a flu shot and a Covid booster which historically caused me such pain I couldn’t sleep on that arm for two nights. With reiki, only the band-aid reminded me where I got the injection and I had no other reactions. These are just the things that reiki has done for me, personally, by using it on myself daily.

I chose to take the Reiki 2 course so that I could learn distance reiki and send healing vibes to family and friends who live far away. It’s been such a gift to be able to send more than prayer, not that prayers aren’t wonderful- it’s just that often I felt like I wanted to do “more”. Sending reiki distally is that “more”.

And finally, the teacher in me knew that Reiki 3/Master Teacher was a step I would take so that I could teach people how to do this for themselves. Seriously, 99% of the time I do self-reiki before I get out of bed each morning. If you could do something for yourself each day that made a difference in how you felt, wouldn’t you want to learn? I had no idea what to expect from reiki when I started, I just trusted my gut that it was something I should do. What about you? When you think about reiki, does your gut clench and say, “not for me”? or does the whisper in the back of your head say, “You should try this”? My guess is: if you’re reading this blog, you already know…

*A reprint from Oct. 11, 2022