Reiki, Ray-kee, Ray-whut?
A GRAND INTRODUCTION TO ENERGY WOO-WOO.
"Within a few hours, I knew that something was really different. I wanted to know what it was and to say thank you."
Blaire was as clueless as anyone when it came to "energy" work. She had a soft reveal of sorts encased in a profound, unexpected healing experience in 1999. This experience laid the foundation for her learning more about reiki, and ultimately energy work as a whole. Simply put, Reiki is a practice used to direct healing energy just where it needs to go. It requires no belief, only openness to the life-force energies that abound.
From Clueless to Staunch Supporter & Reiki Master
Many people have no idea what Reiki is, and how it could potentially help. As humans, its totally normal for us to get uncomfortable with new methods they're not familiar with. Admittedly, growing up, I had zero clue and had never even heard the word.
Unexpectedly, I came across a situation, and a person...who lovingly gave me some Reiki in college. Within a few hours, I knew that something was different and I wanted to know what it was.
As a senior at the W, I had been a little lazy at work this one day. I worked at a screen printing shop and regularly did all of the production work to create custom made shirts. One thing we must do for new jobs is clean the emulsion off used screens for them to reused. On a typical day, I would do anywhere from 0-10 screens. This was the beginning of the reunion season, and the shop was backlogged. I cleaned approximately 75 screens that day, all day.
Young, dumb and stupid I didn't think it was a big deal. I was dead wrong.
That evening I noticed my hands were red, swollen, hot and sore from the chemicals used to remove the emulsion. My skin was burning - but I wasn't in the practice of seeing my health as an issue with whatever the job entailed. I put them in cool water, but otherwise I had no idea what to do to make it better. Admittedly, I was a little frustrated, but had no answer for myself. It wasn't killing me, mostly uncomfortable. Something else to endure.
I made it through the night, and the next day woke to hands that were even more swollen and red than the day before. They felt like they were about to crack, if I bent the fingers or used them too much. Alas, I had class and the show must go on. Suck it up, buttercup. As I walked into my watercolor class with Mr. Gibson, many of my classmates and friends noticed my red, swollen hands. People asked, and I answered what had happened. I didn't want to dwell on it, nor did I see any point in feeling sorry for me. It was my fault. I was sure they would heal, eventually.
We had a demonstration in class by the teacher. We all gathered round, as art students do. An older classmate, MaryAnn Frank, in her late 50s, sat next to me as we watched the teacher. She had been in the room while people were making a big deal of the state of my hands and she too had asked a few questions. Just before he began the demonstration, she made eye contact with me, and smiled. I smiled back. That was a little bit weird, but she was just smiling. Then, she reached over to my hands, and gently placed her hands on mine. I sat through the demonstration, probably less than 15 minutes total with her hands cupping mine. It didn't hurt. It felt warm, but didn't make the burn worse. I noticed nothing else, and frankly while it was a little strange for her to hold my hands - nothing about it was bothersome. It wasn't worth the energy or disruption to ask her to stop. If it made her happy to hold my hands, I could do that for a few minutes. She was actually the wife of another professor at the school, and I enjoyed both of them immensely. After the demonstration ended, we returned to our regular seats across the room and started working.
I continued through the day, and noticed that my hands weren't really getting better. They felt like they were burning even more bit by bit, and things were truly getting more difficult to do as the day wore on. Again, being young, I just ignored it as best I could. By the end of the day, I could tell my hands truly needed to finish burning before they would begin to heal. I sarcastically shared this with my friends, bemoaning the predicament in which I found myself. By the end of the day, I decided that it would likely take about 3 total weeks to heal. GRRRREEEEAAAAT. Another 3 weeks of this royal pain in my hands. Oh well, what's a girl to do?
Tight friends all through college at MUW, Kim Harris, Blaire Hall & Julie Bouchillon just before graduating in the spring of 1999.
I went off to bed, and woke the next morning to my hands in a significantly better state. I didn't know what she had done, but I knew she did SOMETHING. I didn't see her the next day, but I did see her the next class period, a day later. I was truly astounded at how fast they were healing. Friends and classmates had forgotten their astonishment at my red, swollen hands, but I had spent many many hours thinking about them. My hands truly felt better that morning, and only continued to heal more and more over the next few days. Truly amazed - I was just had to ask Ann about this as soon as I saw her again.
The second class of the week occurred, and I eagerly awaited Ann's arrival to the classroom. She came in and I tried not to pounce her, but boy did I ask as soon as she had a moment to sit down and get settled.
"What did you do to my hands? They are so much better! Look at them. I know you did something, what was it?"
MaryAnn smiled, and said, "Reiki." At this point, 20 years later, I honestly don't recall the details of what exactly she said, but I do remember the word and the feelings she conveyed about this "Reiki". Reiki was worth remembering, and I did remember it.
Like many people, I was interested and pleased but it didn't change a whole lot about how I lived life at that point. I was a college senior, and ready to move on in life. I had big plans, and needed to focus. I graduated shortly thereafter, and moved back to my hometown. Later I met my to-be husband and went on with a typical life. We eventually had children and life was just what you expect... a whirlwind of things happening so fast you might not notice if you didn't take the time. Fast forward to me experiencing some physical discomfort I thought everyone had. My legs were hurting, I wasn't sleeping great and I was trying to do way too much. Stress was a regular, long lasting scenario. I had one child, my mother had almost died of septic shock and I was trying to finish my Masters in Education while teaching at a school that was a 49 mile drive each way. It was then, that I thought of MaryAnn.
What was that word? Ray-key? I decided to look up what she mentioned. I had to learn the spelling, and I had to find info by randomly typing in words associated with what had happened to me. That’s when I learned what Reiki truly is – intellectually. It wouldn’t be until about 10 years later that I found an opportunity to actually take the class and learn from experience what Reiki is.
Over the years, one thing I’ve loved immensely about the practice of Reiki is its unassuming nature. Reiki requires no belief (I had none). Reiki only works for the good of the client (I could have said no to MaryAnn). Maybe I had a clue, deep down what she was doing was helping me. Reiki is not demanding of anything. It allows, and actually needs you to relax and just let things be. This is where Reiki works best. What could be better than a no-pressure, no-worries experience with healing? Nothing! Nothing rivals the power of Reiki and I will forever be a staunch supporter of Reiki Practitioners and instructors.
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