Since I booked myself a week ago into the Reiki I class in May, there hasn’t been much else to do to further myself along. For most of the week, I didn’t read any blog posts or news articles about Reiki as I’d been doing daily for the past month.

To reconnect with the journey, and to satisfy my inner historian, I created this blog.  I’ve described each development so far, backdating the entries.  I used to write a daily journal, and I mean daily… except for one or two small gaps, I didn’t miss an entry for 20 years.  That was tedious, though, and there are other ways of keeping one’s own history now.  Like a blog.

This morning, I called two of the three references Michelle provided.  Both had nothing but glowing praise for her, and they both said one thing in common: that she remains available to her students forever, for any purpose, which I’d already gotten from her myself – she was very generous with her time when I received my first session with her.

I particularly enjoyed talking to one of the former students because she is doing exactly what I want to do.  Continue reading →

I don’t know how many different practitioners I thought I would see before I found my teacher, but it happened fast.  I had a good feeling about Michelle from my first interactions with her through her web site and e-mail, and then again in person on both Saturday and Sunday last weekend.

Tonight, I e-mailed her and asked to take Reiki I with her.  My left-brained self, despite having made up my mind, thought I should do some research/due diligence, so I asked her for references and I also mentioned that I’d read that some in the Reiki community feel that lineage is important, so perhaps she could share hers with me (that is, who was her teacher, and who was their teacher, etc.).

She replied with some references and said she’d rather discuss lineage over the phone and would be available for me to call her on Saturday.

I had reservations about attending a share circle.  My irrational fears included being surrounded by earth mothers in floor-length velvet dresses holding blessed crystals and chanting.  I don’t know where I got the idea that that’s who would be attending and that that’s what would happen, but as it turns out, I made it all up. Continue reading →

I arrived at Healing Waters & Sacred Spaces 15 minutes early for my appointment.  I filled out my personal info and waited in the store for Michelle to come get me.  She did, and we walked around the corner to her studio in the same building.

We sat and talked for what felt like a half hour.  In contrast to my appointment with Deborah and without knowing why, I opened up immediately about my desire to practice Reiki on both myself and on clients in the future.  She was enthusiastic about her practice and about Reiki in general, and I loved that she took the time to talk with me before the session. Continue reading →

I’m not sure exactly when it came to me, but I already have a name for my business.  It just popped into my head.  “Blossom Reiki”.  I looked online, and there’s only one other business by that name that I could find, and she’s in the U.K.

Cherry blossoms have their origin in Japan, as does Reiki, so there is an obvious symbolism to the name.  It has additional significance, however, if you will pardon a bit of corniness.  When I pull this off and am running a Reiki business, I will FINALLY have come into my own and be in alignment with my ideas about the kind of life I want to have – I will have blossomed.

I spent some time looking for another practitioner to book with and came across Michelle Garnier Winkler: http://www.createhealingreiki.com/.

I found her web site very informative, and I felt like I got a sense of her as a person from reading it as well.  She seemed very positive and friendly and down-to-earth, and I liked that.  We exchanged e-mails, the content of which continued my initial impressions, and I booked a session with her for Saturday, April 2.

Her studio is at Healing Waters & Sacred Spaces (eye roll).  I’m finding that I am resistant to some of the aesthetics of the Reiki profession.  It may seem contradictory that I accept as fact, with no personal experience, that life force energy is all around us and may be accessed and balanced by a skilled practitioner, and the notion of healing crystals and flower essences is a bit too foo-foo for me, but there you have it.

I arrived at Awakenings Wellness Center for my appointment on time at 5:30pm.  I waited in the lobby, and Deborah came and got me and took me to her room.  I filled out my personal info, and we talked about my expectations.  I didn’t mention I was exploring Reiki as my own path, as I wanted to interact with her as a client.

She said the first part of the session would be intuitive counseling and the rest would consist of Reiki energy work.  She explained that she would open herself to receive messages from my guides, but she wouldn’t know how to interpret them without my help, so I would need to acknowledge what was being received as true for me or not. Continue reading →

I had breakfast this morning with my friend, former business partner, and current massage therapist Ana.  She’s been attuned to Reiki and uses it in her massage practice.  She is of the opinion that it is difficult to make a living doing Reiki alone.

I can see why this would be the case, but I don’t feel that it necessarily has to be my experience.  So in taking in this information, I can sabotage myself before I get started or I can recognize that the future is wide open and making up a future I don’t want is ludicrous.

I am of both minds.  I acknowledge my fears and doubts about building a Reiki practice, and I believe that it is absolutely within the realm of possibility for me to do so successfully.

I called and spoke with Deborah Romero today.

My first Reiki appointment will be with her, one week from today after work.  Deborah combines intuitive counseling with her Reiki sessions, so I’m looking forward to seeing how that goes.

Truth be told, I’ve had Reiki twice before.  In 1999 or so, I saw a friend of a friend for an intuitive counseling session.  She gave me Reiki in the last 15 minutes of the appointment, but it wasn’t the focus of the session, and I don’t remember any particular impressions I had of it.

Then in 2003, I was offered a free Reiki session by a member of a spirituality group I was meeting with occasionally around that time.  I had a full hour-long session with him, and again, I felt relaxed afterward but couldn’t say one way or another whether I’d received any energy.  It’s not that I didn’t believe I did, just that I didn’t feel anything.

This is both a cause for concern and of no importance at all.  A part of me worries – despite that I’m a million miles from building a practice – that I won’t have anyone to perform Reiki on for not being able to explain the benefit of it.  Another part of me believes on pure faith that I will indeed feel the energy when I receive my attunements, and that it will not be my job to convince anyone that they need or want Reiki.