(Photo by Mikhail Nilov from Pexels)
This week I was given the opportunity to try a distance healing Reiki session.
With the tension and anxiety of the past 12 months hanging over me, it seemed like a good opportunity to reflect on my ‘energy’ and experiment with this healing practice.
With promises of stress reduction and relaxation what did I have to lose?
What is Reiki?
Reiki is an ancient healing technique that purports to balance the energy flow within the body. It is used to treat physical, mental and emotional unbalance. It is a non-intrusive practice, which aims to bring a sense of peace and connection, clearing out energetic blockages and accelerating the body’s own ability to heal.
My practitioner explained that the practice is based around the seven chakras. When we are perfectly in balance these are able to ‘spin’ freely. However, they can get blocked, preventing energy from passing freely around the body.
The word Reiki comes from the Japanese word Rei which means ‘Spirit, Source’ and Ki which means ‘Energy’. Reiki is the process where we bring the Spiritual Energy down to Earth. A reiki practitioner aims to change and balance the ‘energy fields’ in and around your body to help on a physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual level.
Reiki is often used as a complementary therapy to Western medicine. Reiki isn’t part of any type of religion or belief system.
How does a distant session work?
One of the elements that I found particularly intriguing was how the session would work remotely. We performed the session over a video call, and I wondered if it would carry the same efficacy as an in person session. Research suggested that a distance session is able to provide the same benefits as an in person session. When carried out by an experienced practitioner, it can provide a better understanding of the effects of energy, even to those who are sceptical.
During the Reiki Level 2 course, practitioners learn and receive three symbols, one of which is the Connection symbol, which allows them to send healing energy beyond time a space limitations.
The session
Ahead of the session I was advised to avoid alcohol and not to eat a heavy meal. Afterwards I was told to have time to relax and not to do any vigorous exercise.
At the start of the session we discussed the healing process and the movement of energy around the body. I was then asked to lie down comfortably with a cover to hand and to close my eyes. My practitioner, Carlotta, then played relaxing music, which included the sound of birds singing and chimes.
I was encouraged to lie with my eyes closed and to focus on clearing my mind as much as possible. As with meditation, Carlotta suggested a gentle approach of acknowledging thoughts as they came into my mind and then letting them go. The session felt a lot like a long shavasana at the end of a yoga session. It had that same calming and grounding quality to it and the same feeling of drifting in and out of touch with my physical body.
I have anticipated more verbal interaction throughout the session. However, it was largely a 45 minute meditation, with Carlotta working through each of my chakras quietly.
Once the meditation was over we talked briefly about any emotions, colours and feelings that had come up. Carlotta suggested slight blockages around my Solar Plexus Chakra and tension in my shoulders. She also reiterated that in a first session it can be hard to get a full ‘reading’.
After the session
Sometimes in the first session, people are not sure if anything has happened, and I have to admit I fall into this category. However, Carlotta noted that Reiki is a cumulative therapy. The more times you try it, the deeper experiences you have.
Besides the immediate effects after experiencing Reiki, people may notice some other changes after the session: emotion coming up, crying or laughing, improved digestion, clarity of the mind, feeling a general sense of peace, enjoying a restful night of sleep.
While I can’t claim to have experienced any of these elements I did have a relaxing and peaceful experience during the session. It is so rare that I allow myself 45 minutes to just ‘be’ in myself like this – less more than ever since when I practice yoga at home (rather than in a studio), I find it harder to detach from my ‘to do’ list.
I would be tempted to try another session, if only to re-experience this feeling of peace.
About Carlotta, my practitioner
Carlotta is a qualified Reiki Practitioner working in Hackney, East London. She grew up in a small village in Italy and has travelled the world, living in Istanbul, South Africa and London.
She first encountered Reiki in 2018 through a book named Reiki: Universal Life Energy by B.J. Baginski and S. Sharamon. She was drawn in by the book and went on to take her Reiki level one and two courses in London.
Find out more
For more information on Reiki as a practice see the website for the International Center for Reiki Training https://www.centerforreikiresearch.org
For more inforamtion on Carlotta and her practice visit her website or follow her on Facebook or Instagram @carlotta.artuso
Sessions start from £30/hour for a distant session.
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