My Life-Changing Reiki Experience

It’s been a long time since I’ve woken up super stoked and energized. It’s still early in the day, and I’m on fire! All it took was an hour and fifteen minutes of my life in a Reiki session at the end of May. Not bad for a life-changer.

Before Reiki:

I’ve been told by many people that I’m not grounded. My energy rides several feet above the Earth. What does that mean? I have to focus on relaxing to get that heavy feeling through my feet, and it only lasts as long as I think about it. Weird for you, normal for me.

For years, I woke up with a stress ball in my solar plexus — all tight and tangled. It first appeared with anti-estrogen drugs — what my cancer ate — first tamoxifen, then anastrozole. I hit eight years cancer-free at the end of May and have been off the drugs for three years but needed to dislodge the lingering effects. I mean, enough is enough, right? Although the pit in my stomach wouldn’t always show up, my enthusiasm lagged.

What the heck is Reiki?

Reiki uses a combination of mind-body energy healing. A practitioner transfers the energy from their palms to encourage emotional and physical healing. Does that sound woowoo enough for you? At this point in my life, I don’t poop on anything.

My daughter, Courtney, loved her Reiki experience. She suggested that I give it a try.

First, I tried a long-distance Reiki session. While I meditated at home, a practitioner I found through Yelp, Heather Tsai, tried to project energy from miles away. Yeah, that didn’t work for me at all. When she sent a follow-up text and an offer to make a house call, I jumped at the opportunity — lots of energy in that jump — a good sign.

A few days before my appointment, I met with my orthopedic surgeon. I haven’t fully recovered from a partial knee replacement from a ski accident. Guess what? I have osteoarthritis. Does it ever end? It’s most likely from the anastrozole. GAH! Now I really looked forward to Reiki.

My Reiki experience:

On the day of my reiki appointment, I had no idea what to expect. When the petite young woman arrived, her self-assuredness put me at ease. Heather asked me about myself. As I went through my litany, including issues with my knees, I scurried around the house to find my cell phone and shut it off but couldn’t find it anywhere. Oh, well. My other concern was my Bichon, Roxy. She’s twelve now, so I hoped she would sleep through the session.

I gave up my quest and sat in a wingback chair across from Heather. Although I can block thoughts out, she suggested letting them come and go. She stood behind me and placed her hands very gently across the sides of my head.

As I relaxed in the chair and closed my eyes, I obsessed about my stupid cell phone. Where could I have set it down? I didn’t want it to ring but couldn’t do anything about it now. I let the thought go with a breath, then wondered how she wanted to be paid. I didn’t have any cash but figured Heather would take a check.

That’s when it happened.

Without warning, any lump in the throat, or sad thoughts whatsoever, tears ran down my cheeks, surprising me. What the hell? I took a couple of deep breaths, but they continued to stream. I couldn’t figure it out. I shifted my awareness to Roxy, who repositioned on the coach, a robin pissed at another animal close to its nest, and my breath. Nothing remotely depressing crossed my mind.

About ten minutes later, when Heather moved her hands to the area below my throat, the tears stopped. After another fifteen minutes or so, she lightly placed her hands on my solar plexus, but that didn’t have any profound reaction either. Then she moved to my knees, and her hands became really warm.

The freaky part:

Then she grasped each ankle, and I felt as if I tipped backward on a roller coaster. It made me nauseous. I took deep breaths to calm myself. After several minutes, the nausea went away, but my feet tingled.

When she let go, I could feel the air around me being waved away from my body. Later, Heather told me it was a turkey feather she found in Costa Rica. And just like that, the hour and fifteen minutes were over. I wrote her a check, and she left.

After Reiki:

I didn’t feel extraordinarily changed and went back to writing. At 3:00, I quit to run errands. That’s when things got interesting.

First, I made a U-turn and left plenty of room for the oncoming traffic but got flipped off by a guy speeding ahead of the pack. Normally that would have provoked me. Instead, I smiled and waved. Then I ran into an old tennis friend at a garden center and called her the wrong name. I would have been mortified, but we laughed it off. I ran into a few more acquaintances over the weekend and was totally chill. Usually, my borderline ADHD mind would go into overdrive.

I told Courtney about my crying experience. Her healer said that tears are a release. There are many different ways that people release their pain during a session.

The most interesting part? I’m relaxed. My feet feel the weight of my body and my stress ball disappeared. Yes!

The next day, I went to a landscape center to pick out three cockspur hawthorns. While under the canopy, I examined the branches to choose the best ones.

Usually, trees with a one-and-a-half-inch caliper are still in containers. In this particular area, they had been buried. Two had been sold, leaving gaping holes.

My heel caught the edge as I stepped into the tree hole toe first. I felt my whole foot roll with stabbing pains below my ankle.

By the time I arrived home, I couldn’t put any weight on it. It’s been one thing after another. I need a break but not literally, please!

I headed to urgent care. By that time, discoloration and swelling had begun. After x-rays and an examination by a physician’s assistant, she told me that it wasn’t broken but a really bad sprain. I would have to stay off it for a few weeks.

Noooooo!

Deflated about the prognosis, I went to bed super bummed out. I had planned to return to the gym the next morning. I had looked forward to it. I had perennials to plant and wanted to get back on my bike and hike over the weekend. So frustrating.

When I woke up, I felt exhilarated, enthusiastic, excited for the day. Forgetting about my ankle, I stepped out of bed. There was no pain. NONE! Then, I ran downstairs. Ran. I took a better look at it. My ankle was swollen and black and blue and red and purple, but I had the full range of motion. What? What? What? I went to a barre class and was able to do EVERYTHING.

When I told Courtney about my experience, she said, “I think the Reiki worked, and your body is finally open to heal itself.” Wow. Or I got lucky, and the broken blood vessels indicated a bad bruise. Who knows? Either way, it was pretty painless for how ugly it was.

It’s been two months since my Reiki session and my high energy has prevailed. The stress ball has loosened. I still feel grounded and more relaxed — a decent outcome for seventy-five minutes of my time.

By the way, the view is just fine from down here on terra firma. You should see my list of things to do!

Here’s Heather Tsai’s website – Pure Reiki Sessions – This is a totally honest blog post. I’m not getting paid for this.

Have you heard about Reiki? Would you try it?