My First Reiki Sesh

I had my first Reiki session this past weekend. I won't lie to you. I had seen a Groupon for an Energy Healer the next town over and I thought, "what do I have to lose?" I really didn't know what reiki was except that I have heard people in various yoga classes talk about how much they love it; like it's meditation that you don't have to work at. I mean, it was going to be an hour out of the house without baby/husband/dog/cat/chores/etc so I was game.

What is Reiki?

Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by "laying on hands" and is based on the idea that an unseen "life force energy" flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one's "life force energy" is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy.
So that makes sense, right? I guess even though I had done a little research previous to my visit, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  It seemed a little far fetched to me that a person, no matter how soothing/calm/charismatic they were, could "heal" any ailments I had with a touch but it's about more than healing ailments.

I met with Sue, a registered nurse, and as far as I could tell, a Catholic... One-two punch of unexpectedness up at Your Bridge to Healing in Groton, MA. She opened the session with a discussion about what I expected, what I was open to and what I wanted to gain out of the experience. I spoke to her about my tendency to overbook myself, to stretch myself too thin, to stress about housework (even when I am with the baby), clenching my jaw when I sleep, not sleeping enough, work, lower back pain... and so on and so forth. Honestly, it was a little like therapy but cheaper!

Sue immediately made me feel better about letting some sh!t go. She explained that stress can lead to physical ailments and while not groundbreaking information, it sort of made an impact when we discussed that as women, we are at peace when we have a clean, organized home but that it's not always realistic to have perfection. The men in our lives, or even our children, they can be in the moment, live in the moment and not worry as much. Women are always thinking about what we need to be doing next and have forced being "productive" on ourselves, even when no one else is asking this of us. Of course, this isn't everyone but I have found many women in my life to be in the same boat.

We headed to the "healing". I laid on a massage table, we tucked me in and she began doin' her thang. There was some affirmational speaking, geared toward my hang ups and things that I needed to say to myself over the next week. The goal for me is to live in the moment more and worry less. There will be many benefits to this and maybe I will stop grinding my teeth so much at night (yes, I am a night guard wearer, sue me). The rest was done in silence (well, with music on). She literally "laid hands" on me and apparently moved some energy around. At first, just like in  yoga, it was hard for me to quiet my mind. I am a thinker and even when I'm supposed to be calm, it's hard to turn off. But after about 10 minutes, I was really in a meditation state. I was quiet, I was out of my reality. I was actually thinking very little about all the things outside of that room. This went on for another 40 minutes until, just like a good shavasana, we were done our session. We talked about where I was carrying the most energy (my 3rd chakra FYI) I felt recharged, rejuvenated. It's hard to explain, really. It was time that I spent just "being" and as hokey as that sounds, it's kind of exactly what I needed. 

I asked Sue how often I should come in for appointments and rather than giving me a pitch on coming in regularly, she just softly said, whenever YOU feel you need it. It was awesome and I will likely go back when I need a refresher on living in the moment and being a little more lax with commitments.

Have you tried Reiki before? What did you take out of it?