WHY I BECAME A REIKI MASTER
June 18, 2017
I was born to a mother and family that had no interest in religion. It wasn’t something that was even spoken about when I was little. I was eight when I first heard the term, “Do you swear to God?” which sparked a deep curiosity in me: I didn’t know what God was, but I was instantly and ferociously hungry to find him/her/it, and become the best of friends. I felt the need to understand God sing out within every fiber of my core, calling out to me with a loud, resounding fierceness. Have you ever felt that before? For me, it’s like the bullhorn of intuition, unmistakably telling us which way to go next.
I spent the next 14 years of my life going from one church (or Buddhist Temple, or religious retreat, or meditation with Deepak Chopra, or yoga practice) to the next, all on my own. Even as a child, with no one to go to church with me, my mom would drop me off and pick me up so I could go.
The truth is, I’ve always been highly spiritually inclined. It's just the way I was made.
At four years old, for example, I spoke and laughed with my deceased great grandmother whose spirit came to visit me. At seven, I told my mom we all come from a land of souls where everyone has their own space that they can create as their own and live as they choose. At nine, I began to see ghosts and angels. My sensitive mom and I often saw the same ghosts together. At 18 (and again when I was much older), a friend died and I knew hours before anyone else because she came to say goodbye to me. She was wrapped in golden light, the most loving and joyful energy I’ve ever felt in my life. At 20, I began having dreams that came true on a regular basis.
By the time I was 23, though, I’d had my fill of new-agers who seemed to believe every alternative thing they came across, and had my fill of religious fanatics judging others for not being religious enough, not being a member of their denomination, or not being “good enough” for their idea of God (as if God doesn't cherish and accept all of us as we are). Really I was sick of everyone speculating on why we’re here, the meaning of it all, and how others should be living to be doing this life thing “right.”
I decided to believe that none of us really knows anything for sure. That no matter what we feel, only tangible proof is credible! I wanted evidence, alone. Like, solid, practical, science-based proof of anything I was supposed to "believe in."
I even convinced myself that my entire spiritual, intuitive experience of life had been a farce, and had been constructed by a lonely, ungrounded child, seeking meaning and connection in life. I justified this new perspective with thoughts like, “If the age old science of astrology has any merit, I might be this way because I have Neptune in my first house – I’m just designed to see things through a spiritual lens!” and “Some people need to feel connected to spirituality so they don’t feel sad and alone in a scary and sad world. Maybe that's why I've always felt this way.” I even determined my counselor’s assessment of me as emotionally gifted was the reason I’m so intuitive with people, rather than it also possibly being a spiritual faculty. I came up with so many reasons to deny my own experience, and slipped quickly from skepticism to a world of cynicism.
I lived the next few years rejecting any notion of souls, spirits, God/s, afterlife, angels, ghosts, chakras, etc. People, and humanity were all just here doing our thing, with no proof as to anything beyond this day to day life.
I had temporarily turned off and quieted my greatest connection in life, without knowing it, and didn’t understand the void I’d created. My focus was given to my love of raising my young children, running my business, and enjoying my hobbies.
And then two things happened to wake me back up, and change me forever.
1. My father killed himself. And visited me. A lot.
2. My gut started begging me to learn about Reiki.
Reiki was a word I had heard once, by the way. Years before that. I didn’t even know what it was! But holy mocha-flavored cupcakes was it all of sudden calling my name.
When I Googled it, I learned that it's a healing technique in which the practitioner places their hands on or over the recipient's body to send them divine healing energy. One must go through classes with a Reiki Master where they receive the attunements to Reiki before they can practice it. (Other forms of energy work, without having received these attunements, are NOT Reiki.) My skeptical mind was NOT happy about this! It began freaking out, and insisting that we don’t live in a superhero movie! No one blasts energy out of their palms to heal people! This isn’t the handsy episode of the Care Bear Stare!
June 18, 2017
I was born to a mother and family that had no interest in religion. It wasn’t something that was even spoken about when I was little. I was eight when I first heard the term, “Do you swear to God?” which sparked a deep curiosity in me: I didn’t know what God was, but I was instantly and ferociously hungry to find him/her/it, and become the best of friends. I felt the need to understand God sing out within every fiber of my core, calling out to me with a loud, resounding fierceness. Have you ever felt that before? For me, it’s like the bullhorn of intuition, unmistakably telling us which way to go next.
I spent the next 14 years of my life going from one church (or Buddhist Temple, or religious retreat, or meditation with Deepak Chopra, or yoga practice) to the next, all on my own. Even as a child, with no one to go to church with me, my mom would drop me off and pick me up so I could go.
The truth is, I’ve always been highly spiritually inclined. It's just the way I was made.
At four years old, for example, I spoke and laughed with my deceased great grandmother whose spirit came to visit me. At seven, I told my mom we all come from a land of souls where everyone has their own space that they can create as their own and live as they choose. At nine, I began to see ghosts and angels. My sensitive mom and I often saw the same ghosts together. At 18 (and again when I was much older), a friend died and I knew hours before anyone else because she came to say goodbye to me. She was wrapped in golden light, the most loving and joyful energy I’ve ever felt in my life. At 20, I began having dreams that came true on a regular basis.
By the time I was 23, though, I’d had my fill of new-agers who seemed to believe every alternative thing they came across, and had my fill of religious fanatics judging others for not being religious enough, not being a member of their denomination, or not being “good enough” for their idea of God (as if God doesn't cherish and accept all of us as we are). Really I was sick of everyone speculating on why we’re here, the meaning of it all, and how others should be living to be doing this life thing “right.”
I decided to believe that none of us really knows anything for sure. That no matter what we feel, only tangible proof is credible! I wanted evidence, alone. Like, solid, practical, science-based proof of anything I was supposed to "believe in."
I even convinced myself that my entire spiritual, intuitive experience of life had been a farce, and had been constructed by a lonely, ungrounded child, seeking meaning and connection in life. I justified this new perspective with thoughts like, “If the age old science of astrology has any merit, I might be this way because I have Neptune in my first house – I’m just designed to see things through a spiritual lens!” and “Some people need to feel connected to spirituality so they don’t feel sad and alone in a scary and sad world. Maybe that's why I've always felt this way.” I even determined my counselor’s assessment of me as emotionally gifted was the reason I’m so intuitive with people, rather than it also possibly being a spiritual faculty. I came up with so many reasons to deny my own experience, and slipped quickly from skepticism to a world of cynicism.
I lived the next few years rejecting any notion of souls, spirits, God/s, afterlife, angels, ghosts, chakras, etc. People, and humanity were all just here doing our thing, with no proof as to anything beyond this day to day life.
I had temporarily turned off and quieted my greatest connection in life, without knowing it, and didn’t understand the void I’d created. My focus was given to my love of raising my young children, running my business, and enjoying my hobbies.
And then two things happened to wake me back up, and change me forever.
1. My father killed himself. And visited me. A lot.
2. My gut started begging me to learn about Reiki.
Reiki was a word I had heard once, by the way. Years before that. I didn’t even know what it was! But holy mocha-flavored cupcakes was it all of sudden calling my name.
When I Googled it, I learned that it's a healing technique in which the practitioner places their hands on or over the recipient's body to send them divine healing energy. One must go through classes with a Reiki Master where they receive the attunements to Reiki before they can practice it. (Other forms of energy work, without having received these attunements, are NOT Reiki.) My skeptical mind was NOT happy about this! It began freaking out, and insisting that we don’t live in a superhero movie! No one blasts energy out of their palms to heal people! This isn’t the handsy episode of the Care Bear Stare!
But you don’t ignore the bullhorn. I’ve learned not to, at least.
So, I ignored my screaming skepticism instead and, with great fear, followed my gut.
My life, fortunately, will never be the same again.
Learning and practicing Reiki has re-opened my naturally inherent spiritual and intuitive capacities, and blown them open even wider. In each class of three (1st degree, 2nd degree, and 3rd/Master), I experienced visions of initiation, followed by a powerful release of my own emotional blockages and baggage, followed in time by further expanded abilities when practicing with myself and with others.
It’s commonly known in Japan, actually, that Masters often experience this kind of psychic opening – I compare it to the Byosen scanning we’re taught to do, where we energetically scan the bodies for areas that need Reiki. Like being intuitive to the areas that need Reiki, our entire intuitive capacity itself is broadened and heightened, the more we work with Reiki. Reiki opens us up and then guides us. (I should mention that not everyone who practices Reiki connects to it this way, but it’s a very real and profound experience for many of us!) And being able to pass this torch on, and teach others to be strong healers themselves, is part of where this all has taken me.
This has happened over time, of course. I’ve been practicing Reiki, almost daily, for over 10 years now. It’s also a process that is still in progress.
By which I mean I’m still a human being with fears and pain and old habits; I’m still burdened by paying my bills, and reminding myself not to scream at the driver who almost ran me over in the crosswalk; I still get headaches and backaches; arguing with someone I love still makes me feel terrible. And I’m still learning and growing in my healing work with others. In fact, it's not as surreal as it once seemed before experiencing it: I'm still a human being, just a lot more empowered than I used to be.
The thing is, the effects of Reiki treatments are incredible. And the effects of even just the first Reiki class are immediate. The layers we shed, and personal work/growth that comes with that, is immediate. In my opinion and experience, a beautiful new path is opened for a person as soon as they start experiencing Reiki energy.
This is why I love teaching Reiki even more than I love giving people Reiki energy. When a person is attuned to transmit Reiki, and practice the techniques, they can constantly give Reiki to themselves! We receive Reiki every time we give it to another, too. It’s such a beautiful gift of life and love. To ourselves, and to each other.
My philosophy is one of deep gratitude to Reiki, then, and to the Divinity and life force behind this great healing energy. Because I am grateful to be included in the circle of this gift, my prices are intended to be affordable and more accessible for people with less money (I have even, often, done this work for trade, when needed). I feel beyond a shadow of a doubt that the founder of this method of practicing Reiki, Usui Sensei, would love this approach to the practice.
To learn more about him and the history of Reiki, please go here: What is the History of Reiki?
And a fantastic book on some of the lesser known history of Reiki: Reiki Fire: New Information about the Origins of Reiki Power
For practitioners, I love Diane Stein's book: Essential Reiki: A Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art
My vision is to teach as many people as possible to practice Reiki -and teach them how to teach others, if they are drawn to that path- to start a local clinic where we give group healing sessions to people, and to get the Reiki movement growing with as many people touched by Reiki as possible. Once enough of us are at the level of practicing distance healing, we can expand the clinic beyond just the local area, and get more people involved! Please let me know if you're interested!
We're all in this together. ❤
If you'd like to read more, please check out my book A Movement of Courage: Connecting More Deeply for a Happier Life! It's on Amazon in eBook and paperback form.
© Lindsay Swanberg - 2017. All rights reserved.
