Cosmic Heart, part five

Everything is Energy

Cosmic Heart is a spiritual memoir. You can learn more and read the previous chapters here. When you subscribe, you’re doing more than buying me a coffee, you’re keeping me going - supporting my work, and linking hands with me as we navigate the cosmos, Thank you for reading - it means the world.

What I knew about Reiki, I learned from the books I found on the shelves of used bookstores. I sat on my futon with my cats and shaped energy balls with my hands. I experimented with making my aura larger and smaller, and practiced seeing it by spreading my hand in front of a white wall and sliding my eyes out of focus.

I wish I could tell you my desire to learn Reiki was purely altruistic, but I’m not sure that’s true. What I remember was that I was fascinated by it. I was drawn to it. I was interested in all sorts of complementary medicine, natural remedies, and holistic approaches to wellness, but not only so that I could share these things with others. I was mostly interested because I wanted to feel better in my body, my soul, my mind.

I was tired of anxiety, stomach issues, headaches. I was tired of feeling tired all the time. The idea of Reiki felt beautiful to me. Easy. And somehow, familiar.

rei·ki

/ˈrākē/

noun

a healing technique based on the principle that the therapist can channel energy into the patient by means of touch, to activate the natural healing processes of the patient's body and restore physical and emotional well-being.

When I moved home, from New York to Kentucky, a friend of my mother’s, who was a nurse, invited me to come with her to a Reiki share. What was a Reiki share, I wondered? I told her I’d only read books and hadn’t actually been trained in Reiki, but she assured me that didn’t matter.