My Reiki journey

I had looked at ‘doing’ Reiki some years prior to my taking Reiki 1.  Each time I looked it just didn’t feel right but one day..

September 1999

Through my daughter and her step mum it was suggested that I visit a clairvoyant in Kingswood.  A good reading but I thought no more about it until a few months later when they suggested it was time I visited her again.  This I did.  She simply told me that I had to ‘go and see Jane’ giving me Jane’s contact numbers.  Imagine the conversation with Jane.

‘Hello Jane I’ve been told I was to come and see you.’
‘Why?’
‘I  don’t know why.  Christine just told me to come and see you.’
‘O.K. Do you want a massage?’
‘No.’
‘A facial?’
‘No.’
‘Reflexology?’
‘No.’
‘Reiki?’
‘Oh Reiki.  I thought about doing Reiki a few years ago but decided it wasn’t for me.’

We had a chat on the phone which resulted in me visiting Jane the next day. The following weekend I took my Reiki 1, followed 3 months later by Reiki 11 and a year later by Reiki Master Teacher.  I haven’t looked back since and what a journey I’ve been on.

During my Reiki Master training I was surprised that I didn’t need an anatomy and physiology certificate so I put myself on an Open University course for Human Biology and Health. That started me on OU trail too studying health related matters, including a year on Perspectives of Complementary (CAM) Therapies. I found this subject fascinating as it was a course based on what was going on behind the scenes with the Government and the regulation of CAM. I also did an Adult teaching course at the local college and obtained a City & Guild certificate in adult education to add to my Bachelor of Science degree.

It was in doing the City & Guild teaching qualification that got me thinking. I, very naively, contacted them about getting my Reiki course accredited by City & Guild. They were brilliant and invited me to a meeting where we could discuss this. From the meeting the gentleman told me about the Reiki Regulatory Working Group, RRWG, a group just created in response to Government concerns around the lack of any regulating in CAM. He suggested I contact the group and take it from there. This I did but didn’t have enough members in my group to represent them in the Working Group. I relayed this information back to my gentleman who then advised that there was to be a second meeting the following week and they had no resource to send anyone so would I go on their behalf and take notes for them? Wow – would I? This resulted in me being appointed the the RRWG sub committee for National Occupational Standards for Reiki.

My journey with the RRWG and then into the Reiki Council continued with me represent The Reiki Connection members. I am Reiki Council Head of Verification and Vice-Chair. It’s been a long, interesting journey, 18 years!

I often look back on my journey wondering how I actually got here. It sounds too much of a fairy tale to be true yet here I am.

Reiki is just part of my life and not a day goes by without interaction of some sort with Reiki. I strive to live by Mikao Usui’s basic principles, the principles I was taught on my first day of Reiki training..

Just for today I will not worry
Just for today I will not anger
I will honour my parents, teachers and elders,
Do my work honestly
And be kind to every living thing.

I now know that this is not a true interpretation of what is written by Usui Sensei’s students – but it has worked for me!