When I was in my twenties, I was working the night shift as a registered nurse in a locked psychiatric hospital in Reading, Pennsylvania away from my family and everyone I’d ever known in my life except for my husband. I made some of the most amazing friends there, but I still was left with a lot more time to sit with myself with very little distractions. My chronic muscle pain and migraines that I had suffered with since puberty grew increasingly worse and my quality of life suffered. I suffered from insomnia and nightmares from post-traumatic response. I was diagnosed with PTSD, Panic Disorder, and ADD along with Hashimoto’s Disease, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, and Vitamin D Deficiency, and I’m sure I’ve missed a few. I was sad. I was grieving many things. It was when I finally admitted to myself that I was also now on an infertility journey on top of everything else, that Reiki found me. It walked right up to me in the pouring rain with tears streaming down my face.
An opportunity to go inward with Reiki Energy arrived at exactly the right moment.
Walking out of a failed yoga class because I was in too much pain to get through it, feeling inflamed in more ways than one, I felt utter defeat and hopelessness; the days of my prior athleticism seeming far out of reach. Crying as I started walking towards my car, it began pouring rain, and I saw this woman walk right through the rain straight towards me from an office adjacent to the yoga studio. I know-you’re thinking we’ve now entered a scene from a movie. Trust me, psych nurse here, I’ve seen a lot. I was thoroughly suspicious. She walked straight to me getting completely soaked and asked me how I was doing. Say What? She then proceeded to tell me she felt called to come out and find me because she felt my energy field and was compelled to come introduce me to an energy healing technique called Reiki. After explaining to me this was unusual for her to do, I decided to go with her to her office and talk. I mean unusual was kind of right up my alley anyway, so of course I went with her. She had a nice vibe about her so I followed her and my intuition right through the door. If my father ever reads this, he will be concerned but not at all surprised by my choice. Some of us have a wild curiosity that isn’t meant to be tamed and it often ends up guiding us to exactly where we are meant to be. Anyway, I digress…It was then she told me I was meant to be a Reiki Master. I had never even heard of Reiki at that time. I had received it when I was 18, but wasn’t told what it was, but that’s a whole other story…
Anyway, back to this one, this wonderful, wise, and kind medicine woman began treating me with Reiki. She had amazing wise grandmother like energy. I could feel from her that she was no stranger to pain and she was no stranger to overcoming. My first session was remarkable. I had an extreme response to the treatment. I was totally pain free for the first time in three years. I went home and slept for 10 straight hours. My husband actually counted my respirations for a few minutes because he hadn’t seen me sleep like that in so long. I continued to see her, and I worked through deep layers of trauma I had refused to look at ever before in my life. I felt clarity. A veil had been removed that was covering a layer of my awareness. I spoke truths I had never spoken to a soul that I had held for over 20 years, released in the safe, confidential space and blanket of comfort Reiki provided in her treatment room. As I released trapped emotions and began healing my emotional wounds and traumas, my physical ailments also began to improve. Under the supervision of a doctor’s care, I slowly came off of all of my medications except for my thyroid medication because I no longer needed the rest of them. After being told I wouldn’t be able to have children without fertility medication, I became pregnant with triplets naturally. Reiki helped emotionally support me through my miscarriage of the third baby 10 weeks later to stay as calm as possible for my remaining two.
I found myself realigning with my true self and remembering the things I loved in childhood like playing outside all summer, sledding, hiding under and climbing trees, swinging on vines and playing in the creek, staying at the ocean all day, catching crayfish, collecting rocks, feeding my pet spider in the bushes, teaching ants how to swim, admiring the bleeding heart bush at my grandparents’ home, making fairy potions and flower crowns for my hair, thinking about the meaning of stars and constellations, reading all of the books, talking to the birds, forest creatures, and trees. I came back home to myself in these things I loved and held dear in my heart center aligned with the rhythm of nature. I began making healthier naturally aligned choices for myself in other aspects of my life as well.
When my twin daughters were 2 months old in true Kelly fashion, I went ahead and had my first Reiki level one practitioner attunement after nosediving straight into a mild
postpartum depression on top of adjusting to a major life changing event. I recognize this was a lot to take on, and I honestly don’t even remember why in my mind I didn’t think it could wait at the time, but for whatever the reason the succession of events that followed my attunement would have postponed that attunement for years to come if I hadn’t done it exactly when I did. So, I know whatever was driving me to do it then, divine intervention sent it. I was now on the path to my calling, but it hadn’t sunk in yet at all. I was in Mommy world. I was totally focused on us all surviving in my new chaotic, unpredictable life.
So, I set it aside for a bit, you know the very thing that could have helped us all, THAT, I put that aside. Lol. You live and you learn, right? And it all worked out exactly as it should in God’s divine timing. The Reiki attunement elevated my life force energy, self-awareness and aided my subconscious excavation without me even actively practicing it. When I was ready to return to intentionally using it, it was waiting. All in good timing. Life force energy is already inside all of us. We just have to access it by going inward.
Becoming a Reiki Master Teacher was always my Path. I simply needed a little reminder from my inner child to take the first step into inner exploration.
Today as a Professional Reiki Master teacher of multiple Reiki lineages, I feel so blessed to have received the gift of energy healing for myself and family and to be able to give this gift to others in my teachings and watch them heal and grow in awareness, loving kindness, faith, balance, peace, and connection. This small story of my beginnings with energy healing is just a glimpse into the amazing healing journey Reiki guides us on. It is a journey of self-discovery, self-worth, self-love, self-actualization, and healing of the whole being. Reiki has been a wonderful stress reduction technique for balanced, heart centered living. Sharing this journey with you all is a privilege for which I am deeply grateful. May it be of benefit.
