My First Reiki Experience

My first Reiki experience was in 2017. One of my co-workers introduced to me to Carolyn Jones in Knoxville, TN. She was a Reiki Master and would later become my teacher and mentor. When I scheduled the appointment I felt excited, but I was unsure about what to expect. As Carolyn greeted me, I immediately was drawn to the warm, loving nature she exuded. This helped to put me more at ease. I wasn’t sure what to expect…do I leave my clothes on or off? Is Reiki like a massage therapy session? Carolyn guided me through the entire process. Her space was warm and welcoming, which put me immediately at ease. We started the session with a discussion to get to know me, which lasted about 30 minutes. She asked about what brought me there and what issues I was interested in working on. We shared some basic information, but it was not anything that I felt nervous about sharing with her. She asked me to set an intention for the session. I kind of struggled to come up with what to focus our session on, but at the time, I was in a stressful job so stress reduction was my intention. It turns out that you leave your clothes on, but you lay on a table just like a massage. She asked me to remove my jewelry and lay face down on the massage/Reiki table. The room was dimly lit and Carolyn played soft Reiki healing music. Throughout the session she gently placed her hands on various parts of my body. At some point she asked me to turn over onto my back. Throughout the session I was surprised at the colors I saw and how relaxed I became. The most unexpected thing that happened wasmy emotional reaction during the session. As she worked on my heart Chakra, I burst into tears for no reason that I could explain. Emotions continued to come to the surface in future sessions, too. It was later that I came to realize that suppressed emotions that needed to heal arose during these sessions. Carolyn explained that Reiki healing is like “peeling layers off an onion.” She went on to explain that throughout our lives we develop protective layers and our emotions get shut off and build up in our bodies (especially around our heart). Reiki healing breaks down those layers and opens our hearts to receive healing and we are able to release those stuck emotions. After each session I felt lighter and more peaceful so I knew that I was “hooked”, but I had no idea that it would become something that would be so important that I would train to become a healer myself.