What Exactly is Reiki?
I’m sure you’ve heard the word reiki floating around recently, but what is it and does it really work?
What is Reiki?
Reiki is form of Japanese energy healing, 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. (definition from Oxford dictionary)
My Experience
I had heard of reiki many years back when I was living in London and was definitely intrigued by it, but never took it any further. But as most of us know life has a way of bringing things back into our lives at the right time. My time here in Frankfurt has been a major healing and unfucking myself journey and many new spiritual practices have been introduced into my life. One of these spiritual practices has been reiki. I had been on the search for a reiki healer in Frankfurt, but it was essectional for me to find a teacher that performed her healing in English. Luckily, the universe brought me Clare from Reiki Blossom.
I had my first session with Clare a few weeks ago. I had no expectations as it was my first time experiencing this practice. My session was via zoom. Now let me just say a remote session works the absolute same as if you were in person. The nice thing about a remote session is that you are in the comfort of your own home.
My session began with a chat about what she would be doing and asked me to get comfortable (I was lying down on my sofa in my office) and then to close my eyes when I was ready. Then she guided me through a guided meditation and asked me to relax for the next hour. I lied there visualising my garden and allowed thoughts to wonder and take me where they wanted to go. I found myself in many different scenarios and allowed my spirit guides to guide me through waves of colours. I felt heat and tingling throughout my body and saw shades or purple, yellow and orange. It was honestly quite spectacular.
Finally Clare’s soft voice brought me back to my garden to end my reiki session. Once the session completed she asked me to open my eyes so we could discuss her findings. I sat up and we chatted about what she discovered.
My energy level at the begging of the session was at 30%, which is very low, no wonder I was having a tough time. She managed to bring my energy level up to 80%.
Crown Chakra - overactive
Third Eye - balanced
Heart Chakra - overactive
Solar Plexus - overactive
Sacral - balanced
Root - blocked
At the end of my treatment all my chakras had been balanced. Learn more about chakras here.
Balanced, Overactive or Blocked, What Does This Mean?
Now what does it mean to have a balanced, overactive or blocked chakra?
Having a balanced chakra means everything is in a state of harmony and are distributing high vibrational energy. When you’re chakras are balanced you usually have more flow in your life, Moore energy and more joy.
Having an overactive chakra means there’s too much distribution of energy causing an imbalance in a certain chakra. You may find yourself giving too much of yourself to others, finding it hard to keep boundaries therefore exhausting yourself of all your energy you need to keep yourself in a healthy state of mind.
Having a blocked chakra means there is an energy blockage causing very low vibrational energy. You may find you have no energy or motivation, everything seems so hard and there is no flow in your life.
How do I know if my chakras are balanced or not?
Here’s a quick guide to finding out. If you are unfamiliar with chakras. Check out my chakra guide here.
ROOT CHAKRA:
Balanced: grounded, centred, belonging in this world, trusting, independent, alive
Overactive: bossy, domineering, big ego, greedy, materialistic
Blocked: unloved, sexually inadequate, frustrated, fearful, sky unsure
SACRAL CHAKRA:
Balanced: friendly, passionate, sexually fulfilled, good mood, playful, naturally flirty
Overactive: need power, manipulative, co-dependency
Blocked: shy, guilty, afraid to interact, lost, overly concerned with what other people think
SOLAR PLEXUS:
Balanced: respect for self and others, confident, outgoing, problem solving, calm, integrity
Overactive: judgemental, stubborn, critical, bully
Blocked: low self-esteem, apathetic, procrastinating, “taken advantage of”, not knowing what to do
HEART CHAKRA:
Balanced: loved, loving, empathic, “contagiously” good vibe
Overactive: entitlement, jealousy, blaming others, also giving too much
Blocked: unloved, self pity, fear of rejection, neediness, clinginess, uncertainty
THROAT CHAKRA:
Balanced: can express self, speaks truth, creative
Overactive: speaking too much, boring others, seen as critiquing, stubborn
Blocked: can’t express self, afraid to speak in public, cannot express creative side, seen as timid, dependent
THIRD EYE (ANJA):
Balanced: intuitive, charismatic, can meditate, knows one’s purpose, seen as wise
Overactive: spaced out, lost, worrying, seen as living in a fantasy world
Blocked: can’t see the big picture, can be easily influenced, confused about ones purpose, doubting oneself
CROWN CHAKRA:
Balanced: joy, connected to “the Source” while aware of one’s individuality, wise, compassionate
Overactive: addicted to spirituality, craving attention, needing to be popular, over-erotic imagination
Blocked: misunderstood, can’t have fun, unaware or or denying one’s spiritual connection
The Aftermath
A couple days after my treatment I was angry, like really angry. I felt like I was falling apart a bit, but I was told this was normal. When energy is cleared or moved around, feelings and unreleased energy surfaces bringing all the bad stuff up. This means the treatment is working. It’s helping get rid of all the emotions, energies and traumas that no longer serve you.
The following week, I felt good. I felt a shift, which is exactly I needed. I booked in my next session with Clare and then dedicated myself to learning more about the chakras so I could understand when a chakra was out of balance.
My Second Session
My next session with Clare was very similar, same process program as my first session but my experience was a bit different. I did have very promenade visuals again. I saw colours of lilac and yellow swirling together, but in the most relaxing beautiful way. It was stunning. When my mind wander I would see bright colours pop out in the background, like it was sending me a message. I felt a few things physically, my head felt a lot of pressure, I. felt my stomach do a weird twisty thing and right before the end of the treatment I felt this stock in my right side and then all of a sudden I saw black fireworks that then turned into beautiful yellow swirls. It was like all the negative energy left my body. It was amazing.
My energy level started at 60% this session, much better than the first session, that’s for sure! Clare brought my energy up to 90%, woohoo!
Crown Chakra - overactive
Third Eye - overactive
Throat - blocked
Heart - blocked
Solar Plexus - blocked
Sacral - balanced
Root - balanced
At the end of my session, all my chakras were balanced. As you can see chakra energies can change from session to session, that’s why it’s important to check in with your chakras and tap into your energy and inner self to see what’s going on. There are guided meditations that can help you balance out your chakras on your own. I’m finding a combination of both chakra mediation and reiki sessions are really helping.
After this last session, I felt energised. I woke up early and I felt amazing, happy and joyful. This is something I normally don’t experience. I used to once upon a time and I’ve been longing for this excitement feeling in the mornings and I think I finally am. It’s been a long time coming. All my hard inner work is finally paying off. Boy, healing is a process, a long hard process, but its also full of so much love, joy, connection and purpose.
I highly recommend giving reiki a go. Clare has a 30 minute taster session if you’re not ready to dive in fully. If you’re interested in trying reiki find someone you feel comfortable with and happy to start this journey with.