You are a healer! You might not know it yet, but it’s true. We all have an innate ability to heal.Think about it; what is the first thing you do when you bang your head or your knee? You rub it…this is instinct, your instinct as a healer. Why do pregnant mothers walk around rubbing their bellies all day? They’re directing healing to their unborn child without even knowing it. The problem is that healing is not reinforced for children in most homes, so we essentially ‘forget’ how to heal.
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“KIDS, I HAVE CANCER.”
Those are the words that propelled me onto my path as a healer. My father-in-law called my former wife and me to his house one Sunday morning and delivered the news that he had lymphoma. We didn’t know much about lymphoma at the time except that a lot of people died from it, so she and I immediately went to the bookstore for more information. She went straight for the chemo and radiation section of the store, while I went right over to the health and nutrition section. I brought home a book on raw foods and liked what I read, so I bought a juicer later that week and started frequenting the local health food store. I felt organic was the only way to go, considering what we were up against.
During each visit, I’d stop and take home the free literature that was offered. One of the handouts was a monthly magazine, a calendar of events really, loaded with all kinds of classes, workshops and happenings for the spiritual community. It was here that I first heard of Reiki. This Reiki thing sounded interesting to me and I wanted to help my family if I could, so I did some research. I visited a spiritual bookstore where I met the man who would become my Reiki Master. He recommended I read a book on Reiki, which I did, and it sounded absolutely magical. From there I booked a session with him. He put me on a massage table in a dark healing room with candles, crystals, and some sort of geometric shape hanging from the ceiling. When the master placed his hands on me, they were incredibly hot. When he placed his hands over my face, I saw energy swirling in my mind’s eye.
This was all very new to me…I wasn’t quite sure what took place that day, but I left with a knowing that something had happened (but still with a certain amount of skepticism). This was after all, about helping someone I cared about, so I booked myself into the next available class.
I went to class skeptical to say the least, yet hopeful that everything I had read and heard about Reiki was true. I did not have a spiritual background and certainly wasn’t ‘sensitive’ to energies (not in a way I was aware of anyway). I didn’t believe I had any special gifts as a healer. How could I go to class for a single day and leave with healing abilities? The other students in class seemed to be having these amazing, mystical experiences, but I didn’t feel much of anything, except for one point where my body felt warmer than it should have, given the weather conditions.
At the end of class, when it was time to practice on each other, I still felt nothing, but the people I practiced on all raved about how hot my hands were. I still wasn’t convinced. I actually left class that day unsure of whether I was a healer, or if I had just been had! In the days and weeks that followed, I received feedback and confirmations that it was indeed working. I practiced on willing family members, friends and co-workers…all of whom would report back to me that my hands felt like they were on fire, that their headaches had disappeared and many even started requesting healings.
There are many very good healing modalities to choose from, and I’ve sampled several of them, but the thing I like about Reiki is that we use something called an attunement to instantly activate (or maybe I should say re-activate) your healing abilities. An attunement is a ceremony performed by your Reiki Master using sacred symbols to align your energy field to the specific frequency of Reiki. A Reiki Master uses the attunement to ‘tune’ your frequency, much like we tuned our radios in the old days to find the correct channel, so to speak. Another metaphor I like to use is that it’s like flipping a light switch (except that we’re flipping your ‘healing switch’)…your healing abilities are literally activated from one minute to the next. That’s what makes Reiki unique and special…the attunement process ensures that anyone who has the desire can put their natural healing abilities to use.
Reiki certainly isn’t the only way to healing, but it is a very good way, and it will empower you to perform healing on yourself and others. Reiki heals on a physical, emotional and spiritual level so true and lasting healing can occur. Whatever modality you choose, if you have the slightest interest in healing, I implore you to find a class and give it a try because you’re already a healer, you just don’t know it yet. You just need a little guidance.
Jeff Donovan has been a student of energy since 1993, began studying Reiki in 2001 and received his Reiki Master’s certification in 2003 and has been teaching ever since. In addition to Reiki, Donovan has studied DNA Healing, Reconnective Healing, Crystal Healing and more. He teaches Reiki in person, but primarily through his home study course, www.HomeStudyReiki.com. He also performs free healings each month for all members of his Facebook page.
