I was a year into my counseling program, sitting through a weekend workshop on trauma. The room suddenly felt a little too warm, I felt like I couldn't get a good breath, I needed a break, I was fidgeting with my pen. The subject matter was intense and it was made worse as I was realizing there was a name for the things I had been minimizing my entire life... it's easy to do as women. We are told it's normal to be in pain each month, we are told it's probably anxiety, we feel like we can't take a sick day because we have to keep up... and I was beginning to connect the dots, finally. The thing I had never been able to pinpoint about my experience actually had a clinical term written down in textbooks: Medical Trauma.

This was a revelation.

I was suddenly not alone. My experience mirrors that of so many of us across the globe. At the break, I slipped out into the hallway and watched the snow fall outside the double doors. My heart was pounding. This sudden influx of new information was both terrifying and comforting. I heard my name being called and turned to find my friend, Jess.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked and before I could answer she smiled and said, "I want to try a reiki session on you. I think it would really help you."

I wasn't sure I understood what Reiki entailed. Energy healing sounded nice but far fetched and didn't seem to belong in the world I had grown up in: the Evangelical Christian Church.

"I want to know more about it," was all I could get out before we were being called back into the auditorium.

Jess put her hand on my shoulder as we turned to find our seats, "trust me, you'll love it," she said.

Looking back on that conversation and the reiki energy healing session that I scheduled with her a few weeks later, I am struck by that fact that I already knew and trusted her. Had my first session been with someone I didn't really know, I might have never gone back it. Jess was actually the one who taught me level 1 and 2 to become a Reiki practitioner.

The truth is, Energy Healing can be done with anyone and over great distances. However, trusting someone to help you hold the space long enough to help correct your flow of energy is a different story.

My first reiki energy healing experience:

It was a few weeks later. I had been peppering Jess with questions about reiki and energy healing. She was enthusiastic in her answers. My first session was in the evening. It was a distance session. She called me on the phone and we talked about what was going to happen. I laid down on my bed and she guided me into a deeply relaxed, meditative state. She said she was going to hand up and get to work and that she's text me when she was finished so we could talk about the experience. She assured me it was fine to let myself fall asleep.

I was relaxed the entire time. Probably more relaxed than I had been in a very long time. But I never fell asleep. In fact, I could feel where she was focusing on me the entire time. I saw colors and memories came up. I felt cold air coming out of the side of my Solar Plexus Chakra and a force of wind rushing out of the bottoms of my feet. It was a gentle experience. I was calm and unafraid the whole time. But I was deeply curious about what she was doing. When we talked after, she walked me through each of my chakras and talked about which ones were strong and which were struggling and where she withdrew stagnant energy: My solar plexus and root. I was amazed. I felt all of it. And I slept so well that night. The next day and for a few days after, I felt like my body was still releasing things it no longer needed. I felt lighter and more in touch with myself. I was in a lot less physical pain.

After one reiki energy healing session, I was hooked. I could not stop talking about it and I had to figure out how to continue doing this for myself and every single person I know. It was that good.

These days, I am a Reiki Master Practitioner. If you are curious about reiki, I would love to work with you.