Tara and me

The start of this Summer had not been how I had expected, in April I had to have a major operation which took the wind out of my sails. For the first few weeks I was bed ridden which was something that I found very difficult to cope with. It was during this time that I was  able  to reflect on my own Reiki Practice. I decided to use my time in a positive way, I had all of the time in the world to read Reiki books and to do self healing. I started with The Reiki Sourcebook which I have to say is a good place to start for any Reiki beginner. I learnt so much more about Mikao Usui and the type of person he was, who he met and how his Reiki journey began. The Reiki Sourcebook chronological history of Reiki was fascinating and demystifying of so many misconceptions about Reiki. It explained beautifully how Reiki in the West was very different from the way Mikao first taught Reiki at the beginning of the centuary.

I have had a lot of time to reflect on the Five Precepts too and to think how I was living my life and how important it was to live ‘for today only; ‘ living in this very moment in time I  started not worrying about yesterday or tomorrow. I was able to get through my days where the precepts became no longer targets to be reached but became absorbed into each of my actions, their influence on my thoughts becoming automatic. I made sure I had a copy of them, which I could meditate on and I also placed copies around my home so I could focus on them on a regular basis. The precept which I found hardest to meditate on was ‘for today only, I will not worry’ as I was worried about taking time off from my job. By living in this very moment in time I was able to let any memories or worries of work be a fleeting thought and let the worry float over me.

Having had my big operation, this was the perfect opportunity for  my self healing to be a big part of my life. To self heal I feel, is taking responsibility for everything that happens at all levels to my body, mind and heart. To self heal is my inborn ability which  should be an important part of any daily Reiki Practice. Each day since my operation I have spent half an hour daily giving myself a self treatment. It has also been a time when I have been able to look at what I eat, drink and how I live my life. I have enjoyed being reflective and having the time to spend being kind to  myself has been wonderful. I have also been lucky to receive Reiki which has been sent to me from other Reiki Practitioner.

My sister came to visit me too, which was lovely as she lives in Ireland and we usually only get to meet once a year. We had a lovely time and enjoyed lots of laughs and hugs. I used our time together to practice attunements. The energy created was beautiful. What I found most interesting was that my older dog Megan, who does not usually like reiki would not leave the room when I was practising my attunements. She infact sat under the chair soaking up as much energy as possible, my other dog Tara loves  Reiki and is definitely a Reiki sponge.

The weeks have flown by and I am due to go back to work soon, although having an operation had been a set back. Having the time at home with my dogs and family has been so precious to me. I feel so lucky to have been able to go back to the basics with  my Reiki and feel so much better for it. I went to Remus last week where I was able to offer Reiki to people at their open day to raise money for the animals. It was the final jigsaw in my Reiki Practice where I was able to get out and meet people and the animals and to feel part of the world around me. Reiki is an amazing gift which I am truly grateful for.