by Debby Gaines

My experience of being a Reiki practitioner and teacher is not only about creating space for healing during Reiki sessions.  It is also about staying in touch with my path here on Earth, connecting to other like-minded individuals, and keeping my faith during challenging times.

I received my first Reiki session from Gretta Anderson, in her home.  At that point, I had never heard of Reiki but I was open to trying it since my mom bought me a session.  I remember that during my time on the table, my throat felt a little tight, then I started seeing some colors, right before I moved into a relaxed state.  Later that day I realized the pain in my lower back was gone.  I have a chronic dull aching pain that comes and goes depending on how much lifting I do at work.  Anytime I reinjured my back, I made another appointment with Gretta and experienced the same relief.

About a year after my first session with Gretta, my best friend asked me to take a Reiki class with her.  I thought it would be a nice way to spend a day together but was pretty adamant that I was not planning on doing Reiki on other people.  I would learn it to help my daughter and myself. 

I began to use Reiki on my daughter to help her sleep at night.  Because Virginia is mostly non-verbal, doing Reiki on her proved very valuable. I began to feel different senses in my body that connected me to what was happening in Virginia’s body.  I sensed that there was hardened concrete in my stomach when I was working on my daughter’s gut.  She had undiagnosed Celiac disease at the time.  We later found out that her cilia were not functioning properly due to her eating gluten and that her bowels were unable to move anything through them on their own.  Doing Reiki on Virginia helped me explain how she was feeling to her doctors.  I was hooked. 

During the next few years, I continued my Reiki journey, taking Reiki II and Advanced Reiki Training with Colleen Helgerson.  As I became more committed to my spiritual life, I began to connect to the true calling of my soul.  I went back to school to get my M.F.A. in Writing and Consciousness, writing for social change.  I also deepened my Reiki practice by taking the Master Teacher Training so that I could give attunements to students and provide a space for others to begin their journeys.  I love meeting other like-minded people who are ready to find their own connection to the Reiki energy.

When giving Reiki sessions, Reiki practitioners become a channel for Universal love and healing.  The more Reiki we have going through us, the easier it is to connect to love and compassion for others.  Not only is the Reiki energy helpful to the person on the table, but it is also opening for the person giving Reiki.