Joanna’s Journey Into ‘Subtle Energies’ and Lovelight
Developing CFS/ME after a serious trauma led me into a very different world – that of holistic and complementary therapies. My journey began when I sought homeopathic treatment to assist my recovery from the illness.
I then became interested in various healing techniques, and bought a book on Pranic Healing, in which I dabbled a little. This led to my first experience of “sensing” subtle energy – at this point, this was limited to tingling in my hands.
I began learning Reiki in 2006 after receiving a session from a friend at work, and then a series of synchronicities, and have never looked back. It has changed my life. Reiki, crystals, hand mudras, tapping . . . I love them all and use them all daily. My healing toolkit-on-the-go! I am always learning, always growing, and will never stop. That's what Life is about!
I have obtained Diplomas through the School for Natural Health Sciences in: Acupressure, Crystal Healing, Flower Remedies, and Meridian Psychotherapy. I am also a Reiki Master in the Usui tradition, as well as in Kundalini Reiki and many others, although I no longer work professionally in this capacity as I have chosen to focus my "work time" on writing, editing, and publishing. :-)
I am the founder of The Calming Flush empowerment, The Hand Mudra empowerment, and the free Quartz Crystal Reiki Trilogy, which you can access and download here.
About Reiki
Basically, energy healing - of which Reiki is one form - accelerates or jump-starts the body's natural healing ability. It can never do harm, although sometimes a healing crisis may occur as energy moves more quickly and effectively through the body. This reaction (if there is one) varies from person to person. It's also important to note that healing in this context is not always the same as curing.
Sometimes it may appear that healing is not occurring. This may be because you have a "life lesson" to learn from having a particular condition, or because the energies are working on another level, with healing not yet apparent. In fact, the energies will be working on your mental and emotional 'bodies', bringing you insights, prompts, and ideas to help you to make the necessary changes. In general, chronic issues take longer to resolve, sometimes because you may need to adjust your mental or emotional thought patterns in order for physical healing to occur, or to be maintained.
Practitioners who give Reiki sessions or send it distantly (time/space is no object for Reiki) "channel" the life-force energy into their own energy systems and then onward to the client. Reiki is "intelligent" in that it knows where in the client's energy body it needs to go most (or first.) On receiving the energy, the client's energy system determines how to optimally utilise this extra energy. Hence the practitioner is never "the healer"; the client is. The term “Reiki Healer” is usually just used for convenience; most of us prefer the term “Reiki Practitioner.” We do not claim to heal. Just as we cannot live your life for you, we cannot “heal” or cure you. We create the space and opportunity for you to assist with your own healing.
I have realised that receiving healing from others is a big help, and I continue to be grateful to all who have sent, or still send, to me. However, at the end of the day, each of us needs to take responsibilty for our own health in the best way we can. I therefore encourage everyone to at least consider trying Reiki or other energy healing techniques (such as acupuncture, reflexology, or EFT/tapping.) True healing can only occur when you seek to balance your heart, your mind, and your body.
Sometimes it may appear that healing is not occurring. This may be because you have a "life lesson" to learn from having a particular condition, or because the energies are working on another level, with healing not yet apparent. In fact, the energies will be working on your mental and emotional 'bodies', bringing you insights, prompts, and ideas to help you to make the necessary changes. In general, chronic issues take longer to resolve, sometimes because you may need to adjust your mental or emotional thought patterns in order for physical healing to occur, or to be maintained.
Practitioners who give Reiki sessions or send it distantly (time/space is no object for Reiki) "channel" the life-force energy into their own energy systems and then onward to the client. Reiki is "intelligent" in that it knows where in the client's energy body it needs to go most (or first.) On receiving the energy, the client's energy system determines how to optimally utilise this extra energy. Hence the practitioner is never "the healer"; the client is. The term “Reiki Healer” is usually just used for convenience; most of us prefer the term “Reiki Practitioner.” We do not claim to heal. Just as we cannot live your life for you, we cannot “heal” or cure you. We create the space and opportunity for you to assist with your own healing.
I have realised that receiving healing from others is a big help, and I continue to be grateful to all who have sent, or still send, to me. However, at the end of the day, each of us needs to take responsibilty for our own health in the best way we can. I therefore encourage everyone to at least consider trying Reiki or other energy healing techniques (such as acupuncture, reflexology, or EFT/tapping.) True healing can only occur when you seek to balance your heart, your mind, and your body.
How Reiki Feels To Me
In September 2012, I joined a local Writers' Circle. Each fortnight we read our stories or poems aloud to the other members of the Group. One of the themes for our second November meeting was 'SEE YOU'.
Well, as soon as I saw those words, I remembered the movie, AVATAR - and the piece I wrote flowed from there. I was compelled to write about a recent experience of offering in-person Reiki to my co-author, Ron, when he and his wife spent a few hours with my husband and me.
Not knowing how the other members of the Group would react to my 'story' was nerve-racking, and I was tempted not to read it! But I had to follow my instincts, needed to share my authentic self on this small, public stage. Below, I share the words with you as I did with them.
After all my concerns, I discovered that the Group contained another healer, who said I had put into words what she had never been able to. Several members were interested in finding out more about Reiki! Others said they loved my account because it helped them understand Reiki more clearly - they had heard of it, but had never been told about it in a way they could understand or feel part of.
I was astounded by the positive feedback and warmth I received! The risk had been worth it. :-)
Well, as soon as I saw those words, I remembered the movie, AVATAR - and the piece I wrote flowed from there. I was compelled to write about a recent experience of offering in-person Reiki to my co-author, Ron, when he and his wife spent a few hours with my husband and me.
Not knowing how the other members of the Group would react to my 'story' was nerve-racking, and I was tempted not to read it! But I had to follow my instincts, needed to share my authentic self on this small, public stage. Below, I share the words with you as I did with them.
After all my concerns, I discovered that the Group contained another healer, who said I had put into words what she had never been able to. Several members were interested in finding out more about Reiki! Others said they loved my account because it helped them understand Reiki more clearly - they had heard of it, but had never been told about it in a way they could understand or feel part of.
I was astounded by the positive feedback and warmth I received! The risk had been worth it. :-)
SEE YOU
With a light touch, my fingers come to rest upon your shoulders. I notice the hatched weave of your cotton shirt, the warmth of your skin radiating from beneath.
I close my eyes.
My breathing slows as I switch on my connection to the Reiki energy. The air above my crown seems to stretch and open, the Reiki pouring in as though through a funnel. I feel its weight as it settles there, its presence as tangible as any hat. It is comforting, familiar, my reassurance that the connection is open.
The energy sinks lower, into the aura which surrounds my physical body. The skin on my face warms, and tingles softly, then my upper body accepts the energy. Within seconds of making the connection, my body is suffused with a pleasant light buzzing sensation, a bloom of warmth so that I feel like I’m glowing inside.
I feel the tingling warmth flow from my hands into your shoulders. I’m barely touching you, yet the strength of sensation is staggering. Like water running through a hose, the energy pours through me, pulled inwards by your own aura. There is an intermittent pulsing as you draw more Reiki through me, increasing the energy flow and heating my hands still further. "Relax,” I think, and a heartfelt soft sigh escapes you.
I am deeply peaceful, only vaguely aware of sound, touch, scent, and the gentle power pulsing through me. I am a conduit, a connector; my mind is soft and allowing and open, and thought is stilled. As my hands move and scan within your energy field, I find a hot, prickly area. I focus there, an image of knotted spheres appearing in my inner vision. I hold my heated palm there until the spiky feeling softens and dissolves, then both hands move intuitively as I chase the pain from one area to the next, from elbow to forearm.
Now, one hand resting lightly upon your wrist, the other close to your fingertips, it feels as though a wash of cool air is breathed across my open palm. You feel the change in the air too, and remark upon it. The breeze continues, cool and refreshing. The pain is shifting, reducing, clearing.
Geometric patterns have been flickering like Catherine Wheels behind my eyelids - energy made visible; I knew better than to focus on them lest they disappear. They spin and twirl, delicate filigrees of light. The outside world remains soft and blurred; all I am is this moment of flow. All I am is sensing and guiding and clearing. All I am is energy.
There is no me; no you; no them. There is no separation. There is only awareness of this energy and this connection.
“I see you”, I think, remembering the phrase from the Avatar movie.
In time, the flow of energy slows to a trickle, then stops, and I return to the world of the five senses. I am slightly dazed, as though waking after a deep sleep. My hands feel heavily fuzzy; they need cleansing, washing with cool water. You have taken the healing you needed, and your pain has gone. It’s time for a cup of tea!
Copyright 2012 Joanna Gawn
I close my eyes.
My breathing slows as I switch on my connection to the Reiki energy. The air above my crown seems to stretch and open, the Reiki pouring in as though through a funnel. I feel its weight as it settles there, its presence as tangible as any hat. It is comforting, familiar, my reassurance that the connection is open.
The energy sinks lower, into the aura which surrounds my physical body. The skin on my face warms, and tingles softly, then my upper body accepts the energy. Within seconds of making the connection, my body is suffused with a pleasant light buzzing sensation, a bloom of warmth so that I feel like I’m glowing inside.
I feel the tingling warmth flow from my hands into your shoulders. I’m barely touching you, yet the strength of sensation is staggering. Like water running through a hose, the energy pours through me, pulled inwards by your own aura. There is an intermittent pulsing as you draw more Reiki through me, increasing the energy flow and heating my hands still further. "Relax,” I think, and a heartfelt soft sigh escapes you.
I am deeply peaceful, only vaguely aware of sound, touch, scent, and the gentle power pulsing through me. I am a conduit, a connector; my mind is soft and allowing and open, and thought is stilled. As my hands move and scan within your energy field, I find a hot, prickly area. I focus there, an image of knotted spheres appearing in my inner vision. I hold my heated palm there until the spiky feeling softens and dissolves, then both hands move intuitively as I chase the pain from one area to the next, from elbow to forearm.
Now, one hand resting lightly upon your wrist, the other close to your fingertips, it feels as though a wash of cool air is breathed across my open palm. You feel the change in the air too, and remark upon it. The breeze continues, cool and refreshing. The pain is shifting, reducing, clearing.
Geometric patterns have been flickering like Catherine Wheels behind my eyelids - energy made visible; I knew better than to focus on them lest they disappear. They spin and twirl, delicate filigrees of light. The outside world remains soft and blurred; all I am is this moment of flow. All I am is sensing and guiding and clearing. All I am is energy.
There is no me; no you; no them. There is no separation. There is only awareness of this energy and this connection.
“I see you”, I think, remembering the phrase from the Avatar movie.
In time, the flow of energy slows to a trickle, then stops, and I return to the world of the five senses. I am slightly dazed, as though waking after a deep sleep. My hands feel heavily fuzzy; they need cleansing, washing with cool water. You have taken the healing you needed, and your pain has gone. It’s time for a cup of tea!
Copyright 2012 Joanna Gawn
