Reiki and Recovery

Reigniting the Flame: Reiki and Recovery

“My name is Lynn, my pronouns are “she/her,” and I live on the traditional territory of the
Bay Miwok People;  also known as the San Francisco East Bay Area.  I’m in recovery
from an alcohol use disorder, anxiety, lack-mentality, divorce, childhood trauma, and
autoimmunity.”

That’s how I introduce myself at the beginning of She Recovers Foundation Online
Gatherings, where I frequently coach / facilitate. I mention this, because my Reiki Story
begins with a She Recovers Gathering Zoom meeting, just over two years ago.  It was
there that I met Coach Andrea Bernstein, who was facilitating while I was the meeting
Co-Host.  Andrea announced to the participants in the group that she was going to be
offering a Wednesday afternoon healing get-together to practice something called “Self-
Reiki”.  I had heard of reiki, but didn’t think much of it.  To me, reiki had appeared made-
up, like people waving their hands around in the air and pretending to be healers.  But
there was something different about Andrea.  She was a respected Coach and licensed
therapist, and I thought, “well, if Andrea thinks there is something to this, maybe I
should try it!”

I attended the following Wednesday over Zoom, and it was just me, Andrea and her
dear mother Nancy, whom I have grown to call my ‘Reiki Mom.’  Andrea guided us
through the various hand positions using a reiki timer, and gently explained that all I had
to do was relax and “let the reiki flow.”  Mind you, I was not attuned at the time, of
course, and had no idea what I was doing, but it felt like this was something Spirit was
guiding me to do, and I trusted the process.

Within a few minutes, I felt totally different.  I felt relaxed, energized, mentally more
clear, and when my hands moved to my lower abdomen area, I could actually FEEL my
organs shifting around slightly in my body!  I said to myself, “WOW! This stuff is REAL!”
And I was hooked. I went back every week for 3 weeks, and then started seeking local
in-person reiki training.  In my Google search of my community area, I found a class that
was upcoming the next month in Danville, California.  Chellie and Mike Kammermeyer
of Inner Compass Reiki were teaching.  I signed up for their newsletter, and then after
meeting them online, signed up for Reiki 1 and 2: Holy Fire III classes.

That was one of the best decisions I have ever made.  I loved the classes, and made a
couple of friends that I have kept in touch with from that cohort.  Chellie and Mike are
genuine, engaging teachers that meet everyone just where they are, in a warm,
welcoming way.  I was lucky to find them for my first reiki training experience. I
immediately felt the warm tingle in my hands and experienced visualizations beyond my
wildest imagination. Reiki was flowing that weekend, and I felt the humbling power of
healing hands in myself and the other students. I knew that there had been a dramatic
shift in my life and I would be walking this path from that point forward.

I continued my reiki practice on myself and my family for several months. I loved
engaging with the system of reiki and wanted more opportunities to practice and share.
Andrea and I decided that we should join up and create our own group offering for our
sisters in various forms of recovery.  We started a Facebook group for women and non-
binary individuals in various forms of recovery who wanted to learn and use reiki,
mindfulness, meditation and other energy work (sound healing, yoga, etc.) as tools to
maintain their recovery path.  Our Facebook group is not formally affiliated with AA, 12-
step, She Recovers, or any other recovery program, (though we certainly welcome all
pathways to recovery). The group is designed to be a place where one can learn or
share places in their lives they need support, and how reiki and energy practices are
showing up for them. For more than a year, Andrea and I have been offering free
monthly reiki gatherings the second Sunday of every month at 4 PM Pacific Time, where
we hold space to join in practice and participate with the group. The reiki share typically
includes basic instruction in a self reiki practice, a guided meditation, reciting of the
Gokai / principles, and information on where one can learn more about reiki training and
mindfulness, if interested.

My experience with using reiki for my recovery support has been encouraging and
dynamic. It has allowed me to remember to slow down, reset, and restore myself when
I’m feeling anxious and stressed,  instead of responding to stressful situations in
unhealthy ways.  It’s easy to take 10 minutes to lie down, or perhaps  just sit where I
am, and engage with reiki energy, connecting back to Source.  This provides me with
time for my anxiousness to settle, moving from my sympathetic to my parasympathetic
nervous system;  responding, rather than reacting to emotional or mental triggers that
pull me off my course.  Reiki “attunes” me to the present moment, helping me to
remember who I am and what my values are. Engaging in Reiki practice helps to bring
me closer to my values each time I recite the principles.  When I’m feeling anxious, I
mindfully chant “just for today, do not get angry, do not worry, be grateful…” which puts
me in a non-defensive mindset changing the way that I interact with others and my
environment.  Reiki practice helps redirect me from impulse buying, disordered eating,
or other behaviors I want to avoid, as I remember that I’m already whole and complete;
I’m not lacking anything. I look around me and can see things as they really are.  Using

grounding breathwork and placement of hands where my body is hurting (physically or
emotionally,) reiki helps me immediately begin to relax and remember that true
happiness is found in connecting with others authentically; that there is no “Other.”
Reiki highlights our Oneness with Creation/Creator, and as part of the Oneness, I lack
for nothing.  Reiki not only helps us to “clear out” things that are no longer serving us,
but gives us “agency” in making choices as to HOW we will heal and integrate all the
parts of ourselves.  As I like to say, “reiki returns us to our original factory settings.”
Reiki has also helped me by reminding me of the light within, the gentle holy fire that I
can offer humans, animals, or our Mother Gaia: whoever needs relief from suffering.
When meeting others, I present myself in a more calm, open and spacious manner,
being more authentic and accessible. This puts those around me at ease and increases
the quality of personal and professional relationships.  Reiki practice has changed the
way that I work, the way that I engage with others, and the way that I respond to others
when conflicts arise. Before reiki, I historically was quick to engage in arguments, trying
to prove my point or prove my worth, looking for outside validation. I would become
defensive when I felt attacked or slighted. Reiki reminds me to keep my focus on my
path, follow my vocational calling humbly and authentically, and to be kind to all. The
quality of my work is more consistent and mindful. I no longer feel the need to prove
myself or be validated by others. I  am interconnected and intertwined with all of life and
can respond to other’s needs from a place of Love. I recover with reiki by letting go of all
the “shoulds,” releasing the expectations that I tell myself others have of me, and
restoring my rootedness in harmony with the planet.

My health has changed for the better since I began practicing reiki, another way that I
am “in recovery.” As someone who has several auto-immune conditions and other
physical challenges, I’ve felt like I have been in a battle with my body most of my adult
life.  Reiki hasn’t magically made the arthritis in my knees disappear – (shucks) – or
removed my thyroid condition, but it has changed the way that I feel about these
challenges, and delivers peace and hopefulness that everything is just as it should be.
I’m able to manage the frustrations I have with my perceived “imperfections” by a gentle
self-compassionate reiki touch. Additionally, I notice that my mind and heart are more
flexible in terms of processing emotions, which helps maintain lower blood pressure and
physical equilibrium.  I remember to step back, tune in to reiki energy, and go with the
flow.

Lastly, reiki has helped me to recover a relationship with the Divine. My reiki practice
has provided opportunities to learn from a handful of wise teachers who have opened
me to a wide variety of spiritual experiences. By recovering my true Self and knowing
who I am, I have found that reiki is a system that mirrors the power of limitless love and
possibility.  Reiki has restored my belief in a universe that wants me to succeed and is
willing to support me in reaching my goals. Reiki has led me to increased ways to

connect with Spirit, through volunteering and service to various populations. I look
forward to time spent alone in meditation and prayer, listening to the still, small voice of
Spirit, guiding me home to the warm, bright light surrounding me with wholeness.