My Reiki Origin Story

The Session That Changed Everything

I want to start this monthly series with the story of how Reiki found me. I say it that way because I wasn't looking for it.

It was 2000, and I signed up for a massage at Burke Williams Spa that happened to include Reiki. I didn't know much about energy work at the time. A friend told me to try it and said it was interesting. It turned out to be far more than interesting.

When my massage therapist, Arthur Speck, finished the session, I sat straight up and said, "I need to know how to do that." I had never experienced anything like it. The relaxation went so deep it felt otherworldly.

Arthur told me that in all his years, no one had ever sat up after a session and said those words to him. Then he told me something that changed my life. He was a Reiki Master, and he was planning to teach a class as soon as enough people signed up. I told him to count me in.

Searching for Answers

While I waited, I searched everywhere for books on Reiki. This was before Amazon existed, so I went to every mainstream bookstore and then every alternative bookstore I could find. I came up with fewer than five books. I read every one of them, even when I didn't fully understand what I was reading.

Then something unexpected happened.

Even before I received my first attunement, I began noticing warm sensations in my hands. At the time, I didn't know what to make of it, but it certainly captured my attention.

My First Reiki Training

One day Arthur called. The class was ready to begin, and it turned out I was the only student.

He taught me the traditional Usui method and began with Reiki I. My instructions were simple but disciplined. I was to practice self-Reiki every day for 30 consecutive days. Beyond that, I treated friends and family with Reiki and kept a notebook documenting every session. I have no idea where that notebook is today, but I believe Arthur had me complete somewhere between 30 and 50 practice sessions before moving forward.

Looking back, I realize he wasn't simply teaching techniques. He was teaching me how to become a Reiki practitioner through consistent practice and experience.

When Reiki Became Real

Every session was different.

With some people, I could physically feel what was happening in their bodies. With others, I sensed what they were carrying emotionally or mentally. Some simply fell into the deepest sleep they had experienced in years.

After each session, I shared what I had noticed, and every time the person confirmed that what I had experienced matched what they were going through. Even today, I find that remarkable.

The Next Step

I couldn't wait for my Reiki II attunement, which came about three months later. Once I completed it, Arthur told me I had everything I needed to practice Reiki, both in person and at a distance. He also encouraged me to wait until I truly felt called before pursuing the Master level.

Several years passed before that call came.

By then, I could no longer find Arthur. I still think about him and wonder how he is doing. I hope he knows how grateful I am because he changed the course of my life.

Being introduced to Reiki opened my intuition in ways I never imagined. It happened quietly at first, then all at once, like a door that had been unlocked long before anyone thought to turn the handle.

I call 2002 my miracle year. It was the year I finally walked through that door and discovered I was already in flow, already in alignment, as though some part of me had been waiting there all along.

That is a story for another time.

Looking back, I realize Reiki did not simply teach me a healing practice. It awakened something that had quietly been waiting within me. I didn't know it then, but that first session at Burke Williams was the beginning of a journey that continues more than twenty-five years later.

I look forward to sharing more of that journey with you in future articles.