get healthing in your inbox with the morning checkup and weekender newsletter!

alternative health

i didn't believe in reiki. and then i tried it

how does a skeptic of reiki — a kind of spiritual healing — become a practitioner?

by shannon moneo

published dec 05, 2022

last updated dec 06, 2022

6 minute read

join the conversation

6 minute read

join the conversation

reiki is form of healing based on the use of spiritual energy

reiki is based on the idea that each of us have an unseen life force energy flowing through us. getty

reiki. i’d heard of it, but it wasn’t until a friend told me about her experience did i get curious. i’m a skeptic, a questioner. anyone close to me is often frustrated by my suspicious nature. so i found it difficult to believe that when someone placed their hands on a body the result would be better sleep, less stress and even headache elimination. how could that be?

how could someone use just their hands to heal?

when i heard about a friend’s experience, my intrigue quotient rose even higher. she said she had entered a dreamlike state, shed tears and later felt rejuvenated after her reiki session with practitioner nichole broadbent.

a few months later, i was in broadbent’s reiki space in sooke, on vancouver island.

yes, the west coast, where all manner of alternative healing and spiritual practices flourish. we’ve got wiccans and plant spirit medicine practitioners, elemental chanters and psilocybin microdosers.

a usui reiki master teacher, broadbent had me complete a client intake form, asked me general questions about my health and what my intention was for the session. soon, i was lying on her table, face up, clothed and wondering if i would get my $90 worth.

what is reiki?

reiki is a spiritual healing practice where the practitioner places their hands in a prescribed fashion on defined body points — usually the seven chakras, our bodies’ energy centres: crown (top of the head), third eye (forehead between the eyes), throat, heart, solar plexus (upper abdomen), sacral (lower abdomen) and root (the base of the spine). other areas on the body, such as the knees and feet, are also used.

healing is based on the idea that each of us have an unseen life force energy flowing through us. we get mentally or physically sick or become stressed when that energy is low. if the life force energy is high, we’re high. reiki healing happens when the practitioner transfers reiki energy from their hands to the patient, with the energy going where it is needed.

the origins of reiki are not clear, but it’s believed reiki and its sacred symbols originated in tibet thousands of years ago. the modern-day revival occurred in the 1920s when mikao usui, a japanese man, while on a fasting retreat, experienced what could be called the activation of healing powers.

my first reiki session was extraordinary

usui went on to heal and pass his powers, notably to chujiro hayashi. hayashi then accepted hawayo takata as a student. the three are reiki’s modern-day guiding lights who went on to train many others.

but to be clear, reiki is not a religion. it is a spiritual practice.

my first reiki session with broadbent was extraordinary.

elements included a smudging with dried sage, where broadbent lit a stub of the herb and with her hands, directed the smoke over both herself and i as an energy cleansing and a guided meditation while chants, nature sounds and soft drumming filled the room. starting at the top of my head, within minutes i felt heat emanating from broadbent’s long-fingered, delicate hands. as she moved along the six other chakra points, there were distinct differences in what i felt. at my throat, there was vibration. at my sacral, intense heat. at times i got shock-like sensations. when she reached my feet, it felt like something flowed out of me.

after she “cut the cord,” in effect stopping the energy transfer, and passing palo santo (a fragrant central and south american tree) smoke over me, i felt wobbly, spaced-out, thirsty, as if i had taken a mind-altering substance. broadbent uses the smoke to lock in the good energy that flowed from our 60-minute session.

i wasn’t sure what the following days would bring, but as weeks passed, matters that once got me agitated or angry no longer bothered me. my sleep-time panic attacks stopped. a weekend glass of wine was no longer a priority.

those are reiki’s intents — to address the psyche and emotions. but it goes farther. broadbent had healed a woman dying in a hospital. regular clients come for the resulting peace and disappearance of stress-related ailments.

i had two more sessions with broadbent and when she asked if i’d like to learn the increasingly popular practice now being used in big city hospitals (including memorial sloan kettering cancer center, yale new haven hospital, johns hopkins hospital) and small-town wellness centres, i said yes.

over 12 hours on a saturday and sunday, two other students and i became usui level i reiki practitioners. anyone can learn — one doesn’t need to be born with special skills or traits. the only prerequisite is that one must be trained and then attuned by a teacher who has been attuned to the energy. during a highly spiritual, intense one hour, broadbent transferred the reiki energy to the three of us during individual attunements.

i began to practice on myself, not yet feeling confident enough to work on others. around the same time as my level 1 training, i had an ultrasound which revealed that i had several cysts, notably one on my pancreas. my doctor ordered a ct scan and it took half a year before the scan was done.

during those six months, i often did reiki on myself, focusing on my solar plexus or sacral chakras and sending energy to my pancreas and other organs. in september, an er doctor told me that my pancreas was clear — there were no signs of cysts. and though i credit reiki, it is not a substitute for medical testing and treatments, but instead, complements traditional care.

soon after, i performed reiki on my husband to address sciatica and back pain. he said it worked. my carpenter son was next. he needed healing for his finger. and while his session didn’t fully fix his injured digit, he noted how relaxed he felt.

in october, two fellow students and i took our usui level ii training over 12 hours, again on a saturday and sunday, again with broadbent. in level ii, three of reiki’s secret symbols are revealed and distance healing is taught.

during my level ii attunement, broadbent told me i am a medicine woman — somewhat fitting since i am métis. she also said i have much power flowing out of me.

i don’t know what my reiki future will bring. i have been asked to participate in a wellness fair that is held at the local first nation reserve, home of the t’sou-ke. this fall, i did a session with an indigenous friend who has dealt with numerous traumas. she told me she felt spaced-out for several days, but also that she’d had the best sleep in years after the session.

there remain mysteries that science hasn’t yet explained and for me, that is somewhat appropriate as i continue my reiki journey. there is always more to be revealed.

besides offering healing of either mind, body or soul, there are five reiki principles that when combined with the practice, could go a long way to healing more than merely the individual:

just for today, i will not get angry

just for today, i will not worry

just for today, i will be humble and give thanks for life’s many blessings

just for today, i will do my work honestly

just for today, i will be kind to all living things

shannon moneo is a vancouver island-based writer.

don’t miss a thing: sign-up for healthing’s newsletter

thank you for your support. if you liked this story, please send it to a friend. every share counts.

i didn't believe in reiki. and then i tried it

how does a skeptic of reiki — a kind of spiritual healing — become a practitioner?

how could someone use just their hands to heal?

what is reiki?

does mindfulness meditation really reduce pain?

asking for a friend: do you have to stay still to get the benefits of meditation?

my first reiki session was extraordinary

advertisement

i didn't believe in reiki. and then i tried it

how does a skeptic of reiki — a kind of spiritual healing — become a practitioner?

how could someone use just their hands to heal?

what is reiki?

related stories

does mindfulness meditation really reduce pain?

asking for a friend: do you have to stay still to get the benefits of meditation?

do i have an anxiety disorder?

advertisement

my first reiki session was extraordinary

advertisement

advertisement

advertisement

share story