Reiki III training.

"I know that Language" by Ashley Foreman

When I began my journey with Reiki, I never intended on going all-the-way. Before I began Level I, to be honest, I was terrified. I had no idea what it was! Based on a conversation I was having with a yoga instructor, she suggested I look into Reiki. So I did. Before my first Reiki healing session, I had SO MUCH anxiety—my heart was pounding and I was sweating. Seriously. This fear is still something I'm investigating, as it seems to come up whenever the next step in my spiritual evolution presents itself… It has nothing to do with Reiki. Reiki is purely loving and always works toward the highest good. This fear is something of my own that I need to work through.

Once I got comfortable with the idea of Reiki, Level II was what intrigued me most, and that's all I really had interest in. Going any further than that frightened me, and I reassured myself that I never had to go any further if I didn't want to.

But as time has progressed, and my relationship with Reiki has expanded, I find myself wanting to keep going. In August 2011 I received a remote attunement to the level III energy.

This is something I wrote about the remote attunement experience. For some reason or another, it hasn't felt right to share it here until now:

As far as Reiki goes, I've been continuously been working on allowing the energy to flow through me—to BE reiki. I really turned up the volume on my self healing sessions and am working with the energy in a much more dedicated way. There was a woman who came to me through various online links who offered a remote level 3 attunement. She sent me the manual to read over. When it arrived I felt a sort of nervousness come over me that made me question if I was ready or not. I meditated on it for a few days before replying to her.

Just through reading the manual I began feeling Reiki more strongly than before, and I was reminded that Reiki is nothing to be afraid of. Nor is anything Reiki will present into my life. I had been afraid of being lead down a path that I wasn't ready to follow. But I've never yet been led astray by Reiki, and I know it only has my highest good in mind… so to speak. So, last Wednesday I had the attunement, remotely. We scheduled it to be received at 7pm.

What a beautiful and loving experience it was. I began feeling Reiki energy at 6:24, I just finished the work-related project, and set it aside, and began the intention to prepare for receiving the attunement. As I set the intention, I could feel my body filling and emanating Reiki. My third eye softened, and my sense of self began to dissolve.

I listened to my intuition about where and how to prepare myself and my surroundings. I chose to be sitting on my bed, lit a candle, drank some water leaving some in the glass. I lit some sage and collected some crystals and a cluster of earth from my altar to join me.

Sitting in meditation there was a sensation of being surrounded by non-physical entities. As if they gathered in a circle, and I was in the center. They were eager and excited to be part of this process, and I sensed gratitude from them that I was listening and aware of them in that moment, as well as their prior efforts in guiding me toward this moment.

I was guided to go upstairs to get a photo of my mom that I had printed that morning for the purpose of sending Reiki. As I did so my boyfriend wished me well and expressed his support of the attunement process. All the while my kitty followed me around the house, purring.

Once back on my bed I sat for another few minutes before receiving the attunement.

At 7 exactly I followed the instructions of breathing evenly for 4 counts in and out 5 times, then recited the words I received from the Reiki master. I felt an orb of light circle my body then surround it in a warm glowing energy. The circle of non-physical entities joined me inside the orb and held up their hands as if radiating energy toward me.

I felt a slow-moving vortex of energy begin at my base and rise through my lower body. I felt my crown chakra soften and open to allow in all energy that was available there for the attunement. There was warmth on the back of my head, as if someone's hand was there.

I sensed a glowing tube running through by body from my base to the crown chakra. I acknowledged it, then wondered what it was. It began filling slowly from the bottom up, with glowing liquid light. At the top, it began to overflow out of the tube, and into the rest of my body. I tingled all over and began feeling my throat chakra, then my heart, then my third chakra. Another vortex of energy came, but it felt different—more… puffy? for lack of a better word. It was more squishy and soft than the first. This one was upside down, widest around my chest, then the vortex was above my head pulling up. As the sensation of the vortex faded, I began to feel more of my body. I sat a little while longer to still myself and center again.

Before the attunement, since the move (present time note: I moved a month earlier and was still adjusting), I've felt as if my heart was a dense rock. Though during the attunement I had a vision of that dense rock expanding, cracking and glowing with more and more light until the dense rock was melted away. Since then I've felt much more alive and open to life.

The attunement itself was more intense than any of the others (Levels I and II) that I had received, and throughout the following year I experienced the most profound healing ever in my lifetime.

Level I deals with healing on the physical level.
Level II deals with healing on the mental and emotional levels.
Level III deals with spiritual healing.

I really had no idea what was meant by spiritual healing. My physical, mental and emotional bodies are tangible to me. I've been able to experience them directly, so I felt comfortable going into those healing processes. Before this attunement, my spiritual self had been something unknown and elusive—something I was unaware of consciously. 

Now, it's a little challenging to put words onto what I mean exactly by spiritually healing… but I'll give it a try. Based on what I'm experiencing, it seems as though my spiritual body is being repaired— any energetic blockages that are in the way of free-flowing energy seem to be making themselves known to me, then what I do with the knowledge of them orients their healing process…

Many times (at least at first—this seems to be getting easier) I resist and ignore and deny that there's even anything going on until it's SO LOUD that I just can't ignore it anymore and am forced to look at it, and say "Okay, yes, you exist… " Then from there it seems to quiet down and we can have a friendly conversation about what's going on… and often heal the misunderstanding that created the separation.

I can totally understand how cryptic that reads… but, it really does seem like there's a conversation going on between different aspects of me. There's the ego me, which seems tangible—like the part of me that identifies with the physical, emotional and mental bodies… then there's the spiritual me, which is so much more than the ego me… Sometimes I can see it as a parent/child relationship… The ego is often in the child role and the spirit is often in the parent role.

In writing all this, I'm prompted to investigate a little more about WHAT is actually healing when I think of a spiritual healing, and in thinking more about it, doesn't feel like it's my spiritual body that's healing—the "parent" or "spirit" part of me that I speak of really doesn't need it… It seems to be connected to the unified beingness of all totallity… So, the healing that is taking place is more like a unification between the ego and the spirit—like, when I'm being loudly spoken to about something that needs my attention, it's often about a gap between ego and spirit. THAT is what needs to be brought into consciousness and healed. That gap needs to be sealed.

So, this is what I've been dealing with this past year. At first it was amazingly difficult. Ten days after the attunement my mother passed away, so I'm sure that added dramatically to the healing process that has been taking place.

Of course, now that the huge obvious gaps between ego & spirit have been healing, I'm prompted to take another step. So, three weeks ago I began a 9-week Reiki Master/Teacher training course, and it is indeed holding my hand as I travel a little further down the Reiki rabbit hole.

Each week so far we have focused on healing the chakras. The first week was the Root (chakra 1). The second week was the Sacral (chakra 2). And this week we're working on balancing the Solar Plexus (chakra 3). Next week will be the Heart (chakra 4), then we receive our attunement on week 5.

This will be my second Usui Level III Reiki attunement. ALL of my attunements so far have been amazing. And, in mentioning that I must say that it's so interesting for me to notice lately what happens when I put expectations on things… Either they don't happen, or they're disappointing—EVERY TIME lately. So, I really need to let of of any idea of anything spectacular happening at any time in my future, for any reason. Or… maybe it's THIS expectation of things failing that needs to be let go of… maybe both? Couldn't hurt.

Anyway, moving on…
While working on Chakra 3 this week I've scheduled a past-life regression. This is something I've been guided strongly to do lately, and the Reiki master teaching us is a hypnotist who can do this with me. I have absolutely no idea what will come up (if anything) during the regression session, but I have some intentions set for some of the gaps between ego and spirit that could use some healing. And that fear thing, I'd like to get that out of the way. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens! (read more about the past life regression)