How Reiki Taught Me Trust by Gulara Vincent Reiki found me one Tuesday evening in late February 2009. I saw a leaflet on the windowsill of my Tai-chi teacher’s class at the Buddhist Centre in Birmingham. There was a taster session the next evening and on an impulse I decided to attend it. The next evening, I walked in the vicinity of the Health Centre in King’s Heath without any luck. I couldn’t find the right building in the dark. Disappointed, I came home. Wasn’t meant to be, I decided. Except when I saw leaflets advertising Reiki 1 a week later, I was drawn to it like a moth to the light. I had no idea what Reiki was, but couldn’t resist signing up for the class anyway. I remember the night before my Reiki 1 training, a housemate who had Reiki initiation a few years earlier said: ‘Are you sure you’re ready for this?’ ‘What is there to be ready for?’ I felt puzzled by her concerns. It didn’t take me long to find out. Reiki seemed to have created some energetic sweep clean in my whole system, helping me to release some outdated beliefs and offering comfort and nurture at a time in my life when I often felt lonely and lost. It also unlocked my gifts as a healer. I was so enthusiastic about sharing the Reiki magic that I wanted to put my hands on anyone who was willing to receive the healing. One day, I was with my friend in my office. At the time I was a PhD student in law at the University of Birmingham. My friend was a complete non-believer in any alternative therapies. I put my hands on her temples and the energy flowed and pulsed with heat and intensity. After a few minutes, she removed one of my hands and checked its temperature. ‘But your hand is not hot,’ she looked puzzled. ‘I tell you this works!’ I felt so excited that she could feel the flow of energy that when I put my hands back on, I willed even more energy to come through. I was very keen to convince her. A few days later, I shared this incident with Kate Jones, my Reiki Master. ‘Gulara, you can’t command Reiki to flow stronger,’ she said smiling, ‘whatever needs to be given will be given, and whatever needs to be received will be received.’ Those words have become my mantra for over 15 years now. I apply it to everything I do, including my healing sessions with clients. When I teach healing methods, I always quote Kate to support my students in surrendering and trusting the process. When I write my books and worry about what to include and what to leave out, I often say to myself: ‘Whatever needs to be given will be given. Whatever needs to be received will be received.’ I didn’t know that what this mantra taught me was to trust. I’m forever grateful for Kate’s teachings and her Reiki treatments, especially in relation to my writing journey. Reiki helped me to heal so many of the stories I have included in my second memoir Fragile Freedom. You can find out more here: www.gularavincent.co.uk/blog/fragile-freedom

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