May You Be Comforted

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May You Be Comforted

Kate Jones • 20 December 2023

Wishing you Comfort and Joy at Christmas

I have found 2023 a tough year and I expect there are few people reading this who have not faced challenges and difficulties this year. It might be personal or family health problems, financial stress, loss and bereavement, concern for those struggling in our communities and of course the suffering in the areas of the world where there is war and the effects of climate change. This year more than ever, finding myself struggling, I have learned about the importance of being able to give ourselves comfort in a health way and been grateful for the comfort brought by my Reiki practice.

I have learned through experience this year that when we face difficulties, being comforted helps us to move forwards by restoring a sense of calm and centredness, allowing our bodies to shift from a stressful state to a more comfortable, resting state. People have many ways of finding comfort, some less healthy, such as alcohol, over-eating or screen addiction which are all about numbing to our feelings. Thankfully Reiki is quite the opposite! It helps us to return to a restful state while not avoiding what is being felt.

Difficulties showed up in my life in many ways in the past year. I have been struggling with complex grief following several bereavements and the distruption brought by the Covid pandemic, dealing with probate of mother’s estate and being frustrated with unhelpful solicitors. Then in February my dear husband Alec was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which I will tell you more about next month (and if you are a man I recommend you get a PSA test: the earlier you are diagnosed the better the outcome!)

Dealing with this on top of the other difficulties was certainly challenging and at times I wondered if I could cope: I sought counselling and talked with friends, but struggled to find a sense of ease or comfort. It was the comfort of Reiki that helped most in the end. Suffering from exhaustion and low mood, I had been struggling with self-compassion, so my normal daily practice of giving myself Reiki had lapsed.

Then a student asked for a tutorial about self-Reiki treatment and as we practiced together (via Zoom), I felt again the amazing, soothing quality of Reiki and was reminded why I kept coming back to it over all these years. After this I found it easy to start daily self-Reiki again.

I gave Reiki treatments to Alec each day during his radiotherapy and this was also a sanctuary of peace in those difficult days. In the summer, following a Reiki 1^st degree class, I resumed in-person Reiki shares in Ludlow, after several years gap due to the Covid pandemic. I was soon reminded of how wonderfully comforting Reiki feels when received from another people.

Towards the end of this year I attended The Reiki Association gathering and then the OGM Reiki retreat in Spain, both of which were difficult, due to my health, but the sweet experiences of being in Reiki community in person again were further comfort.

So as the year comes to a close, with all it’s difficulties and challenges behind us, I wish you (healthy) comfort in whatever form that comes to you, whether it’s through Reiki, your religion or other spiritual practice, the comfort of family and friends or being in nature. May we find the comfort we need in difficult times for 2024 (and I hope there are less of them for all of us!).

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Guest Blog by Gulara Vincent: How Reiki Taught Me Trust

by Kate Jones • 6 December 2024

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