Pain Before Pleasure - My Journey into Reiki

Back in May '07 I became a Reiki master. Yearsthe emotions that I had been experiencing and
before I had become a Reiki 1 and 2 practitioner as Iseveral questions surfaced for me. Fortunately, I was
had wanted to heal other people. I did both courseshelped by the insights and healing energies of the
in the same weekend. I'd been asking myself forattendees of the event.
years "What can I do in order to help other peopleThen, finally, on the last day I sat next to another
heal?"Reiki master, Ian, and started chatting to him. He
The thought that I may need healing myself waslistened to my Reiki story and very gently informed
never a factor in my process or decision to studyme of a couple of things that I needed to know.
Reiki. I soon knew that Reiki worked as I'd had aFirstly, that I was not ready to initiate any master's
very profound experience after my initiation. This hadinto Reiki as I was clearly not ready. Indeed,
followed self-treatments for six weeks after mywatching many of the Reiki 2 practitioners during the
course.gathering had already made me realise that I had a
Despite this, I had huge reservations as to the intentlong way to go in order to match their skill.
and motivation of my Reiki master. I clearly had mySecondly, he let me know how important it was to
own issues going on at the time and he was theget permission from your Reiki 1 master before
perfect target for my projections. Consequently, Igetting another master to further the Reiki journey.
did not seek his guidance and proceeded on my own,Suddenly, I had a light bulb moment. This led to the
using my intuitions to assess the energies that I wasfollowing e-mail correspondence with my first Reiki
channelling. Since I was working night shifts I usedmaster, which, in turn, led to another cathartic
my breaks to give myself long treatments.moment and the release of all pain in my shoulder.
On that occasion I soon developed a large pain in myDear Reiki Master,
chest, at the location of the heart. Fortunately, as II realise that you will probably not remember me, yet
was working in a Coronary Care Unit (CCU) at theit is important that I write this mail. I took a Reiki 1
time I knew the symptoms were asymptomatic ofand 2 weekend with you about six years ago and
angina and just trusted the process. This was despitefelt very negative about you and your teaching style
a daily increase in the pain after each self-treatment.afterwards. The consequence has been that it has
After six weeks the pain was so great that I couldtaken me this long to understand the error of my
barely drive my car, since it was too painful to turnperception.
the steering wheel. I cancelled all of my shifts atMy Reiki journey has been confusing and resulted in
work and treated myself for a few more days, andperiods of neglect, self-doubt and disillusionment with
now my sleep started to suffer.regard to my spiritual and healing practice. During that
One day, whilst in the bath, I had a huge catharsisweekend I felt that there were too many students
and began to see my life flash before me. Everythingand not enough opportunities to ask the many
that I had done was starting to become apparentquestions that I had at the time.
and I started to wonder what message I would haveWhen some of your teachings were contradicted by
left the world if I had died just then. I cried forother Reiki masters I decided that I had been
England as the bath filled up further.short-changed and chose not to contact you about it.
I spent the next three days acting as though I wasAlthough you have not been consciously in my
Scrooge on Christmas morning! This led to me tellingthoughts for several years now I have recently
all of my friends and family, who were around me atfound my way back into Reiki through becoming a
the time, how much they meant to me, whilstReiki master a few months ago.
shedding plenty more tears. With each proclamationRecent attendance of a Reiki masters' gathering,
the pain eased a little more.with The Reiki Association, has caused some
Despite the profundity of this experience I stoppedpowerful energetic shifts within me and led me to
using my Reiki, except for the odd, intermittenttalk about my early Reiki experiences. Once again, I
treatment, for several years afterwards. During myfound myself feeling very negative.
Reiki 1 and 2 course I met two very dear friends,However, I now know that my negativity towards
Alan and Annette. We have remained in contact everyou was only a projection of my negativity towards
since and shared our respective journeys.myself. I am now in a place where I am ready to
When Alan asked Annette and I if we wanted toown it and apologise humbly to you for any energetic
become Reiki masters last year I decided that itconsequences that may have happened as a result
sounded like a good idea. He had found a Reikiof my actions.
master that he liked and we would need to meet upI would also like to acknowledge the gift that you
four times over three months.gave me during that weekend and how it has now
We attended the course and, like before, I startedled me to a place of very profound, deep and
to do a few treatments on myself. Shortly after Imeaningful healing. I would like to thank you from the
developed a pain in my shoulder, which worsenedbottom of my heart and offer my unreserved
over time and Reiki. As there was plenty going on inapologies for my lack of insight into the nature of
my life during that period I had not considered theReiki and what happened to me during my initiations
synchronicity of becoming a Reiki master andwith you.
developing this pain.Peace, Love, light and healing energy,
My NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) training hadAdam Shaw.
led me to believe that I had created this pain for aDear Adam
purpose, so I set out to find what I needed to do toApologies for delay - have been in Mexico building our
resolve it. I addressed issues with family and friendscancer centre, conducting research studies with
over the following months, which yielded numerouschildren in schools with ADHD, and developing
positive outcomes, yet the pain still remained. Iprojects with the Mexican NHS.
performed Time-Line Therapy and self-hypnosis,Your email is certainly appreciated. Although you will
releasing many things but still the pain remained.discover as you tread your path that it is not
I then attended a therapist who dealt with past-livesimportant what a minority of others think about your
who regressed me to a battle numerous lifetimeswork. There will always be those who do not
ago where I received a spear in my shoulder. Surelyunderstand - and there are countless reasons why
this was the breakthrough that I had been lookingthey cannot understand.
for? Apparently not. Although the pain lessenedThe most important things to know as we work our
considerably, I was left with a residual ache.soul missions are that
Earlier that year I had picked up a form from the1. we are coming from the best possible motivation
Reiki Association, telling me about the annual Reikiof love to help our world
gathering. Last September I decided that I would2. we are attempting to help the highest majority of
attend, as it would be a good opportunity to find outpeople who seek our help
a bit more about Reiki and meet other practitioners.Blessings for your good works
During the gathering I experienced some hugeReiki Master
energetic and emotional shifts, which frequently hadI may not be a master of Reiki yet in anything but
me on the verge of tears. I was also humbled by antitle - though healing comes in many forms.
array of profoundly talented masters andMy healing came the day I changed my question to
practitioners.the universe. It is only through honestly asking myself
During a group healing with a wonderfully insightfulon a daily basis "what do I need to be consciously
couple, Rosemary and Trevor, I was informed thataware of to achieve the maximum healing in the
the pain was due to a chip that I had on myminimum time" that led me back to Reiki.
shoulder. They also brought many other profoundReal, sustainable healing occurred for me the second
insights into my consciousness, giving me a healingthat I decided to take responsibility for everything
stone to help me on my path. I was surprised; as Ithat has ever happened in my life. Only through this
thought that I had forgiven everyone that I couldprocess of self-empowerment can sustainable healing
think of, whom I'd had an issue with.occur.
Further treatments during the gathering intensified