How it started...

My journey to becoming a Reiki Practitioner is not exactly a quick one... in fact, it has taken me 15 years to get where I am now! (What can I say? I was young... and ignorant... and pre-occupied with "cool stuff"!) Well, I'll try to keep this as brief as I can (not a fan of War and Peace myself), so flashback to 15 years ago... 

Having fun with
that radio station "cool stuff"
in my early 20's...

I was in my early 20's and working for a cool radio station, doing cool "stuff". I was surrounded by cool, but often cynical people, who told it like it was. At this time, my Big Sis (who is 12 years my senior) was looking at alternative medicines and healing, and first came across Reiki. I distinctly recall her telling me all about this new thing she was learning and how freaky it was when her hands got hot healing another student's head. I chalked it up to another one of her hippy obsessions (she was also starting Tai Chi, at the time) and forgot all about it.

A few years later, I moved to Canada. I wasn't able to keep so up-to-date with the family (no Facebook back then!), but did hear of my one niece training to be an Occupational Therapist and learning Reiki as one of her therapies. Hmm... that Reiki thing again, hey?

A few years later, my beloved father passed on - the stress of which caused my mother to develop a severe case of arthritis - both Osteo and Rheumatoid versions. She has tried many treatments, ranging from various standard prescribed drugs and joint replacement surgeries, to acupuncture and eventually... yes... you've guessed it...Reiki. I'm not sure when exactly she first started receiving Reiki, but it is the one treatment that she still uses today and loves.

The "Minions"

Well, I grew up... and grew a teensy bit wiser. I got married and had 2 gorgeous kids (aka "the Minions"). Both Minions are smart and fabulous, but at the age of 3, Minion 1 was diagnosed with Asthma. A short while after, our teeny Minion 2 developed horrendous eczema. It was at this time that I met Mari. I was selling Epicure products at our local "Party in the Park" street market, and she was promoting her Jikiden Reiki practice next to me. We chatted, and I learned all about how she had started - to help her family with their ailments, and specifically for her 1 child's severe eczema. It struck a chord, but then life just "got in the way" again.

Fast forward a couple of years, and we were told that Minion 1 had a rare form of Juvenile Idiopathic Scoliosis. The only treatment was to wear a rigid piece of plastic for 22 hours a day to help stop it get worse!! It was then that I thought I should look at alternative medicines myself. It was also then that I met Jan - a pupil of Mari's and the lovely lady (also of English origin) who would become my Shihan (Teacher). We only met briefly at a networking lunch, but she rekindled my curiosity for Reiki again.

So we jump to March of this year, and I booked a booth at the Fraser Valley Women's Show for my Photography business. Surprise, surprise... Jan was in the booth next to me! Was this a sign?? It was day 1 of the show and I was stressed... REALLY stressed... the result being extreme neck pain which was creeping maliciously into my head. Jan came to my rescue - there and then I received my first Reiki treatment. Only 10 minutes and my pain was gone! I was intrigued...

I signed up for Jan's April class. I will be honest... I still wasn't 100% convinced of how this Reiki thing worked, but figured I couldn't knock what I hadn't tried. The weekend was an eye-opener, and the rest...as they say... is history...