Welcome to another episode of Reiki&Life. Today we would like to introduce you to Bridie Tulloch, a keen student of Healing Hands Edinburgh The Reiki School.
Bridie recently got her Reiki Level II certificate and this is her personal experience with Reiki so far.
I was first introduced to Reiki in 2011 when I did my training in Perth with an experienced Reiki Master within the Usui system of Reiki. I had been drawn to practice Reiki and my master appeared, I believe that Reiki found me.
The initiation was like nothing I had experienced before, with my eyes closed I could feel the symbols integrating above my crown, afterwards my palms felt warm with the universal energy. When I returned home after to practice self-healing, I felt like I had been given a precious gift. I began my self-healing process and did this every day. I bought books about Reiki, one of my favourites was Essential Reiki by Diane Stein, my meditation practice developed gradually.
I had been in recovery from a long-term health condition and so I had a lot of self-healing to do. The precepts were great support and foundation, they were like a form of mindfulness to me, a way of living in the moment, not worrying or getting angry as I had experienced side effects of these emotions in the past. Sometimes I would get anxious or angry, but the precepts helped me to notice my feelings and emotions, they also helped me to learn to let go of things that were no longer serving me.
After self-healing for 30 days, I began to volunteer at a local day centre for people experiencing homelessness. I gave Reiki sessions here once a week for almost 2 years, towards the end of this experience I realised I still had a lot of healing to do myself.
In 2013 I did Reiki II training with a different Reiki master who was also initiated in the Usui system. I did my case studies, it was the practice of distance Reiki that increased my confidence, feedback from my case studies helped me to believe in what I was doing, but I still felt inexperienced.
My life took a different turn and I ended up with many other commitments that I didn’t develop my practice further, although I continued to practice on myself, I still felt connected to the energy, I have always felt guided by Reiki. It wasn’t until I experienced a short-term episode of ill health due to stress in 2019 that I realised I had to make time for myself again, I decided to connect with other healers and healing groups.
When I came to Santosa Yoga Studio in Edinburgh I found a card with Maija’s name on it, again, Reiki found me. Reiki has always had a way of showing me what to do next, I contacted Maija and arranged to do Reiki II with her at Healing Hands Edinburgh Reiki School.
There was something very special about doing Reiki II for the second time. Maija had a lovely way of teaching, it was so much more than I expected, the training included a focus on developing as a Reiki practitioner so there was an element of professionalism involved as to learning how to be with clients in practice, this also complimented my counselling training. This really was a school of Reiki, this level of training really inspired me to practice, I realised from previous experience that no amount of reading Reiki books can bring you closer to the energy, it’s all in the practice. Maija encouraged this, she gave me the confidence to begin to follow my intuition with Reiki, instead of following a routine of hand positions, I began to tune in to where the energy was leading me.
After this initiation and training I emersed myself in Reiki fully, experiencing confidence in my practice finally was taking shape. I committed to my case study homework with no reservations, the noticeable benefits were growing stronger every day, my energy had increased, but the warmth of the energy in my palms had increased also.
It is a wonderful experience to send someone distance Reiki and receive feedback as to how much it has helped them. Sending Reiki to my past situations supported a therapeutic process because I was working through old wounds in my counselling training, the Reiki symbols supported me to do this on such a deep level. My intuition increased and I felt led by Reiki once again, the thing I most notice about my experience now is where Reiki has taken me. It has brought so much synchronicity into my life, Maija said that it will show you things and it is true.
I used to struggle to make decisions in my life and feel overwhelmed but recently I feel that Reiki is deciding for me, and it is true that it does no harm because it always leads me to the option best for me and others in my life. I have been using the symbols more every day, along with the precepts. I think being grateful and developing an attitude of gratitude goes a long way in life, I am grateful to all my Reiki teachers, but I am particularly grateful to Maija for integrating all I had experienced with Reiki before, but with the confidence to follow my intuition and become my own teacher, something I hadn’t had the confidence to do before.
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