Restoring Calm with Reiki
Featured freelance journalist, radio host and DJ turned Reiki Master, meditation teacher and tarot reader Jennifer Wallis shares her story of how Reiki can help you overcome anxiety and restore calm.
Anxiety. It’s something that most of us have likely experienced in our lifetime. That feeling in the pit of our stomach makes us feel nauseous, afraid, tense. A feeling that we can’t shake no matter how hard we try. Anxiety can make even the smallest of tasks feel like a perilous mountain that seems impossible to climb. Add into the mix the current global crisis that we are collectively going through and it comes as no surprise that a recent study from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that 42% of adults reported high levels of anxiety in January alone with it being dubbed ‘the saddest on record’.
The lack of face-to-face contact and touch that we as humans so rightly crave and need has led to increased feelings of loneliness. Another study conducted by the ONS during the first month of lockdown last year found that “the equivalent of 7.4 million people said their wellbeing was affected through feeling lonely”. Human beings are naturally wired for connection so to suddenly have that connection taken away from us for such a prolonged period of time has understandably led to a lot of pain and suffering. We are faced with uncertainty day in, day out. And that uncertainty and worry leads to anxiety.
Anxiety can be triggered by external stressors such as job difficulties or changes, problems in our relationships with family or friends, grief, abuse and trauma. It can also be triggered due to the emotional shock or trauma of a major event or life-changing experience - such as COVID. As someone who has been affected by anxiety for most of their life, I have learnt over time how to manage it by integrating wellbeing tools such as journaling, meditation, movement and music into my daily routine. Another one of these tools is Reiki.
I’ll never forget my first experience of Reiki about seven or eight years ago. I’ve always had a spiritual curiosity in me from a young age. But over time that got suppressed, which led to battling with anxiety and twice being diagnosed with depression. When I came to London almost 11 years ago, my spiritual side started to reawaken after a chance encounter with a psychic. So naturally, I jumped at the chance to try Reiki when I saw it offered. And it blew my mind. The practitioner picked up on things that were impossible for her to know and I remember how calm and relaxed I felt afterwards. Fast forward to the present day and I now have my own Reiki practice and I continue to be blown away each and every time I share Reiki with others.
So what actually is Reiki? Originating in Japan, Reiki is a relaxation technique that is also known to reduce stress as well as healing the physical, emotional, spiritual and energetic bodies and is fast becoming popular in the Western world. Today, Reiki Practitioners can be found in hospitals, hospices and care homes providing relief to those in pain or coming towards the end of their earthly lives. It is made up of the words ‘rei’ meaning ‘universal life’ and ‘ki’ meaning ‘energy’. It refers to this universal life force energy that is all around us and within all of us, connecting us. A Reiki practitioner (also known as a therapist or healer), who has been attuned by a Reiki master, acts as a channel for this universal energy and is then intuitively guided to send it using their hands to where it needs to go on the recipient.
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Sometimes a practitioner lays their hands on the client and some practitioners, myself included, place their hands just above their client. Clients may feel the heat transfer from hands to the body, they may experience tingling sensations and see colours or have visions. What really makes me in awe of Reiki is that I often have the same visions and messages as the client, even distant ones. It’s a great reminder that even though we may feel disconnected and alone at the moment there is a force greater than us that connects us all.
During a Reiki session, the practitioner will check their client’s chakras to see if they are blocked or out of balance. There are seven chakras that are considered to be our main energy centres. In Sanskrit, chakra means ‘disc’ or ‘wheel’ and they are pictured as spinning wheels of energy, represented by different colours. Each one is connected to certain organs or nerve endings. When a chakra becomes blocked it can lead to stagnant energy and imbalances. These blockages and imbalances can then manifest as physical symptoms or emotional issues, such as anxiety. The blockages need to be addressed in order to restore balance to the body and emotions.
The base or root chakra sits around the area of our pubic bone and is the chakra responsible for our feelings of trust and safety. In the area below our navel is our sacral chakra. This chakra is our creative centre and our centre of sexual energy. Just above the navel is the solar plexus and this is the chakra connected to our confidence and our power. The heart chakra is in the centre of our chest and is our centre of compassion, empathy and love. Above this is our throat chakra, which is connected to self-expression and speaking our truth. Between our brow sits our third-eye chakra and this is our source of intuition. Then just above the head sits the crown chakra. This connects to source, or our higher power - a source greater than us.
Often when we are experiencing anxiety it can be due to blockages in our solar plexus and throat chakras. I have noticed over the past months that a lot of clients coming to me have blocked solar plexus and throat chakras, coupled with chronic anxiety. It’s hardly surprising that people are presenting these issues when we are dealing with a crisis on this scale. In order for us to feel at peace and in harmony all chakras need to be in balance, allowing energy to flow freely throughout our energetic bodies. Just one being out of whack can cause us issues.
Reiki therapy helps to unblock and restore balance to our energy centres, thus relieving the physical and emotional symptoms of the blockages and enabling energy to flow freely and easily. It enhances our natural ability to heal and balances our sympathetic (flight or fight mode), which we are in when we are in a state of stress) and parasympathetic (rest and digest mode) nervous systems. During a session, the Reiki therapist acts as a conduit to the life force energy and then directs it via their hands to the chakras that need it as well as to physical aches and pains and injuries. Reiki is fast becoming accepted by professionals in many sectors with some large corporations including it in their employee wellbeing strategies alongside counselling and financial advice. University College Hospital in London employs both full-time and part-time practitioners to give Reiki to patients. A study conducted in 2019 in the US found that “a single session of Reiki can provide immediate benefits to affect, and multiple studies have reported affect to be a key factor in physical and psychological health, through pathways such as promotion of healthy behaviours, improved immune system function, and increased social support to name a few”.
If you are someone who finds themselves operating in fight or flight mode, constantly on edge and has tried other techniques to restore calm to your being, I would highly recommend giving Reiki a go. If nothing else, you’ll come away with a sense of peace and you’ll find that you may have the best night’s sleep you’ve had for a long time. Take it from someone who has lived experience with both anxiety and the benefits of Reiki, as well as witnessing the change in others who experience a Reiki session.
You can find Jennifer Wallis on Instagram @intothewildhealing and on her website www.intothewildhealing.com