Transcription:
What is Reiki

Deborah Howell: Welcome to Stoughton Health Talk. I'm Deborah Howell, and I invite you to listen as we talk about the art and the practice of reiki. Joining me is Amy Crull, a Reiki master teacher, yoga instructor, and holistic health coach. Amy, such a pleasure to have you with us today.

Amy Crull: Thank you. Yes.

Deborah Howell: So reiki is such an intriguing topic, especially, you know, during these days when so many of us are still a bit stressed out from the pandemic and all the life changes it's brought our way. Can you define for us what reiki is and what it hopes to achieve?

Amy Crull: Yes, definitely. So reiki, it's one of those things that's hard to explain because it is so all encompassing. But really, it's a healing modality, so much like going to an acupuncture appointment. I like to tell people it's acupuncture without needles. And so basically, I'm dealing with your energy. So, it's great for healing the physical ailments. You know, I see a lot of people for plantar fasciitis, shoulder pain, things like that, but it goes further than that. And that it's really like a holistic system. It's going to balance you. It's going to heal any areas you need healing. It's going to harmonize. So it's dealing with all aspects of the body, mind, spirit, emotions, any kind of physical part of the body, so the hormone system, digestive system, everything. And then it even goes further than that, in that it gets into your personal development, spiritual awareness. And I like to tell people, it gets you back to you. It gets you back to your essence, to your soul.

So I know that's a lot of things all in one definition, but what I love to tell people is that when I'm with someone, I'm facilitating the energy and then their healing system is what's actually doing the healing. So your body intrinsically knows what it needs and so your healing system kicks in. So it's telling me, we have to figure it out, like, "How do I fix this problem?" Because your healing system already really knows how to do it.

Deborah Howell: Incredible.

Amy Crull: I don't know if that...

Deborah Howell: No, that's a beautiful explanation. And what is the chakra System?

Amy Crull: Yeah. So in reiki, those energy centers that I talked about are the different chakras in the body. So there's seven different energy systems in the body. And you can think of these as many vortexes or like a spinning wheel. So I like to tell people, you know, think of these, on TV, you'd see people trying to spin plates and keep them all spinning and up on a stick. I don't know if I'm explaining it very well. So when they're spinning great, you know, everything's working, but then they start to get a little wobbly and they get a little off and then they fall off. So that's what we want with our chakras, we want them spinning at a great speed, we want them not wobbly.

And so each chakra corresponds to a different body part, it corresponds to different things in our life. So for instance, the root chakra is really tied into survival. Are my basic needs getting met? So that's where if someone comes to me with a lot of anxiety, that's going to let a lot of that anxiety go. So hands on their feet, this makes them feel really safe, protected, it grounds them. And then that energy is just able to kind of release and let go.

Moving on up, you've got the second chakra or the sacral chakra. And that's really tied into our creativity, obviously, like our reproductive organs. So really into exploring and just jumping into life. So that is a great chakra for anybody who's been through trauma, been through certain abuses, like for sexual abuse, it's a great place to release a lot of that energy that gets pent up there.

And so moving on up, we got solar plexus, which is the third chakra and that's going to be really your ego, like how you identify yourself, your personality, you know, that inner fire, that inner strength. So a lot of times I'm building that up in people, bringing in some great rejuvenating energy there, almost like I am building a fire in people. And then that's when your ideas can come about, you know, your personal development, kind of getting back to yourself there.

So, then heart is next. So, it's associated with the green color and it includes your arms. So it's the only chakra that has a horizontal aspect to it. But that's compassion, love, not only for yourself, but for others. It's tied in to your shoulders too. And shoulders really represent burdens we're carrying or ancestral or family cycles or patterns that maybe you're ready to release or breakthrough those, really tied into karma. So I can help people really release a karmic cycle that they feel like they just keep doing. And you get to start over and start fresh. So, shoulders are big for people.

Throat chakra, speaking your truth, right? Speaking from your heart, speaking from your soul. And it also includes listening, which I think is interesting. Third eye, so good for people who overthink, you know, people who overanalyze and then double guess and, you know, not believe in what they're thinking or they just can't stop that wheel in their head of thoughts. So that's wonderful to help people just get some relief.

So many times people tell me after a Reiki session, "Wow. I just haven't been this relaxed forever." You can just see it in their demeanor and their face.

Deborah Howell: I suppose it helps the sleep cycle.

Amy Crull: It truly does because people are getting a break from that constant thought, the constant rat race. I always tell people you're going to sleep great tonight. You know, and it's very similar to a great yoga class where you're lying in Shavasana afterwards, and you're just soaking up all that amazing energy.

And then the last chakra, just to not leave out the crown chakra, is your spirituality. So your connection to something higher than yourself. For some people, that's universe, God, whatever it is that you believe in. And for some people, it's being out in nature, you know, that's where they feel a connection. So I find so much that people are hungry for spirituality. And it's just very inspiring to me to see how open most people's crown chakras are. And that really just helps them with their healing.

Deborah Howell: So how did reiki start and who came up with it?

Amy Crull: Well, it's an interesting story. So, in the late '19-teens, I should say, early 1920s, a man named Mikao Usui was living in Japan at that time, had this moment of enlightenment. And what he sought to do is then recreate that moment of enlightenment and teach other people how he came about this moment of having this enlightenment, but then also how he came to have healing hands as a result of it.

So what I think is so interesting about him is that he thought everyone can do it. This isn't just for certain people. So I work with people one-on-one as a practitioner, but I also teach it. And so I love teaching people about reiki, tuning them to the energy, and then having them be able to heal themselves and others. But so yes, his name was Mikao Usui. And then it was brought to the west. And there's different kinds of routes. You can go with Reiki and I'm trained in both Western Reiki, Japanese Reiki. But, you know, they really stem from him and everybody has a lineage that then is traced back to him because it's handed down from teacher to student. So, it's very interesting.

Deborah Howell: I'm sure there's so many more layers you could go into, but since it's a shorter podcast, we'll move on to the next question, which is what does a Reiki session look like?

Amy Crull: Okay. So, when someone books an appointment with me, I will send them an intake form so they can kind of tell me any kind of physical ailments they have, maybe migraines or whatever they're going through and they can put it on the form. And also if they've had reiki before, what's their experience with it.

And then when they arrive at the session, we'll go over that form. And they can kind of tell me some more information or anything else. So then it's much like an acupuncture or chiropractic appointment and that you are fully clothed. So all you need to do is take off your shoes and then lie on a massage table. And then I will just ground myself and we'll start the session.

So I'm going to go through each one of those chakras, not necessarily in order, but however it needs to go. And so each one of those energy centers will be cleared. And then bringing in that really good energy for them.

So I encourage clients to talk during the session if anything comes up for them, because sometimes they'll be like, "I don't know why this memory is coming back" or "I don't know you know, what I'm experiencing," and we just talk through it. But for the most part, it's just very relaxing for people. And then after the session, we can just talk about anything that came up as well. And I usually send people home with tools that they can do. So whether that's a breathing exercise or, you know, a meditation or just anything that has come up during the session, books. I used to be a librarian, so I'm always, you know, letting people know different resources.

Deborah Howell: Yup. Yup. The Dewey decimal system of reiki.

Amy Crull: Right. right.

Deborah Howell: So if I'm interested in learning reiki, what's that process?

Amy Crull: Well, yeah. So then you can contact a Reiki teacher. I always tell people Google is your friend. You can just type in reiki teacher near me. And so there's different levels. So reiki 1 is going to be healing yourself and family and friends. So it's just an introduction to reiki. You get atuned to the energy, so there's an attunement process that kind of activates that healing energy within you.

And then from there, you go into Reiki 2, where that's you're a little bit more serious about it and you want to start doing Reiki with people that aren't necessarily family and friends, and then you can get paid for it after Reiki 2. And then it goes up to Reiki masters. So you're just really diving into it and you're wanting to be a practitioner. And then the last step is Reiki teacher, where you might want to teach people how to do Reiki.

Deborah Howell: Interesting. So let me ask you this, is there any pain involved in a Reiki?

Amy Crull: No, there's absolutely none. It should just feel really good, feel really relaxing. And so my hands will be on different areas of your body, those different chakras or they might be just right lightly above it. So because your energy isn't just within your body and under your skin, it radiates out. So it's the same thing. But yes, it should feel really good, really relaxing.

Deborah Howell: Okay. So are most of your patients coming to you for more mental reasons, mental health reasons, or for pain management?

Amy Crull: You know, I'd say right now it's about 50/50. Most people I'm seeing are for anxiety, definitely. And I love that people are recognizing that this is a tool that can help them. Most people I'm seeing are already seen a therapist, so I'm really just dealing with the energy part of their anxiety, giving them tools, releasing a lot of those feelings. And then the other half of the people I see, it is for pain, like a lot of sciatica, back pain, things like that. But I'm always going to talk to them about emotional reasons behind that pain as well. So we can kind of really get to the root of that pain.

Deborah Howell: Sure. Sure. I have so many questions for you, but is there a particular way you'd like to wrap up our conversation today?

Amy Crull: Sure. Do you think you'd like to do a meditation?

Deborah Howell: Absolutely.

Amy Crull: Okay. All right. We'll Do a short meditation. Well, actually how much time should we do for this?

Deborah Howell: Do you have maybe five minutes, a five-minute meditation?

Amy Crull: Okay. Yes, let's do that. Okay. So we'll do a meditation called the three diamonds and I'll just have you close your eyes, kind of settle into your chair, put both feet on the floor, uncross the legs, if that's what you're doing.

Deborah Howell: How did you know my legs were crossed?

Amy Crull: Because I just uncrossed mine, right?

Deborah Howell: Okay. Okay.

Amy Crull: Yes. So the first thing we're going to do is just take our hands to our abdomen, so that second chakra area. And you can just close your eyes, have both hands on that area. And this is what is called in reiki, it's called your hara. So this is where the life force energy of reiki is housed in your body. And so just breathing into this area, you can imagine your breath, just with every inhale in, is reaching all the way down to your hara.

And then breathing that all out, taking that time to really exhale. Good.

So just connecting with that area, if it helps, you can think of a nice warm orange color. Good. And then from there, let's take our hands and move both hands up to our heart. So we're connecting our hara to our heart. So you can imagine this orange is like a bridge and it comes into the green heart area.

Deborah Howell: Nice.

Amy Crull: So maybe your green is green grass. Maybe it's just a brilliant, bright green.

Deborah Howell: It's a forest of trees for me.

Amy Crull: Oh, nice. Breathing in that air. You can almost feel like you can smell the forest.

Drop the shoulders if you can, with each breath.

Then from here, let's take our hands to our forehead, that third eye area. You can either go front to back or side to side. It's up to you.

Deborah Howell: Okay,

Amy Crull: And then this area will be a deep blue, almost into purple.

Deborah Howell: Hawaii, the ocean.

Amy Crull: Nice.

So you can almost think about a wave is just washing through this area. So it's clearing out very gently anything that wants to go.

And then from there, we're going to take your hands back to our heart. So we're bridging the third eye energy back to the heart.

And any grateful thoughts you want to think.

Good. And then from there, you can take your hands and return them to your hara, so back into that warm orange area. Good. And from there, you can release your hands and just slowly open your eyes.

So that is a wonderful meditation called a three diamonds, and it's just a really good way to ground and connect with those three different areas in the body. Just feel like you're more present in your body afterwards, a little less stressed, a little less tied to the schedule. So I hope you enjoyed that.

Deborah Howell: I am so calm right now. It's ridiculous. It's wonderful.

Amy Crull: Oh, good. And, see how easy that was, right? And how quickly... Yes.

Deborah Howell: You know, even my jaw relaxed.

Amy Crull: Oh, good.

Deborah Howell: And I didn't have to tell it to, it just dropped naturally and the shoulders dropped. And all those racing, little mice thoughts, you know, that go racing through, they're just gone, which is fantastic.

Amy Crull: Oh, good. Good.

Deborah Howell: I think I'm going to try that at night on my pillow, you know, to help do the three diamonds and then I think sleep will come more naturally.

Amy Crull: Yeah, I think definitely. It's a wonderful way to end the day.

Deborah Howell: This is wonderful, Amy. So relaxing. I just want to thank you from the bottom of my chakra or my hara um, for being with us today.

Amy Crull: Yeah. So thank you very much. I loved it.

Deborah Howell: And for more information for everybody else, head on over to our website at stoughtonhealth.com to get connected with one of our providers. And that concludes this episode of Stoughton Health Talk. Please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast and all the other Stoughton Hospital podcasts. I'm Deborah Howell. Have yourself a terrific day.