Kim S. Walker - Reiki II Student and Professional Reiki Practitioner

Oakland, California, USA - kimbeloo@gmail.com 

Sunday 30 January 2011

“Reiki has given me the ability to transcend …helplessness”

Reiki has become an integral part of my life and I have Rahel Warshaw Dadon to thank for that.  My husband and I met Rahel in 2001 or 2002.  My Mother had attended a Reiki demonstration and was amazed at the sensations she experienced when Rahel put her hands on her.  She came home and told me I "just had to take a Reiki course with this woman!"  Her enthusiasm resulted in Rahel arranging a small class just for my Mom, my now husband, and myself to learn first degree Reiki.  It was a very enlightening experience and introduced me to an energy I find incredibly soothing, calming and grounding.  I use it every single day to ease small discomforts, or to help me fall asleep at night.  Reiki has become so much a part of my life, I find it hard to imagine being without it.  A year later, I learned second degree Reiki, which was an intensive experience that opened a whole new world of energy.

I did not realize it at the time, but learning and working with Reiki would shift an internal struggle that I had had my entire life.  For as long as I can remember I had been a hypochondriac.  I suffered from frequent dramatic heart palpitations as a child as well as loose jointed-ness which caused my knees to dislocate, sometimes without warning.  These things made me overly health conscious and fretful about my body.  My anxiety sometimes resulted in panic attacks that were very discomforting.  Reiki has given me the ability to transcend much of the panicked helplessness that I once felt.  I can now put my hands on my body and feel the energy flowing where it is needed.  It gives me so much peace of mind.

When I became pregnant in 2004, Rahel gave me the amazing and rare opportunity to attune my unborn child to the Reiki energy.  She came again, in 2006, to attune my second child so that now, both of my children have been born with the gift of Reiki in their hands – and they USE it:  it is wonderful to watch them giving themselves Reiki treatments!  I credit Reiki with much of my success in being able to experience two natural births without any pain medication.  Rahel was an incredible support during that time as well.  She counseled me, and guided me in using second degree Reiki to work through my fear of childbirth and motherhood.  She has helped me and my family grow in dramatic ways.  It is something to think that our entire household has taken Reiki with Rahel in some way.  I frequently recommend Rahel to my friends when I know she will be in town to teach, and have organized two Reiki I courses for her.  All the students I have known have been very satisfied with the quality and depth of Rahel's teaching.  She does not simply teach a course and move on to other things.  She is always there to coach, encourage, and sometimes prod when needed, even from so many miles away.  That kind of continued support is a rare gift from a teacher.  I think of Rahel as more of a mentor - my Reiki coach.

Rahel's work with Reiki for Peace has really impressed me.  I think it appeals to our most basic nature as human beings to want to help, to support each other and to be supported in return.  She said to me once, "How can we deliberately harm someone with whom we have shared healing?"  I was very struck by that question:  It made me think of the warm feelings of brotherhood and generosity that have permeated all of the courses and Reiki Sharing Meetings that I have experienced with Rahel.  And I agree with her.  If enough people would share this energy with each other, how could it not bring change for the better – to ultimately bring Peace?

The other aspect of Rahel's work that has always impressed me is her insistence and courage in going where she feels she is most needed.  She enters the Occupied West Bank, traveling in areas generally viewed as unsafe.  Rahel goes undaunted, working tirelessly for her vision without concern for her personal safety.  She has worked to learn new languages and customs, crossing borders and boundaries to bring opposing peoples together.  Her work is truly an inspiration.