An Awesome Mistake

“So what exactly is Reiki?” I asked as I lay down on the massage table at my friendly local day spa.  My husband had gifted me a one-hour massage, and although he usually chooses Relaxation for me, I was surprised when Rachel, my masseuse, told me that he selected Reiki for me this time.

“It’s energy manipulation.” she stated, “I will manipulate your energies, clear any blockages that I find, and get your energy flowing smoothly.”

“Oh,” I said, “I’ve heard of that type of treatment.  In fact, I once read of a study that was done regarding Reiki (or a similar type of energy healing) that tried to mimic the type of test that medications are subjected to in order to determine if they are efficacious.  It was intended to be a ‘placebo controlled’ study, with half the subjects getting genuine treatment from trained energy manipulators, and half getting sham treatment from persons who knew nothing about energy manipulation, and whose job it was to merely mimic the treatment.  Problem was that the ‘sham’ healers started to feel energy in their subjects, and got the sense that they were actually manipulating it.”

“Yes.” said Rachel, “Everyone has energy.  It would be impossible to have a genuine placebo control.”

She started with my head, and instantly my sinuses cleared up.  I’m the only person I know who keeps their stress locked up in their sinuses.  The moment I relax or enter a meditative state they seem to shrink to about half their normal size, & I can breathe freely.  Her touch was light, much lighter than a conventional massage, but the effect was no less profound.  In no time the regular race track of thoughts slowed to a crawl, and I entered a deep meditative state.  A happy state.  A sensation similar to soaking up sunshine on warm Spring day overcame me.

From my head she worked her way down, stopping, one by one, at the seven energy centers of the body.  She paused above my scar.  The one on my left leg.  Deep and disfiguring.  It doesn’t bother me.  Really, it doesn’t...  but... tears welled up in my eyes.  They started to stream out of the corners, and down the side of my face.  I didn’t feel particularly sad... I just knew I needed to weep.  I needed to.  I had skipped that part.  That is the price of soldiering on.  Bearing up.  I had never wept enough. Or perhaps not properly.   That’s what the tears told me.  They had been waiting a long time.  A very long time.  Over... a quarter...century.

When she finished, I had the overwhelming feeling that I didn’t wish to move.  Didn’t need to move.  Everything was OK.  Why move?  But after a while I did.  Put my clothes on and found my way to the reception desk.  Rachel smiled big when I told her what an amazing job she had done.

At home, I thanked my husband profusely for signing me up for the Reiki experience.  He looked at me strangely, and said, “I signed you up for a Relaxation massage, not Reiki.”

So someone made a mistake.  Whoever it was.  Thank you.

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