I'd been working as a Sports and Remedial Massage Therapist for a couple of years, riding my little Honda 125cc bike around the area of Brighton and Hove where I lived and worked. I was always on the lookout for new places to work from, and I loved travelling, taking myself off to pastures new was always exciting. I'm not sure how I found the sports centre in Steyning, a little way up the coast, or how I first started working there, but I'd ride the short journey come rain or shine out to the beautiful village, catch up with a friend sometimes who lived there, and work a couple of hours in a small room off the main reception area in the sports centre.
The rent was pretty cheap and I was able to see different people that might not come to Hove. One particularly cold day I was on my bike in a howling wind without proper winter gloves. My summer gloves were fine for the sunnier days but woefully inadequate for the biting chill that now assaulted my poor hands gripped around the handle bars. I had to stop at least twice just to thaw my hands out under my jacket, and that was mighty painful, so I could make it all the way there! Rather amazingly fortunate was that there was a gorgeous motorbike shop in Steyning village. My first stop was to buy a proper winter pair of gloves, all warm, thick and snug for the return journey! Anyway, one uneventful afternoon there I was treating this lovely lady, she had sore shoulders and I was gently massaging the upper area of her back and across the back of her shoulder, into the trapezius and deltoid muscles. I must have lingered a little, as I did, perhaps slowing the stroke down or working on a trigger point, and she said to me: 'Have you got healing hands?" I wasn't sure what the question meant so I said, I don't know, why? She told me that my hands were emitting a warmth that she could feel, different to the usual sensations that one can feel when having a massage, and I was intrigued. What did this mean? I'm sure I didn't spend much time thinking about it that day, but it must have lodged in my subconscious as I found myself looking into Reiki Healing, a gentle energetic healing modality that was completely new and quite alien to me. After all, I was a pretty down-to-earth sort of person and energy healing was new and quite unusual. I signed up with a Reiki Master linked to the college I had trained at, Wrio Russell, and not knowing at all what to expect, prepared to ride out to his little house by studying the map and planning my route. I knew something was going on when I felt quite intense feelings in my body about a week before the 'attunement' day, and after a pretty powerful time, I was immediately feeling drained and as if I was 'coming down with something'. Apparently I learnt, this is quite normal, and is the body resetting itself after the healing energies have worked their magic within! I was so lucky to have found such a wonderful Reiki Master in Wrio, and I went on to the Second Degree Attunement the following year. Reiki is powerful as a healing tool, not only for others that might receive it, but as a way to work on yourself for self healing. Nowadays I give Reiki to myself about twice a day, morning and evening. And, as a Reiki Master, being able to once again give the healing that is my gift to give, as it was in the beginning, is both satisfying and an honour.
