Fifteen years ago this month, I became a Reiki master. I was initially drawn to this healing modality in 1998 after the death of my calico cat, Cosette. My vet had given me no allopathic options for a very aggressive form of mammary cancer, and my sense of hopelessness led me to investigate alternate forms of healing. Reiki seemed a perfect fit for me because hands-on healing had been instrumental in my two-year-old sister’s restoration to perfect health after a leukemia diagnosis in 1979. My parents at first chose the traditional allopathic route, however, when my sister nearly died three times and had a particularly frightening battle with chicken pox in which chemotherapy treatments had to be temporarily suspended, they had no other choice but to surrender to God and His infinite healing abilities. They joined a prayer group whose members laid their hands on my sister and chanted in tongues to raise the energetic vibration from that of the earthly plane to the perfect, whole and complete vibration of Heaven, as reported in the Bible (John 14:12, Matthew 17:20, Matthew 18:20 & Acts 2:4). It was all about healing hands and song.

When I began my Internet research in 1998, I discovered Reiki and its hands-on approach and likened it to what I had experienced as a nine-year-old child. It felt like “going home.” Our hands are instruments of love. We extend them to others as welcoming gestures when meeting people for the first time. Lovers hold hands and join hearts to express affection. Business deals are sealed with firm handshakes. We pet animals to calm and soothe them. Musicians cradle instruments in their hands while creating beautiful music. When a friend is in trouble, we lend a helping hand, and when we see a beautiful work of art or hear a piece of music that moves us, we say we are “touched.” One of the sensations the Reiki healer may feel in his hands is heat. We have all heard the expression, “Cold hands, warm heart,” but according to a study posted on WebMD, the opposite is true – at least from a physical standpoint. “Physical warmth can make us see others as warmer people, but also cause us to be warmer – more generous and trusting – as well” (Lawrence Williams, PhD & John A. Bargh, PhD). I liked the idea of using universal life force energy to heal in much the same way that Jesus healed over 2,000 years ago. The Reiki healer does not do the healing but merely becomes God’s instrument as He uses His power and light to restore us to wholeness. As a musician, there was something about becoming an instrument that appealed to me on many levels, and surrendering to God’s infinite wisdom was reminiscent of the humility of Jesus. The Reiki ideals resonated with me as well:

Just for today, do not anger

Do not worry and be filled with gratitude
Devote yourself to your work. Be kind to people.

Every morning and evening, join your hands in prayer.
Pray these words to your heart
and chant these words with your mouth.

The more I practiced Reiki, the more miraculous my life became. Becoming an instrument of healing helped me to become a more sensitive musician as well. I was now able to become the flute and the music and truly express what was in my heart and innermost soul. It was not about me and what I could do from a technical standpoint, but it was about raising my vibration to match that of the heavenly realm. All is energy or vibration, and music is meaningful vibration. Every note had meaning and could be placed in the context of the greater whole. The greatest compliment I have ever received is, “It sounds like you breathe your entire being into that instrument.” The breath is our life force, which animates everything. It is the most important component in meditation, yoga or martial arts. For someone to perceive that another’s life force animates an instrument while making music indicates that he has been touched artistically by what he is hearing or observing. There is no higher indication of the heavenly realm. As I held the flute in my hands, I could feel the metal vibrate and the sensation resonated throughout my body. I was aware that sound healers restored the physical body to wholeness, much like Reiki practitioners, but I am convinced I experienced the benefits of both modalities first-hand. From a scientific standpoint, our bodies, like the earth itself, consist of 70% water. Sound travels four times faster in water than in air, so the intentions of my music-making could be carried throughout my body faster.

Sound healers use tuning forks to retune the body like a piano or a harp and establish homeostasis. According to John Beaulieu, the interval of a perfect fifth, with its 2/3 ratio, tunes the nervous system. Chiropractor Dr. June Leslie Wieder explains that, “the spine is linked to the nervous system, the acupuncture meridians, the chakras, and the endocrine glands. The spine acts as a bridge linking together subtle energy fields.” (Song of the Spine) The 2/3 ratio of the perfect fifth mirrors the 2/3 ratio of optimum blood pressure (120/80) and the body’s 2/3 ratio of sodium to potassium. Vertebrae resonate to the vibration of the tuning forks. I find it interesting that the interval of a perfect fifth would have such a healing effect because the Biblical significance of the number five is power and grace. Our hands contain five fingers. Karen Jacks, on her website Sacred Hand Publishing (www.sacredhandpublishing.com), illustrates that the four Hebrew letters that form the name Yeshua actually form our right hand. Our hands literally spell the name of Jesus, and thus it would make sense why we can heal in his name. Our left hand mirrors the right. Gregg Braden, in his book The God Code, points out that the name Yahweh is inscribed in our DNA in the form of the Tetragrammaton YHVH (Four-letter name of God). Braden healed himself of a cancerous tumor with the power of his thoughts and intentions, as did Wayne Dyer and Louise Hay. Braden’s research demonstrates that we are never alone. God is within us forever and always. Jonathan Goldman constructed a set of tuning forks using frequencies that mirror the four-letter name of God, YHVH. The interval he used is the perfect fourth, which is the inversion of the perfect fifth. All of this is discussed in-depth in chapter two of my book, Mirror of the Soul.

 I have always been a passionate musician and my music-making could always be considered intense, but for a very long time it was about being a technical workhorse, and to this day, I still love the challenge of a difficult etude. When I began to focus on my spiritual side and discovered the healing modality of Reiki, I experienced a different type of intensity – the type that only the heart understands. I had been told to get out of my head and into my heart, but that is easier said than done. I once read in a book written by Alan Cohen that people do not break our hearts; they break our hearts open. The pain of a broken heart can be transformed into the grace of a heart broken open. Open hearts attract love like a magnet. I believe that is what Reiki did for me – it broke my heart open and allowed me to become more expressive and intuitive. Perhaps I can feel the heart of God? When one experiences that type of love, she has no choice but to share it with others. When my tabby cats were at the end of their lives, my vet once again gave me no allopathic medicine option. One decade after the death of Cosette, I had the means to help Pumpkin and Andy. Using the energy techniques I learned, Pumpkin lived 7 months beyond his projected time and Andy lived 22 months beyond his projected time. When they crossed over the rainbow bridge, they broke my heart open and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were perfect, whole and complete. They are waiting for me.

A few weeks ago my husband and I bought the movie Dr. Strange. We are huge superhero fans and had seen the film twice in the theaters. So far, we have watched it twice at home. I adore that film. The brilliant neurosurgeon Dr. Strange is injured in a car wreck and loses control of the nerves in his hands. He discovers his true power is in his mind and heart and is gifted with truly miraculous abilities when he surrenders to the greatness of the universe, including the ability to manipulate time. He becomes a master sorcerer. Wayne Dyer once said in his public television special that we must become sorcerers to create miracles, and if you knew who walked beside you every step of the way, you would have no fear. Love is my superpower. I love music, I love what I do, I love writing, I love my family, and I absolutely love my husband, beyond a shadow of a doubt forever and always. I wish you the same. Namaste.