How it began

I have been a Reiki practitioner for 19 years.  It had become a powerful tool to strengthen my sense of connection with family and friends, pets, plants and the world around me. 

It was when my mom was dying of ovarian cancer that I began distance healings in earnest. As she was in Iowa and I at that time lived in Montreal, it was difficult to visit and even then she was very much immunocompromised, and unable to see us.

The few times I was able to be with her in person, she received the most benefit from my using Reiki to clear the room she was in, over and over. This hands-off approach reoriented my approach both to Reiki and healing in general, and the grieving process confronted many of my suppositions. This lead me to deepen my training and explore further aspects of mental and emotional healing with Reiki energies and distance healing techniques.

One result was the introduction to modalities of healing that accepted death as part of the healing process. The notion that death is not something to save someone from, but a part of the process of healing was a difficult one to accept. However, my Reiki Master training was with a teacher whose practice was in palliative care, and from her I learned that support for the terminally ill is an area that the gentle, non-invasive energies of Reiki can really shine. It helps to ease discomfort and allay fear, promoting loving resolutions and a peaceful transition. Whether because of the nature of the illness, the size of the room, or such an emotionally intense time for all involved, it is often preferable for the Reiki practitioner to work remotely when supporting palliative care.

Since then I have worked with people who are in prolonged crisis, setting up times to remotely support treatments such as dialysis and chemotherapy. I have also used distance Reiki to help with difficult pregnancies including placental ablation, irregular heartbeat and prolonged labour and recovery. In these cases, frequent sessions while in crisis help to bring about dramatic turnaround, while less frequent regular sessions support a stable recovery.

I do not combine Reiki with any other spiritual practice. This originally stems from a desire to explore and prove its effectiveness to myself, but I have since discovered it works best by patiently trusting its process and stepping aside, so to speak, so that the energy flows as it will. Though my initial move into giving Reiki remotely was not by choice, and required surrender and trust, it has lead to a deep and rewarding distance Reiki practice.