Have a Relaxing Reiki Winter

Feeling stressed out this winter? Many people decide to take a relaxing “Reiki rest” to help them rejuvenate and find their calm center once again.

Holiday Gift: A Reiki Session

Two years ago, a snowstorm had been predicted. Everyone was flooding the stores for shovels and bags of “snow-melt”. Store parking lots were jammed, and car horns were honking. Impatience filled the air.

Like many others, I had begun to get caught up in the stress of not just the holidays, but end-of-year budgets with the added prospect of possibly needing a new car. The house needed some attention as well. And holiday time was upon us, yet I hadn’t even emailed or snail-mailed one Greeting card. I was starting to feel like a Grinch. What happened to that old childhood spirit of winter snow and fun? Catching snowflakes on my tongue? Making snow angels? Giving and receiving gifts? My joy was missing.

So, I turned to the one thing that re-balances all of me: mind, body, and soul. Reiki!

In a quiet room with the sound of a trickling water fountain, I lay on the Reiki table and felt the warm Reiki gently wafting into my energy fields and physical body. All that was important, was in the here and now. Just the state of “being” was enough. And not only was it enough; for me, it was vital for sustaining my inner strength and inner balance.

As the session progressed, I began to see the familiar colors of my own chakras streaming outward; something I realized I hadn’t seen for a couple of weeks. My stomach began to release tension, and other areas of my body relaxed where I’d been holding tension that I didn’t even consciously realize at the time.

The wind picked up just outside the window and I knew the temperature was falling, as predicted. Yet, I was ensconced in the warm sheltering of the Reiki itself. I drifted in and out of sleep. I felt safe and unconditionally loved by Source.

By the end of the session, I felt renewed and ready to return to “the world” again. Yet, I would not have to return to the state of being stressed. I had “recharged my battery”, or more precisely, re-ignited my inner light. It was just the winter gift I had needed.

As I stepped outside into the first falling snowflakes, for the first time that year, I felt the childhood excitement of a “winter wonderland” that would soon be upon us. Maybe this year I would even make snow angels.

Reiki Treatment Sessions

Winter is the time of year when many people schedule a Reiki treatment session to renew their energy and restore their inner calm. The trees let go of their leaves and a more barren landscape appears along with cold air. Friends and family take the chill off by receiving Reiki, which often feels like a warm blanket enfolding them. Many times, as they relax on the Reiki table, they fall asleep. Falling asleep while receiving Reiki, is good because it lets the immune system function at a deep level.

Relaxation is restorative and very natural. Sometimes we forget about this “natural” state of being and we forget to relax, as if relaxing was a chore. Relaxing is a gift we can give to ourselves, even in the midst of holiday stress. And one way of doing this is through Reiki.

So, as the trees’ canopies become sparse, and the outside temperature drops, allow yourself to enjoy the warmth of the season with some holiday Reiki; and Reiki all winter long!

Reiki Shares for Holiday Parties

Some Reiki practitioners host a “Reiki Share” for their holiday party. The guests bring food, and just like a regular party, everyone eats and chats for a while. Then they all lie down on Reiki tables. If there are more people than tables, two or three practitioners can give Reiki to one recipient on the table.

Not only does healing and balancing take place during Reiki shares, but lots of learning can take place too! And of course, lots of relaxation, as the layers of stress dissolve under the gentle flow of Reiki. This is a gentle gathering of gratitude and giving.

Tips for a Great Reiki Share

• Know who is coming so you can plan for how many tables you’ll need. (guests can bring tables)
• Have a table or counter for food that guests will bring. (Give them some ideas of what to bring before the share.)
• Keep an eye on the time so that once the eating part of the party is over, there is plenty of time left for everyone to receive Reiki.
• Have a gentle alarm on hand to sound at intervals so that each person at the share has an opportunity to receive Reiki.
• Put a sign on the door saying “Please do not disturb” so that once the Reiki part of the share begins, the doorbell won’t be ringing.
• The host can prepare the room for everyone before the Reiki begins. Each practitioner can prepare their own body and set their intention.
• Play relaxing music.

After the Reiki Share, everyone goes home much more relaxed and renewed!

Ten More Ways to Keep Calm

• Choose which parties or party invitation you want to accept.
• Bake Reiki cookies with some friends (give Reiki to the cookies before baking them).
• Give Self-Reiki every day or every night before sleep.
• Walk in nature or a relaxing place. As you walk, place your hand over the heart chakra or solar plexus, for grounding and feeling calm.
• Surround yourself with calm pictures, or items from nature.
• Have a “Reiki Retreat” room in your house or apartment where you go to relax.
• Choose to spend time with someone instead of buying gifts for each other. Give them some Reiki as a gift. Giving Reiki can relax the “giver” too.
• Spend time doing a creative hobby: i.e. meditative coloring books.
• Listen to relaxing music.
• Prepare food ahead of time and as you do, give it some Reiki with the intention that the nutrients fully support everyone who partakes of the food.

We have a choice as to how much or how little we want to do this season.

So, instead of winding up and spinning out into a vortex of stress, we can intentionally wind down and let Reiki help us enjoy an easy-paced winter.

Choose your pace with Reiki; choose your path to relaxation this season and all year through!

Happy Reiki Holidays and Many Reiki blessings,

Yvonne P. Gleason, RMT

Reiki Sanctuary of Northern Virginia