On March 16, 2002 I received my First Degree in the Usui System of Natual Healing.

On September 14, 2002 I received my Second Degree in the Usui System of Natural Healing.

In November, 2002, I received my Third Degree in the Usui System of Natural Healing.

When I took my First Degree I felt very much forced into it. I'm sure my supervisor thought it an opportunity, but felt I backed into a corner. You see, there was money available on a grant that paid 1/2 my salary for training fees. My supervisor recommended that I take Reiki training. However, considering the source, it felt more like an order. So that's what I did. My First and Second Degrees were both paid for by this grant. Why was I reluctant? Part of it was that I knew I'd have to actually touch someone, part was also that I knew that someone would be touching me. Luckily my friend, Linda, was willing to be my practice person (I trust her) and it gave her an opportunity to use her Reiki. The Second Degree was much easier and didn't involve me touching anyone at all. Nor did the Third Degree (which I got in November, 2002)

Reiki is supposed to be non-forceful. Were I where I am now, and have the same recommendation from my boss, I'd decline it with the addendum that later I may be ready. A new Reiki Master wondered why I thought that Reiki training shouldn't be made manditory for new staff being hired, and this is why...it would be hypocritical to say on the one hand that Reiki is non-forceful, but on the other hand demand that they experience Reiki and then train in it. Perhaps that is why I shall probably never become a Reiki Master.

The system of Reiki that I learned was founded in Japan by Dr. Mikao Usui. He wasn't a medical doctor but the woman who brought Reiki from Japan to Hawaii thought that if doctors had universal respect. Mikao Usui was actually a "Sensei" or Honoured Teacher. Personally, I prefer "Sensei".

It doesn't matter what religion a person is, whether a person is good or bad, a believer or unbeliever, Reiki can be felt in one's life. Reiki is a universal healing energy which is greatly beneficial with all life forms: humans, animals, plants and other living forces. It is a technique for activating, restoring and balancing natural energy. It restores, normalizes, balances and aligns the energy centres of our bodies so that we may live a happier, healthier existance.

I can't say that Reiki is the answer to all ills. I know that it works to help relieve my S.O.'s discomfort with fibromyalgia. It helped settle his gut after a roaring bout of food poisoning combined with I.B.S. It helped him move freer after he spent an hour shovelling snow. It helped relieve my friend's mentrual cramps. I have only their words for what my touch and thinking of freeing the Reiki energy has done for them. YMMV.