How To Use Reiki To Calm Anxiety

For those of you who are a bit skeptical of energy healing practices, I get it. Before I transitioned into this career, I worked as a staffer in the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C., for several years, and let's just say we weren't talking about crystals and chakras in the hallways. I was one of the biggest skeptics I knew about all things spiritual.

But by the time I first received Reiki in Los Angeles, I had massive anxiety. I was constantly worrying, doubting, stressing, and feeling nervous and agitated. There was a lot going on in my life, and it weighed on me in the form of immense physical back pain. The kind that makes you question how long you can keep living life.

When a friend recommended Reiki, I was hesitant, but I knew I needed a major change. Desperate for anything that might help relieve the physical and emotional pain, I went in for my first session. While I can't even tell you how I felt that first time, I do know that I felt better by the end. My anxiety seemed to subside temporarily—which was practically a miracle—and my back felt better.

Reiki is an energy healing modality intended to help create balance and harmony in the body’s energy fields. By utilizing the secondary palm chakras, the practitioner is able to channel life force energy. This can be transferred to the areas in need with the simple movement of the hands. And the wonderful thing about it is you can learn to be your own practitioner and transfer some of this energy yourself.

In many ways, Reiki is like an active meditation. You are consciously connecting and releasing that which no longer serves you in order to allow the body, mind, and spirit to receive the energy it needs for balance. If you can imagine and remember that we are all made up of energy (thanks, Einstein!), then you can begin to believe that you hold the ability shift your energy any time.