healing hands: magic in my living room

So, I got a new desk. For writing. It\’s a wooden roll-top desk, the kind with the little cubby holes to organize my notes and journals and post-its.  I got it from a dear friend\’s parents, as they are downsizing to move out of their big house.
And another dear friend, bless her heart, agreed to go with me an hour away not only to pick it up, but to transport it in her husband\’s pick up truck (as my Honda Fit certainly was not going to cut it).  We went on a not-to-hot Saturday morning recently.
I live on the third floor.
There is no elevator.
The desk is not super heavy, but not light-and cumbersome.  We got it up the stairs and into its new home in my writing nook.
It was not easy. And we are both pretty strong.

After she left I showered and readied myself for a visit from some of the women with whom I trained to be a yoga teacher last year. We have periodic get-togethers and I was  hosting this one.
There was only one problem: My back seemed to be really unhappy with me about the whole desk-moving thing. I have struggled with low back pain my whole adult life but it\’s always been chronic; I\’ve never had an acute episode (knock on wood)–until that evening. I could only walk bent over, and I felt like I needed to lie down on my back–although when I did, it still squawked at me.

The girls arrived, four of them, with munchies and an enthusiasm to catch up with each other. When they saw me, all bent over and clearly uncomfortable, they immediately asked: what\’s wrong?

I told them my back was out.  That was it…..I\’m not sure how to describe what happened next. In my head it\’s one blurry memory.  I can only say this:  some magic was made.

three of the four of them had done Reiki training recently, not all at the same time, but with the same teacher.
[Reiki: a healing technique, originally from Japan, based on the principle that the therapist can channel energy into the patient by means of touch, to activate the natural healing processes of the patient\’s body and restore physical and emotional well-being.]
They were honing their energy-channeling skills in what are called \”reiki exchanges\”–get-togethers of trained people who offer reiki in small groups to individual people, then rotate, so everyone gives some reiki, everyone gets some.
I did two levels of reiki training, some years ago.  I often give myself reiki, and often send it to others.

The last thing I clearly remember is, \”We can give you reiki!\” and the next thing I knew I was lying on a yoga blanket on my coffee table. They had moved the coffee table across my living room so that it was flush with the end of the chaise on my couch, so my lower legs were on the couch.  I\’m sure it took actual time, but it felt instantaneous to me. Like, suddenly I was laying on my coffee table, legs on my sofa, and they were getting ready to lay their hands on me. It reminded me of seances we used to (try to) have when I was in middle school at slumber parties. There was an air of….surrender. A letting go, to what might become.

They all got chairs to sit around me.  They each had a section of the body on which they laid their hands, and every four minutes they changed hand positions, four times.

The woman at my head–the lovely, open-hearted, yoga teacher at my head, set the app on her phone to indicate the passing of four minutes, four times, with the sound of a meditation gong. (ya gotta love technology sometimes!)

The one who has not yet had her reiki training (yes, I said \”yet\”. It\’s coming.) sat on  the couch and held my feet, changing her hand positions instinctively each time the gong chimed.

Now, I\’ve had a lot of body work done. I have been getting regular acupuncture for almost 20 years. I had regular reiki from a master for a few years. I myself have had reiki training and offer it to others as well as myself. I\’ve had my share of massages.  And I\’ve done a lot of yoga and meditation, both alone and in community.

This was different though. This was….mystical. Ethereal.  Other-worldly.

As I lay with my eyes closed, the hands of the women whose hearts my heart got to know over eleven months of yoga teacher training… on my head, my hips, my feet, well….I got lost, a little bit. And in a good way. I had that floaty feeling you get when you totally relax, when you feel completely safe and at ease. When you feel like the four women in your living room  (and the Universe) are saying \”I got you\”, but without words, simply with the healing energy coming through their hands and into my body. I felt held, tended.

\”ding\” the iPhone app made the chiming sound.

Each of them moved their hands to a different position.

Four times, it chimed. Four times, they moved their hands, just slightly to different positions. Total silence (save when one of my cats jumped up on me, laying on my coffee table, and everyone tried to suppress a giggle. And her purring, which is always loud.)

The energy in the room was almost electric, and totally still and nurturing at the same time.

And I thought: I\’ve never felt like this. I don\’t even know what to call it. I\’ve never felt this….held. This loved.  At least I\’ve never been so open to it, so present for it.

The last \”ding\” indicated that the cycle had been completed. They each slowly and gently took their hands off of me. They helped me up, and we went to my dining room table to eat and gab.  Just like all of our get-togethers.

But this one was different.

We made MAGIC.

Deepest gratitude to my yoga teacher training sisters, who I may, from here on out, think of as my coven.

Oh, and yeah-when I woke up the next morning, my back felt like a million bucks.

But honestly? that was just a bonus.