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Marshall University Marshall Digital Scholar 0885: Reiki and Well-Being Interviews Digitized Manuscript Collections 5-6-2024 Participant 002: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana, USA) Lindsey M. Harper Marshall University, harper166@marshall.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://mds.marshall.edu/reikiconversations Recommended Citation Harper, Lindsey M., "Participant 002: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana, USA)" (2024). 0885: Reiki and Well-Being Interviews. 8. https://mds.marshall.edu/reikiconversations/8 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Digitized Manuscript Collections at Marshall Digital Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in 0885: Reiki and Well-Being Interviews by an authorized administrator of Marshall Digital Scholar. For more information, please contact beachgr@marshall.edu. Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana) Participant Agreed that they were over 18 and that it was okay to proceed with asking questions. Transcript May 6, 2024, 1:53PM  Lindsey started transcription  Lindsey   0:04 We are good to go. Can you start by telling me a little bit about yourself?  Participant 2    0:09 Yeah. So I know I did kind of read over your questions. So Indiana is where I was born and raised, so I was born in a small town, [redacted] Indiana… I grew up in [redacted], Indiana. I lived in [redacted], Indiana for like 7 years, and now have been in southern Indiana for over a decade. So… Yeah, I mean, I don't, I don't know if there's any more specific things that you want about like who I am and where I came from, because I wouldn't even really know where to start with that.  Lindsey   0:44 Sure. Just anything that you feel is pertinent to the project and things that you want to share, but if you're good, we can move to the next one, but I just whatever it is that you feel like you want to share as it pertains to this information.  Participant 2    0:58 Yeah, I think I feel like that's important where I am and where I've grown up.  I I did wanna say something too about cause I I don't know where I saw it. Maybe you mentioned something about Appalachia or people having connections to that area.  Lindsey   1:12 Mm-hmm.  Participant 2    1:12 Umm, I did not grow up in that area… Smoky Mountains specifically have been very important touch point for me, like there have been a lot of significant points in my life that are connected to that area. It's always a place that I go back to when I need to recharge or hit the reset button, and then I do have ancestral DNA connected to Blue Ridge Mountains and my mom didn't know her biological father but when we did ancestry.com a lot of his lineage is actually from that area. So which made sense to me because whenever I go there, it just feels like home, even though technically isn't—like to my soul, it feels like home, yeah.   Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana)  Lindsey   1:50 That's really beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. And Appalachia is not required for this specific this round of participants, but I appreciate you kind of bringing that connection to me because it is related in that way for you. I love that.  Participant 2    2:03 Yeah.  Lindsey   2:04 Umm, so can you tell me how your family or cultural background may have played a role in shaping your perspectives on spirituality and healing?  Participant 2    2:13 Yeah, that's an interesting one because when I was really young, my parents were, like, conservative Baptist, but we moved from a small town to [redacted], Indiana which is the [redacted] largest city in the state. And it's it's just got more urban city vibes, so I could see them start to kind of pull away a little bit from the traditional. They always stayed Christian, though. The chaos in our family was a little bit of a hidden gift cause as they got divorced and everything kind of just went to shit honestly. Umm, they weren't so focused on creating a certain type of structure, so honestly it gave me and my siblings a lot of space to explore things without a heavy handed adult like “this is what it is and this is what it means.”  I know that some people could see the negative in having to grow up so quickly. I was 13 when they got divorced and I was the older I'm the oldest of four. Umm, but I feel like it honestly gave me a lot of space to explore things that I would not have been able to otherwise, had they been really strict about what we do and what we're exposed to. So I don't. My spiritual journey is just kind of been like, “I don’t know”, like a little soul orphan that just got… “Here you go. Try whatever!” I like that, though that's been good for me, yeah.  Lindsey   3:31 That's really beautiful. I really like hearing hearing that perspective with having to grow up, like you said, in a different kind of set in different kind of way.  Participant 2    3:40 Yeah.  Lindsey   3:42 Were there any experiences or influences in your life that you believe set the foundation for your interest in holistically based practices? Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana)  Participant 2    3:51 A lot of little personal things. I was a very quiet kid, but like part of that was just feeling all the feelings of everyone else, you know. And and a lot of people like to use the term empath. I'm careful with that term because I feel like we all can sense emotions and things like that. I do feel like I was definitely on the more sensitive side and as a kid I didn't really know how to explain that or what that was. So, as a very introverted, very quiet, shy child, I was very observant. And I say that to say like I had like a really strong connection with like nature. I called them nature spirits, like I would talk to trees.  Lindsey   4:29 Yeah!  Participant 2    4:31 I still do. Uh, I feel like they were my teachers. Like trees and birds and plants. And I didn't trust humans, but I feel like they were always predictable, reliable and it's  like if you're kind to nature, she'll whisper her secrets to you. I feel like that was my journey into something I didn't quite know what it was, and then as I've gotten older, I've connected with more people that are like, ohh, how you thought about this? Or have you seen this? Or it was just like a little thread that started there.  Lindsey   5:04 I have a recommendation for you, but I'm not allowed to deviate from this until after we're done so, but I have a recommendation for you that it it resonated for me as soon as you said it.  Participant 2    5:08 OK.  Lindsey   5:14 So conversely, were there any influences that suppressed the pursuit of holistically based practices?  Participant 2    5:21 Not not overly. My parents don't always stay very true to their religion. My mom, even until the day she died… She passed away in 2007. She was very much like you need to accept Jesus as your Savior. And I didn't fault her for that. I wasn't like ohh gosh she has a very limited view of the world.  Lindsey   5:41 Mm-hmm. Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana)  Participant 2    5:42 I was like, she's dying right now and she's holding on to like the last thread of hope that's hers. Umm, but I had had so many experiences that confirmed for me that something beyond what we experienced existed, but it also confirmed for me that it wasn't confined to a specific religion or tradition. So, there was a little bit of like you need to do this to be OK. I didn't interpret it though, as being like holding me down. It was just more of OK… She's allowed to believe what she believes. I can still love her. I can believe what I believe.  I do feel that my marriage, I got divorced in 2018, but he and I were together for 15 years. So he is a physician and an atheist. And obviously I'm like a woo woo practitioner. So it was a very Darma and Greg, I don't know if you know that show. It was a weird dynamic start.  Lindsey   6:37 Yeah! Yeah, I'm familiar. Yeah.  Participant 2    6:41 Uh, we still cope parents together very well, but I do feel like I would censor myself a lot in that relationship because he had such a science mind.   Lindsey   6:52 Sure.  Participant 2    6:55 And the crazy thing is, is that I really loved his science mind, like he has a beautiful brain. He's very intelligent. I felt bad for him, that there was always that sole thing that was kind of missing for him, almost like he would be robotic about things rather than expressive.  Lindsey   7:03 Yeah.  Participant 2    7:07 Uh, so that was another thing that felt like I would kind of box it up a little bit, but I am a bit of a mischievous soul. Uh, so I also like to push people's buttons like I have a very conservative uncle who's, like, you're gonna burn in hell! And I'm just like, See you there! Ha ha ha.   Lindsey   7:28 Hahahah! Yeah. Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana)  Participant 2    7:31 You know, but I feel like that's kind of my way of buffering too, of alright, that must be torturous if that's what you believe. And you go through the world with that level of fear, but also, I'm not going there with you. You're welcome to live there, mm mmm (the sound of “no way”).  Lindsey   7:40 Yeah, for sure for sure. That makes a lot of sense. I can resonate with that too. Can you tell me a little bit about your work history and what you do now without identifying any places of employment?  Participant 2    7:56 Yeah, my work history is just a hodgepodge of random ass shit.  Lindsey   8:03 So cool.  Participant 2    8:03 That was a funny question when I looked at it and I was like, I feel like I've known people that like my ex, like he had a very specific he knew he wanted to be a doctor from like the age 5. So like his trajectory was very, you know, I don't. I delivered blood. I worked at the Red Cross. I know not supposed to say specific places, but I packaged blood and worked in their inventory. Fitness was like a really huge one for me. I did personal training, wellness coaching, worked for multiple fitness facilities, was a dance instructor for years, taught belly dance. That kind of took me in a a little bit of a different direction of understanding energy cause whenever I was doing dance classes, I'd really felt like we were moving energy.  Lindsey   8:49 Mhmmm.   Participant 2    8:51 UM and I would kind of even have visuals of people and I could feel their energy shift from the beginning of the class to the end of it. So I feel like that's what started my love of like body emotions, energy. I'm like, ooh, there's something here that's a thread that I want to follow. Then I became a stay at home Mom after my mom passed away, it changed my perspective. I was like, I don't want to miss any time with these kids. Like I wanna be full on board with this and as they got older, massage therapy kind of led me back into umm body stuff.  Lindsey   9:14 Yeah. Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana)  Participant 2    9:24 I do have a bachelor's degree, so I thought I was gonna do social work. Umm I have family and consumer sciences was my major and then psychology was my minor and I I wanted to help develop programs for underprivileged people. Umm and in a way, I still do that kind of work in the world, but it's just come through in a very nontraditional kind of way. Umm, yeah.  Lindsey   9:49 Yeah.  Participant 2    9:51 So massage therapist is my current profession.  Lindsey   9:53 Awesome. Thank you so much for that. That's very helpful and very comprehensive. I appreciate that. Umm. So I'm gonna move into the experiences with the Reiki set of questions. Can you tell me about the moment or event that first sparked your interest in Reiki?  Participant 2    10:09 Yes, it was after my mom died. That was like a very pivotal experience in my life. I I was trying to do like traditional therapy and things and I love traditional therapy. It just was missing the mark for me. Like, I felt like I couldn't quite connect and so I was like, I'm a weirdo. I can try different things I don't have to be a traditional, so I just started Googling stuff in [redacted city] and a lady came up who was a Reiki practitioner. But I connected with her through something called an energy drawing. So she did an energy drawing for me just from my name. And this was before a lot of things are available now, like there wasn't as much information online to access. So because I feel like some people be like, oh, she Googled your stuff? She did not Google my stuff. There was no stuff to Google. Uh, so I met with her and she was afraid to show me the drawing.  Lindsey   10:55 Yeah.  Participant 2    10:59 She was like, This is the worst drawing I've ever made. I'm so sorry. Like it's just sad and broken… and and I was like, No, like you're spot on, my mom just died from leukemia like I am in a spot. And so, but then it started a conversation with she and I about like spirits and the other realms. And she was like, You know, when I drew it, I saw this pink motherly energy. She was like, She's definitely still with you. Those are Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana) the kind of conversations that I needed to have. So I started to have Reiki sessions with her after that initial meeting and the first Reiki session I had with her was pretty like it was profound for me. It connected a lot of dots.  Lindsey   11:39 So you don't have to answer this question then, but in kind of in line with that, can you share a little bit about your first experience with receiving Reiki?  Participant 2    11:47 Yeah, I… you know, I didn't have any expectations. I didn't know what it was or what it was supposed to do. I just felt more connected. I felt like my heart had been kind of broken and I felt like the energy had been drained out of me and it it didn't feel like it fixed everything, but it's almost like it relit the pilot light, like it kind of connected me back to my heart and it gave it just a little bit of like a breath of life back into me.  And she did something that I do with my clients that I know not all practitioners do. I call it verbal processing now, at the end of it she would talk about visions that she saw, sensations that I had, and we would kind of like overlap, like the connector points of those. And there were a lot of that, which is very validating when you're in a space like that. I feel like I kept having an image from a childhood movie that I liked, “Never Ending Story”,  it was when UM Artax, like the horse died, in the the swamps of sadness, like I kept having that image like before I even came to her table. That's just where I felt like I was, like I just lost my one of my favorite people and I was in the swamps of sadness and so, but she didn't know that. And she was like, “I just keep seeing you in the mud.” She's like “You just can't get out of the mud,” you know? So there were a lot of parallels of things that there was no way that she could know what she did. That also made that experience very validating for me, yeah.  Lindsey   13:15 It's really beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing that.  Participant 2    13:18 Yeah.  Lindsey   13:20 Can you share any transformative moments or experiences that might have reinforced your commitment to your own Reiki practice?  Participant 2    13:28 Yeah, I did Reiki as an add on because I was like I'm going to do massage therapy. I recognize that our bodies carry emotions, and even if we don't talk about that, I feel Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana) like that's what I'm doing with people and I respect that. And so I loved Reiki, but I didn't feel like in this area, it's very conservative, that it would get a lot of traction.  Lindsey   13:50 OK.  Participant 2    13:50 So I was like, I wanna do this is an add on, and I was working for another place and I got my first client and it was just it was very profound experience for her and I. Because she was like, “what was that? Like I've never had an experience like that.” And the verbal processing was very clear to like umm. Sometimes I'll go in on the occipital bone, like I know a lot of people do hovering.  Lindsey   14:15 Mm-hmm.  Participant 2    14:16 But sometimes I'll do body holds just because I'm kind of incorporating massage therapy with the energy work. It feels like I'm plugging into a hard drive.  Lindsey   14:22 Yeah.  Participant 2    14:24 Like, I'll get visions and things when I hold that area and with her I got a strong vision of a child that she was all alone isolated and I was like, “I really wanted to give her a present.” And I could see myself as like this fairy godmother character that was like changing the energy for her. So it was this whole visual that came in and you know, this is my first professional client. So I was like, “How am I gonna have this conversation with this lady? She doesn't know me and this is wild.” But I was like, you know, girl… You're a weirdo. If she wants her money back, give her her money back. Who cares? So it was this whole journey that I saw in like a quick vision of a child that was isolated, lonely. Umm, it felt like she didn't know how to play or that no one would play with her. And so in the vision, I like handed her this gift.  Lindsey   15:14 Mhmm.  Participant 2    15:16 And I was like, Come you come out. You can play. It's OK now you're safe now. And then there were some very religious things connected to it. So it felt like she needed to know that if she wanted to stay connected to Jesus, she could, but it didn't have to Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana) have the heavy undertones that her upbringing had had. And I didn't know what her upbringing was, by the way, as I'm having all these… And I'm like this is a lot.  Lindsey   15:39 Right, right.  Participant 2    15:40 So then we had a conversation and I was like, here's everything that I saw. I was like, “What if I handed you a gift? Like what would that be? What are you needing?”  She was crying. She was like, “I grew up Jehovah's Witness. I was not allowed to receive gifts. I was not allowed to hang out with my friends. My dad was very strict. I do have like a weird relationship with religion.” She's like, “That feels very gentle to see Jesus through another lens versus this very like heavy handed father that’s a disciplinarian.” Umm, by the end of it though I could see like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. And I was like, “What did you wanna play with when you were a kid?” She's like, “I wanted a spirograph so bad.” And I was like, “Can you get one now?” And she's like, “I just saw one at Barnes and Nobles,” and she was like, “I'm gonna go buy a spirograph when I leave here.” And I was like, “I'm so excited for you.” I was like, “I don't know if you're gonna come back again, but if you do like I wanna know that you got that spirograph and like that you actually sat down and used it.”  So from the time she came in to the time she left, she was a completely different person. You could tell that her heart had opened and her energy was like moving, and I don't feel like I “did that to her.” I feel like I was a willing participant and her guides, my guides, everyone kind of converged and we're like alright, it's a team thing that we're doing here, but it was an experience that was very validating for me of like “ohh this is what this does for people”, like that's kind of a big deal. It might seem small to some people, but that's huge what she just experienced in 60 minutes. So… I'm gonna be a chatty one. I'm gonna apologize. You're gonna need every minute for this interview.  Lindsey   17:22 No, please don't. Please do not apologize whatsoever. I love I love that. I love that you're you're taking the time to really share your stories and your experiences too. And I love how you talked about like you serving as basically like the conduit for the energy transformation to take place.  Participant 2    17:33 Yeah.  Lindsey   17:40 So I really like, I appreciate all of your insights and your stories. Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana)  Participant 2    17:41 Yeah.  Lindsey   17:43 Those are… That's what makes for a really good interview, so thank you. Please chat as much as you want.  Participant 2    17:50 I think it works better when we kind of get out of the way.  Lindsey   17:53 Yeah.  Participant 2    17:53 I know I've noticed in my practice that when I get too “thinky” or try to micromanage an experience, it's like I shut the energy off. So yeah, when I'm just kind of a willing participant, it just feels like it flows better for everybody.  Lindsey   18:07 Absolutely. And because you are a massage therapist, I know like, because as somebody who's not licensed in that way I'm I do strictly no touch if I do in person people.  Participant 2    18:15 Uh-huh.  Lindsey   18:16 So because you have that differentiation with your insurance or whatever that allows for that for that, I think that that can also make for a more powerful, not that it's not not powerful when you're not touching, but I think that for you, you're able to kind of connect with energy on a different level.  Participant 2    18:20 Yeah. Yeah.  Lindsey   18:32 So I really I I like that you shared how you get those downloads in that way too. It's very cool.  Participant 2    18:38 Yeah, it is cool. It is cool. Uh, it's cool that when I hear other people practicing and they say things like “Is this weird?” And I'm like “No, not at all.” Yeah. Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana)  Lindsey   18:46 Yeah, yeah. Have you seen conversations surrounding Reiki evolve over the years, both in your personal practice and maybe the broader community?  Participant 2    18:55 Yeah, I had some surprising clients, especially in this area. I'm mostly female clients, but I've started to get male clients in the last year or so and men that are they seem very heart sensitive, but they're still in like these professions that are very like… *does robotic hand motion* leadership, business.  Lindsey   19:11 Mhmm.  Participant 2    19:16 Yeah, and yeah, it's a little bit… I gotta stay open because when they come in my space, I'm like, do you really wanna be here? hahaha.  But then I see them kinda have… It's almost like they've always wanted to have a certain type of conversation, and they're not in environments where they can, and that's something that I pride myself on is creating an environment where people can really speak to whatever they want to speak to. Whether it's sexuality, religion, death, there's no… extraterrestrials, I don't care. There's no thing that's off the table here because I feel like those are the places people can't go in their day-to-day lives, so I like creating like a safe space where they can go. So, and the people that that's drawn in, that has been surprising to me and I do feel like conversations have changed more even in local places… you know, there are medical facilities that are like Reiki as an add-on now.  Lindsey   20:20 Yeah.  Participant 2    20:21 So it's interesting that it has shifted a little bit. I I do feel like there are still a lot of people that are like, “You're channeling the devil.” (said like an old witchy lady). It's whatever. I'm just like…. “OK.” I don't even have the energy for those conversations anymore. I'm just like “You're right. Pray for my soul.” *laughs* “Thank you.”  Lindsey   20:39 Kind of like the let go and just… it's their journey.  Participant 2    20:40 Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana)  Lindsey   20:42 That's their journey. That's fair. That's fair. So what level of Reiki certification do you hold just for the I'm going to define it just for definition purpose, but like level one is typically working with yourself. Level 2 involves working with others and Level 3 involves being able to teach others or attune others to Reiki.  Participant 2    21:02 Ahh Level 3, Reiki master. Yeah, I don't. I don't ever use the term Reiki Master, though I don't know why I have such an aversion to it. I do. It's probably a little bit of a psychology thing for myself too.  Lindsey   21:12 I recently just added that to my own bio and I felt weird about it as well.  Participant 2    21:18 Yes, I know.  Lindsey   21:19 I also have a psychology background, so I'm like “eehhhhhhhh.”  Participant 2    21:22 And maybe that's it. I don't know. Yeah, there's a weird barrier there because I'm just like, “I'm a Reiki practitioner!” And then if people ask, because sometimes people coming for service, they don't care if you can do attunements or not, they don't care.  Lindsey   21:35 Right, right.  Participant 2    21:35 They want the service right? So I don't feel like I need to go… if someone specifically is like, “No, I wanna work with a Reiki master.” But I don't have that very often, and usually when they are like that, they're kind of turds anyway.  Lindsey   21:47 Yeah. Hehe.  Participant 2    21:48 And I'm like, “I'm probably not the best fit for you. Yeah.”  Lindsey   21:51 Sure, that makes sense. It does. So how many years have you been practicing Reiki? Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana)  Participant 2    21:57 About four or five years. Yeah, as from doing like the official attunement. Honestly, I feel like I've been doing energy work my whole life. I just didn't have a name for it.  Lindsey   22:09 Sure. Sure. It sounds like that from some of the earlier questions, you very much have been in tune with the with energy as a whole.  Participant 2    22:11 Yeah.  Lindsey   22:16 So that awesome. I'm gonna move into some of the reiki's relationship in daily life questions.  Participant 2    22:24 OK.  Lindsey   22:25 Do you have a self-Reiki practice? And if so, what does your self-Reiki practice look like?  Participant 2    22:32 Umm. I do. What number are you on? Cause I've made little notes so I wouldn't forget.  Lindsey   22:36 Umm 13.  Participant 2    22:38 OK. Uh, I didn't used to do it so frequently. Maybe I would drop in like once a month or something, very sporadic. In this this year specifically though I just had a lot of weird body things come up at the beginning of the year, so I've been doing it almost every day. I can notice the huge difference uh when I kind of hone in on it versus like “Yeah I'll do that we don't have time. I've got like 10 other things that I have to do.” My day goes different when I start from that place versus thinking of it as like I'll add that on later. I like to do, I generally will put on a guided meditation when I drop into my Reiki. I feel like that kind of helps my brain to settle a little bit. I usually for my-self Reiki, I usually do hand on the heart. Sometimes if I feel like there's a part of my body that needs a little extra attention, I might direct it there, but I feel like this is such a connector point for me and how I do my work that if I go here it's like it goes Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana) everywhere. Umm, so usually about 5 to 10 minutes, focus on breathing, hand on the heart, and I like to listen to a guided meditation most days of the week.  Lindsey   23:51 OK, awesome. So how many times per week do you engage with your self-Reiki practice? You said most days.  Participant 2    23:57 Probably like 5 to 7 days, yeah.  Lindsey   23:57 OK, perfect. OK, wonderful. Umm, how did becoming a Reiki practitioner or master integrate with your daily life and will you provide some examples of any noticeable changes in your well-being and perspective?  Participant 2    24:14 My original journey into my first attunement was pretty gentle. And I feel like it kind of softened me a little bit. I've got some rough edges. I had quite an upbringing. Like I hung out with drug dealers, and my dad was an alcoholic and it's just kind of a rough background. Government subsidized apartment, gang members, and I don't say they say like I'm some hardcore criminal, because I didn't do the stuff that my friends did. But the people that I was around, I had some, I’ve got some rough edges. So I feel like that entry into it, it kind of softened me a little bit.  The second attunement, that stirred some shit up. I had a lot of anger that I needed to work through and I'm so glad the lady that did my attunements we didn't have like… I know some people are like “No, I'm ready. Let's push it through in a weekend.” I was like “Girl, I'm not doing that with my process.” She was like “You set the tone.” I was like, “I don't wanna do attunements with other people either. Like I need one-on-one. If you need me to pay you extra money or whatever like that just feels too intense for me.” Umm, so she was so kind. Like she gave me the reins like I had the first attunement. That was a softening for me, and it was probably about six or seven months before I did the second attunement which that one just brought like all the emotions, it absolutely impacted daily life because I was like, “I'm maaaaad for no reason!” And my sister's like, “Didn't you didn't get your second attunement?” And I was like, “Son of a bitch, yes I did!”  She was like, “I think you need to find some healthy ways to express your anger.”  Lindsey   25:50 Yeah.   Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana)  Participant 2    25:53 Like it's it's in there. You've been holding on to it for quite a while. That was a year process before I did the third attunement cause she was like, “do you wanna do?” And I was like, “No, I have some things that I need to sit with. I'm not rushing to any finish lines. Also, I'm not holding space for people right now. I need to soften some of these rough edges before I start holding space for people again.” So it's been a process. The third attunement I feel like has helped me to be more grounded, in which you'll know this… It doesn't mean that you're not human and you don't still have, like, very human and challenging experiences.  Lindsey   26:33 Mhmm. Yeah.  Participant 2    26:33 It just feels like you have another, an extra tool in your toolbox to, and sometimes we forget, right? We're like, oh, yeah, I've got that tool. Like I could use that right now. Umm, so it feels like I've got like an extra friend on my team. That's how it impacts my daily life.  Lindsey   26:49 No, that resonates so much like all of what you said for that one that resonates so much. How has practicing Reiki affected your mental health or your overall personal health?  Participant 2    27:01 It's been really important. I have had a lot of issues with like anxiety and even depression when I was younger… just from a lot of things that I grew up in. Like I experienced, I don't wanna trauma dump on you and today. But I feel like these experiences are important…  Lindsey   27:15 You're not. You're not. I promise, yeah.  Participant 2    27:23 Like sexual abuse, just like kind of the gamma of different things. So and then losing my mom to leukemia. And I'm gonna say this very quickly, I know you have such a kind heart, so I hope it doesn't put a dent in you. My brother was murdered. Umm, it's a different way to experience a death. So my other brother is diagnosed with colon cancer in his early 30s. He's still alive and in remission, but my family has had a lot of stuff. Umm. And I recognize that people that have life like that tend to go in the direction of healers and psychology. And you know, we just wanna make the world a little bit softer than what we experienced. Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana)  Lindsey   27:59 Absolutely.  Participant 2    27:59 So but Reiki specifically, I do feel like it kinda gets me grounded and reconnected in a way that not not a lot of other things can, because for me the energy portion is so important for mental health as well as the body. So any modalities that I can find that kind of combine the things, it feels a little bit more sensory for me, yeah.  Lindsey   28:23 Thank you. Thank you. Umm. Describe whether and how Reiki helps you cope with stressful situations please.  Participant 2    28:34 Yeah. Like kind of coming back to that energetic body… it's like that meeting place between the two for me. So and for me, if I I feel like if I do all try to do all one or the other, it feels a little off balance.  Lindsey   28:49 Mhmm.  Participant 2    28:49 Uh, you know, and I I think I've been using the language of energy before I was even talking about Reiki or anything like that. Just kind of like an intuitive knowing. So yeah, those practices are just really important in helping me to stay kind of like grounded and centered in my body.  Lindsey   29:07 Absolutely, absolutely. Has Reiki affected the relationships you have or no longer have with other people?  Participant 2    29:10 Yeah. Hahah.  Lindsey   29:14 If so, how?  Participant 2    29:17 Sometimes in comical ways, honestly, and that's me just knowing, and I think this is the upside to experiencing so much trauma—If there is an upside. You just realize that the little stuff that people get caught up on just doesn't it really matter. Like Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana) when you've been through the the dumpster fire of what life can offer... Wait, can you repeat the question again? I feel like I'm losing my train of thought.  Lindsey   29:45 Yeah, yeah, of course. Has Reiki affected the relationships that you have with other people? Or maybe no longer have with other people. And then, if so, how?  Participant 2    29:54 Yeah. So that's where the humor part comes in is me not taking myself too seriously.  Lindsey   29:58 Yes!  Participant 2    29:58 So I do have some conservative relatives that are like, “That's not of God, like you're channeling witchcraft” And I'm just like, “you're right..” Yeah, I mean, I disagree with them… There are people that are like, “You're a witch.” And I'm like, “Yeah, yeah, I am.” I think it is what it is. My ex, I feel like he kind of… we co-parent really well together, but he's still kind of keeps his safe distance from, you know… Like, okay, I'm just like, “Yeah, I had a Reiki client today,” and he's like, “That's nice.”  But there are other people that are like so curious, and I feel like it's built some connections with some people in my family that weren't there before because I'll post pictures, I'll set up my room like I call it an “energy signature.” So I tapped into their energy before they come and I set up my room with specific colors and images and sounds to match their energy signature. So it's almost like I'm bringing them back to what their center is, not what my center is.  Lindsey   30:55 Yeah, I like that.  Participant 2    31:00 Right. But I'll post pictures and little videos on my room setup and my family, they can all see that, so some of them are like, “I wanna come. I wanna be in that room!” Like and it's sparked some interesting conversation. So I think it's created deeper connections with some people and some people keep a safe distance from me.   Lindsey   31:20 That makes a lot of sense. You've kind of touched on all of these already, but I'm gonna move into the demographic questions just to make coding responses at a later time make a little bit more sense. Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana)  Participant 2    31:30 OK.  Lindsey   31:32 Which state within the US or which country do you currently live?  Participant 2    31:35 Indiana.  Lindsey   31:36 Awesome. What gender do you identify with?  Participant 2    31:39 Female.  Lindsey   31:40 What is your race and or ethnicity?  Participant 2    31:43 Ah, Caucasian.  Lindsey   31:45 Awesome. What is your highest level of educational attainment?  Participant 2    31:49 Bachelor's degree with a lot of continuing education in somatic therapy specifically, yeah.  Lindsey   31:55 OK. And is there anything else that you'd like to share with me that we haven't covered throughout this interview.  Participant 2    32:06 Don't think so. Yeah, I feel like most of the notes that I wrote down, like we touched on it, a lot of this stuff. Is there anything, like any clarifying questions that you have about anything that I did say.  Lindsey   32:22 No, I think you were very comprehensive and I really appreciated you sharing your stories. And if that is good, I can stop the recording and we can chat a little bit if you want. So, OK, thank you so much. Participant 2: Reiki Master with five years of experience (White; Female; Indiana)  Participant 2    32:35 Sure. Yeah.  Lindsey   32:37 I appreciate you.  Participant 2    32:38 You're very welcome.  Lindsey stopped transcription

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