My Experience with Reiki: Pause, Light and Silence

By Conchi Rubio

Peace, light and silence

On this two-way road in which I live, I believe Reiki is as natural for the soul as it is elusive for the mind.

I discovered Reiki thanks to a good friend, a therapist and teacher. What I first learned about it came through conversations. I understood it to be a technique of energy healing and, apparently, very beneficial. With time, and inevitably, I ended up taking a course; I was interested in getting to know it better. That was about eight years ago.

I would say the course overwhelmed me, in the sense that I doubt I was ready to assimilate everything. That was when I learned about its Japanese origin, its history, and its mainly therapeutic approach. I did the twenty-one-day self-treatment that often follows many courses. I would love to say otherwise, but the truth is I didn’t feel anything special. I thought I was doing it wrong, or that something in me was not working… I remember that most of the time my movements were very mechanical, not fluid at all. I couldn’t fully disconnect. I don’t know if it was a lack of trust… or perhaps fear or resistance to something I still largely didn’t understand.

Until one of those days —one of the last— when I was about to skip it because I was very busy… that very day, something happened. First, I felt as if the air in the room became still, and that sensation took over me. Only that moment existed. I even think I felt a presence, something or someone there, with me. Or perhaps it was that deep sense of calm, surrounding everything, that made me feel neither alone nor separate from what was around me. At no point did I open my eyes, and at no point did I feel afraid. I could only feel serenity, lightness, fullness… It was one of those experiences for which words always fall short; they barely outline the reality.

At last, I felt something, and it exceeded my expectations… even though I didn’t really know what to expect. One of those rare moments when the two directions of my inner road come together, and from there only something unique and true can arise… and inexplicable.

During the following years, my Reiki practice became intermittent. In difficult times, when I felt it could help me, I would return to it, and I did notice that it relaxed me, that it calmed me. I also had much more confidence and ease in practicing it. What I experienced left a mark on me.

When 2024 was just beginning, and it was still too early to shape the year, I came across the Kisetsu website by pure chance —although I believe less and less in chance. I found myself absorbed, looking through the page. Everything I discovered there resonated with me, as one might say. It spoke about meditation, about Reiki… REIKI!… It felt like the name of an old, dear friend returning… I couldn’t even remember the last time I had practiced it. It has come back, it is here… or perhaps it never really left?

But this time it felt different. I didn’t experience it as something mysterious coming from who knows where to help, but rather as something emerging from within me; like a certainty becoming more and more present, until it filled me completely with its silence and calm.

The year unfolded—difficult, challenging—and before letting myself be carried away further, I knew I had to do something. This time I was very clear: to return to Reiki, but not as before. I needed something more—to begin again, perhaps from a different perspective, and to go deeper. In the end, I returned to Kisetsu —not without first looking into other schools, but I didn’t feel the same connection. This time I found something new and interesting: the online academy and the Reiki refresher courses. It felt ideal for my circumstances, very complete, reasonably priced, and, to my own surprise, I signed up without thinking twice.

I didn’t make a mistake. My path had to pass through here. It brought a sense of relief, of pause, of space… I learned some new things; others I remembered from my first course, though now they were explored more deeply. I came to understand the great importance of meditation and the Gokai—their principles, their values, their origins… The landscape of Reiki was now richer, and without leaving home, I somehow “felt” in Japan. It clearly went beyond a therapeutic technique; it was an entire world. In truth, it was something I had already sensed years ago, when I first heard about it: through words and glances, I caught glimpses of something powerful.

I believe that the doors that open in life do so because we are, at least, ready to open them. In this case, I am thinking of Reiki, but it could be any experience or learning. Another matter is whether we are able, at that moment, to walk through that room. Sometimes we are—but certainly not always. Sometimes we simply step out and continue walking before entering again… if we need to.

The first time I studied Reiki, I opened that door, crossed the threshold, and although I didn’t stay long, I remained long enough for it to leave an indelible mark.

This second time was very special, because I realised how deeply it had already been integrated within me, without my knowing. And its influence went beyond the course; I perceived everything differently. My daily routine was no longer the same, even though outwardly it was. It was becoming a transformative experience.

There are surely as many paths as there are people. Mine feels a little uncertain, hesitant, sometimes confused… I move forward and return. I think that sometimes I try to look elsewhere for what I ultimately find in Reiki. I almost never know beforehand what I truly need… but at least when it arrives, I recognise it. And with Reiki, I know I have found it: pause, light, silence… peace.

Conchi Rubio