Eri – Healing Artist
When I lived in Colorado, I worked with mentally and physically disabled adults for several years as a program counselor in Denver. Because I love the outdoors very much, I volunteered at Chautauqua National Park in Boulder. Along with that, I was learning Aikido, Japanese Tea Ceremony, and I joined a choir group at Denver Cathedral. ( Although I was the only non-catholic, they welcomed me warmly!)
Integrating nature, music and wonderful human interactions was a great way of living until I got into a car accident…I was living a very busy life…
My friend told me that “Somebody was watching over you!” after she heard what happened: On a rainy night, my truck spun and hit the right side wall of a highway ramp, fell sideways, came right back up, then hit the left side wall, moved a chunk of the cement wall a little bit, then finally stopped.
I had no scratch or broken bones what so ever! (whiplash, definitely) There were no cars around me or approaching me…until I could come outside and climb up the side of my truck for help!
My stuff, along with shattered glass, were all over the highway. Two nice people stopped for me and one stayed until everything was taken care of. He wished not to leave his name or contact information. I deeply appreciate him even though I don’t know his name.
A couple of days later, my Aikido fellows offered me Reiki. That was my very first Reiki experience. I had never heard of it, although Reiki came from Japan, and, believe it or not, I am JAPANESE!
You would think this was the beginning of my Reiki learning, but no. It took 15 years for me to realize Reiki is my calling. The following year, I traveled to Nepal. Osho’s picture/poster was following me. It seemed that every corner I turned, there he was again! Telling me, “Come join me!” I strongly said to the poster “NO, I will not follow you!” 1Fifteen years later, I learned that he was a Reiki master, among other things. I knew that to be a healer was my calling, but I did not know what kind of healer I was.
I thought Reiki was very popular, so I had been avoiding it. Reiki training offered the only healing sessions that fit into my schedule when I was ready to learn, so I decided not to resist anymore. It was the beginning of my Reiki path. When the resistance was taken away, Reiki started to bloom inside of me.
Like many people, I learned Western Reiki first. However, being Japanese, I intuitively realized that Western Reiki had departed from its root. I found the original form of Reiki that I longed for in Jikiden Reiki, Original Japanese Reiki, and I trained directly under its head, Tadao Yamaguchi, who, in the course of time, awarded me Shoden, Okuden, and Shihan-Kaku (junior teacher) certificates. In 2014, I attended the First Jikiden Reiki World Congress in Spain to deepen my knowledge of Reiki.
NPO link: https://www.npo-ijra.org/en/guide/?id=92