By late winter of 2020, earlier in some places, the Covid-19 Pandemic was steadily marching around the world and changing the face of daily life. Essential workers risked exposure to the virus every shift, often under grueling conditions, to provide necessary goods and services. More and more people were falling ill, and the death toll was climbing at an alarming rate. Hospitals were quickly overwhelmed in the hardest hit cities and regions. The rest of us, striving to protect ourselves and others, isolated at home, watching as our communities shut down to comply with government directives.
Like so many others, Reiki practitioners shuttered their businesses and left their jobs, unsure when they would be able to return. Many scrambled to establish online services or set up virtual Reiki shares. Despite being stuck at home, we yearned to find ways to ease suffering and to support healing in this strange new world. After all, helping is what Reiki professionals are hard-wired to do. Meanwhile, in Ireland, Marleen Duffy was quietly cooking up a scheme.
It all started, appropriately enough, in her kitchen, where most good things are cooked. Away from her job and on lockdown, Marleen, of Medical Reiki Ireland, was watching with the rest of the world as the Pandemic unfolded. But that one day, standing in her kitchen, she began to wonder how distant Reiki could be used to help in a systematic way. That’s when the Universe started giving her the answer.
“It was like a ‘nudge,’” she said, an inclination to form a plan for those who most needed help. Suddenly, she could envision a program to connect frontline workers, first responders, and patients with Reiki practitioners who were isolating at home. The brave and suffering men and women at the epicenter of the Covid-19 battle could have a “Reiki buddy” to support them.
Marleen talked it over with her husband, but she just wasn’t sure how to formulate a workable plan. Still, the idea wouldn’t let go of her. She got in touch with Annemarie Creighton, the chairperson of the Reiki Federation of Ireland (RFI). Marleen told Annemarie, “Look, I’m getting a little nudge about something, and I wanted to know if maybe you’d be interested.” Annemarie answered quickly, saying, “Oh, I love nudges!”
Annemarie’s interest was significant to Marleen. If she was going to follow her nudge, she wanted the RFI involved. They play an important and respected role in promoting Reiki professionalism in Ireland. The Reiki Federation of Ireland upholds high standards of Reiki practice, as well as fostering a national Reiki community representative of all Reiki lineages. Additionally, the RFI is a member of the Federation of Irish Complementary Therapy Associations, which represents the interests of their member associations to Government and other relevant agencies.
Before Marleen could submit Reiki Buddy to the RFI for their consideration, she needed to turn her attention to the nuts and bolts of how to implement the idea. She wanted a process that would be readily accessible for the intended clients. She decided the best way would be the easiest way – to have people book their own appointments on a website at their convenience.
Well, it sounded easy enough, but then Marleen sat down at her computer with no clue how to make it happen. “I started messing around, and honest to goodness, I know this sounds mad, but I felt like it wasn’t my hands working on the computer. It felt like the angels were helping me, and before I knew it, I had figured out a system on the Medical Reiki Ireland website of how to do all this.” By her own admission, Marleen is no computer whiz. “I didn’t think I’d be able to do it,” she confesses. And yet, there it all was – a way to adapt the website to register Reiki volunteers as staff, procedures for clients to book 30 minute free appointments, schedules that accommodated the Reiki volunteers’ availability, timetables that adjusted for both the clients’ and practitioners’ time zones, and automatic notification emails to everyone to confirm appointments and to provide practitioners with basic client info. The Reiki Buddy initiative was ready to roll. “It was definitely all guided. I love that fact,” Marleen says, “and I really can’t take the credit”.
With a plan ready, it was time for the Reiki Federation of Ireland to take a look. Marleen and Annemarie Creighton met via Zoom. Together, they reviewed step-by-step how it would all work, giving Annemarie the information she needed to formally propose the Reiki Buddy program to the RFI committee. A couple of days later, Marleen got the good news. The RFI committee had met and had voted to approve Reiki Buddy.
According to the initial plan, the system would run by itself. Marleen would wake up in the morning and the schedule for the day would be all set. She figured there would be five to ten volunteers from among her colleagues, they’d do a little local PR, then some Covid frontline workers and patients from around the area would schedule sessions, and the program would last for a week or two. However, as often happens, things didn’t quite go as planned.
Marleen, who is a Certified Medical Reiki Master (CMRM), decided to share her idea with Raven Keyes of Raven Keyes Medical Reiki International (RKMRI). Raven, who had trained Marleen in Medical Reiki™, loved the idea. “My heart leapt with joy,” she said, “I was so moved by Marleen’s compassion to collaborate with the Reiki Federation of Ireland to make sure Reiki was being delivered to those urgently in need.” Raven also reports that Marleen’s plan confirmed for her something Dr. Sheldon Marc Feldman, her surgeon collaborator in New York, had said to her when they were initially forming the RKMRI and Medical Reiki Works organizations. “He shared a vision of international branches that would reflect the gold standards and best practices for delivering Reiki in medical settings that he and I had developed through more than ten years of working together.” Marleen and Medical Reiki Ireland were making that vision a reality.
Soon after hearing from Marleen, Raven began spreading the word about Reiki Buddy in the Medical Reiki™ community. She also contacted the Board of Directors of Medical Reiki Works, the nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance rigorous clinical trials of Medical Reiki™. Very quickly, both RKMRI and Medical Reiki Works were on board as official partners of the Reiki Buddy program. And then, though no media outlets had responded to Marleen’s overtures, word began to spread – to nurses, doctors, and other staff in hospitals, to paramedics and EMT’s, and to Reiki professionals. Suddenly, much to Marleen’s amazement, Reiki Buddy was going worldwide.
Two months into the Reiki Buddy experience, there are over 100 Reiki volunteers accommodating a steady stream of bookings. The program was extended to include more people significantly affected by Covid-19, such as the families of patients, loved ones of those who have lost their lives to the disease, and cancer patients and others who are chronically ill and vulnerable. The waiting list of Reiki volunteers grew so large that it maxed out the website’s capacity to register them, and yet still more ask to help. Reiki Buddy sessions now happen daily around the world. Often, the client and the practitioner are on different continents.
The success of Reiki Buddy is a win-win for all involved. The clients, of course, receive the benefits of the distant Reiki. They regularly express their heartfelt gratitude. But the program also is helping the volunteers. Through their connections with their Reiki Buddy clients and each other, the practitioners have found a way to ease their own isolation and to continue to do the work they love. They use words like “honored,” “privileged,” and “humbled” to describe their Reiki Buddy experiences.
Marleen admits that if she hadn’t been out of work, she would never have been able to do this. Working through initial glitches in the system took time. The growing number of practitioners who volunteered had to be registered, and as they came on board, they had questions that needed to be answered. Yet, following Marleen’s lead, everyone brought patience and a sense of humor to the unfolding process.
Marleen set about smoothing out the bumps in the road. She set up a private Facebook group for the Reiki Buddies. This meant the volunteers could begin sharing their experiences and providing mutual support for one another, and Marleen now had a central place to answer common questions. A Reiki student of Marleen’s, Claire Marie, volunteered to help administer the website. All the moving parts of the process began to come together.
What about all that unexpected work necessary to keep up with Reiki Buddy’s international success? “It’s all part of it,” she says, “and I love every minute of it.” Now Reiki Buddy’s automated booking system is running smoothly. “It’s amazing,” Marleen says incredulously, yet she feels that this is the way it was all meant to be. In hindsight, she believes her “nudge” was destined from the beginning to be a worldwide program for providing Reiki to those needing it most during the Pandemic. Raven Keyes says, “To witness all the good it is already bringing to the world fills my whole heart with gratitude.” As for the rest of us who are fortunate enough to participate in the Reiki Buddy program, we’re very happy to be practicing Reiki again to spread love to Covid’s heroes.
Note: If you or someone you know fits the profile of Reiki Buddy’s intended clients, you or they can book a free 30-minute distant Reiki session through the link https://medicalreikiireland.ie/reiki-buddy. The booking calendar is set up in Irish time, but there is an option for viewing your own time zone. That way we can support you no matter where in the world you are!
Article by
Jody Messinger Wolfe, Ed.D., CMRM
Marleen Duffy, CMRM
Raven Keyes, CMRMT
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About Authors:
Jody Messinger Wolfe
Dr. Jody Messinger Wolfe, of Mid-Atlantic Complementary Healing, is a Certified Medical Reiki Master and Certified Polarity Balancing Practitioner. She is Secretary of the Board of Directors of Medical Reiki Works. Jody lives in Morgantown, WV, USA, where her work and writing are devoted to advancing the theory, research, and practice of Medical Reiki.
Marleen Duffy
Marleen Duffy is a Certified Medical Reiki Master and a Reiki/Seichem Master. She is a qualified Aura-Soma practitioner and a Light on the Pathways practitioner. She works in Sligo, Ireland, where she has Angel and Gift World, an angel shop and holistic centre, which she operates along with Medical Reiki Ireland. She resides in the stillness of nature in Co. Leitrim.
Raven Keyes
Raven Keyes, of Raven Keyes Medical Reiki International, also co-founded Medical Reiki Works. She is the author of two popular books on Reiki, The Healing Power of Reiki and The Healing Light of Angels. Her forthcoming third book focuses on Medical Reiki™. When she isn’t traveling to train new Certified Medical Reiki Masters, Raven splits her time between New York City and Glastonbury, England.
Love and light to all
Fabulous well done all, great work,
Well done Marleen and also to the whole team. Having Rekki during this time will certainly make a major difference to so many people and their lives. 🙏🌸❤️