Reiki and Being…F-R-A-N-T-I-C

Article by Reiki Master Elise Brenner

This article is about the everyday, ordinary practice of self-Reiki in the ongoing, routine life of a Reiki practitioner. I hope readers can relate to this “true confessions” experience and find it beneficial for their own lives.

Until very recently, like so many of us, I was working two jobs. For three days of the week, I went from one job to the other with a 60 – 75 minute stop at home in between. Now, obviously, working two jobs meant I was out of the house most of the day. This left many household tasks to be tackled whenever I could get to them.

Please picture this, although it will not be a very attractive image. It is a picture of me, coming home from Job #1. You see me getting out of the car and bringing my Job #1 Tote Bag into the house. So far, so good; it looks like a normal person doing a very normal thing. I get inside the house, and then, boom, I transform into a frenetic, frantic being.

This being is not quite sure what to do first, but seems to be quite certain that getting a tremendous number of tasks accomplished in this 60-75 minutes before Job #2 is of the utmost importance to upholding the universe and all of humanity.  Picture this wild person moving at the speed of light as she checks for messages on the answering machine here, brings in and sorts the mail there, rinses out her lunch containers back here again, rushes to collect household laundry and throw it all in the washing machine, pays a bill or two, dashes to the computer to check her email and answer the most pressing ones, organizes stuff from Job #1 Tote Bag, makes a phone call or two. Checks clock, organizes Job #2 Tote Bag and runs back out to the car to head off to Job #2. I warned you it would not be a pretty picture.

Then, one day, it dawns on me that it doesn’t have to be this way. There is something I can do about this very particular transition time. My evening self-Reiki routine alone was not necessarily addressing this part of my mental-emotional state of being. So the very next day, I come into the house, put down Job #1 Tote Bag, and lie down comfortably for self-Reiki. With this practice, I found I was able to re-connect with the quiet inner knowledge that reminds me that I can attain more balance, more patience, and more calmness. These became gifts to me, and therefore, to others as well. Clarity emerged, telling me that it is not to my benefit to put myself through that frantic hour, nor is it beneficial to my family or to those with whom I interact at Job #2.

I continued with the routine of self-Reiki in the middle of my days. After a few weeks, I felt a sense of knowing that I now carried within me the balance and ease I needed during that challenging daily transition time. My mid-day Reiki self-practice provided me with that pause, that space, within which to return to my inner awareness that knows frantic and frenetic are not the way. In terms of getting stuff done, yup, I still get the stuff done. But, oh, what a prettier picture you can hold in your mind now of those 60 minutes of my day.

I am sending out a call for our attention to be placed on the average, everyday Reiki practitioner who practices self-Reiki diligently in ordinary, routine circumstances to create in his or her life that which is truly extraordinary.

Elise Brenner (Pronouns: she/her), PhD, Assistant Teaching Professor in the Departments of Public Health and Sociology at Simmons University in Boston, Massachusetts, Reiki Practitioner & Teacher and Mindfulness Meditation Teacher, is committed to wellness equity in all of the services she provides. The owner of Brenner Reiki Healing in Newton, Massachusetts, Elise provides comprehensive training in all levels of Reiki, having trained physicians, nurses, social workers, physical therapists, teachers, and people of all ages and backgrounds. Brenner has provided Reiki training for staff at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center staff, Edith Nourse Rogers Veterans Administration Hospital in Bedford, MA, and Tufts Medical Center in Boston. Brenner is the co-author of the 2022 book, Reiki: A Self-Practice to Live in Peace with Self and Others, published by John Hunt Books.
Elise has a clinical Reiki and Mindfulness practice in which she provides individualized Reiki and Mindfulness sessions to people who are experiencing physical, mental, and emotional distress. Brenner further provides Reiki and Mindfulness outreach workshops and presentations to organizations, incorporating mind-body skills for the staff and populations they serve, including the Livestrong Program at the YMCA; Harbor Health Elder Service Plan in Boston; support groups for survivors of domestic abuse; support groups for individuals struggling with Vestibular Disorders; psychosocial support groups for cancer patients; support groups for carers of those with chronic conditions.
As an anthropologist, Elise Brenner has researched cross-cultural healing practices, thereby enriching the scope and depth of her Reiki and Mindfulness practice. Elise savors time in the woods and has begun to compose eco-poetry.
Email: Elise@BrennerReikiHealing.org
Website: www.BrennerMindfulPaths.com