article by Amanda Sachs
Early February 2014 provided me an extremely humbling experience. Sitting here now coming down from the high of the Raven's Super Bowl win I'm melting back into the experiences I had last week and wondering why the Universe offered them to me. I usually don't question things that the Universe hands to me, but it's left me wondering what is around the corner this year. A year after Connor was born I decided to put my Reiki practice on hold and focus on my new family. If I got a call for a Reiki session I did home visits as it is too hard to keep a relaxing environment in a home with a toddler. Slowly but surely, those clients fell away and I was comfortable with having the extra time.
For the last two years I've basically used Reiki in my day to day life on my own personal journey and with my family. Imagine my surprise when I received a call from a family asking me to come to their house to do Reiki on their father who was in the process of passing over. After the first session where he felt tremendous relief, the family wanted me there every day until he passed. I dropped everything I could (except mine and Connor's Tuesday night library night) to help this man and his family.
In the end, I only worked on him two times as he passed sometime after my second session with him. When I worked on him, I intended to provide him strength, comfort, and help in releasing the ties to this world that were keeping him here suffering. Reiki gives the person in the dying process energy to release the body and move into the light. At one point, I expanded my bubble of energy to give comfort and strength to the family that surrounded him as they said their heartfelt goodbyes. I did my best to become a vessel of calm and peace in a time that was full of sadness and out of control.
I learned about the other side of life that is waiting for us last week, the leaving. I've experienced bringing life into this world. As a mom, I've been learning about growing, from infant to toddler. I'm learning how life grows and independence is gained. But this was the first time I had ever been at someone's deathbed. I've always got the call that someone is dying or that a person has died. I've been to many viewings and funerals... but I've never witnessed death in action. It truly humbled me.
I was able to connect with the energy that was letting go and ready to move on. I was seeing the physical body become dependent and weak. It was sad yet taught me respect for the dying process. I learned that death isn't something that should be feared; it's something that needs respect and strength. I learned the importance of letting go and saying goodbye. Not everyone gets to say their goodbyes and I've realized how truly heart breaking that can be. I saw how Reiki supported the man in the bed, his family in the room processing their emotions ( it was very emotional as each member sat by his side saying their goodbyes), and Reiki supported me.
The death process is just as precious as birth. I learned that in any process of dying, death is leaving the heavy physical body behind. My heart was heavy and as I tried to disconnect from the energy after each session, it was the hardest I've ever had to do. Lifting myself up, doing self Reiki, and celebrating a bit helped pull me out of the whirlwind of emotion and energy that I was feeling. After all is said and done, have you experienced death in your life? What has it taught you?
Amanda Sachs, Reiki Master