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The Reiki Experience - The Reiki Experience |
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Written by Carrie O’Hara, for NEXTnc
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Wednesday, 13 September 2006 |
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Page 1 of 2
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McClatchy-Trib
Illustration of a doll with handprints and spots of color at “chakra” points on its body (a concept from the Japanese therapeutic technique called reiki) and a halo of light around its head.
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I walked into Chiropractic USA in Fort Collins not sure what to expect. I was there to interview a “spiritual intuitive,” so I was ready for anything out of the ordinary.
My first surprise when meeting Marla Mitchell, a petite blue-eyed blonde, was that she was dressed in a sky blue blouse and white capri pants. The only indication of her unusual occupation was her bare feet.
She beamed at me and asked, “Carrie?”
I nodded as she led me to a room where I would be able to experience firsthand how she helps others through reiki. I laid down on a massage table and waited for the healing to begin.
Mitchell explained that reiki is an ancient Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that promotes comfort and healing. According to Mitchell, negative thoughts and feelings can actually manifest themselves in our bodies and begin to create negative energy, and this causes blockages and a disruption of the body’s “chi,” which leads to stress or even illness.
I stared at the ceiling of a beautiful lavender room, the walls were bathed in candlelight and a soft music played in the background. Behind me, Mitchell had her hands placed above my head in my crown “chakra.”
A chakra is a term used in Hinduism and in some related Asian cultures to describe spots in the body where metaphysical and/or biophysical energy resides, according to Wikipedia.com.
Long silent moments passed before she said anything. Thinking perhaps that she was reading my thoughts I attempted to clear my head of anything incriminating. I also tried to ward off a serious attack of the giggles. For a moment, a disconcerting thought struck me — perhaps this is how we would spend the entire half hour.
Just as I was about to work myself into a serious panic, Mitchell moved to my abdominal chakra and began to talk. Immediately I was blown away by her insights. She told me she sensed feelings of bittersweet happiness from me. She continued to say I tend to be more of a logical person, and that I should follow my intuition more. With her eyes closed and her hands outstretched a foot above me, Mitchell continued telling me true things about myself. The next 30 minutes flew by as I asked question after question, while she related to me things about my relationships with my mom, boyfriend, brother and dad.
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| Carrie O'Hara |
Marla Mitchell |
At the end of our session, she helped me to relieve worry over my brother, who is going on his first naval deployment. She also took away the negative energy I had built up in my heart charka by being too hard on myself. At the end of the session, I felt better and less stressed. I was also impressed, and a new converted believer in reiki.
As we chatted for a few minutes, Mitchell related how she uses her gift to help others.
“My hospice work is the most rewarding. I volunteer with hospice and do reiki on terminally ill people. The purpose is not to heal them — I help their soul leave the body with as little pain and suffering as possible. It helps them let go, relax and find peace,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell wasn’t always a spiritual intuitive — until 2001 she did public relations for Hewlett Packard. Through disciplined meditation and experimentation with tarot cards, she discovered a talent in coaching others through problems. Several years later a reiki master and teacher told her that she had the gift of reiki.
Today, Mitchell works out of two offices, one in Windsor and one in Fort Collins. She is now also a certified reiki master and teacher, a medical intuitive as well as a spiritual intuitive. Mitchell does reiki therapy and tarot readings full time, and regrets nothing.
“This is the most satisfying and rewarding work. I found my niche,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell will be one of more than 35 exhibitors at the Fall Holistic and Intuitive Arts Fair on Sept. 16-17 at the Lincoln Center.
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