A New Moon, A Reiki Attunement & A Lot of Reflection 🌙

Yesterday, I completed Reiki Level 1 training in the Usui System of Natural Healing, and honestly, I’m still processing the experience in the best possible way.

Before taking the class, I knew very little about Reiki beyond the assumptions and stereotypes many people often attach to it. What I discovered was something far more grounded, reflective, calming, and intentional than I expected.

Reiki originated in Japan in the early 1900s through Dr. Mikao Usui, founder of the Usui System of Natural Healing. The practice later made its way to the United States through Hawayo Takata, who helped introduce Reiki to the Western world after studying in Japan in the 1930s. Reiki today is commonly viewed as a complementary wellness practice centered around relaxation, energetic awareness, intentional presence, and overall well-being.

Interestingly, my Reiki 1 training took place on a New Moon day, which felt symbolic considering the New Moon is often associated with new beginnings, reflection, intention, and opening yourself to new possibilities.

During one of our training exercises, the students conducted a Reiki session on me while practicing chakra balancing techniques using a pendulum. Interestingly, my sacral chakra appeared blocked while the others remained open. The sacral chakra is commonly associated with creativity, emotional flow, feminine energy, relationships, and self-expression. As someone navigating post-menopause and reflecting deeply on identity, creativity, rhythm, and emotional transitions in this stage of life, I found that observation genuinely thought-provoking.

Using a feng shui crystal ball technique, the pendulum movement eventually shifted, suggesting the energy had opened. Whether someone views chakras symbolically, energetically, spiritually, psychologically, or simply as a mindfulness framework, I appreciated how the experience encouraged self-awareness and reflection about the mind-body connection.

Another moment I won’t forget happened when one of the trainees gently placed their hands near my face during the session. Almost immediately, my eyes began twitching involuntarily, and behind my closed eyes I started seeing flashes of purple light similar to crown chakra imagery often shown in chakra illustrations. I can’t fully explain why it happened, but the experience felt peaceful rather than unsettling — more like heightened awareness and calm presence than anything extreme.

At the end of the training, we participated in the Reiki attunement ceremony led by the Reiki Master. In the Usui tradition, the attunement is considered an energetic initiation into the Reiki lineage and practice. It is intended to help open the student to working with Reiki energy while deepening awareness, connection, and sensitivity to energy flow.

Many people describe feeling emotional shifts, warmth, calmness, tingling, clarity, heightened sensitivity, or deep relaxation following attunement. Others experience very subtle changes over time. I appreciated that there was no pressure around how someone “should” experience it. The overall message was simply to remain open, observant, grounded, and compassionate with yourself throughout the process.

At its core, this experience felt less about performance or mysticism and more about awareness, calm, intentional care, reflection, and reconnecting with yourself in a world that constantly pulls people away from stillness.

This experience opened the door to a new layer of reflection, awareness, and curiosity for me, and I’m grateful to continue exploring it with an open mind.

There’s No Place Like Soul 🪴