My first experience with Reiki happened back in 2012 while I was living in Dharamsala, India. At the time, I was working full-time on my advanced yoga teacher training certification. In addition, I was also studying Buddhist philosophy with H.H. the Dalai Lama. 

Why India? Firstly outside of Italy, India has always felt like my second home. I decided to take a sabbatical there after leaving my New York City based corporate fashion job and closing my Manhattan-based yoga studio. It was the perfect time to recalibrate and explore myself on a deeper level.

However, the day my yoga teacher asked me, “Are you interested to learn Reiki?”, I quickly replied “I’m pretty good right now” as I considered my existing commitments. Then, a few hours later, I thought “Perhaps there is a reason that he asked me about Reiki.”

The next morning I told my teacher, “Okay, I’m keen to know more.” We organized a Reiki healing session for the early evening on that same day. Without a doubt, within one session, Reiki enormously helped me on many levels.

I say this because after my first healing session, I began to recognize and feel into areas in my life where I’d been over-identifying with fear, lack, and doubt.

Although I appeared to be in good shape when arriving in Dharamsala, my heart was sore. I felt emotionally worn out.

My conscious choices to step away from traditional job stability, close my yoga studio, and say goodbye to a dead-end love story left me with a massive wall around heart. 

The first time my teacher held his hands above my heart, I had a powerful physical experience.

It felt as if tectonic plates in my chest were shifting and opening up. I literally felt my heart space start to expand.

Indeed, it was an incredible experience as my body and mind began to heal from the strain of carrying old & expired emotional baggage.

During that first session, I felt like my entire body was like a onesie with a zipper down the center. I unzipped myself, and a new me stepped forward. I’d discarded a layer of pain and protection and felt lighter, brighter, and happier.

Having had such a powerful experience sparked my curiosity to learn more. I immediately began studying Reiki in-depth.

As I continued practicing and receiving Reiki, I began to feel even more like myself. I was more peaceful, radiant, and aligned.

In the following months, things began to open up for me in ways that I couldn’t have ever dreamed of nor planned.

New relationships appeared and old toxic connections disappeared.

When I returned to New York, opportunities to teach and offer Reiki healing developed. Subsequently, it was time to make another change. It was during this time that I moved to Tuscany to launch my wellness business. 

Fast forward to current day, nine years later, I am a full-time Reiki Master healer and Yoga teacher in Tuscany.

I work with clients in Florence, Italy, and provide distance Reiki healing sessions online.

Additionally, I lead Reiki healer training classes, called “initiations and attunements,” so others can learn this powerful healing modality.

If you’re new to the concept of Reiki, know that it can be practiced by anyone and no previous experience is necessary.

Furthermore, once a healer is “attuned,” they always have the capability to heal themselves and others.

So why Reiki, anyway? Well, it’s important to remember that we’re always healing from something.

Whether we suffer physical or emotional trauma or loss, or we are navigating life’s daily changes and challenges, Reiki is tremendously helpful in supporting the healing process.

It’s a holistic health tool that helps us return back to our own inner balance and peace.

What exactly is Reiki?

Reiki (pronounced Ray-Key) is a form of energy medicine developed in Japan during the early 1900s by Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese born Buddhist monk.

The word Reiki is a combination of two Japanese words – Rei, which means “higher power”, and Ki, which means “life force energy”.

Therefore, Reiki is considered a healing arts practice that channels “Universal Life Force Energy” in order to invite physical, emotional, and energetic blockages to dissolve as it encourages your body’s self-healing response. It promotes stress reduction, relaxation, and healing in order to increase the vibratory levels of energy in and around your physical body.

Reiki can be performed in person and through distance healing. It’s recognized as a complementary therapy for other forms of medicine.

What can Reiki be used for?

Reiki treatments are gentle, non-invasive, and safe. They help you during periods of emotional or physical stress and trauma, life transitions, when things feel stuck or unclear, or when your vitality feels depleted.

Commonly reported benefits include:

• Stress reduction
• Relaxation
• Reduced fatigue
• Reduced anxiety
• Reduced depression
• Pain relief & pain management
• Improved sleep
• Improved digestion
• Support for substance abuse recovery
• Accelerated recovery from injury & surgery
• Reduced side effects from prescriptions, radiation and chemotherapy
• Increased self-awareness
• Enhanced creativity
• Greater satisfaction in relationships
• Heightened intuition
• Greater self-esteem
• Enhanced well-being

Regardless of the challenges you face, Reiki can help you address your problems more effectively. 

In short, Reiki helps you reclaim your sense of balance and wholeness.

How does Reiki work?

The Spiritual Perspective

Life force energy flows through the body along pathways called Meridians, or channels, and gathers at the Chakras, or energy centers. When life force is flowing smoothly, your body is well-nourished and functions effectively. Your mind and spirit are at peace. However, life happens, and this flow gets interrupted by stress, poor sleep, life changes, injury, illness, among other things.

The disrupted flow causes blockages and energy builds up in some places, while other areas are left undernourished. This interrupted energy flow leads to a wide range of issues, such as pain, poor sleep, fatigue, and a restless mind.

Reiki promotes balance in the flow in your physical and energetic bodies, resulting in openness in the Meridians and realigning of the Chakras, which allows your system to function effectively – and for you to feel better.

The Science Perspective

Your body produces an electromagnetic field and your nerves communicate through electric signals, or nerve impulses. The nervous system is electric and responds very quickly to stimulus.

When you’re in a Reiki session you’re relaxing and inducing your parasympathetic nervous system. Your body moves into a “rest, digest, and repair” state.

It’s in this state that stress hormones decrease, digestive processes are revitalized, immunity increases, breathing deepens, muscular tension softens, blood pressure lowers, and cellular repair and production activates. 

Your body cannot produce stress hormones and be in the parasympathetic nervous response at the same time. Therefore you’re in a state of healing, repair, restoration, and rejuvenation during a Reiki session.

The result from both perspectives is a high level of relaxation, balance, and bliss.

What to Expect During a Reiki Treatment

Sessions are an hour long and considered to have a cumulative effect in activating the body’s natural healing ability.

Healing occurs in layers, and sessions can be scheduled sequentially on a weekly basis, or as you desire.

The session is typically very relaxing and no two sessions are the same – each person’s experience of receiving Reiki is unique.

What does Reiki feel like? 

The practitioner (healer) works with their hands with a light touch or no touch on the body. You may feel your body’s temperature change, experience warm or cool spots in specific areas, see colors or images, feel lighter, or sense tingling as energetic congestion releases.

Clients also report feeling an enhanced intuition and spiritual connection.

Typically, post session, you’ll feel more clear headed, grounded, and relaxed with a deeper sense of connection to yourself.

I recommend to approach Reiki with openness and curiosity. Welcome what you feel during and after the session with non-judgement and notice what you become aware of. If something presents itself during the session that you wish to share, you’re invited to do so at any time. After the session you’re able to return to your regular activities feeling less stressed and more refreshed.

Some words from those who have experienced Reiki with me…

“I love the calm environment, the connection with the healer, and the deep connection with myself. I felt a shift in my energy and have connected with myself in a new way that I don’t think would have been possible without Reiki. I absolutely felt an immediate decrease in pain in both my left hip and right toe, which often become severely inflamed from my Psoriatic Arthritis. Outside of medication, Reiki is the only healing method that has had that much of a direct effect on my body.

I also love how Jen extends the sessions beyond Reiki. We begin and end each meeting talking about all things mindfulness.  

Not only do I feel comfortable expressing myself in the safe space Jen creates, but I always learn something new about both myself and the world at large. I am grateful to continue my personal healing journey and evolution with her guidance and support. For anyone struggling with uncertainty, instability, anxiety, or mental frustration, Reiki is a wonderful tool to have on your healing journey to unblock whatever is weighing on you. I hope more people are introduced to Reiki and the amazing benefits it has for mind, body and spirit.” — Alex

“I wasn’t quite sure if it would work. I had seen a few videos and documentaries on energy healers and many seemed a bit over-the-top and thought it wasn’t for me. I really liked the sense of calm and the quietness in the space. I definitely sensed a positive shift in my overall energy and I began to feel more grounded after my sessions with Jen. 

Calming my mind and fending off negative thoughts also became easier for me. I had no expectations for my Reiki seasons and they ended up as therapy for my soul and spirit. I could not recommend Jen enough.” –Mary

“The Reiki sessions helped me reconnect with myself and my inner child. They helped me process, understand and overcome some challenging events in my life. I also felt an internal shift in energy – where I was calmer and able to go with the flow of life without too much stress and worrying.

It is difficult to explain as it is not something visible and it takes time to manifest and experience in real life, however I’m certain Reiki helped me get to this point. Overall, I have gained a new perspective in life – to be grateful for all experiences and to trust the natural flow of life. They are great and I love the way Jen customises each session depending on what I need at the time. 

The features I like the most are the message and chat after the session which involve interpretation and explanations, learning about essential oils and the guided meditation and deep relaxation during the actual session.

I would recommend Reiki with Jen to anyone who is aware about their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual state and is ready to explore those areas further and make some shifts or changes. 

I also recommend Reiki  to anyone on a self-discovery journey looking to get to know themselves better so that they can be fully present in life. I would recommend Jen’s services because they have helped me reconnect with myself and open my mind into looking inwards. So I think anyone on a self-exploration journey can benefit with Jen’s help to tap into deeper levels of themselves.” –Miranda

If you wish to experience Reiki healing, I work with clients in-person in Florence, Italy and offer distance healing sessions online.

If you wish to understand more about distance healing, read this article.

To book your Reiki session, please email me info@tuscanwellness.com.

From my heart to yours,

Jen.