A while back, while Maureen was teaching in LA , I decided to audit one of her first degree classes.  I had gone so long focusing on more second degree level aspects of Reiki that I felt it was time to reconnect with the basics.  Being the first degree class is highly hands on and experiential, we did an incredible amount of reiki during this time.  As it felt so good to do self treatments again, Maureen proposed a challenge:  Do a full self treatment every day for the next 30 consecutive days to see how it would affect my life.  I felt up for the challenge and took it head on.

Generally, I’d always tried to fit my reiki in before bedtime, but would inevitably fall asleep before I could finish.  Maureen had talked about trying it first thing in the morning and even though I am not a “morning person” I figured I’d give it a try.  For me, it ended up working out to be the most perfect time.  Instead of snoozing for 45 minutes or so every morning, that period ended up being the perfect amount of time to get in a self treatment.  I initially would get up a bit groggy but by the time I was done with my Reiki, I noticed I had awakened gradually & peacefully and felt a sense of ease and well being that I rarely had to begin the day.  I was getting up on time (was not late to work once during this period!), and able to ease into my morning routine without rush.  It just gave me an incredible start to my day.  My drive into work was peaceful, easy and carefree and it just got my days started feeling very cool, centered, quietly confident and amazing in a very subtle way. 

In addition I began to notice that instead of being my usual go – go - go self, I began to settle down a bit, rest more and rest easy.  I was much more chill (I’m generally pretty high energy) and began to relax more.  Life and situations seemed to flow more easily and my resistance to various life situations began to decrease.  All of life just seemed to slow down into this easy space where eventually I settled in to this Zen-like zone where nothing could really faze me.  I noticed much slower, deeper and deliberate breathing patterns and much improved insight & clarity of thought.  I became a lot more comfortable with my overall self, physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally than I’d been in a long time.  I moved into such a feel good place that it was difficult to imagine not doing Reiki every day. 

The few days I missed doing reiki in the morning, I could absolutely notice the difference in how my day began.  Although I would make up for it with a session later in the evening, the difference in how my days felt was profound.  I’ve realized that to do Reiki first thing in the morning before I do anything else made an incredible difference for me.  By practicing Reiki every morning, I felt refreshed, revitalized and reinvigorated in a way I had not been previously.  It was an incredible transformation and I am grateful for the challenge.  I would like to challenge all of you do to the same and see if you don’t notice at least some subtle differences in your own life.  Good luck!