A couple of the students had seen me use Reiki between classes on a few students, and teachers, so they kept bugging me to teach them. Hence, during the last few minutes of class or before a vacation when their energy bounced around the room like a racquetball, I’d teach them how to place a protective wall around themselves so they wouldn’t pull in other people’s negative energy. Or I'd teach some basics about chakras and how to heal themselves with the first Reiki sign. They loved it and begged me to start a Healing Club.
The following year I was asked by the head counselor who had experienced Reiki from me if I’d be willing to take over a Health Careers class. I asked her if I could teach Reiki and she told me as long as I became certified in CPR and First Aid and taught the kids the material, and the various health careers available to them, I could teach anything else. I said, yes.
The kids received their CPR and First Aid Certificates and their Reiki I and II certificates, and by the second semester, those interested were bused to a neighboring senior care facility where they donated their time as part of the class. I loved teaching the class. A few of the counselors would place their problem students in the class hoping, it would change their demeanor or rid their depression. I was ecstatic as I watched these problem students morph into happy, confident, compassionate individuals.
Still, not all the students could fit the class into their schedule, so they bugged me to start a Healing
Club. Even though I suspected that I wouldn’t get enough students, I still advertised the new club and was surprised when I counted 15 heads at our first meeting.
After about ten meetings, Johnny, the student who really fought for the club, texted me one evening. (All students who were in my advanced theatre class had my number.) His mother, who lived in San Francisco, was in a horrible accident that night. I asked him what happened, but he refused to tell me. Instead, he asked if he could meet me in my classroom at 7:30 am. I told him yes and reminded him to think positive, see her well and to not be afraid. He said he’d try.
I nixed working out at the gym that morning afraid I would be late for our rendezvous. Johnny strode in precisely on time. Usually, there’s a bounce to his walk, and his body exudes an abundance of positive energy but not today. I could feel the heaviness around him the moment he walked in and sat on top of a student desk. His face drawn and half-moons shadowed underneath his eyes, screaming what type of night he had.
The volcano erupted.
“My mom was in a car accident in San Francisco last night and hit her head on the interior of her car.” His voice broke.
He continued to inform me that she was in a coma, had a severe concussion and she probably wouldn't make it.
He whispered, “I can’t lose my mom, Ms. B., I can’t.” He couldn’t hide the anguish in his heart no matter how tough he tried to be.
He asked me if there was anything I could do.
As if on cue, my Reiki hands started vibrating. I reached over and patted his shoulder a couple of times. His fear grabbed my stomach. To stay grounded, I pulled in a deep breath and placed an invisible cho-ku-ray sign on my body. I was concerned that Johnny was expecting a miracle from me, and I was going to let him down. Then I remembered something. “Johnny, whatever is supposed to happen, will happen.” Johnny chimed in on the last four words.
Students already started trickling into my classroom, so I told Johnny that I wouldn’t be able to work on his mother till lunch. My brain raced, wondering how I could help his mother, Diana, and then it hit me. I pulled a bulletin notice out of my top desk drawer and filled out the form: Healing Club, emergency meeting today, during lunch. Please come to room 416, immediately.
Johnny jumped down from the desk, “That’s a good idea. Thanks, Mom.” A few of my theatre kids insisted on calling me mom because they said they were around me more than their mother and others said I just acted like a mom. Honest, I tried to discourage it but lost that battle. I told him not to get his hopes up too high because many of the classrooms are so loud during the Public Announcements that the students can barely hear them. Mr. Positive told me they’d be there. I hoped he was right because I’d hate to see him disappointed if no one shows up. I asked him to send a picture of his mother to my laptop so that we’d be ready to work on her during our lunch break.
Even though my students were quiet, I strained to understand the slurred announcement, and I was the one who wrote it. Why didn’t I have the secretary of the club get everyone’s e-mail and phone number? I honestly never thought about it. I’ll get the numbers next club meeting. My heart did a few quick double beats as if I was standing in a baseball field about to bat for the World Series. No one was going to be here from the Healing Club to help Johnny’s mother during lunch, no one. Finally, I realized I was doing what I tell my students not to do, worry. I pulled in a couple of slow breaths through my nose and expelled them through the mouth. Then I told myself to trust. Next, I drew the first two Reiki signs the full length of my body which further calmed me down.
One student from the Healing Club popped in between classes and asked me if I was okay. I told her I was fine but that Johnny has a healing request and needs our help. Instantly, she thought something was wrong with him, but I guaranteed her that he was okay. Well, at least, one student other than Johnny and I would be at the meeting.
During my conference period, I placed some chairs in a circle on the stage in my theatre classroom, cleared the room and placed the Reiki signs into the room. I was hoping to work on his mom, but I didn’t have time. I had to set up lesson plans for the next three classes.
The morning dragged by and lunchtime finally arrived. I asked for Archangel Raphael, Michael, John the Baptist and my animal guide, the wolf, to protect us and to help guide us during the healing. I also asked for any of Diana’s guides to be there to help. Three students from the club trickled in and asked what was going on, but I told them we needed to wait for Johnny. Their eyes darted to each other with worried looks. I gestured towards the chairs on the stage, and they sat down. Minutes later, Johnny walked through the door, and I immediately asked if I could speak to him privately.
I told him that I didn’t want the kids to know where his mom was hurt because they’d instantly start to heal her head instead of trusting their intuition. So Johnny only shared that she was in a car accident and that she was in the hospital in critical condition. We had to get started even though quite a few students were missing, but I was impressed that three kids even heard the announcement. Many looked up to Johnny at our school; I don’t know why. I think it was because he had an incredible positive personality and yet he had this bad boy image too. Before we got started, there were a few raps on my window. Lisette waved her hand outside, so Maria let her into the building.
I now stepped in and informed everyone that I already cleared the room and had asked various angels and guides to be present but if they wanted to ask for their guides to be here also, to do it now. Next, I reminded the students that since Johnny’s mother isn’t present, that we needed to honor Diana’s soul by asking permission to work on her. Everyone closed their eyes. Their faces glowed as if honored to be asked to help. Their energy had already slowed down. After a few seconds, their eyes opened. “Did her soul approve?” I asked. All nodded, yes. Then I proceeded to tell them since Johnny’s mother isn’t in the room with us that I was going to have to introduce them to the long distance sign.
A few of the kids gasped as if a cuss word had slipped from my lips. They had been bugging me about learning this sign for a while. However, I kept putting it off because I wanted them to practice more with the first two Reiki signs. I ripped off a large sheet of poster paper and with a thick red marker drew the long distance sign, making sure I wrote all the numbers large enough for them to read from where they were sitting. Slowly, I followed the numbers with my two fingers as I walked the students through the intricate sign. Next, they practiced it individually for a couple of minutes. I reminded them that the debriefing would occur afterward. I was especially intrigued to see if they felt the same energy blocks or pain in the same areas.
I pushed the Inbox button on my laptop and scrolled down but was surprised that I couldn’t find the photo of Johnny’s mother which he insisted that he had sent. I handed my computer to him, and he exited the program and reentered, but still nothing. In disappointment, he shook his head, looked at the clock on the wall and pulled out his cell phone. He found the picture on his small flip phone and passed it around, reminding the students of the time. We now had only 30 minutes left. I reminded them to trust themselves because each of them is an individual healer; therefore, they’ll be drawn to specific areas.
Before I began healing, I chuckled quietly. My students looked more like a Sign Language Club than a Healing Club. I felt immensely proud, their focus unbelievable. No jokes. No more nervous giggles like previous meetings. They knew what they had to do, and they knew we had a limited time to do it in.
Five minutes before the lunch bell rang, I broke the silence; I asked them to end the treatment so we could have a few moments to share. I watched as they placed the abundance sign over Diana ’s body and then cut their energy from hers. I reminded them not to forget to thank their spirit guides.
Excited, they talked over each other. “Hey, hey…respect, remember?” I nodded at Johnny. Instantly, he took the clue and called on them individually. Some students felt the pain on the left side of Diana’s head, and others felt it in the neck and shoulders or on the left side of her back. Maria asked Johnny if his mom has a concussion and he grinned like a proud father and nodded, yes. Danielle blurted out that she saw the dark spot on the left side of her brain and Johnny verified that was indeed where she had banged her head. Each of the students shared what they felt on their hands: one felt intense pain, another student felt mini electrical shocks and still another felt pressure pushing up on her hands. I again reminded them that we are individuals, so our body feels things differently.
The bell rang, Johnny thanked them, and they left to go to their classes. I swear I saw tears
forming in Johnny’s eyes. Before Johnny walked through the doorway, he said, “I want to thank
you, mom,” and threw his skinny arms around me to give me his boa constrictor hug. I had to choke
back a couple of tears. Again, I was scared that Johnny was expecting a miracle, but reminded myself to trust in Reiki.
The next day I saw Johnny in the hallway between classes and asked him how his mother was doing. He looked glum and shook his head. I smiled and reminded him: to be positive, see his mom well, hear her talking to him, and, if possible, continue treatments long distance.
A day in a half later he called me while I was preparing dinner. Instantly, I was worried that his mother had worsened. “You’re not going to believe what happened,” he said excitedly. “My mom just checked out of the hospital.” I almost dropped my cell. He told me that he had to tell me in person what else had happened. His voice sounded like someone who had won the lottery.
The next morning Johnny walked into my classroom as if he had wings on his feet. He shared about his mother’s miraculous healing, but it was what she saw that blew me away. I stood there absolutely stunned. Yes, my clients have had major ailments disappear after a few treatments, including cancer. I decided to write an announcement so he .tell the other healers. Only two of the kids showed up.
We huddled around Johnny. I was excited about watching their reactions. Johnny told them that
yesterday during the late afternoon his mom shocked the doctors and checked out of the hospital. The students were so happy for him. One of the kids piped in, “This Reiki stuff really works.” And we all laughed and agreed.
Then Johnny shared that wasn’t the main thing he wanted to tell them. He paused and beamed like a baseball coach whose team just won the World Series. He told them that while his mom was in a coma, she saw a bright dazzling white beam shooting into the darkness, so she walked towards it. The student’s eyes turned into huge orbs. “However, she stopped and returned to her hospital bed when she heard my voice calling her back,” Johnny said. (Of course, Johnny left out his comments that he had shared with me earlier – ‘Don’t leave me…. I need you, Mom.’ Monsieur Tough Guy didn’t want his image tainted.) The kids couldn’t believe what they heard.
I asked them if they knew what that bright light was which was shooting from above, and the two girls shook their head, no. Johnny explained that it’s God calling the Spirit back to heaven. He further described how his mom found herself floating above her hospital bed. He paused still questioning the plausibility of his mother’s experience. “You guys… she saw 12 luminous hands around her shooting beams of light onto her body, but she couldn’t see anything else, just hands. Then she fell into a deep sleep and woke up lying on her hospital bed. She was sure it was a dream. But after a while, she had no pain anywhere. She knew she had been healed, but she had no idea how. When the doctor examined her, he couldn’t believe that she was out of a coma so quickly, let alone at all because her concussion had been severe.
Sara wanted to know if his mother told the doctor what had happened. Johnny shook his head no. Maria asked him if he had told her about our healing group. Johnny explained that his mom’s very Christian, so he was afraid she’d think the healing technique was some type of black magic. He decided to wait a few weeks then tell her.
Johnny took a deep breath and then looked at them. “You guys,” his voice broke, “thanks for being
there for me when I needed you.” Their facial expressions were priceless. I think they even shocked
themselves how powerful Reiki could be, especially in a group healing. Both girls gave him a bear hug at the same time, and Maria whisked away a few tears.
I beamed like a contented mother hen and wished Reiki could be taught to all students. ( I've offered it to teach it to a couple of schools, but have had no response.) I’ve watched students learn to forgive not only themselves, but others, and transform into amazing, compassionate, centered teens even though they had been raped, physically or verbally abused, had had eating disorders, depression, or anger issues. To watch my students' excited faces when working on each other was beautiful. It made them feel useful when helping each other and their families. I think also, knowing Reiki made them feel like they had some control over their lives.
