How I found Reiki. Or did Reiki find me?
Hi, my name is Daniela, and I would love to personally welcome you - not only to my online school, but also to my world.
You may be wondering how I found Reiki and how this path began for me. The truth is, I was always rather shy and introverted. Yet somehow, life gently - and sometimes not so gently - pushed me into the spiritual world, first as a practitioner, and soon after that, as a teacher.
Me, a teacher? I would never have imagined it. But the Universe had its own plans, and in its own cheeky way, it guided me onto this path.
Perhaps you have had a similar experience on your own spiritual journey. Sometimes life leads us somewhere we never expected, and yet it turns out to be exactly where we are meant to be.
I began by teaching in person, one-on-one and in small settings, and over time that path expanded into teaching online.
Honestly, I never thought I would do something like this - or that I would even be able to. Standing in front of a camera, speaking English, and sharing my spiritual work with others was something I could never have imagined earlier in life.
English is my second language, and I only started learning it when I was already 40 years old. So if you ever feel that it is too late to begin something new, I am here to tell you that it is not.
I know that all of us go through difficult times in life.
I know that all of us go through difficult times in life.
You have probably had life-changing experiences too, moments that deeply affected you and changed the way you saw yourself, life, or the world around you. I also know that sharing these experiences can help. Sometimes it can even be healing. It reminds us that we are not alone.
There is one life-changing experience I would like to share with you - one that completely turned my life upside down.
At one point in my life, I was diagnosed with cancer and had surgery. At first, it looked as though everything had gone well. But after I returned home, something had gone terribly wrong.
I had to be taken back to the hospital by ambulance so they could try to fix the problem. While I was waiting to see the doctor, I had already lost a lot of blood. It felt as though no one fully understood how serious my condition was. I was left waiting in the hallway.
During that time, as I was losing so much blood, I felt as though nothing mattered anymore. Nothing seemed real. It was almost like being in a dream.
Then suddenly, the doctor realized what was happening. Everything changed very quickly. There was panic. I had to sign a waiver, and I was taken into surgery again. Even then, I still had that strange feeling, as if nothing mattered anymore.
Later, as I lay in my hospital room trying to recover, I felt that I truly had to fight to stay here on Earth. I know this may sound like a cliché, but I saw a black tunnel, and at the end of that tunnel was a light. It would have been so easy to go toward that light.
But then I thought of my children. My thoughts were only with my kids. They needed me, and I knew I could not leave them behind. I had to stay. I had to be here for my boys.
So I made a choice. And I chose to stay. Otherwise, I would not be writing this today. But it was not easy.
I felt like I had to fight with everything I had.
During that struggle, I not only saw the light, but also strange beings around me. I do not know who or what they were. Maybe I saw them because I was between worlds. Or maybe it was the effect of the medication. I cannot explain it with certainty. But I do know this: That experience changed my life forever. It showed me that there is more to life than what we can see with our physical eyes.
After that day, I knew I had to change my life.
That question led me onto a new path. I started learning about holistic healing, natural support, meditation, homeopathy, acupuncture, and ways to care for body, mind, and spirit.
I was deeply motivated to understand health in a different way and to do what I could to support my healing and well-being.
Yes, I overcame cancer, but life still brought many challenges.
I separated from my husband, and life took a completely different direction. Looking back, I sometimes feel that the Universe was pushing me to move forward, even when it was painful.
Later, I met a new man at work—Michael, who is now my husband.
My Life Changed
Between my two sons from my first marriage, Michael’s daughter from his first marriage, and the two girls we later added to our family, life became very full and very busy. Managing a large family while working was not always easy. But in many ways, those very challenges were part of the reason I found Reiki.
This is how I found Reiki… or maybe Reiki found me.
Some of my colleagues in the office gave me a hard time, mostly because they were unhappy within themselves. Because of that, I started looking for a different job.
Eventually, I met Betina Maria, who later became both a good friend and my teacher. She had an esoteric shop, and I loved it from the moment I walked in. I was fascinated by everything she had there and spent a lot of time just looking around and taking it all in.
One day, she told me she was looking for help in the office. She could not pay me financially, but she offered to teach me Reiki Level 1 as payment.
At that time, I did not know what Reiki was. I had no real idea what it was all about, but it sounded wonderful. So I said, “Okay, I can come for a few hours after my regular job and help you in your office.”
On my way home that day, I passed a bookstore and thought I should see whether they had any books about Reiki. I felt I should at least get some idea of what Reiki actually was.
I found a small, easy-to-read book, and once I started reading, I could not stop. By that same evening, I had finished the whole book, and somehow, deep inside, I knew this was my calling. It felt so familiar, as if it were something I had known before - maybe even something I had done in a past life.
Then, the night before the class, I had an incredible experience.
When I closed my eyes to go to sleep, I clearly saw bubbles filled with colourful mandalas.
It felt as though they were entering my third eye. It was so vivid that I could hardly believe it. In fact, it felt even clearer than seeing with my physical eyes - especially now that I need glasses, lol.
Today, I believe this was a preparation for the Reiki attunements. These visions continued for a long time that night, and because of them, it was hard for me to fall asleep.
The next day, after receiving my first Reiki Level 1 attunement, I started to cry. I did not fully understand what was happening, and I simply could not stop. It was a little embarrassing at the time, but there was nothing I could do.
I felt so much love in that moment, and I had the deep feeling that I was coming home. I know now that I was releasing many blockages.
And then, right after crying, I started to laugh. During the 21 days of healing that followed, I went through a real emotional rollercoaster. At times I felt happy, and at other times I felt sad. It went up and down. Sometimes I would suddenly start crying without even knowing why. All I knew was that a lot was being released.
After about a week, that emotional rollercoaster began to settle down. And that was the beginning of an amazing spiritual journey. From that point on, I could not stop learning about Reiki and practicing it. It felt as though I was meant to walk this path. It felt like the beginning of a new life.
Learning Reiki Level 1 was a deeply emotional and life-changing experience for me.
Once I was introduced to the amazing, mind-opening world of spiritual healing, I could not stop learning.
When I did my Reiki 1, I felt like a big shift happened to me.
I felt more in balance with myself, my family and work. What a great thing!
I needed this, because life can be pretty challenging. Having a tool to help you find balance in life, is a wonderful gift.
I wanted more of this :)
After my Reiki Master and Teacher Level, my intention was to master myself through Reiki.
I was way too shy to teach anything!
But this is exactly what happened.
Short after I finished my Master and Teacher degree, Betina called me and said: “Daniela, I have a Reiki Level 1 Class tomorrow with 4 people. I’m sick, I can’t tell them not to come, so I decided that you should do it.”
I said: "What? Me? Oh no!"
I mean, I was actually very well prepared to teach. Betina wanted us to study and volunteer a lot. I also had to teach some friends as a final exam, and I created my own manuals too.
Yes, I could do it, but… instant Anxiety :)
I answered: “Mmm, I don’t know, if I'm good enough?”
She said: “I told them already, that you're a new teacher, with no teaching experience, and they are fine with it.”
Well, I couldn't say NO.
The next morning, when I arrived, and the students came in, I started to introduce myself. I said: “Ok, this is my first time teaching Reiki, and I'm really nervous.” The reaction of the students was just awesome, they were supportive. All my anxiety went away, at least most of it.
I used a little trick: I put all my attention on the students.
Without caring about how prefect I spoke, what I looked like, and what they might think about me, I put my entire focus on them. This trick helped me to be way more self confident. I thought, wow, teaching Reiki helps me to gain confidence! I noticed this effect happening even after my Reiki Level 1 and 2. But being confident enough to teach, and help others was a big deal for me! For my life, gaining self confidence is truly one of the best, and unexpected benefits of practising and teaching Reiki.
I'm very grateful for my Reiki teacher Betina M. Spring.
She pushed me forward on my spiritual journey, in a practical way, including Shamanic Journeying, and Aura Balancing.
Soon I started to teach Reiki regularly, beside my day job.
No one could stop me!
It took about a year to quit my job, and do it full time.
But what I really want to say about the benefit of teaching Reiki is that I learned more about myself than ever before.
And much of what I've learned came from my students.
My students are also my teachers.
We learn from each other.
Through my Reiki classes, I’ve been able to connect to people around the world.
And what I really love is when my students go through the same positive life change as well.
This is why we need Reiki Practitioners and Teachers more than ever.
I’m guessing if you’re here, then it’s probably the same thing for you too—am I right? You may not want to teach, but you want to grow spiritually, or find more balance in your life. If so, then you NEED to get started!
Do what I did, learn a lot about energy healing, practice and help others!
Did you know that most Spiritual Seekers start with Reiki?
When people ask me where they should start on their spiritual journey, then I often suggest to start with Reiki 1 and Reiki 2, because Reiki gives you all the basic knowledge about energy healing, aura, and self development.
That, which you'll learn in a Reiki Class, can be combined with a lot of other Healing modalities.
We now offer Reiki online for students who don't have classes near by, or have other reasons that impede them from going to a course.
Are you already a Reiki practitioner?
If so, I hope you practice a lot.
If your daily life is too busy, and you don't do a lot with Reiki, then don't worry, just start giving yourself Reiki again. You will not need the attunements again, but a Reiki Refresher 1 or Refresher 2 course is always good idea :).
I personally had more than one Reiki Teacher, because I wanted to see how others teach, and what they are teaching.
My second Reiki Master and Teacher was Norbert Kuhl, and I'm very grateful for his teachings.
Now you know a little bit about how my journey started.
Reiki was a good start, but there is so much more to experience.
