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Putting the You Back in the Universe

BY

JEN BRUNETTE
It didnt take long before I started asking more friends to help develop my skills by letting me practice Reiki on them. This is around the time when I discovered that not only did I possess the ability to heal a human being, I could also see into peoples lives psychically. I could see, hear and feel impressions about their past, present, and future and learned that I had pretty accurate results when I related that information after the treatment. Yes, oh yes, the energetic floodgates were not only open but the doors were unhinged and had been thrown out with the force of that mystical river! I was not only a metaphysical wonder woman, I could also read minds! (If you have ever seen the mind-reading scene from the movie, Zoolander, then you may by now be fully aware of the dripping sarcasm that coats my words and offers a sense of how I view those days today!) To my utter dismay, it was not long after I realized that I truly possessed the ability to heal the entire universe that it was rather abruptly taken away. My friends and family practice sessions no longer seemed magical to me or the recipient. I couldnt tune my antenna to the other world anymore. My signal was broken, my magic lasso was torn from my belt, and my ego was deflated like the flat tire that must have happened when my spiritual engine backfired. I was back to being just plain Jen, and I was very confused. So where did my magic powers go? I speedily ascertained that my powers were pushed out of the way by my overinflated ego. EGO. There is so much incredible meaning in that tiny, three letter word. When I recalled the lessons I learned during my Reiki course, there was one in particular that stood above the rest at this moment. Step out of the way and let the Reiki do the work. In other words, leave your ego at the door and give in to the energy. My problem was that I was trying to FORCE everything to happen the way I thought it should, which ultimately jammed my frequency and closed the door on my potential. If you try to impart your will on anything, negative results ensue. Even if you dont believe that you are doing something wrong, there are certain universal laws that need to be followed and if you break one of them, spirit will answer. They surely answered me! This particular law has to do with free will and how each of us has the abil REIKI NEWS MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 17

I WAS A LITTLE GIRL, I wanted to be Drew Barrymores character, Charlie, from the 1984 movie (and Stephen King novel) Firestarter. Not that I had this overwhelming desire to burn things, but the idea that this little girl had so much telepathic power was mind boggling and exciting. I was around six years old, the perfect age for Superheroes to be real and if we tried really hard, we just KNEW that one day we could fly! Time has a way of creeping up on us though, as we find ourselves drifting away from our languid sea of childhood fantasies only to head towards the vast, mysterious and sometimes extremely turbulent waters of adolescence and eventually adulthood. I was certainly no exception to this transition. Over the course of the next sixteen years, I had nearly forgotten the fascination for my telepathically flammable childhood hero as I became engrossed with school, work, internships and a short lifetime of learning experiences. I was 22 years old and gaining some momentum with my dream of being in the music industry. I was a disc jockey, a syndicated radio show producer solidifying relationships with insiders of the business and moving along at a pace I could hardly keep up with. This is also when I took my first Reiki class, after which, at the end of the day, I could feel my whole essence drift back to that familiar feeling harnessed in childhood, where you wish it would rain gumdrops just once and truly anything was possible! Learning Reiki made me feel overwhelmingly empowered. It was as if I was six again, pretending to be Charlie McGee, wishing I could start my familys campfire by willing it to happen. I was a brand new Jen! Still barely into my 20s, I now felt as though I was a wonder woman of the healing arts! But instead of my magic lasso, I had magic hands that could heal at will! I seriously tried to practice on everything I could. Friends, pets, plants, earth, myself, food, waterthey were all no match for me because I was officially a healer and it was AWESOME! I thought I could fix my broken television with only my sheer will and determination. I was positive that I could utter the words Reiki three times and my entire world would magically fall into place! In the great words of the mighty He-Man, I Have the Power!
HEN

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PUTTING

THE

YOU BACK

IN

THE

UNIVERSE

ity to make our own decisions. I was trying to impart my will onto others, which not only blocked the flow of Reiki and stopped any psychic information from coming through, but also sent out tidal waves of disconnected energy. If theres a broken pipe, then the water cant flow throughI was the pipe and my ego was the hammer that broke it. I also remembered a meditation within my Reiki Level I class in which I distinctly saw a spiderweb encompassing the entire universe and then easily found my place within it. It was a unique place on the web that fit only me but I was still a part of everything and everything was a part of me. Connected. This realization helped me to lighten the wind on my sails and to squeeze out the air of my gigantic ego balloon. As I did this, I allowed that balloon to squeeeeeeaaaaak as it deflated because it was at this time as well that I decided not to take life too seriously; I took to heart that rather than letting go of my child-self, it was best to keep her as a friend and confidante to play with! We all let our egos get in the way of what we truly want to do from time to time. Now, even after my recognition of the problem, I still struggle with it when I practice but not in the way that I originally did. I do it through fear. Sometimes Im afraid I wont

get enough information for the client, or the right type of information. I fear that my clients wont feel the Reiki or have no healing experience whatsoever. But if I listen to my lesson, step back, and let Reiki do the work then I KNOW it will turn out exactly the way it was meant to. This goes not only for Reiki but for readings too. It can also be a valuable lesson anywhere in the lives of everyone. Could you imagine the possibilities if we all took a step back from control and let our hearts and intuition guide us? The potential for peace and even enlightenment would be monumental. So it is with furrowed brows, one eye open, and a slight droop of my head that I look back on that dreadful time period after I became a Reiki I practitioner. Yet, I also stand a little taller knowing that I can share that experience with you about the valuable lesson I was taught about that tricky, little, three letter word, ego. If theres one thing you may want to try and do for yourself and others, its to think back to the spiderweb I saw in my meditation and feel that connection for yourself. Put the You Back in Universe.

Jen Brunett can be reached by email at jenbrunett@gmail.com

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REIKI NEWS MAGAZINE

WINTER 2012

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