The journey towards holistic well-being oftentimes leads us to ancient practices that hold timeless wisdom. Among them, is the art of Reiki therapy. The power of Reiki healing uses remarkable energy-channeling methods for healing, health, and balance.
Our Vonder community is made up of diverse, and talented individuals. One of these amazing tenants is Akeel, a skilled and experienced Reiki practitioner. We were lucky enough to sit down together and learn about the ancient practice of Reiki therapy. Join us on this insightful journey as we learn about the principles, restorative benefits, and therapeutic powers of Reiki healing. Learn how emotional well-being has a direct impact on physical well-being and can even directly influence professional success. If you’re like us, Akeel’s answers will leave you inspired to learn more, and eager to try a Reiki healing session for yourself.
1. What initially drew you to the practice of Reiki, and how has it transformed your life and perspective on healing?
I was drawn to this form of healing in my spiritual practice because of how gentle and restorative this energy is. I wanted to find a mode of healing that was gentle but also hit the three pillars of a human being's existence: the mind, the body and the spirit. Reiki is an energy healing practice that tunes the body by clearing the energetic and emotional blocks stored in the layers of your body negatively impacting the mind and the spirit.
When I understood how much the mental and emotional plane affects my actions, the health of my body and how I related to the world around me, I understood the power of Reiki healing.
2. Many people may not be familiar with Reiki. How do you typically introduce Reiki to someone who is entirely new to energy healing? Can you explain how this therapy/ healing process works?
Reiki is a Japanese healing technique that calls on the energy of nature to heal our bodies. It’s the energy that keeps all the systems in nature running, the energy that causes your heart to beat and your lungs to fill up with air. The energy that propels a plant from a seed under the earth to a full-grown tree. It’s the energy of growth and transformation, the energy of nature, order, and balance. People need this energy so badly because as we have grown and developed as a society we have removed ourselves further and further away from nature causing our energetic and body systems to become imbalanced. We are stressed, burnt out, getting older faster, getting more and more diseases, and finding ourselves unhappy and disconnected. Reiki calls on the energy of nature, growth & balance, directs it through the practitioner, and concentrates it into the body in order to restore balance in the body
3. As a Reiki healer, you work with the body's energy centers or chakras. How do you identify and address imbalances in these energy centers to promote overall well-being?
When you book a reiki session you give permission for the practitioner to connect with and basically go into your energy. This is why it is important to really look into a practitioner and find one that you trust. Once I connect to the energy of reiki then to the client's physical and energetic body as they lay in front of me. I can see all the imbalances and the issues in the body, in their emotional state and even in their life in general. All of that information is written into the subtle layers of your body. The information about certain areas in your life is stored in specific chakras in the body and so when I am working in that area of the body it opens up and allows me to see the state of that area of the person's life. So much so that after my sessions I leave a few minutes to speak with the client about the different things I saw or heard when working on their energy centers.
4. The mind-body connection is a vital aspect of holistic healing. How does Reiki help bridge the gap between emotional well-being and physical health?
As consciousness levels rise on this planet we are becoming more and more aware of the link between our emotional well-being and physical wellbeing. What I’ve seen in my own practice is that most idiopathic aches and pains are related to emotional issues experienced throughout life that have been stored in our bodies. As adults, we are expected to “ get over things'' and “get on” with life. The way most of us do that is by pushing down our feelings, so deep that we no longer feel them on the surface. We think all is good cause we no longer feel those emotions on the surface, but what did we do with those emotions? We pushed them deep into the body and stored them there. This is why as a society we walk around on eggshells afraid that we will “trigger” someone. That concept of triggering is unwittingly causing a person to make a link to some past pain they’ve buried deep inside their being. There are a lot of common emotional and physical links that I see in my practice. For instance, women mostly store their emotional trauma in their hips. So they end up with really tight or achy hips and a lot of hip issues as they grow older. Another place where we have a lot of pain linked to emotional blockages is the lower back and the shoulders. I recently had a lady in a reiki group session say to me afterward she was shocked that her shoulder/neck pains that she had for weeks had vanished during the session.
Emotional well-being is not only tied to physical well-being but also to performance in your career or your business. A lot of my clients are entrepreneurs and they use reiki to help them along their self-development journey. They realize that the entrepreneur is the driving force of their business. If they are not in the mental headspace to function in all the capacities required of them it impacts their business. If they are holding on to emotional blockages or trauma it affects the way they speak about their products or services, whether or not they can confidently pitch to investors, and whether or not they have the mental bandwidth to take on the issues that entrepreneurship presents.
5. Reiki healing can be experienced in various ways, including in-person and distant sessions. Could you share your thoughts on how distant Reiki works and its effectiveness compared to in-person sessions?
This is a very hard concept for most people who don’t work in this field to wrap their heads around but energy is not subject to the laws of physical reality. Energy transcends physicality therefore distance and space isn’t a barrier. The same energy I can pour into your body physically in front of me I can pour into your body from miles away. It’s simply a matter of directing the energy to the person using their energetic signature. Your name, a picture of you, a video call etc all of these are ways a practitioner can pinpoint your energetic signature.
Don’t be afraid of distance healing; you are not losing out on the potency of reiki. You will save yourself the hassle of travel and perhaps be even more comfortable in your own environment.
6. Each Reiki healer brings a unique approach to the practice. How would you describe your personal style of Reiki healing, and how do you think it sets you apart from others?
I connect to reiki energy every day in my personal spiritual practice to keep that flow of energy strong and to make sure that I am also as balanced as I can be when working to help balance others. Personally, I also find that the energy I channel tends to also include spiritual awakening energy. I am shown parts of the body's energetic centres that are sleeping or disconnected and I am able to light that centre and create a cohesive connectedness in your light body. I also think the ability to have a chat after to give some insight on the issues I’ve identified and any guidance I received on how they can remedy any of the life issues they’re experiencing is very valuable.
7. How has your experience been living here as a Vonder tenant? What benefits do you see from our communal living style? How would you describe the impact that connecting with others has on our lives?
Vonder Wembley, one of our coliving London locations, is a great environment to live in. I think it’s a space that has thought a lot about the needs of a community and I appreciate all the amenities and events provided for connection and wellbeing. It's a great space to meet prospective clients, new friends and learn about different cultures. This type of environment broadens your perspective and network.
At Vonder, we are passionate about providing the tools to build community for connection and wellbeing. Our tenants love being a part of a thriving group of people that both give to one another and learn from one another. If you’re interested in joining one of our coliving communities, we’d love to meet you! Consider one of our furnished flats to rent in Wembley, or a furnished apartment Dubai if you’re ready for your next adventure.
