Several years ago, the Rev. Rhonda House was in the midst of training to be a police officer when she suffered a severe back injury. The damage to her spine caused her to undergo many months of intense rehabilitation, and unfortunately she had to discontinue her training, just months before she was scheduled to graduate.
Jennifer Meyers / The Citizen
The Rev. Rhonda House is a Reiki Master who teaches classes and practices at The Witches Brew in Auburn. House explains that Reiki is not a medical process - “it all has to do with spiritual energy.”
The Rev. Rhonda House is a Reiki Master who teaches classes and practices at The Witches Brew in Auburn. House explains that Reiki is not a medical process - “it all has to do with spiritual energy.”
But in the years since, House has been enlightened by Reiki healing, and today she is practically pain-free.
House practices Reiki (“RAY-kee”) as part of her Peace Dreamers Earth Academy, a non-denominational ministry that focuses on the discipline. By definition, Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing.
The word is a combination of “Rei,” which means “God's wisdom” or “higher power,” and “Ki,” or “life force energy.” So Reiki, then, is actually “spiritually guided life force energy.”
“The practice (of Reiki) is not a medical process - it all has to do with spiritual energy,” House, who teaches classes in and performs the technique at Witches Brew, said from the shop last week.
“In essence, the energy of the universe is channeled through a Reiki practitioner into the recipient, all through the hands,” she continued. The practitioner can either place his hands on the person's shoulders, she added, or use a whole-body technique which is performed while the recipient is lying down.
Though the Reiki philosophy has existed for thousands of years, the actual practice was popularized more than 100 years ago in Japan by Dr. Mikao Usui, a spiritual leader who went on a quest to discover whether Christ's “laying of hands” healing powers were indeed possible. According to legend, Usui had a mystical experience atop a mountain and was shown how to practice the methods, which he passed on to others before his death in 1926.
The healing procedures, House said, center around seven “chakras,” which many believe are the body's major energy centers. The chakras correspond to different areas of a person's anatomy, from the Root Chakra at the base of the spine to the Crown Chakra at the top of the head. Healing begins, she continued, when a person's chakras become balanced.
“In my case, once my chakras were balanced, and the more I practiced Reiki healing, the less my pain became, until now I don't even need medication,” she said.
House is a Reiki master, she said, because she has completed three levels of training. Each level teaches methods of healing that progress from the “healing of self” to the ability to heal others in a different place.
House teaches classes in Reiki once per month at Witches Brew, and plans to open her own school in October, the location of which has not been determined.
One of House's star pupils is Witches Brew co-owner Nancy Heath, of Cayuga, who has experienced Reiki healing first-hand.
“I have really bad asthma, and I had a couple of bad attacks a few years ago,” she recalled. After contacting House, who Heath said is a long-time friend, the reverend performed Reiki healing on her, which Heath said worked so miraculously that she began studying the practice herself.
If you go
What: Reiki Healing classes with the Rev. Rhonda House
Where: Witches Brew, 53 Genesee St., Auburn
When: Monthly
Cost: $45 per class
To learn more: Call Witches Brew at 253-4702
House practices Reiki (“RAY-kee”) as part of her Peace Dreamers Earth Academy, a non-denominational ministry that focuses on the discipline. By definition, Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing.
The word is a combination of “Rei,” which means “God's wisdom” or “higher power,” and “Ki,” or “life force energy.” So Reiki, then, is actually “spiritually guided life force energy.”
“The practice (of Reiki) is not a medical process - it all has to do with spiritual energy,” House, who teaches classes in and performs the technique at Witches Brew, said from the shop last week.
“In essence, the energy of the universe is channeled through a Reiki practitioner into the recipient, all through the hands,” she continued. The practitioner can either place his hands on the person's shoulders, she added, or use a whole-body technique which is performed while the recipient is lying down.
Though the Reiki philosophy has existed for thousands of years, the actual practice was popularized more than 100 years ago in Japan by Dr. Mikao Usui, a spiritual leader who went on a quest to discover whether Christ's “laying of hands” healing powers were indeed possible. According to legend, Usui had a mystical experience atop a mountain and was shown how to practice the methods, which he passed on to others before his death in 1926.
The healing procedures, House said, center around seven “chakras,” which many believe are the body's major energy centers. The chakras correspond to different areas of a person's anatomy, from the Root Chakra at the base of the spine to the Crown Chakra at the top of the head. Healing begins, she continued, when a person's chakras become balanced.
“In my case, once my chakras were balanced, and the more I practiced Reiki healing, the less my pain became, until now I don't even need medication,” she said.
House is a Reiki master, she said, because she has completed three levels of training. Each level teaches methods of healing that progress from the “healing of self” to the ability to heal others in a different place.
House teaches classes in Reiki once per month at Witches Brew, and plans to open her own school in October, the location of which has not been determined.
One of House's star pupils is Witches Brew co-owner Nancy Heath, of Cayuga, who has experienced Reiki healing first-hand.
“I have really bad asthma, and I had a couple of bad attacks a few years ago,” she recalled. After contacting House, who Heath said is a long-time friend, the reverend performed Reiki healing on her, which Heath said worked so miraculously that she began studying the practice herself.
If you go
What: Reiki Healing classes with the Rev. Rhonda House
Where: Witches Brew, 53 Genesee St., Auburn
When: Monthly
Cost: $45 per class
To learn more: Call Witches Brew at 253-4702
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