When You Don’t Know the Rules

After a few months of receiving Reiki from my massage therapist – and realising that whatever this strange practice was, it seemed to be helping – she suggested I meet her teacher. “If you enjoy what I do,” she said, “you’ll love what she does.”

As always, I thought, Why not? Even in the worst of times, I’ve never been afraid to give something a go.

So a week later, I found myself sitting on the top step of a narrow stairwell, three storeys up, waiting for someone I’d never met to appear from a door I wasn’t sure I was supposed to enter. I didn’t know the etiquette. Should I knock? Take off my shoes? Bow? I have no idea why bowing crossed my mind – but in that moment, everything felt foreign. I was out of my comfort zone, in a world I didn’t understand.

Eventually, the door opened. “I’ve been ready for five minutes,” she said kindly. “I just assumed you’d come in.”

So far, so awkward.

Inside, the space smelled… spiritual. That’s the only way I can describe it. Candles. Incense. Calm background music. She explained she’d just “cleared the space” with sage after her last client. I nodded as if I understood. I didn’t.

The room had a massage table in the centre, but this wasn’t a massage. There were crystals. Symbols I didn’t recognise. Japanese calligraphy. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. Do I undress? Lie down? Wait?

Thankfully, we chatted for a few minutes, and I started to feel more at ease. Turns out you don’t need to take your clothes off. Good start.

Then the session began.

This was completely different from what I’d experienced before. Most of the time, her hands didn’t even touch me – just hovered above. But the heat was unmistakable. I could feel it pulsing. I saw colours. I felt calm. I felt… something. Something I couldn’t explain but couldn’t ignore.

Was this mad? What world had I stepped into?

Afterwards, we talked. She told me what she’d picked up on during the session, and it shocked me – not because she said anything outrageous, but because it felt personal. Raw. Real. I found myself talking about things I never usually said out loud, certainly not to a stranger. But somehow, she didn’t feel like one.

So I booked another session. Two weeks later.

Not because I believed in anything specific. Not because I had the answers. But because it felt right.

And that was enough.