

A friend of mine vacationed in Argentina a few years ago and fell in love with a Reiki master named Marcelo. Fast forward five years: They’re married, she’s preggers and Marcelo’s hands were over me.
Yes, he and I were having a Reiki affair—but don’t worry, his wife was cool with it.
I’ve always been curious about this spiritual practice. I knew it’s supposed to balance your energy without physical touch, but could it really provide a nonalcoholic buzz and a high on life?
Reiki is a stress-reduction practice that started in 1922 in Japan. It works with our “life force energy” that flows through us and keeps us alive. Reiki is all about letting the body heal itself and do what it does is best. It requires no forcing, prodding, or massage—though when Marcelo first started moving his hands over me, I secretly wanted to grab them and force a back rub.
But instead, a deep relaxation flowed over me within minutes, causing me to inappropriately drool on their Mexican-designed pillow and forget the hipsters I’d knocked shoulders with during my long Williamsburg commute.
The few times I opened my eyes, I could see Marcelo waving his hands a foot over my limbs. Loud, spiritual music played. Somehow, the music seemed crisper by the end of my session. When I opened my eyes again, I realized Marcelo was playing a Spanish ukulele. How sweet, I thought while wiping my chin. The whole affair lasted about an hour and left me feeling amazing, as though I’d taken the longest, deepest, nightmare-free nap of my life.
In Reiki, you simply allow a person’s energy flow to work its own healing magic. I wondered if this related to how we approach life in general. Oftentimes, we try to force every answer, find every road, and know the solution. But maybe, when you’re present and relaxed, things can actually go your way?! Answers find you.
Deepak Chopra is no Marcello in the Reiki bed, but he did say the fourth spiritual law of success is the law of least effort. Do less, and accomplish more. How genius is that?
We observe this in nature: “Grass doesn’t try to grow, it just grows…Fish don’t try to swim, they just swim,” he wrote.
Or as the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said, “An integral being knows without going, sees without looking, and accomplishes without doing.”
What are you trying to force in your life that might be keeping you from your fancy dreams? If you let it go, accept things as they are, and go with your own flow, life begins to shift.
Or maybe you just need a good Reiki affair with magic hands Marcelo to help get things flowing for you!
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