My first Yoga & Reiki Experience
I always thought it is quite fascinating how people practising yoga can stretch and perform all those gravity-defying poses and yet look so calm at the same time. Something inside me was telling me that I had to try yoga at least once and the right time came a few weeks ago. Needless to say, as I’m a person always willing to try something new, I didn’t hesitate for a second when Michael, founder of Kalyana Yoga and one of the Yoga teachers at “The Conscious Collective” space in Limassol, suggested that I should participate in one of its yoga sessions. My anticipation grew even bigger when I discovered that the session I was invited to was not just a simple yoga class, but a special combination of Yoga and Reiki. But before we dive deeper into this calm and serene world, let’s clarify the meaning of these two practices.
YOGA & REIKI TERMINOLOGY
“Yoga” is a very old term that first appeared in the “Vedas”, a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India sometime between 1200 and 900 BCE. Essentially, yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines, that focuses at controlling and stilling the mind, with the aim of promoting physical and spiritual wellbeing. Even though traditional yoga focuses on meditation and release from worldly attachments, the modern form of it as it is practised in the West, consists of hatha yoga (a branch of yoga) and a posture-based physical fitness, stress-relief and relaxation technique using mainly the “Asanas” (body postures).
“Reiki” is a spiritual healing art originating in Japan and practised for about 2,500 years. The word Reiki comes from the Japanese word (Rei) which means “Universal Life” and (Ki) which means “Energy”. Reiki practitioners believe that energy can stagnate in the body where there has been a physical or emotional injury and these energy blocks can eventually cause physical or emotional imbalance and illness. As such, Reiki aims at removing such blocks and helping the flow of energy. A Reiki session can help relaxation, assist in the body’s natural healing processes, and develop emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. During a Reiki session, practitioners, through their palms, transfer “universal energy” to the patient in order to encourage emotional or physical healing.
Talking about energy flow and energy blockage, I can’t skip mentioning the “chakras”, which are the various energy centres in our body that correspond to specific nerve bundles and internal organs. Even though some say there are 114 chakras spread all over our body, the seven main chakras run from the base of our spine to the top of our head. When chakras get blocked, we experience physical or emotional negative symptoms and two of the ways to unblock them is with yoga and reiki.
THE SPACE
The session I was invited to was taking place at “The Conscious Collective”, a well-being space in the heart of Limassol. This beautiful space is the result of the vision of four people, Natasa, Alexia, Michael and Steena, that have united their experience, knowledge and powers to create a cooperative platform for all things yoga, well-being and consciousness.
The Conscious Collective is located in the centre of the city, with lots of free parking spots right outside its door and houses a wonderful studio drenched in natural light coming from its big windows with a small garden running along its east side. You’ll start feeling the positive energy of the place the moment you enter, or at least I did, that Friday afternoon when after a hectic week I rushed to Limassol for my session. Before the session, I had the chance to meet two of its founders, which I joined for a cup of herbal tea while they introduced me to their world and discussed their vision. The space’s relaxing mode was amplified by the delightful aroma of scented candles and the smooth music playing in the background.
THE SESSION
As soon as all members of our group session arrived at the studio, we rolled out our mats, sat comfortably and firstly Michael, our yoga teacher explained some yoga basics while later on Violeta, a Reiki Master, explained what Reiki is all about. We started with some breathing exercises and a gentle warm-up, then we advanced to more physical poses (asanas), and completed the yoga session with a short period of meditation alongside the soothing sound of a Tibetan singing bowl. While still lying on our mats, the Reiki session began, with Violeta going around every student, placing her hands either directly on our chakras or moving her hands around our body by stimulating our body’s natural healing abilities. The whole session lasted for about one and a half hours and after my relaxing experience, I felt calm, relieved and happy. In addition, I gained a better understanding of my body’s flexing capabilities and possibilities.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It’s a fact that nowadays our pace of life is getting faster and our peace of mind often gets overlooked. Modern technology is constantly updating to help us complete more tasks in a short amount of time but jobs keep piling up, work never ends and stress levels are getting higher and higher. We can’t avoid work-related duties or modern commodities, however, it is important to save some time during the week to switch off our phones and relax our bodies and mind with the help of yoga. As an outsider, it’s rather easy to assume yoga is just for a certain type of person. In reality, yoga is for everyone, flexible or not, since you don’t do yoga because you are flexible, but to become flexible and strengthen your body. Yoga is for everyone.
But why yoga you may ask? Many studies have shown that yoga can help reduce back pain, strengthen the bones, reduce stress levels, improve sleep quality and relieve depression. Moreover, Reiki is known to relieve pain, improve sleep, promote peace and calmness and betters our mood. Even though many people consider yoga merely a physical exercise, in essence, yoga can help practitioners connect with their inner being, develop oneness with the Higher Consciousness and understand how to live a wholehearted life. I was lucky enough to have experienced the healing power of both yoga and reiki. You may choose to try what fits more your personality and your weekly plan. You have nothing to lose. Get yourself a mat, some comfortable clothes and hit the next class at “The Conscious Collective”. Trust me. You won’t regret it.
“Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.” –Mark Black
