How Reiki Helped Me Heal After Trauma

by Nicole Gebhardt | 07,12 | Blog

How does Reiki help you heal emotionally from trauma

It has been proven in studies that Reiki can improve multiple variables related to physical and psychological health. Reiki is an energy healing practice that originated in Japan, and is widely used in hospitals as an alternate healing modality. 

When you experience trauma your brain directs your body chemicals and brain functions to go into a state of hyper vigilance to protect you from harm. 

Although your brain is doing it’s job, once these systems are activated it takes work to attune your brain back to a state of peace and relaxation. Until you “reprogram” your brain, your body can stay in this hypervigilant state which can be interpreted as toxic, negative and restrictive energy.  

Reiki Energy Healing is a form of meditation that allows your body to release this restrictive state by encouraging deep relaxation in your heart, mind, body and soul, allowing your body to return back to a neutral or positive energetic state. 

Reiki helps to reduce emotional stress and anxiety in your body by releasing bound energy and allowing it to disperse, resulting in the uplifting of your overall mood and positive mental state.

I personally have felt the amazing benefits of Reiki to reduce the symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress brought on by trauma I endured from abuse, rape and loss of my 9 week old son to SIDS. 

Reiki is commonly done hands-on to assist in the body and mind’s natural healing process in order to help you make strides in healing emotionally and physically. Although, Reiki can also be done online with a Reiki Master helping you focus and guiding you to relax, then to release tension and stress in your body allowing you to heal emotionally. 

It also has the power to give you the ability to cope with day-to-day difficulties in life by increasing your spiritual and emotional well being. 

What exactly happens in a reiki session 

How it works is my client will arrive at my studio for their appointment/session and we will sit down and first discuss what kind of struggles you are currently experiencing in your life today. We will talk about what is causing you anxiety, depression, PTSD, and/or insomnia, as well as any possible physical, mental and emotional illnesses you might have going on too. 

Finally, if you are experiencing issues such as weight loss struggles and wanting to lose weight, experiencing headaches, backaches, overwhelming stress, emotional crisis, as well as any aches and pains you might be enduring in your body then we will discuss those too.

Knowing where you are struggling will guide me in where you may be restricting your energy and what areas will need the most work. It is my goal to release any trapped toxic energy and open up your heart center to allow your healing to occur. 

After we talk I will ask you to lie down on my massage table and take a few deep breaths to help you to begin to relax.

As you begin to relax, I will have slow, calming music playing, candles lit, and you will close your eyes and continue to breathe in and out. I will softly place my hands on your head and for the next twenty to thirty minutes I will gently and calmly help channel the flow of energy within and through your body.

I’ll add here if you would rather not be touched then my hands will remain just above your body (this is also how us Reiki Practitioners are able to do distant Reiki and get the same results as if you were in-person. Reiki does not require actual physical touch although I personally prefer in-person hands-on Reiki Energy Healing…but, that’s just me).

How You will Feel After Your Reiki Session

Once the session is complete, I will ask you to sit up and share your thoughts with me. This happens to be my favorite time of the entire session. I guarantee you will feel relaxed, calm, whole, at peace, joyful, and happy. You will feel as if you have been floating on air and your mindset will have changed drastically making you feel like you are on top of the world. 

You will likely have had revelations on what you need to work on and things you have not healed from in your past. Your stress will have dissipated and your energy will be on point. Get ready for your life to drastically change from that moment on!!

Book A Reiki Appointment With Nicole

How I found Reiki Energy Healing

I will now share how Reiki Energy Healing came into my life. In late 2020 I received a random message from a random dude in my Facebook messenger inbox. Looking back now it’s pretty amazing to think how I almost NEVER respond to men via Facebook or really any social media platforms but, for some reason that day something (and I know now it was God) was pushing me to respond. And so, I did. 

My life changed that very day more than I ever thought possible. I fully believe I am the woman I am today due to that message, because Reiki has changed my life.

Once he started sharing what Reiki was and how it could change my life and heal me, I was in. You see I had been really struggling since my rape in college and the death of my son at nine weeks of age from significant depression, anxiety, overwhelming fear, PTSD, and my insomnia was so bad I was sleeping maybe 2-3 hours each night if that. 

Medication was not working as I had tried it all at this point and I had even been to what seems like a million psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists and nothing or no one was helping me overcome all of these debilitating illnesses. So, at this point, I was willing to give anything a shot.

Reiki has changed my life

Praise God I did!! Not only after several months of Reiki Sessions

• • I am sleeping like a baby getting 8-9 hours a sleep each and every night
  • My anxiety is under control
  • I am off my antidepressants
  • I have kicked my PTSD out the door
  • I feel like a brand-new woman
  • My confidence has increased like crazy

I have never felt braver, stronger, or more alive, more independent, more beautiful, and more stable in my entire life…all because of Reiki.

Reiki has also helped with my physical health. It helped with my weight loss, my headaches, my back pain, and even with the discomfort of my menstrual cycle.  

Mentally & Spiritually, I have worked through the loss of my son, my multiple miscarriages, my rape, my molestation, the abuse I endured in my first marriage, my painful divorce and because of my Reiki Energy Healing I am now about to celebrate TWO YEARS of my sobriety in a couple of months.

Which leads me into why I got certified to become a Sacred Usui/Holy Fire® Usui Reiki Master, Holy Fire® III Karuna® II Reiki Master which is the highest level you can achieve and be attuned to in the World. Actually, if I’m being really honest in sharing my heart…there are only a few hundred of us attuned to this Reiki Practitioner Level in the entire Universe. Pretty cool, I would say!! 

Reiki Saved My Life

The reason I wanted to get attuned to become a Reiki Master and to the highest level of Holy Fire® III Karuna® II was because Reiki Energy Healing not only changed my life, but also saved my life.

I had reached another point in my life last Fall where I did not want to continue any longer. My anxiety and depression had sky-rocketed and the lack of sleep I was getting was messing with my entire mind, body, and soul. I haven’t even told my husband, Jeff, this yet, but I had even contemplated suicide again. 

You see we  had just experienced an unexpected, out-of-left field military move yet again from D.C., my favorite duty station ever, to now Panama City Beach, FL and I was miserable. Not only had I thought about suicide again, but my cravings for alcohol had intensified hugely!! I knew if something did not change soon then I wasn’t going to make it.

I will repeat here…Praise the good Lord that Reiki entered my life right when it did!! 

Becoming attuned to being a Reiki Master was so important to me because I now know for a fact that God put me on this Earth to heal others, specifically women and fellow military wives/spouses and I wanted to make sure I was able to share and help change lives with something that changed and saved my life too…Reiki.  

My Clients Love Reiki Too

Being able to see my clients’ faces after they have received my Reiki after a few months brings so much joy to my life. On top of that, every single one of my clients who have received consistent Reiki Energy Healing for several months from me has said their life has drastically changed for the better too!! 

Here is some of the feedback my clients have shared:

They feel at peace

Full of joy and love

Able to get out of bed again with excitement each day

No longer suffering from anxiety, depression, PTSD and insomnia

Their confidence and SELF LOVE has sky-rocketed!!  

So, if you are genuinely ready to feel like you are enough, that you are beautiful, that you deserve love ON TOP OF overcoming your past, your fears, your heartaches and struggles and even lose weight and get rid of headaches then REACH OUT TO ME today!! 

I would love to help you achieve your dreams, no longer suffer from things from your past such as child loss, rape, molestation, abuse or even alcoholism or drug-use (I know that’s a bold statement, but if you know my story then proof is in the puddin’ my dear) AND to love your body completely, have mental clarity, and to feel like you are on top of the World!! 

Life is a gift so let’s do the darn thing and OWN IT, EMBRACE IT, and GROW TOGETHER!

Book A Reiki Appointment With Nicole

How to develop healthy boundaries

by Nicole Gebhardt | 06,28 | Blog

Healthy boundaries are imperative in every business, volunteer venture, and relationship you have. 

Sadly, I learned first hand how much pain not having boundaries can create. It will pull you down and have a negative impact on you and your life. 

Not having boundaries has many negative effects. 

• causes conflict within self and with others
• lowers your self-esteem and confidence
• makes you feel out of control and overwhelmed
• causes confusion and lack of clarity of what actions to take
• makes focus difficult making it difficult to achieve your goals 

I learned how painful it is to be a giver without boundaries.

I’m a people pleaser to the core. I love helping others and building relationships. I am a go-getter and the moment there is something to get done, I am on it like a moth to a flame. I hate to have things incomplete. 

This last year my lack of boundaries with my clients, my co-workers, my team, military spouse boards, and the support groups I facilitate came to a head. I learned that not having boundaries can leave you devastated and deeply hurt. Let me share two situations that happened to me.

I love my clients! I love them with all of my heart. But, when I launched my company; Spiritual Lighthouse Healing and Guidance, I was in for a rude awakening because I lacked clear boundaries with my team and clients.

Lack of boundaries negatively affected me personally as well as my marriage, and even the relationship with my children. 

When Spiritual Lighthouse Healing and Guidance first launched I was over the moon! I had worked so hard and been through so much pain to get to this moment; of turning my horrific story into a business. (you can read more about my story here) 

Obviously, I was very invested in the success of my company. I was working 24/7 and answering every email, phone call, text, and social media message I was receiving as soon as they appeared on my phone. morning, noon, and night. As you can guess, this need to please and my obsession to be there for everyone went very badly. 

It was exhausting and left no time or energy for my self-care, my children, my husband, or friendships.

But, it gets worse.

Most of my clients have either lost a child, been raped, molested, abused, are recovering alcoholics and/or drug users, and divorcees.

My clients have stories and testimonies from their childhood and teenage years that would bring you to your knees. The amount of mental, physical & sexual abuse and loss these women have suffered is tremendous. 

Hearing the stories of what they have endured shakes me to my core. Each time I take on a new client and hear their story my heart breaks. Sometimes I have to remind myself this is reality because it is so unbelievable and holding space for these women takes a ton of energy.

Before I take on a client and place them under my wing, I pray over them and meditate on their story to determine if they are a right fit for me, and that I can truly help heal them from the inside out. So when they become my client I care deeply for them and give them my undivided attention for as long as it takes to heal them.

STOP RIGHT HERE. Re-read what I just wrote. And then add to it that I am a TOTAL EMPATH. And I mean total, which is why creating healthy boundaries has become imperative to my work.

Let me now get to the point. In my first ever Healing Cocoon (virtual) Program I took on TWENTY-TWO women, at one time, under my wing.  Which means taking on twenty-two stories, twenty-two lives, and twenty-two families all at once; created a recipe for disaster. The first couple of weeks were so hard on me and my family because I had NO BOUNDARIES.

Giving without boundaries will be your demise

Praise the good Lord that just after two short weeks I had a rude awakening that something needed to change with my business and it needed to change IMMEDIATELY. I needed to add firm and clear boundaries that very day or this “Helping You Heal” business was going to drown me. 

Not only was I exhausting physical energy I was also emotionally low because as an empath I was taking on their pain. My family took the brunt of the consequences of my lack of boundaries and it was causing a major rift in my marriage, as well as my relationship with my children.

I came close to convincing myself that just taking one shot of alcohol wouldn’t harm a soul. Boy, was that a lie I was telling myself. Praise God I didn’t give in to the temptation and now I have beautiful boundaries set up in my program and with all of my clients. If they violate them, I immediately release them from my program and my one-on-one client care. It’s just not worth it to me.

Boundaries with his ex-wife

Example number two is my husband, Jeff’s, ex-wife. Enough said…as I’m sure you can already guess that this one has the potential to not end very pretty.

This lady has put me through hell and back. The pain she has caused me, my marriage, and my children and the stories I could tell you of the things she has done to us would shatter your heart and bring you to your knees. 

But, with that said, this has ironically also been one of the hardest boundaries I have ever had to set in my life because it all not only affects me, but it greatly also affects both my biological children and my bonus children.

It was necessary for my marriage, and to protect my own children, to work at creating boundaries with my husband’s ex-wife to protect us all. 

I set up a safe – space boundary and I blocked her on all social media

I refuse to let her impact my marriage no matter how hard she tries

I pray for her regularly

If I have to interact, I am calm and cordial as possible, refusing to let her see how much she ruffles my feathers which is her motivation.

I had to get my husband on board with creating boundaries and protecting mine as well, or we were going to have big time issues. 

I pray that after you read these two stories you will see the importance of setting boundaries and how those boundaries can protect you. 

Boundaries can be set ANYWHERE you need them in your life. 

Heck, I’ve even had to set a boundary with my own Mother and that’s perfectly OK.

YOU deserve a happy life! 

YOU deserve a safe life! 

YOU deserve respect from others to HONOR YOUR BOUNDARIES, my friend.

So do yourself the honor and create them! 

Guidelines to create boundaries

Boundaries should be set to ensure mentally, physical and emotional stability in your life.

• Be considerate of who you share personal details with
• Be thoughtful about how much of your story you share 
• Be honest about your needs
• Understand what you value and communicate them by how you live
• Let your no be no, and your yes be yes. 
• Stop saying yes immediately, tell them you will think about it
• Know your own limits and what you won’t tolerate
• Separate yourself from people who will not honor your boundary
• Asserting boundaries my make others uncomfortable and that is ok
• Ask for permission to ask personal questions
• Have self respect, others will never respect you more than you respect yourself

Communicate and share your boundaries

• Communicate verbally what your boundaries are
• Immediately reiterate you boundaries (politely) when they are violated
• Uphold boundaries for yourself that you expect others to abide by
• Let people know when something makes you uncomfortable
• You don’t need to apologize when you have to say no
• Start with what is most important to your well being
• Set boundaries early on when you meet new people
• Be consistent 

Setting boundaries you will live a much happier, healthier, and fruitful life!!