A Gathering of the Tribe

Tomorrow evening I'm hosting my third event as organizer of the Atlanta Reiki Meetup Group. I filled a void in leadership in September after first learning of the group. I hadn't realized Meetup.com had become a gathering place for people of all sorts of interests.

It's looking like my third event is going to the best attended event so far. I've gotten RSVP confirmations filling up all 18 available spots for the free event.

Of course, there might be a no-show or two. But 15 or 16 would be just fine. That's about how many attended the first two events.

At tomorrow’s event, we'll have social time for about 45 minutes as people arrive, munching on healthy treats in my large, party-perfect kitchen.

Then we'll break into a couple of groups, trading Reiki on two different tables: one in my home Reiki studio and another set up in the living area.

Everyone will get a turn on the table as multiple practitioners provide Reiki at once. I might even get a chance to hop on there.

Of course, a host's work is never done so I'll be running back and forth, making sure that everything's progressing smoothly.

And I'll be answering questions off to the side from several guests who haven't yet learned how to perform Reiki but are interested in learning. These folks will receive Reiki demonstrations, but obviously won't be able to participate in giving Reiki.

Over the past five years, I've periodically scheduled events like this for my past Reiki students (maybe once a quarter). I'd often thought about opening it up to the broader Reiki community, but didn't have a mailing list of people who've studied Reiki other places.

Now through Meetup.com, I can reach lots of folks who are interested in sharing Reiki. Membership has grown substantially in just a few months, up to 183.

Of course, not everyone can make it to the dates I choose. And I couldn't accommodate them all at once if I could. But my hope is that everyone truly interested will be able to attend a Meetup eventually.

Through the "Live Chat' page of my Website, I scheduled an online discussion Meetup a couple of months ago that went really well. We covered a range of interesting healing-related subjects, ranging from Reiki to even shamanistic animal totems.

It was educational for all six or so people who participated (again the perfect number). I plan to schedule another in the near future.

My goal is host at least one in-person Meetup and two online chat Meetups every month.

These are great opportunities for people who've learned Reiki to meet others with similar interests and share different perspectives on the healing art.

A lot of my students learn Reiki without any intention of ever starting their own practice. They want to have the ability to evolve themselves as well as help family and friends.

But some people don't know many, if any, folks open to receiving Reiki. And some have confidence issues about it, even though I do everything I can in class to emphasize that Reiki is something anyone can learn to do. You really can't mess it up, so use it!

Sometimes people jump into Reiki all gung ho at first, and then gradually drift away from channeling it. Even though it's always at their finger tips, it becomes like the piece of home exercise equipment that sits dusty and neglected in the corner.

My hope is that through Meetups, people who've drifted off-course will rediscover the power of Reiki. In my early days as a practitioner, I quit using it for quite awhile well after I healed the issues I initially got into Reiki for (healing my damaged lungs from smoking and quitting that horrible habit through hypnotherapy).

But the beauty of Reiki is that once you're attuned to whatever level, you never lose the ability to tap into this universal source of divinely guided energy. It's always there for you. All you have to do is simply intend to use it.