Italy, Tango and Reiki
How Reiki saved me from great pain, during a tango weekend getaway enjoyed with more than 200 other tangeros, in a 16th century villa, in the remote village of Pradamano, Italy.
Villa Giacomelli, Tango and Reiki
In the bathroom, with one foot propped up and inside the sink, as the icy water ran over my burning skin, I could hear the sounds of the beautiful music wafting through the walls, urging me to return to the dancing. I had to take a break, though, at least for an hour or so, to then be able to continue dancing on until the small hours of the morning. Or so I thought. No sooner had I finished cooling down both my feet, to have a short rest, some dinner and then continue, when a very fierce, acute pain shot in my bladder! The pain was sharp, intense, excruciating! I had forgotten one of my weaknesses - that my bladder would get a cystitis attack, every time I would cool my feet down from extreme heat. (Another time it happened in the middle of a hot summer’s day, as I was trying to cool my feet on kitchen tiles.) I had no idea what I was going to do next, as I was in a quaint little Italian village, about a 10-minute drive from Udine. We were there dancing tango in a villa dating from the 17th century, with about 200 other guests from all over Europe and beyond, on a 3-day tango retreat. As the pain grew, searing through my bladder, I started to panic about my options - it was late in the evening, I had no car, I didn’t know any pharmacies, nor if my Italian would be good enough to explain what was happening to me, nor how to ask for the specific pills I needed. Everyone around me was entranced in the dancing, the organisers already had a million things to do and I didn’t want to worry them. I was doubled over in pain, and I couldn’t fathom walking the few metres from the bathroom to my bedroom - where my then-fiancé, Stefan was already resting deeply - let alone go anywhere outside the palace. The pain was getting worse by the minute and I felt I needed to get to my sleeping bag, so I can at least lie down and bundle up. As I crawled my way across to the bedroom, I remembered that Stefan might be able to help me with some Reiki. I was hoping that it might calm down the pain enough, so I can at least attempt to go out for medicine. I woke him up, and asked him if he could just put his hands on my bladder and send me some Reiki. Poor thing, I’m not sure whether he even knew what he was doing, as he was still half-asleep. We lay like that for a few minutes as he did Reiki on me. Sensations started flowing through my body, sending a great heat through me. A tingling started, and I felt a release in the pain, almost instantaneously. Ordinarily, I don’t trust my perception of time when I am under Reiki, since it is like going into trance, and an hour can easily feel like 5 minutes. Interestingly, this time I knew that it was only 3-4 minutes, because I was listening to the music coming from the grand ballroom, and only one song played from the moment Stefan started sending me Reiki, until I felt absolutely no more pain. It disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared! I couldn’t believe it! I thanked Stefan, who was still half sleeping and went back to his dreams and finding myself energised, I got up, tested there is no pain left anywhere. I felt completely new, even better than before the pain hit me. Then, I heard one of my favourite songs being played and quickly grabbed my tango shoes, ran to the ballroom, and continued dancing for the remainder of the night. I even forgot that I needed to have a rest! I was so grateful and excited! It was then that I realised, that even though I was very lucky to have Stefan there, a Reiki practitioner by my side, to help in an emergency, that I would greatly benefit to get initiated and start practicing Reiki myself. I have not had a cystitis attack again, since what was more than a decade ago, and I threw away my pack of special pills that I kept for cystitis emergencies. I have always been grateful to Stefan, for bringing Reiki into my life. This was one of my reasons, although not the only one, for choosing to travel the Reiki path. And that, my friends, is one of my Reiki stories.
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