Reiki at the End of Life – Honoring My Dad

By Josslyn Streett, Reiki Master/Teacher for Rain Shadow Reiki in Sequim, WA

It is my goal with this blog, to give you ideas of ways to work with your Reiki, that maybe you haven’t thought of.  I pray this blog helps anyone who will go through the grieving process.  Blessings to you all…

Where to begin…

My father was diagnosed with Leukemia this past June.  It is now late September.  The doctors said one to five years and we thought THAT was too fast.  Three months later, with our heads still spinning, my dad passed a few days ago.

At this exact moment, I write as a way of getting all the words out of my head so I can stay calm, to honor him and to honor Reiki and all it does for me and my family.

Sitting here at this moment, all the work I have done with Reiki, being able to work with Reiki on my father in his last day of life has been the most important and fulfilling Reiki moment of my life.

The Call

Reiki was with us from the moment I spoke with my mom and she being a woman who would never ever ‘cry wolf’ said “If you want to say good-bye to your father, you’d better all come.”

My husband checked the flights and shouted through the house to the family, “You have twenty minutes to pack.  We were off, kids, adults, dog, we were packed and leaving the house in a half an hour to catch a flight that we might not be able to make.  I prayed and made phone calls during the two-hour fifteen minutes to the airport. I brought my Reiki with me to help us be calm and not drive too fast but to get us there in time, to help me be strong in the moments I need to be and to help me be able to process and let go at the moments I need to do that.

Our Reiki Guides were with us on the drive to the Airport making sure we didn’t get pulled over, caught in traffic or anything worse.  I asked my Reiki guides to clear traffic on the freeway so we could get there safely.  Our guides provided us with a very nice semi truck driver who went a very good consistently fast speed but not too fast, so we were able to get there in time with a divine escort in front of us.  Reiki Blessings to the truck drivers out there.

When we got on the plane for our two and a half hour flight I prayed most of the way, instructing Reiki how I wanted things to go, manifesting what I felt I needed and wanted most for the situation: to be able to see my dad and him see us, to be able to say “I love you, no matter what happened with us in the past, I love you,” and for him to know we were there for my mom and would take care of her, she would not go through this alone.  These were the things that mattered to me. They were HUGE undertakings at this moment.  We didn’t know if we’d get there in time.  Just that morning my dad was with my mom at the dog park, talking with people, socializing with the other dog parents, planning a trip to Sacramento to see an alternative healer who might have a cure… and tonight, he was……… knocking at Heaven’s door.

Divine has granted us with so many healing gifts these last few months.  A huge one is that we made it.  And, I truly felt we were able to make a difference at his hospital bedside.  My dad was coherent when we arrived.  He saw all of us.  He knew we were there for him.  I told him I love him.  I looked in his eyes and let him know I love him.  He saw my husband and his grandsons there for him, his legacy.  We had closure  in that arena and I am eternally grateful for that.  I felt lifetimes of healing happening right there, in that moment.

But then the even bigger gift happened.

Reiki Steps Up to the Plate (my dad was a huge baseball fan, had to throw that in there)

When we arrived, my dad seemed very agitated.  He had a very large tube in his nose for oxygen and he had difficulty breathing and talking with it.  We could make out a few words here and there but it seemed so difficult for him to talk and get the words out we didn’t want him to strain.  We didn’t feel we needed words at that moment, but he did.  He seemed to want to say so much to us that he wasn’t able to say.  I understood but at the same time didn’t want him to be in such pain and frustration.

His frustration at the tube, lack of ability to communicate and the end of his life too soon, it all was compounding his agitation and he was getting more and more upset.  I instinctively put my hand on his heart and one on his crown and prayed for my Reiki to ease his discomfort.  My family, my husband and my two boys, took my cue and all started running Reiki on my dad from where they were around the bed (my husband is a Reiki III and my teen boys are both Reiki I trained).  My father instantly, I mean instantly, calmed.  He closed his eyes and stopped trying so hard to communicate.  We took turns doing Reiki on him two at a time for the next four hours, keeping him calm, talking to him in the energy of love and spirit through the Reiki.

Communicating Through the Reiki

By communicating that my thoughts, words and intentions were getting to my dad at a higher level of consciousness by riding on the waves of the Reiki that was flowing to him, I let him know in so many ways that I love him, no matter what has challenged us in the past (a great deal, but it doesn’t matter any more).  I let him know I’d be able to communicate with him after he passed.  (My deceased father in law is at our house all the time, what’s one more paternal energy hanging around, right!)  I prayed for my Reiki Guides and his highest and most Loving Guides of God’s to be with my dad as well as any loved ones he would recognize from the other side and for him to go with them at the right time, including his many black labs that he has loved so much.  I assured him he’d see us all again soon.  I assured him that mom would be in Heaven with him too some day soon.  (Heaven time is not the same as here, we will all be there in a blink of an eye).  Since my father did not have a very strong spiritual connection, I felt that reassuring him we’d all be together again in love, was a very important part of him being ok with passing on.  Reiki delivered the messages to him.

Of This I know in my Heart, spiritually…

• The Reiki helped him to know that there is a Heaven and he will be there.
• The Reiki let him know that we will all be together very soon.
• The Reiki let him know we all loved him dearly and he made a difference in this life in many ways.
• The Reiki let him know there is so much more mystery to life then he knew consciously in this life and that he has more adventures to come.
• The Reiki let him know it was okay for us if he passed so he wouldn’t be in pain any longer.
• The Reiki spoke for us, because the Reiki is of God and us and him too.

Reiki Also…

• Calmed my dad physically and emotionally
• Calmed me, my mom and my whole family
• Gave peace to all of us that we were able to do something to help in a situation that seemed uncontrollable
• Brought my whole extended family closer together in a feeling of unity that we had not had for many years

Reiki Planted Seeds

• My dad’s amazing doctor was aware of energy work and we had good talks about how it helps
• The nurses saw us doing Reiki and witnessed how it helped calm my dad
• My sister who knows very little about Reiki has now seen it work
• And, spirit is motivating me to write about this so soon after, to share my experience with those of you who need to read about it

Reiki Continues to support us by

• I do Reiki on myself multiple times a day to stay grounded, strong, and centered
• Reiki on myself to heal and release the bigger, deeper issues at the perfect time
• Reiki on myself to help me have the best calming, healing words for whoever needs them at the time, including myself
• I’m doing Reiki on my niece who has never even heard of Reiki, because she has a sinus infection
• I’m doing Reiki on any other family members who want it and need it, we all need it, but I’m respectful of each person’s process which may not want Reiki at that moment
• Reiki on my dad’s dog, Sparty, who misses him terribly and is clinging to my mom
• On Saturday, I will do Reiki at the location of the Celebration of Life to set space for a positive remembrance of my dad’s life

The ways in which Reiki can support me and my family at this moment is a very long one.

We have a long way to go in the grieving process, it’s been four days.  This week we are supporting my mom and preparing a celebration of life.  Next week, who knows.  One day at a time, but THANK GOD, seriously, that I have Reiki and I know I can turn to this amazing gift from Divine to support me and my family along the way.

I’m so grateful right now, so full of love and light and so confident that with God as my partner through my use of Reiki, I’ll make it through this process with deep healing and more joy in my heart.

Please feel free to share stories of your parents, grieving, Reiki or anything else that is healing to you or others who will be reading.

Reiki Blessings to you all,

Josslyn

For a Reiki session or a reading with Josslyn, rainshadowreiki.com or 360-460-7829