How Reiki found me - Saturn return, spiritual awakening, spiritual journey

Saturn return - 2019

Saturn carries the energy of rules, discipline, and long-term growth

In astrology, a Saturn return is a time in your life when Saturn comes back to the sign it was in when you were born.

This event usually marks a life transition focused on restructuring one's life.

It happens roughly every 30 years, with your first Saturn return in your late twenties and second Saturn return in your late fifties.

My first Saturn return took the form of a three-month-long solo backpacking trip through Southeast Asia.

Yes, my family was concerned.

I was turning 30 that year and had been wanting to go on this adventure for years, but I never had the time off or the money.

When my company closed its doors at the end of 2018, I saw my opportunity.

More on this in later posts. This trip expanded my mind and self-confidence.

Spiritual awakening - 2020

I live in Austin, TX, because I fell in love with the city's artistic energy.

Before the pandemic, Austin looked like this to me:

• Testify, the local live storytelling show at Spider House.

• The Alamo Drafthouse movie parties.

• Sound & Cinema and The Zilker Hillside Theater in the summer.

• A good meal at Shady Grove after swimming at Barton Springs.

• A night of laughs at Esther's Follies.

• Bringing my friends together to play The Battle of Hogwarts, Dungeons and Dragons, or hosting a Murder Mystery Party

What remains when you take all this away?

For most of us, these months of withdrawing from society and taking a break from entertainment revealed something profound. At first, the silence and stillness were uncomfortable, then it unlocked something in me I didn't know was there. A clarity. A spaciousness.

This kind of quest is usually born from illness.

Not my own in this case, but my mother's. In 2020, my mother received her breast cancer diagnosis. She and my dad still live in France, in my childhood home, so I could not visit her. I was confident that her doctors and nurses would provide the best possible care, but it was difficult being away.

The home that used to be the center hangout spot was large and empty. Echoing with the ghosts of friends' laughter. My husband and I decided to sell and live as nomads.

As soon as it was safe, we were in France with my parents.

Spiritual journey - 2021

My mother told me the tale of a woman in our village who healed her energy through the palms of her hands. It helped with the pain, she said, and other symptoms.

This is where I was first introduced to Reiki.

I had to try this for myself. Back in Austin, I met Melissa at Moon Moth Body and Soul Care, and my life changed forever.

I sobbed through the entirety of my first Reiki session. It felt as if she had removed a weight from my chest. Melissa felt like a large boulder was lodged on my Solar Plexus. She suggested I go for a swim to recuperate from this intense healing session. I followed her advice.

That summer at Barton Springs Pool, I felt very shy and introverted, and people were hesitant to come to me.

After my first Reiki session, my interactions with my fellow humans had completely shifted. People were coming up to me and asking for advice!

Clearly, something had shifted in my energy.

I decided that day to learn this magic that had relieved my mother and opened me up.

Carried by this wave of momentum, I met Amber at Olé Santé, and she became my teacher.

Reiki attunement started a month later. My life has never been the same.