My introduction to and experience with Reiki would likely never have occurred were it not for the previous good fortune of having met Scott in our freshman year at college (nearly 30 years ago), and forming what would become a life-long friendship. While I have a couple other friends who had previously told me about the wonders of Reiki, I was highly skeptical. Well, no, I was actually way beyond skeptical, I simply didn't believe it at all. Not that I didn't trust my other friends' judgment, but I considered myself far too practical and pragmatic for such things, and quite frankly thought it to be nothing but *new-age nonsense*. I had chalked up my friends' positive experiences with Reiki to be a variation of the placebo effect: I thought that it was simply a matter of them treating themselves to an hour a quiet place, with someone allegedly working to *heal* them, that was allowing them to feel better; I did not think that there was any real *healing energy* at work whatsoever. Quite frankly, I thought it was a bunch of hooey.

But Scott is not just an ordinary friend. Not only have I known him for a very long time, but we were in many college classes together and occasionally studied together as well. So I therefore know that in addition to being very intelligent, his is also a very scientific mind, one that is highly logical, very discerning, certainly not one given to following silly trends or being suckered into what I would have previously referred to as quackery or *woo-woo* stuff. While I know Scott to be a kind, gentle, sensitive soul, I also know him to be thoroughly practical and sensible and perhaps most importantly, a person possessing tremendous honesty and integrity.

So when Scott told me about Reiki, and then when he himself became a Reiki master, it really forced me to reconsider my previous (erroneous) notions about Reiki because if Scott said it was real, then I had to consider the possibility that it really could be legitimate.

So, still skeptical but with a more open mind, I suspended my disbelief long enough to have my first Reiki session with Scott and I was astonished at both what I experienced during the session itself, as well as some of the more subtle longer-lasting effects. The *healing energy*, that I had previously been so thoroughly dismissive of, I discovered is very real indeed. It was a truly remarkable experience. (and yes, it was also very humbling, it's hard to admit that something you've dismissed for years as *ridiculous* is actually legitimate!)

Since my first session I have been back for several more sessions and have come to learn more about Reiki. Each person's experience is unique, and each session will produce different experiences/results, but it is always beneficial to physical, mental, and spiritual health.

Yes, I know to someone who has never tried Reiki, I myself now sound like on of those *new-age woo-woo people* that I myself used to not believe! While Reiki is admittedly somewhat *woo-woo* to those of us who were raised to be, or are by nature, more practical and logical, I am nonetheless still a very logical, sensible, pragmatic woman, just one who is a lot more open-minded than I used to be, and one who benefits greatly from my continued Reiki sessions with Scott.