I spent 2005 learning an energy therapy called Bio Radiant Therapy but left at the end of the year dissatisfied with the class.  I started 2006 feeling lost.  In March of 2006 I met Rev. Jody Rowe Staley in Jamaica when she did an Intuitive Reading for me.  She said one of the keys for me was Reiki and that I should consider learning the next level.

She also told me that she was a Reiki Master and had never taught a class in Jamaica and I said I had the perfect place.  Within weeks a group of eight women gathered for a weekend retreat where we did First, Second and Reiki Master Training. It proved to be too overwhelming for me and I treated one or two people but really didn't do much with the Reiki in 2006.

In 2007 I felt that I wanted to explore Reiki in more depth.  I visited with both Jody and Winthrop early in 2007 but neither felt like the right teacher for my next step, though I am very grateful that they helped me on my path. I started to explore other options and I found William Lee Rand and his website and ordered his magazine, which I liked.  I then ordered his manual which I thought was really well written so I started looking at his classes.

I chose to go to Hunter, New York for a week long retreat in July 2007 and that was a turning point for me.  I finally felt as though I understood what Reiki was and by the end of the retreat I also felt that the three teachers, William, Laurelle Shanti Gaia and Michael Arthur Baird had given me all the tools I needed to use it.


(Left to right) Colleen Benelli, Michael, Laurelle, Jacquie, William

At this point (November 2007), although I have started teaching and treating clients regularly, I feel as though I have really just begun using Reiki.  The joy for me is that I feel I have found my passion and I get excited to get up in the morning and get on with my day.  I'm absolutely loving my life.

My friend, Roz Walker, is now a Reiki Master and we have decided to  teach classes together.  My husband Bruce, Roz and my two other friends Gill and Sharon have been an inspiration and a wonderful support to me through the years.  I am eternally grateful.

I look forward to where Reiki will take me and how my journey will continue...

***********************************************************************************************************

October 6, 2008...the journey continues...

In July I went back to Hunter NY, to do a Karuna Reiki Class with William, Laurelle and Michael.  It was a summer of huge expenses for my family and I kept asking myself if I had made the right decision.  I left Jamaica on a Saturday but the signs that I was doing the right thing started on the Wednesday...which I duly ignored until it became just too obvious that this was much more than a cosmic wink!

The class itself was wonderful, just to be in a room of Reiki practitioners is wonderful, and I have no regrets.

Days after I returned to Jamaica, Frank Arjava Petter was scheduled to arrive.  I had read an article by him in a Reiki Magazine early on in the year and wondered if he taught classes.  I went to his website but realized that he taught in Europe and there was no way I was going to get there anytime soon.  I emailed him to say I liked the article and somehow we started a conversation about him coming to Jamaica.  Knowing I was already going to New York I asked him to come in 2009, but he said no, it had to be August or not at all.

I got to work, with Roz's help, to find out if there were enough people interested in doing this class, knowing also that he would be coming over one of our biggest public holiday periods.  When I had eight people signed and paid up I emailed him because we had to now make a decision about whether or not to proceed, yet the eight people did not quite cover all the costs.  He agreed to come anyway and we ended up with ten people and covered all the costs!

Jikiden Reiki with Arjava was an amazing experience.  To be honest, the whole event, from start to finish was an amazing experience.   His passion and knowledge of the Reiki  history brought a depth to this healing art for me that I had not felt before.  His openness, warmth and easygoing attitude was a pleasure to be around.  He often felt more like a big brother than my teacher. 

One day I will teach Jikiden Reiki...until then I will continue to practice.

Arjava & I, Aug 6, 2008