Of sound mind, body...

REIKI: SOFT-SPOKEN GURU GIVES UP HER DAY JOB TO HEAL PEOPLE ‘If you have problems emotionally, it will always manifest physically. Always.’

Soft spoken and gentle, reiki master Anna-Marie Viviers doesn’t walk around donning crystals and jingly bits of new age bling. There’s no shoo-waah about her, yet in her presence it’s possible to feel her aura of empathy, even if she’s not dressed like a guru.

Viviers gave up a nine to five life in corporate two decades ago when she realised that her calling, to heal, had nothing to do with shuffling papers on a desk. She packed up her desk and changed her journey. Just like that.

Heavenly Healing, a healing centre in Benoni, is the result of her handiwork. It’s a spiritual centre where she practices reiki, and a medium is available for consultations, too. There is a garden coffee shop for a peace-break and yoga classes along with other services designed for humanity’s gentler, more spiritual side.

In the beginning, she said, reiki and the esoteric arts were very much a no-no, but she persisted, and society has slowly started blossoming beyond previous misconceptions or prejudices about practices like reiki.

“It went against all the rules that the old, conservative guard laid down. But people want change. They want something different now because the conventional way of doing things is no longer working.”

She said people are looking for things to make them feel better: “They know they are ill and need help. Sometimes it’s as simple as a helping hand, to cope with life.

“I have never regretted leaving it all behind for the opportunity to help people.”

Reiki is spiritual healing, either by laying hands on a patient or hovering your hands within their auric space. Viviers said it worked on a metaphysical level.

“We heal mind, body and soul. Whereas medical doctors really focus on mind and the physical, we work on a soul level.

“We come to earth to learn certain lessons. We all have paths we are following. Our soul has a chosen path and the lessons that we need to learn. And reiki goes all the way down into the soul level and facilitates a learning or a healing.”

A volunteer assisted Viviers with a demonstration of reiki. Within moments of starting the treatment Viviers picked up relationship challenges of the volunteer, and it was close enough to unleash an emotional response.

When she laid her hands onto lower parts of the volunteer’s body, Viviers instantly picked up abdominal pain. It was a lingering pain due to a caesarean section performed years ago.

Viviers knew nothing about the volunteer prior to her walking into the treatment room.

Reiki is not a replacement for medical attention, Viviers said. Instead, it is complementary.

“If a person has an incurable disease, we often pick it up and we can heal but we must be very careful as to what the definition of healing is.

“I cannot cure cancer. The soul of the person will or will not go through the entire process of cancer, depending on the lesson that that soul needs to learn.

“The healing I can offer is helping the physical person, the individual, to come to understand that they have cancer; come to terms with the fact that they have cancer and, when need be, come to terms with the fact that they may die.”

She said reiki works hugely on an emotional level. “If you want healing on an emotional and a spiritual level, have reiki.”

Viviers believes firmly in the connection between emotional wellness and a physical manifestation of negative energy. “If you have problems emotionally or in your life, it will always manifest physically. Always.

“You can end up with stomach ulcers. You can end up with depression. You can end up with anxiety. Anger plays a huge role in this. It's always going to relate physically. Emotional problems could even end up causing aches and pains, arthritis, a stiff neck, a stiff back, stiff muscles. Your emotional energy is always going to manifest physically.”

And South Africans continually stare down the barrel of incessant load shedding, violent crime, corruption and so on. “We are all becoming incredibly angry. But there’s also huge fear.

“Anger and fear go hand in hand. Fear causes anger. You don’t want to show people that you’re fearful, so you just become angry instead. It’s a way of dealing with your frustrations. And yes, our nation, I think, is very, very angry. But our nation is also very, very fearful and anxious.”

We all need a little TLC.