The Ice Heart

Dear Friends,

I used to move through the world lost in the constant racing thoughts in my head.

When I first heard the phrase “get out of your mind and into your body,” I had no idea what it meant. I barely acknowledged my body at all, let alone nourished it or listened to what it had to say.

Then I experienced Reiki for the first time—and the dots began to connect. I had always been sensitive to energy, but I never considered it a gift (who wants to absorb everyone else’s energetic ups and downs in the grocery store?). During Reiki, though, I felt energy in a completely different way—almost like a language I could understand and interpret.

For the first time, I saw this sensitivity not as a burden, but as a strength. As I deepened my Reiki practice, something else unfolded alongside it: self-love.

Reiki became the bridge that connected me to the parts of myself beyond my thinking mind.

Through the sensations I felt during sessions, I began to understand that my body is an essential part of who I am—and that I couldn’t be whole without knowing both my mind and my body.

I remember a practitioner telling me to wake up in the morning, ask myself what I want to do that day, and listen to which part of my body lights up when I ask the question. That was the beginning of my understanding that the body “has a voice,” and that by listening to our gut—our instinct—we can be led in a direction that is truly aligned with our next step.

This awareness translated into my ability to not only notice what was going on in my body, but also in my surroundings. On a recent walk, when I was feeling down about the state of the world—geopolitical conflicts, gun violence, technology overload, etc.—I stopped by the brook near my home and looked down.

There it was: a heart carved into the ice. Naturally formed and perfectly beautiful.

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