Myra Ray: Reiki Master, Healer, Energy Sharer, Nifty Designer, and Inspired Trainer
I dragged my financially and personally broke ass to the front of the room, where she was selling and signing her books. As I walked up to purchase books I couldn’t afford and didn’t really want, she looked me in the eye and said, “You need to do Reiki.”
A bit about me…
I’m the proud mother of two grown men and the grandmother of two beautiful granddaughters.
For 8 years or so, I’ve been running a business: print and web design stuff. I kick ass at it. Seriously, I do.
Even with all that success, I’ve always felt something was missing: an inner connection with myself and with other people.
I’m pretty sure I was born an introvert and an empath. I’ve always preferred my own company. I’ve always loved to design things, to make sure they looked ‘just right.’ Hell, when I was in middle school, I never cared if my math homework was ‘correct,’ you know, 1 + 1 = 3. But I’d be damned if when I turned it in, it didn’t look perfect on the page: balanced, all the columns neat, straight, and tidy.
This attention to detail landed me on the middle school yearbook committee. I loved it! I wasn’t into attending all the big events, but I loved making sure their photos were ‘just right.’ I’d disappear into my own head until I got it all ‘just right.’
Maybe I’m a baby bear? I don’t know.
Anyway, when I ‘grew up,’ I stumbled into print and web design, and I still love it. But like I said, there was something missing.
A Fateful Meeting
That’s when, in 2016, a strange feeling from the cosmos or somewhere hit me and told me I should go to a particular luncheon. I don’t even remember how I found out about it. I knew absolutely nothing about the topic, and I’d never heard of the speaker: Dr. Barnsley Brown.
The topic? Reiki.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a pretty adventurous and liberal-minded lady. I’ve done all kinds of crazy stuff, some of which I’m not gonna tell you about, other than to say I’ve always followed a polyamorous, alternative lifestyle. I believe in diversity, in all things.
Open mind, open body, open life!
And I’m not afraid of doing hard or uncomfortable things. I once went camping from North Carolina to Colorado in nothing but a tent: no glamping for me, my friend.
But I knew jack-all about Reiki.
I suppose I knew it existed, but that’s about it. It had never appealed to me, probably because I didn’t know anything about it.
Weird how that works…
So I followed my bizarre instincts and went to the luncheon talk thingy. And when I got there, things were indeed bizarre. I felt some kind of energy when I walked into the room.
A “What the hell is going on here?” kind of energy.
When I turned around to find the source of this strange sensation, I met her gaze: Barnsley’s dark brown eyes staring back at me.
It’s probably more accurate to say it felt like she was looking through me as if she were reading my mind or something. I had to avert my eyes. It was overwhelming.
She’s reading my thoughts!
As she began to speak to the room, I found myself staring at her and inching towards the front of the room, as if she were drawing my body in with some kind of magical tractor beam. I simply had to get closer to her energy.
During the talk, I found my eyes drawn to hers. I struggled to look away, but my gaze returned to hers every time. I was so entranced I don’t even remember what she said during that talk: the entire speech, forgotten.
I was enthralled by her.
Not in a negative way, as if she were taking energy from me, or even giving it to me. But I could feel energy racing between us and through us. It was unsettling, to be honest, but resistance was futile.
I know it’s starting to sound like a weird love story, something from a bad romance novel or Star Trek, and I suppose it kinda was and is. Because during that little luncheon talk, Barnsley Brown set me on a path of love for Reiki.
After the talk was over, I was compelled to meet her and buy her book, even though I didn’t have the money for it at the time. And I still knew jack-all about Reiki because I’d spent the entire talk mesmerized by the speaker.
As I waited in line, I thought, “What the hell am I doing here?” Then the line was down to two people, then one person, then me…
I think I handed my copy of the book to her, to sign. She looked up at me again with those witchy brown eyes and said, “You need to do Reiki.”
So I did.
My Reiki Journey
I began studying it in 2016.
I learned that Reiki isn’t about giving and taking energy. It’s about letting the energy flow through you: bringing in the positive and pushing the negative out. It was strangely familiar, like my first experience with Dr. Brown.
The biggest surprise, for me, was the fact I allowed Reiki to work on my negative energy, at all. It was as if my inner introvert didn’t want to open up to it, as if it were a person trying to get in. In the end, however, I relented and allowed it to flow.
As a result, I was healed in the most profound and enlightening way. I could feel mental, physical, and emotional healing flow through me.
When I finished my initial studies, Reiki One, I had achieved a sense of self-balance. At the time, Reiki was still about my energy and how I could control it withinme. Damned control. I suppose I was a bit of a control freak.
While I learned a lot about myself in Reiki I, I didn’t feel ready to practice it with others.
Fear probably.
I don’t know enough yet, or What if I do it wrong? Or maybe it was selfishness? I need to fix me first! Ever feel that way? I do.
I stuck with my Reiki studies, though, even though I wasn’t ready to share it. I moved on to Reiki II, and finished that.
Then I found myself practicing it on others.
I worked it long-distance on my Grandmother (Nanny), who has Alzheimer’s, bedridden in a nursing home. I employed it to help my son recover from the trauma of a motorcycle accident. I could see him become calmer and quieter. But the moment was disturbed by distractions. I knew then, I needed to work more on my Reiki.
I felt I just didn’t know enough to really help others. I was probably wrong, but that was my feeling at the time.
I gave a great deal of thought to furthering my studies, to become a Reiki Master, but life intervened.
I got busy with work, and my Reiki practice slipped to the wayside. I stopped practicing altogether. As I did, I could feel myself spiraling downward: doubting myself.
I’m not strong enough to do this stuff.
I don’t know what I’m doing.
I’ll never be good enough to help others if I can’t help myself!
Who am I kidding?
But then it happened…
I went to another workshop/networking event I really didn’t want to go to, on a topic I had no interest in. There seems to be a theme here…
And there was Barnsley Brown.
Again. Damn it!
I knew I was in trouble. Just when I need someone to kick me in the ass: there she always seems to be.
Eyes met, and energy flowed. I couldn’t run away. Obviously, something out there was trying to tell me something.
We met.
“You need to become a Reiki Master.”
“I can’t afford it right now.”
She just stared back at me, as if I were a five-year-old, whining and yelling at her mother, “I can’t!”
But I had already learned, through my Reiki studies, that if something is meant to be, it will happen if you trust in life and yourself.
Let it flow… Don’t fight it… Let it happen…
It did.
I finished my Mastership program in 2018.
Now I use Reiki and crystal energy work with people all the time to help them clear negative energy and find their flow.
I’d love to help you!
Contact me when you’re ready (which is now, by the way)…
Don’t make me stare you down!
Let’s share some energy.
I am a Mom. And Grandmother.
I am an entrepreneur by nature.
For years, I worked to guide, grow, and educate my children.
In time, I also couldn’t help but also get into doing the same for my clients.
As I said, it’s my nature.
I am a creative thinker, a gifted and patient trainer, and a skilled Reiki Master.
Personally, I am not afraid of new beginnings and adventures. I’ve camped my way across most of the country from North Carolina to Colorado – in a tent. No glamping for me! I also love learning, meeting new people, so much so that I’ve even lived communally – so please feel free to reach out and share your experiences with me.
My clients are people just like you – get in touch if you are serious about growing, guiding, and healing. Reach out to me, if you want me to reach out for you.