I'm based in Coventry, City of Culture 2021, where I live with my partner of over 27 years and where I'm currently running my part time business with the hope of seeing it expand and grow over time. I love catching up with friends and family over food and getting out in nature for walks, exploring coast, old country houses and castles, especially when there's a tea room at the end of it with a good flat white and a gluten free chocolate brownie - yes I'm Coeliac, so no gluten for me. I've always had an interest in all things  spiritual as well as alternative health therapies, having tried many myself over the years.

 

 They say that Reiki finds you and that was certainly the case for me as it kept appearing in my life as if trying to tell me something, which indeed it was. In early 2009 two close family members were diagnosed with terminal cancer within weeks of one another. For the next few months I found myself helping to care for both my dad and my uncle, while still working full time, running a home and trying to keep a relationship going. It was only a matter of time before something had to give. A virus effected my balance and took me out of action for a few weeks. I struggled to recover fully and was only too aware that following the virus, I no longer had the strength or stamina to do all of the things that I had done before, tiring easily, suffering from exhaustion, head fog, headaches and many other daily symptoms. It became a way of life.

 

Dad died within months of his diagnosis but I continued pushing on, helping to care for my uncle and doing whatever I could to help my dear mum, who newly widowed, was dedicating her time to looking after her brother. After a year of tests and appointments, I was finally diagnosed with M.E. Although this was devastating, I was at least able to give my illness a label now and begin to understand and educate myself.

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It was around this time that my uncle started receiving regular Reiki treatments at a hospice day centre that he attended weekly. He found it to be extremely calming and spoke of the heat and energy that he felt from the healers hands, along with the beautiful colours and aura's that he experienced during treatments. From an initial prognosis of two to three months, he went on to astound us all and lived for a further six years, through a combination of new drugs, health care, therapies, and great love, care and support.

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Over the course of the next few years I found myself bumping into Reiki practitioners and Masters without ever seeking them out. Eventually I had a short Reiki taster sessions at a workplace Health & Wellbeing event which lead me then to book my first full Reiki treatment. I felt so good for several weeks after this and believed that my condition could really benefit from having regular therapy, so I approached one of the Reiki Masters that I had met along the way and asked if he would consider treating me on a regular basis. His response was that I should learn Reiki, then I'd be able to treat myself as well as others. So, in early 2021 he gave me my first Reiki attunement, just before the UK went into lockdown. I felt that I had been reconnected with something that I had known long before, maybe in a previous life, I was seeing the world through fresh eyes and I was immediately hooked.

 

Lockdown meant that I was unable to get together with my Reiki Teacher and continue my training but what it did give me was plenty of time. So I threw myself into it and started to meditate daily, researched and studied Reiki, read many books, and practiced self-healing almost everyday. Reiki helped me to become calm, centred and grounded; to feel balanced, grateful and contented and it reduced my usual state of worry in a time of huge uncertainty, when cases of anxiety were on the increase across the globe. Reiki also helped me to process emotions and deal with grief as in 2018 Cancer struck again this time taking my dear Mum.

 

I have always loved helping others and have always worked in service roles but have never really known what I wanted to do, but by the end of 2021 I felt that I'd found my calling and knew that I had to become a Reiki practitioner and share this amazing energy. So in January 2022 I dropped a day from work and used the time to complete my training, work towards building my own business and getting The Reiki Bear off the ground. I am excited to be sharing and offering healing to you and I am already planning ahead and considering further training and other therapies and services that I can offer you in the future. you can check out my Facebook and Instagram pages for more up to date posts and information.

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With love and light, 

Philip Rush - The Reiki Bear