When we say that we are energy healers, most people aren't quite sure what that means. So let me begin by describing it. God, the Universe, however you view the Divine, is all there is. This Divine energy is in everything, including you. So when a healer uses "God energy," they are allowing the Divine source to flow through them into another person, or animal, or just about anything, including a car that won't start. This Divine energy is available to everyone at all times. You do not need a class to use it, though, as with all things, you increase your ability to be effective when you learn from others.

Learning how to heal with Divine energy is a process. The more you grow in the process, the higher the vibration of the energy that comes through you. Christ himself followed this process, and by the end of his life, the vibration that was coming through him was so high that he could perform "miracles" in the eyes of his followers. But Christ knew that his followers were as capable of performing these miracles as he was. They just had to follow the process and to believe that they could.

My own process began with Reiki. When I was in my early 30s, I got the call to heal. Many interpret this call as a signal to go into medicine, but that is not always the intended path. For myself, I couldn't quit my job and start school, so I looked around for something that I could start with. I found myself drawn to Reiki, and I found a local teacher. I called her up and wanted to enroll in her class, but I faltered in my explanation. She said, "You want to learn Reiki, but you don't know why." I laughed, because she was exactly right. I knew I needed to do it, but I did not understand why.

Reiki was an essential introduction to energy healing for me. It begins with an "attunement," which is a spiritual experience in itself. It's the signal to the Universe that you are ready to heal further, and to grow spiritually. During my first attunement, a hot, white light came through my crown chakra and into my body, preparing me to channel Reiki energy through my body. Subsequent attunements were very different, and each carried the message that I needed to hear at that time.

After the attunement, we were ready to practice, but not without some instruction. When dealing with Divine energy, it's important to understand that you, the vessel of this energy, are not doing any healing. You are the conduit for healing. God, the Divine, is doing the healing through you. "Check your ego at the door," my teacher would say. Paradoxically, however, your intent is important. Which is all the more reason to get your ego out of the way. Reiki teaches you that you should always intend that the highest good of the person or situation be served, and you must understand that you have no idea what that highest good looks like. For some, their highest good is to cross over, for their body to die. In this case, Reiki can ease their transition. In other cases, the highest good is to heal and remain. But this is not something that the healer gets to decide. The healer is only the channel for the Divine, all-knowing intelligence.

After learning and practicing Reiki for a time, other spiritual doors began to fly open. Doors I didn't know were there. Doors that would challenge my belief system. After experiencing some of these new spiritual rooms, I realized that opening the Reiki door meant opening myself up to a whole new universe. It was amazing and fantastical, but I experienced it, and it was real. I was led to other workshops, which expanded my horizons even more.

The way I meditated changed. Instead of sitting passively, trying not to think any thoughts, I began to guide myself in meditations. I began to choose something to focus on. Then things really began to happen. I met new spiritual guides. I literally visited other worlds, teeming with life that was in a higher dimension than ours. I met a being that I call "the Blue Lady," the spirit of the planet Venus. She gave me my first lesson in dealing with dark entities, and I am forever grateful. Then one day while meditating, I was flooded with images of ancient Egypt. When I mentioned this to my Reiki teacher, she said, "Flower of Life!" And off I went to another workshop.

With each new instruction, whether from meditating or from a workshop I was guided to, I came to understand that there is truly no end to the possibilies of our universe. It is a rich, colorful, exciting place, full of life and Light. I now knew things from my own experience that I might have discounted a few years before, and which some people still consider to be "crazy." But the proof is in the experience, and those who have experienced these things know what they know, and those who have not experienced them cannot be convinced. We each have to come to them in our way, in our own time.

Eventually, I was guided to learn from other healers. I went to a one-day workshop by Ken Page, whom I admire greatly, and I realized that he was prepared to teach the more difficult things. The things that a lot of people would rather not hear or think about. I was drawn to him like a magnet. Ken has developed his own method of energy healing, and I took careful mental notes during the workshop. It was then that I realized that there is no limit to the ways in which one can heal with energy. Ken had grown beyond the Reiki vibration, and he was pulling in new kinds of healing energy. Eventually, Ahnna and I learned to do the same.

Although my journey began with Reiki, we don't call ourselves Reiki practitioners, because we feel that this is too limiting. And it's just not accurate. There is no real label for different vibrations of the Divine energy. It just is. So we use the term "energy healing" for lack of a better one. It all comes from the Divine, and we have learned to use it in our own unique way, just as others use their own unique talents when they act as healers.

To be an energy healer, all you need is an intent to use it for the highest good of all, your hands, and the willingness to work on your own healing. You cannot be an effective healer if you are unhealed yourself. You don't have to be completely healed—what would that look like? You just have to be actively working on your own healing. That is enough.

Some energy healers use only their hands. Others, like me, may use additional tools such as crystals, sound, or aromatherapy. Really, there is no limit to the ways in which people can bring in the Divine energy. Music, toning or chanting, art, herbs, you name it: these are all valid and needed healing methodologies. Each person has different needs for their own healing, so there are a wide variety of healers available to help them.

For myself, the most important spiritual choice in my life was to open that Reiki door. I humbly thank my early teachers for setting me on this path. Looking back, I can see how far I have come. Looking ahead, I am excited by all of the things I still have to learn. There are always new pyramids to climb. When I reach the summit of this one, I will look up, and see another, taller pyramid, waiting for me to ascend. How exciting. How glorious. What a fantastic Universe we have created. I can hardly wait to see what's next.