The Third Hand: When Reiki Met the Witness

Move

Recovering from surgery, my mobility was limited. I needed something I could do lying down. That's when I enrolled in an online Reiki course.

The practice was simple: sensitize your hands, visualize white light, channel energy. At first, it felt abstract. But in those still nights, I began to feel it—a subtle warmth between my palms. The energy wasn't outside me. It was always there. I just hadn't been quiet enough to notice.

Around the same time, I started listening to the Ashtavakra Gita. Raja Janak asks Ashtavakra: "How do I become free?" The answer: "Observe. Don't be the mind. Don't be the body. Be the one who watches both."

See

Over sixty days, something shifted. During the day—in a moment of anger or joy—I'd catch myself. "This anger is happening. This excitement is happening." There was me feeling it, and me noticing me feeling it.

Like my hands learning to sense energy in Reiki, my awareness was learning to sense the mind and body. The observer wasn't cold. It was calm. Relaxed.

At night, when I practiced Reiki on myself, the effect deepened. My sleep improved. The racing mind slowed. As Sabri learned sabra from his circumstances, I was learning stillness from restlessness.

Reflect

Two practices, one realization: sensitivity is a skill you build.

Reiki taught my hands to feel what was always flowing. Ashtavakra taught my awareness to see what was always watching. Together, they revealed something practical:

• Before reacting to a client's objection, pause. Feel the irritation rising. Don't act from it.
• Before celebrating a closed deal, pause. See the excitement. Don't let it make you sloppy.
• At night, place your hands on your body. Acknowledge: "You worked today. I see you."

The third hand isn't physical. It's the awareness that holds both doing and being. Practice it daily. In sixty days, you won't just sense energy—you'll sense yourself sensing it.