For many years I practiced yoga, cycling, and swimming. Then, about a year ago, I found myself no longer doing any of these activities. I was overwhelmed by family and work commitments, resigned to a daily life made only of duty and devoid of joy. During that time, I was also suffering from very painful mouth ulcers that prevented me from eating regularly and speaking without discomfort, sometimes even accompanied by fever.

It was precisely those persistent and debilitating ulcers that pushed me to look for something different. I decided to reconnect with my friend Lulù, who for years had spoken to me about her Reiki training and the benefits she had experienced first on herself and then on others. Sometime earlier she had moved to Sardinia, to a place surrounded by olive trees, immersed in nature and just steps away from the sea. The idea of spending a few peaceful days with a calm and positive person like her was already a good enough reason to leave.

From the very first morning, I sensed a change: no sweets or coffee for breakfast, but a large plate of seasonal fruit, some of it freshly picked from the trees around the house, accompanied by toasted nuts. Enjoying that breakfast while looking at the sea, in the middle of the olive grove, was my first concrete act of self-care.

After we had talked at length, Lulù asked if I would like to have a Reiki session, and I gladly accepted. It is difficult to describe the feeling of total expansion and relaxation I experienced. My mind seemed to melt along with my muscles; the initial tension, partly due to being unaccustomed to lying still, gradually faded as the treatment continued. Soft background music and a gentle fragrance seemed to absorb any remaining rigidity.

At the end, Lulù simply said, “You are exhausted, Monica. That’s all.” In that moment, I cried as I hadn’t in a long time, releasing a part of myself that needed to come out.

I remember two nights of deep, restorative sleep. I remember walks by the sea and along a river, a swim among red rocks and Mediterranean plants. And then an entirely new experience for me: a treatment with Tibetan singing bowls, from which I emerged truly relaxed and purified.

I returned home by plane full of energy and new intentions. My eating habits have changed and improved, and I have resumed daily physical activity—at least half an hour of walking every single day, which has now become essential for me.

That experience, though brief, taught me not to leave myself behind, to respect my own timing even when it is slower, and not to waste my energy on unnecessary or superfluous activities. I believe I will return to her soon.

—Monia 62 yrs, Business Owner Pescara, Italy