Melissa Lori is a model and lover of Reiki Practice. For readers who are not familiar with Reiki, it is a spiritual practice and healing modality that originated in Japan. It is based on the belief that there is a life force energy that flows through all living things, and when this energy is low or imbalanced, it can lead to physical, emotional, and spiritual ailments.
The word “Reiki” is derived from two Japanese words: “Rei,” which means universal or spiritual, and “Ki,” which means life force energy. Reiki can be translated as “universal life energy” or “spiritually guided life force energy.”
In a Reiki session, a teacher serves as a channel for this life force energy. They place their hands lightly on or near the recipient’s body, allowing the energy to flow through them and into the recipient. The energy is believed to go where it is needed most, addressing imbalances and promoting healing on various levels.
Reiki is often used as a complementary therapy to traditional medical treatments. It is a non-invasive practice that aims to promote relaxation, reduce stress, and support the body’s natural healing processes. It is commonly used for physical conditions, emotional well-being, and spiritual growth.
Welcome, Melissa! We’re excited to have you here today. Let’s start by talking about your journey into Reiki teaching. How did you get involved in this spiritual practice?
ML: In the most divine of ways I stumbled upon reiki. I spent most of my life in therapy, on medication, and struggling with mental health. Western medicine has continued to fail me personally and I had always known there were alternatives out there. I actually found my reiki master/teacher on Groupon when searching one day about 6 years ago. I saw a flyer for reiki and hypnosis. At this time I had no clue what reiki was but I was familiar with hypnosis (although I had never experienced it) and I knew I had to try something else. I ended up seeing her sometimes twice a month for the next several years.
How did you decide to pursue Reiki teaching specifically?
ML: I honestly had no intentions of ever being reiki certified or teaching. It really was a calling and my inner spirit guiding me to do this. My reiki masters were offering to teach students and it was as if I didn’t even hesitate in my answer of being apart. I knew I wanted a taste of this medicine for myself to be able to do this at home or whenever I needed. And who better yet to guide me than the person who saved me in so many ways. She definitely was and is a guardian angel that has looked over me. I remember sitting in her office and she asked what I wanted to do in life and I instantly responded “I want to help people”, but I didn’t even know how to help myself at the time.
Can you tell us a bit about your training and certification process for Reiki teaching?
ML: So my training just like any other reiki training consisted of 3 courses (sometimes 4 to split master and teacher trainings): Level 1 Reiki Practitioner, Level 2 Reiki Practitioner, Level 3 Reiki Master & Teacher. You need 4-6 weeks in between each training due to the reiki crisis/cleansing where essentially you are being upgraded spiritually and you are purging out shadows, old habits/behaviors, and any negative energy or karma so you can do this work from a pure place of love and healing.
How do you integrate Reiki teaching into your multifaceted career as a model, musician, and artist?
ML: I probably wouldn’t be able to function much without it these days lol. As most know, these industries come with a lot of darkness, negativity, competition and can tear you down as an individual if you don’t have a thick skin or know how to shake all of that excess energy off. I had to take breaks from the industry several times because mentally I could not handle it. I regularly practice on myself, normally before bed to relax myself and make sure at a soul level I am feeling safe because unfortunately, the modelling and music industry can be very 3 dimensional to much of the world. As artists, we know things hit much deeper for us and why we are even in the business in the first place but it can be very tricky to understand if we are doing this work on an ego level or soul level. Since I started doing reiki, I look at everything differently so I feel a newfound love and intention when I step into my model, singer, artist self.
How would you describe the impact of Reiki teaching on your own life and the lives of your students?
ML: Reiki simply put has changed my life. I would love to share this medicine with as many people who are ready and really want to level up mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Anyone can do reiki, which is the beautiful thing about it. Now that being said, it doesn’t mean anyone “should” be doing it because as I previously stated, reiki requires a lot of shedding of darker layers of ourselves and souls that some might not be ready to. I am so proud of my students and I can’t wait to teach more. I see the change in all of them, complete 180’s of the lives they had, including myself. I don’t even recognize my old self; I sat in that office shaking, covered in hives, not being able to look my master in the eyes and now here I am following her and my lineage, guiding my students and clients. I am living in one of my highest manifestations without even realizing it.
Before we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like our readers to know about your Reiki teaching?
ML: I think everyone should try reiki at least once if it calls to them. Most people don’t even understand the concept of what it is but it’s so simple. Everything is energy, if you’re open and you believe, you’d be surprised how easily “miracles” and healing can happen. Get curious and follow your intuition.
Continue reading forMelissa Lori’s Perspective on Plant Medicine and Alternative Healing
We’d love to hear your thoughts on plant medicine and alternative healing. How did you become interested in these practices?
ML: Where do I even begin. I had struggled for so long with my health physically and mentally that I was just so fed up with Western medicine and doctors. I had been on every pill sadly and spent most of my life very sick with just about anything you can think of. I was on birth control for 15 years, had taken more antibiotics and steroids in my life for acne, infections bacterial and viral, was on anti-anxiety medication, the list goes on, and yet was still sick and miserable most of the time. I had already spent my college years experimenting with recreational drugs and like most people that use anything, I enjoyed escaping my reality and numbing myself. My anxiety had gotten so bad, I was having panic attacks regularly and barely functioning. I knew there was something out there that could work for me. I have always been a rebellious and out-of-the-box thinker. I had begun to hear about Ayahuasca and how it changes people’s lives and makes them better. Now plant medicine is becoming more mainstream but 4 and a half years ago when I started doing all of this, it was pretty unheard of here in the States. She (grandmother ayahuasca) was calling to me as medicines do. I started seeing it in my dreams almost as if she was whispering to come try her. Yes, this seems insane but medicine will actually call to you if you can really listen. I sat with her 8 times in the span of 2 years and she saved my life.
Can you tell us about some of the plant medicines and alternative healing practices that you’ve explored?
ML: I am reluctant but also proud to say that I have done a good majority of them. From reiki, hypnosis, sound healing, meditation, breathwork, yoga, acupuncture, colonics, cryo, cold plunges and infrared to some of the more intense such as inipi or sweat lodge, ayahuasca, peyote, kambo, bufo, wachuma, sananga, psilocybin, hape. I became fascinated as you can see with plant and alternative medicines which I owe everything in my life to.
How do you incorporate plant medicine and alternative healing into your daily life and your work as a Reiki teacher?
ML: I think everything is really related because these plant medicines and alternative healing practices are a guide, just like reiki, we are being guided how to heal ourselves and stop looking outside of ourselves and bodies for the answers. Stop running to the doctor to save us, who literally knows nothing about us and gives us some sort of pill or cream filled with chemicals to put a bandaid on the deeper problem, because everything we experience is on a soul level. The drugs prescribe by doctors may temporarily fix your issue but notice the harsh side effects, it’s causing other parts of your body to break down and now you have 10 new problems you never had before. In reiki, we are taught that illness and pain manifest in the physical but we get sick in our mind and aura first. Any shaman will teach you the same. Our thoughts directly affect our health (unfortunately it’s hard to get out of this patterned thinking) and therefore plant medicines reshape and rewire the brain by opening new neural network pathways as does reiki. We are meant to heal ourselves naturally with the herbs and plants our ancestors have been healing with for hundreds and thousands of years. I am an avid plant medicine user and advocate and I continue to share it with anyone I can. I have seen it not only transform my life but now of my friends and family around me. There is a reason why it’s becoming so popular and I am happy it is finally catching on and becoming more normal to share these topics without any fear.
Have you noticed any specific benefits or transformations in yourself or your clients through the use of plant medicine and alternative healing?
ML: Complete life-changing transformations. I have seen drug users never touch their addiction again, I have seen people with incurable diseases be healed, I have personally healed trauma, illnesses, my anxiety, and more with the use of plant medicine. I would NOT be on this earth without it as I was extremely depressed and suicidal before beginning my journey. I see people who were scared to love again now in beautiful healthy relationships. I can name so many success stories. The clarity, the self love, the hunger to live life and be at peace is so rampant among the people who attend ceremony. I have gotten to share this now with so many friends and loved ones and watch their eyes light up afterwards because you know their lives will never ever be the same.
What would you say to someone who may be sceptical or hesitant about trying plant medicine or alternative healing?
ML: I would say do your homework, talk to people, ask questions. I was sceptical too, we’re human, we are literally taught to question anything that is out of our normal routine because the ego craves certainty. I never imagined I would try anything. I remember being a little girl and I was pretty naive and shy but I think most of us as adults remember thinking or saying “I will never do drugs”. But the reality is, everything is a drug or can be considered such. Alcohol is a drug and sadly one of the worst there are. Spiritually it does absolutely nothing for you. I know some people may be triggered by this but it is the truth. I never planned or imagined to fall in love with plant medicine or be someone to do hallucinogens because I was terrified to have an out-of-body experience or “have a bad trip”. We were taught to shy away and be afraid of psychedelics because the government and big pharma want to stop us from expanding our consciousness. Another harsh pill to swallow. Plant medicine awakens you from the sleep we have been in most of our lives, this can be scary because YES part of you will die in the ceremony. Your ego and small-minded perception of this world will crumble and you will be shown there is so much more than meets the visible eye. Plant medicine is not to be taken lightly and you should 100% do proper research, set up a consultation with the shaman ahead of time and make sure you are prepared to see the world including yourself very differently.
Before we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share about plant medicine and alternative healing?
ML: I think this is the way of the future, with so many clinics and ceremonies popping up, it makes me happy that the world is slowly waking up to the beautiful options Gaia, mother earth has given us since the beginning of time. We are all connected, we are one consciousness. We did come here to wake up to the endless possibilities the universe has for us and our highest potential. Some people don’t need plant medicine to help them get there but much of our society is brainwashed from the day we are born on what REALLY will bring us happiness. It isn’t the money, fancy cars, etc even though all of that is amazing, most people feel empty inside or a longing to be at peace spiritually. Plant medicine and alternative healing are tools to help you get there because I believe we all came here for a greater purpose. Some people spend their whole lives trying to figure out what that is and I am so grateful I was shown why I am here. Plant medicine continues to humble me, teach me, and guide me on my journey.
You can find Melissa Lori on Instagram here.
