What you need to know.
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Its a long read but gives you an insight to what I am about.
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How I approach Reiki to facilitate a healing response.
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How its all come together and exactly what it is I can do to help.
About Me.
Najlaa Noonan 2021
I was born and raised in Liverpool, England, but my mother is of Moroccan descent. Growing up, I rejected all the herbal remedies and holistic therapies my mother encouraged. I can remember crying when she would put natural, pure Argan oil, on my hair. I would complain about its strange bottle and its weird smell. Nearly every bottle of high-end, effective Shampoo includes Argan these days. WOW, was I wrong!
Choosing to study law, I leveraged my degree to enter the Finance world and worked in large Banks, Hedge Funds, and Technology companies. I loved the discipline of these types of organizations, the security and throughout multiple roles in my career, the opportunity to utilize my skill set to problem solve and find solutions in a very sensible, practical, and precise way.
The day I found out I was pregnant with my first daughter, it proved to be a pivotal step in my road map. For the first time in my life, I looked away from the methodical approach of numbers and administrative processes and explored something that felt less certain - Hypnobirthing.
It all felt a little uncomfortable and ‘hippyish’ initially, but the more I studied and understood the natural process of childbirth, I was sold. On August 2nd, 2013, my beautiful ‘whopper’ sized baby, was born completely naturally and we were both healthy and happy.
In 2017, I welcomed my second daughter to the world. Once more, I gave birth completely naturally and this time in the comfort of my own home. It was probably the greatest experience of my life. Just a few minutes after she was born, I was sat on the sofa having a cuddle and was truly in my happy place.
The happy place I found myself in, after giving birth, began to crumble in the following months. I struggled with feeding and had several severe cases of Mastitis. This led me to postpartum depression. I genuinely believe if I had not already been introduced to the world of holistic therapies, I would have made some very different choices at this point. Instead of allowing postpartum to consume me, it led to my first Reiki experience.
Ella, my Reiki practitioner, was so re-assuring and made me feel at ease. I figured the worst-case scenario is I get a little break from the girls, so it was worth a try. I felt heat, pressure and my whole body felt floaty. The more I embraced the experience, the more my senses developed. I was hooked.
Shortly after my youngest daughter’s first birthday, my husband and I made a decision to emigrate to the US in Sept 2018. I took a break from work to help get my family settled and figure my way around the cute little town of Fairfield, CT. Whilst walking though Fairfield, I discovered a great little Yoga spot and noticed a sign for Reiki. The sign was actually offering Reiki instruction and that really was a ‘sign’. By May 2019, I had completed both Level 1 and2 Reiki.
When 2020 came around, COVID was particularly difficult for my family as we had a very small network in the area. Like many others, we extended the family by one by getting our puppy, Ziggy. He also, inadvertently, became the Anxious Pup Club’s number one client. I practiced Reiki on him more than anyone else in the house and the people close to us noticed he was a super sweet and chilled dog. I didn’t really appreciate that my Reiki was having a direct effect. When friends of ours were having some issues with their adopted dogs, I offered to help – it was my first experience of offering Reiki to an animal outside of our home and I loved it.
I needed to prove to myself that Reiki, performed by me, could be valuable to others. I wanted a proven use case and that’s when I met Jack Brown; a Frenchie with a stinking attitude, but deep down, is just the sweetest guy! I will tell his story in my content, but he is the little guy that made me realize that I can make a difference- so here I am!
About Reiki.
The word ‘Reiki’ literally translates to ‘spirit energy’.
As a Reiki practitioner, my role is not to ‘heal’ but to facilitate the energy. An example I use to illustrate this, is receiving treatment from a Physio Therapist. They will often direct you and provide the tools to strengthen your muscles or re-align your physical body, however, it’s your muscles and body achieving the process. Reiki provides self-healing; all I require is acceptance to participate in the process.
The concept of ‘Energy’ is very personal. For me, it’s that feeling you get when you take a moment to watch waves crash or take a deep breath walking through the still forest. It’s kind of unexplainable as the feeling will represent itself differently for different people. Even before my Reiki journey began, I have always been very receptive to the energy of others around me, but it’s not a prerequisite to receiving Reiki.
As a Reiki client, all that’s required is a willingness to participate. This is harder to do than we would like as people often have a thousand things on their minds. Animals, however, have a less complicated emotional dynamic and are often more in tune with the energy around them. My intention is to help them to harness that energy and accept the offering.
Reiki allows for our pups to relax, reduce stress and overtime learn how to cope better in their surroundings. No harm can come from a Reiki session, as it’s the transfer of good intentions and positive energy.
About APC.
The Anxious Pup Club, founded November 2021
Anxious – Anxiety, separation anxiety especially, seems to be a common place term amongst pet owners and it is not always easy to know the best approach. The APC tackles this by getting to know you and your pet, understands the contributors or dependencies that may be afflicting this kind of negative energy and tackles those blockers. It is important to remember that APC offers a holistic approach and it not a replacement for medical or professional training services, but a supplement to support the process.
Pup – Reiki is a wonderful and boundless gift, as a practitioner I always welcome any opportunity to help anyone with their healing journey. My connection to our family ‘Pup’ , Ziggy is what really inspired me to focus my attention on dogs. I appreciate the gift they share with me through the process, becoming connected to an energy, nature and emotion than we get to appreciate on a daily basis. It’s the reason we all love our fur babies so much.
Club - Taking a different approach to holistic therapy for Pets, I wanted to introduce the concept of different ‘clubs’, its not just about Reiki as a service, but how we transfer that energy into different concepts in our pets lives. Play, sleep, life events, take a look at our ‘Clubs’ tab for more information as to how we handle supporting such experiences, such as a new baby, new home or medical procedure.