An engaging, inspiring Reiki healing story can make the difference in someone’s healing. Have you thought of sharing yours? Or does writing seem daunting.
The legendary sportswriter Red Smith said, “Writing is easy. You just sit down at a typewriter and slit your wrists.”
I know what he meant. There are times when the muse is out to lunch.
I know what he meant. There are times when the muse is out to lunch.
But there are also times when the story writes itself.
I bet you have a Reiki healing story like that, a Reiki story that is simple and inspiring, that would uplift Reiki practitioners and inform Reiki window-shoppers.
Your Reiki healing story
Nothing communicates like the story of people readers can see themselves in.
We need straightforward, un-fantastic Reiki stories online, stories people can relate to, in which those new to Reiki can glimpse the benefits Reiki practice might bring, stories that motivate students’ daily self-treatment.
Stories that tell your experience without interpretation, metaphysics or editorializing. Stories that stand on their own.
Please share your Reiki healing story. If it’s a few sentences, share it in the comment section. If you’d like it considered as a guest post, contact me here, paste it in the form, and it will arrive directly to my inbox.
Calling all Reiki healing story writers
Think of this as a Reiki writing contest, one that you win just by entering, in that you deepen your understanding as you contemplate and choose your words.
The story you want to share might be from your self-practice. Or it could be a treatment you received or gave to someone else.
Keep it simple.
Any stories received will be considered for publication as a guest post, but please don’t sweat it. Write from your heart, trimming it down to just what is essential to the story.
If your story is chosen for publication and you’re willing, I’ll work with you on editing. But first lay down the Reiki bones. Or start by reading Reiki stories shared by other readers.
Ready, set, write!
_______________
WRITE REIKI is a two-week online program that will develop your free-writing skill and help you uncover your Reiki practice treasures. Reiki practitioners usually have a lot more to share than they realize until they start free-writing.
Please stay in touch! If you sign up for my email list we can do just that.
A few years ago, I broke my ankle and had to have surgery. After I healed and did physical therapy, I was feeling down about not feeling as well as I wanted fast enough. My yoga teacher wrapped blankets around me in my therapeutic yoga class during corpse pose. She continued holding my feet down while I was laying still. While laying there, I wondered why she wasn’t moving on, but staying right there gently holding both my ankles. After relaxing, all wrapped up for a long time, I peeked through my eye lids. I saw she was relaxed ACROSS the room. I asked her after class if she was doing reiki on me. She confirmed, she was. This was my first experience with reiki healing. I have another story in my second reiki 1 attune meant. Yes, I did it twice.
SARA A 30 SOMETHING LADY GOT PARALIZED FROM HEAD TO TOES UNKNOWN CAUSES(AT LEAST TO ME) 2 MONTH HOSPITAL WHEN SHE GOT OUT START COMING FOR WEEKLY REIKI SESIONS…SHE CAME TO FIRST VISIT WITH BRACES ON BOTH LEGS SPECIAL SHOES AND A WALKER(SHE LOOKS LIKE 80 YEAR OLD FRAGIL WOMAN)EVERY WEEK SHE CAME SMILING SHOWING THE IM PROVEMENT. ..NO BRACES!!!! NO WALKER!!!!! NO CANE!!!!!SANDALS….LOOKING YOUNGER AND RADIANT…THEN ONE DAY ABOUT 6 TO 8 WEEKS SHE GAVE ME THE GOOD NEWS PREGNANT!!!!!!SHE IS BEING NORMAL SINCE…THANKS REIKI!!!!!!THANKS GOD
I had my first Reiki treatment lastnight. It was a very unique and relaxing experience. At first I didnt know what to expect/feel. But as I opened up and allowed myself to accept the experience I felt relaxed. During the treatment I was asked to turn around on the massage table. As I felt comfortable and relaxed , I had a vision. I saw a white space with a clear fishbowl and me looking above. As i looked into the fishbowl i saw a goldfish. It wasnt swimming around but it was alive. I saw its back just slightly out of the water while the rest of the body was submerged. Then i saw the fishbowl eye level and I saw the goldfish looking at me. Can anyone tell me what this means? I would really like to know.
Experiences such as you described are internal and subjective. No outer authority can tell you what they mean. Why not contemplate it, remembering how you felt as you experienced it, and discover the meaning within yourself?
Some inner experiences fade as one spends time with them, while others are so full of meaning that we revisit them throughout our lifetime.
Practicing Reiki on oneself is reason enough for anyone to learn it, and I have supported my health in countless ways over the years. One instance five years ago stands out. I had just delivered my third child by cesarean section only minutes earlier and was in the recovery room when the nurse became very concerned. I remember her and the doctor’s faces grow very serious as they commented on the enormous clots and unchecked bleeding issuing from my uterus. My blood pressure was crashing to as low as 40/20 (I remember from the monitor), I was vomiting, and extremely weak. But I was perfectly calm because I was doing Reiki on myself. In fact, I told everyone I was going to be OK, though I didn’t object when they rushed me back into the OR to do an emergency hysterectomy. I just kept my hands on my abdomen and let the Reiki flow. As they were prepping me for the surgery, I remember my doctor saying, “The bleeding’s stopped!” There was definitely surprise in her voice. They did not take out my uterus, for which I was obviously grateful! My only regret is that I did not tell anyone I was doing Reiki. Today, I would undoubtedly speak up.
There have been so many Reiki stories but the most recent one was when I attended a party, we were out in the field by a fire and on the way back to the house I noticed a large group of people standing around a figure on the ground, it was dark so I could not see that well but as I approached the group I could then see that a woman had fallen down the stairs and was now laying on the ground. She was still conscious but in some pain, she had braced her fall with her left wrist which was hurting and she bumped her head on the ground. As I approached, one of the women in the group was yelling where’s Pat? since she knew I was a Reiki Master. I came over and held the woman’s head gently trying to comfort her. She became very calm and relaxed even though she was still in some pain. An ambulance was called and she was transported to a hospital. I found out later that she did indeed fracture her wrist but no head injury was indicated fortunately. I was happy that I was there and able to assist until the paramedics arrived…it is great to be able to do something to help others.
lately i applied Reiki to a man suffering from
Inflammation of the lymph contract the location of the problem is under his ear near his throught . it took him two cessions to cure totaly and he never take a pil
When I arrivied at the health center, the nurse told me my mother had fallen earlier. They would soon be taking her for a CT scan to check for injury.
Getting to her room, I find her slumped over in her wheelchair and responds very little. I start to give her reiki and in 15 minutes they arrive to take her for scan. She is more responsive as they take her and I go with them to x-ray area. I wait in waiting room while they take her for scan and continue sending her long distance reiki. When the tech. returns with her, my mother is more alert. Back in her room, I give her more reiki. In an hour she wants to go to lunch as usual, alert and acting much like nothing had happened. When she fell earlier that morning, she blacked out and hit her head. There was some blood in her hair on left side. No injury showed up on CT scan, when I checked with nurses a few days later.
My daughter is in Samoa serving in the Peace Corps. She texted me this week that she was being moved out of her village for observation due to having a fever for 3 days. I got her permission to do distance healing and wrapped her in a sacred healing space of Reiki. My hands pretty much stayed on my throat the whole time, left side. I texted her the next day to find out what was going on. She found out she had strep throat and then told me the left side of her throat had been in excruciating pain, throat to ear for 3 full days. The day after our session she went back to her village. Fever had broken and although her throat was still tender it was no where near what it had been. I did Reiki each night for a week and all is well.
Hi all,
A few months ago, I had my thumb slammed in the gap between two car doors. In blinding pain, I did what anyone would do (right? anybody would do this :P) and apparently said ‘err… excuse me… I think my thumb’s in the door…’ I then opened the door and bent over my thumb in agony, grasping it with my right hand. The tip of my thumb went cold, ice cold, for about 20 mins and I was terrified, but I never took my hand off it. I kept it on for as long as I could, and the closest I got to pain (after the initial pain had quickly subsided) was a slight tingle in the end of my thumb when I bent it. There was no bruising, the nail didn’t fall off and nothing was damaged. I know it’s not as amazing a story as others on here, but I felt I ought to share it with you.
And I’m so glad that you did, James — thank you!
I was asked to work on my mom after 14 years of offering a session she called me one night out of the blue and said…she was afraid she might not make it thru the night, as she was feeling one of her headaches coming back, that she had been fighting for two days. She had heard about the instant healings that had occured in my practice and she finally asked for a session. I immediately went to her home, and started the reiki session, and she marvelled and said…hey..is this what you do? I can feel tingles, i can feel this and that, and her headache dissapeared, as i continued to work on her she felt tingles and warmth right down thru her toes.
She felt happy and on top of the world, and phoned me the next day and said..”do you believe in the miracles of reiki?”….i said Oh Yes I do! She said..”remember when i had a stroke 14 years ago..and i lost the use of my right leg, well today i was getting dressed and as i finished dressing i realized my leg had moved by itself into the position for pulling up her pants, and she was fully dressed when she realized this miracle, for every time she had gotten dressed she had to manually lift it into her pants to finish dressing. She said during the session she could feel the tingles and heat of reiki moving thru her “wooden leg” starting with the hip, then knee, then balls of her foot, she wondered at how she could feel it when there had been nothing felt since her stroke.
So when she found she had dressed herself in a normal way, she called her sister and demonstrated that she could also lift her leg up at a 90 degree angle, standing by the kitchen table and lifting her knee up raising her foot off the floor…..and her sister was amazed, for she had watched my mom drag her leg around for the past few years.
My mom is so impressed by the reiki that she supports me now in all ways…until this evening she did not credit reiki for anything, and said…”thats nice dear” when i would share a instant healing story with her.
She has since continued to improve with her tinninitis, knee pain from bone on bone, and i thank God or the powers that be for directing me to learn all about reiki and to work with it as my profession. I am a reiki master/teacher and love all that reiki is!
That is awesome .
My story is not so much about Reiki healing that I have given to someone else…well, see if you think it fits here. Both my daughter and I have given Reiki to her son since he was born ( just under three years ago now ), and he has loved it. He is very used to his Mum and Nonna using Reiki and is at ease with it. Recently his mum was feeling so tired that she actually felt a bit dizzy and unwell – she was lying on our sofa and was a bit upset. Ollie, my grandson, went over to her and said, “I’ll give you some Reiki, Mummy” and he gently lay on her stomach and put his hands on her upper chest. He lay there like that for a couple of minutes, and then hopped off and said brightly, “I’ve healed you, Mummy!” My daughter’s eyes filled with tears and she said, ” You know, Ollie, you HAVE> I feel much better now.” He simply replied “Yes” as if of course she did, and went off to play. I’d been thinking of paying for him to go to my Reiki Master when he was older to be attuned to Reiki – maybe I don’t need to :-)
I don’t have a practice as such, but I do use Reiki on my pets and myself and occasionally on friends if they want it. I live in an apartment and there’s a fish pond near my apartment that one of the residents built and maintains and someone put an injured goldfish, a very beautiful fish, in the pond about a month or so ago. It had an injury on its side and then developed a fungus and you could tell it was suffering. So I started giving it treatments: every time I’d walk by the pond, I’d stand there and focus. The man who built the pond was giving it medication about once a week — bathing it in a medication — and saying that he didn’t see how this fish could make it, it was so injured, and the fungus is hard to get rid of. And every day, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day, I would visit the fish and give it a treatment. The fish recovered! She (I think) is very beautiful and I’m so happy that she’s happy. :-) I’m sure the Reiki helped a lot. The fish would stay very still during the treatments and then at the point when it started to swim again, I’d stop. Reiki is amazing. I’m so grateful that I was initiated!
I have been practicing daily Reiki self treatment for over 6 months now. I practice Reiki every night on myself and my husband as we go to sleep. It helps us sleep better and clears away all the “junk” from the day.
The interesting thing is, my husband has some definite type A personality issues, along with being edgy and angry. One of our very good friends stayed with us a couple weeks ago. We haven’t had a chance to spend time together since before Christmas. She took me aside at one point and asked me what we were doing because he was so different, much calmer, happier and more caring. When I told her he was getting daily Reiki treaments (and weekly Reflexology) she said it was like I had smoothed off a lot of the rough edges. I know that Reiki is making a difference in our lives and in the lives of people that we come in contact with.
My Reiki master required that I produce a Practice Journal noting my experiences carrying out a specified number of activities / treatments – this was required for my Reiki 2 certification. This whole exercise gave me, without doubt, one of the most beautiful and heart warming gifts I have ever had as it ran alongside the last year that my Mother had with us here, and made her such an integral part of my Reiki journey. Although I lived in a different country from my Mother, I travelled often to be with her – but the debt I owe to her for my distant healing development is immeasurable. At a time when I would have otherwise felt helpless, it was wonderful to remain close, and send love and healing every day. And she knew when I had not sent Reiki to help her sleep (on the rare occasion I didn’t manage to do that) and would call me and ask me what was going on and to send some quick-sharp! I continue to write up my journal, and it remains a source of inspiration and learning. Every treatment, and every person we treat is a gift. Like a lovely circle of love and light we give and receive at one time. I love that.
My Reiki adventures started with my mom. My mom was 82 and went in for a knee replacement. Well something went wrong and she ended up in kidney failure. Mom did not want dialysis as it was just draining her. She chose to let nature take it’s course. The doctors told us to start Hospice on my mom. At this time 3 years ago I had no idea what Reiki was, all I know is the change I saw in my mom as she lay in that coma was amazing. You could see her relax as the Reiki Master worked on her, I said right then and there I have have got to learn this. I am now a Reiki Master and I found out that my dad who had died 13 years earlier was the one responsible for my moms Reiki and that I see the change in her.
Reiki has been a miracle in my life in more ways than one!!!
I will never forget my first experience of Reiki. Waves of what I can only describe as bliss flowed through my body & I knew without a doubt that something amazing was happening. Within a few weeks I was attuned to Reiki & began daily self treatments. It is humbling & beautiful to see the changes in people as they respond to Reiki. I love the simplicity of Reiki & the stories that have been shared show how special it is to be able to offer Reiki to those we love.
This is not one specific story, but rather a series of experiences – when I am at office and pounding away at the keys of my laptop, I often experience a wave of sensations that feel like I am being brushed by a feathers, often on the left side of my crown and down the left side of my face. Invariably I call up a couple of the usual “suspects”, often my family or a couple of very close friends, who are sending me Reiki at that moment. I feel very grateful that they remembered me and remembered to send me Reiki during the course of what must be a very busy day. That soft sensation of feathers very lightly brushing down my head and face is distinctly different from what I experience when I am practising Reiki on myself, which feels more like an inner heat or a glow. I feel so happy that I am being thought of kindly and that someone is practising distance Reiki for my benefit that I invariably break into a goofy grin – not very professional, I’m afraid, but deeply real and satisfying.
I have also seen that a lot of times it’s afternoon when I feel this sensation, around 3 PM – the time of day when I feel sluggish and mentally quite unfocused, but also the time when I have to start wrapping up the day’s work. After the blessings of Reiki, I find I am often in a more focused and clear state of mind.
Thank you.
Suneil
I had extensive pain in my feet, hands, knees, wrists and shoulders. I wasn’t able to walk down stairs, bend to sit on a chair or stand on my tiptoes and feed my children, change them or even cut vegetables. The pain was incredible! Overwhelming and very frightening.
In addition to the pain the whole body was swelling with inflammation and pain. As you can imagine this created an initial ‘balance’ problem A problem that I overcame in time.
Because my body was so quickly crumbling I had to take action. After much exploration in the alternative healing field I found Reiki. Prior to Learning Reiki Level 1 I practiced Yoga , went for daily walks which I could no longer do because of the impact it put on my already damaged wrists, ankles, feet.
I thank God every day that I found the courage and strength to step into my first Reiki Course and practicing it daily since then. From that moment forward my life, my health and my attitude changed for the absolute better. However, I had to commit and I had to Practice and be Patience.
I want to tell you that I have not cured my Arthritis completely. It has, however, gone into remission and I am able to be independent and mind kids on myself which is a big improvement. I am also still taking medications as required but the dosage of each has greatly been reduced since the Practicing Reiki on me and one day I hope to be medicine free.
Last month my sister had her gallbladder out and I offered to come over to give her a Reiki treatment when she came home from the hospital later that day. When I arrived at her home she was rolled up in a ball, crying in pain and very nauseous. She said she didn’t want the treatment she was too sick–she couldn’t move. I told her I would accommodate her and she didn’t have to move. I would place my hands where ever I could reach. After a few minutes into the treatment she whispers “I’m not nauseous anymore”. As I continued with the hand placements, she started to relax and unfold her body and the pain slowly subsided. I was really in awe of the Reiki healing taking place as I watch my sister in so much pain one moment and then unfolding out of it the next. Reiki healing in action.
It seems I’ve had so many healing moments during reiki sessions over the years, they’ve gathered like snowflakes on the mountainside. Each moment unique, but at the same time all blending into a single memory of reiki offering hope and health.
However, one story that is particularly memorable occurred when a woman who had never experienced reiki made an appointment with me based on the recommendation of a friend. Apart from the orientation I gave her, she had no idea what to expect from the session.
When I put my hands on her head, a certain wave of feeling came over me, as if I were experience mild vertigo. The feeling increased when I put my hands over her ears. Finally, I asked her if she was experiencing vertigo. Her eyes popped opened in surprise. She told me a year earlier she’d experienced a very debilitating attack of vertigo. It had happened while she was walking, and she’d fallen down, hurting herself in the process. The symptoms had largely resolved, but she had been very upset by the experience and feared constantly it would return. The fear was so great she’d given up walking, which had been a major form of exercise for her At that point, she began to cry. It wasn’t a long bout of tears, just enough to wash away the fear she’d been harboring since that time.
After the session she said she felt wonderful. Her eyes were brighter and there was a bounce in her step as she left the office. A week later she called me to tell me she no longer had any fear of the vertigo returning. I could hear the joy in her voice as she told me, “I’ve taken up walking again!”
I read my Reiki manual on the way to the hospital, fresh out of Reiki I certification classes. My sister’s friend was nearly dying of a sudden rare blood disorder (TTP). As I treated her, her head drooping as she fell in and out of sleep, the nurses came in and out of the room removing things that were being used in her treatment, even interrupting the session. She began to reject her meds. Another disorder that affected her legs, peripheral neuropathy, went into remission, and she began walking the halls overnight. She never needed one more of the 35 recommended dialysis treatments that she was set up for. The next day, when I went to treat her again, she talked so fast, and had so much energy, that we couldn’t get a word in edgewise. They discharged her the next day. Her doctors called her a mystery, and had to tell her to stop coming to see them, that she was healed. It took me a year to piece it all together with our infrequent conversations. I’m so thankful that it was my first Reiki experience, because I have confidence knowing what can happen, even when results are less dramatic.
An incident in the summer of 2004, led me to my first experience with Reiki. I had injured my left arch and was in constant pain that summer. I mentioned this to a friend, who told me she practiced a healing technique, called Reiki, that might help. She lived in Detroit and I lived near Los Angeles and I was skeptical when she told me she could offer it long distance. But desperate, I agreed. She awoke early on a designated morning and sent me Reiki while I slept. When I awoke, the pain was gone.
I remember standing up without pain for the first time in months. And admittedly, I kind of hopped on it to make sure this was really real! It was. The pain never returned.
Amazed, as well as intrigued, I wanted to know more, so I set out to find a teacher to learn Reiki myself. I have been practicing since August of 2005.
Thank you, Laurie. Distant treatment is as mysterious as it can be effective, often in ways that are as surprising to the practitioner as to the receiver!
I have one very profound experience involving reiki that I will remember always.
My mother was in the advanced stage of alzheimers. In October 2011, unbeknownst to me, I was having my last visit with her. As we sat in a commons area, talking with my father, and brother, I sat with my left arm around her tiny, frail shoulders, and held her right hand with my right hand. The reiki was really flowing intensely through me as we sat like that for about 20 min.
Suddenly, she began talking in complete sentences. All her words made sense!! She then got up and asked my brother to dance with her (she and my father loved ballroom dancing). She was dancing!!
Shortly, thereafter we went back to her room. She sat on the edge of the bed and began to cry. Kneeling in front of her, she stroked my check, and said “I hate being this way, I love you”. Those were the last words I ever heard her say as she passed soon after that. I will forever hold the memory in my heart.
I attribute this very special time to the power and gift of reiki.
What a beautiful and tender story, Leslie — thank you!
Over the years, I have heard similar stories in which Reiki practice — whether complete treatment or simple Reiki touch — seemed to help people who were dying hang on long enough for loved ones to arrive, or recover their ability to speak long enough to say goodbye — such a blessing to all involved!
I work in a SNF as a PTA, I have been able to offer reiki to several patients for pain control and general discomfort. I am always humbled by reiki and how if helps the person.
I practice daily on myself it has helped me stay grounded and also relieves stress.
I have taken the 5 precepts to heart!
Heidi, thank you for writing.
It’s so important for health care providers to have a daily practice, and Reiki hands-on self-treatment plus the Precepts is the most accessible self-care I’ve ever found.
Although there isn’t much good research on Reiki practice yet, reduction of pain and anxiety are the two benefits that have been most documented.
In the 70’s I saw a lady get out of her wheelchair in a church and walk.
In the early 80’s a mother told me that her daughter was due to have her arm amputated due to a tumor, she had been to a healer and when she went back to hospital for the operation the tumor had gone.
In the late 80’s I went for the one and only time to have my tarot cards read and I was told that later in my life I would become a healer.
I am in the process of sorting out my plans so I can go on a Reiki course, hopefully in November.
Catherine, thanks so much for writing.
This article will help you choose a credible Reiki class so that you can have a good start: Reiki Classes: What’s Right for You.
Do you realize that Reiki practice is primarily for self-healing, rather than becoming a healer?
I love infusing all of the yoga classes I teach with Reiki healing when I offer alignments and adjustments.
The other day, as I was teaching an evening gentle flow class, I came to a student and felt that I should kneel down to massage her feet.
Afterward, she came up to me and asked, in a slightly startled manner, “Why did you do that?! Why did you touch my feet? What did it mean?”
I looked at her, slightly confused. “I’m sorry, I’m not quite sure what you’re asking?”
She asked again, “What did it mean?”
“What?” I responded, gently.
“Well,” she continued, “I had a shooting pain up my leg right before you came up to me, and then the moment you put your hands on my feet, it went away. It was crazy! I’ve never had anything like that happen before! How did you know??”
I smiled sweetly. “I just had this intuitive feeling to rub your feet, so I did. I’m glad that it helped.”
She laughed, “I wasn’t attacking you. I know that’s how it might have seemed. I have just never had that happen before and I think it was incredible.”
I asked if she’d like my business card, and she nodded ‘yes’ eagerly, then happily made her way out of the studio.
It’s so wonderful to be able to help students in the most unpredictable of ways!
Judy, that’s a lovely story, but I’m not clear how Reiki practice plays into it. Massaging someone’s feet is very different than practicing Reiki. Please help us understand. Thank you!
A woman who came to me for Reiki sent me an enthusiastic text the next day. It had been her first treatment, so she said she was very surprised by the deep level of relaxation she experienced during the session.
However, what really shocked her was the fact that she slept better that evening than she had in years.
Seeing the tension dissolve from tense facial muscles as sessions progress, hearing people describe that the calmness they feel is beyond any experience they’ve ever had…those are a couple of the reasons I feel so honored to be sharing Reiki. It was hard to choose a story with so many lovely experiences, so I just went with the most recent!
Pamela, I’ve said it before, but thank you again for this blog and for all you do to make Reiki so accessible!
After my attunement for Reiki II, I did not practice distance healing for some time. The first time I did, the sense of connection was almost stronger, a connection more “pure” than when the distractions of physical presence are there. My hands sensed where to go just as they normally do. There was a definite sense of when to end the connection, and I have been told by some of the receivers that they definitely sensed when the distance Reiki session ended as well. On two occasions, I later talked to the persons, and they were amazed, as was I, that the areas which I felt were in need of extra attention had definite connections to their physical histories, both unknown to me. Another time, the person told me she fell solidly asleep for three hours, and that this was the longest period of unbroken sleep she had in years. I do not pretend to completely understand Reiki, but these distance sessions reinforce my trust in Reiki, and that I do not need to understand it. It confirms the need for me to get out of the way and just let it happen. It makes me a believer, in awe of its power, to bring light and love to any situation. When I read what I just wrote, it makes me want to practice and develope this gift more that I do.
Beautiful, Nancy! Thank you so much for taking the time to write.
Recently I offered Reiki to a woman suffering from chronic neck and shoulder pain from fibromyalgia. She takes care of her husband who has dementia. She told me sometimes she goes upstairs, turns on the TV loud and cries, not wanting him to know how much it hurts. I watched her face relax as the session proceeded. She slept for a while. When she woke, it was with the face of a child. She looked up at me radiantly and said, “I felt! I never felt like that before! I felt so much moving in my body!” She was pain-free when she got up, but the greater joy for me was that somewhere in her seventies, she felt the sensual pleasure of being in her body, in a way she never had before.