Episode #109 Lynne McMahan, Ed.D. Healing Journey: From Education to Animal Communicator – Embracing Reiki Wisdom, Intuitive Animal Insights, and Spiritual Transformation

Reiki is a journey and not a destination , and on this Ready Set Reiki journey , we refer to ourselves as guides rather than hosts , as we two are traveling , supporting each other and learning on this Reiki journey as well . And with that said , I am your guide , tracy C Wright .

Joining me on my journey today is Lynn McMahon , said I am your guide , tracy C Wright . Joining me on my journey today is Lynn McMahon . Now , after decades in education and her years in the business world , she established Enlight in Reiki in 2014 , after practicing in Portland , oregon , in 2013 , moving to Prescott , arizona , for a year .

These transition years led her to her forever home in Santa Fe , new Mexico , in 2015 . She has been building her Reiki and animal communication practice now for nearly a decade . During these past 12 years , she has focused on professionally developing her skills as a practitioner , communicator and teacher . Lynn , welcome to Ready Set Reiki .

My dad was also , besides being a high school counselor in his later years , was a Dr Doolittle , and I have a picture that guides me with my animal Reiki and my animal communication practice with him as a teenager , holding his pet skunk , jimmy , and also having the cat nearby and his little nephew .

He was very much a lover of animals , both wild and domestic , and children and students , so that I got his genes from . And then my mom was also a devoted educator . She was also a super volunteer and believed strongly in service to community .

They both did , and so that has served me well in my whole life as being a servant to helping others and being a support with making this world a better place . My mom got to experience my Reiki treatments and my Reiki practice . My dad had passed before I became a Reiki practitioner and she loved it . She didn't understand it .

She thought I don't know what this is or what you do . Even though I explained it many , many times , she said I just know that it works and I love you for doing this for me . And I was with her when she passed last September and was holding her in Reiki meditation for the entire day that she was in that process .

As you said , I've been an educator for decades , both as a teacher and in public schools , as an administrator , and I've been an education consultant and trainer for a couple of decades now was a higher education professor , and all the while I knew that there would be something for me . When I decided to retire , which has been .

I haven't been very good at retirement , I'll put it to you that way , and so the first time I tried to retire from higher education , I had visited my partner in Santa Fe because he was taking care of his elderly father in another state and was driving through Santa Fe , so I drove back with him and that was when I rediscovered Reiki , because I had had Reiki

treatments in the 90s for some hospital visits and things like that . And so now I am just continuing on that journey and always practicing and interacting and being in love and light . So I don't know if that's what I wrote on my bio , but that's what is coming out of me at this present moment .

Yeah , you know , to lose a parent and Reiki really does help , doesn't it To kind of , yeah , soften the sting a little bit , as I say yes , yes yes . So when did Reiki come into your life ? Did you find Reiki or did it find you ?

She took Reiki and we had a little trio , a friendship trio between her and a sixth grade teacher and myself , and so she we would go do little camping trips and things like that and she really turned me on to it and shared with us just the power of that spiritual process and energy , had a clinic in the hospital of Reiki practitioners and so I signed up for

it . I said , oh , absolutely I want Reiki before and after . So wonderful , wonderful , sweet people that gave me Reiki before each surgery and really helped . I think it helps on so many levels my own acceptance of this surgery and also helping the doctors and the people that were all part of the process and it was just really fabulous .

And so that was in the back of my head and my experience until I was telling you that my partner , steve , was coming back through Santa Fe and I flew into Albuquerque to be with him , to drive home to where we lived at that time , which was Oregon , and I was at Sprouts I don't know if you have Sprouts in .

Yeah , right at the front counter you know where they put all the magazines was this magazine that said Reiki , big , bold letters , right , and there was this little woman , this small woman , and a giant draft horse that she was walking . And so I bought the magazine and I read it from cover to cover on our journey and I think it was about Idaho .

When I turned to Steve and I said I know what my next thing is , I am going to become a Reiki practitioner . And he said of course you are . Because he already probably knew that he's very intuitive himself and he had taken Reiki in the 90s , so he was very familiar with it . So that was the first series of synchronistic events .

And when I came back , I was getting ready to transition from my first retirement from higher ed and I told some of my dear , sweet friends that I was going to learn Reiki and practice Reiki . And this was my next thing . I didn't want to go back to medical school or veterinary school or anything like that , which I did have an interest in .

And one of my friends , whose husband had just passed recently , at that time had bought level one and level two Reiki classes from a Portland practitioner , colleen Benelli and said I'm gifting these to you . I'm not ready to do this , but I know you are . And so she gifted me those two classes . So that was the first full on yoga .

I mean a massage table , beautiful big table and linens for him to have treatment you know , some kind of treatment during his elderly years . And she said I don't know what to do with this , so I'm gifting this to you . And you know it was just a series of synchronistic opportunities .

My acupuncturist at the time said I would love for you to do Reiki here , let's get a schedule going . And she didn't charge me rent or anything , but she gave me clients and she became a client and her teenage son became a client and she really helped me take it to that .

That next step , which was to practice and to be with clients and get to know them , and I worked on her animals and and all of that . So that's really how it came into my life and it's been growing and nurturing and ebbing and flowing , as we talked about earlier . So , yeah , Wonderful .

And she is from the ICRT , the International Center for Reiki Training . She's one of their licensed teachers .

So that is a very long list of background because William Rand , who's the founder of that , he has done so many trainings , both the Japanese style and the Western style , and learned under one of Mrs Takada's masters and also learned under her granddaughter's masters , and so he really has a very broad background and through his own process of development as a Reiki

practitioner he's developed a couple of systems . One of them was the Yesui Tibetan tradition . I did not learn that , but I did learn the Karuna Reiki and , and then he's developed a new system with the Holy Fire Reiki and that's like in its third iteration , and so I would say I'm more eclectic . I take all of that , plus my own processes , into consideration .

I do , when I teach , share that lineage and make sure that my students understand that lineage , and so , yeah , so that's my system and I've taught many students who've been from other traditions and how I approach . That is basically , it's all Reiki , it's all beautiful , it's all perfect and there's no right or wrong system and there isn't any wrong .

You cannot harm with Reiki , we know that . But the best thing you can do is let Reiki unfold you , help you mature into the Reiki practice .

All you have to know is that everything is energy , and so even the chairs that we're sitting in , or the computer that's in front of us , or the animal that gives us loves and kisses every day , and your husbands or your children or your partners , they are all Reiki energy , and so if you accept that and honor that and work with from that premise , then you

will understand Reiki and the more you practice , the more understanding will come to you . That's really very simple . It just is , and it's beautiful and it's miraculous and it's all of those things that we as practitioners know that it is Very good

.

And I think I would say the biggest misunderstanding is that humans often think they're a hierarchical sentient being to animals and they've kind of layered the , the system of sentient beings from you know that bugs and the ants and the you know to the four-legged domestics and the two-legged domestics and the you know and the wild ones .

And the truth of the matter is is their intelligence is more broad , more intuitive , more pure and clear . They don't have a lot of baggage that comes in with them , even animals that have anxiety .

They have such a pure presence of being and intelligence that I would say that's the biggest misunderstanding , that we are superior or we know more than any other creature on this earth . And I have learned more from animals and my relationship with them , when I listen deeply and am able to connect with them , than any other learning I've had .

You saw , I have a few degrees and lots of background and blah , blah , blah , blah , but my animals that I work with , my wild ones and my domestics are truly my biggest and greatest teachers .

Or married this person rather than this person ? You know , all those good things , things , um , now I just think every single experience and uh event that has happened in my life , every relationship , has led me to the person I am today . You know , I'm very blessed with a wonderful family and who is very loving and compassionate .

But you know , I've had my trials and tribulations over the last almost 70 years , but all of them have been a lesson in and a gift in in being the person that I am today and I wouldn't change a thing Now .

I might not have been the crazy kid that kept getting into accidents when I was younger , had I been a little bit more grounded , and reiki that would have been helpful . You know , have a few bumps and bruises and things like that and I learned from those two and they , you know , some of them still remind me of the lessons that I've learned .

So it's really just been a blessing to be on this earth and be a part of everything that I'm involved in .

I am very blessed with this community , mind mind , like I have so many different communities that I belong to , and I have a community of Reiki practitioners student , former students , former teachers , practitioners in animal Reiki and communication , practitioners in human Reiki , practitioners who do Reiki and other practices and so they're the qualities that that I think we

all have in common are love , compassion and wanting the best out of for their clients and their friends and their family and their colleagues . And you know , I have specific practitioners for specific parts of my body as it ages , but all of them have such beautiful Reiki energy .

Even if they're not a certified Reiki practitioner , they have Reiki and then my Reiki just automatically ties into their Reiki , and so there's just this beautiful experience of healing and you compassion and and really just being your pure self , letting that be Wonderful .

Right , if you become an educator , it goes for that too , and I would say in this when I was in teacher training , I would tell my teachers this too , for you know the public education or private education , I would say you have to know yourself well , and it takes work , it takes consistency and it takes time .

And when you're in that process of learning yourself well and with that becomes forgiveness and grace and gratitude , then you can be a wonderful practitioner of any type Reiki , you can be a teacher , you can do anything you want , but you have to do the work and it is a constant process .

I mean , as my dad used to say , you're in this job of learning yourself and being your best self until you're not here anymore , and then you , you , you know you're moving on to greater and wonderful things . And so I , even in my coaching and my mentoring , I that's what I say I I say you , you have to learn yourself well .

So how can I help you with that process ? What would ? What would be a gift to you and an opportunity for you to learn yourself well , and when you can do that , then you can share with your students .

Whether they're littles or bigs , you know how to learn about themselves well and to really understand their gifts and the things that they're working on , and you know , honor and appreciate the person that you are .

It's by Hiroshi Doi and he is from the Gakkai tradition and he really talks about the the process of Reiki in that tradition and how Yasui came to the work and how the treatments evolved and that sort of thing . So I definitely recommend that book , and there's a revised edition . So get the revised editions .

I don't know what the changes are , but just a saying .

And then another person that I want to honor is Laurel Shantigaya , who has passed has been passed for quite a while now , but I had a chance to meet her a few times and I got to work with her husband and her stepson in Karuna Reiki and I don't know , she was just such a lovely being that you can feel her presence in everything that she writes .

And so the book on Karuna Reiki even if you don't practice rate Karuna Reiki , which I really don't anymore , I just do the essence of it . It's such a beautifully written book , and it talks about the essence of your healing work as a practitioner and also as a human evolving , and so I definitely recommend those two books .

Um , if someone reaches out to me , um , I will , um , you know , schedule a Reiki training and then I'll invite others , or I'll have others invite others , and , and often it'll be a very small group . I prefer the small group because then we can really just dig deep . But I've done bigger classes .

I mean , I certainly am not afraid of big trainings or things like that . I just feel like it's such an intimate practice that it's nice to have a small group that you can , you can get to know , and so that's how I've been doing it for the last many years . And , yeah , and and I forgot the rest of the question oh , events , yeah , no events .

Events , you know , classes , classes . We covered it brick and mortar practice to another location and it won't probably be ready till the end of September .

Somewhere in September and in I've been in a part of a Reiki collective for the last not a Reiki collective , a healer healing collective for the last five years , healing collective for the last five years in a space that we designed six years ago , and so we a few of us have kind of branched off and are starting this new collective .

We have a couple of new partners and we hope to have two classrooms one for more active things from one of our practitioners and then a classroom for sound healing and so on and so forth , and I will try to schedule in-person classes there and we'll probably have some open house or something like that when that , when that unfolds .

So the other neat thing about this I just have to say is I am selecting an office space with my partner who does craniosacral , and we're going to have an outside door , and in our previous space I couldn't really bring animals in to do Reiki because there were so many humans that were allergic to animals , and so this way I'll be able to bring in animals and

do treatments in person , because I've had so many requests for that and usually I try to go to their place but if they're not directly in Santa Fe it makes it a little awkward . So this I'm really excited about and hope , to you know , to have another option for my clients .

I'm , I'm happy to and I do all of it . I do in person when you're here in Santa Fe Fe . I've also traveled to other places and done Reiki . I also do a lot of distance . I have clients all over the world and animal , animal communication is often on , you know , by distance , because of of the folks that that contact me , and then Animal Reiki .

As I said , I've gone to my , my clients homes and also I will have , hopefully , this little option to offer as well .

I have a couple of businesses right now , but in my in the 80s , I had a business and I was going , I was getting my my business business BA in business management and I worked on an MBA and you know I was very businesslike . I really managed that world and I would say what it's helped me is to think systematically , is to think systematically .

So when I design , when I vision , when I think about my Reiki business , I do that through the lens of what my experience is and that has been helpful . I can do my own accounting . I had to learn how to do website design . I can design my own cards and all those good things .

I'm not an artist , so you do have to find artists to do the artistic work .

And it also helps me keep a steady thought process like , okay , how much do you need to put in right now as far as energy and time and space , and how much do you need to back off and allow and let go and have that come in , and I don't think I knew that when I was taking business classes , but I definitely am involved to that now , so hopefully that's

helpful .

So these are the lessons they want us to know , lessons and these were shared by many of my animals , not just one or two the ones that have experienced Reiki and that healing space and being listened to and being cared for as equitable sentient beings . They want their human companions to know this . Sentient beings .

They want their human companions to know this Every single day . Touch base with someone you love unconditionally and without judgment . Find joy in all the little happenings throughout the day . Let's see where my other was and I lost it . Oh , there's some more Practice forgiveness , letting go and trust . Show your gratitude and be the divine within .

So words of wisdom that I should be leading every day to myself . I'll tell you .

I do use Holy Fire and the Master Symbol at the end of a session and I do a very open-ended mentoring session . At the beginning I wouldn't call it a mentoring session , I would call it more of a listening deeply session . And so you know , and all of us do this we ask our clients why they're there and what they need and all of that sort of thing .

But I probe probably a little deeper just to try to find not for me to find but for them to find what maybe the core is that has really brought them here .

They'll have one thing that they say at the front end , but once you get to know them a little bit better and build that relationship with them in those first 30 minutes or however , then things start opening up and I think that often we need to do that to really help them reap the benefit of Reiki wisdom Not that Reiki wisdom doesn't already know that coming

in when they've guided them to this place . But because it's spoken out loud and then we set that intention on the table , I think it just accelerates , if you will , the healing process .

And so that's what I do , and then I close it out with making sure they're grounded and making sure that they're ready to take that next step out the door to reenter the world . So it's simple , that's what I do .

Proceeding forward and and storytelling is a beautiful art and often a lost art , and when we can provide opportunities for everyone , including animals , to share their story , I think we bring so much more love and light and connection to the world , because every story is beautiful and unique and needs to be told . That's what I would say .