Each time I entered Elaine Abrams’ Reiki studio, I felt transported into a magical world. Her space exuded a healing energy, smelled of the sage she smudged with to clear the energy of clients and students, and felt both unusually calm and also powerfully charged at the same time with a vibration I came to know as Reiki. In Elaine’s studio, I attended the Reiki classes John Gray taught, and once Elaine became a Master in 1993, she and John taught classes there together. My time with them changed the course of my life, and the memories and teachings they imparted still guide me in my path with Reiki.
The wonderful photo above represents so much about Elaine. She always wore her hair up in a topknot, a nod to her years as a ballerina. She wore silver and turquoise jewellery every day, her connection to the Navajo reservation where she spent much time when she was younger. Her medicine bag from her time with the Navajo hangs on the Japanese shoji screens behind her, which served to filter the light from a full wall of east-facing windows and provide privacy for her treatments. Many people gifted Elaine stuffed animals, and she had a mountain of them piled up in the corner of her Reiki room. She always used a professional massage table made by Oakworks. She was a powerful healer, with a long waitlist and clients who traveled from around the world for treatments with her.
The Transition
Elaine retired from her 30-year Reiki practice when she was 79 years old, and in December of 2023, at age 84, she passed away. Seven months later, her husband Joel contacted me, saying that he had a storage space full of the massage tables and other furniture from Elaine’s Reiki office and classroom. He asked if I or my students might like to have them. Many people were interested, and in a few days, Joel found himself relieved of quite a few items.
The Inheritance
Much to my surprise, my student Vanessa Gomez became the owner of most of Elaine’s private Reiki treatment room. In this photo you, can see Vanessa with the shoji screens and Elaine’s massage table reserved only for her clients, sitting on the stool Elaine sat on to deliver her powerful Reiki treatments. When Vanessa sent me photos of her “haul,” I could sense so much of Elaine’s personal energy, or ki, flowing to me and my students, and I felt like this was a wonderful gift, both for Vanessa and for me and all the students I teach. Vanessa also received quite a few of Elaine’s stuffed animals, as pictured below.
Vanessa Gomez, Certified Reiki Practitioner
Certified Reiki Practitioner Training
At the time, Vanessa was just about to graduate from the 2024 Certified Reiki Practitioner training course—a six month class for students wishing to become professional Reiki Master-Practitioners. She was building the website for her new business, Creating with OneNess, and this gift to her from Elaine was exactly what she needed to start treating Reiki clients. I want to congratulate Vanessa on her inheritance, and also for being deserving of such a special gift.
Master Training
As a project for her Master Teacher program, Vanessa intends to interview and photograph important people of her Reiki lineage. It is her mission to properly document and archive the history of Reiki in the New York City area while sharing incredible stories by those who have carried on this sacred practice. Vanessa is also interested in exploring tangible ways to measure the benefits of Reiki in her clients and is currently investigating how Kirlian photography can be brought back in a modern way to support this work. The ultimate goal would be to print two books, one of each project, to coincide with her graduation.
After graduation, Vanessa dreams of acquiring a brownstone in Brooklyn and converting it into a comprehensive Reiki Center. This Reiki Center will offer extensive training programs to students that will live and work at the center. As well as provide intensive month-long inpatient treatments to clients who are in desperate need of critical care.
