Submitted Photo Wendy Kimble, Karuna Holyfire III Reiki Master, right, co-founded Paranormal Investigators of North Dakota along with lead investigator Stephanie Pinkey, left. Team member Bambi Mansfield, curator of the Billings County Courthouse Museum, center, is shown during an investigation in Medora at the Chateau de Mores.

Reiki, a method of spiritual healing that is gaining traction around the country, is a new-age method of stress reduction and relaxation. Wendy Kimble, Karuna Holyfire III Reiki Master of Minot, brings education to shut down misconceptions about this technique of energy healing.

In high school, Kimble always had an interest in natural healing and working with crystals and herbs. Her interest in Reiki sparked when she stumbled across a book on the subject. She continued to read about Reiki and spiritual healing until she came across an ad in 2013 for a class in Bismarck from a Reiki master in Oregon. Kimble took the plunge and started taking courses. She completed Reiki I and II and went on to go through Advanced Reiki Techniques and her master and Karuna statuses, the highest titles one can earn in the discipline.

During a Reiki session, the practitioner uses different hand positions directly on or above the body to relieve spiritual blockages. Kimble said the client will feel warmth, small vibrations or a prickly feeling, depending where on their healing journey they are. Clients remain fully dressed, under a warm blanket and are in a dimly-lit, calming space. Kimble said it feels like daydreaming or meditation.

The goal of a Reiki session is to clear auric blockages, which Kimble said can occur from trauma, post-traumatic stress or stressful circumstances that can cause an individual to not want to speak their mind.

“If we get blockages of energy in our auric field, or in our chakras, that’s where we’re going to end up having issues internally, with different organs and stuff, high blood pressure, things like that. By clearing those out, it can help prevent those things in the future,” Kimble said.

Kimble said chakras are centers of spiritual power within the body. By keeping the chakras cleared they are able to bring in and flow out energy. She said there are seven main power hubs that tie in with different parts and organs of the body. From the bottom up, they are the root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye and the crown chakras.

“Releasing some of the blocked stuff will definitely make you feel lighter and more relaxed,” she said.

Kimble said many people have misperceptions of Reiki, that it is black magic or evil, which she said is the opposite of reality. She said the retuning is appropriate for Christians as the practice is harnessing God’s, or a higher power’s, soulful healing.

“This is referencing the Bible, actually. A lot of people feel with the research that they have done through the Christian organizations that Reiki was very similar to what Jesus was doing to heal – not that we are Jesus or anywhere close. But in the Bible, it quotes Jesus saying, ‘Whatever I can do, you can also do and more,'” Kimble said.

In addition to Reiki healing, Kimble also has a flourishing interest in the paranormal. She is co-founder of the Paranormal Investigators of North Dakota.

“We’re all made up of energy. Quantum physics has proven that energy never dies, only changes. I think because of that and working with the energy of Reiki, I think in some ways they do tie in because as a human, our energy is connected to us. But as our body wears out or passes, that energy moves on and that’s what we consider a spirit,” Kimble said.

She said the group’s investigations started seven or eight years ago with a small team of four.

Alongside her team, Kimble has explored the Chateau de Mores in Medora, the governor’s mansion and many other public and private locations across the Midwest. They have had much success with their investigations. They have also hosted a panel talk at a large paranormal convention in Las Vegas.

Kimble said the group is scientifically based with its investigations and works to debunk any of their findings. She said a commonly used piece of equipment is an electromagnetic field (EMF) detector as EMFs commonly make people feel fatigued, uneasy and like they’re being watched.

She recounted an investigation the group did in a private residence, where a woman felt like she was being watched when she laid down. The investigators used an EMF detector to determine an old fan that was by the woman’s bed was emitting an EMF, which was making her feel uneasy. Once the fan was moved, the woman no longer felt as though she was being watched.

“And we don’t have all the answers, you know? That’s a part of why we do what we do – to try and help validate the clients that we have. A lot of people having these experiences, they feel like they’re going crazy and they call us … Our mission statement is to ‘To help both those that are living and those who have passed’ connect with a higher spirit or God, help connect with loved one on the other side so they can move on,” Kimble said.