How meditation changed my life
WHEN David O Keeffe found meditation he slowly began turning his life around – and he has now gone from being an alcoholic and drug addict to a Reiki Master.
WHEN David O'Keeffe found meditation he slowly began turning his life around - and he has now gone from being an alcoholic and drug addict to a Reiki Master.
David, of Highbury Station Road, hit rock bottom in 1991 - at which point he was drinking between 12 and 14 pints of Guinness a day and was addicted to cannabis.
But while browsing Central Library, in Fieldway Crescent, off Holloway Road, he discovered a book on meditation which was to change his life forever.
He said: "I was working various bar jobs in the kinds of places where the regulars buy you a lot of drinks and I was smoking every day.
"I was physically and mentally ill and I found this book on meditation which said it could improve my concentration and health and I thought I would give it a try.
"I started to write down my goals - both immediate and long-term - and in meditation I would imagine them as they had already materialised. My first goal was to get drink and drug free and I had my last relapse on Christmas Day 1997 and have been sober since."
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A friend introduced David to Reiki - the spiritual practice of transferring healing energy - and he has not looked back since. He has now been practising for almost 10 years, is a qualified Master and launched his own business in 2007 - which he runs from his home.
He said: "My mental and physical health has improved considerably and I am more focused.
"Now I am using my experiences and skills to help others in need.
"I channel positive energy through myself and out of my hand into a patient. Reiki can help people with physical and emotional wounds, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, pain and can improve sleep patterns as well as reducing stress, tension and anxiety."
David also volunteers his services to patients at University College Hospital, in Euston, and works at a care home in City Road, Finsbury, with people experiencing drug addiction.
He said: "It's very rewarding and I have had some very positive feedback from all my clients so far and most of them - including a lot of sceptics - say that they feel much more relaxed after." - DUNCAN HEPBURN
