How to Start a Business During a Pandemic

How I launched my Reiki therapy business while simultaneously managing life as a single parent with a chronic pain condition.

I had a bad couple of weeks with eye pain caused by ingrowing eyelashes recently. It resulted in an emergency appointment at the local eye hospital and a week of antibiotic eyedrops to soothe the scratches all over my corneas. When I finished using the eyedrops, I was right back in pain again and it got so bad that I almost went back to hospital less than two weeks after my previous appointment. However, I remembered that I had access to Reiki energy healing. I had neglected my practice for two weeks while I got busy with domestic life and boy did I suffer for it! I joined my weekly share session with The Reiki Association, and it was amazing to feel the relief in my eyes afterwards. I know that I can incorporate Reiki energy healing with my daily use of eyedrops and ointment to better manage my chronic pain condition.

Experimenting

Following on from that incident, I made a vow that I would redouble my efforts with Reiki self-healing and work on my eyes. I have gotten so used to the chronic pain that I forget I have a tool for easing it. Last week I joined an online Reiki Summit and listened to other Reiki Master Practitioners talk about their experiences with the practice. I decided to experiment and focus purely on healing my eye pain, and wow what a result! During the distance healing share session last week, I could feel my fellow practitioners sending healing Reiki energy, and as I sat with my eyes closed and my hands over my eyes, I could almost see the scratches on my eyes flare up and then fade as the energy soothed them. It all happens internally, but you feel it.

Sanitising

While we all accept how important it is to sanitise our hands and anywhere we regularly touch due to the coronavirus pandemic, I have been sanitising for many years. I still remember the day one of my consultants stressed to me that I should always wash my hands before I touch my eyes because they are extra sensitive to infection. I have no natural barrier like most people, and I have fewer eyelashes to protect my eyes because they grow on the inside of the eyelids, not pointing out like they should do. So, I am at higher risk of infection through my eyes, which might sound weird but it’s true! I have been carrying hand sanitiser around in my handbag for the past fifteen years or more.

Launching

This month I am launching a new business! My business plan has been signed off, and I am expected to begin trading as soon as possible. However, we are in lockdown here in the UK, and my Reiki therapy business, Goldstone Reiki, cannot operate because it is deemed not essential. Darn it! So, I have launched a business through the job centre on a government-funded scheme, and now they are preventing me from working, inadvertently. Personally, I believe I should be allowed to do hands-on healing treatments with clients if they want to receive them. The clinic I use has been fully accredited and deemed Covid-Safe. I wear PPE and maintain good personal hygiene. I don’t get too close to my clients, and I don’t even have to place my hands on them if they don’t want me to. But rules are rules, so for now I can only offer distant Reiki healing and will continue with my self-care practice at home.

Writing

With all this going on my writing has been moved to the bottom of my priority list. I am busy with blog work which is fantastic, and a welcome relief while I cannot operate my main self-employed business. My novel writing has all but stopped for now, but the stories are still developing in my head. I will write them down soon enough when I can squeeze them into my busy schedule. In the meantime, have you read Christmas with the Vampires? It is a short story I published a few years ago about vampires in Edwardian England, featuring Marcus Scott from The Darkness of Love and my Redcliffe novels series.

Chronic Voice Link-Up

I joined the social network for A Chronic Voice because I needed to find people who understand what life is like with chronic illness, people like me. Today I have written a post using the November link-up prompts, to show my experience of living with a chronic pain disorder. Click here to find other blog posts from fellow chronic pain sufferers, or #spoonies as we call ourselves online.