Can't Shut Your Mind Off? Kevin's Brain Finally Went Quiet

Kevin's brain keeps a schedule. At 11:40 every night it calls a meeting. First on the agenda is tomorrow's to-do list. Second is whether he locked the truck. Third, every night without fail, is the time in 2009 when a waitress said "enjoy your meal" and Kevin said "you too." Kevin had tried everything. He tried sleepy tea, and it tasted like a lawn. He tried a sound machine. The "rain on a tin roof" setting made him get up three times to use the bathroom. One night, in the middle of the meeting, he searched "how to shut my mind off" and then "Reiki for stress." He figured he had tried the lawn tea, so how strange could it be? He booked a session at mrhesch.com. "I should warn you," Kevin told Paul. "My brain doesn't stop. Ever. It's like a radio with a broken knob." "That's fine," Paul said. "It can come too." Paul was also clear about one thing before they began. Reiki is no substitute for a doctor, and if the stress was getting to be more than Kevin could handle, a doctor was the person to call. Kevin liked that. It was the first thing all month that had not promised to fix his life in seven days. Kevin lay down. His brain started its meeting right on time. To-do list. Truck. The waitress. The room was quiet, and Paul's hands were warm. Nobody needed anything from Kevin. Somewhere around the truck, the meeting lost its place. The agenda got fuzzy. Then Kevin's brain did something it had not done in years and adjourned early. For most of an hour there was nothing in there. It was like a parking lot on a Sunday. "How was that?" Paul asked when it was over. Kevin had to think about it, and thinking took a second to start back up. "I didn't think about the waitress once," he said. "What waitress?" "Exactly." Kevin's brain still calls its meeting some nights. It has a new agenda item now, which is when the next session is.

Reiki is a complementary wellness practice and does not replace medical or mental health care. Experiences vary.