energywork

I’ve been rereading Louise Hay’s masterpiece You Can Heal Your Life. Again. This is the book that has changed my perspective, and subsequently my life, more than any other. She teaches that our thoughts create our reality, that we are the only thinkers in our heads, and therefore we have the ultimate power to heal our lives by choosing new thoughts. I’ve seen evidence of this again and again in my own life as I uncover and surrender beliefs that no longer serve me.

Taking this one step further, it is evident to me that we can only heal ourselves. No matter what therapist we visit or which treatment we recieve, the true responsibility rests on our own shoulders for shifting our thoughts. No one else can heal us. This realization occassionally causes me to despair; what is the point of devoting my career to the healing arts if I’m unable to actually heal anyone? Am I deluding myself about the transformative power of Reiki?

The truth is that as much as I’d love to heal people, their own free will makes it impossible for healing to be imposed from the outside. Rather than feeling discouraged about this fact, I’ve come to rejoice in the freedom it reveals. I’m not responsible for anyone else’s healing. Just my own. Whew! However, I am indeed able to support them in the process. Flooding one’s being with universal life-force energy (ki) not only encourages relaxation, but also a deep sense of safety and belonging. From this space it is much easier to become aligned with our true nature and uncover false beliefs that hold us down. Once we become aware of our disempowering thoughts we can begin to replace them.

Reiki is like windshield wipers on a drizzly day. They help clear off the muck that gets stuck to the wet glass and make it easier for us to see where we’re going. We can then decide if we want to carry on straight ahead or need to make course corrections. Reiki is not driving the car; our thoughts continue to do that. But when we can see more clearly, it’s a whole lot easier to get where we want to go.

The Power is in the Thinking

I’ve been rereading Louise Hay’s masterpiece You Can Heal Your Life. Again. This is the book…
I taught a Reiki for Self-Care class this weekend. It was a great joy to attune three new practitioners to this powerful healing art. I’ve condensed my Reiki 1 curriculum down to the bare essentials of what students need to treat themselves in order to be active participants in their own well-being. In two and a half hours I cover the basics of what Reiki is, where it comes from, and how we can use it in our daily lives to boost our immune systems and relieve stress. It truly is so simple that one afternoon can change our lives.

I saw a friend afterwards who was surprised that the class was so brief. “How do you teach people to feel energy?” she wanted to know. I was stunned for a moment, as I have absolutely no idea how to do that! Practicing Reiki over more than a decade has opened up my receptivity to feeling energy, but no one ever taught me this skill. I realized that she thought sensing energy , blockages, and auras was necessary to practice Reiki. Luckily it isn’t.

I was grateful to address this misperception because it gave me insight as to why some people might feel unwilling to take my class. It had never occurred to me that someone might be worried that they couldn’t feel energy and would therefore not be a successful Reiki practitioner. Since Reiki energy is spiritually guided, practitioners need not worry about how it is distributed. I teach a series of hand positions that targets all organs, glands, and chakras to cover all the bases. Once students have been initiated through the attunement process, they simply follow the series to tune-up the whole system, or place their hands on or near an area of discomfort for minor first aid treatment.

It really is that simple! We don’t need to detect any negative energy or blocked energy or weak energy. We don’t need to investigate anatomy or physiology or pathology. We don’t need to speak with our inner children or higher selves. We just turn on the juice and let it flow where it’s needed. The hand positions are actually just suggestions that give our minds something to hold onto. The mere intention to flood ourselves with healing energy turns on the tap. The Reiki takes over from there, allowing us to sit back and soak it up. It’s sometimes hard to imagine that something so powerful can be so simple. And that, my friends, is the beauty of this miraculous technique!

Learning Reiki

I taught a Reiki for Self-Care class this weekend. It was a great joy to attune…
Recently a client asked me if her hair was interfering with her chi flow. We were doing a Reiki/massage combo and she had tied it up, Sumo style, to keep it out of the oil. She was worried that the clump of hair might block the flow of chi (life force energy, same as the “ki” in Reiki) from entering her crown chakra. I assured her that chi is powerful enough to navigate through.

I could almost see the wheels spinning as she processed this information. A few beats later, she asked A Really Big Question. How could our chakras ever get blocked if chi is so powerful? I generally don’t like to converse during a treatment because it keeps the client from sinking into deep relaxation. However, this concept is so important to deep, lasting healing that I was grateful for the opportunity to respond.

Much has been written on this topic. I could go on and on about it for days, but it’s really quite simple. We have free will. We have been given the power to choose our thoughts, and sometimes we choose thoughts that are out of alignment with our True Nature. It’s our thinking that blocks the chi; when we choose new thoughts, loving thoughts, the chi will begin to resume its natural flow.

We were created as sacred beings; innocent, free, peaceful, joyful, loving, and loved. This is our True Nature. Thoughts of fear, worry, jealousy, anger, resentment, guilt, and shame disrupt the flow of life-force energy in and around our bodies. We might think that we’re feeling upset because of unacceptable circumstances, but really we’re upset because our thoughts are causing us to feel separate from our True Nature. The willingness to surrender misaligned thinking is the remedy to restoring chi flow.

She sighed deeply and agreed that this really struck home. Accepting this truth is quite empowering as we then have the opportunity to create change. It’s also a big responsibility as we are no longer able to point fingers and blame other people, events, or situations as the source of our blockages. To me, it’s just like any other law of nature, such as gravity. It just is; I might as well learn to work with it rather than waste my time and energy struggling against it.

Blocking Chi

Recently a client asked me if her hair was interfering with her chi flow. We were…
When giving a Reiki session, it’s pretty obvious to me that there is an overflow of energy. The client naturally receives an abundance of Reiki, but the excess will spill over, filling the room and beyond. Pets are able to sense this and are drawn to the room where I am working when I do outcalls. People comment on the “good vibes” in my office space and sometimes I joke about creating a Reiki café where people can hang out and soak up healing energy. This is because Reiki is not confined to the limits of time and space. Let’s just say that universal energy is pretty darn miraculous! I’ll probably never intellectually understand how it works, but I’m astounded again and again by its vast power and unfathomable-ness.

I’ve been observing this phenomenon for over a decade, so when I was invited to offer a Community Reiki Clinic at a wellness center, I wholeheartedly agreed. It’s my hope that Reiki will one day become a popular source of wellness maintenance. Therefore offering people the opportunity to receive a treatment in a group setting got me pumped. This lowers the cost significantly, making it available to a much wider range of recipients than those who are able to schedule frequent one-on-one sessions. It’s also a great joy for me to watch the transformation that takes place on people’s faces as they relax for an hour in a Reiki-infused environment. And I get to rotate through the room several times delivering personal attention and connecting with each participant.

When learning how to give a Reiki treatment, we are taught that it is our intention that opens the channels for Reiki to flow. In the beginning, it might be helpful to use a few words (“Reiki on” or “May Reiki flow through me now for the highest good of Sally.”) for the mind to accept the power that lies at our fingertips. Eventually though, it’s enough just to think about Reiki and poof! The energy is flowing strongly. I’ve been experimenting with different “settings” for distributing the ki (life-force energy). I call the setting for hands-on Reiki “Super Soaker” after the popular water gun that releases a strong stream of water. This is the setting most practitioners rely on during treatments. I’ve also been using a “Fountain” setting, for filling the room with Reiki, and a “Sprinkler” setting as if I am watering the garden of participants resting before me.

I can only imagine that there is a limitless variety of ways to share healing energy. I always encourage my students to be creative and to experiment with different styles. I’m delighted to discover a new format of practicing that is more affordable and accessible to more people. I’m even more excited to remember that I am limited only by my thoughts, and that as I open up to the realm of Limitless Possibilities, I will be led to new ideas and circumstances that will expand my growth and ability to serve. I look forward to my experiments with the even more new settings and the opportunity to share them with you. If you’re in or near Philadelphia, check out Mama’s Wellness Joint for the next Community Reiki Clinic.

Community Reiki Clinic

When giving a Reiki session, it’s pretty obvious to me that there is an overflow of…
I like to think of my health as a savings account. Every day I make deposits and withdrawals based on my thoughts, words, and actions. Obviously I want to continuously increase my balance, so I aspire to make more frequent and larger deposits than withdrawals. This way I am giving my body the support it needs to do its job of being well and energetic.

Stress seems to be the number one withdrawal to our health accounts in modern society. Whether it be at work or home, from family or society, financial or social; it seems inescapable. Worse yet, it often drives us to seek comfort in activities that further deplete our health such as over-drinking, -exercising, -eating, numbing out in front of the TV, or any type of distracting behavior that saps our life-force energy. When these withdrawals exceed our healthy deposits, we make ourselves more vulnerable to disease and discomfort.

Perhaps the most healthful thing we can do for ourselves is to practice kindness; not only towards others, but also towards ourselves. This looks different for each person as our passions and challenges are all unique. For me, being kind to myself means planning nutritious meals and regular mealtimes, making time to rest, meditating, reading inspiring books and blogs, and dancing. These are all activities that make me feel great and boost my energy. And they all take time, special props or settings, and a good deal of effort.

I have discovered a super-power for creating limitless deposits with little effort. I’m talking about daily application of Reiki healing energy. Reiki is a powerful healing technique that uses gentle touch to flood one’s body with universal life-force energy. This is the same energy that the immune system uses to function at maximum effectiveness. Most people don’t have the luxury of scheduling an appointment every day with a professional Reiki practitioner, so I am a huge proponent of self-treatments.

One of the great things about Reiki is that is can do no harm. For this reason, it’s super easy to learn and to treat oneself. There are no prerequisites or special abilities involved. I’ve distilled the essence of what people need to know for self-use into a three hour class that promotes a simple sequence of hand positions that is my absolute top recommendation for maintaining wellness. Even better, it’s easy to give oneself a dose of Reiki “on the fly” in stressful situations or during downtime. Think meetings, airports, subways, exams, family holiday dinners, and busy checkout lines.

If you’re interested in making daily contributions to your health savings account and becoming your most vibrant self, I am here to encourage you to take a Reiki class and commit to giving yourself the gift of a 10-20 minute blast of healing energy daily. If you live in or near Philadelphia, I’d like to invite you to my Reiki for Self-Care: Banish Stress from 2016 class on Sunday, January 17. We may not have control over the amount of stress that life deals us, but we absolutely have the power to manage it with daily practices of self-care and kindness.

Daily Health Deposits

I like to think of my health as a savings account. Every day I make deposits…
Lately I’ve been on a quest to discover the Sacred Feminine within me. Part of that process has been to understand what those words even mean! At first glance, feminine energy seems to be soft, compassionate, passive. While these qualities are indeed an aspect of what I was seeking to uncover, they are far from the whole. I’ve come to realize that there is also a fierceness that is sometimes present in deep femininity (think of a mamma bear protecting her cubs). As it turns out, what I really wanted was to embody this power in a gentle, loving way.

I also began to realize that there is a world of difference between the feminine quality of creativity and the trait of passivity. They might look the same from the outside, but from the inner perspective, they are as different as night and day. Just as we can’t watch a pregnant woman growing a baby, we know that is exactly what is happening. Magnetism is the same. We might look like we’re sitting around doing nothing, but we are instead using this feminine power to get clear on what we want, and are drawing it to ourselves through the practice of Being rather than Doing.

Reiki self-treatments help me to move through stuck emotions as well as to discover remnants of stuckness needing to be released. They help to soothe the ruffled feathers of the healing work I am doing. I know I have much to learn as I continue this mystical journey, and I trust in the energy of Reiki to support me along the way. I’m certain that this process works for uncovering the Sacred Masculine as well. I’m not entirely sure what that path looks like, but I suspect it’s a process embracing the journey from aggressiveness to assertiveness.

Reclaiming the Feminine

Lately I’ve been on a quest to discover the Sacred Feminine within me. Part of that…
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

I’ve heard many spiritual teachers quote this profound statement. Many of us seem to have forgotten this truth, and have become identified with out personalities, our bodies, or our circumstances. When we remember the radiance of our True Selves, we no longer resist the flow of creativity and become aligned with well-being, peace, love, joy, and freedom.

I’ve been using Reiki self treatment to assist me along my path to awakening. Flooding my cells with this universal life force energy brings me into alignment with my true nature and helps me to let go of attachment to my seeming challenges, mistakes, and limitations. As I begin to remember who I truly am, I release all thoughts of separation from my inherent divinity and can feel the love which I am expanding.

Certainly Reiki is not a requirement for waking up, but it clearly is a boost along the journey. Given my longing to feel the serenity of returning home to my Truth, I’m grateful to have it as a guide and companion. Every moment I am able to spend immersed in Reiki inspires me to surrender all delays that keep me from knowing Who I Am- a spiritual being having a human experience.

Awakening

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human…
Every day we are all faced with circumstances we have no control over. Changes in barometric pressure, hormones, and pollen are a few that come to mind because some people suffer terrific headaches as a result. Yet it is my belief that when our body/mind/spirit balance is maintained, we can minimize or even eliminate the effects of these seeming troublemakers.

When our life-force energy is flowing harmoniously, our chakras and glands are vitalized and toxins are easily disposed of. Our immunity is functioning in top-gear and we are distinctly less susceptible to outside forces. The closer to optimal balance we are at any given moment, the less likely we will be toppled off-balance by any outside force. This can also apply to someone cutting us off in traffic, excessive or unpleasant fragrances, behavior in a colleague that we judge as rude, or a late bus.

There are countless ways to achieve balance in our lives. Reiki and meditation are the easiest, quickest, and most accessible tools that I know of for inviting peace, harmony, and well-being to become our default zone. Vacations are delightful, but they come too infrequently and end to quickly. Therapy is helpful, but we are reliant on someone else to meet with us. Exercise is irreplaceable, yet sometimes inconvenient. Both Reiki and meditation can be utilized anywhere, anytime, without any preparation or outside assistance. Practicing these simple techniques can stack the deck in our favor and keep us ahead of the potential discomfort of unforeseen events.

Stacking the Deck

Every day we are all faced with circumstances we have no control over. Changes in barometric…
As a teacher, I have always felt the importance of clarifying to my students that as Reiki practitioners, we’re just the hose- not the water. It’s pretty easy to get carried away by the amazing results we witness time and time again when working with clients. It’s not unusual for people to get up from a treatment claiming to feel better than they have in decades or that the weight of the world has been lifted from their shoulders. It’s equally common for them in this blissed-out state to believe that we have magic hands or work miracles.

As lovely as it is to be appreciated and have one’s work be so well received, those of us who have learned to allow this healing energy flow through our hands must remember that we are merely humble conduits. In actuality, I am nothing special. Reiki, on the other hand, is quite spectacular! It always knows where to go and when to stop. Because it is divinely guided it can do no harm. This is the miracle! We practitioners are simply facilitators. While it’s true that the higher our vibrations are, the cleaner our pipes are, and the more strongly the energy can flow through us. Yet I must give credit where the credit is due, and in this case it is abundantly clear that all accolades belong to the water, not the hose.

Just the Hose

As a teacher, I have always felt the importance of clarifying to my students that as…