I recorded a guided practice for my Reiki students and figured I’d share it here. It’s for anyone who has received a Reiki attunement. This is a meditative practice for meeting whatever is alive in the moment with compassion and healing energy.
I hope you find it helpful! Let me know what you think. 🙂
I recorded a guided practice for my Reiki students and figured I’d share it here. It’s…
Funny that “let it flow” is a phrase I hear a lot in spiritual communities, but I’ve never heard “let it ebb” until it popped into my head just a moment ago.
I was lamenting that I haven’t posted a blog in over a week and didn’t really have much to say.
Maybe that’s because I’m teaching two separate Reiki certification classes and therefor have many hours each week to share about my passion for self-empowerment with receptive audiences.
Maybe I’ve been using up all my words in class.
Maybe it’s because my various injuries have healed enough that I’m able to get myself into the woods to commune with the trees after a long summer of hibernation.
Maybe it’s the turn of the season into the dark half of the year and I’m naturally turning inwards.
Maybe I’ll never really know why I’m not feeling particularly inspired to post blogs right now.
What I do know is that trying to force it never yields anything beneficial. It’s painful to try and produces dissatisfying results.
Curiously, the moment that I accepted that I’m in an ebbing phase that the flow of words emerged organically. Fighting the ebb only made things worse.
So you may or may not hear from me again soon! Who am I to say? I’m just going along with the currents and willing to see where they take me.
Funny that “let it flow” is a phrase I hear a lot in spiritual communities, but…
Here in the northern hemisphere, we’re transitioning into autumn. HOORAY! As far as I’m concerned, this is the best time of year.
Sweater weather has descended.
The first quilt has been pulled from the back of the closet.
Flannel sheets are on deck.
Flip flops have lost their place of priority by the front door and socks have reappeared in the laundry basket.
In addition to all the obvious seasonal changes, it’s helpful to acknowledge the energetic shifts as well. Nature is urging us to finish up the harvesting process, be it literal or figurative, and to begin preparing for the dark, inward focused time of year.
It’s a good time for a new craft or creative project or buying a journal for contemplative practices.
And time to look after your immune system. Rather than consuming those yummy pumpkin pie spice lattes from Dunkin’ or Starbucks, consider this simple homemade version that has all natural ingredients rather than chemical “flavors” and high fructose corn syrup. Your body will thank you for the upgrade!
Here in the northern hemisphere, we’re transitioning into autumn. HOORAY! As far as I’m concerned, this…
Here’s the thing about Reiki: it’s an amazing healing technique. I’ve personally experienced incredible transformation simply by applying it consistently over the years and I’ve witnessed the same in countless clients.
But it’s not a magic wand. People don’t experience incredible healing while continuing the behavior that caused their lack of wellness. There’s is no escaping the universal law of cause and effect.
Makes sense, right?
You can’t keep eating poison and expect to get well. Health is about balance. Somehow in our modern society we’ve lost track of that. We’ve been ensorcelled into believing that we can carry on dysfunctional patterns and treat the symptoms with pills, and the side effects of those pills with other pills. The proliferation of pharmaceutical commercials has conditioned us to believe this is a normal approach to healthcare.
It is not.
Strangely, we call this covering up of symptoms “medicine” in our society, but it’s definitely not healing. Healing involves cleaning the mess up that’s been swept under the rug and looking at the hidden motivations for continuing unhealthy behavior so we can stop harming ourselves.
Reiki can help with all of that. It helps us get clear about why we’re feeling compelled to do the very thing we’ve promised ourselves we won’t, how to get a handle on the compulsion, and how to face the underlying triggers.
My post about Reiki and bladder issues is one of the most popular articles I’ve ever written. Every month more than one hundred people open it. I’m assuming these are people who suffer ongoing bladder issues that “medicine” has failed to eradicate.
However… zero people have contacted me to schedule an appointment! Seriously, not a single one. I suspect they’re not keen on the idea of looking at the unexpressed anger that I mentioned in that blog as being a prime suspect.
I get it. Nobody enjoys spelunking in the caverns of messy emotions. It’s uncomfortable and inconvenient and might cause a revelation that a relationship or career is just too toxic to be sustainable.
Yet going through this exploratory process, which is temporary (depending on one’s willingness to really face reality and stop feeding the anger) is the solution that will prevent future occurrences of a painful condition.
In holistic healing, we go to the source of the problem to remove the imbalance. That is often chronic stress, unhealed trauma, or suppressed emotions. These factors wreak havoc on our bodies from the inside (via our hormones) until we intervene.
Yes, it’s no fun going there. But neither (I’m guessing) are recurrent UTIs. On the other side of meeting with the anger, or whatever else has been festering deep down, is a sense of freedom that is most delightful.
It’s important to note that you’re not doing this work alone. Reiki is a powerful source of healing energy. It is spiritually guided life-force and it totally works. I have countless texts from clients post-treatment expressing gratitude and sometimes awe about this. Reiki works. But you need to let it in and you need to be willing to meet with the emotions that arise as a result.
You don’t need to do it all at once and it’s rarely necessary to make sweeping lifestyle changes. And for those who are adamantly opposed to addressing emotional factors, consistent Reiki treatment can help manage symptoms. But for true healing, most people need a combination of support from a practitioner and the courage to look within and the willingness to find a safe expression of the pent-up feelings. (I’m a fan of writing expressive letters that I’ll never mail. Then I can ceremoniously burn or shred them. Other people like smashing cheap dishes or hitting pillows.)
About 95% of my clients experience relief after their first session. Shifting the underlying patterns takes some time; usually a series of about seven sessions, depending on the duration and severity of the condition. Often people find the rewards so impactful that they continue on with a monthly-ish maintenance treatment and enjoy watching the benefits spread into all areas of their lives.
Wherever you are in the world, you can receive a remote treatment from the comfort of your own space. If you’re in the Philly area, you can visit me in Mt. Airy.
Here’s the thing about Reiki: it’s an amazing healing technique. I’ve personally experienced incredible transformation simply…
I just learned how to share my newsletters! That’s the place where I announce events and workshops, whereas this blog is more about living a Reiki-full and soul-full lifestyle.
You can check out the latest edition and/or sign up to receive future versions (approximately twice per month) in your inbox.
I have both online AND in-person Reiki 2 certification classes coming up, a Holding Space workshop, a Holistic Approach to Menopause workshop and an online Reiki circle for practitioners on the calendar. You’ll find links to more information and registration in the newsletter.
This message also contains an article about perfectionism and a suggestion for moving towards more freedom and resilience. If any of that interests you, you’re most welcome to check it out.
I just learned how to share my newsletters! That’s the place where I announce events and…
One of the most common desires I hear from students and clients alike is to be more in touch with their intuition. There is a genuine yearning there, but often a lack of clarity about how to proceed. When people put pressure on themselves to jump from novice to expert quickly and divine answers to major life questions before developing the basics, it can get even more difficult.
Today I want to talk about an important, oft undeveloped skill: listening. One of the biggest difficulties I see that gets in the way of receiving our guidance is being too busy going, doing, thinking, planning, analyzing, etc. for the messages even to get through.
It’s like asking a question and then continuing talking rather than waiting for a response. Our intuition is always available, but we need to learn how to listen.
The other night I received a directive that is the perfect example of how easy it can be. As I was getting ready for bed, I heard, “Check the door.” It wasn’t exactly a voice in my head, but it wasn’t a thought either. A sort of transmission from my higher self, perhaps?
Checking the door is not part of my usual nighttime routine. Since I have a strong habit of closing and locking the door immediately when I arrive home, I don’t check to see that it’s locked before I go to bed. I’ve never once found the door to be unlocked in the morning. And I’ve never seen anyone in my apartment building who didn’t belong here, so it’s doubtful that it would be a problem if it wasn’t locked.
There was absolutely no reason to check the door. It was not a fear-based thought born of reading the neighborhood watch alerts or the news. It was just a simple, clear call to action. Much more clear than my dream messages, that’s for sure! And because I was in a relaxed state, having just completed my evening meditation, it arrived without any interference.
It would have been easy to write it off as nonsense. But this ain’t my first rodeo, so check the door I did. And… would you believe it was unlocked? What?!
This is how we learn to trust our inner voice. By slowing down and quieting the mind so that we can hear it, being open to the messages it’s trying to deliver and trusting that there is a reason for them, even if we don’t understand what that reason is.
Who knows what would have happened had I ignored this prompt. For sure I would have been upset with myself in the morning. Instead, I got out my trusty intuition journal and added a recording of the incident, to further cement my desire to be in communication with my higher self and take action as guided. I’ve acquired quite a bit of “proof” on these pages that reminds me to keep my ears open.
Connecting with our inner wisdom might seem like an arduous and mysterious path, but it doesn’t have to be. Asking for guidance, making ourselves available to receive it (just like we had to do in the olden days when waiting for a phone call!), listening to the answers, and following through. All easy steps, but worthless unless actually taken.
Over time, you’ll begin to trust yourself. That’s where the journal comes in handy. But really, it’s all about practice, practice, practice. If you want to be in touch with your intuition, you have to do the work just as you need to make an effort to learn most new skills.
I’ve found Reiki to be an invaluable tool for helping me to be calm enough to listen and clear enough to understand my intuition better. It helps propel me from just knowing what to do into actually doing it.
Let’s chat about this if you’re interested in adding this amazing tool into your repertoire. Anyone can easily learn how to give themselves Reiki and have lifetime access to healing energy at their fingertips. I’m happy to design a course that will give you the exact knowledge you need to cultivate connection with your inner knowing.
One of the most common desires I hear from students and clients alike is to be…
It served me well, but after 10 long years, my super duper blender kicked it today. I knew it was coming- there’s been an unpleasant sound for the past several months and I’ve been keeping it together with Reiki and prayers.
But the end was inevitable.
Today the unpleasant sound was way worse, followed by a poof! And then smoke. Sadly, my smoothie was not yet smooth.
But I was prepared for this and already had a plan in place. They offer certified refurbished models online with a 5 year warranty. And a trade-in offer if I mail in the old motor base.
While chewing my not-so-smoothie, I hopped online to place my order before my next appointment. Sound hasty? Maybe, but I use this machine almost every day. It’s a big part of my healthy eating strategy.
I popped my order in the shopping cart and entered my personal info. The “next” button that should have taken me to the payment info page was a dud. Nothing happened, even after several attempts.
Hmmm… I always take note when things like this happen. When the well-oiled cogs of a corporation fail to take my money, I pause. And I reviewed the trade-in offer page. In order to get $100 back from returning the old machine, I had to place my order by phone. The offer would not be valid if I placed my order online. I was stopped in the nick of time from loosing a good chunk of change.
I call this sort of mishap “Divine Intervention”.
I could have pushed through and placed my order if I persisted, no doubt. I’m always free to reject the assistance that comes my way, after all. Sometimes I do, unaware that I’m doing things the hard way till hindsight kicks in.
But today, I paused. And investigated. And saved myself $100!
Not every obstacle is a blessing in disguise. But perhaps some are worth taking a moment to explore.
It served me well, but after 10 long years, my super duper blender kicked it today.…
I’ve been working with my dreams for the past several years. My practice is somewhat sporadic as often I’m more interested in sleeping than capturing any messages that come through. Nonetheless, most nights, with the assistance of my Reiki superpowers, I ask for some sort of guidance or healing when I go to bed, and an array of helpers (my Dream Team) consistently provide words, images, songs, and bizarro movies that I attempt to decode.
The other morning I caught just a fragment of a very vague, but elaborate, dream. Curiously, it had nothing to do with what I had asked the previous night. When I referred to my journal, I realized that a few days earlier I had requested information about the chronic low back pain that has been active lately after years of hibernation.
It helps to remind myself that the subconscious, like healing, doesn’t operate in a linear way, nor on a schedule that makes any sense to me. But, hey, who am I to question such things? I do my practice the best I can and trust that my soul has its own agenda that is likely based on deep wisdom and infinite power. It’s quite a relief to know I don’t need to know all the details!
What came through was my hosting a dinner party on a chartered bus. Huh? Haven’t deciphered that bit yet! But a man came up to me and introduced himself as Dr. Joe Hart. (I somehow knew it was that spelling and not Heart.) He asked me to touch the area of his back that correlated to the area where I felt pain, and then showed me a stretch. A stretch I have been neglecting lately, but has been tremendously helpful in the past.
Naturally I’ve renewed my commitment to doing that stretch daily. But there’s more! I searched for the good doctor’s name online and the first entry was a professor of orthopedic surgery who had written a few articles about knee injuries. Hmm… I had a right knee injury about 5 years ago that was acting up. So much so that I haven’t been hiking in ages, and my right quad and hip have been wonky. Which is directly affecting my low back.
I almost gave up writing this post at this point because I’m not sure what follows is going to make sense to anyone but me. While I was taking a break from seeking the right words, I found a notification in my inbox from a friend’s blog. She had just posted about a dream. It follows, doesn’t it, that someone who takes advice from their dreams also notes synchronicity, right?
So here I am, giving it my best shot.
I don’t follow medical research speak, but I did scan the first article I found written by my dream doctor. He used the phrase “quadriceps inhibition” which spotlighted the memory of a video about back pain treatment that I had recently watched. The video mentioned “reciprocal muscle inhibition” and suggested a quad stretch I enjoy and a strengthening exercise (bridge, ugh!) that I do not. Being human and perfectly imperfect, I skipped the bridge, despite it also being suggested in the Integrated Positional Release treatment for low back pain that I’ve been utilizing (sans bridge).
That’s three different references to quads and this simple exercise that I’ve been avoiding because it’s difficult for me. A long history of yoga practice has taught me that the challenging poses are the ones that are often most helpful for me. Lord knows I don’t need to do any more of the easy ones! (Savasana anyone?)
I’ve been editing my well-researched and self-prescribed therapy and eliminating the challenging bit that could be very helpful just because its challenging. Not so smart, eh?
So that’s a lot of words to say that this dream pointed me to an exercise that had been recently suggested twice elsewhere and not done once. (Rolling eyes emoji here!) It would probably be smart to follow up on “reciprocal quad inhibition” and see if there’s another useful rabbit hole from that mash-up. Yet, further research can also be an avoidance strategy that keeps me from doing the darn bridges! Which, btw, aren’t so bad once I get going.
My point is that I needed to follow the clues to get the gold. The soul doesn’t generally offer instructions in the form of clear directives; it often speaks in metaphors, and, since it runs through the labyrinth the subconscious, it’s highly subjective and flavored by the other ingredients floating around in there.
Sure, there are dream dictionaries one can reference, and sometimes there are universal themes that are fairly obvious. But I’ve gotten my juiciest messages by using Reiki at night while asking for some help, doing my best to capture the stories that come through, developing a habit of writing them down in the morning, and putting on my detective’s cap. Of course, none of that helps unless I follow through with the prescribed action.
It might sound like a lot of effort, but it doesn’t seem that way to me. I view it more as an opportunity to connect with my soul and reap valuable rewards while I’m asleep (!) than as work. It definitely helps the process to not take myself too seriously.
Give it a try and lmk how it goes. And if you have any ideas about why I was hosting a dinner party on a moving bus, I’d love to hear them!
I’ve been working with my dreams for the past several years. My practice is somewhat sporadic…
Whoop whoop!
I’ve scheduled a Reiki 2 class for my Philly area friends. Anyone who has previously taken a level 1 certification training, with me or another teacher, is invited to attend.
Many students who join this training are eager to do remote treatments so they can send healing energy to friends and family from afar. It’s pretty amazing and we have a lot of fun with this.
But that’s not the only benefit of this training.
The distance symbol can also be used to send healing back to traumatic moments, mitigating the present day effects of previous woundings. We can give ourselves the acceptance, understanding, love and attention that we wish we had had in the past.
It can also be used to deposit Reiki in the future to optimize each day or smooth the way through upcoming challenges. And to secure parking spaces and restaurant seating in advance. 🙂
I use the power symbol each time I get in the car to build a protective force field around me. It also amplifies traditional healing and space clearing endeavors. And so much more!
And the mental/emotional symbol is quite useful for treating anxiety and depression, while simultaneously cultivating focus, clarity, and memory. Because it looks like a creature with an open mouth, I imagine it munching up limiting beliefs and cultural conditioning just like PacMan.
Of course, this is just the teaser! We spend quite a bit of time getting to know each symbol and how we can use them in a variety of ways.
Intrigued? We’d love to have you.
I’m offering a $25 early bird discount off the regular fee of $275 through August 24. We meet in my Mt. Airy office, near the intersection of Germantown & Mt. Pleasant Aves. I support your comfort to provide the best learning opportunity, so whatever you may need to make that happen is welcome. Let’s chat if you’re unsure if this is a match for you.
Whoop whoop! I’ve scheduled a Reiki 2 class for my Philly area friends. Anyone who has…
Luminous Heart Reiki & Massage 