“In this TEDx talk, Chameli Ardagh speaks on how to allow for a natural response towards injustice without creating more hurt, how to embody the power and beauty of feminine rage, why we are called to step up and give voice to the power of the fierce feminine, and how anger is not intrinsically negative, only what we do with. Chameli also shows how an ancient goddess archetype of the fierce aspects of the feminine are highly relevant and illuminating for women and girls today.”
I LOVE this talk! I’ve been studying with Chameli for at least 10 years now. She’s helped me break the bonds of what society informs us are the appropriate ways to for women to behave without losing myself or becoming a complete misfit in the process.
Without going too fan-girl, I’ll just say that I adore her. She’s radiant, compassionate, passionate, feminine, AND totally badass. I want to be like her when I grow up! She doesn’t present herself as a guru; rather a sort of guide who can help each of us connect to the guru within.
Whatever your gender, I think you can learn from what see has to say.
“In this TEDx talk, Chameli Ardagh speaks on how to allow for a natural response towards…
Check out this interesting article! Some of the action steps are oversimplified, IMO, but there’s still a whole lot of good info here about psychological stress and how it impacts the body in a way that cultivates anxiety.
In my work with hundreds of clients experiencing anxiety over the past 20 years, I’ve seen how stress amplifies anxiety. When people learn to mitigate the physiological effects of stress, very often anxiety diminishes greatly or even disappears altogether. Imagine a garden in which you stop watering the weeds. Only the most tenacious, deeply rooted buggers will persist.
It’s amazing to me how non-invasive, safe, gentle and natural treatments such as massage, Reiki and movement education can so profoundly impact a condition that is so disruptive to so many people and so very poorly treated by the medical system. (I’ll spare you my rant about that! Hint: follow the money.)
When the nervous system is regulated and we’re not constantly receiving “DANGER” messages and flooded with adrenaline, it’s easier to access clarity, cognitive abilities and inner power making many seemingly overwhelming challenges much more manageable.
Holistic treatments look at the whole being, including the mental and emotional components, as well as the physical and bio-chemical factors. Those of us in the healing arts are well aware of how complex health is because of the seeming illogical responses people may have to circumstances that trigger the fight/flight/freeze/fawn response. Deactivating the triggers requires us to first uncover them and treat them with compassion rather than attempting to suppress or atack them.
Back to the article… From this same website, “Clinical somatics is neuromuscular education… to retrain muscle memory and relieve pain.” It’s a practice of noticing where muscles are chronically and unnecessarily contracted and teaching them to release. Easier said than done, it’s true! But effective for those who have the determination to stick with it.
If building new neural pathways and learning how to use your body more efficiently just seems like too much work, consider booking a Reiki-massage if you’re in the Philly area or a remote Reiki session, wherever you may be. I’ll do all the work and you can just lay back and soak it up. Sometimes healing is more about undoing than doing.
Check out this interesting article! Some of the action steps are oversimplified, IMO, but there’s still…
A theme popping up in sessions lately has been TRUST. Can Reiki be used to heal trust issues?
Well… that depends what you mean.
Reiki cannot, thankfully, allow us to trust indiscriminately. Sometimes people come to me wanting to be more trusting of their romantic or business partners. In my eyes, not everyone is deserving of our trust. It could be that our deeper senses are picking up on clues that our intellect is not catching. If your gut is suggesting suspicion, Reiki will not override that. Nor would you want it to.
What Reiki can do is help us trust ourselves, our guides, the flow of life, and Source (by whatever name you choose to call it). Reiki can help us to see clearly, to value ourselves, and to maintain healthy boundaries. It can help us notice and heed red flags and see the truth in another’s behavior, rather than clinging to their perceived potential (one of my specialties! Ugh) or getting caught up in believing empty promises.
It can help us trust that we will be ok, perhaps even better off, without certain people or circumstances in our lives. That whatever is truly ours cannot be taken away and what is not ours cannot be kept without significant struggle and suffering, and probably not even then.
If we have difficulty trusting entire groups of people (for example: men or lawyers), Reiki can help clear up our projections and heal wounds from the past that taint our perceptions. It doesn’t mean we’ll trust all men or all lawyers; rather that we start from a neutral position upon meeting and allow trust to be earned when available and our Spidey senses to inform us when to walk away.
Reiki will only offer what’s in our highest good. What a relief! It’s easy to get caught up when we think we know what that is, but aren’t seeing the big picture. Often our idea of what is best is colored by unhealed trauma, unexamined desires, unmet needs and unexpressed emotions. For those of us whose motivations are not 100% clear, the waters can often be murky and our choices less than stellar.
So, no, Reiki will not help you trust that internet date or mechanic or whoever unless they deserve to be trusted. It will, however, help you make decisions based on your values and reality instead of desperation and fantasy. It will help you trust that you can do what needs to be done, no matter how difficult and painful it may seem, and that Life has your back. Anything else is not going to make you happy in the long run.
Ready to start working on developing healthy trust and a solid connection with your intuition? Book a session or get on the mailing list to stay informed about upcoming Reiki classes.
A theme popping up in sessions lately has been TRUST. Can Reiki be used to heal…
Summer holidays are not my thing. Particularly July 4th. Why do fireworks need to be so darn loud? What about the poor animals? Where does all that debris go?
And…
I get cranky when it’s hot and humid.
Mosquitos love me.
I am uncomfortable in crowds.
This makes the holiday a nightmare for me.
This year I decided to work and invited several of my clients who have difficulty finding time to come during my normal hours.
I was tired at the end of the day plus all of that other stuff I already mentioned. Heat, insects, crowds, and loud noises. UGH!
And…
It’s been over a decade since I’ve seen a fireworks show. I wanted to have some kind of Independence Day experience.
I sought out some sparklers and took them to my front porch. Instead of feeling like I was depriving myself of the typical experience, I created a miniature magical version that delighted my inner child.
Isn’t it amazing what a shift in perspective can do? Sometimes during the healing process nothing much changes on the external level, but how we relate to whatever is happening can change and all of a sudden our experience is completely altered.
If you want some help finding a new perspective that will be more supportive for your overall wellness, consider booking a Reiki session. That’s the tool that’s helped me the most over the past 20 years. It’s gentle, but powerful, and can help us get to the next level of clarity and comprehension.
Summer holidays are not my thing. Particularly July 4th. Why do fireworks need to be so…
I took a class with Lee several years ago and learned so much about correcting postural imbalances and relieving the resulting discomfort in simple and gentle ways. He’s the one who taught me that many tight muscles are screaming because they are already overstretched and that stretching an overstretched muscle is downright counterproductive, if not harmful.
Yup. Radical, huh? Keep to stretching for muscles that are shortened, and bring some slack into the over- elongated ones. This was so profound for me that I finally made a video about upper back and neck pain because I got tired of explaining it over and over.
In this short video, he shares tips for sitting upright to reduce pain. It’s so simple! I remember a fellow student in that class I took waiting all weekend for some mind blowing, high-tech solution for improved sitting strategies. He seemed disappointed that it was so easy and involved a cheap pillow.
Isn’t it funny how our minds can correlate expensive and complicated with effective? Curiously our Reiki lineage includes this thinking. That’s why Mrs. Takata charged $10K for Master Teacher training! Luckily, one of her students disagreed.
But I digress.
Here’s the video. Check it out. I bet you can easily give it a try without spending a dime or more than 10 minutes. Let me know what you think!
I took a class with Lee several years ago and learned so much about correcting postural…
Last night I closed up shop early because a street festival was taking place in front of my office. It’s always chaotic and not the energy I want my clients to slog through. Instead, I decided to brave the heat and the ginormous potholes for which PA is so famous and go on an adventure. To the suburbs. 🙂
My birthday is coming, and as you might already know, we Cancerians like to celebrate the month, not just the day. So I planned to have dinner with a friend I haven’t seen in a few years and explore the area where she lives.
She pointed me to a delightful metaphysical shop that really made my day! SO many gems to view, so little time. I had decided to splurge on a necklace as a birthday treat. I enjoy wearing my crystals so the healing energy is with me all day.
Rather than looking for a particular type of stone, I browsed. I waited for something to call out to me. A gorgeous rosy stone with delicate white swirls caught my attention. I nearly choked when I saw the price tag, but there was a smaller pendant next to it that didn’t blow my budget out of the water.
This photo pales in comparison to the real thing!
Rhodochrosite. I’d never heard of it. The staff was so helpful and shared about some of her (yes, this particular stone anyway, is most definitely a her) qualities and it was exactly the medicine I’m needing! If I had spent 100 hours online researching which crystal would serve me best, I doubt I could have made a better match.
I wanted to share this story because so many Reiki students ask me about using crystals in their practice. Reiki doesn’t need crystals to be super-powerful, but they do work nicely together as they are both natural energies. It can be overwhelming when you’re learning about crystals from a book because there are so many variations and so many benefits from each of them.
I start with the gemstone that wants to come home with me. I observe how I feel when we’re together and then, and only then, do I look at the information that is readily available from external sources such as a guidebook or website.
It’s important to cleanse your crystals right away as they are batteries for storing energy and you don’t need to be soaking up the residual vibes of everyone else who has handled them. You can then use Reiki to charge them, intending a specific healing purpose, if you like.
It turned out to be a lovely day and I’m so glad I got out and about for a change. I had the most delicious salmon tacos, sat on a bench under the trees by a creek in the park, and had a great catch-up with my friend over dinner. It turns out there was also a street festival there, but we ate inside since it was crazy hot.
I had to laugh that one event was the motivation to go elsewhere and a similar event was happening there. I don’t understand the desire to dine on the sidewalk when it’s 90 degrees out, but hundreds of people apparently do. Lucky for us, that made indoor seating much easier to come by.
All in all, this was a great reminder to go with the flow and let Life lead the way. I’m always pleased with the results when I do.
Last night I closed up shop early because a street festival was taking place in front…
Sensitivities seem to be running high these days. If you’re someone who consistently finds yourself absorbing other people’s energies and suffering for it, I have a few tips.
First, start with the brush off to remove any unwanted energies. It doesn’t matter where or when they came from. If it’s time for them to go, let ‘em go. Laura Bruno, my Reiki Master Teacher, suggests doing this twice daily, at a minimum.
Perhaps more effective is keeping yourself from getting slimed in the first place. I use an easy technique to keep my energy field so full there is no room for anything else to glom on. If you have Reiki, you can add it in, but Reiki is not necessary to make an Energy Bubble.
Also, I’ve written about the book, The Empath’s Survival Guide before. So helpful! Just understanding what’s happening and why you sometimes feel drained or angry or upset for no seeming reason is a relief, and there are lots of tips for how to live your life more easily.
If you feel like you want more tools, consider taking my Reiki for Self-Care training if you’re in the Philly area.
If you want a professional intervention, consider booking a Reiki session. Remote sessions can be received from anywhere in the world! In-person sessions are available in the Mt. Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia.
Sensitivities seem to be running high these days. If you’re someone who consistently finds yourself absorbing…
Over the past few weeks, four mothers have contacted me to schedule treatments for their teenage children. I couldn’t be more delighted! How wonderful that they have the opportunity to learn the value of listening to and honoring their bodies and emotions at a young age. I feel like I’m inducting them all into a revolutionary counterculture club in which cultivating health includes creating body/mind/spirit balance and freely flowing life-force energy.
I love teaching them that bodywork is much more complex than pushing hard on a tight muscle or rubbing where it hurts. I wish everyone knew this! I’m thrilled to introduce such a radical concept to anyone anytime, but the idea of someone starting off their bodywork experiences knowing this little gem can set them up for amazing results over time.
What’s most exciting is educating them about their autonomy during a session. (Yes, I meant autonomy, not anatomy!) They get to say what they’d like to work on and what they need to be comfortable. They can tell me to avoid anything they don’t like, and I will, even if I think it’s important to the treatment. We might have a chat about it, but they get the final word. They have the power to end the session immediately without needing to explain why. They can say “ouch” or “no” during a massage if they want less pressure or for me to move on to another area.
It occurred to me while discussing this with a young woman that these guidelines apply to people of all ages, but I don’t usually take the time to discuss them with adults. I assume that grown-ups know. But there is a seeming power differential in the treatment room where the professional can be seen as the expert. We’re standing, the client is lying down. We’re fully dressed and they, at the very least, have taken their shoes off. These factors can make it look like we’re in charge.
But we’re not.
The client is always the expert on their needs. Always.
However old you are, I hope you’ll hear me when I say this! You’re the boss of your session. OK, there are limits, and you won’t get a great treatment by micromanaging your therapist. We do have extensive training and many of us years, decades even, of experience. But “no” means no during a session. If your practitioner will not honor that, find one who does. There are plenty of times in life when we are not fully in control of our experiences, but healing treatments should not be one of them.
If you’re a caregiver for a child who needs some support, please contact me to discuss treatment options.
Over the past few weeks, four mothers have contacted me to schedule treatments for their teenage…
Today is the summer solstice for those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere; it’s the longest day of the year. I saw my first firefly last night, which confirms the arrival of summer here. Ironically we have a blessedly cool day blooming, despite the sun working overtime.
For everyone in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s winter solstice and the longest night. For all of us, it’s a turning point. A time when the pendulum reaches the extreme end of its arc before beginning it’s journey towards center.
It’s a great time to review the past 6 months, noticing any patterns, stuckness, or imbalance. Are you in harmony with nature’s energy? Is there anything you can learn that will benefit you moving forward?
I find it helpful to do a simple inventory of where I am currently (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, energetically, circumstantially) this time of year to help me evaluate where I am going in the next 6 months.
Themes that are up for me are prosperity, musculoskeletal health, and community. I’m going to spend some time contemplating how I can support my goals while surfing the soon-to-be waning sun and lengthening nights energies.
If that seems like too much bother, a simple way to honor this day is to enjoy local fruits and vegetables. Celebrating the bounty of the summer crops by savoring the harvest (cherries, strawberries, sugar snap peas, and cucumbers for me) can help us get in touch with the land where we are and align with the season.
Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, I wish you a lovely day filled with all your favorite things. May the sun shine gently upon you.
Luminous Heart Reiki & Massage 