holistic therapy

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.

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Reiki and Bladder Issues, part 2

Here’s the thing about Reiki: it’s an amazing healing technique. I’ve personally experienced incredible transformation simply…
Last week a potential client asked me what my success rate was.

Ummmm…

I really had to give that some thought! I am 100% successful at delivering Reiki and/or massage to the clients who request it.

But that obviously wasn’t what she was looking for. She wanted to know how many of my clients were relieved of their symptoms, but that’s not a question I can accurately answer. I’d estimate that 95% of the time, people feel better when they leave my office. What happens after that is generally out of my hands.

Imagine you were seeking treatment for insomnia. Reiki and massage are both fabulous at calming the nervous system so people can fall asleep more easily and stay asleep. I can do my very best work, you’d feel calm and rested when we parted, but you could go home and drink a pot of coffee before bedtime. You probably won’t sleep very well, but you still received many of the wellness benefits anyway.

Holistic healing is a lot like not drinking a pot of coffee before bed. Or getting out of debt by curtailing spending and taking up a side job. All of our choices are affecting our progress.

My clients who switch to decaf after lunch experience tremendous results. Those who rely solely on me while continuing to drink coffee at bedtime get temporary relief.

There’s no judgment here. Anybody can get a session and feel better. Those who want to continue feeling better work with me. We become a detective team, exploring the options that they face every day to pursue or decline wellness.

Success rate? Here’s a more accurate question, one I wasn’t quick enough to express on that phone call. Are you willing to adapt your behavior and make healthier choices that support your goals? Your response is directly correlated to the success rate you can expect. And my services will mostly definitely support you in the process.

Whether or not you’re wanting to participate in your wellness pursuit, gentle massage and Reiki treatments can promote vitality, peace, calm, creativity, and health. Schedule a session without any guilt or shame about your habits. We don’t have to discuss anything you don’t want to!

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Success Rate of Healing Treatments?

Last week a potential client asked me what my success rate was. Ummmm… I really had…
So many of us spend hours in positions that aren’t great for our bodies. Understanding a bit about body mechanics can point us toward remedies that effectively correct the imbalance rather than making it worse.

The vast majority of approaches I see people taking either don’t work or… sadly, make it worse. Check out my rubber band demonstration to see why.

I made this short video to demonstrate the remedy I use to keep myself feeling good no matter how much time I spend hunched over the massage table or keyboard.

No matter my good intentions for not hunching, I invariably end up in positions that are not great for me when I get immersed in what I’m doing. I’m guessing you can relate.

An alternative is to book a session! Massage, Reiki and my signature combo treatments can all treat muscle tension, ease stress and pain, and increase circulation and focus. Get yourself some support if you’re suffering.

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Tight Neck? Stiff Shoulders? I’ve Got You!

So many of us spend hours in positions that aren’t great for our bodies. Understanding a…
Are you looking to activate your personal power? For optimal well-being, happiness, creativity, abundance, and connection? Why not start the new year off with a bang and give yourself a helping hand? Reiki is a potent tool for dismantling the blockages that prevent us from experiencing our best possible lives. You could have limitless access to this healing energy with minimal cost or time.

Hidden beliefs, unconscious triggers, cultural conditioning, and outdating coping mechanisms can sabotage even the most sincere resolutions. Reiki can help us love and accept ourselves exactly as we are and support our efforts to be more peaceful, compassionate, and integrated. No need to keep white-knuckling it or banging your head against the wall. Instead, try cultivating balance from within.

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This is a simple, yet powerful, modality that can assist you in aligning desire and intent; body, mind, and spirit; head, heart, and gut so that all your parts are working as a team, rather that a bunch of rogue elements fulfilling personal whims at the expense of the greater good.

Join me for a series of four online classes in January. No experience or special skills are necessary. Anyone can learn Reiki and benefit quickly from consistent application. It’s the easiest, safest, most magical method I’ve discovered in 25 years of spiritual practice and personal development work. Whatever therapies, remedies, or potions you’ve got going on, you can add Reiki for amplification.

If you’re wondering what the heck Reiki is, I’ll attempt an explanation. Keep in mind that words don’t really do it justice. Just like kissing, one authentic experience will be more informative than volumes of books! But I know that’s not very helpful, so here we go. Reiki is a holistic technique for healing that relieves stress. It activates the body’s innate restorative abilities by flooding the system with universal life-force energy. Once we are no longer chronically depleted, overwhelmed, or barely existing in survival mode, we have so much more power to create change in our lives. One of my students described her experience as stepping off the hamster wheel. I think that’s a great metaphor!

If you’ve been burning the candle at both ends or spread too thin, taking care of everyone else besides yourself, or simply going along just to get along, it would be my great pleasure to introduce you to a different way. You can find details about the class here. If you’re interested in applying, just send me a message and we’ll see if it’s a good match for you.

Online Reiki 1 Certification in January, 2023

Are you looking to activate your personal power? For optimal well-being, happiness, creativity, abundance, and connection?…
I’m so excited to be on the receiving end of a remote Reiki session today!!! A few weeks ago I’m was feeling pretty worn down and recognized that I needed some extra support. I remember listening to a podcast where the woman being interviewed recommended getting LOTS of support, not just the bare minimum. I chuckled to myself, and thought, hmmm… that’s what I’ve been doing! Just getting the minimum to keep going and relying, over-relying actually, on my self-care routines.

It took me a few moments to figure out what would be the most helpful. The idea of dragging myself to yet another appointment, potentially trading working hours for relaxation, didn’t resonate at all. Even trying out a new-to-me bodyworker in the neighborhood didn’t float my boat. These things are so subjective!

I’m not sure why it took so long for me to figure out that thing that would help me the most is the thing I most often recommend. Didn’t see the forest for all the tree, I guess. 🙂 I booked a long-distance session with my teacher, Laura Bruno, who happens to live 1,000 miles away. No worries. Reiki can travel. And it can bend time, so I’ve set up my session so that she can do it during her working hours, and arrange for it to arrive at 10pm. When I will be off my feet, no longer tending to busyness or business, tucked into bed and maximally receptive.

Even we caretakers need some caretaking. I seem to have taken on the role of the caretakers’ caretaker, as I have many clients who are in heavy duty caretaking roles. They come to me for support when they get depleted, or better yet to prevent getting depleted. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that I need to keep my own tank full so I can keep operating. And tomorrow morning, I will wake up with a full tank, magically restored while I was resting.

How does it get better than that?

Happy Reiki Day!

I’m so excited to be on the receiving end of a remote Reiki session today!!! A…
The following is an excerpt from the handouts I provide in level 1 Reiki certification. I’m perpetually updating class notes to reflect the ongoing downloads and updates that inform my own understanding. If you’ve heard talk about Reiki and have been curious but hesitant to try the waters, this could help nudge you one way or the other.

“You’re in the right place if you’re interested in optimizing your wellness, uncovering your innate wholeness, finding and following your calling, soothing aches and pains, finding the well of peace and joy deep within, healing trauma, releasing limiting beliefs, spiritual awakening, or personal growth. Reiki can be used for all these goals by cultivating balance, removing blockages, and strengthening vitality.

“It is my intention to provide a basic understanding of what Reiki is and how we can use it to improve health, happiness, and productivity. I invite you to be curious about all the possibilities Reiki has to offer. Experiment when you feel guided to do so. There are NO limits! If you have an idea about how to use Reiki that I haven’t mentioned; try it! Reiki can do no harm.”

My next online beginners class runs on Thursday mornings in October, 10am-noon ET. There is still room for a few more compatible students to join us. I don’t have a formal application process. Just message me with a little bit of information about what you hope to get from this class and we’ll see if we’re a good match for each other.

Why Reiki??

The following is an excerpt from the handouts I provide in level 1 Reiki certification. I’m…
A friend recently shared about the new skincare products she was considering to combat the stubborn outbreaks she’d be experiencing. When I expressed my belief that the likely culprit was intense stress due to a major life transition, her response could only be described as “dagger eyes”.

Clearly she knew that she was stressed, teetering on overwhelm. The thought of taking action to manage said stress would only be yet another complication in her already complicated life. Simple tasks like meal planning and laundry were already emotionally draining. There was no more room on her to-do list; even for something that would be of great benefit.

Photo by Mizuno K on Pexels.com

It seemed obvious to me that buying expensive creams would not solve the problem considering that the problem was not a shortage of expensive creams. Her nervous system was overloaded from chronic stress, and sending out a cry for help via her skin. Other folks might get messages from digestive issues, headaches or migraines, insomnia or other symptoms of imbalance. Given that treating stress is my forte, I developed a plan.

Reiki is a brilliant strategy for just this sort of thing. Not only does it relieve stress, tension, and pain, but also saturates the body in healing life-force energy, bolstering whatever systems have become depleted. Even better, it can be performed remotely, eliminating the need to show up for any more appointments. Clients don’t need to even make time in their busy schedules. How cool is that?!

I came up with a plan to offer 30 minute bursts of Reiki on a weekly basis, to be done on my part during working hours, but to be delivered when she was retired for the evening. (Yes, Reiki delivery can be scheduled in advance, just like Grubhub!) I frequently use this strategy to maximize efficacy by setting up the session during a time of maximum receptivity, often after the client has gone to bed.

I created an 8-pack special so she could have consistent treatment over two months. Reversing the effects chronic stress can take time, especially when it is ongoing. It’s like trying to get out of debt without curbing spending; challenging but not impossible. It’s a matter of making more deposits than withdrawals. In this case we’d be making weekly deposits into her life-force energy account.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or burnt out and unable to see your way through, a remote Reiki treatment series might be just the thing. It’s like a subscribe-and-save deal for wellness. Contact me to see if your goals are a good match for this program. It’s the most affordable package I offer; 8 treatments for the price of 7. I provide a weekly reminder and an opportunity to amend the session’s intentions. If you can’t or don’t wish to respond, I carry on with the intention we discussed at the beginning of our arrangement. You sit back (or not!) and do nothing but soak up the energy.

Set-it-and-Forget-it Reiki, a strategy for the chaotic modern world. Like many of the special treatments I offer, it was born of necessity. I see a need and a strategy to meet that need organically unfolds. Eight 30-minute remote Reiki sessions, designed to be delivered weekly at the time that suits you best without any effort on your part. $350 if purchased by the end of September 2022.

September Special: Set-it-and-Forget-it Reiki Package

A friend recently shared about the new skincare products she was considering to combat the stubborn…
Reiki helps to correct any type of imbalance, and it can be fun to think of choosing the goal of a session as if from options on a menu. A sense of humor can be very helpful in the healing process! Sometimes my clients come up with comical names for the type of treatment they desire. One asks repeatedly for The Reboot; a session devoted to resetting the nervous system and activating the relaxation response. She finds it incredibly recuperative given the intense demands of her career.

The Deactivator is also popular, especially for those recovering from trauma or dealing with chronic pain. It helps to break the uncomfortable cycle triggered by hyper-vigilance and near-constant sympathetic nervous system (AKA fight-flight-freeze) activation. Occasionally folks ask for The Activator when they’re feeling stuck or blocked and can’t seem to get motivated. Kinda like all-natural, energetic uppers and downers with no negative side-effects!

Over the past couple of years, most of my work has been centered around The Fill ‘er Up treatment. People who have become depleted energetically, physically, and emotionally seem to be developing bizarre symptoms such as rashes, digestive upset, or severe joint pain as the tank runs dry and there just isn’t enough energy for the body to do much more than survive. Physiological systems begin to break down and mysterious ailments pop up.

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For the past few months, there’s been an emerging trend that stems from The Fill ‘er Up. The Flush and Fill; the perfect remedy for those who have experienced the emotional equivalent of running a marathon in a toxic waste dump. So many of my clients are empathic and tend to pick up unwanted energies as they go about their days. When tanks are already low, there are few resources available for protecting personal boundaries or lugging around accumulated burdens, and eventually the body and the psyche begin to suffer. Burnout looms on the horizon.

Reiki can transform any and all energies that do not belong to us or that have worn out their welcome. Breaking free from the heavy loads that are outdated or not even ours to bear is incredibly invigorating. I don’t know of any other therapy that is so simple, so gentle and so powerful; certainly not any that can be received from the comfort of home or in a practitioner’s office; or learned in just a few hours for those who desire frequent application.

If you’d like to learn how to give yourself daily Flush and Fills, consider taking a Reiki 1 class. I am offering one online beginning in July, and others are teaching in-person classes. If you can’t stand the idea of adding one more task, no matter how wonderful the results, to your to-do list, that’s what we professionals are here for. If you’re already a practitioner, simply set your intention to transform anything that is not aligned with your highest good to that which is, and proceed with the hand positions you’ve been taught. Whatever your desired degree of participation (or lack thereof!) is, Reiki has a niche just for you.

Options on the Reiki Menu

Reiki helps to correct any type of imbalance, and it can be fun to think of…
Since I was 13, back pain has been a lingering presence in my life; one I’ve learned to minimize through holistic lifestyle choices. I’ve also worked with countless clients over the past 20 years with similar issues. I have accumulated tons of experience in this area. When this nemesis reappeared with gusto last year, I had a lot of tools at my disposal, but I still frequently experienced sensations that ranged from discomfort to debilitating pain.

I’ve learned so much on my journey. I can speak to this issue on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual planes. While I sometimes utilize analgesics, I know the cause is not a deficiency of ibuprofen or CBD cream, so I keep investigating. I want to treat the root, not just the symptoms. Tight hip flexors, sitting too much, exercising too aggressively, one’s ability to ask for and receive support, and complex feelings related to sexuality, belonging, safety, or worthiness can all contribute to an imbalance that affects the low back.

Relieving lumbar pain and its frequent companion, sciatic nerve pain, is my wheelhouse. Yet none of my interventions had any lasting effect. The irritation that arose from being so ineffective only contributed to the problem. Such events are quite humbling for us bodyworkers! Until I remembered… it can be hard to see the forest for the trees.

Finally, I asked for help. I was pointed to a specific, often overlooked, muscle. (Thank you, Laura! <3) The moment I heard the word, bells went off in my head. It’s part of every bodywork session I provide, but I’ve rarely thought of my own sartorius muscles since, well… ever. While I religiously address all the soft tissue that connects to the pelvis when working with clients, I had left it out of my stretching routine. Given my tendency to sit cross- legged, it had shortened and began to tug on the front of my pelvis, creating an imbalance that spread through my lumbar region.

It took a bit of searching to find a good technique for addressing this bugger. It’s not something that’s easy to get into without intending to do so. Many of the videos and articles I found didn’t really do it justice. I’m sharing the one that really did below, along with the reminder that even though we may be knowledgable about something, it never hurts to get a second opinion from a subjective and trusted advisor.

You can ignore the ”for runners” qualification in the title. I am not, nor ever have been, a runner, and found this stretch to be very helpful. It might be the missing link in your search for freedom from back pain too.

Treating Low Back Pain Holistically

Since I was 13, back pain has been a lingering presence in my life; one I’ve…