(Isn’t it amazing that such a thing as hot, running water is even possible? It’s easy to forget what a blessing this truly is. Until it disappears, that is. Then it becomes very apparent!)
Before that happened, my busy day got rearranged, leaving me with a few spare hours in the afternoon. Curiously, I had a nudge to shower and wash my hair. Weird. I usually shower before bed and wasn’t planning on messing my masses of hair, but whatever. I’ve learned to listen to the nudge.
As luck would have it, I was in the shower, longer than normal as hair washing is a bit of an ordeal when you have lots of it, and the water began to cool.
I was in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing to notice that there was a problem.
Coincidentally (ha! I don’t believe in coincidence), a part that was needed for my refrigerator shelf that had collapsed earlier in the week (was this all part of the plan? 🤔) just arrived and my landlord was sending over the handy man to replace it shortly.
We chatted about the water and he turned up the temperature on the heater. This made no sense to me- clearly the heater is defective, it didn’t just turn itself down mysteriously. But these are the steps you need to go through as a renter.
Unsurprisingly, there was no change. But since I got my report in when I did and got myself showered in advance, there is no actual problem. Just a repair that needs to happen.
And that’s scheduled for today, most likely when I’m at work, meaning minimal disruption for me.
This story doesn’t really merit telling as nothing really happened. And, for me, that’s generally how it goes. When I follow my guidance, there are no big dramas to report. Things don’t always go as planned, but they work out one way or another, without a big production.
So next time you have an urge to do something out of the ordinary that might not make sense, consider what future inconveniences you might be avoiding.
The trick is in slowing down and paying attention so the messages can get through the mental clutter. If you like hot showers, maybe it’s time to start your intuition training!
Reiki can help calm the monkey mind and connect you to that inner voice. If you don’t have the pleasure of living near Philly, there are always remote sessions, which are an amazing way to get synched up with your inner wisdom.
I’ve compiled all the intuition chronicles into one place for your convenience. They are not linear, so I’d suggest letting your inner compass guide you to the article that is most aligned with your current needs.
Reblogging this gem about some of the more popular reasons for learning how to connect to…
… and let go of everything that is ready to go.
Autumn is the time of year when Nature urges us to release our hold on that which no longer serves us. Clinging to the old uses a lot of life-force energy and often prevents us from moving forward.
See how the trees simply drop the leaves after they have completed their time together?
Winter is coming and that is a time for rest and restoration. That can be more easily done when we aren’t dragging a bunch of decaying matter with us, be it beliefs, emotions, habits, or relationships.
What’s one thing you can release in order to make more space for your true self to emerge?
Me? I’m doing a closet clean out AND committing to taking the bag(s) of culled items to a donation center by the end of the month.
It doesn’t need to be complicated or arduous. Maybe start with that pile of paperwork cluttering your desk or the ubiquitous kitchen junk drawer. Your future self with thank you.
… and let go of everything that is ready to go. Autumn is the time of…
Intuitive guidance has become so woven into my daily life that I often don’t even notice it anymore. I don’t mean “don’t notice” as in I ignore it. No way! I mean “don’t notice” as in it’s become the water that I swim in; so much so that doesn’t seem unusual anymore.
I practiced my skills until they became second nature. Just like I don’t have to think about tying my shoes, catching messages from sources beyond my ego-mind has become embedded into my life.
If you’re just getting started, it might feel frustrating that you need to do the equivalent of playing musical scales and conjugating French verbs. Repeatedly.
But for most people, that’s how it goes. Yet, what often happens is that someone gets a wild hair to tap into their previously estranged intuition for the purposes of making The Biggest Decision Ever.
Should I move to Australia? Sell my home and travel with the band? Marry a guy I met last week who feels like my twin flame?
That’s a pretty big ask. It’s unlikely that you’ll trust whatever answer comes through. With good reason.
I suggest starting with the small stuff. For example, earlier this week I felt a nudge to cook a batch of chickpeas. I had no use for them at the time, so it didn’t make sense, but whatever. I froze them. The week before, the same with pesto.
This week I got a head of radicchio in my produce delivery and went in search of a recipe online because I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with it. Apparently it pairs well with pesto-flavored chickpeas. 🤔
Just the other day, I had a niggling feeling, as if I had forgotten something important. After confirming that my work schedule was indeed synched with my calendar and there was nothing urgent pending, I sat with that feeling. It urged me to go to the store. Not the closest one, but whatever, I know better than to argue!
As I pulled up, I notice an employee carrying in bouquets. Fresh flowers bring me a lot of joy, so I’ve been treating myself to them lately. But the last batch seemed kinda old and didn’t last very long before getting wilty, so I hadn’t bothered since then.
These were just delivered, were as fresh as possible, and I could feel a surge of YES! in my body when I saw them.
One more. Yesterday I was sent to another store, this one even farther away (by city standards, farther = 6 miles instead of 3, but adds on 20+ minutes of driving time), only to find that almost everything on my list was on sale. I saved a hefty chunk of cash because I listened to my inner nudge.
So here we have three incidents within the span of a week that were all pretty minor, simple domestic tasks, that made my life better somehow, but had no pressure involved. This is how we can grow our Trust muscles. By practicing in the arena where the consequences are minimal, following through, and recognizing the rewards.
Do this for a while and you’ll get good at noticing the nudges and then when a big one drops, it will be a lot easier to catch it and say, heck yeah, I’m moving to Philadelphia.
(That happened to me 11 years ago!)
I’ll note that in addition to practicing in the shallow end, I’ve also made myself available to receive these messages. That comes from cultivating presence, awareness, and a willingness to be guided. You can ask all day long for the intuitive suggestions, but it doesn’t do much good if you’re running around putting out fires constantly and don’t notice when they arrive.
I’m working on a mini-workshop about presence, synthesizing all the body-mind-spirit tools I’ve collected over the past few decades. I have a lot to say about this, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, heed those inner nudges and do your best to take guided action. Maybe even keep a log so you have handy dandy “proof” to refer to when you doubt yourself.
It’s hard to argue against your knowings when you can look back at a series of beneficial experiences that resulted from following your gut.
Intuitive guidance has become so woven into my daily life that I often don’t even notice…
The next series of in-person level 2 training is coming up!
We meet for 6 Thursday evenings, 5:30-7:30 in my Mt. Airy (neighborhood of Philly) studio.
November 6, 13, 20 &
December 4, 11, 18.
I’m predicting a snowy winter, so we’re also reserving January 8 & 15 in case of any weather-related cancellations.
This workshop is for anyone already attuned to Reiki 1 who wishes to deepen their practice.
You’ll learn three sacred healing symbols and how to use them for a variety of purposes. We cover enhanced self-care, treating others in person and remotely, and how to bring Reiki into your daily life in addition to a healing practice.
It’s a great joy and tremendous honor for me to teach this class in a way that encourages retention and integration of the material and personalization of your practice.
If you’re interested in joining us, you’ll find more information by clicking the button below. Space is limited, so don’t delay!
The next series of in-person level 2 training is coming up! We meet for 6 Thursday…
Holistic healing means addressing all the various parts of ourselves, including our emotions. Even the ones that are uncomfortable, unpopular and chaotic convey messages that support our overall wellbeing.
Often when I bring this up, I meet resistance, even in people who are engaged in healing work. Cue glazed eyes and impromptu change of topic.
Most of us have been conditioned to avoid expressing our feelings so we don’t make others uncomfortable and are well practiced in the arts of suppression and numbing so we need not deal with the messy nature of feelings.
As a result, the unexpressed emotions get frozen in our systems, blocking the flow of life-force energy while also lingering like a powder keg, just one errant spark away from KABOOMING.
It’s not a good system for creating a healthy, productive life or intimate relationships.
It seems to be a big secret that it doesn’t have to be this way. Maybe that’s because emotional suppression is a great cash cow for the pharmaceutical and alcohol industries?
In between stuffing it all down and erupting at the worst possible time is alternative approach, one I would describe as more mature and effective.
It takes a fair amount of compassion, courage and curiosity to turn towards our feelings, both those that are unfolding in the moment and those stored in our archives, but it’s the only way to reclaim wholeness.
We aren’t whole if we reject any part of ourselves, and that includes our emotions.
Ugh. How inconvenient! Sorry, not sorry, there’s no skipping over this.
I’ll add here that feelings need to be witnessed and felt, not rationalized, analyzed, figured out or otherwise compartmentalized. This is a huge, sneaky bypass attempt. I say “attempt” because it doesn’t work- this supposed bypass just leads to a parking lot where you sit and stew in perpetuity.
Thinking about your feelings is not the same as feeling them. Believe me, I tried. For almost a decade, I thought I was doing emotional healing work by sensing and naming my feelings, but I was still avoiding the painful, messy experience of anger, grief, disappointment and fear. Guess what? Those energies remained active within me, waiting to be felt, growing impatient and more and more disruptive over time.
Let’s take anger as an example. When I get angry and suppress it, it lives on within me, eating me up on the inside, leaking out sideways as passive aggressive behavior and sarcasm, or exploding outwards, causing collateral damage when the pressure exceeds my capacity for containment.
I’m sure you’ll agree that’s not healthy.
Don’t think that I’m saying you shouldn’t get angry! I’m not. First of all, I can’t tell you how you should feel. Second, there are loads of reasons to be angry. Anger, rage even, is justified sometimes. It’s a sign that a boundary has been crossed and perhaps that some sort of action is needed to protect our values, if not our safety.
So if you don’t want to store anger and you can’t avoid it altogether, then you must need to hurl it back to the person or event that activated it?
Nope. I’m not saying that either. As you likely know, impulsively reacting in the heat of anger can also have harmful consequences.
I’m suggesting a more masterful, mindful approach. One you may not have even knew existed.
You can metabolize that anger in private, without involving anyone else, including the activator of that anger.
Which doesn’t mean you never need to have a conversation with a coworker or partner about crossed boundaries, but doing the inner work first gives access to our inner wisdom and power so we are more likely to remain connected with our values and be heard because we haven’t just called someone a big fat stupidhead and run off sobbing. Don’t look at me like that- you know exactly what I mean!
Reiki is tremendously helpful for doing this work. It helps me find the motivation and courage to dive in, the clarity to recognize what needs to be done, the energy to stay with it, the compassion to prevent self-condemnation or blame.
If you’re looking for some support with metabolizing your emotions, I have a few different suggestions to offer. It depends on how much you want to participate.
If you are willing to witness and allow feelings to emerge and be felt, Reiki sessions can help. This is a long-term project, especially if you’ve been accumulating painful emotions for an entire lifetime, but it is doable with a commitment to showing up on a consistent basis.
You could take a Reiki class and learn to give yourself daily treatments as your primary strategy or as a supplement to receiving sessions from a professional. This is more affordable, as you’ll be doing a significant part of the work yourself.
If you’re stuck and floundering, it might help to have a Reiki+Coaching session, where I can shine some light into the shadows where you’ve stored the dark stuff. This will only work if you’re willing to witness what’s there, don’t project your anger onto me and truly want some help getting started addressing your issues.
If you’re wanting to go on pretending that your emotions are not wreaking havoc from the sidelines, I recommend never getting a Reiki session. Reiki is always working in your highest good and is not going to allow you to continue storing toxic waste in your psyche and body. There are plenty of ways to avoid your feelings- you only need to watch TV for ten minutes to see one of them displayed.
If you want to rebel against the repressed/suppressed status quo and activate the full flow of life-force available to you, I do hope you’ll join me in one way or another and let Reiki do it’s magic on your behalf.
Holistic healing means addressing all the various parts of ourselves, including our emotions. Even the ones…
For the past two years I’ve devoured Louise Fletcher’s free online art course.
This year she says she got hit by a lightening bolt instructing her to create all new content. She tried to negotiate, but failed, claiming the bolt to be a “harsh mistress”.
It sounds like her muse and mine are cut from the same cloth. There’s no arguing with a lighting bolt. (Trust me, I’ve tried. 😆)
This makes me even more eager to join this year’s series of classes.
I don’t know how to paint. Not really. But I sure do enjoy putting color and shapes on paper and seeing how it turns out!
Creative expression is a fantastic way to alchemize emotions and drop into the moment. Pleasure and joy are tremendous medicine for many ailments. They all open us up to the flow of life-force energy.
If you think that sounds great but don’t know how to begin, I highly recommend signing up for the Creative Reset. What do you have to lose but inhibition, self-doubt and fear?
Louise Fletcher, lovely human being and art teacher
For the past two years I’ve devoured Louise Fletcher’s free online art course. This year she…
Reiki is an ancient healing practice that allows initiates to tap into universal life-force energy and direct it with our intention and attention.
The form of Reiki healing as it is commonly practiced here in the west has its roots in 20th century Japan. Usui Sensei, beloved founder of the practice (not the energy, the energy was/has always been available in nature), had a spiritual awakening while fasting and meditating on a mountain.
Reiki was the result of this awakening. He developed a style of accessing and utilizing this life-force energy that was very useful. I call it “traditional” Reiki.
It is a very linear process. Step A, B, C, etc. It works very well for people who like structure and want to know exactly what comes next.
Fast forward 100+ years and jump over to a very different culture, a different landscape, a different pace, in a world with very different needs; traditional Reiki, while still amazing, can feel constrictive to many.
Usui was a student of Buddhism, of meditation, of awakening the vast consciousness found in stillness. Some would call this a masculine approach to spirituality.
Not because it’s for men. No, this has nothing to do with gender. But because in the system of polarity, consciousness, linear thinking, working with the mind is considered to be masculine.
It’s one part of the puzzle of healing, but leaves those of us who revel in the feminine, the dance, the mystery, the depths of emotion and intuition can feel left out.
Neither is right or wrong. Just like night and day, they are both important, yet very different.
I teach a blend of the traditional, formulaic approach and the intuitive approach that has organically emerged in my practice.
I believe that there is something here for everyone and it’s my goal to help students find their own unique style.
Recently I told a student (who is finishing Master Teacher training with me after doing levels 1 and 2 elsewhere) that I almost always start a session at the feet.
She stared at me, mouth hanging open for a moment before sharing that her instinct is to do this too, but she had been chastised in her earlier training that this goes against tradition.
Yes. Yes, it does. Tradition says start at the head. This doesn’t make sense to me for many reasons and I find that beginning at the feet provides much-needed grounding and a less in-your-face start to a session. Literally.
I’ve done it this way for twenty years and it works well for me. My clients seem to enjoy it.
The history of Reiki is riddled with similar stories of evolution: students breaking the mold that was handed down but never really fit.
I offer something different. Let’s call it a buffet. On the buffet you’ll find a structure that you can use to get your bearings. Like training wheels. Then, maybe you learn to let go of the support when it becomes unnecessary over time. You can either continue going in that same direction or allow your intuition to guided you.
For me, this is a very personal practice. The more authentic I am, the more healing energy can flow through me.
If you’ve been trained in a strictly traditional fashion and feel too cramped, I invite you to spread your wings and experiment. The most important thing you can know about Reiki is that it can do no harm. Even when you start at the feet. I promise!
If you’d like to learn a different, less traditional, less restrictive way, what I call a natural evolution for those of us who aren’t monks in Japan in the 1900’s… well, I can teach you.
There’s a level 1 training coming up in Philly. I also teach virtual classes. Live classes, in real time, not recorded. I’m happy to discuss setting something up if that appeals to you.
Reiki is an ancient healing practice that allows initiates to tap into universal life-force energy and…
Once again, guidance has arrived for me, seemingly out of thin air. As it happens on a daily basis, there is no doubt in my mind that it isn’t a coincidence that odd things catch my attention as I’m going about my days. If you’re interested in intuition and receiving Divine Guidance, I have a story for you.
A few weeks ago, I was out for a walk in Nature, visiting the creek. I noticed a man gazing at the flowing water and (in my head) heard “What’s he looking at?” in a tone distinct from my usual voice.
This got my attention! He didn’t appear to be overly friendly, so instead of saying, “Hey mister, whatchya looking at?”, I lingered until he moved along and then I took his place at the fence.
Holy #@$%! (That was definitely my own voice.) There’s a heron standing in the creek! In the six years I’ve frequented this park, I’ve only once seen a heron here.
I was transfixed. I wanted to share this exciting news, but all the people passing by were plugged into devices or conversations, so instead, I enjoyed this visitation in quiet reverence.
I noticed how he (yes, that’s the sense I got. I have no proof, but it felt right to call him a he) stood upright, very still in the middle of the creek. Watching. Waiting. Fishing, obviously, but in a very dignified way.
Not like the ducks I see every day who look like they’re bobbing for apples or the smaller birds who dart around constantly.
No, this guy was letting the fish come to him.
“I’m gonna just stand here until my fish comes by,” seemed to be the message he was transmitting.
I eventually moved on, keeping one eye of the path, the other on the creek.
Soon I saw a big lump of … is that a duck? Very unusual. Especially as I only moments ago thought about the amusing upside-down ducks I often see here, with their heads underwater and butts in the air.
This duck was all tucked into itself, sleeping on a log. A sitting duck. That phrase describes someone who is exposed and vulnerable. And a few feet away, on that same log, a turtle. Sunning himself, as they do. This guy had stuck out his neck as if watching over the duck. Very curios indeed.
Heron, duck, turtle.
There’s a message here.
I just KNEW it.
I could do an online search for “spiritual meaning” of these animals, but I prefer to work with my own personal Lexicon.
What do they mean to me?
I’m not going to get into the whole interpretation. It’s directly related to the new moon intention I set recently and more personal than I care to share online. The process was simple, though. I spent some time with my journal brainstorming about “wait for the bounty to come to you”, “sitting duck”, “stick out your neck for a friend” and in a few minutes had a reasonably clear insight about action to take in conjunction with the seeds I planted on the new moon.
While I’m not publishing the complete message, I did want to share this as a sort of formula: being open to intuition, catching the clues, and working them out for myself.
Most importantly, I was available to receive the message unlike everyone around me who was focused on their exercise, music or screen. I was present, tuned into the environment and available to receive the message.
On my return trip, the heron lifted off and I was treated to the view of his huge wingspan, which caused me to gasp and my jaw to drop. Yet, nobody else noticed. 🤔
I later opened the Merlin app that I use to identify birdsong. I laughed to find the bird of the day is… wait for it… a heron. Coincidence or confirmation?
It’s been some time since I wrote about connecting with intuition. It’s become such a part of my daily life that I don’t much think about it. But it’s come up often in sessions with clients lately, so it was on my mind this morning.
You may be thinking, hey Pamela, you’re always talking about following the breadcrumbs, isn’t that the same as intuition? That’s fair. I often wonder this myself.
Here’s what I have to offer from my current level of understanding. The “breadcrumbs” are from an external source, call it Life, Love, God, the Universe, Spirit, guiding me. I differentiate this from my “intuition” which is the internal nudge I feel to take notice of the breadcrumbs.
Intuition is how I receive Divine Guidance. Lots of people say they want access, but they haven’t practiced being still and quiet long enough for the messages to get through. Like in the good ole days when you actually had to answer the phone while it was ringing to speak to the caller. You had to be at home, ready and able to pick up the phone. You couldn’t be on another call or in the shower or have your hands full, metaphorically or literally.
Nowadays what I see are people constantly consuming (scrolling, watching reels, plugged into podcasts or plain old digital nonsense), which does not leave any space for messages to drop in. If you can’t walk your dog around the block without staring at a screen, well, come on, how do you expect magical information to reach you?
In between smart phone addiction and living in a cave in the Himalayas, there’s a vast middle ground where we can cultivate capacity to receive. I recorded a lesson and practice on the “why and how to receive” theme and it’s available in The Toolshed. This is my latest offering where I post a practical tool for subscribers each month on a hot-topic.
You can learn to be receptive if you make time and are capable of paying attention. There are tons of ways to do this, so you needn’t visit The Toolshed if it doesn’t resonate. But you’ll likely have to do something. Burning bushes are exceedingly rare and I’ve yet to meet someone who enjoyed an intuitive connection who didn’t have a major intervention in the form of accident or illness who wasn’t devoted to some form of practice.
Sure, like Mozart, some people are naturally gifted, but most of us have to put in the time to develop our skills.
My intuition has been an invaluable resource for me. I usually feel like I’m on my path, moving in the appropriate direction and that everything will work out somehow. When I’m not, I feel like I’m being thrown about without a raft in the stormy seas.
Reiki has been the bridge that helped me get out of the perpetual thought loops and land in my body, capable of intercepting messages.
Getting into a rhythm with treatments or learning to give yourself Reiki consistently (Yes! You can easily learn how to use Reiki. Anyone can do this and I can teach you!) could be the portal you’ve been looking for to access your intuition and its priceless wisdom.
Luminous Heart Reiki & Massage 