long distance Reiki

I’ve been collecting life-force energy for some time now. Having more deposits than withdrawals is part of my healthy aging plan. I think this is a brilliant strategy for wellness of all kinds, but is particularly important as we age.

What most people think of as “aging” is what I see as the compound interest of lifelong energetic debt. We can get away with neglecting of our bodies, even abusing them, for some time, but eventually the consequences catch up.

Every decision we make can include an awareness of this simple math. Will this action yield more or less healing energy in my system?

Don’t get me wrong- I’m no teetotaler. I don’t always opt for the supremely healthy choice, but when I don’t, I do the math first to decide if the results will be worth it.

Today, I went out for lunch. I usually prepare my own meals, but for the past 24 hours, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about bread. Very strange. I wondered if perhaps it was my body speaking to me? More likely a long-silenced part that never got onboard 25 years ago when I learned I had a wheat sensitivity. Whatever, the thoughts became a craving and I figured a sandwich would do the trick.

I knew that mediocre bread wouldn’t cut it. And gluten free bread isn’t usually great. It’s either crazy expensive, has questionable ingredients to make up for the gluey gluten goodness that traditionally holds bread together, or crumbles in your hands. I couldn’t think of any way to satisfy this desire at the grocery store and I had nothing at home that would suffice.

So off to the bakery I go. I chose what would be considered healthy fare by any American standards. Chicken salad on walnut raisin. Not a hoagie (hero, sub, grinder or bun the size of my head), just two slices of bread. It was most satisfying and quelled that incessant loop in my head.

As I stood up to bus my plate, I had to cough. This is highly unusual for me. Suddenly, there was a lot of phlegm in my throat. As I walked out the door, I noticed I was sniffly. Shortly thereafter, I was gassy. And then my ears started to itch.

No big deal, really. My body can manage all of this. But it’s using life-force to do so. I don’t need to feel guilty or worry or make amends. It’ll all even out if I offer an extra deposit- such as time in nature or meditating.

If this was my habit, though, it’s easy to see how I’d eventually end up in life-force deficiency. And I’d get chronically stuffy, which could create the perfect environment for a virus to move in. Or I could medicate the symptoms, ignoring the root cause and accrue even more problematic symptoms.

I thought of my friend Mika, who carries a digestive enzyme supplement with her for times like these. There are definitely ways to mitigate less than stellar decisions. But what I really want to point out is that I recognized these symptoms because they aren’t the norm for me. Many people wouldn’t identify phlegm-iness as a result of food choices.

The more active I am in building my life-force savings, the more obvious the costly fees are because the contrast is so great.

There is no one-sized fits all life-force savings plan. I’m not suggesting that you don’t eat out, or you don’t eat chicken salad sandwiches, or you go wheat- free. But I am suggesting you do some detective work, some experimenting, and begin an honest exploration into your expenditures and investments.

If you find yourself digging in your heels, unwilling to give up certain behaviors you know to be problematic, that’s ok too. To balance things out, you can put your focus on life-force deposits. So rather than taking something away, you can think of adding in a beneficial practice like yoga or tai chi. Or build a monthly session of massage and/or Reiki into your budget and calendar.

Find ways to make more deposits, even if your withdrawals remain the same, and you’ll accrue wellness credits over time. The benefit to quitting the habits that have less than desirable results, at least for a few weeks, is that your body can recalibrate and you’ll be better able to notice its reaction to something as simple as eating a sandwich for lunch.

Accruing Life-Force and Healthy Aging

I’ve been collecting life-force energy for some time now. Having more deposits than withdrawals is part…
Recently I shared a short video about why I usually don’t recommend stretching for my clients with muscle tension.

What?! 😳

Yup. Very often it doesn’t create the desired results because stretching doesn’t address why a muscle is tight. So it may or may not help in the moment, but rarely has a lasting effect, if any at all.

Here’s what you can try instead if you’re not getting anywhere with traditional stretching.

Of course, massage and Reiki can help with this too. Book a session if you need extra support- I’d be happy to put my skills to work! AND even if you’re getting regular bodywork, daily interventions like this can really make a difference.

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A Holistic Remedy for a Tight Upper Back

Recently I shared a short video about why I usually don’t recommend stretching for my clients…
Tight muscles are literally my business. It’s common knowledge that stretching will help, but I usually disagree.

To be clear, I mean deliberately holding a stretch to remedy muscle tension. I think that stretching like a cat and moving through the body’s range of motion is great for maintaining mobility. But sustaining a forward bend to address tight hamstrings, for example, often backfires.

So I made a three and half minute video to explain why.

P.S. I created a follow up video outlining what I do recommend.

I don’t recommend targeted stretching, and here’s why.

Tight muscles are literally my business. It’s common knowledge that stretching will help, but I usually…
We have so much information at our fingertips today that it can be overwhelming. If you’ve ever attended Google University seeking a self-diagnosis and treatment, you’ve likely come up with tons of contradictory information.

How I Healed XYZ in 5 Days

7 Easy Steps to Cure XYZ

The One Thing That Fixed Everything

Headlines like these abound. They often lead to confusion, frustration, and sadly even a worsening of the situation.

Why? Because they are addressing symptoms, not the root cause.

Let’s use insomnia as an example.

There are a gazillion reasons people don’t sleep well. It could be churning thoughts, physical discomfort, a lumpy mattress, a snoring spouse, or excess caffeine.

(Not an Ambien deficiency. You might find relief through a prescription, but the side effects often outweigh the benefits. Please consider exploring the underlying condition while you’re taking the pills so maybe you won’t need them someday in the future.)

Each of these causes will obviously have a different plan of treatment.

So when I read about someone who quit drinking coffee, improved their sleep patterns, and touts this as the number one cure, I’m a bit tetchy. I don’t even drink coffee, so who’s that going to help me?

Whether you’re dealing with insomnia or back pain (two conditions I’m intimately familiar with on a personal and professional level), psoriasis, headaches, or fatigue, there are a few things I can suggest that will always be beneficial as they help uncover the root cause.
1. Stress management. There are countless practices that help the body digest the physiological consequences of chronic stress. They will calm the mind, reduce tension, and support all the body’s systems.
2. Curiosity. Be your own detective and explore what’s going on in your life, in your psyche, in your body. If you’re trying to quit a problematic habit, get curious about what’s underneath and why you reach for the behavior or substance and how you might circumvent that pattern.
3. Compassion. Be kind to yourself! Especially if you’re struggling and suffering. Your inner dialog has a direct impact on your physiology. Berating yourself or stewing in resentment will increase your stress response, cortisol levels, tension, and inflammation.
4. Reduce exposure to toxins. Including emotional toxins in the form of unhealthy relationships, doomscrolling, and the compare and despair dynamic so prevalent on Instagram.
5. Presence. Learn to be with yourself, especially during difficult times. Develop a daily practice of turning inwards, with compassion and curiosity, and check in rather than checking out. This can be uncomfortable, so start small. Three minutes can go a long way.
6. Breathe. Obviously you are breathing or you wouldn’t be reading this. But what is the quality of your breath? Shallow and rapid? Can you drop into presence and cultivate a calming, nourishing pattern? Some people swear by “box” breath; I’m partial to extending the exhales so they’re slightly longer than the inhales.
7. Boost your life-force. This is big. And overlooked completely in our medical system. If you are chronically depleted, running on empty, burning the candle at both ends, taking care of everybody but yourself, your body will try to communicate its distress with you. I recommend listening before the consequences amplify!
Insight Timer is a free app and a wonderful resource for simple, guided practices that will help you do many of these things. I found the yoga nidra (a sort of meditation where you systematically bring attention to areas of the body) to be invaluable.

My all-time favorite and go-to remedy is Reiki. Reiki treatments offer an infusion of spiritually-guided life-force energy that relieves stress, tension, anxiety, and pain and promotes the body’s innate healing abilities.

It won’t, however, address your spouse’s snoring-like-a-chainsaw issue. For that you’re going to need some hefty earplugs or a separate bedroom. I’ve heard about successful elimination of snoring by diffusing sweet marjoram essential oil, or changing pillows or sleeping position.

While Reiki is amazing and can help with a lot of problems, it really depends on the root cause. It won’t make you sleep soundly after a late-night triple espresso, but it can help you build better sleep habits.

There is no such thing as a miracle cure. But there are numerous ways to address the root problem. All of them will require your participation and willingness to make changes.

If you’d like some support in this arena, you can use this button to book a session.

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Getting to the Root

We have so much information at our fingertips today that it can be overwhelming. If you’ve…
So many people suffer from itchy eyes and nonstop sneezing this time of year. Sadly, there’s not much allopathic medicine can do for them other than allergy pills that are woefully inadequate, temporary, and laden with side effects.

I have a different perspective. What if pollen is not your enemy?

Huh?!

Humor me for a moment.

What if pollen is like the straw that broke the camel’s back?

What if lowering the overall burden placed on the body and its detoxification system would lessen the impact of the triggers of seasonal allergies?

The way I see it, we can do our best to reduce the toxins we’re exposed to daily. I’m talking about toxins in body care and cleaning products as well as food and water. (Body sprays, air fresheners, anything with “fragrance” on the label would be my #1 suggestion for the elimination pile.)

We can support our body’s capacity to function optimally by metabolizing stress and saturating ourselves with life-force energy.

I’ve just recently learned that some foods have been reported to have higher levels of histamine and some have been reported to release histamine.

Adjusting one’s menu, reducing toxic exposure, stockpiling life-force, and managing stress are things that can be done with a little effort and don’t require a big financial investment. The side effects are all positive and the results could last indefinitely instead of 12 hours.

I’ll add that there are herbs and homeopathic remedies that work for some as well. Although that’s beyond the scope of this post, you can easily find this info online.

If you’re tired of suffering and unsatisfied with the current regime, why not give something new a try?

Reiki supports stress relief and the body’s innate detox process and is a safe, yet powerful, source of healing energy. If that’s something that interests you, go ahead and book a treatment and we can get started on clearing off the proverbial camel’s back so that a few specks of pollen won’t cause so much harm.

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Seasonal Allergies: A Holistic Approach

So many people suffer from itchy eyes and nonstop sneezing this time of year. Sadly, there’s…
If you’ve ever followed someone’s advice for healing an ailment and found yourself disappointed in the results, you aren’t alone.

Lots of people share with me the tricks they use for xyz and often they are things I’ve already tried to no avail.

It’s frustrating.

The thing is, the root of the problem is often hidden. Two people might have frequent headaches, but the same treatment might not be effective for both of them since the causes are different.

If you’re dehydrated and have a headache, a big glass of water can work wonders. You can go on to write a book about water being the miracle healer, yet it will be 100% ineffective for someone with a mold allergy or a tension headache.

No worries, though. Your body knows. There is an innate wisdom within and you can learn to access it. I’m not saying it’s easy, at least not in the beginning, but like any skill, you can hone it with practice.

My suggestion is to be like a cat. They move in ways that feel GOOD! Now, don’t go researching “how to move like a cat”. That’s something I would have done in the past. 🙄

Instead, feel into what movements your body would enjoy. Let pleasure be your guide.

It all starts with an intention to tap in and honor the messages that come from your body. Next, you’ll need to create time and space to listen. Many of us are just running around all day, every day, so that we can’t receive the messages that come through.

Remember the olden days when phones were atttached to the walls of homes? And you had to be at there when the call came through? And then you had to pick it up, at that moment, and listen to the voice on the other side?

It’s a lot like that.

Your body will tell you how it wants to move and rest, what it wants to eat and when, and all sorts of other information- if you pay attention.

But you have to be available to pick up the phone.

Yes, this means forgetting about tons of external rules about how many steps you should take or what your target heart rate is. It might mean shaking things up in your family, workplace, or circle of friends.

But, let’s face it. If you keep on doing what you’re doing, you’ll continue to get what you’ve already got. I’m guessing that if you’re reading this, you’d prefer a different outcome.

Why not go directly to the source of wisdom?

I find Reiki incredibly helpful for increasing my clarity, motivation, and capacity to receive messages from my body. If you want to do the work, it could help you too. Or if you prefer to receive support and let me do the work, that can also help. It’s not the only way by any means. As far as I can tell, it’s the simplest, easiest, and most accessible though.

One of the things I really love about Reiki is that the healing energy sinks beneath the symptoms and addresses the initial imbalance. It might be in the mental, emotional, spiritual, energetic, or circumstantial realm which would have been overlooked by modern medical treatment.

What would your body appreciate today? If it’s Reiki or some gentle bodywork, why not schedule a treatment? Or perhaps you’d like a walk, a bath, some time on your yoga mat, or a nap. Only you know for sure.

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Healing Isn’t One Size Fits All

If you’ve ever followed someone’s advice for healing an ailment and found yourself disappointed in the…
I had a breakthrough last week in a chronic pain pattern. Woohoo! I discovered tension in an adjacent area that was torquing my pelvis and causing discomfort in my lower back, hip, and leg. This awareness is huge as it points my efforts towards the cause of the imbalance rather than chasing the symptoms.

Chasing symptoms never provides lasting results because the source of the problem remains unresolved. A particular symptom might diminish, only to have another appear in its place.

Nearly all of the problems that people bring to my office are symptoms. Despite near- heroic efforts, clients have not been able to resolve issues because they were looking at the superficial problem and not what was underneath.

I don’t say this with any judgment or blame. We don’t know what we don’t know, and we can only do the best with the information that we have at the time. I’m offering some new information that will hopefully be helpful moving forward.

I have long hair. It often gets caught in my coat zipper in the winter. It’s obvious that the problem is coming from the zipper, but I feel it in my scalp. There’s no amount of intervention at the level of my scalp that is going to yield relief.

The same is often true for that crick in the neck, the burning in the shoulder blade, the ache in the elbow.

My massage teacher used an analogy of a schoolyard. He said that the complaining muscle was like the nerd, but if you looked closely, you could find the bully lurking nearby. The bully is the source of the pain, the nerd is the one that suffers. (I pretty nerdy myself, so please don’t let this word cause offense. It’s just an illustration.)

OK, so now what?

It’s possible to work with a pain pattern on your own if you have the capacity to bring compassionate awareness to what you’re feeling and remain present through the discomfort.

Sadly, few of us have any training in how to do that. These are skills that can be learned and I’d fully encourage you to begin today. Can you be with yourself for two full minutes, or 15 deep breaths, with 100% of your attention turned inward? Start there and build up your tolerance over time.

See if you can separate out the emotions that may be stored in this area clamoring for your care. Or the stories about previous experiences and concerns about the future. If you have been raised in the western world, you mostly likely have been conditioned by society, Saturday morning cartoons, magazine ads, pop culture, and Instagram to have certain beliefs about your body and how it is “supposed” to look and function.

Then there’s the way you use your body, such as repetitive movement patterns, your posture, and the way your body has adapted to your environment. Perhaps the most disruptive, hidden influence is how the nervous system responds to anything unfamiliar as if it were a threat and causes muscles to tense. When this happens over and over again, the muscles sometimes get locked in their contracted positions, perpetually ready for a threat that never comes.

We could also look at causes for systemic inflammation such as allergens in our foods, toxins we’re exposed to daily, latent viruses, chronic stress, inadequate sleep, and mold spores in the walls.

Let’s not forget about the energy body. When life-force is depleted, our systems don’t have the juice they need to function optimally. When energy flow is blocked, chakras are underutilized. When the flow is clogged, often the backlog feels painful and we unknowingly look for ways to discharge this pent up energy that can have detrimental effects.

To be thorough, I’ll add that the soul also plays a role. Not that it needs healing, as it’s eternal and whole by nature, but because we can become separate from it through trauma and programming. When we’re aligned with our essence and purpose, the other elements of healing are more easily accessible.

In short, our body, mind, emotions, instincts, and soul are all intricately woven together and need to be addressed fully to heal. If you’ve been working with an issue to no avail, try switching your focus to one of the other realms.

Or try Reiki. It works wonders as it addresses all the parts, striving to bring them all into harmony. You can learn to give yourself daily doses of healing energy or book yourself a session. You don’t even need to leave home.

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Distance Reiki

Chasing Symptoms

I had a breakthrough last week in a chronic pain pattern. Woohoo! I discovered tension in…
Good question! It’s one I get a lot.

It’s a Reiki treatment for someone who’s in a different location than the practitioner. It’s something taught to students in a level 2 Reiki class.

I sometimes call it “remote” Reiki, but in the last few years, “remote” has come to mean “virtual” or a video meeting, and this is not at all what I mean.

The practice of Reiki is over a hundred years old; it does not rely on modern technology. There is no video chat. No Google Meet invitation. No Zoom link.

It is Zoomless. 🤪

Sure, some practitioners offer sessions by video. Not because they need the internet to do a Reiki session, though. I imagine they do it because they think people want to see them. Idk why, though, cuz I’m just sitting there with my eyes closed, keeping my focus on the energy and the client. There’s nothing to see, and I find the screen to be distracting.

So how does it work then, if the healing energy isn’t magically traveling over the internet?

Good question!

I don’t exactly know how it works. It’s quantum physics, folks, and I’m not going to try to bluff my way through this.

Something about collapsing all time and space to here and now on the energetic level. It makes my head hurt to try and grok that.

I have learned sacred symbols that allow me to connect this universal energy to anyone, anywhere. Don’t ask me how the symbols work! I don’t know. I don’t need to know. It’s above my pay grade.

I don’t know how my car works, how my furnace works, how my laptop works. But I know how to use them. Turn the key, set the thermostat, power up.

My Reiki teacher taught me a technique that she learned from her Reiki teacher who learned it from his Reiki teacher… all the way back to the founder of this amazing system, Usui Sensei. He knew how it worked! He also knew that since Reiki is innately intelligent and always working in the highest good and establishing energetic balance that we don’t need to understand it intellectually.

Trust me, if I had to learn the science, my prices would be much, much higher to compensate me for that suffering!

You don’t need to understand to get the full benefits. Really, it’s true. I have done this countless times with tremendous effectiveness.

Distance Reiki, or remote Reiki, Zoomless Reiki, is the perfect remedy if you’re in an isolated location, too ill to travel, snowed in, or just don’t want to put pants on.

I love doing distance sessions because it feels like I plug right into the energetic blueprint of the client and observe the healing happen at the root cause.

It’s pretty darn amazing. It makes treatment convenient for folks who couldn’t otherwise get to a session for any number of reasons.

If you’ve been thinking of distance Reiki as a sad, sorry second place alternative for the “real” thing, I assure you, it is not. The energy transferred is just as real as in an in-person session. And you needn’t to get dressed or slog through traffic afterwards.

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Want to learn how to practice Reiki so you can offer distance treatments? I’ve got a level 1 training coming up. That’s your starting point.

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What the Heck is Distance Reiki, Anyway?

Good question! It’s one I get a lot. It’s a Reiki treatment for someone who’s in…
A new client just left my office. After the session was over, she proclaimed, “That was crazy!”

I’m always delighted to hear what people have to say about their time on the table. Everyone uses unique words to describe their healing experiences.

“I was floating on waves of peace.” Mmhmm, that sounds nice!

A lot of people drop into a deep place, not quite awake, not quite asleep. I suspect they are going into delta or theta brainwave grooves, but have no way of measuring. I just know that it’s an altered state that opens the gate for profound healing to happen.

I remember a time when I received a treatment from a friend. I’d been in her space dozens of times before, but on this particular day when the session ended and she left the room, I thought to myself, how did the door get over there?! I’d been so deeply immersed in the spiritual realm that the 3D space seemed off.

Some people see colors or hear music. Everybody is different. Most people just feel a warmth or a sense of calm and relaxation that eclipses their ordinary reality.

I wonder if this is how we’d feel most of the time if we lived lives more closely connected to our natural rhythms.

I guess I’ll never know, but it’s my goal to help people go there, into their deepest selves, as best I can. It’s like having a two week tropical vacation condensed into an hour- with no sunburn or hangover!

Want to surf the waves of peace? Get yourself some Reiki! And if you’re in the Philly area, go for the combo and try my Reiki-massage combo.

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Waves of Peace

A new client just left my office. After the session was over, she proclaimed, “That was…

long distance Reiki

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