self-care

  • Whoop whoop!

    I’ve scheduled a Reiki 2 class for my Philly area friends. Anyone who has previously taken a level 1 certification training, with me or another teacher, is invited to attend.

    Many students who join this training are eager to do remote treatments so they can send healing energy to friends and family from afar. It’s pretty amazing and we have a lot of fun with this.

    But that’s not the only benefit of this training.

    The distance symbol can also be used to send healing back to traumatic moments, mitigating the present day effects of previous woundings. We can give ourselves the acceptance, understanding, love and attention that we wish we had had in the past.

    It can also be used to deposit Reiki in the future to optimize each day or smooth the way through upcoming challenges. And to secure parking spaces and restaurant seating in advance. 🙂

    I use the power symbol each time I get in the car to build a protective force field around me. It also amplifies traditional healing and space clearing endeavors. And so much more!

    And the mental/emotional symbol is quite useful for treating anxiety and depression, while simultaneously cultivating focus, clarity, and memory. Because it looks like a creature with an open mouth, I imagine it munching up limiting beliefs and cultural conditioning just like PacMan.

    Of course, this is just the teaser! We spend quite a bit of time getting to know each symbol and how we can use them in a variety of ways.

    Intrigued? We’d love to have you.

    5 Thursday evenings from 6-8pm September 14, 21, & 28, October 5 & 19 (no class on October 12)

    I’m offering a $25 early bird discount off the regular fee of $275 through August 24. We meet in my Mt. Airy office, near the intersection of Germantown & Mt. Pleasant Aves. I support your comfort to provide the best learning opportunity, so whatever you may need to make that happen is welcome. Let’s chat if you’re unsure if this is a match for you.

    Announcing In-person Reiki 2 Certification

    Whoop whoop! I’ve scheduled a Reiki 2 class for my Philly area friends. Anyone who has…

  • I have a lot of fun getting creative with my Reiki practice.

    Most people think of Reiki as a treatment- something that happens on a massage table in a spa-like environment.

    But that’s only one of it’s expressions. Reiki is spiritually-guided life-force energy. It can be applied anywhere and everywhere to support our goals and desires.

    Recently I activated Reiki to open myself to my inner wisdom and connect with a sacred symbol. A downward facing triangle emerged. A few days later I was inspired to make a crystal grid for prosperity and while wondering how to set it up, I was nudged towards the triangle I had downloaded.

    It’s not the typical grid format and while pondering the solution, I was guided to create a ring around the edges with a necklace. And finally to use these green citrine crystals I bought ages ago in a Reiki class.

    I charged all the stones with the intention of receiving prosperity and fit them into the triangle shape intuitively. I placed the necklace around the triangle and voila! A unique crystal grid, perfect for my needs.

    I followed all of this up with a Reiki Healing Attunement, which my teacher, Laura Bruno calls one of the most powerful ways to create change. It was already pretty potent, but what the heck? I tend to use all the tools at my disposal.

    I’ll charge this up everyday with more Reiki and my intentions. I find I’m more likely to engage with a practice that is personalized and creative than following some prescribed protocol.

    How can you spice up your Reiki practice with something fun and enlivening?

    Reiki and Crystal Grids

    I have a lot of fun getting creative with my Reiki practice. Most people think of…

  • Lots of people recognize Reiki as a fantastic tool for healing physical, mental, and emotional issues. It’s even being used in hospitals and hospice to reduce pain and meds, speed recovery, and promote comfort.

    And… for those of us who are on a spiritual path, wanting to go deeper and experience belonging and awakening in mystical ways, Reiki can also provide a key for us.

    For starters, it can help us be present with whatever is arising. Staying present (vs. distracting, avoiding, numbing or procrastinating) is a necessary skill that is made much easier when our nervous systems are regulated and our minds are calm.

    It can highlight what needs to be released, processed or integrated.

    It can help us access our inner wisdom and power and sense of innate worthiness.

    When we become more grounded, more centered, more aligned with our essence, the way forward becomes clearer. Breadcrumbs appear at just the right time.

    When we’re connected to the divine within and to a sense of belonging, it’s easier to surrender to the flow of life and to set boundaries.

    When we’re comfortable facing the unknown, we gain tremendous confidence and courage.

    When we don’t need to know all the answers or figure it all out, we can show up every day for spiritual practice and allow our awakening to unfold organically without striving, clinging or forcing.

    Reiki is a resource that can be woven into your prayers, meditations, spells, and incantations. It’s simply an energy; one that can be used to enhance and deepen that work that you’re doing.

    It has been the tool that has been most transformative and nourishing for me on my decades long spiritual healing journey. Devoting time to being with myself and cultivating a soul-lead lifestyle has been a portal for spiritual awakening and connection with the divine.

    My clients and students often report mystical experiences without having the vocabulary to describe them. The lack of descriptive words makes them no less real. They express a feeling of time being suspended, going on magical journeys, and feeling more at home than they knew was even possible. I have no way of measuring, but I suspect some people go into a theta brainwave state, which is deeply healing, and/or have pineal gland activations.

    If you’re interested in journeying down this path with me, you’d be most welcome in my upcoming Reiki 1 class. We meet online 4 times, beginning May 4. Or, if you prefer a more receptive route, schedule a session and I’ll be the transmitter for you while you can catch up on some rest.

    Reiki as a Mystical Practice

    Lots of people recognize Reiki as a fantastic tool for healing physical, mental, and emotional issues.…

  • Why am I always talking about the nervous system?

    Because I see it as an important key to being healthy and happy. A lot of us spend a lot of time in the disregulated state where it’s nearly impossible to feel good or get anything meaningful accomplished.

    If you’re exploring your inner world through meditation or any of the healing arts, you’re likely going to run into some protective mechanisms that will activate your survival response, AKA sympathetic nervous system.

    This is a very useful response if you need to lift a car off someone trapped underneath or run away from an attacker.

    If you don’t need heroic strength or speed, it can cause very uncomfortable sensations in the body, such as anxiety, tension, or even panic attacks. It absolutely erodes your health over time.

    For those of us who live in the modern world, stress is unavoidable. However, we can learn to navigate it so that it doesn’t derail our peace of mind or transformational endeavors.

    I’ve assembled some simple and doable tools can help you stay present when your inner judge, perfectionist or bully, suppressed emotions, or unprocessed trauma come to the surface. Staying present is the key to healing and integrating these energies. The alternative is avoiding them, which only delays their emergence, usually until a stressful moment causes a very inconvenient eruption and/or meltdown.

    Haven’t we all “been there, done that” enough already?!

    I made this <10 minute video to demonstrate some super-easy ways to deactivate the alarm bells and impending panic when things get stirred up. They work wonders! No Reiki is required to utilize these techniques, but they do pair quite nicely with Reiki if you’ve been initiated.

    If this sort of self-care and healing work interests you, you’d be most welcome in my upcoming Reiki 1, Healing for Yourself and Your Loved Ones class.

    And if your brain is going to explode if you have to learn one more thing and all of this seems just too much, consider booking a Reiki session. Let me and the healing energy do all the work while you lie back and rest.

    It’s possible to cultivate a different way of being. It requires some consistent effort to reprogram your operating/nervous system. I can’t imagine any other effort that is more important than taking good care of yourself and cultivating the greatest possible wellness.

    How to Regulate Your Nervous System

    Why am I always talking about the nervous system? Because I see it as an important…

  • 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…

  • 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. 

    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

    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…

  • Ushering people into the realm of self-empowerment is my calling. Teaching Reiki classes and providing sessions, both distance and in-person, brings me great joy. Yet I’ve recognized a gap in the services I provide. Once initiated into the Reiki world, there’s not a lot of guidance or connection for practitioners.

    Becoming actively involved in one’s wellness is not well supported in our culture. For those interested in reclaiming wholeness and worthiness, accessing guidance from the soul level and creating a lifestyle designed to foster optimal health and happiness, the path is often a solitary one.

    This has inspired me to build a new tier of services specifically for Reiki folks. The latest installation is Reiki Squares, an online guided self-care practice. We begin on March 4 with a focus on self-compassion, a concept with which many of us struggle. Intellectually we might understand that we can’t really assist anyone when we’re depleted, but we have few role models for applying self-compassion in the real world.

    Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

    If you’ve been attuned to level 1 Reiki or beyond, regardless of when that happened or how often you practice or don’t practice, you’re welcome to join us. Whatever issues you’re dealing with, Reiki can help.

    This is a trauma-informed event and we will begin every session establishing community agreements to build an emotionally safe container. There will be an opportunity, but no obligation, to share about your experience. Many find that being witnessed by colleagues adds value and often we can learn from the adventures of others.

    Find more information on this and other services on my Reiki Tribe page, as well as an opportunity to signup for a monthly newsletter announcing future events.

    Practicing in community helps remind us that we’re not alone. Healing doesn’t need to be a solitary practice. Join us for an hour of self-compassion and self-care that will hopefully inspire you to add these elements to your daily life.

    Online Guided Reiki Practice

    Ushering people into the realm of self-empowerment is my calling. Teaching Reiki classes and providing sessions,…

  • I have Reiki to thank for keeping me healthy, happy, sane, and solvent during this on-and-on-and-ongoing pandemic. The yearning I feel to share these benefits with everyone has been magnified since 2020. I recognize the need for support beyond traditional sessions and certification classes, and a new service has emerged as a result.

    I was in massage school during my Reiki initiation and surrounded by a wide variety of holistic health advocates. It was normal to devote oneself to daily practices of self-care and to actively participate in pursuing physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and energetic wellness. After graduation, I continued working at the school’s student clinic as well as a spa. Not a glamor-type spa, but a health-oriented one, with an attached movement studio and organic café. I didn’t realize then what a blessing this introduction was for helping me create a Reiki lifestyle.

    Self-care was as normal to me as wet is to a fish. I didn’t realize till I left the protective waters of Santa Fe, and later California, that this is not always the case. It’s now clear to me that many folks don’t have support for cementing a consistent practice into their lives. Enthusiasm and curiosity that was so bright during a Reiki class begins to dissipate gradually out in the real world.

    We live in a culture that massively undervalues self-care and taking time for ourselves. Society would have us believe that it’s better to sacrifice all our energy in pursuit of status, productivity, busy-ness, wealth, and taking care of others until we get too depleted to continue. It’s ok to devote resources to our own wellness after receiving a devastating diagnosis, but not before. Ridiculous!

    The healthier and more vibrant I am, the more helpful I can be to others. I’ve devoted my career to promoting lifestyles that embrace wellness, self-care, and self-empowerment. I’m passionate about helping others actively engage in creating optimal wellness and the lives they desire. Which is why I’m offering new services that will support Reiki practitioners.

    Sure, you can always retake a class to revive your passion. I even offer refresher attunements for those seeking a jump-start. It’s easy to book an appointment to receive a session, either distance or in-person. These are all helpful options for practitioners seeking support beyond what their self-treatment efforts can provide. But they’re not necessarily the best match for someone who is struggling to get a personal or professional practice off the ground.

    It’s common to need some extra guidance about how to make Reiki work for you. I’ve come across many folks who took a class years ago in which the teacher prescribed an inflexible routine that just wasn’t realistic. Sadly, they abandoned the practice altogether as a result.

    A Reiki practice doesn’t need to be rigid! I’ve managed to dedicate myself to a daily ritual that is constantly evolving to meet my needs. I have nearly twenty years’ experience allowing Reiki to work for me rather than following some arbitrary rules. In addition, Reiki has helped me to building a career that is meaningful, enjoyable, and sustainable.

    Which leads to the next phase of my business.

    20-minute phone coaching sessions for Reiki practitioners. If you’re seeking guidance about how to build your own practice, either personal or professional, I’d be delighted to share my knowledge with you. I’m keen to help others get in touch with their inner wisdom and allow the soul to lead the way.

    During these phone calls, we will focus on one specific topic and troubleshoot any obstacles that prevent you from moving forward and experiencing your best possible outcome. If you find yourself stuck on ANY issue, I would be delighted to coach you on how to use Reiki and step into your power. I have nearly two decades of experience creating both personal and professional Reiki practices that are outside the narrow and constrictive boxes that are often presented as the only way.

    Here’s a list of the most common questions I get from Reiki people. I feel confident that Reiki can be used in every situation excepting trying to manipulate others; if you don’t see your specific quandary, no worries! I repeat, these are just the most common questions I receive, intending to spark your own unique questions, which would be most welcome during a coaching session.

    How do I anchor my self-treatment practice into a daily routine that suits my life?

    How do I apply Reiki to a specific challenge or goal?

    How do I heal childhood adversity or trauma?

    How do I overcome procrastination or lack of motivation?

    How do I establish and maintain healthy boundaries?

    How do I protect myself from feeling overwhelmed/depleted/dumped upon?

    How do I begin a professional practice?

    How do I overcome my discomfort around charging a fair fee for my services?

    How do I attract compatible clients?

    Contact me to set up an appointment and together we will explore how to use Reiki to forge your own path.

    If you’d like to stay informed of services and events curated specifically for Reiki practitioners, check out my Reiki Tribe page or sign up for the newsletter. This is the home base where I’m consolidating all the information for those of us on the Reiki path.

    Coaching Sessions for Reiki Practitioners

    I have Reiki to thank for keeping me healthy, happy, sane, and solvent during this on-and-on-and-ongoing…

  • I found this podcast with Dr. Rick and (his son) Forest Hanson, to be very helpful. In my Reiki practice, many clients and students are searching for tools to handle difficult family dynamics. Those of us on spiritual and/or healing journeys have often come across practices of forgiveness and compassion which might seem to butt heads with practices of self-care and boundary setting. Confusion can arise, further complicating things.

    To say it’s a complex issue is really an understatement! Whether you’re the one choosing distance, or the one being distanced from, you might find some comfort or useful tips in this mindful and meaningful dialog. It’s geared toward parent/child relationships, but could easily be adapted to friendships.

    From podcast notes: “We’ve received a substantial number of questions from our listeners regarding familial estrangement: when one family member distances themselves from the others, or chooses not to interact with them at all. It’s a common and extremely challenging situation, and the pain related to it can be particularly intense during the holidays. Today on Being Well, Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson discuss family estrangement, particularly focusing on parents and children, and how the questions we engage in this territory apply more broadly to how we balance our own boundaries with the responsibilities we have toward other people.”

    Navigating Estrangement Situations

    I found this podcast with Dr. Rick and (his son) Forest Hanson, to be very helpful.…