Reiki And Compassion

Those of us in the Reiki community are used to giving our attention to sufferers, through hands-on, hands-over, and distant healing. When we meet for Reiki shares, when we do Reiki hands-on healing sessions, when we give Reiki healing to people in hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, animal shelters, and the like, we give our attention to the sufferers.
This isn’t easy, it’s agonizing, especially if you’re an empath like me who feels the recipient’s every pain and emotion. No, I of course don’t take on the person’s physical pain as shamans do, thanks be to Usui Founder. Yes, I do feel their psychic pain, I do understand the agonies they suffer, I understand them in my own flesh even if I never take them on. I weep for them as they weep. I pray that my Reiki hands, my Reiki intent, and the help of the Teachers, Usui Founder, Hayashi Sensei, Takata Sensei, and the Holy Ghost who gave Reiki its name, Ghost Energy, will guide and help me.
Being an empath has its issues, but being a rational, logical, thinking human being means that you’re not blind to those who want to crucify you for their own advancement. These are the ones who want to make you use your energy to boost theirs for their own dark and corrupt ends. The ones who blame all their problems on everyone else, assuming no personal responsibility whatever for their personal failures and setbacks: It’s always somebody else’s fault, never theirs. Poor, poor, pitiful me!
This pathetic whining horrifies me, and yet it’s something all of us in the Reiki community will someday face, from our family, our friends, our students, our critics. Why didn’t you help ME, solve all MY problems?! Why should I ever have to take control of my own life? Why aren’t you doing it for me?
The psychic vampires who cling on like this are the monsters in the closet of Reiki and all other spiritual practices. For every Reiki practitioner or teacher who manages to evade one of these people, it seems as if a thousand spring up in their place. Yes, these people are mentally ill and deserve compassion, as someone who’d been mauled in a car crash or house fire deserves compassion. Yes, they need healing. But yes, too, it’s so hard to reach out to them when you see the horrific selfishness, self-centeredness, and self-absorption that are their drivers.
This, ultimately, is the challenge of those of us who follow the Reiki Way and try to use its power to heal. It’s difficult, as Simone Weil notes, to minister to a repellent, self-absorbed person, whose entire life revolves around nothing but him- or herself. But if they have come to us—if they have taken the first step on the road to healing—it is up to us to guide them on the path. By doing so, we can practice compassion even as we help them understand what compassion is.

---Stay Blessed---

Reiki And Forgiveness

What does it mean to forgive? What’s the purpose? Why should we forgive?
Since I started practicing Reiki, I have seen many people forgive themselves and others.Reiki can assist in clearing the energies of anger and resentment, and help people to forgive in a gentle and loving way.
Forgiveness is never about the other person. It is always about us. It is about letting go of the feelings that have been holding us back, weighing us down, and keeping us stuck. It does not condone what the other person did. It does not mean that what happened was okay. It just means that we are choosing to let go of it so we can move on in our lives.
Think of someone who makes you very angry, a person who has caused you pain. The first thing you need to do is have the intent to forgive. Then, start letting yourself feel your feelings, whether they be anger, guilt or sorrow. Give yourself permission to go into the feelings. Realize the intensity. If tears come up, let yourself cry.
Then, when you are calmer, feel the positive aspects that have come out of the painful experience. How did this experience serve you? Are you stronger, more compassionate, more loving to yourself and others?
Every experience serves us in some way. It furthers our growth and expansion - that is why we created it. As you can realize the benefits that you derived out of the painful experience, you see its value and start letting go. You start the process of forgiveness.
It is important also to practice forgiveness toward yourself. As you forgive others, then it will open the way for self-forgiveness. We are each on our own path and we make our choices based on our knowledge at that time. We learn and grow from our vast array of experiences. As you forgive yourself, you make room for new opportunities to come to you. You feel lighter and more in touch with your own sense of peace, love and joy.
So, as you begin this process of forgiveness, be kind and patient with yourself. You know you have forgiven when you think about that same person and the anger is gone, the emotion is gone. You may still have the memories, but without the emotions.
Practice forgiveness in every area of your life. It is truly a blessing and the rewards are innumerable. 

---Stay Blessed---

Reiki and Shamanic Healing

In my training as an Energy Healer,I was taught to feel the Universal life force energy that runs through all things. I learned how to commune with the spirits of the trees and plants, to ask if they were what I needed to harvest. The life force that flowed through the plant/animal/mineral world was respected and honored. Working with Reiki I have seen humans, plants, and animals revived by Reiki. I believe this is natural since Reiki works directly with the life force that flows through all things.
Not only does Reiki fit in well with the Native American belief system, it can be used in or in conjunction with all of the Shamanic healing practices. There are many healing modalities in the Shamanic path. I mention a few of those which I use to show how I have incorporated the use of Reiki with them.
Herbal remedies are commonly used to balance the physical body and to restore health. Many of the herbs I use must now be purchased so I can not possibly know the attitude and thoughts of the person that harvested the plants. These thought forms can have a significant effect on the healing ability of the herb. If the plant was picked while the person was feeling angry or depressed, that energy will still be attached to the plant and will have a detrimental effect on the action of the herb. To ensure that the energy is positive and coming from a sacred space, I reiki the plants before using them. I also reiki any food before putting it into my body.
An extraction is a method of removing evil spirits or destructive patterns of behavior from an individual. Much like psychic surgery the issue is removed through ritual and given to the earth, the spirit world or the Light to be transmuted. After such a procedure there is a virtual void within the person which needs to be filled with positive energy to facilitate growth and health. This is where I like to use Reiki to fill this area with vibrant loving life force energy.
A soul retrieval is where the Shaman trance journeys through the Void to retrieve soul aspects which the individual has lost. I believe this is the same as what is termed disassociation in psychology. The Shaman finds these missing parts, negotiates for their return and replaces them in the individual. The individual is then responsible for integrating these aspects, seeing what that aspect can teach them and what they will need to do to retain each part. Reiking the individual before the ritual allows them to be more open and centered in the receiving of their soul part. Reiki afterwards facilitates the integration process.
The middle world is one name for the non-ordinary reality that is this world but without the constraints of time and space. Shamans travel through this world as part of their work and Eastern doctrine calls this Astral traveling. Much healing can be done in this manner as the Shaman trance journeys to any location in the present, past or future. For years before I had ever heard of Reiki, my power animals or guides would instruct me to perform a "laying on of hands" for healing in the middle world. Now, with Reiki I use it more often than not and with phenomenal results. Shamanic journeying facilitates the remote healing of Reiki and Reiki further empowers Shamanic journeying.
Shamanic healing and Reiki have existed for thousands of years. Coming from inner wisdom and based on human needs, they are a natural complement to each other. As we open our minds to the possibilities of our greater nature, we discover the unity that exists within all healing techniques.

---Stay Blessed---

5 Steps to Increase Self Empowerment

Self-empowerment is the process of taking charge of your life by lifting yourself from victimhood. Once you have achieved this process, your life will dramatically change for the better, because you will begin to live in your realities instead of living in other people’s realities.
To increase self-empowerment, you will need to take responsibility for your actions and seek knowledge of empowerment, so that you can lift yourself from victimhood. Once you have achieved this process, your life will dramatically change for the better, because you will have more control of your reality. As a result, people will not be able to take advantage of you anymore since they will be unable to blindfold you from the truth. Your confidence will also change to a level you never knew existed and many of your fears will be reduced.


1) Understand who you are: Most of us have forgotten who we truly are. We do not understand that we are spiritual beings with infinite potential. Instead, we believe we are physical beings with limited potential. If we were only physical beings, we would not be able to observe ourselves and have the imaginations that we have. The human brain cannot tell the difference between what it sees and what it remembers. In other words, it works similar to a computer and has very little consciousness, just enough to exist. Think of the brain as a medium that connects us to higher levels of consciousness. Even though our brains work like a computer, we all know that there is more to us because we can observe ourselves. This brings up the question, who or what is the observer? The answer to this question is the Soul/Spirit.Once you understand who you truly are, many of your fears will be reduced and you increase the power within you.   

2) Learn to forgive: Forgiveness allows your body to heal itself, because it releases energy blockages that are caused by traumas. Traumas are great fear motivators that can trap you in victimhood.

3) Do not be afraid of the truth: It is important to seek the truth because it will set you free from victimhood. The truth may not always be easy since it can threaten your so-called normal realities and beliefs. Quantum physicists found out that our brains can process more than 400 billion bits of information per second. Out of those 400 billion bits of information, we are only aware of about 2,000 of them. To put it in mathematical terms, our conscious awareness of the total reality is less than 1 percent. This means that most of reality is happening within our subconscious minds; therefore, we know very little about reality.

4) Trust your intuition: Your intuition is the knowing feeling that you have near the pit of your stomach, but is not limited to that area. People usually refer to it as the gut feeling. The more you learn to trust and use your intuition, the more confident you will become. Your intuition will also help you get on the right path, which will make you feel like your life is going somewhere instead of in circles. 

5) Do not be a victim: When you allow yourself to become a victim, you lose physical, emotional, mental and spiritual power. Being in this state of victimhood prevents you from understanding who you are which decreases self-empowerment. 

6) Personal responsibility: Being responsible for your thoughts and actions are very important for increasing self-empowerment. When you become more responsible, you are basically telling your soul and the Universe that you are ready to explore the unknown. This exploration of the unknown will help increase your understanding of the Universe. The more knowledge and wisdom you have, the more you increase that power within you.

---Stay Blessed---

5 Steps to Identify Your Life Purpose

We each have hundreds of callings in our lives,some big and some small.Rather than one LIFE PURPOSE or mission,we actually have many opportunities to experience aspects of what brings us alive.Spend a few moments thinking about your calling.It may be front and center in your life,or it may be disguised as something else.Its simply your heart speaking its truth. Listen to it.If you aren’t sure how to uncover your calling, here are some tips to help you get started.

1. Notice what captivates you.

Check out your bedside reading table, your Amazon wish list, and the collection of blogs you follow. What most excites you, or enrages you? What would you like to write an op-ed about? Why?

2. Take your life inventory, reflecting past callings. 

Acknowledge what you learned from acting on older callings, and see if anything from those experiences remains alive for you. Retrieve bits that might help you in deciphering your current calling. Put your old callings to rest if they are no longer alive for you, so you can open space for new callings to arise.

3. Journal on what your calling is.

Write out 50 responses to the question: “What is my calling?” Put pen to paper and go! Do not pause or edit, and do not stop before you get to 50. Your calling will make itself known. It will probably also make you cry. This is good news.

4. Ask others what they think.

Poll your friends and family about your passions. Ask them what they see as your calling. Notice which responses elicit a feeling of “yes!” in you.

5. Use your values as a guide.

Make a list of your core values (these are qualities that make you, you; they aren’t who you think you should be, but rather who you already are). How are you honoring those values in your life right now? What information do your values give you about your calling?

Living our lives by honoring our callings creates deep contentment and, by extension, a more vibrant world. What’s whispering in your ear? What will you do about it?

---Stay Blessed---

Maintain Your Perspective

When we come across difficult situations, we tend to over-react and that just makes things worse. The problem is never going to get any better, instead worse. We should stop for a minute and look at the situation from a different perspective, rather be solution-focused and not problem-focused.

I want to share a small story with you that best describes what I mean by maintaining your perspective.

One day, a man with a serious illness was wheeled into a hospital room where another patient was resting on a bed next to the window. As the two became friends, the one next to the window would look out of it and then spend the next few hours describing his roommate the beautiful view of the outside world. Some days he would describe the beauty of the trees in the park across the hospital and on the other days, he would describe to his friend the step-by-step replays of the things people were doing as they walked passed the hospital. However, as time went on, the bedridden man grew frustrated at his inability to see the wonderful things his friend described to him. Eventually, he started to hate him.

One night, during a particularly bad coughing phase, the patient next to the window stopped breathing. Rather than pressing the button for help, the other man chose to do nothing. The next morning the patient was pronounced dead and was wheeled out of the hospital room. The other man quickly asked the attending nurse that his bed be placed next to the window. When his bed was shifted to a spot near the window and when he looked out of the window, he discovered something that made him shake: the window faced a brick wall. His former roommate had manipulated the beautiful insights with his imagination and kept describing them to him as a loving gesture so as to make the world of his friend a little better. He had acted out of selfless love.

This story taught me one thing: Always stick to your perspective...no matter what. When we encounter difficult circumstances, we must pause for a while and ask ourselves, “Is there a much better way of looking at this negative situation ?” This will help us calm down and make us realize how grateful we are that this problem is not any bigger than it is now. I always remember my Mother’s words: “God will never give you a problem that you cannot handle.” Problems only make us stronger and act as lessons for us to grow from.

Stephen Hawking, one of the greatest physicists ever, once said that, we live on a minor planet of a very average star located within the outer limits of one of a hundred thousand galaxies. How does that sound for a shift in perspective? Now, given this information, are your troubles really that big? Are the problems or challenges you are facing, really as serious as you made them to be? Think about this for a moment and be grateful for them as there are many other people going through worse problems and challenges than you are.

We are on this planet for a very short time. Our lives are a small tiny dot on the canvas of eternity. Focus on the bigger things in life and live your life the way you want to live it.

 
---Stay Blessed---

Honour Your Past

Every second you dwell on your past, you steal from your future. Every minute you spend focusing on your problems, you take away from finding your solutions. And thinking about all those things that you wish never happened to you is actually blocking all the things you want to happen from entering into your life. It makes no sense to worry about past events or mistakes unless you want to experience them for a second time. Instead, use the lessons you have learned from your past to rise to a whole new level of awareness and enlightenment. In other words, your past experiences are one of your best teachers. BE GRATEFUL that you went through those tough times as those event have made you the person you are today.

If you notice, Life’s greatest setbacks reveal Life’s biggest opportunities. If you have suffered more than your fair share of difficulties in life, perhaps you are being prepared to serve some greater purpose that will require you to be equipped with the wisdom you have acquired through your trials in the past. Use these life lessons to fuel your future growth. Remember, happy people have often experienced as much adversity as those who are unhappy. What sets them apart is that they have the good sense to manage their memories in a way that enriches their lives in different ways.

And understand that if you have failed more than others, there is a very good chance you are living more completely than others. Those who take more chances and dare to be more and do more than others will naturally experience more failures. I would rather push myself to try something new and then fail, than to never have tried at all. I would prefer to feel good about being hard on myself and having achieved something really challenging rather than living a life of comfort, security and mediocrity. That’s the essence of true life success. As Booker T. Washington said, “I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles he has overcome while trying to succeed.”


---Stay Blessed---