Creating Space with Reiki

With even 11 years of Reiki practice under my belt I still find myself looking at my own re-creation in my life and the spiritual path that Reiki has become for me. When Reiki called to me in my 30’s. My focus at that time was getting my life in order and healing the many things I felt were “wrong” with me. I was a mother of young children, a life partner, a nurse, and a survivor of PTSD, among other things.

Reiki found me and I began to put the many shattered pieces of myself into order. Even as I struggled through my own mind and judgments; Reiki was there, gently guiding me. In some times it had been the only place I found solace.

Now as June approaches I find myself approaching the age of 40. Many people love to tease their family and co-workers about being over the hill and washed up, yet I don't view it this way. At this point in my life I am still a mother of early 20 something children, I am a partner to a sweet and very kind lover, I remain a survivor of PTSD, and although I have added massage therapist, clinical hypnotist, and qi gong instruction to my tool box I am still getting my life in order. And each wrinkle and line, each change to my body and sometimes to my mind are evidence of the lessons I have learned and the loves that I have shared and sometimes lost, but each moment has created who I am today and my capacity to forgive on even deeper levels myself and those who may have wronged me in some way in my life.

The one thing that has changed however is the thought process that something is “wrong” with me and that I am broken or malfunctioning. What I identified as sick and wrong so long ago I now realize is the action of war within my own being, and I am happy to say that I no longer consider myself the kind of warrior willing to berate or malign the temple of my body or mind with unkind thoughts and words. I have laid down my weapons of sharp edged thought and piercing memories, I have put to sleep the idea of remaining in a barred cold prison built seemingly by my parents and life’s early experiences; when in truth it was only real because I believed it could be. Because I never knew another way.

I have unknowingly begun to create the space for God to dwell deep within me. With each feeling that clutches my heart, each thought that twists my stomach; I know the kindest thing is to gently nudge the truth out from the fear that still lives in the cells of my body. To allow the light to shine upon the things that my own mind lovingly buried so that I should not suffer deeply and daily for the travesties and hurt that had been my past. As I move gently through the process I have begun to invite the light, and the Creator of the light, even deeper into my life experience.

The practice of Reiki is still my tried and true friend and confidant. A place to find solace and peace, a place that can never cause any harm. Reiki is a place that nurtures the gentle and kind practice of less worry, less anger and of kindness to the self.

This is the first of 3 articles of Creating Space with Reiki, more to come…

Finding gratitude within

I love Autumn. For years this time of the year always found me excited about Halloween and pumkins, carving them, eating the candy, and the Friends Together Halloween camp was always a favorite. Then there is Thanksgiving and Turkey and lots of cooking, all the while gearing up for the winter holidays... As the subtle changes in Florida take place with each season change, we really must go within to mark these changes of season. Here in Florida we have less outward appearances that the seasons have changed, yet if we listen carefully to our bodies we may notice a change in sleep patterns, a slowing down of the body and mind, a feeling of contemplation may begin to settle over us, and we may even notice a change in the outward focus of our relationships. For some even food preferences begin to shift.

Our society does not often teach us to pay attention to the wisdom of the body and apply it to our lives, yet I always feel better when I heed the internal clock and choose to listen intently. A daily practice of focussed Self Healing can turn this season change into your own spiritual retreat if you allow yourself to open the door to even greater awareness.

Expanding GRATITUDE can be very easy. We can easily look around our environment and see the people and things that we "have". We can have gratitude for our job, our lovers, our children, our friends. We can have gratitude for our homes, cars, boats, campers, even our furniture; I particularly love my bed! We can be thankful for our bank accounts, thankful for our animals, thankful for the world we live in... all of these things are wonderful and necessary in most of our lives. AND if you have been listening perhaps your heart has whispered to you as you have been reading these words that these things are external.

Many people stop at what they can see and forget to have gratitude for themselves in deeply profound and spiritual ways. What about being thankful for your strength of character or for your innate and fundamental ability to overcome tragedy? Can you allow yourself to even be thankful for the tragedy, for what you have learned from it, for how it has assisted you in becoming more truly YOU? When was the last time you stopped and became thankful for the absolute radiant light that your creator placed into every cell of your body, or your incredibly fascinating DNA that was hard coded to bring you through your life a better, deeper, more emotionally sound and balanced soul than when you started your Earthly journey?

This is a perfect time of year to take the spiritual practice of Gratitude within and create a deep inner communication with the exquisite beauty that lives within you... through this kind of daily practice you will begin to uncover things you never understood about yourself, depths of love and peace that have always been within you, that you never knew you could experience. It is time for us all to seek to know ourselves more intimately so that we can be in our world in a more certain, balanced, and positive manner. When we are truly grateful for who we are and what we stand for we can affect our world with even greater love.

Take 10 minutes a day and be grateful for your light, your peace, your inner strength, and the incredible love that was placed in your heart when you were first created... expand your view of yourself; and your world will expand and reach to meet you with even more joy, peace, and deeper levels of love than you ever knew possible.

Here is to you!