Scanning the Body Before a Reiki Session

Scanning the aura or energy field before a Reiki session was actually a very big part of the original system as created by Usui.  Neither of my teachers taught us this.  It appears to have become lost in the Western way of doing things.  Intuitively letting your hands guide you to work on areas of need was much more the norm in Japan, not just going through a system of rote hand positions, although doing so will cover whatever areas are in the most  need and will bring about a very real sense of balance to the client, but will take longer and waste a lot of time.  Time better spent on concentrating on the areas of most need.  

To start with, you'll need to learn a few simple techniques to sensitize  and open your palm chakras.  One method is using a T'ai Chi and Qigong technique called "pulling taffy".  Bring your hands up in front of you, palms facing each other about 3-4" apart and begin bringing the palms closer (but never touching) and then away (about 4-5") going out too far does something called "drops the ball" in T'ai chi/Qigong.  Do this for a couple of minutes until you clearly feel energy between your hands, similar to what it feels like when you have two magnets and you push them together or pull them apart.

Another method is to take your right thumb and push it into your left palm and turn it clockwise with gentle force several times.  This opens up the minor palm chakra.  Repeat on right hand using the left thumb. The last method is to put a drop of lavender oil into the palm of each hand - again this opens the palm chakras.  After doing this, you can starting scanning or do the "pulling taffy" technique for a minute or two until you feel the sensations as I described above.  Now you are ready to scan.

I personally like to use this method - I am right handed, I bring my hand into a this position - palm facing out to the left vertically over the body at the feet. My left hand is palm up  to my left side and out just a little ways from my body.  Then you begin running your right hand through the person's energy field starting about a foot away from the soles of their feet.  Only scan up the top most part of the thigh first on each leg.  You are looking for feelings of heat, tingling, or resistance. 

Areas of resistance can be explained ascongestion in the energy field - grey, brown or black smoke (this is what a clairvoyant would see).  Congestion in the energy field is indicative of pain, blockage or dis-ease in the area.  When I encounter resistance in the energy field of my client when scanning, I ask them "what is going on here , is there pain here, did you hurt yourself here or does anything else come to mind that could be going on in this area."  Nine times out of ten, they tell me about an old energy, pain in the area or possible having had surgery of some kind there, or just a feeling of being blocked there. After you have scanned both legs, begin scanning the torso, starting at the root/base chakra, and move up past the crown to about a foot away from the top of the head.  Make note of any areas of resistance, checking in with your client about each one (sometimes I receive information about what stuck, negative emotion is in that area).  Then begin the session, focusing on these areas first.  Treat the area and then re-scan.  If after you've treated the area with Reiki for several minutes, you re-scan and still find the resistance, continue to treat and repeat the scanning, until you no longer feel the resistance. If, after you've treated all the areas you found congestion in, you still have some time left in the session, focus on the remaining chakras and all the hand positions for the head.

Using Mantra Meditation to Improve you Intuition

I have always wondered why I only seem to bring in information for people and messages from their departed loved ones when I am channeling Reiki.   I recently signed up to take a course to become an Intuitive Life Coach after someone suggested that I would make a good one and I was searching for something new to get my teeth into.   I had no idea that the answer to that very long wondered about question would be answered in this course when I signed up for it.  When you are channeling Reiki for someone, you are sitting in the stillness and focusing your mind deeply on your hands and any sensations in them, and in the body of the receiver under your hands and listening!  Listening for guidance, listening for direction - do I stay here, do I move to the next position, do I change the position I'm in slightly because I am just getting a feeling, a nudge that if I just shifted to the right or left or even changed which hand is on top or whatever, then the energy would really start to flow even stronger. Some people like to repeat the Reiki Precepts when channeling (which is a form of mantra mediation - did you know that?).  Others like to do Japa while channeling Reiki (repeating the name of a particular God/Goddess - Krishna, Shiva, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mohammed).  Others just like to be still, and focus on their breath and what's going on in their hands and under their hands.  There is no "right way", there is just your way, do what you feel like doing at the time.  But we all know that we need to quiet the mind and focus on the task at hand - channeling the energy, not on our laundry list of "to dos" after the session, what happened to us before the session, what the client revealed to us before the session and on and on.  Mind chatter or talking during Reiki interrupts the flow the energy and also, how are you going to hear guidance and direction if you're off having a conversation in your head with someone you just got off the phone with?     My teacher, Sue Fredrick, author of  "I See Your Dream Job" and "Bridges to Heaven" (and several other books) says "do mantra meditation to heighten your intuition".   So what is mantra meditation?   It is simple sitting (on the floor or in a chair) quietly and repeating mentally a phrase like "Om Namah Shivaya (I bow to the divine self or God and I are One) or repeating the Lords Prayer (or whatever else you want to use like "Om Mani Padme Hum" or "Hail Mary" and so on, for 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening (also known as Transcendental Meditation).  Then sit quietly in the stillness after you meditate and ask a question and wait for an answer.  You can also meditate right before going to sleep and when you've finished, ask that an answer to a question come to you in a dream. When you are sitting in meditation and repeating your mantra (fast, slow, varying the speed, timing it with your breath or not - doesn't matter) you will start to notice that one part of your mind is repeating the mantra but another part of your mind is suddenly talking about a recent conversation and how you should have responded but didn't, thinking of what you are going to do after you meditate, a TV show you just watched or a song is going through your mind (all monkey mind stuff).  And another part of your mind is observing both of the other parts.  So what do you do?  Bring your attention back to your mantra, let go of the chatter and relax.  Do not beat yourself up about wandering off (that is attaching to the thought) simply bring your focus back to repeating your mantra.  Thich Knat Hanh (the Thai Buddhist monk made famous from his books, C's and DVD's on mindfulness meditation) said bringing your mind back to your mediation a 1,000 times is mediation, so no worries. Another benefit of doing mantra meditation is that it raises your vibration!  So if you are feeling out of sorts, unbalanced, down in the dumps and focusing on the negative, sit in mediation and repeat "Om Namah Shivaya".  It is also said to erase all our sins!  http://www.chopra.com/community/online-library/terms/mantra

More on Reiki and Ethics

  REIKI AND ETHICS

                                    Patricia Penner, Usui & Karuna Reiki® Master Teacher

So you are probably asking yourself, what ethics?   Well how about the fact that a Reiki practitioner AND their client are required by law to be fully clothed throughout a Reiki treatment or that is unethical for someone who is Reiki Level  One or Two to treat the public and charge for it, for starters.

Clothing – unless a Reiki Practitioner is also a licensed massage therapist and is giving someone a massage and has their permission to also “run” or “channel” Reiki during the massage, then it is illegal for the client to be in any state of undress. 

If a Reiki practitioner, who is not a licensed massage therapist, asked you to undress, get out of their office immediately and report them to the authorities.  If they aren’t fully clothed or come on to you sexually in any way, again, get out of their office and report them.   They’re a sexual predator!

Treating the public with Reiki having only the lower levels of training: Reiki Level One is all about your own self-healing.  It does not authorize or certify you  to go out and practice Reiki on the public and charge for it  in anyway.  A  Level One Practitioner is only channeling one third of the amount of Reiki energy that a Reiki Master Practitioner can channel and, unless they have been practicing non-stop on their family, friends, co-workers and neighbors for quite awhile (something you can do at Reiki One but only for free or for barter), then they are also grossly under experienced to handle giving the public Reiki sessions and charging for it.

Reiki Level Two is what as known as the “Distant Healing” level, where the Reiki practitioner is given the Reiki Distant Healing symbol (a symbol that opens a doorway for the energy to be able to be sent out to any place, person, or thing -  past, present or future) along with several other symbols that all have different focuses or healing purposes.  They are also opened up to another one third of the amount of Reiki energy they can channel, but are still not considered qualified nor certified to go out and treat the public.

At Reiki Level IIIa (Reiki Master Practitioner)  one is opened up to channel the full flow of the Reiki energy one can channel and are now certified and qualified to go out and open up a Reiki business and  treat the public.  (The lineage of Reiki that I am from (how we trace back our connection to the creator of Reiki, Dr. Makao Usui) breaks Reiki training up into four levels,  Reiki I, Reiki II, Reiki IIIa (Master Practitioner) and Reiki Level IIIb (Reiki Master Teacher).  Some lineages group the IIIa and IIIb together.)

Unfortunately, there are people working on the public at the lower levels of training and charging if not very close to , exactly what an experienced Reiki Master charges, which is, in my book, VERY unethical. 

Another unethical practice in Reiki is people claiming to be Reiki Master Teachers and giving very poor classes:  little or no manuals, and little or no “ hands on” training, still spreading the old story of the origins of Reiki (the Christian version), not giving out certificates, etc.  Many students come to me from other teachers who have done all the above and worse.  If you’re thinking of taking a Reiki class and becoming attuned to Reiki (connected to the energy) I highly advise that you interview several teachers in your area and ask them the following questions:  Do they provide an adequate manual that includes the history of Reiki (not the old Christian version, the newer version, the truth – Usui  was a Buddhist, from a Samurai background), What Reiki is and what it does, What are the health benefits of Reiki, The Reiki Precepts, How to give yourself a full Reiki self-treatment, How to give someone else a short Reiki treatment in a chair, and How to give someone else a full Reiki session and so on.

Does it have a bibliography, suggested reading list, music list, website list, and much more.   Do they hold monthly Reiki shares for their students? 

I also highly suggest that you have a Reiki session with your perspective teacher prior to signing up for a class also, to see if you feel comfortable with them.  When you’re connected to the Reiki energy, you are connected for life.  Make sure that the person who connects you is someone you feel is trustworthy and knows their stuff.  

This article is intended to educate the public on these issues.  I recommend that you ask what level  of training your Reiki practitioner is before scheduling an appointment and/or ask to see their certification. 

REIKI AND ETHICS

I understand that in massage school, there are hours and hours of class time spent on talking about ethical practices while performing massage.  There are ethical practices involved in doing Reiki also, although I would make a bet that very few Reiki Master Teachers are actually giving much class time to this topic or even bringing it up or so I've heard through the grapevine.  

So what are the ethical practices involved in being Reiki Practitioners?  Going back to the five Reiki Precepts "Just for today, do your work honestly" (depending on which translation you're reading".  One unethical practice involving Reiki would be for a Level I  or Level II Reiki Practitioner to, first all do Reiki on the public and charge for it at all, but if they do, to charge the public the same amount for their doing a Reiki session on someone that a Level IIIa (Reiki Master - the level at which you are certified to actually treat the public) or a Reiki Master Teacher would charge (Level IIIb). Because you are not opened up to the full flow of Reiki energy at the levels below IIIa and because of lack of experience, it is unethical for you to do Reiki on the public and to charge what someone who is fully open and experienced would charge.

Other ethical practices include never treating someone who is not fully clothed.  Why?  Unless you are licensed massage therapist, acupuncturist, or doctor, it is illegal for you to be working on someone who is not fully clothed.  Wisconsin is a "no touch" state therefore as Reiki practitioners, we cannot touch another persons naked body.  If you plan on doing Reiki on the public and are not a licensed massage therapist, etc., you would be wise to become a minister as Wisconsin allows you to "touch" under the heading of "spiritual healing" if you are.

There are many people out there practicing "Reiki" who have never taken a class and have no certification.  The claim they have been "self-attuned" (not possible) or that they just it naturally, so make sure when you go to someone for Reiki that their certificates are displayed out in the open where the public can see them (another requirement by the State of Wisconsin).

One last obvious ethically topic, if a Reiki practitioner comes on to you in a sexual way RUN and report them!  If your client asks you to perform sexual services during a Reiki session - boot him/her out and report them to police. This occurs more often with massage therapists (I've heard many stories from my massage therapist friends about this) because prostitutes often advertise under the guise of massage therapist so the public has some misconceptions about massage therapy.  Working in a spa or wellness center gives you more protection especially if you're female.  

We need the public to know that Reiki is an ethical, safe, service, just like all the other healing modalities our there, so educate the public by your actions and behavior and if you know someone who is not acting in these ethical ways and doing Reiki either talk to them, or report them.  

Massage VS Reiki

I have worked in several "spas" or wellness centers over the past few years and find that they tend to be very much more centered around massage and either acupuncture or skin work then Reiki.  It is hard for massage therapists or acupuncturists to understand that Reiki  is as equal in value to someone sufferings as what they do. I've had tons of massage and acupuncture and, obviously, tons of Reiki.  I am here to tell you that Reiki works just as good or better in some cases, than both.

The massage therapy world touts that we need a massage every week or twice a month or monthly, cajoling their clients  to book their next appointment, convincing them that continued massage  is just a given.

What massage therapists and other healing modalities and the public don't understand is that Reiki should be done weekly, biweekly or once a month also just like a massage, unless you have a chronic or severe condition which should treated more aggressively - like 3 treatments a week for two weeks, tapering down to two a week for 2-3 weeks, then once a week, etc and then maintenance treatments until the condition is gone or greatly reduced and manageable.

We need to educate the public and the massage therapists and other alternative healing professionals that Reiki is just as valuable, just as effective (if not more so) as what they do - hey we're already charging what they do.  I find that there is a belief out there by these professionals that because Reiki training is quick, easy and relatively inexpensive compared to the time and money one has to spend to becoming a massage therapist or acupuncturist, etc., that they equate that to the efficacy of Reiki treatments or the efficacy or abilities of Reiki Practitioners.   You can spend $10,000 on massage school and still come out a poor massage therapist or a egotistical, "bad bed side mannered" acupuncturist - believe me - I know from experience.

So the answer is to blog, write articles and educate the public about the benefits and healing properties of Reiki.

Using Symbols

How much do you actually use symbols when treating others or yourself?   Many people do experiment them and use them more when they first get them at Level II, but I find that many people fall away from using them and I'm told by others you really don't need to after awhile (?).  

I am asking my FB Reiki page group to join me in doing an experiment with the symbols. If you'd like to get in on the fun, try working extensively with them and report back your findings.  Like when your self-treating, intuit which symbol you should put in in each hand position and see what happens.  The next time you do your self-treating session, change it up and use different ones (make some notes afterwords about which ones you used so you know for next time).

When you're doing sessions on others do the same - intuit which symbol should go in each hand position and see what happens (ask their permission first of course).  If you are not intuitive, just pick one at random and when you work on that person again, change it up ( again probably good to keep some notes about which ones you used where then). 

If you are Karuna this probably doesn't apply because we use the Karuna symbols extensively when doing Karuna.

After Your Clear a Room, Then What?

I just posted on my Reiki FB group some methods to clear a room using the power symbol (Usui CKR) by drawing it with a incense stick or smudge stick or even using a tuning fork that I saw mentioned in a wonderful article in the latest Reiki Magazine from the ICFRT - I gave full credit, and someone wrote back that when you clear a room, you need to then fill it up with Reiki energy because you've just created a vacuum and if you don't fill it with Reiki some baddies could come in.

One person responded by saying that "sage purifies the energy not so much clears away energy, since I draw the symbols with the sage I know my space is filled with Reiki energy".  Do yo feel that is true?

I've never seen this mentioned in any article or in any Reiki book which mentions using Reiki symbols to clear a room or any articles about smudging. 

While I can definitely see that this might have some basis of truth, you would think that it would be something regularly mentioned in Reiki books, which it is not (I have read over 55 and can unequivocally say that).

Will be doing some experimenting and talking to my guides about this and that will be another blog post!

Setting The Story Straight - The Real Origins of Mikao Usui and Reiki

THE “REAL” STORY ABOUT MIKAO USUI, THE CREATOR OF REIKI AND HIS ORIGINS

After a long and grueling several years of a major illness from which part of my recovery was a contract I made with myself that I would do daily Reiki self-treating for 1 hour minimum a day and healed it, I made another contract with myself to read every Reiki book I could get my hands on for the rest of my life.   I felt like if I have the capacity to make other people Reiki, then I really need to know everything there is to know about Reiki!

As a result, I am at 55 books and counting.  In my reading (and my connections with many very high level Reiki Master Teachers all over the world) I have come to know so much more about the REAL origins of Reiki and its creator, I feel I could be considered to be somewhat of an expert on the topic – the definition of an expert being someone who has studied a subject for 5 years.  I’ll going on year 10 shortly.

I am writing this article because it has come to my attention that there are local teachers out there in 2013 still telling their students the Christian story about the origins of Reiki.  The creator of this myth died in 1980 and it was debunked after her death.  I find it astonishing and incomprehensible that any Reiki teacher in this day and age would not know this. Obviously someone is not doing their homework and as a result is giving out false and possible harmful information to their students and the general public.

The original Christian story was perpetrated by the last person in what I call the original “Reiki Triune” of larger than life teachers, Mrs. Hawayo Takata.  Mrs. Takata was a Japanese national living in Hawaii just before Pearl Harbor.  She was trying to establish a Reiki healing and teaching practice in an area of the world where many of her students and clients were white Western Europeans or Americans.  At this time, T’ai Chi, Qigong and even Feng Shui were not on the radar of most of non-Asian individuals, so imagine how a tiny little Japanese woman in Hawaii teaching about and doing a Japanese Buddhist hands on spiritual healing system with Shinto (the ancient national religion of Japan that venerates nature spirits and departed loved ones, and Shugendo (a form of Japanese Shamanism) would  have been received.

It is said that she created the “Christian story” because in Japan it is traditional for someone to make up a parable to get across a sacred spiritual truth.  If you’re not familiar with the story here is how it goes:

Mrs. T (as I like to affectionately call her) said that Usui (the creator of Reiki) was a Christian teaching in a Christian school in Japan and one day his students asked him if he believed everything he read in the bible, to which he replied “YES”.  Then they ask him if he also believed that Jesus could heal with his hands and again he replied “YES”.  So they ask him to show them how he did this and he said he couldn’t and the story goes that right then and there he quit his job and vowed to find out how it was done and come back to tell everyone.    I’m sure the details defer from teacher to teacher but this is the gist of it.

Supposedly he went out on a trek all over the world looking for the system of how Jesus healed with his hands, going to China, all over Japan, India, and Tibet or so the story goes, even supposedly coming to the US and studying theology at the University of Chicago.  There is no record of anyone  who has a name even closely resembling his ever studying at that University at that time. 

It is possible that Usui, at some point in his life did travel to some of these places (possibly even Europe) because he worked for a Japanese diplomat who is said to have traveled to some of these places also – Usui was  supposedly his bodyguard.  Usui studied martial arts (his family was of ancient Samurai descent) and was said to be very highly accomplished and respected martial artist in his day.

The story goes that he found the instructions in ancient possible Sanskrit texts about how to do this but couldn’t make it physically work, so he decided to go on a traditional 21 day fast and meditation (Lotus Repentance Meditation) atop a very sacred mountain in Japan (Mt. Karuma) and hopefully get some guidance.  He took 21 stones with him to mark the days and at the end of 21 days nothing had happened and he had just thrown the last stone off the side of the mountain when he saw a very bright light coming at him at very high speed and knew he could duck and let it pass him by or allow it to strike him.  He chose to allow it to strike him and it is said to have hit him the middle of his forehead (third eye chakra) knocking him unconscious.  It was then that all the secrets of the system were revealed to him in what is called an “enlightenment moment.”  There are 4 miracles that supposedly happened as he came off the mountain which I won’t go into here. 

What’s interesting is that he did not go back to the school he supposedly taught at the reveal this information to his students, instead he went into the beggar section of Tokyo and begin healing beggars for free (another story around this also with a lesson).

In truth, Usui was born in Japan around the end of the 19^th century to an ancient Samurai family of Buddhists and as is traditional, was put into a Buddhist monastery at the tender age of 4, where he was also taught Japanese Qigong (Kiko) and martial arts (grappling and swordsmanship to name a few) along with the Buddhist teachings (some say he family were Pure Land Buddhist, some say Tendai Buddhist).  He is buried in a Pure Land Buddhist cemetery (see “This is Reiki by Frank Arjava Petter for information on this).

In his short life he held many jobs including the aforementioned, such as prison guard, industrialist, and quite possibly as a lay Buddhist Priest (Zaike) or even as a Shinto Priest, to name of few.   From all that I have read about him in books and manuals by other teachers, Reiki is actually a compilation of all the many and varied subjects he studied in his life (Western and Chinese Medicine, religions of the world, Buddhism (possible both Pure Land and Tendai) Zen Buddhism, Kiko and much more.  It is said at one point he wanted to discover the secret of achieving Satori (a state of being where no matter what is going on around you, you are peaceful and calm, you know what your life’s purpose is and are doing it).

Trying to find the method of achieving Satori is said to have been the real reason why he did actually perform the 21 day fast and mediation on Mt. Kurama (possible several times).  On his memorial stone erected a year after his death by some of his followers, the story of one such fast and mediation on Mt. Kurama is immortalized and is said to have actually happened (the enlightenment moment with the white light). There is even a newspaper or magazine article written by Usui himself where he clearly states that he created the system and had the enlightenment experience (“This is Reiki” – Frank Arjava Petter).

Dr. Usui’s original system (he was awarded an official doctorate by the Meiji Emperor for his work in healing it is said thousands of people after the worst earthquake to hit Tokyo in recorded history, at that time) was about self-actualization, not a healing modality.  He originally taught his system to those seeking enlightenment but it was later tweaked into the “hands on healing” modality most of us know it as today through the machinations of Japanese Naval Officer named Dr. Chujiro Hayashi (the 2^nd figure in the Reiki Triune) who as a Western Medical Doctor turned Reiki into a formalized healing system for his and his Naval Officer buddies benefit right before the War.

Dr Usui died of a stroke in 1926 while out teaching and doing healings in the Japanese countryside one day.  Dr. Hayashi opened a healing clinic and wrote a large manual with prescribed hand positions to treat specific illnesses.  Many people think of Hayashi as Usui’s predecessor but there is another group of Reiki Practitioners that you never hear of that still carry on Usui’s original teachings in Japan – the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai – a secret Japanese Reiki society.   The United States government outlawed the practice of Reiki in Japan after WWII and it went underground.

The Gakki has an elected president of its closed and secret society, although due to the efforts of the men and women who in the last 10 years or so from outside of Japan (mostly American  and Western European Reiki Master Teachers and Practitioners  they are leaking out more and more information as to the real origins of which I am writing of here.

These teachers and practitioners went to Japan to get the real story and have brought back amazing discoveries about all that I mentioned.  Pictures of Usui’s ancestral home and town, 100+ year old documents and manuals he signed or wrote, interviews with 100+ y/o Buddhist nuns who actually studied with Usui and MUCH MORE.

If you want to read up on the latest information about Reiki and Usui, I highly suggest  you read “This is Reiki” by Frank Arjava Petter and Tadao Yamagucchi’s book (his mother was taught by Hayashi and he is now touring Japan and I think the US and Canada teaching as Hayashi taught)  “Light on the Origins of Reiki”.

The newer Reiki books coming out today are reflecting all this new knowledge brought in by Frank, and people like Chris Marsh, James Deacon and I believe William Lee Rand of the International Center for Reiki Training in Michigan. 

Patricia Penner, Usui & Karuna Reiki ®Master Teacher, Crystal Reiki Master and Crystal Healer, Heart-Light-Reiki, LLC   www.Heart-Light-Reiki.com  

THE VALUE OF REIKI AS PERCEIVED BY OTHER ALTERNATIVE HEALING MODALITIES AND THE WORLD

I am running into a very interesting attitude problem with others in the alternative medicine field, which is making me see the wisdom of Hawayo Takata charging $10,000.00 to make someone a Reiki Master.  I know, calm down, I can sense your outrage and see your eyebrows going up! 

Here is where I am coming from with this: I have worked in several wellness centers now with many acupuncturists, herbalists,massage therapists and even estheticians.  The attitude I get from these people is unbelievable.  It's all - I was in training intensely for 3 years at so and so's school, and paid up the wazoo for my training, you are just a lowly Reiki practitioner who only put in a few hours in training and hardly spent anything for it and all you do is run energy, etc., etc., etc.

Seriously people this is what they think of us!  So number one, this tells me that they have no clue about what Reiki is and what it does, and number two we should all be considering charging a lot more money to make people Reiki like Mrs. T did and give Reiki sessions.

I've been struggling off and on about my fees for sessions and classes for years.  My website designer told me this story one day and it totally changed my perspective on this. A high end jeweler in Santa Fe decided to get in a line of the local Native American silver and turquoise jewelry, but priced it very low (like $35 and $50) as compared to all the diamond and gold jewelry in the hundred and thousands in his shop. It sat there and didn't move at all for a long time.  One day he hired someone to come in and clean out all the cases.  They inadvertently changed all the price tags on the silver jewelry marking everything up significantly to $350 and $500 when they put everything back into the cases - it flew out the door after that.

There is even a story about Usui working in the slums of Tokyo healing beggars and after some time the supposedly healed beggars were returning to the slums - when Usui asked them why they said it was easier to beg then to go out, get a job, have a family, own a home, etc.  It is said he vowed then and there to never give Reiki away for free again - people do not value what they can get for free.

Moral of this story - our culture has a preconceived notion of how they value things - they place more value in something that costs more because they see it as more valuable whether it is or not. This is a very well known fact in the car business (why do you think a Mercedes costs so much) the fashion business, the jewelry business and so on).  I raised my prices significantly and now I am busier than ever - I VALUED MYSELF. I made a statement to the universe that I see what I do as valuable!

What is the Correct Direction that a Healthy, Open and Balanced Chakra Should be Spinning in?

I have been puzzling over the question of what the correct direction a chakras should be spinning in for quite awhile now. I could not find a definitive answer anywhere in a book or online or get a clear answer from anyone - until now! 

In his book "Heaven and Earth" James van Praagh wrote this " In a healthy chakra system, all chakra centers are spinning in a clockwise direction and are all interconnecting with each other. When a chakra system is totally open and functional, it is possible to live on one's own breath without food a water. The energy flowing through such a body is fundamentally clear of all toxins." 

God Bless you James Van Praagh!!!!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY I have had confirmed what my pendulum had been telling me all along. The correct direction of the spin for a  healthy chakra is clockwise!!!!!! 

It is very easy to check a persons chakras using a pendulum.  Just connect to the energy of your Angels and guides by saying a little invocation like "I ask the Holy Spirit and my guides and Angels to be here and present now and speak to my through this pendulum".  Then hold the pendulum over the first chakra (base or root chakra) and ask "Show me the correct direction that so and so's  (your clients name) base chakra  should be spinning in right now" and wait.  When your pendulum has shown you whether it  should be spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise (some peoples chakras do need to spin the opposite direction sometimes - but very rarely) then ask "Show me what direction so and so's chakras IS spinning in right now. " 

Work up the chakras to the crown using this method.  If you have been taught a chakra balancing technique either using Reiki or crystals, then you and your clients can decide which chakra or chakras to work on to bring the system into balance.

Reiki and the Micro-Cosmic Orbit

When you put your tongue to the roof of your mouth at the alveolar ridge, you complete an energetic circuit called the "Micro-Cosmic Orbit" 

As a T'ai Chi and Qigong Instructor for almost 25 years, I know that doing this enables you cultivate or pull in more Chi (universal life force energy).  It occurred to me that maybe we should be doing this while running Reiki (meaning channeling it when doing Reiki sessions on others or on ourselves). We do it when attuning someone but I wondered what the benefit of doing it while running Reiki during a Reiki session would be.  So I am going to experimenting with it and invite you to do the same!

The Exponential Power of Reiki

So I know that the power of Reiki is exponentially increased by the number of Reiki Practitioners you have working on you at once, meaning squared, so if there are two people working on you (like at a Reiki share) for example, then the power of the Reiki energy being channeled is increased by four!

I have been puzzling and puzzling over why I get so much information from one person and practically nothing or nothing from another.   When working on another Reiki Master earlier this week, I was getting tons of information and it hit me! 

When we are working on someone else in a Reiki session who is Reiki also, then not only is the power of the energy increased exponentially, but also the psychic or intuitive stuff is also amplified!  This explains why when many of my very psychic and mediumistic Reiki practitioner friends are at my Reiki shares we have all kinds of information flowing: we're seeing guides, people in Spirit, Angels and have even been visited by Usui and possible Hayashi as well as Kwan Yin and so on.

For some of you this may be a "duh" right, but for me it was a major light bulb. Another piece of the puzzle just fell into place, like the fact that a Spirit Guide is someone who was in the physical here on the Earth plane at one point but is now in Spirit and has decided to become a Spirit Guide to either you or someone else.  Just one more piece falling into place.

The Difference for Me between Karuna and Usui Reiki

I became a Karuna Reiki Master Teacher last year and had been Level I & II for almost a year before then.  The difference I noticed almost immediately after becoming Karuna Level III & IV was I began rocking, swaying and vibrating when doing Reiki, meaning, when I was working in particular areas of a clients body, I would either start rocking back and forth (pretty intensely at times) swaying back and forth or rocking so intensely that the only word that can describe it is I would actually "vibrate"!  

The vision my guides gave me was of someone panning for gold - you know how you put the sand/dirt in a sieve and shake it back and forth until all the junk is sifted out and what remains is the gold nuggets!  So when I was doing this rocking, swaying etc stuff, the energy was rocking the toxins, stuck negative emotion energy and so forth up to the surface to be released.

In the past several months this hasn't happened much and I wondered what had shifted.  Then I began working on a lot of new clients and it is starting up again.   I think everyone else I worked on had already been cleared enough to not require the more intense and aggressive energy.

So I was wondering if anyone else who is Karuna has had any kind of experience like this.   I also got a ton of what my "woo woo" friends call "downloads" when I was doing so much of this kind of work.  I was given information on many things or had many things clarified for me.  One of them was the fact that the only one doing any healing during a Reiki session is the person receiving the session, we are just the conduits or channels for the energy.  When we connect them to the energy while facilitating a Reiki sessions for them, they pull the energy down through us, we are not in any way "putting" anything into them or manipulating the energy or their energy.

I know many of you will be rolling your eyes and going "duh" but please REALLY read what I wrote carefully and slowly.  I've been teaching Reiki for many years, I tell my students that we are conduits, channels, etc., but the way my guides downloaded this information was much deeper.  It has to do with why it is incorrect for Reiki practitioners to call themselves healers, with fully understanding how Reiki works and how to empower your client.   If you explain to them that they are in charge, they, on on an energetic and spiritual level are making the decision of what takes place during that Reiki session not you, then they will be much more relaxed, much more open and much more receptive and you have just empowered them to take charge of their own healing!

Other healing modalities are telling people that Reiki practitioners push energy into them and manipulate their energy.  So no wonder people come to us a little fearful, a little unsure if this is really safe or desirable and are therefore on their guard when getting up on the table.  Once you empower them by telling them nothing happens here that you don't want to happen here, you are deciding on a soul/energetic level what you are ready to heal and release today, you can palpable feel the guarding melt away and the tension and the session goes much easier, they open up to fully receive.

I'd really love to hear from other practitioners what kind of differences in the energy they have noticed after becoming Karuna.  I am going to be teaching my first Level ! & II class soon so also anything anyone wants to share about that is very much welcomed.

My Journey with Crystals and Stones

MY JOURNEY WITH CRYSTALS AND STONES

From of a very early age I was very drawn to nature – gathering wild flower bouquets for my mother (when she and I had major seasonal allergies) tending to a wild bird with a broken wing, or gathering a jar full of bees (to my nannies chagrin).  When we moved to the town where I eventually ended up going to junior high and high school, I took long walks by myself and drug home pocketfulls of stones I found lying along the side of the road and elsewhere. 

On one of my wanderings, I discovered the town’s local rock shop and spent enthralled hours drooling over the stones and crystals and talking to the owner’s head off and watching how he tumbled stones in the back.   I remember bringing him handfuls of one particular stone I found in large quantities along the side of the road and he told me it was some sort of calcite that was found everywhere in the area.  I remember buying one of those boards with the stones glued to it, with their names spelled out underneath.   Then I became a teenager and lost interest in them altogether. 

Several years ago we were forced to leave our home in Illinois because it was inundated with toxic mold and ended up moving to Wisconsin.  One of the jobs I was able to get right away was working at Mimosa Books & Gifts as a sales clerk, later becoming Assistant Manager.  I was very drawn to all the stones and crystals in the store, spending a good amount of my paycheck on handfuls of tumbled and rough crystals/stones or pendants and rings.  One day, the resident psychic/medium Akeeya started doing Crystal Healing classes. I took a class and was hooked.  Then I hosted a two day workshop with the owner of Free Spirit Crystals of Butler, Wisc., at a local venue and became a Level I Crystal Healer (and added a lot more to my collection!)

A few years later, I took another a Crystal Healing correspondence course with Master Crystologist Ashley Leavy (now co-owner of Mimosa).   I also have been hosting Crystal Healing Classes in my home that Ashley teaches and I am greatly looking forward to hosting a series of three Crystal Reiki classes here, starting in March.

I began incorporating crystals into my Reiki practice, and placed a crystal grid in my healing space and another grid under my Reiki table. I had a Feng Shui consultant come in and learned about placing certain crystals in each room to enhance the flow of energy better in them.  I also place crystals/stones on my clients during Reiki sessions when I feel guided to do so or they ask me to, but recently I felt it was time to step it up and put all this education to good use.  So I began offering Chakra Healing Crystal layouts to my Reiki students and friends for free in exchange for feedback in preparation to begin offering them to the public.

The results have been astounding.  I had no expectations going into the sessions, as I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the feedback I am getting is blowing my mind.  People are reporting being able to “feel” the energy of the crystals shooting off in all directions, pulsing energy from the crystals, seeing colors behind their closed eyes, feeling things leaving their bodies, having visions and more.  I had no idea!

I feel very confidently that it is time to offer these three crystal layouts to the public – Chakra Healing, Chakra Balancing and Chakra Activation.  Simply put, Crystal healing works on the principle that the crystals vibrate at a higher frequency then we do because they are absolutely perfect, being made of a duplicated pattern of molecules and when we place them on our bodies by wearing them like in a pendant, in a medicine pouch, earrings, bracelet or they are placed on our bodies during layouts, then our body is “entrained” to their vibration, thus raising ours. 

 For more information on Crystal Healing and these layouts, please visit my website and look under the “What is Crystal Healing” tab. Some of these layouts are recommended for people with ADD, anxiety, fatigue, under a lot of stress, but anyone can benefit from these layouts.               

I personally believe that the Creator (Source of all Wisdom, Divine Mind, Great Spirit, whatever you want to call Him/Her) has put all these crystals, stones, herbs, oils, plants, flowers and more on this planet to help us.  To be used to heal us, and nourish us.  I am very grateful for all the teachers and opportunities that have come my way to bring me the knowledge of the uses of all of the Creators gifts.  

    WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BENEFITS OF HAVING A REIKI SESSION

Over 100 years ago, a Japanese Buddhist Monk by the name of Mikao Usui put together a system of hand applications and meditations for self-actualization that is now a major healing modality, known far and wide as Reiki (Ray-Key) or Usui Reiki. Long lists of the benefits to be derived from having a Reiki session or becoming Reiki (taking a Reiki class so you can channel the energy that is known as Reiki) can be found in any Reiki book or magazine out there.

If you’ve never had a Reiki session or never even heard of Reiki, you are in the minority these days.  Reiki Practitioners and Reiki Master Teachers abound and the numbers of new ones are growing daily.  So what is the attraction?

Reiki is easy to do and easy to learn, unlike some other healing modalities that have you jumping through hoops to achieve similar results or a near facsimile.  Having studied several of them myself, I know of which I speak. The benefits are off the charts and anyone can become Reiki and do Reiki on themselves, family members, friends or pets and more. There is no age, sex, religion, ethnicity, fitness level or any other restriction to becoming Reiki.  An open mind and an open heart is all that is required.

To start with, your body has a natural healing process already in place which can only be activated when you are completely at rest, relaxed and calm.  When you cut yourself you heal or are cut open for surgery or have a cold, flu, etc, you heal.  What is one of the most common recommendations by doctors when you are ill besides drink a lot of fluids (which Reiki practitioners will always tell you to do) - REST!  To quote one of my favorite Yoga teachers Lilias Folan, “to rest is to heal”. 

When someone is channeling Reiki for you the energy takes you to that calm, relaxed, restful place so that your natural healing process can kick in and it enhances it.  Many people fall into a very deep sleep during a Reiki session (we call this “Reiki Slumber”).  Deeper healing takes place when you can relax and allow yourself to drift off and it gets the ego out of the way.  A nationally known Reiki Master Teacher said she gives kudos to any Reiki practitioner whose clients fall asleep under their hands. I wholeheartedly agree.

This deep restful sleep has been defined as a kind of meditative or altered state and is extremely beneficial for coping with stress or anxiety (rampant in our fast paced and stressful world today).  Many people report vast improvement of these two issues after having a series of Reiki sessions.  Some even claim that they are able to get off their anti-anxiety medication or anti-depressants or greatly reduce them.

Another widely known benefit of having a Reiki session is the release of trapped emotional energy from the body.  Negative emotions like anger, fear, frustration, resentment, rage, unworthiness, grief or sorrow become trapped in the tissues of the body and cause pain and eventually dis-ease.  The areas where these negative emotions are trapped in vibrate at a lower, less healthy vibration then healthy higher vibrating tissues.  Reiki flows in and dissolves these blocks with heat (when this happens it is common for the practitioner to break out in a sweat as the heat flows out of their hands).   As the heat dissolves the block, the trapped emotional energy or energy block is released and then Reiki floods into the area to raise it back up to a higher, healthier vibration. Some people may start to tear up or even cry when this happens or have a vision or a knowing of the event that took place around the trapped emotions that were released.

Also, the seven major chakras are opened, cleared and balanced and Reiki can act as a pain is reliever, but just like massage, acupuncture or any other alternative healing modality, multiply applications are required, especially for chronic or severe issues. 

Your Reiki practitioner may recommend you consider taking a Reiki class and “becoming” Reiki so that you can do Reiki on yourself at any time, anywhere, any place, especially if you, a family member or pet suffer from chronic health issues. Reiki can also be sent distantly to any person, place or thing or situation (past, present or future – this is called Distant Reiki or Absentia Reiki).  It is not uncommon for someone in transition (leaving the Earthly plane) or someone with a terminal illness to be attuned to Reiki to help ease their suffering or to help them to cross over more easily. Below is a list of a few of my favorite books on Reiki if you are interested in diving deeper

Most practitioners or teachers of Reiki will be happy to answer any questions or concerns you have about Reiki anytime but the best way to find out what it’s all about for yourself is to have a Reiki session.

Reiki for Chronic Conditions: A 3-Step Protocol

Throughout my career as a Reiki practitioner, the majority of my clients have initially sought my help as a result of chronic pain. I’m not typically a person’s first stop along this journey: most people exhaust their traditional medical resources before turning to alternative techniques like Reiki.

But when they do, they’re often satisfied with the relief that follows from even a single Reiki treatment.

The trouble, however, is that the relief you get from that first treatment is rarely enough: chronic conditions require a prolonged treatment regimen as part of an integrated healing program.

Treating Chronic Conditions with Reiki

There’s a specific protocol Reiki practitioners follow in order to give someone relief from chronic pain or illness. Step 1: Give daily (or alternate daily) treatments for two to three weeks until a “healing crisis” occurs. Step 2: Taper treatments to twice or three times per week, eventually reducing overall treatments to once per week as needed. Step 3: Perform monthly ‘maintenance’ treatments as needed until the person’s condition is either healed or significantly improved.

Additionally, it’s recommended that someone within the person’s household -- a family member typically -- be made Reiki so that the suffering individual can receive daily treatments when necessary.

When Reiki Doesn’t Heal Completely

Sometimes the chronic condition is never completely healed. This often occurs because a person’s life contract -- an agreement for certain conditions or life challenges to occur in order to further evolve one’s soul -- does not allow for a complete healing to take place. Life contracts, or Karma, exist for our best interests; Reiki won’t heal the condition completely if doing so will hinder our soul’s growth.

Reiki Practitioners Often Offer Discounts, Trades and Sliding Payment Scales

Because Reiki, at its core, is a humanitarian healing art, most practitioners offer discounts or service fees based on a sliding scale in order to help make Reiki available to all. If funds are still an issue, practitioners, myself included, will occasionally offer to attune family members -- a process that would cost significantly less than would ongoing treatments -- so that finding relief can still be possible. And of course, attuned family members can then benefit from Reiki themselves.

WHOSE IN CHARGE DURING A REIKI SESSION

When I first became Reiki almost 10 years ago one of the first psychic experiences I had was during the hands on or practicum portion of the class where we all worked on each other for the first time, running Reiki.  The young woman was working on had back pain, when I put my hands on the area she was experiencing pain in I got a vision  or image (in my mind’s eye) of her falling off a  step ladder.  So I asked her, did you fall off a step ladder?  She was lying on her abdomen and she turned around with a shocked expression on her face and asked me how did I know that because that is exactly what happened.  She had fallen off a step ladder onto her back and that is when the pain started.

I didn't know that I was psychic at the time; I didn't do that sort of thing before I became Reiki.  I also was “seeing” colors behind my closed eyes as I channeled Reiki during these practice sessions.  I also didn’t know that that is a clairvoyant ability.  For many years I searched for the meaning of why I saw these colors and what they meant.  Now I know that they represent the different frequencies or vibrations of the Reiki energy that is coming in to do whatever is needed at that particular time in whatever area I am working in at the moment and that I have the ability to “see” these colors – a wonderful and blessed privilege.

Many years later and many attunements in both Usui and Karuna Reiki as well as Crystal Healing, I am coming out of the closet and admitting to myself and the world that I am psychic and a medium.  I have been seeing Spirit for years (those who are not in the physical body anymore) and having “knowing’s” and “seeing” things ever since that day years ago when I first became Reiki.

When I was a teenager I had several experiences that foretold this but I didn't know it at the time.  It is only looking back on these experiences now that I understand why I had them.

One of the things that has been puzzling me though is why during some Reiki sessions do I have someone’s deceased child and grandmother show up (I saw an older women with white hair and grandmother energy holding an infant in her arms and smiling – they both blow kisses to my client) or I’m told what someone’s power or totem animal is or that later in life someone will need a bypass but in other sessions, there is nothing? 

Recently I had several “ah ha” moments where I was told by my Guides/Angels that the only person doing any healing during a Reiki session is the person having the session.  The Reiki Practitioner is simply a conduit or channel for the energy and that is why we are not qualified to call ourselves Reiki Healers just Reiki Practitioners.  I make it a point to share this information with my clients to empower them, let them know that they are charge of their own healing when they lie on my table and I connect them to the Divine, loving energy that is Reiki.  I find that telling my clients this, especially new clients, puts them more at ease, which helps the energy to flow better.  If they think you’re some kind of manipulator of energy who is pushing or putting something into them, they might tend to tense up or fight the process, but if they understand that you are passively connecting them to the energy and the energy comes from the source of all Love and they can dip into the endless well of that healing, loving energy assisted by your loving, light, gentle touch, it puts a whole new spin on things.  And gets your ego out of the way!

The other came after a reading I had with a local very well-known Clairvoyant healer who confirmed what I already thought and felt.  Just like the person having a healing session is in control of what happens during the session, not I, so are they in control of what I receive.  If they are not open or ready to hear messages from Spirit or the Universe (or whatever else you want to call it) I won’t receive any.  Also maybe those in Spirit might have better things to do then to show up at that day during the Reiki session, which I find hilarious. 

So in conclusion, yes I am psychic and I talk to dead people, but I do no call myself a healer and I am not responsible for what if any healing takes place on my table or if your family in Spirit drops by to say hello and give you a message or not or if you are ready to know your Angels or guides names or who or what you’re power animals are.  You are!