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!

Using a Pendulum to Determine What is Going on in a Particular Chakra

Awhile ago I had a healing session with someone in a different healing modality then mine and she used a wooden pendulum to check my chakras before and after the session.  I asked why wood and she explained that wood does not need to be cleared after using it to do this or anything else, so I went out and got a wooden pendulum.  I didn't have a clue what direction a healthy, open chakra should be spinning in or what an ovoid spin v/s a large circular spin meant or just a little tiny circle v/s a large circle meant.  I went on the Internet in search of answers but got nothing but conflicting ones so I asked some of the big kahuna Reiki Master Teachers I know if they knew.  Again, got conflicting answers or "who cares" and "what does matter". 

Excuse me!!!!!!!! You gotta know it matters!!!!!!!!!!!!   So I set out to just experiment on my own and begin asking my clients if they would like to participate in the experiment and they all did and I got some pretty on target information but still wanted more concrete information about what direction a healthy chakra should be spinning in and how fast or slow?

This weekend, I had a very experienced and well informed Crystal Healing Teacher do a Crystal Healing class in my home and she answered my questions - FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ask the pendulum to show you what direction a particular chakra should be spinning in for this person and when that its determined ask to be shown what direction it was actually spinning in.  DUH right!!!!!!!!!!!

In Reiki, we can open, clear and balance a chakra by putting the harmony symbol in the energy field above it, placing one under the person, behind that chakra and sending Reiki through the energy field and the symbol into it.  So when I find a chakra that is out of whack, this is what I do.  It has helped my clients tremendously to do this on chakras that I am picking up are wonky and in need of help, based on their issues and what I am feeling when I scan them and what the pendulum is telling me is going on in eachchakra.  So this was a huge piece ofthe puzzle for me.  I am so grateful for my Crystal Healing teacher and Spirit for bringing us together so I could get this perplexing question answered!

Charging for Reiki Sessions and Classes

Another very hot topic in the Reiki world is whether to charge when performing Reiki sessions on people other than family and friends and for Reiki classes and what how much to charge.  There are again, two camps in the Reiki world on this subject, those who think Reiki should be given away for free because it is a spiritual healing modality and those who adhere to Dr. Usui's teachings that Reiki should never be given away freely as things that are given away are not appreciated and thus devalued.

I am of the second camp.  There is an old story that Dr. Usui begin treating beggars early on in the slums of Tokyo.  He supposedly worked there for several years, healing many and sending them off to find jobs and live normal lives.  After 2-3 years, as the story goes, he begin to notice many people he had "healed" returning to the slums.  He asked several of them why they had returned and their response was that it was easier to beg for a living then to have a job, a home, family and all the responsibilities that all that entailed, so they gave it all up and moved back into the slums to beg.  This astounded him and his realized that because he had given Reiki away for nothing it's value was nothing.  He vowed to never give Reiki away again.
Awhile back I had a talk with a friend of mine about raising my prices for sessions and classes.  I spend a lot more than the average amount of time on my clients (way above the standard 1 hour that many others give their clients) and was feeling that I was not being appreciated for all the extra time and energy I put in on top of charging under the going rate and very few ever thought of offering to pay me more or tip me for all the extra time I spent with them.  She related this life changing story to me:
There was a very high end jeweler in Santa Fe who decided to carry a line of Native American Silver and Turquoise jewelry which he marked at very low prices.  It sat there for ages and didn't move at all.  Then one day, someone came in to do a major cleaning of all the displays and accidentally replaced all the price tags with new ones, marking up all the silver/turquoise jewelry well over what it was originally marked.  It began flying out of the shop.  Moral of the story:  if you put a low price on something people take the cue that you only value it for that amount, and something with a higher
price tag is seen as much more valuable and thus much more desirable.  The jewelry and clothing industry knows this very well and has taken advantage of it for ions.  After I raised my prices to reflect the going market rate, my business showed a very big increase and continues to do so.
So, if you charge below market rates or not at all you are in essence saying to the Universe, I do not value what it is I do nor my time and energy in doing it.
There are those also who do Reiki sessions and hold classes who do not need an income from this as they are financially in a position where all their needs are met and they see this as a way of giving service to mankind.  There are VERY few in this position as you can imagine.  Most of us have had to pay large sums of money to be trained to do what we do and many like myself continue to take new classes and learn new skills.  You  have to purchase a vast array of supplies to set up a business and either lease or rent a space to do it in or do it in your home where you have to pay a mortgage, utility bills and so on and so on.  Someone has to pay the bills or we would not be in service for long.  So charging for Reiki sessions and classes is not an immoral thing to do it is the right thing to do.  You would not expect an acupuncturist or massage therapist to not charge you, so why would you think a Reiki practitioner or teacher should give it away?
There is also the issue of an energy exchange.  We are not charging for what the Reiki energy does, we are charging for the time and energy that we put into what we do and our society is set up on a monetary system of exchange.  This exchange does not always have to monetary, it can be something like making a meal, doing some kind of service for the practitioner like an exchange of services (massage, acupuncture, etc or house cleaning or gardening) or taking them out for a meal, whatever.  But an energy exchange needs to be made.  Some even say it sets up a karmic debt between the receiver of the energy ad the practitioner if this does not happen.
To sum up, everyone is going to and should do what they feel is right for them, but I have hopefully given you some food for thought.