document.writeln("\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Reiki Awakening

Learning from Lily Dale\n -
Last Saturday,\n I went with my friend Ernie to visit Lily\n Dale, NY, a community of mediums and energy healers in New York, about 2 hours\' drive\n from home. I found lots to learn from the experience, and I am glad to share it with you here.

Before we went, we decided to book a couple of appointments for a reading with one of the mediums there.\n Not knowing who to choose, we looked through the list on the website and clicked on various websites that some of the mediums have. It was a hard choice and Ernie\n emailed me his top choices, then I made some choices, and we decided on one and called her. She had two appointments available\n late in the day, so I booked the earlier one. Then Ernie called her and booked the one after mine.

I didn\'t want to get home too late, and so after thinking it over, I called Ernie and asked\n him if he thought we might cancel the later appointment and take our chances finding a different medium who has an appointment\n earlier in the day so we could get back at a reasonable hour. Plus I thought it would be cool if we could experience readings\n from two different people. Ernie agreed and canceled the later appointment. I tried calling another medium on the list of\n our choices but she didn\'t return my call. We decided to take our chances and that the Universe would sort it out once we\n got there. We went.

To our surprise, the Sci Fi Channel was there with\n the Ghost Hunters and so the city was packed with people. As we walked up and down the streets looking at quaint houses next\n to rundown houses with for rent signs, we looked for anyone with an open appointment. There was nothing available. I started\n getting anxious. I started beating myself up, saying that I never should have canceled that appointment, that we went all\n that way there and I wouldn\'t get a reading (since canceling the appointment was my idea I wanted Ernie to have the reading\n that was scheduled), and Ernie tried to keep up with my stream of words with reassurance and telling me to stop worrying.\n

I started worrying that I couldn\'t follow my intuition, that how was\n I supposed to know what to do, that I didn\'t know what guidance to follow - should I have selected this medium? Should I have\n made the appointment? Should I have canceled it? Should I be looking for some other signs? It was pretty frustrating. Ernie\n told me to relax. I was on a tangent of doubt. I went to the bathroom.

While\n Ernie waited for me to get out of the bathroom, a random person walked up to him and said that right outside the gates, a\n little way down the road, there was a Fellowship Hall where student mediums and some of the mediums from Lily Dale were giving\n 10 minute readings for $10 as a fundraiser for their medium training program. Ernie told me this when I got out of the bathroom.\n He said \"Here\'s the sign you wanted.\" I was encouraged.

Ernie and\n I ate the lunches we had packed together at a picnic table. We talked about our lives and talked about our dreams.
Before we decided to walk up to the Fellowship Hall, we went to Inspiration Stump,\n where people gather and mediums come before the crowd and select people there to give messages to. It was packed, and we stood\n in the back. The weather was gorgeous and the sunlight was perfectly streaming through the trees. A medium was introduced\n and got up in front of the crowd. She gave some names of departed people and asked if anyone recognized the names and some\n characteristics she named. Someone did. She gave a message of encouragement to that person and thanked everyone. Ernie and\n I stayed for a few more mediums doing their thing. One guy was pretty specific and told one person that she would be moving\n to New York and meet a friend there who she should not marry, but should remain friends with him. Another medium came up and\n had a strong presence, getting the crowd to say \"Good Afternoon\" to her very assertively. She was fun to watch. Her name was\n Jessie. Jessie did a similar thing to the other medium, and passed a message to someone in the crowd that her mother was watching\n and cautioning her not to take on too much, not to say yes to every request that comes her way. Ernie and I decided to go\n walk to the Fellowship Hall, so we left at that point.

When we got\n to Fellowship Hall, we each bought a ticket for a 10 minute reading. Then we were instructed to wait until the hostess seated\n us with one who was available. Medium students and certified mediums were seated in rows of chairs facing people they were\n talking with in the big room. We sat at a table and chatted, and Ernie reminded me to just be in the moment and stop regretting\n having canceled that other reading. I was called to sit with a medium, and to my surprise it was Jessie from the Inspiration\n Stump. She is one of the certified mediums of Lily Dale. Jessie said a brief nondenominational prayer and then told me that\n a gentleman in very old fashioned clothing was standing with her, an ancestor of mine, looking as he had in a picture. I couldn\'t\n think of who it might be, but was ok with that. She said that lots of forward movement was happening for me, and it was important\n for me to stay organized and delegate when I needed help. I thanked her for this advice. She also said that my husband would\n find a job in two weeks to two months\' time, and he would feel much lighter and happier about that. I thanked her for this\n also. She also said that I need to remember to laugh often and keep my creativity and sense of humor going daily, and meditate\n daily to hear my guidance. I know that all of these are important. I liked the reading. I thought it was great that I got\n a reading, and that it was less money than I had been prepared to spend (always a good thing!).

Ernie had his reading, and he liked it also. When we walked outside, there was a little craft and gem fair\n outside so we walked through it and each purchased a healing stone and chatted with the vendors. Then we walked back to Lily\n Dale for Ernie to have his reading with the medium we had scheduled with.

You probably noticed that I have not mentioned her name. There is a reason for this. You\'ll understand why in a minute.
So we found the little house of our person, and we went in. I saw that she had\n not filled the appointment in the space we had canceled, right after Ernie\'s appointment. So when she came out, I asked her\n if she could read for both of us as originally planned. She said she could, and I was glad. I had a moment when I was again\n feeling unsure if this was the right thing or not, since we had made, canceled, and then I had had another reading. Should\n I ask or let it be? I knew that I had spent the whole day so far doubting myself and wondering what I should be doing - an\n uncomfortable feeling, and then I also knew that despite my spinning thoughts, I had so far received exactly what I had wanted.\n Funny. In any case, the medium said I should go first and she took me into her room.

She put on a tape recorder to record the session and said a brief prayer like Jessie had done. Then she asked\n me about if my grandparents were living and I told her that one is. She said my grandparents on my dad\'s side were with us.\n I never met them because they died when my dad was an adolescent. She said that my grandmother was referring to a bracelet\n of some kind, and did I find that familiar? I did not. She said that it was silver and had a charm dangling from it. I still\n had no idea - I don\'t have anything like that. She said no matter, it might be something I would find and buy in the future.\n She then said that my grandparents I had never met wanted to tell me they love me and that they would like to be remembered.\n Ok. Then she asked me about my mom\'s parents. I told her that my grandfather had passed over. She asked if he died when I\n was young and I said no, it was 6 years ago. She said he was mentioning two children, did I have two children? I said I have\n four. She said he only knew my two oldest? I said he was particularly attached to my son (#3), who was a baby when he died.\n She said hm he isn\'t referring to that one. Then she talked about my kids and their personalities, but the qualities seemed\n to be matched to the wrong kids. I gently interrupted and asked her about my career and if she could get any guidance for\n me on my career path or my home life in the near future. She asked me what I do. I told her I teach Reiki. She said this isn\'t\n going to be my job, that there are LOTS of Reiki teachers out there and it isn\'t a lucrative career. She looked at my necklace\n and asked me if I make jewelry. I said I was going to be soon offering energy-charged stones on a necklace, and she said I\n should do that - make jewelry - because that would be a better business for me than teaching Reiki. I said that it is my life\n and my heart to teach Reiki, and I dearly want to be doing this. She said it\'s always my choice to do this but she sees of\n all the possibilities for me out there, this one has a very remote chance of success. But if I\'m bound and determined to succeed,\n I might be able to do that. Maybe. I was upset. My time was up. I paid her and held back tears as I went into the waiting\n room. She called Ernie in for his reading.

I spent the next half hour\n alone in her waiting room, beating myself up again and fuming about this reading, which I hated. I wanted to throw the tape\n she gave me in the nearest trash can. I knew I shouldn\'t have had this reading, that I should have been happy with the gift\n the Universe had given to me of a good reading for less money than I had anticipated, and we would have been able to leave\n earlier, which I had wanted. I questioned my intuition, and asked why I could only see things in hindsight, as what I SHOULD\n have done, instead of feeling confident about what decisions I\'m making in the moment. I wondered if I should ask for my money\n back from the reading, which had only upset me. I know I need to be teaching Reiki, that this is what makes me truly happy,\n and that this gift of being able to help people learn and offer healing energy is something that I need to share. I decided\n to only tell the medium how I felt and give her back the tape, which I really did not want to keep.

When she came out with Ernie, she started to say goodbye to us and I said that I wanted to\n return the tape, that I felt the reading really didn\'t resonate with me and I was sorry. She grew immediately angry and said\n that she knew she had a strong connection, and she nearly threw my money back into my hands, took the tape, and slammed the\n door. I stood there holding my money, and Ernie looked at me rather stunned at what had just happened. We left.
So here\'s what I learned from the Lily Dale experience:

Not all mediums resonate with every person. (Later, watching the HBO documentary \"No One Dies in Lily\n Dale\" I saw this was true for some of the people in the film.)
I ended up getting everything I had wanted.\n I had (one) good reading. I didn\'t end up spending a lot of money (smh), I experienced what Lily Dale is like on a gorgeous\n day with my friend Ernie who is a really good guy. I had a chance to take a road trip and spend the day doing something really\n different from my regular routine. (Mucho thanks to my wonderful husband, Evan, who managed all four kids by himself for the\n day so I could go.)
Intuition may not always be there to tell you what to do at any given moment of the\n day. Maybe the point is to just make a decision and go with it, being open to what happens next and trusting that it is all\n as it should be. Worrying about what to do next takes a lot of fun out of the experience, which is happening anyway. That\n in itself is a powerful lesson. It\'s likely the most important lesson of the day and one I will try to remember and apply\n daily.
I am going to follow my heart and good things will happen. I don\'t need to be told that I am doing\n the right or wrong thing. My experiences tell me when I am making choices that make sense. Since the trip, I have started\n moving forward with planning a slew of local classes and a new Energy Healing\n Certification Program, and new students and interest are coming in quickly, following the energy of my efforts. (I will\n be offering this by distance also - stay tuned for official info in the next couple weeks!) I have lots to do (and need to\n stay organized - thanks, Jessie,) and I have trust that this will be only the beginning of great things. I also made some\n necklaces from the healing stones and put them on my website. (I was going\n to do this anyway but I got it done.)

So in retrospect, I learned lots from\n my trip to Lily Dale. Maybe I\'ll visit again sometime. If so, I will go with an appointment with a medium already set (and\n choose from a more informed perspective). A note: I did not mention the medium\'s\n name because I know that her readings might be great for other people, so my experience should not taint her future business\n in any way. Even though I think she was not at her best in the way she responded to me at the end, I know that we are not\n all at our best, and don\'t want to cause her to lose business by giving her a bad review and sharing her name.
Thanks for reading!

Oh, and\n I invite you all to my next Reiki\n Talk broadcast on blogtalk radio on Sunday, August 1, from 10-11 pm EST, where I\n am excited to be featuring my friends and colleagues Ming and Candy of reikifurbabies.com to talk about Reiki for pets. If you can\'t make the show live, a replay will be available\n for download or online playback immediately after the show.

Blog Tour with Sharon Baker, RN, RMT\n - Hello everyone! I\'d like to welcome author Sharon Baker to the Reiki Awakening blog!\n Sharon is an RN and a Reiki Master Teacher who has written a really wonderful Reiki book about her powerful experiences with\n Reiki, Healing\n With Hands. I really enjoyed reading the stories about the many different\n people Sharon gave Reiki to, and the ways in which their situations were improved after receiving Reiki treatments. Her additional\n scientific information is enlightening and her writing is both heartwarming and real. Great news is that I have 3 copies of\n Healing With Hands\n to give away! I\'m honored to have an article I wrote featured on Sharon\'s\n blog this week as well! So to win a copy of this wonderful book, here\'s what to do:\n

1) Read and leave a comment here about Sharon\'s article.
2) Read and leave a comment on Sharon\'s\n blog about my article. Those who have commented on both blogs by Friday, July 16\n will be entered in a drawing to win one of the three books. I\'ll announce the winners on Friday afternoon! A bonus is that\n everyone who comments on Sharon\'s blog is also entered to win a basket of books! It\'s a double win opportunity! I\'m so happy\n to have the chance to feature a really wonderful author, and reward my readers too! Enjoy Sharon\'s post!

Energy
by Sharon Baker,\n RN, RMT

Strength, force vigor and power producing an effect. It may\n be mechanical, electrical, thermal, chemical, life force or spiritual energy. It is the synergist for all living things and\n systems to operate. Energy is manifested in many forms: motion, light, heat, ionizing radiation or sound. Nothing would be\n happening within us or on our planet without energy.

My recent Reiki\n Master Student, Colleen D, is an automotive engineer. What really got my attention was that Colleen seemed so comfortable\n with energy medicine concepts: no struggle to prove ideals or science. After my initial surprise, I decided to interview her\n for this month\'s newsletter.

I began by asking what drew her to Reiki.\n She said it was her late father, a magistrate and lifelong seeker of esoteric truths, who encouraged her whole interest in\n Reiki and related therapies. \"Dad received Reiki treatments himself and was an enthusiastic fan of Dr. Robert Becker, author\n of, \"The Body Electric.\" She began her early journey learning Eastern views of stress reduction and self healing. She later\n experienced a Reiki session and soon completed all the Reiki levels. Colleen also stated, like many, she was sensitive to\n antibiotics and since she suffered from chronic bronchitis, had to look outside the box for treatment.

I asked Colleen about parallels between Reiki and engineering theories. Familiar words to both\n are blueprint, electrical, stress, design, systems, vibration, energy.

Colleen\n stated that both Reiki and engineering share a common thread regarding vibrational theory and its application here on earth.\n the earth itself has several rather slow frequencies between 6 and 50 cycles (or hertz) per seconds called Schumann\'s Resonance.\n As I researched this data further, I found an interesting tidbit-the average earth frequency is 7-10 hz. which corresponds\n to the average frequency of our brain waves. She added, everything on the earth has its own resonance-water, trees, rocks,\n lowland and highlands. Thought and light are among the highest forms of vibration and light itself contains multiple vibrations.\n Per Wikipedia, the physics, the term light sometimes refers to electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength, weather visible\n or not.

You as light workers are manipulating and channeling this highest\n form of \"light\" resonance. Human hands frequencies have been measured from .3-30 hz. and this changes according to the need\n of the client as the treatment progresses.

\"Also, we recognize open\n and closed energy systems in engineering,\" Colleen explained further. \"Thermodynamics\' 1st law is the \'conversation of energy\'\n - the total amount of energy in a closed system remains constant and can only change form, it cannot be destroyed. I think\n of this form as I do self Reiki. I circulate my own chi via my hands, moving out toxin and stress of the day. Also, in engineering,\n we deal with open systems, where something constantly interacts with the environment moving in energy from its surroundings\n for maximum functioning. For example consider a car engine, with its inlet and outlet, as an open system. Air and fuel are\n ingested through the inlet into a chamber in the engine. Within the engine system, there is a spark plug where the air and\n fuel mixture ignites, to create a powerful explosion, which increases the size of the engine chamber. After the explosion,\n the engine rids itself of non combustible waste through the outlet or exhaust. As we give a Reiki treatment in open system\n fashion we also interact with the environment to move chi into the client. The healers are also the properly timed spark plug\n which ignites power and maximizes the flow to help the client run efficiently, expelling waste or toxin through human outlets.\n Another engineering view is that electrical systems automatically have a magnetic field which is also widely recognized in\n Reiki. Whether human or machine, electrical fields exist even when there is no current flowing. If current flows the strength\n of the magnetic field will vary but the electrical field strength will remain constant.\"

Living with Trust\n -

Imagine that the universe is a great spinning engine. You want to stay near\n the core of the thing - right in the hub of the wheel - not out at the edges where all the wild whirling takes place, where\n you can get frayed and crazy. The hub of calmness - that\'s your heart. That\'s where God lives within you. So stop looking\n for answers in the world. Just keep coming back to that center and you\'ll always find peace.

-Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

This was just what I needed to read, and I marked the page so I could return to it. I have\n been feeling like the whirlwind of my life is spinning around me, with all the places I need to go, things I need to accomplish,\n and wonders of what is coming. But this paragraph helped me remember that calm comes from within, no matter what else is happening,\n that I can return to this balanced center and avoid feeling frazzled by it all.

As I\'ve mentioned in a few previous posts, my husband is looking for a job and his mother is dealing with lung cancer,\n stage 4. Our kids are now off for the summer, and they have various places to be, as do I. Lots of things are going on. But\n I\'m calm.

I\'ve taken my teacher, Connie\'s advice and kept asking the\n angels and Universe and Spirit for abundance, support, and to connect us with the right opportunities for our highest good.\n And it is working. I see it working all the time.

We won that dance\n contest that I mentioned a couple posts back. We won $1,000. Did I work for this? Hell yes I did. I emailed at least 150 people\n a day asking them to vote for our goofy dancing video. And people voted, commented, and shared the video with their friends,\n asking them to vote. So let\'s say it was a joint effort between the angels and me.

I was offered a job teaching music for three weeks at a day camp, filling in for their regular music teacher who\n is delayed this summer. The pay is about as much as I might have made in eight weeks at a different camp, because they are\n diverting his salary to me for those three weeks. Thank you, angels.

I\'ve\n met some wonderful people who have introduced my mother in law and me to some very promising alternative therapies which we\n are trying for helping her regain her health. I am not taking these connections for granted, but seeing them as part of the\n process of connections happening with our being open to accepting them.

Evan\n (my husband), has had one job interview, and has two others coming up for different positions, all of which could be suitable\n and worthy of his education and experience. He is going into each one open, expectant, and confident that the right opportunity\n at the right time will be his. An attitude of expectation and hope is surrounding him, along with his confidence in his ability\n and his natural poise. My pride and belief in him is ever strong.

I\n continue to meet interesting and brilliant people who illuminate my life with wisdom, creative ideas, growth and opportunities.\n I don\'t take any of these meetings for granted, and am grateful for each encounter. I am open to where each connection may\n lead and thank the universe for making these connections possible.

At\n the times when I feel a sense of worry or uncertainty nagging at me, or if I feel a wave of unhappiness at our challenges,\n this passage from Eat Pray Love helps me regain perspective:

Happiness\n is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the\n world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have\n achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming\n upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don\'t, you will lead away your innate contentment.\n It\'s easy enough to pray when you\'re in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing\n process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments.

Finally, I want to let you dear readers know that on July 12, I will welcome Reiki Master Sharon Baker, RN in a guest\n post here on my blog, as part of her blog tour for her new book on Reiki, Healing\n With Hands: Miracles, Inspiration\n and Science. She has over 30 years experience in the traditional medical field\n and began exploring alternative holistic methods of healing in the late 1980s. She was on the board of Michigan Holistic\n Nurses Association for 5 years. She continues to update her knowledge and skills through a variety of classes and workshops.\n Sharon also conducts several workshops and classes privately as well as at local colleges. I will also be a guest on Sharon\'s\n blog that day, so come on over and see what I\'m sharing then - http://www.healerscorner.blogspot.com\n . The first three readers who leave a comment on her blog after my post and one\n on mine after hers will win a copy of her inspiring book! I read and enjoyed it very much, and I found her anecdotes and information\n both relevant and inspiring. I\'m sure you will too!

Peace.

Making Connections and Reaching Upward\n -
I\'m thinking\n lately about how it\'s clearer that things are working out for the best when they are viewed in retrospect. In the moment it can be harder to see the big picture - to attempt to discern the reasons that things happen as they do. I\'m learning\n to ask clearly for what I want/need to happen, and to express gratitude for the results, and for the process itself. Lately,\n I have many opportunities to practice.

As my readers know, a few weeks\n ago now my husband, Evan\'s job was eliminated. It was a stressful job working for an unstable person, and truly, in many ways\n this is a relief. His mom also needs us more now than she had previously, and we are both available to assist her as she is\n recovering from a series of radiation treatments and the side effects it brought on. Evan now has the time to focus on finding\n that \"right\" placement. If he were still working, he would not have been able to devote the same focus to finding a better\n position. He has found a number of suitable positions to apply for, and has made some good contacts already. So it only takes\n a small step back to look at this situation as a blessing, or at least a good opportunity to tend to the present and put out\n energy for the future.

Also, it is important for us to know that we\n will be ok. I am making a point to ask for what we need, and I\'m finding that we are being provided for in many ways. One\n example is that we had hoped to have sent two of our daughters to overnight camp this summer, for a short time. We applied\n for scholarship assistance and waited. We received a call that it was still going to be more money than we could commit to.\n Evan was upset and I told him that we should believe that we will have what we need, that it will be provided for us when\n we need it. He said I should be realistic. I refused to budge and went out to run an errand for his mom. As I was driving,\n I talked to the angels and Spirit. (This is, admittedly, a rather new and slightly awkward-feeling\n activity for me.) I told them that I am counting on them to provide for our family in whatever way will work, that\n I will joyfully accept more students and more writing assignments to make ends meet, and that we need their support to help\n us manage during this transition. When I arrived at my mother-in-law\'s house, Evan called and said I needed to return a call\n to our rabbi. I called and the rabbi told me that the girls would be going to camp on a full scholarship, and because there\n was a requirement for JCC membership in order to receive funding, that it would also be taken care of for us. (One year\'s\n membership to the JCC for our family is a huge perk.) It was a big told-ya-so opportunity! It reminded me of my California\n vacation, and the last minute plane ticket change that got me on a first class flight with cheesecake!

I am making it a point to ask the angels and Spirit\n to provide means for financial support for us while the right job is being lined up for Evan\'s highest good. Evan is putting\n forth the effort of searching and applying, making contacts and following through as he should be. Shortly after I made my\n request, Evan\'s severance check arrived and was double the amount we had expected (they paid out in one instead of two installments)\n and the next one will have his accumulated vacation pay (more than what we had anticipated). It came at the time we needed\n it and I\'m making the connection between asking and receiving once again.

You might say these things would have happened anyway, regardless of me going to the effort of asking, and that the\n two events (my asking, and things working out shortly afterward) are only connected because I\'m connecting them in my mind.\n Perhaps. There is no proof that it would not have happened without my asking. But this is where a measure of faith is needed.\n I\'m reaching upward by asking directly for what I need, and I\'m making connections between the request and the results. So\n let\'s see what happens if I continue to do this, as an experiment with the Law of Attraction, or manifesting, or whatever\n you want to call it.

I\'m going to \"Act As If\" it is my asking that\n is making the results appear and see if more things seem to line up that way. I\'m going to \"Act As If\" the big picture of\n our situation is that things are working out exactly for our highest good and that of our family, and that we are being supported\n by the higher powers. At the very least, this confidence will keep fear and anxiety at bay, provide us with some sense of\n purpose, and make living in the present a lot easier than otherwise.

We\n could, on the other hand, worry about when he will get a job, what we will do for money, how we will manage, and what will\n happen next. But, I think I\'ll try this new approach this time around. I have a sneaking suspicion that this process will\n be the realizing of an important lesson on life, attitude, manifesting and faith.

And that\'s something I can pass on to our kids, and share with you.

Thanks for hanging in there with me. I welcome your thoughts.

Witness\n - This week has been eventful. I came to a new realization about an energy healing technique\n called scanning\n and it also ties into a way of looking at life. Events in my life lately have tied into the concepts related to this idea\n too, so it\'s become another of those \"my, how things all work together\" moments.
I had been thinking first about scanning. Scanning is a technique of checking\n a person\'s energy field for imbalances during or before an energy healing session. The practitioner runs her hand down and\n through the energy field, either in person or by distance, and \"tunes in\" to the sensations received. For me, this is a variation\n in the tingles I feel in response to the person\'s energy. When my hand tingles \"harder\" or \"more actively,\" I know there is\n a need for healing in that area of the person\'s energy or physical being. During a healing session, I pause there, until the\n feel of the energy changes again.

The Reiki method I use most often\n is Kundalini Reiki.\n It involves a simple intend-and-send process, and one need not employ scanning unless one wants to. The energy goes where\n it\'s needed, whether scanning is a part of the method being used or not. I frequently use scanning during a healing session,\n to get a sense of the person\'s energetic needs and report back some feedback to the person on what I notice.
I learned, in Usui Reiki, that one progresses down a series of hand positions, or to\n different areas on the person, to give healing to that particular place. I have another idea though, that seems to answer\n the question of how the energy goes where it\'s needed if, (as in Kundalini Reiki), it is not being sent to each specific location\n step by step.

My idea is that instead of sending the energy to each\n place via a series of hand positions or while scanning, instead I am simply witnessing the recipient\n getting energy where it\'s needed. For example, if I am scanning during a healing and I notice tingles at the throat chakra,\n this means that the person\'s throat chakra is receiving more energy there, and I\'m noticing it. I am being made aware of their\n need in that location, and feeling the energy being received there. I am not doing the healing, I am instead witnessing the\n healing taking place as it happens.

This jibes with a session I had\n once with Sarah Weiss, a medical intuitive. She intuitively watches the angels do the healing, and tells me what\n they are showing her. She doesn\'t \"do\" the healing; she tells me what is happening. And I feel it very strongly. She\'s the\n translator, or the narrator, of the experience. It\'s quite powerful.

I\n think that I am doing a version of this when I am giving a Reiki healing session. I am intending for the connection, for the\n energy to flow where it is needed. Then I can, if I choose to, notice the areas which are receiving the most energy, and report\n this back to the recipient. It makes sense to me and becomes consistent with the way Reiki seems to work. If I know the recipient\n has a headache, I can intend for the energy to work to relieve his headache. As the energy is flowing, I can scan his head\n and notice more energy flowing there. I can notice when it evens out. I am part of the process, the facilitator of the connection.\n I am not the healer. The recipient is receiving the healing he is ready for.

So how does this apply to other areas of my life?

Wednesday\n and Thursday of last week, I kept noticing repeated messages with one theme - Acceptance. I saw blogs about it, read tweets\n about it on Twitter, and email newsletters from various sources that appear in my inbox were focused on this theme. It kept\n popping up. It worried me a little because I got the feeling something was coming that I\'d need to be prepared to handle with\n presence instead of panic. Acceptance is a concept of taking what is coming and dealing with it, staying strong and positive,\n and not fighting it, even when you don\'t like it. The idea is that resisting would make it worse and harder to get over. Even\n when something is painful, instead of fighting against the pain or railing against the injustice, simply facing it, being\n in it, accepting it, can help it resolve. It\'s about stepping a bit outside our natural tendency to fight it, and witness\n the event happening in a less emotionally attached way.

On Friday,\n my husband, who had been in a new job for four months following a stretch of unemployment lasting eight months, got laid off\n from his new job. His position was eliminated after his boss was fired. He was hired to support his boss, and so when his\n boss was fired (yes it was with due cause, but had nothing to do with Evan), there was no longer a need for Evan to be in\n his position. This is why I was receiving the message. Here\'s my opportunity to practice acceptance.

That isn\'t to say, \"Yay! I am so happy this happened!\" Please. Although his job was difficult, and not the right\n long-term position for Evan, a sudden change such as this carries a lot of weight and pressure. Acceptance means taking the\n present circumstance and working with it, doing what is needed and steering clear of worry about what could happen. It\'s an\n exercise in living in the present, separating from the emotional attachment, and being in the moment. I\'m not going to panic\n or get depressed, and neither is he. He has already made some contacts, applied for four positions for which he is qualified,\n and believes that something better is coming soon. We are going to enjoy the extra time together, the opportunity to do some\n home repairs, and actively look and be open to that right opportunity for him, wherever it may be.

So the tie here is in the idea of witnessing - practicing a detached observation that allows\n me to take in the details as they happen, during a Reiki session, and during this time of transition for our family. Acceptance.\n I\'m gonna try it for a while.

On a side note, to\n anyone with connections in health care, Evan is a visionary and innovative administrator with MBA, MSSA and LISW-S degrees\n and certifications. His linkedIn profile is here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/elangholt\n . We are open to relocation for the right position.

Thanks for reading.\n Your comments are always welcome.

P.S. If you are on Facebook and want\n to help us win $1,000 for some goofy dancing, we\'d appreciate your vote! To vote: 1) click here and \"like\" the Motorcars\n page. 2) go to the \"Wall\" of the Motorcars page and click \"like\" under the video of Alice & Evan. (Watch us dancing our\n silly dance and enjoy :D) It\'s the page with the new car dance videos, not the pet contest. You can also find it on the \"Video\"\n tab of the Motorcars page. Thanks for your support!

Spiritual Ties\n - I\'ve been thinking lately about energy and the spiritual connection. I have some ideas\n I\'d like to share and I hope they can come out in a coherent way. These things are hard to explain, and they are very subjective\n in nature. Plus, terms like \"vibration,\" \"frequency\" and \"energy\" also have scientific definitions that don\'t exactly apply\n in the way I\'m going to use them. There is a similarity in meaning, but they are not scientifically measurable so a scientist\n would say I\'m using them wrong. So be it. This isn\'t a science related post. This is my attempt to explain my thoughts on\n spirituality, energy, and the way I am seeing life lately. Good\n luck to me. Ha.

Life force energy. This is the basis of Reiki. It is also the energy that animates all living things, plants, animals, and\n people. There is also energy in the earth, and around us. This energy connects us all, like a web or a grid. Someone who is\n dead does not have this life force energy running through his body anymore. That\'s the energy I mean.

Science doesn\'t have an explanation for how life begins. Sure, sperm meets egg. That part we\n know. Been there, done that. Four times. But what about the soul (life force energy) entering the union of those microscopic\n parts? That\'s beyond science. Life is a combination of the physical and the spiritual. We, as living beings, are both matter\n and energy, physical and spiritual in one package. Our energetic selves extend beyond our physical boundaries. Science gets\n much about the matter part, but still has trouble explaining the spiritual aspects. And yet we are combinations of the physical\n and spiritual, with systems that affect each other, intertwined. An example of this is how emotions have a physical affect\n on our health. Think of ulcers that develop from stress. That\'s just one example. I\'m not saying anything new here, I know.
Now Reiki. Practicing Reiki is a way of putting one\'s awareness on the energy aspect in order to intend\n for that life force energy inside us to connect to the grid of the energy around us, and flow more of it to another living\n being, ourselves, a goal, or the earth itself. We are always connected to this energy, but the act of intending to connect, \"turning on\" the Reiki\n energy, raises our awareness of this connection so we can ask for this energy to flow in a certain way. When I do this, I have a physical response\n in the form of tingles in my hands, and a light pressure around my head and face. Every time. This physical-spiritual connection\n is consistently validated when I\'m working with Reiki energy. I know I am connected by the sensations I experience. I am also\n able to sense imbalances in another person\'s energy field by intending to receive information as I\'m giving a Reiki healing\n to that person. This also validates the idea that we are all connected. The recipient feels the energy and experiences receiving\n it. Stress, pain, emotional blockages are released, and balance is gently encouraged. The recipient is an active participant\n in his or her healing, as I\'m not a \"healer,\" but a facilitator of another person\'s ability to heal via this energetic connection.
So what does this have to do with spirituality? I\'m getting to that. Thanks for\n bearing with me here.

Okay.

I think that this energy that\'s inside us, our soul, our life force energy, is all part of Spirit. You know, God,\n Source, whatever term works for you. We feel separate, and yet we are not. When we do things that raise our vibration to a\n frequency that allows us to consciously connect with the greater source of this energy (scientific language borrowed here),\n meaning things like meditation, yoga, energy healing practices, and even gratitude and heartfelt prayer, we become consciously\n more aware of this connection to the greater Source, and receive its benefits. We can also intend through this connection\n to share the energy with others. Doing so is really only helping the other person to connect in the same way, so he or she\n can benefit from receiving an extra measure of life force energy where it\'s needed. In addition, we can learn to become intuitively\n aware of the energetic state of other people. It\'s a process which develops through practice. The more we place our awareness\n on our intuitive senses, the more that awareness develops.

Many of\n us feel separate, our energy gets depleted, we get sick or emotionally blocked, because we consciously stay at our \"lower\n vibration,\" disconnected to the source of the energy that can help us balance, cope and heal. We get caught up in our daily\n lives and forget to care for ourselves energetically, which is also physically since we are intertwined physical/spiritual\n beings. Reiki self-healing, and other practices I mentioned, help correct this imbalance, and help us be more whole.
So what I\'m suggesting here is that we are always One with the Source, via our\n energy beings, and when we consciously connect with this Source (via Reiki or other practices I mentioned), we feel connected\n with the life force energy that\'s synonymous with God. God is not separate, God is the spiritual aspect of ourselves, and\n all life, and the earth too. We are all part of God.

I sound so religious\n right now. Or maybe anti-religious since this is rather different from the way many religious teach about God. Talking about\n God in a religious sense isn\'t in my comfort level. But I think a new understanding of spirituality is developing for me,\n and I want to try it out. My friend Jonathan calls this gnosis - a spiritual knowing that comes from experience rather than\n intellectual cognition.

There are people who have psychic gifts of\n clairvoyance, or they see angels, see or hear guidance, etc. They all know how to access this higher \"vibration\" of energy\n that allows them to be intuitively aware of these spiritual-based energies. It\'s all energy, but different from the life force\n energy shared by living beings. Angels can do healing work on our energy if we ask for their assistance. They live in this\n \"energy realm\" and vibrate at a slightly higher frequency than we as physical beings can consciously learn to access.
So there it is. My idea of spirituality, Reiki, life, and all that.
I know what I\'m saying is not new, and countless great thinkers have put this\n idea out there in more eloquent terms in long chapter books already. You\'ll find shelves of them in the local bookstore and\n pages upon pages on Amazon. But it\'s new for me, and it\'s been pulling at me hard enough to feel I need to share it with you,\n for your consideration.

Any comments? (I ask nervously....)

Disturbing Divisions\n - I have a student who has been learning with me for close to a year. She started with\n no previous knowledge of Reiki, and learned Kundalini Reiki with me, followed by working on her intuitive development in many\n areas through Intuitive Development Coaching. She\'s shared her successes as she became more aware of the sensations of energy,\n her guidance, angels, and confidence in her abilities to work with Reiki. It\'s been beautiful to be a part of and witness\n to the many ways in which she has discovered these abilities and connections. It\'s changed her life for the better and helped\n her see her path more clearly. She has been learning with me via distance. We\'ve never met in person, although we have spoken\n on the phone a couple of times. Last week, she told me this story:

Recently,\n she decided to attend a Reiki circle in her local area. Gathered with other Reiki practitioners, they were all getting ready\n to start the flow of the energy. She watched them draw symbols in the air and on themselves. She sat quietly, intending that\n the energy begin. Kundalini Reiki does not use symbols. She felt the other practitioners looking at her sideways. She overheard\n one say to the other, \"Where did she get her training?\" The other responded \"Oh, she phoned it in over the internet.\" How\n snarky. My student left shortly thereafter.

I\'m unhappy about the attitude\n of some Reiki practitioners about distance learning. Let\'s face it - Reiki energy is not limited by distance any more than\n love is. Learning Reiki is like learning any subject - the depth and ease of your learning is partially your effort, and partially\n your teacher\'s ability to teach you well. I teach locally and I teach by distance. In each case, I give my students close\n individual support and guidance. I am invested in his or her learning. I care about my student\'s experiences learning and\n working with the Reiki energy. My local students do not receive more because they are with me in person. I take my role as\n teacher seriously, and my students\' success, confidence with their Reiki practice, and genuine love for energy work are testament\n to both the effectiveness of their practice and confidence in my teaching methods. I\'m truly proud of my work and stand behind\n it.

So when one of my distance students is treated with disrespect\n by others who practice Reiki, I am disturbed. This is not what BEing Reiki is about. My student is comfortable and confident\n with the way she practices Reiki. Her energy is strong. I doubt that anyone experiencing Reiki from her would be able to tell\n the difference between Reiki from her and Reiki from one who learned in a local class, (provided the one who learned locally\n had a good teacher).

I think that the politics of those who would\n judge distance learning against local, or Usui Reiki against other methods, is unnecessary and negative. How about we all\n focus on our common goals - offering healing energy to those who need it, balancing ourselves, and trying to make the world\n a better place through our work? Seriously, there is enough to deal with from those who don\'t understand or accept that Reiki\n helps. We don\'t need to be passing judgment on each other within our Reiki circle.

Peace.

Healer, Be Healed\n -
This weekend,\n I had the blessing of going to spend the day with Connie\n Dohan, one of my mentors and wonderful, caring teachers. She gave me several energy\n healing sessions, read my cards, drew my angels and those of my children and husband, took a picture of my aura with her aura\n camera, taught me about crystals, and gave me advice on promoting my Reiki teaching practice. Her husband nurtured us with\n home cooked food. We took walks together in the spring sunshine. It was a very healing and rejuvenating day and one I needed\n very much. I\'m so grateful for her place in my life.

I learned a lot\n too. I get very caught up in helping others, taking care of my family, teaching, sending Reiki, and working on various writing\n projects. I\'m spread pretty thin. It\'s okay because I like to be busy, but I, like many others, forget to take time to receive\n the energy that can revive me and restore my balance. Things that bother me just sit in my energy, waiting to be taken care\n of. Sometimes they wait a long time. In spending a day receiving healing, insight, guidance, fresh air and good food, I realized\n how much I had been needing this replenishing.

As I became aware of\n my baseline, and the shift that took place after each healing session, I was made aware of just how important receiving healing\n is. Not just for me, but if the people I share Reiki healing with are receiving this kind of powerful clearing, then what\n I do is not only important, but really needed. Since I became a Reiki practitioner, I believed in the benefits of Reiki. But\n experiencing it for myself in such a direct way was a very strong reminder of why I do this for others.

Energy practitioners are not exempt from the need to receive healing. In fact, all who offer\n energy healing to others should also receive healing from others on a regular basis. I\'m not only a Reiki teacher, but also\n a working mom of four. Everyone falls into the category of being able to benefit and really needing the power of energy healing\n to help release the energetic sludge that accumulates as we wear so many hats. I didn\'t even realize that I was in such ragged\n shape until I felt the difference afterward.

I want to mention that\n I do daily self-Reiki healing at least once per day. But it\'s been a while since I received Reiki from someone else in several\n powerful sessions, and wow, did I ever need it. I feel renewed and much more aware of my emotional, spiritual and physical\n state.

The readings helped me see my path more clearly, and confirmed\n what I\'m doing well, and what I need to strengthen. They helped me see my children and husband as being cared for and loved\n by the angels around them. They helped me connect more where I had felt doubts.

Let me mention that I believe that we are all capable of learning to help each other in this life. Connecting to\n Life Force Energy through learning Reiki or another energy healing modality enables us to care for ourselves and to care for\n others. We are also able to receive healing from others who know this too. I teach Reiki because the more people who can do\n this, the better our world can be. I\'m always in awe of how easy Reiki is to learn, and how life-changing it can be.
Connie is seriously wonderful, and that is due in part to the fact that she decided\n to listen, strengthen her intuitive gifts, and nurture her own connection to Spirit. She fully embraced this path and now\n teaches and nurtures others who wish to do the same. I\'m blessed to know her. I\'m also inspired to continue moving ahead,\n offering healing and teaching to others, and nurturing them. Receiving energy refreshed my gift of being able to give.
So this lesson was one on receiving, but also on the power of giving. I\'m grateful\n to share this lesson with you here.

This Time it\'s Personal\n - Recently, on Twitter, I received this tweet in my mentions column:

@ReikiAwakening Reiki is just faith healing without the faith. Witchcraft in other words. We foremost promote REAL\n alternative medicine.

I don\'t follow (on Twitter) the person who challenged\n me in this way, nor have I had any previous interaction with him. When I receive tweets like this, my first instinct is to\n try to explain that Reiki is real. I did send two tweets back in response, and then my dear rational friend Sophie Lhoste told me to\n block him. I did. Sophie reminded me that what we put our attention\n on increases, and what we ignore decreases. It was wise advice.
This came on the heels of two days of being challenged by another Twitter member who\n is a scientist and kept tweeting at me to explain what I do in scientific terms. I tried, unsuccessfully, to put a logical,\n rational explanation out there of what Reiki is, how it works, what I experience, and so forth. Eventually, after this person\n kept asking me repeatedly more probing questions, I found it impossible to explain. I\'m not a scientist. I\'m not a faith healer.\n I\'m not a witch. I am a Reiki practitioner and a teacher. (I feel like I\'m in a Star Trek\n episode, \"Dammit, Jim, I\'m a Reiki teacher, not a scientist!\" Bones said that once, didn\'t he? ha).
It brought me to a realization and a little source of frustration that Reiki is not\n something that always has predictable or measurable results. I can intend for the energy to do a certain thing (relieve a\n headache, remove emotional blockages), and it may do that. The only way of knowing that it did is by getting the feedback\n from the recipient that he feels better. I can often get energetic \"dings\" when I scan a person\'s energy, alerting me to imbalances\n in a certain area when I\'m giving a Reiki healing. I respond to those \"dings\" by directing the energy there as I am giving\n the healing. But the only way I know for sure if it worked is when I hear back that the person feels better. I don\'t always\n know what the outcome will be, although I nearly always get a response that there is relief of some kind after a healing session.\n That consistent validation keeps me confident that Reiki helps. But it\'s not an exact science, like pinpointing an issue with\n a laser beam and watching the changes occur through a microscope. It\'s not visible. It\'s subjective. And different results\n happen for different people, because needs are very individual. So it\'s hard to explain that to someone who wants a concrete\n explanation.

My mother-in-law was recently discovered to have a 5-cm\n tumor on her left lung. It was discovered accidentally. She underwent a battery of tests, both external and invasive. Yes,\n it\'s what you\'re thinking it is. And it may have spread. I\'m not saying the word here. That\'s because I don\'t want to put\n more energy into the word or make it a self-fulfilling prophesy. As Sophie said, what we put attention on increases. That\n isn\'t to say I\'m ignoring this, not at all. But I\'m also doing all I can not to feed it.

Which brings me to the next point, regarding the vagueness of Reiki. I mobilized all of my Reiki friends\n and put in a request with the Distance Healing Network to send my mother-in-law healing energy. Another Reiki friend and I did a combined healing\n session for her, visualizing wrapping that tumor in healing energy and shrinking it. We sent light to her immune system. We\n worked together, feeling the energy flowing strongly.

Scans showed\n there was no change in the size of the mass. It did not grow, it did not shrink. Still there. Weirdly, biopsies came back\n inconclusive but the doctors feel the need to do more invasive biopsies because the scans showed the cells are active and\n spreading. I have no idea if or how all of this Reiki is helping. That\'s my frustration. She is still anxious and having trouble\n sleeping. The mass is still there. More tests and forthcoming treatments are planned. It\'s as if nothing made a difference.
Am I expecting miracles? Well I\'d like to think that I could do SOMETHING to\n help. Yes, of course I\'m there, taking her to appointments, offering support, love, presence, reassurance. But I\'m blessed\n with the ability to do Reiki for a reason, and I want to use this gift to help someone I love so dearly! She wants to fight\n this, to live to watch her grandchildren grow and enjoy them. The doctor\'s words \"stage 4....no cure....radiation....\" echo\n off the walls and deflate hope with each bounce. I don\'t want those words to have energy that feed this diagnosis. I want\n positive thinking to prove a miracle can happen.

Abraham-Hicks is bold\n enough to say that positive thinking is all one needs to turn one towards complete health from any condition, nearly immediately.\n That sounds so bold, and I want to believe it, and yet it seems to fly in the face of reality. And yet....and yet....friends\n tell me of surprising results when doctors suddenly couldn\'t find a tumor when they were ready to operate. All that changed\n is the person remained positive and didn\'t get discouraged by the doctor\'s diagnosis. Miracles happen and I\'m really hoping\n this can be one of those miracle stories. I also know it\'s not all up to me, even though I\'d like to be able to do something\n that will help make a difference.

There are those who say Reiki goes\n towards a person\'s highest good, whatever that may be. It\'s so vague. And then there\'s the aspect of setting intention to\n drive the energy toward a specific goal. That\'s the opposite. Which is true? I\'m not sure. Probably both. And I also don\'t\n have knowledge of what a person\'s highest good is. Sometimes this is challenging. I often ask for \"the healing that is needed\"\n and add that \"any lessons attached to this healing be gently received.\" I trust in the higher powers to translate this intention\n into reality for the recipient. This leaves the challenge of explaining or reconciling what the outcome is to the goal of\n the healing. Is it really in one\'s highest good to remain sick or get worse? I don\'t know. I hope not. There are those who\n say that one has lessons to learn in this lifetime, or karmic debts to pay that are lived out through one\'s experiences. I\n don\'t know lots about this personally, so I listen to those ideas and take them in, weighing them against my own gut feelings.\n Suffering can be so hard to understand.

I\'ve felt that it\'s my path\n to continue to offer and teach Reiki healing. It is a niche that I\'ve fallen into and it\'s fit me so well that I\'m merged\n with it. I receive emails from students and clients about how much the Reiki has helped them feel better. This is my validation.\n This is my signal to keep doing what it is I do. I can\'t give the scientists and skeptics who challenge me more of a concrete\n answer than that. There are literally hundreds of people who I\'ve shared energy with that are grateful and received relief\n from receiving or learning Reiki. This keeps me going. This renews my faith every single day.

So despite not knowing what the energy will do, where or how it may specifically help a person, or knowing\n if it will or won\'t trigger a miracle, I keep on sharing it. I keep on believing in the power of Reiki.

The combination of trust and intention are keys to the process.

Thanks for reading.

To California... With a Little Help From My Angels\n -
Hello!
I went to California last weekend to be with my sisters. This long weekend trip\n was a gift from my mom, dad and my sisters for my 40th birthday (which was in December). One of my sisters (Laura - in the\n picture with me) lives in Washington, DC, and she was attending a conference in California (where my other sister, Melanie,\n lives). Laura stayed the weekend after her conference to be with me when I came out there, so we three could spend the weekend\n together. I had never been to CA before, and rarely have the opportunity to travel, so this was a very rare and wonderful\n gift. This being a long weekend, I didn\'t have teaching obligations, so this was the perfect time to go.

I got to the airport, after having made many arrangements with my mom and mother-in-law, who\n were watching the kids and making dinner. My flight out of Cleveland was supposed to get me to a connecting flight in Minneapolis,\n MN. Suddenly there was an announcement that the airplane had a flat tire and they were waiting for a mechanic to change it.\n It may or may not cause a delay. I waited a few minutes, concerned about making my connecting flight. The next announcement\n said that the plane needed special tires brought in - driven in - from Detroit. The delay would be five hours. I got in line\n to talk to the airline person behind the desk.

Behind me in line was\n a young woman who was lamenting already that she wasn\'t going to get home, that she was going to miss her friends in Oregon\n who were going to drive with her, that she was going to be stuck. I turned to her and said that I was setting the expectation\n that I\'d be moved to a direct flight, in first class, seated next to a celebrity I\'ve always wanted to meet. She laughed and\n marveled at my positivity. I told her we get what we put out there.

Well,\n when I got to my turn, the airline person typed and typed on his computer and said he was unable to find me another flight\n since the storms out East had caused so many people to need to get on flights. Everything else was full. He encouraged me\n to try calling a representative of the airline from the phone bank in the middle of the room and see if someone there could\n help. So I did that, determined not to give up. After a long time on hold, and another long conversation with that airline\n representative, I was again told that there were no flights that could get me to California until the next day. My weekend\n was already short, so a full day\'s delay for one day in California was not going to be possible. The airline representative\n suggested I call someone from the other airline that my itinerary included.

I called that airline, and after a long hold was speaking with another representative who was also unable to get\n me on another flight. Sadly, I got back in line to ask for a refund for my ticket. As I stood in line to speak with the airline\n person, I was leaving tearful messages on my sisters\' voicemails saying that I wasn\'t going to make it and that I was so sorry.\n The airline person saw me. When I got to the podium, he started typing on his computer. He said he was going to be creative\n and try to find me a way to get there. I stood and silently asked the angels for help getting me to California. He typed and\n typed. He called someone and talked to her. Suddenly, he said \"I got it!\" and he hung up the phone. He had found me a flight\n to Detroit that connected to a flight to Los Angeles (see the word \"angel\" in there?), getting me to CA just two hours after\n my original arrival time. I took it. I also hugged that guy and thanked him profusely.

The gate to board the Detroit flight (which was leaving in 10 minutes) was right next to the gate I was at\n currently. I walked over and sat down until we boarded. As I sat, I looked at my boarding passes. The seat for my flight from\n Detroit to LA was in first class.

Everything went smoothly to Detroit,\n and getting on my flight to LA. As I sat in my seat on the Detroit-LA flight (next to a charming guy who has the difficult\n job of working for Toyota), I was reading a book I\'d brought. The author mentioned cheesecake and I thought \"yum, I\'d love\n some cheesecake. Maybe I\'ll be able to have some in California.\" When the flight attendant brought our meals, just about 10\n minutes later, wouldn\'t you know there was a piece of cheesecake included? The angels arranged for dessert too, I guess!
I spent a wonderful weekend with my sisters, one I\'ll never forget. I am beyond\n grateful that I had the opportunity to go, and also for the lesson that there\'s help if you stay positive and ask for it.
Wishing you many moments of awe and wonder.
$\"\"$

Welcome Author Christy Strauch!\n - I\'d like to welcome author Christy\n Strauch to the Reiki Awakening blog this week! Christy is on a blog book tour,\n and is seriously impressive in her ability to explain clearly how to start and grow a business. She wrote an article for my\n blog for you friends who wish to know how to develop your energy healing practice into a viable business. She has some really\n great practical advice! Get ready to be inspired!

Christy Strauch is\n the author of Passion, Plan, Profit: 12 Simple Steps to Convert\n Your Passion into a Solid Business. In addition she is president of Clarity To\n Business and has worked with over 300 small business owners, from artists to real estate agents, helping them do what they\n are passionate about ? and make a profit. Her book is available at Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/Passion-Plan-Profit-Simple-Business/dp/0984055703. I encourage you to get her book and work through the process to plan and execute the growth\n of your business. I am grateful for her wisdom and glad to share it with you. Now, here\'s Christy!

How Energy Healers Can Grow Their Businesses by Christy Strauch

The\n first step in helping your business grow, no matter what it is (after you make sure you?re doing a great job at the products\n and services you provide), is to understand, at a deep level, who your perfect clients are, and what they want and need from\n you.

You went into this work to help people. Even though you might\n want to help everyone, you have to be specific about who it is you want to, and are most effective at, helping the most. Be\n ruthless about this. Who are you drawn to? Elders? Athletic boys between the ages of 12-18? Pre-menopausal women? Who are\n your perfect clients? Healers are lucky; to be an effective healer you intuitively know many things about your clients already.\n Take that knowledge you already have and talk to your clients to gather the rest. You need both the demographic information\n about them (things like their age, where they live, level of education) and psychographic information (what they like to do\n for fun, their attitudes about healing and medicine, what they read, who else they go to for help, and lots of other questions).
The second step in building your practice is to understand how to draw more people\n to you. Healing professions rely on trust. Although you could run an ad in a local newspaper, or show up to a networking event\n and hand out your cards, or even cold-call prospective clients (kidding, this is a bad idea); people go to healers because\n they trust them. And the best way for someone to trust you as a healer, is if someone else your client trusts, recommends\n you.

Now that you know your clients deeply, ask yourself: who else\n do they work with? Other healers such as acupuncturists, massage therapists, chiropractors, or? Where do they shop? Do they\n exercise at a specific place, or buy their food at a certain store? The most effective way to build your practice is to work\n with other people who also work with your perfect clients.
Visit the people\n your clients also work with and see if they would be willing to refer their clients to you (and vice versa: you would also\n refer clients to them). Use your intuition here also; you will only want to refer your precious clients to people you trust\n implicitly; the same is true for other practitioners and businesses. They will only want to refer their clients to people\n they trust.

The best referral relationships are ones based on deep\n mutual trust. These relationships need nurturing and communication to thrive, just like any other relationship that?s important\n to you.

Get deeply acquainted with your clients, and enter into meaningful\n referral relationships with other businesses. These are the two primary keys to success in the healing professions.

Signs That Smack Ya Over the Head\n - Inspired by my Twitter and Facebook friend Amy\n Oscar, I started asking the angels for signs. Signs that would knock me over with\n bluntness, signs I could easily recognize. You see, life has been a little crazy as of late. My article writing job that I\'ve\n had steady assignments from for two years has abruptly ended after the transfer of the articles to another company. The new\n company isn\'t adding content. So the writers and editors have all been dismissed. Time to find new supplemental sources of\n regular income...fast. I feel more in need of guidance than ever. As most of you know, my husband recently started a new job\n after nearly 8 months of being unemployed. We have lots of recovery to do, bit by bit. The income I bring in is essential.\n So although it comes from many different sources, when one drops, another needs to fill in where that came from. And I need\n to find it.

So interestingly enough, nearly two weeks ago I had an\n idea for a business and I approached three companies about it. They signed on immediately. It\'s a side thing, but could get\n bigger. I know I need a website, one that looks more professional than one I could do myself. And last night I was chatting\n with my sister online and I told her about it. She immediately volunteered her boyfriend\'s services. I had no idea about this,\n but apparently he is a graphic designer who designs websites and logos, and he will do this for me free of charge. Good timing,\n seems like. Okay, perfect timing.

Last night I was driving to do a\n Reiki demonstration at the local wellness center where I teach Reiki courses, CHEMAM and as I drove I was again asking for guidance. When I got home, I went on Twitter and my\n friend Krystal who does Oracle readings, said out of the blue that the angels were telling her to do a reading for me and\n she\'ll email me this weekend. I was surprised (read - knocked over the head), and\n told her I had just been asking for guidance. She said that\'s why they contacted her to email me. I\'m eagerly awaiting the\n message, but felt like I had been responded to already.

Although I\n can\'t hear whispered guidance (yet), and really need to schedule in daily meditation time, I do think that Amy is right. Ask,\n keep asking, and things will happen. I seem to be landing in the right place at the right time lately, so I\'m taking these\n events as signs that I\'m getting where I need to be. It\'s a journey for sure.

If you have experiences to share, please do. I\'ll keep posting as events unfold for me.
Peace.

Winter Introspection\n - We\'re nearly in the middle of January already. Here where I live in University Heights,\n Ohio, the world is blanketed in a heavy layer of snow. It\'s gray and cold outside. People I speak with talk of already being\n tired of winter. I can relate. It\'s not my season. But it takes up a good quarter of the year here every year, so it\'s not\n different. The anticipation of spring has set in already. It\'ll be a while before it gets here though.

Two of my local Reiki classes have been postponed due to low enrollment. I understand that\n this is common at the start of January. People don\'t want to venture out, holiday bills are piled up, and the long holiday\n season has taken some a while to get reorganized after it ended, so registration details were missed. The Reiki for Parents\n and Distance Healing classes at CHEMAM have been subsequently moved to February, new dates TBA. I was sort of bummed over the need\n to postpone, but I am going to take this time to focus on continuing my online work and I am teaching a local Kundalini Reiki class to some wonderful people at Insight Wellness.

The\n second weekly issue of Reiki Talk will go out today. And I will also be working on my personal growth - via meditation and\n taking time for Reiki self healing to be the most effective teacher and Reiki channel that I can. Winter quiet is a good time\n for tuning in, and maybe this is the message I need to receive - focus inward now for a while.

I did raise some fees at the start of the year, and a couple of people have commented about that. I want\n to put out there that money will never be an issue if someone needs Reiki or really wants to learn but needs financial arrangements.\n I am willing to scholarship, make payment plans, whatever someone needs in order to learn or receive Reiki healing or training.\n So if you want to receive or learn Reiki, but are stopped by money issues, email me. I\'ll work with you.\n I want to share Reiki with everyone who\'s ready to tap into their inner energetic power. It\'s there for you, and so am I.
I had an insightful conversation yesterday with Amy Oscar, a truly\n amazing woman who has a wonderful blog and writes about angels. She encouraged me to ask the angels for signs that are obvious,\n and then watch to see what happens. I think lots of people are afraid to ask for signs, worried that it won\'t work, or that\n they won\'t get anywhere. Or maybe some are afraid that they will, and it will change their lives more than they are ready\n for. All I know is that when we were tweeting with each other, my head had that \"being gripped\" sensation that happens when\n I feel my guides are trying to get my attention. So I\'m passing the message along here, as much as I\'m taking it to heart\n for my own practice. I\'m going to ask more often for signs and guidance from the angels who are there, waiting for the opportunity\n to help. Join me! Let me know how things go for you too. I\'ll be posting.

Wishing everyone an introspective, aware and enriching January.
Blessings.

2010\n - Happy New Year everyone!

This\n year is slated to be a year of growth for me, I\'ve decided. Involved in this growth is an expansion of my website, where I\n now offer Usui Reiki attunements for those interested in learning the \"original\"\n form of Reiki healing. I also changed the Energy Healing Mentoring Program into the more streamlined Intuitive Development Coaching, which is greatly simplified into individual sessions.

I\'ve also started a BlogTalkRadio show called Reiki\n Talk, which had its first broadcast last night. Here is the player so you\n can listen to the recording at your convenience.

I started\n the show to help people get introduced to Reiki, answer questions, and address specific topics pertaining to Reiki healing,\n such as Distance Healing, Reiki and Permission, Reiki and Angels, Reiki and Kids, Reiki and Teens, and more. There are call-in\n opportunities and a live chat going on during the show, so please tune in, participate, and enjoy. The show will air the first\n Sunday night of each month, at 11 pm EST. All will be available for listening afterward as well.

Those who subscribe to the Reiki Awakening Newsletter will also be receiving new weekly Reiki Tips emails with ideas for using Reiki, and\n special discounted courses or products featured on my website. To subscribe, enter your email at the bottom of my website. I welcome your feedback on the Newsletter, Reiki Tips, and Reiki Talk.

I am teaching locally, with more classes scheduled through March, at CHEMAM, and Insight Wellness for those in the Cleveland area. Local classes scheduled include: Reiki for Parents, Distance Healing, Kundalini\n Reiki, Reiki for Teens, Reiki for Nurses, and Usui Reiki. I\'m also offering Reiki healing sessions and Intuitive Development\n Coaching at CHEMAM.

I\n really felt that it was time to move forward. Teaching Reiki is an important part of my life and my passion. I really believe\n it is my role to share this amazing energy with all who are open to learning about it. Although some of my family members\n and friends look at me with some skepticism, wondering if this career makes sense for me, or if it can be successful, I know\n in my heart it\'s what I\'m meant to do. I\'m moving ahead, finding ways to reach more people, and quietly and confidently continuing\n to walk this path. The emails I receive from people who have learned or received Reiki from me, and the students who thank\n me for the way Reiki has changed their life are the validation that this is right. I don\'t have an explanation for the strength\n of my conviction, other than the way that I feel a sense of joy when I\'ve helped someone access this powerful energy. I\'m\n a teacher, a gateway, to connect people with their powerful energy for balance and healing. Reiki is here for everyone, and\n all are capable of helping themselves and each other heal and be well. I wasn\'t aware, even 3 years ago, that this was who\n I am, but now I know. Funny that it took this long to develop, but life works in mysterious ways. Maybe I wasn\'t ready before,\n or maybe I was honing my teaching skills to lead up to this. Whatever the reason, I feel like I need to embrace this role,\n like I\'ve finally discovered myself in it.

Thank you for being a part\n of my journey.
Peace.

Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary\n - Today is my 40th birthday! It\'s also the second anniversary of the day I began this blog.\n It is a good day for some reflection on how things have changed in the past year or two, and I\'m filled with gratitude for\n so many things in my life.

Here is where I was one year ago today.

Here is my first post, two years ago today.

Since\n last year, I\'ve begun teaching Reiki locally in two different wellness centers here in the Cleveland area, in addition to launching my website, and connecting with many new friends\n and students on Twitter and Facebook. I was interviewed about Reiki on four different radio shows. I\'ve started writing about Reiki\n for OwningPink.com and PaganPages.org. I\'ve had the blessing of teaching at least 150 more students in the past year as well. Reiki teaching is becoming\n a more central focus in my life, and it feels really right. It\'s wonderful to feel that things are moving in this direction\n and I look forward to what will be developing in the year to come.

I\'m\n so grateful for the opportunities that have been opening for me, for those who have connected with me to learn and receive\n Reiki, and for the awesome support of my husband and family, which is continuous. I am filled with love and gratitude within\n and feel it surrounding me. It\'s a great way to begin this milestone year of my life.

Thank you for reading my blog, and for commenting. All of you are appreciated and I send love and light to\n you all.

Peace,
Alice

Inspiration from Angels\n -
Something new\n I\'ve done recently is to write for a new book called One Page Wisdom:\n Book One - Inspirational One-Page Writings from 111 People Worldwide. I have a story in there, as one of the 111 authors.\n The book is now published, in paperback, and it\'s available here as well as Amazon, etc. What I like about it is that you can turn to any page in the book\n and it feels like you are reading a message meant for you right at this very moment. Lots of people wrote about what inspires\n them, and there are themes of spirituality, faith, miracles, blessings, gratitude, love, and more. I\'m really happy to be\n a part of it. I think the book makes a good gift too, and I plan to get some to give out as holiday presents this year.
It got me thinking about sources of inspiration. I\'ve read that one can receive\n messages from angels in various forms - snippets of music on the radio or suddenly going through your head, words on a bumper\n sticker of the car in front of you, an animal crossing your path or showing up in your yard, or turning to a page in a book\n and finding that the words say just what you needed to hear. Is this real, or is it our attempt to make meaning from seemingly\n random events? Hard to say concretely, but those who believe and take the messages to heart certainly feel inspired.
I will admit that I\'ve had some events like this happen to me. The coincidences\n seem to be perfectly timed, you know? (The response is: there are no coincidences.\n Right.) For instance, one day I was driving and I was feeling rather confused wondering about my own intuitive development.\n I asked the angels to please show me a sign that I\'m on the right path, that they really are with me. Two minutes later, a\n car was driving in front of me with a bumper sticker that had small lettering. Curious, I pulled up closer. It said \"Believe.\"
Another time, I was sitting at my computer, feeling the same sort of way, doubting\n myself, feeling frustrated, wondering what to do. I asked the angels to show me a sign that I was doing what I should be,\n and an email popped up in my inbox right at that moment. It said \"Healing\n Angels has requested you as a friend on Facebook.\" I cried, feeling overwhelmed.

Are these things really signs? Well, they could be. Angel experts like Doreen Virtue say that this is how\n angels communicate with us. I\'m open to the idea that messages for me could be there waiting for me to notice, offering guidance,\n reassurance and love. It\'s a comforting thought, and I also think that taking the leap of faith required to receive and accept\n these messages could be a good thing. It makes one open to receiving more, and that\'s part of intuitive development growth.
As I write this, I feel tingles on my face. That\'s the sensation that I associate\n with angels and guidance with me when I\'m sending Reiki or giving attunements. When I ask for angelic assistance, I feel tingles\n and light sensations on my face. It\'s like a light caress saying, \"We\'re here helping you.\" I\'ve come to believe this is another\n way I receive validation that the angels are with me. As a sentient person (one who experiences energy through sensations),\n this is important to me. I\'ve learned to interpret various nuances in tingles in my hands and face while sending Reiki as\n indicators of places where the recipient needs more energy, or has certain physical issues such as pain. When I ask for angelic\n assistance, I often feel this sensation on my face in response.

So\n I\'ve decided to be open to angelic guidance in all forms, and leave doubts in the background. Why not see what will happen?\n It couldn\'t hurt, and it could open me to receiving more of what I\'m looking for - intuitive growth, connection with inspiration\n and guidance.

I invite comments on your intuitive experiences with\n receiving guidance.

A Grateful Thanksgiving\n -
Hello and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

I am extremely thankful, especially today, to share the wonderful news that my husband has received and accepted a job offer. The long period of unemployment is coming\n to a close as he assumes the role of Operations Analyst at Lutheran\n Hospital, which is in Cleveland, near where we live. So we are not moving out of state, and we can keep our roots here\n for the time being. Interesting to note is that there are still some out of state opportunities brewing for him and he may\n have other offers coming in the next few months. All will be considered, so this might be a step rather than a stop, so to\n speak! Still, we are very happy to be able to share such wonderful news that he can go back to work, in a position that can\n help him grow and further his career goals.
So, Evan landing a job is at\n the #1 spot on the Thanksgiving Thankful List for today. Here are the next items.

I am thankful for Evan. He has handled his time of\n uncertainty, waiting, stress, and anxiety with amazing strength and perseverance. He has taken on lots of cooking, cleaning,\n laundry, home repairs, and dad time, and cleared the way for me to apply myself to working on writing, lining up teaching\n opportunities, and teaching. We also enjoyed some extra time together that we wouldn\'t have had otherwise, even grocery shopping\n together became a sort of \"date.\" He never wallowed in misery, but held me up when I needed it. I\'m in awe, admiration, and\n appreciation of him and look at him with overwhelming love and gratitude.

I am thankful for our four children. They bring laughter,\n energy, love, challenges, and fun to our home on a daily basis. Each of them is an individual with a strong personality, amazing\n talents, and they make our family abundant in reasons for gratitude.

I am thankful for my parents and mother-in-law, who have given us\n emotional and financial support when we needed it, and have been constantly encouraging us to hang in there.
I am thankful for my friends\n on Twitter, Owning Pink, and Facebook who have never stopped giving encouragement,\n sending Reiki, prayers, and good thoughts our way with each interview and throughout the waiting process that seemed never-ending.\n

I am thankful\n for my Reiki students, who have given me the opportunity to share this beautiful and empowering energy with them. Teaching\n Reiki is my life path, and every person who allows me to show them how to experience Reiki is a blessing to my life.
I am thankful for a warm home, nourishing food,\n cars that are running, a good internet connection, and the ability to learn to live frugally (a skill which will continue\n to serve us well).

I\'m also thankful for the ability to connect with angels, life force energy, and the constant reassurance\n that this has provided me when I needed it.

Finally, I\'m thankful for those who take the time to read my thoughts here, whether you\n comment or not, please know I\'m glad to have your caring and interest.

Blessings, Gratitude and a Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Being Tested\n - This is a trying time for my family and me. My husband has interviewed for jobs and is\n waiting for answers. There are many delays. He has another interview coming next week. The days are strange and long as we\n wait for emails and phone calls. I feel as if I\'m being tested to see if I can learn patience.

I had a powerful energy healing session last night from my friends Candy & Ming who reported\n afterward that I\'m standing in between two doors, holding on to both, and neither of them can open. I have to let go and stop\n blocking them so the right one can open. Surrender - it\'s a lesson I\'m trying to learn to do.

Of course, I know that I have been anxious over what will happen. We might move, we might stay. The delays\n are long and trying. So knowing that surrender is needed is different from actually knowing how to make it happen. And there\'s\n something amusing about what I just said: making surrender\n happen. As if it\'s something that can be forced - that\'s the opposite of surrender!\n Even talking about it is difficult to do in terms that make sense.

Knowing\n what needs to happen is the first step towards doing it. I know that. Now... how to do it. Here\'s what I am going to try:\n

conscious breathing - I\'m going to take a few minutes, several times during\n the day, to stop, breathe slowly, and be present. It\'s a mini-meditation moment.
asking for help - I\'m\n going to ask my angels and guides for help in arranging things for the best good of our family - not once, but at least daily.\n That will help me remember that I\'ve given the process over to those who can make it happen.
catching\n my monkey mind - When I feel myself slipping into the \"what if\" state of mind, trying to figure out what I would do in any\n variation of the possible scenarios, I\'ll stop, and go to that peaceful place by breathing, and remember that I\'m letting\n the angels handle things.

That\'s the plan. I\'ll keep you posted on how\n it works. Feel free to offer suggestions and encouragement!

Peace.

Teaching in Person\n - I\'ve been teaching local Reiki classes for the first time this month, and tonight my\n Kundalini Reiki class of eight wonderful students will receive their\n final attunement. I\'m also teaching Reiki for Parents, and it\'s going\n very well.

I was nervous at the start, because all of my Reiki teaching,\n with the exception of one-on-one classes, has been remotely via my\n website. There have been over 200 students in the past year and a half, and that\'s a lot! I am confident and absolutely\n adore teaching Reiki. But facing a class full of people in a room was somehow a little daunting to me. It\'s funny too, because\n I\'m a teacher, and have been teaching kids and teens various subjects for over 13 years. But a room full of adults? That felt\n different!

I\n took a leap. I trusted that all would be well, and that my teaching ability and passion for Reiki would support me\n in helping everyone understand and feel the energy. I had to decide how I would attune everyone, since I knew I could do it\n all at once by simple intention. Instead, I decided I would pass along the attunements individually to everyone in class (I\n touched each person on the shoulders, intending for him or her to be attuned as he or she intended to accept the attunement).\n Then I moved to the next person, and at the end, I sat at the table and felt the energy flowing between my hands as it continued\n working. After about 20 minutes, everyone opened up their eyes, having felt the attunement energy reach completion. Kundalini\n Reiki attunements don\'t have the ritualized aspects of Usui Reiki attunements, so no more is needed than simple intention\n for passing the attunements along. Once everyone had opened their eyes, each person spoke of his or her experience, and each\n person\'s was unique and yet powerful. I can\'t express how grateful I am for the ability to help open people to Reiki energy\n and that it works every time.

Everyone returned the next week with\n stories about helping other people with Reiki, or their pets, and one person even saw his plant improve after he gave it Reiki!\n Some of them had sent distance healing, and it was felt and the recipient felt better. It was really exciting to see how they\n had all started realizing the benefits of Reiki, and experienced the results for themselves.

Some of my students have been in touch with me via email in between classes, with questions, or to share\n their excitement about the power of Reiki. I love hearing from them.

So\n this has been a wonderful experience for me as well, and a learning experience too. I learned that I am capable of facing\n a class full of students, and giving the information about Reiki clearly, as well as passing on attunements in person. I learned\n that I can share my passion for teaching Reiki in person as well as via email, and it\'s equally well received. I shed my anxiety\n over teaching adults, and feel much more confident now.

I look forward\n to more opportunities to teach local Reiki classes and more distance students as well. I truly believe that everyone should\n learn Reiki because there are so many benefits and we all have this power inside us to tap into for our own healing and wellness.\n I am blessed and so very grateful for the opportunity to work with each person that gives me the chance.

Peace.

Debbie\n - A few months back, I was approached by a woman who I had met on Twitter, Debbie Wilker. She had been suddenly diagnosed with cancer and wanted to learn Reiki. I chatted with her about it, and although\n she didn\'t have the money to pay for attunements, I attuned her to Kundalini Reiki through master level. I also put her in\n touch with my friend Bridget, who had healed her own cancer with energy healing and diet, and works with people diagnosed\n with cancer. Debbie had high hopes for beating this disease and was determined to stay positive and do all she could.
Debbie had a rare and aggressive form of cancer. I wanted to help her and had\n high hopes for her recovery because she was so driven to live. Debbie was 52 when she was diagnosed. She was an artist, author,\n mom, wife, and coach. Yes, I am speaking in the past tense. Debbie died three days ago. I found out today.
She had been in touch with me many times, each time telling me about her energy experiences\n with self healing, dreams, and asking questions about Reiki. I sent her Reiki healing many times. She was receiving help from\n many energy healers, and following lots of advice. She was also receiving conventional medical treatment. She was in and out\n of the hospital, and then hospice care.

I\'m blogging about this today\n because Debbie\'s passing is in my thoughts. I know she wanted to live longer, that she didn\'t feel finished with her life\'s\n work. Being connected to a higher source of energy through Reiki is helpful, but it can\'t change the inevitability of an aggressive\n cancer, I guess. I\'m sad over this, and it\'s a cold reminder that there are things we don\'t understand about life and death,\n no matter how strong our intentions to help ourselves or each other. I\'m sure Debbie is at peace now, but her passing is hard\n for her family and friends. We know that she wanted to live longer, free of pain and disease, and able to continue with her\n plans. We miss her.

When people die before they have had their full\n lives, such as children, young mothers, or people in their prime, it can seem to be senseless. Why did this happen? It feels\n unfair and wrong. Some people try to explain it, but there are no explanations that satisfy those of us who feel no sense\n of understanding behind it. \"God\'s ways are mysterious.\" \"God has her reasons.\" Yada yada yada. Meanwhile, there is a great\n loss for those left behind, and leaves the nagging feeling that a life was cut short. It\'s sobering, and a reminder that we\n are all vulnerable in our own way too. Life is unpredictable and death is inevitable. It may not be the end, because our spirits\n are eternal, but each lifetime is precious and has something to accomplish and experiences to live. When it feels like one\n didn\'t get the full measure of this lifetime, it is confusing and hurts. I know I\'m not the one to judge whether someone had\n their full lifetime or not, for what do I know anyway? But I know that Debbie didn\'t feel finished, and that is hard. I know\n she made peace with her dying at the end, and was more concerned for her family, because she emailed me about that. But the\n question of \"why now\" remains unanswered.

People in Debbie\'s life may\n still feel her presence, and she may still be around in spirit. Perhaps she will visit her husband and son in their dreams\n or visions. I hope that she can, and it will bring them comfort.

The\n medical profession has a long way to go with curing cancer, and the current treatment is painful and difficult for those who\n have it. One day I hope there will be better answers.

I wish I could\n have done more to make a difference.

Peace.

How to Surrender\n - I\'ve noticed lately that many people are blogging and tweeting about surrender. What\n is surrender, though? Is it giving up? Is it shrugging your shoulders and admitting that we have no control over the events\n which will come at us moment by moment? Is it having faith? All of these options sound difficult from where I\'m standing,\n and some of them don\'t sound like a good way to live.

Let\'s talk about\n the first thing I mentioned - giving up. That couldn\'t be a good thing. It implies a feeling of hopelessness - like there\'s\n nothing I can do so why try? If one who is without a job gives up, there is no job search, there is just wallowing in misery.\n I don\'t think this is the way to go.

Then there\'s the \"shrugging one\'s\n shoulders and admitting one isn\'t in control\" method. Saying \"this is out of my hands\" is difficult for one who likes to make\n things happen with action. But there comes a time when one has done all she can and the rest is waiting. I think when one\n gets to this point, it takes patience to get through it. Patience is my lesson these days, and the Universe is handing me\n abundant opportunities to practice. Is this a good form of surrender? Well, I think it\'s part of the process, so whether it\'s\n good or bad to shrug and give in, it is probably necessary.

So then\n there\'s having faith. This is the next step, after shrugging, I think. This is the part for me takes a lot of effort, but\n many people advocate this. Just believe that everything will turn out for the best. The Universe, Source, Powers that Be,\n has your best interest in mind and is steering the world in the right direction for you. Things will work out. That\'s a common\n phrase people say to reassure themselves when things seem out of their hands. How does one go about having faith? Is it a\n decision? Is it an effort? I think that for me, it\'s both.

Deciding\n that I\'ll take the attitude of \"I\'ve done all I can, so now I\'ll wait\" is part of it. The rest is letting go of worry that\n things will go this way or that way, or not work out after all the effort put in. That\'s the faith part, and it\'s also surrender\n in action. The act of surrender is giving up the worry - just\n letting it go and staying in this moment, not the place of \"what if.\"

It\'s\n easy for me to think of all of the possible outcomes of the situation and what I would do to handle each. That\'s the control\n freak in me, I think. It also puts me in a place of anxious waiting, rather than calm. One would think that planning for every\n possible outcome would make me feel secure, and I know that\'s why I try to do it. But actually, it makes me live on the edge\n of my seat, waiting to see which outcome seems to be materializing so I can jump into action.

Things in my life have been in flux lately as my husband attends some important job interviews which may\n lead to us moving out of state. Moving is a big deal, as I\'ve mentioned, but I\'m not against the idea. It just involves rising\n to the occasion and taking care of a lot of details, including a period of time where my husband would move ahead of us and\n I\'d be in charge of all of our day to day business with the kids, school, meals, cleaning, and selling the house. Breathe, Alice, breathe! Okay,\n I\'m breathing.

So this idea of \"surrender\" is a tough one for me,\n as is patience, while we wait to see what will transpire. It\'s good - getting a job is a good thing - for sure. But it\'s also\n possible to get lost in the details, and the wondering how we\'ll manage to accomplish it. I reassure myself that people do\n this, even with big families such as ours, and we can too. That\'s a kind of faith/ surrender too I suppose.
There is also Reiki. Of course, Reiki! I can send Reiki to the intention for the best\n possible outcome for our family, and knowing that positive energy is flowing in that direction is reassuring in itself. In\n fact, the more I do this, the more I feel I\'m doing something that makes a difference, and that feels pretty good.

I\'m breathing, grounding, and doing all I can to stay in the moment instead of going to that place of \"what\n if\" and \"how will I do such-and-such\" and man, what an effort! I never knew surrender could be so much work. Nobody talks about how much work surrender actually is, and instead people say that they make the decision to \"let it\n go\" and poof! they feel so much better instantly. For me, it\'s a process. I constantly remind myself to breathe. I often bring\n myself back to the present. It\'s an ongoing thing. My mind is like a toddler who is intent on having her way. I have to be\n the mom who goes over and repeatedly picks her up and brings her back to this room. Then a few seconds later, off she goes\n again!

But I know also that there is an end in sight. There will be\n a decision, a resolution, soon, and I\'ll be able to make lists of what needs to be done and get organized. In many ways, that\n will be a relief. In others, it will be overwhelming. For now, the list has one thing on it: wait. That in itself is hard\n enough. Later, the list will have many things, but at the end of the day, whatever I\'ve gotten done is progress, and I can\n be okay with that.

So this blog post is about How to Surrender, and\n the recipe includes shrugs, faith, breathing, Reiki, and of course, patience. No surprises there, right? Tell me something,\n is surrender a struggle for you too? Do you have a different recipe?

Peace.

Be Here Now\n - There is always, it\n seems, a balance to be mindfully walked. Balance between action\n and patience, balance between faith and action, balance between surrender and preparing. They are all related, and all a part\n of my life lately. The tough part is deciding how much of each to put into the mix for the right amount. I think the right\n amount is achieved when one feels at peace, knowing that one has done what is necessary and then is able to surrender the\n outcome to the Powers That Be, the Universe, God, Spirit, Source, whatever one chooses to name the Divine power in his or\n her life.

Finding that balance can feel like walking a tightrope. I\n truly think that the feeling of being at peace is the answer to whether\n one has accomplished it. I struggle often to get to that, as I think many do. But it\'s worth it, because life is much\n easier in those moments when one has that sense of being centered, calm through the stress, not affected by the anxiety that\n could be crushing.

In my life lately, there is the direct challenge\n of putting this into practice. My husband is going to be on his way to Virginia at\n the end of next week for a final job interview in person at a hospital. This is\n a great opportunity for him, and it means a huge change for our family should he accept an offer from them. I support him\n being in a great job, wherever it takes us. There are many things that we would need to do in order to make it happen, and\n we could get swallowed by the to do list and freak out. I have decided not to do that. We are waiting until he has an offer,\n and then will sit and calmly make that long, long list, and get started one thing at a time until we are there.
And also, if he doesn\'t get this job for some reason, another will certainly\n work out for him. He has other interviews lined up, and many applications in, and things are beginning to happen from those.\n The unknown factors and ongoing money issues are enough to cause hyperventilation, but deciding not to go there, to instead\n live in THIS MOMENT NOW, have been the answer to enjoying life\n so much more.

Living in the now - this moment - not in \"what if\" or\n \"but it might not\" or \"what are we gonna do\" land - is the key to being open for the opportunities to present themselves.\n It is the way to deal with everything while avoiding anxiety, and staying balanced. Breathing, and being aware of the spaces\n between the breaths, helps me remember that I\'m here, now, and not in my head worrying about everything. I don\'t have control\n over whether this job offer will come. I only have control over what I\'m doing right now, this moment.

It doesn\'t mean being inactive or giving up. It means doing what you can, one thing at a time,\n and not worrying over what\'s next, down the road, what might happen, what might not happen, or over-planning. I have consciously\n chosen to live in the present, and it does take effort, but little by little I\'m doing it. The benefits are tangible. I used\n to be very anxious, a worrier. Now I\'m moving out of that mindset and feeling more able to enjoy things.

I\'m enjoying playing with my kids, talking with my husband, and getting my work done. I\'m sure\n more benefits will realize themselves as I bring presence more and more into being.

Try it with me. Several times a day, stop and focus on 10 breaths. Just be tuned in to your breathing, and\n count each one if you want. Observe how it makes you feel when you return to what you are doing. It\'s basically a mini-meditation\n that you can do several times a day, which brings you to the present moment, and calms the mental chatter. While you\'re breathing,\n try to take full breaths - from deep down in your abdomen. Many of us breathe shallowly throughout the day. A full breath\n is cleansing, and increases circulation and oxygen flow to the brain. It\'s good for us.

I know that there are big changes ahead for my family, and I\'m ready. I\'ve put out there that I want the\n best thing for our family to happen, the best opportunity for Evan to be his. Now I\'m allowing the Universe to make it happen,\n and doing those things which I can do now, one at a time.

Reiki helps\n me also with this. When I am sending a healing, attunement, or doing self healing, I am only focused on the energy flowing,\n and it brings me to the present. It is centering and balancing, and feels wonderful. I think that everyone should have Reiki\n in their life as a tool for self-awareness, healing, and helping others. Everyone is capable of learning to connect with Reiki,\n and I am blessed to have the ability to teach people of all ages how to access Reiki energy. It is easy to learn and instantly\n available. If you\'d like to know more, please click\n here to go to my website.

As\n for the next developments, I\'ll keep you posted. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Peace.

Pressing \"Pause\"\n -
I wrote last\n week about waiting.\n My life lately has been a process of waiting. This is especially true, you know, because my husband has been looking for work.\n Lately, things are happening for him - he has 3 interviews coming up this week - but it\'s still a process of waiting. We know\n that despite the interviews, we won\'t know if he has a job for a while yet. Two of the interviews are first interviews, and\n one is a third interview out of town. That last one is an amazing opportunity, but would involve us moving 300 miles away,\n selling our house, and starting anew. I\'m not opposed to the change, in fact I find the idea exciting, but the reality of\n getting the house repairs done, stuff cleared out, putting the house on the market, and all of the details involved are rather\n overwhelming. All of the constant stream of \"what will we do if\" and \"when will we know?\" circling around my thoughts gets\n tiring and, I realize, isn\'t productive.

I\'m a planner by nature.\n I like to be as prepared as possible, thinking that if I can figure out what I\'ll do in any given situation that could arise\n that I\'ll feel more confident and ready. It\'s intellectually satisfying in the moment, but I also know that no one can really\n predict the details and be prepared for each one. So the constant churning of thoughts, scenarios, arrangements, and ideas\n is actually just burning energy.

I need to pause. I need to breathe. I need to visualize the outcome I would like and just sit\n quietly with that in mind, sending energy to it. I admit that I have not been able to stop myself long enough to do this.\n But I will. I really will, because I know that is the way to help all of this. It\'s the way to help myself stop cycling through\n the constant barrage of \"what if\'s\" and help manifest the best possible outcome.
A good friend and inspiring person, Lissa Rankin, leader and founder of one of my favorite websites, owningpink.com, said in one of her posts just to ask the Universe\n to send you inner peace, then surrender to the outcome, knowing that all will be arranged with the best outcome for you, whatever\n it may be. Sometimes it may be surprising, unexpected, or feel like it\'s taking your life in a new direction. But trusting\n that all is working out as it should is a sure way of quieting that nagging constant stream of thoughts trying to prepare\n for every outcome. That kind of surrender to a blank slate outcome involves an extra step of inner quiet, and requires having\n presence in the moment - something else I\'m trying to become more consciously connected to. Thank you, Lissa!
So today\'s post is a reminder to myself, and a reminder to any of you lovely readers who might need it along with me - let\'s\n pause. Breathe. Ask for the outcome that will bring inner peace. Things will all line up and work out for the best.\n

Ready?

Waiting\n - I finished writing my first novel recently. This is a big accomplishment because after\n I started it and wrote the first 130 pages, it sat in my computer, unfinished, for a year and a half. I just didn\'t have time\n or creative energy to get back to it, until the end of this summer. Now I have.

It\'s not about Reiki. What? On my Reiki blog I\'m posting about something not Reiki\n related? Wait, (ha! you have to wait!) I\'ll get to the point eventually.
I started it as a blog, creative writing outlet, and it\'s actually biblical fiction\n on the story of Adam & Eve and their experience as parents. I studied the story a lot during my graduate program, and\n always had a fascination for how much is left unsaid in the biblical account of the first family. I mean, you see nothing\n of Adam & Eve\'s experiences as parents, nothing of how their kids were as kids, and don\'t get to find out anything about\n the family dynamics or what happened when they discovered Abel dead and Cain gone, etc. So I started writing little character\n monologues one day, and continuing the story from different character\'s points of view, and after a while my blog posts were\n getting 300 hits and 25 comments. The blog server failed, and luckily I had backed up my posts, so I put them together and\n worked on continuing the story as a novel. It was a great creative outlet for me and fun.

So I finished it, and it turns out that it\'s a little too short to be a novel. It\'s a novella. So here I\n have a biblical fiction novella - not an easy thing to market. I started querying agents and publishers, and have begun collecting\n rejection letters.

But last night I received one email expressing interest in reading some. An e-publisher asked for a partial - that means 50 pages - in response to my query. I sent it off, hoping that they\n will come back and ask for the rest. The story really grows as it continues, even past the first 50 pages, and the character\n development does too. I kinda wish I could send the last 50 pages, you know?

This process, along with everything else in my life lately (i.e. my husband\'s ongoing job search, my Reiki class\n offerings waiting for registration), seems to be an exercise\n in patience and surrender. I\'ve sent the pages off. Now I wait again. My husband\n has sent his applications in, and had some phone interviews even. He waits for the phone to ring. I\'ve set up my Reiki class\n offerings. Now I wait for people to register. AAAGHH! Breathe, breathe, breathe.

Feels like it\'s\n all about waiting. I know logically that it\'s better to do what you can\n to enjoy the present moment than to be focused on what is coming down the pike. I mean, my hubby was home all summer, and\n we did lots of family things. Yesterday was our 13th wedding anniversary and we went out to lunch while the kids were at school.\n We\'ll take our youngest to the playground in a little while to let her run and play in the sunshine. All should be lovely,\n right?

But how do you get your thoughts to stop wondering what\'s going\n to happen and when? How do I stop the constant wondering when the phone will ring, when my email will come in, and when things\n will stabilize in my life? Chances are, there will always be something coming next - something to be waiting for - and if\n I don\'t get this wondering and waiting in check I\'ll never be able to live in the moment and truly enjoy it.
I\'m always wondering how to stop the noise.

I\'m going to work on meditation more - make time to incorporate it into my daily life because that\'s what I would tell my students if they\n present this same issue to me. Stop, I would tell them, take time and tune in\n and quiet the noise. I need to follow this. I know it. Blogging here about it\n has helped me focus on an answer. Sometimes just the act of sitting and writing can help because I\'m just letting the words\n flow. Okay. I have a plan. I\'m going to go and meditate.

Ahhh. I think\n I feel better already.

OM.

So Much to Learn, Where to Turn?\n - I\'ve been thinking lately of all the things I want to learn to help myself grow. There\'s a lot. And it feels a little overwhelming,\n actually, knowing there are so many choices and I only have a little bit of time these days to spend on reading.
I\'m reading Ekhart Tolle\'s A New Earth\n which is truly enlightening and transformative. I can only read a little at a time, though, because it\'s a lot to digest.\n I\'m taking away the idea that facing the aspects of one\'s personality that comprise the ego - recognizing them as an observer\n - is a means to removing oneself from being driven by them. It\'s really fascinating and I recommend this book to anyone interested\n in looking at one\'s life with a discerning eye.

I also want to learn to read Tarot. I have a set of cards, and a book about it, but haven\'t yet gotten far enough to attempt to\n try to understand one card from another.

A close friend is studying Huna, and what he\'s shared with me has ignited my interest in this Hawaiian healing art and philosophy.\n So I want to learn more about it, and feel pulled in that direction.

I also want to lend more time (or even some)\n each day to meditation and self healing. I don\'t do enough\n of this, and I know it would benefit me very much in the areas of energy clearing and intuitive growth.

I feel\n torn between these things and the minimal time I have to devote to any of it, and wonder which would be the best thing to\n concentrate on. It can feel overwhelming. I guess the best thing is to finish one at a time. Growth can\'t be rushed, which\n is probably the biggest message in all of this process....

Patience.\n That\'s what I always need to remind myself at times like this. I need to have patience. The time will present itself to learn\n what I need to learn. I wish sometimes that I could stop the rest of my life and just focus on all of these things at once,\n but it doesn\'t work that way. I have a hunger for knowledge and growth that doesn\'t like to be patient. But I need to.
I suppose all will balance and in time I\'ll get to everything. Most likely more things I want to learn and do will\n come along as I\'m getting from one thing to the next. It\'s a growing list, but that\'s okay. It\'s good to have new things to\n learn and more waiting. Growth is a continuous process. So is patience, apparently!

Patience is something I really\n need these days for other aspects of my life. Since the end of April, my\n husband has been searching for a job. The search continues, and we remain positive that something will happen soon. Patience.\n Also, I\'m starting to query book agents and publishers with my novel, which I just finished. Now I wait for responses. Patience\n again. I\'m waiting to find out if the enrollment will be high enough for my Reiki courses to be held. Patience. It\'s not a\n word I like very much, and it\'s never been easy for me, but what makes patience possible is trust.

I have decided to have trust that things will all work out as they should.\n Whether my husband will get a job here, in VA, or in Utah, things will work out. Maybe we\'ll stay and maybe we\'ll sell the\n house and move. Whatever happens, it will be for the best, and I trust the Universe, the Powers That Be, Source, the Angels,\n whatever, that the best interests of my family will be arranged. It\n is this trust that helps me have patience.

Some people would call it \"faith.\" Maybe trust and faith are\n the same thing. I am not sure. I\'ve never considered myself a \"person of faith.\" Trust seems to be easier - just telling myself\n that it\'s all going to be fine has a calming effect.

Then there\'s \"surrender.\" That is also a kind of trust - just saying that I\'m going to just BE in the moment and not worry\n about what could happen. Just dealing with today - the now - is part of what I\'ve been learning from Tolle\'s book. It takes\n practice, because I find that planning gives me a sense of security. And sometimes I find myself trying to plan for many different\n scenarios, and I get caught up in the \"what-if\'s\" before I know it.

Patience, trust, surrender - these are the lessons I\'m working on. Who knew that deciding what to read next\n could get me here?

Peace.

");