I‘d like to take this opportunity to wish all my readers a most happy, healthy, prosperous, and Reiki filled New Year!!!  As you all take whatever time is needed to write down your New Year’s Resolutions (and yes, be sure to write them down… it adds tremendously to the intent and power they manifest) be sure to include a healthy dose of Reiki in them. As you think about all the ways your life has changed because of the presence of Reiki, imagine how it might help others in the same way throughout the course of the next year. Recall the pageantry, wonder and splendor of that first realization that Reiki might just possibly hold the keys to the kingdom of glory… heaven on Earth… no matter what your understanding or interpretation of heaven may be.

New Years is a time of new beginnings, of wiping the slate clean and having another go at the trials and tribulations awaiting you at every turn. Your New Year’s Resolutions provide a constant reminder of something you want to get right this time around, just as your Akashic Record provides an account of something you want to get right in this lifetime. Write it down and post it prominently and not only should you give that Resolution Reiki after you right it (use the power symbol for added oomph <technical term>) but feel free to shoot it some more Reiki whenever you get the chance. Alternately you might keep it in your Reiki Box if you have one, and give it Reiki on a regular basis.

In the 30 Day Reiki Challenge we discuss the importance of setting both long term and short term goals for your Reiki practice and your New Year’s Resolution is a great place for tracking them. Never be afraid to change them if they prove too difficult (or too easy) during the year and refer to them often, as we tend to overlook or forget the little things without a little nudge from time to time.

New Year’s, being a time of new beginnings, presents you with the opportunity (for those who need it) of practicing the Zen Art of Mindfulness, i.e., seeing your world through the mind of a child.  Remember the first time you saw snow, or bit into a ripe red apple, or experienced the joy of Reiki healing? How magical it was! Bring back that magic by emptying your mind of all the clutter you have accumulated over the year(s), all the presuppositions, all the filters, all the biases, prejudices, matter-of-factedness and expectations you’ve collected and see your world anew.

Not to get too political here, but Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the United States, stressed the need for every generation to revolt against the previous one as only in the aftermath of such a revolution could things be rebuilt from scratch with an emphasis on new priorities and preferences rather than continuing to cater to the priorities and preferences of past generations. New Year’s presents a time for you to have your own mini-revolution in your mind and replace outdated notions with current state of the art ones. And adding Reiki to the mix makes it all the more potent.

I’ll be the first to admit that change can be painful… but it is only through change that we actually evolve. So allow your Reiki to evolve, don’t be afraid of change and direct your life as if you are the conductor of life’s greatest symphony… which you are! And while you’re at it… enjoy yourself and have a wonderful new year… a Total Reiki New Year!!!

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

Which, I think, is exactly the point… the word occult, does not mean what most people believe it to mean. As Robert Langdon, so eloquently put it:

The word occult, despite conjuring images of devil worship, actually means ‘hidden’ or ‘obscured.’ In times of religious oppression, knowledge that was counterdoctrinal had to be kept hidden or ‘occult,’ and because the church felt threatened bu this, they redefined anything ‘occult’ as evil, and the prejudice survived.  – Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

So, looking at Reiki as something hidden, or obscured, while still not totally factual… adds a bit of a twist to it that explains a lot.

First, I think the only real obscuring or hiding of Reiki comes from the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, the organization started by Dr. Usui to proliferate Reiki which instead took it underground and, well, obscured it. Mrs. Takata’s exorbitant fees for learning the deep dark secrets held at the Master level also helped to keep it out of reach of the masses… again, I’m sure this is not what Dr. Usui intended. I’m not sure Dr. Usui charged anything at all for this knowledge, those who sought it were welcomed with open arms… their turning around and selling it was perhaps a bit less cricket, although details of the day are sketchy at best.

Langdon’s synopsis explains people’s negativity towards things like Reiki, which they equate with Occultism out of sheer ignorance as to exactly what Reiki is (and isn’t). This isn’t their fault… it is ours, as Reiki Practitioners, who fail to adequately explain things. In our defense though, Reiki is not the easiest thing in the world to explain, and the harder we try the deeper into “Yup, its occult” Territory we seem to drive it. Perhaps it’s not in the explanation, but in the way we deliver the explanation that is responsible for this. Getting all mysterious when we talk about it will drive it into “Yup, its occult”  Territory, just as surely as getting all holy when we talk about it will drive it deep into “Yup, its religion” Territory. The same holds true with scientific explanations,  artsy-fartsy (as my grandfather put it) explanations, new age mumbo jumbo laced explanations, etc.

Diane Stein, in her Essential Reiki guide was perhaps the first to take the coveted Reiki symbols and put them into print. I remember the outcry at the time as well as similar cries of “foul” when various Websites started putting them right out there for all the world to see. Shouts of “they’re supposed to be secret” or “if you see them before you are attuned to them they will lose their power” or “mass producing them dilutes their energy” or “if non-Reiki people see them they will go blind” (okay, I made that one up) and other such nonsense were being tossed about on all the Reiki forums of the time, and lo and behold… they are still just as powerful as ever.

So where does that leave us? Occult isn’t a bad thing, but Reiki isn’t really occult, although quite a few people perceive it as such and those same people (as well as most of the planet) tend to perceive occultism as being something demonic and/or evil. Perhaps beginning with an explanation of what ‘occult’ actually means, followed by examples of how mainstream Reiki doesn’t even come close to fitting that description would go a long way towards gaining a receptive open mind to receive your explanation… unless, of course, you prefer the mystique.

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

At any rate, I’ve learned to deal with the heat to some extent, and largely due to some Reiki techniques that seem to help me a great deal. Here are the top 10… see if they are as effective for you as they are for me.

1. Drink a lot of water… but before you drink it… Reiki it!
2. Apply heaps of Reiki to the sides of your head, especially your temples.
3. Do a Reiki meditation at the hottest time of the day… it will bring your temperature down.
4. Send distance Reiki to yourself at various times when you know the heat will be bothering you.
5. Use the second Reiki symbol when you give yourself Reiki every day, this will alleviate some of the stress caused by the heat.
6. Keep a water spritzer (or squirt gun) handy… and make sure to Reiki the water as much as possible.
7. Send Reiki to the sun… perhaps it will help quench those violent tendencies its been having lately.
8. Send Reiki to the Ozone… perhaps it will help ease global warming a bit.
9. Place a few bowls of Reikied water around, preferably in each room… the evaporation will cool the air.
10. Go up to the mountains on a private Reiki Retreat… just spend your days thinking of things to Reiki.

I’m sure there are many others, but these are the ones that have worked the best for me. If you have a few of your own you’d be willing to share we’d love to hear about them. At the summer heats up we all need all the help we can get!

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

The good news is that it really was a fascinating article… the bad news is that it had nothing whatsoever to do with Japan. Not really bad news… I was just hoping there would be some kind of Reiki Exposé revealing all the deep dark secrets known to only those who had them whispered in secret at some masked underground ceremony. Oh, well… maybe next time a link will be made. Here is the article (lest it gets misplaced) and following it are my comments… enjoy!!!

The spiritual side of making wine

Already improved by modern technology, winemaking may now also get a little extra help from reiki , feng shui and biodynamics

By FELICITY HUGHES

Special to The Japan Times

Between the cold steel of enormous fermentation tanks and the state-of-the-art equipment in the tasting rooms of today’s modern wineries, it’s hard to believe that there is any element of the winemaking process that is not governed by the strict dictates of science. So imagine my surprise when, visiting just such a winery in the heart of Spain’s Castilla de la Mancha, I found a winemaker using the Japanese technique of reiki to channel positive energy into their wines.

It would be easy to dismiss this as superstitious nonsense, especially considering we were in the heart of Don Quixote country. Up until 1837, when Theodore Schwann discovered that yeasts were necessary to the process of fermentation, winemakers tended to be a superstitious bunch. The yeasts that are necessary to magically transform grape juice into alcoholic wine are naturally present in the air in wine producing regions, but were to all intents and purposes invisible to our forebears.

These yeasts, known as wild or ambient yeasts, come into contact with the sugars in the grapes and convert them to alcohol, heat and carbon dioxide. These days, many wineries add their own yeasts rather than chance the process to wild ambient yeasts, especially in the New World where ambient yeast populations are not yet adequate for the fermentation process.

Modern winemakers fully understand the science behind the alchemy of fermentation and aging, so why would they feel the need to recourse to mysticism to improve their wines?

I asked winemaker Maria Pilar Palomar at Bodegas Palomar Sanchez about her use of reiki. “Reiki is a universal energy, and treatment with reiki may be directed to people, animals, plants, things or situations. Reiki is the channeling of ki(energy) through a series of techniques using the hands, and that is what we do in the wine cellar. We produce a grape and a wine of high quality and do not use reiki to improve the organic properties of the wine: its aroma, color and flavors. We believe, instead, that reiki harmonizes the wine with the energy of the universe, and when people drink our wine it balances body and mind. We believe that reiki energy flows in nature, and we want our wine to be one of the channels through which people can receive this energy.”

Belief that ki, or chi, can enhance the winemaking process can be found elsewhere. Howard Park’s Margaret River winery in the southwest of Western Australia was built using feng shui principles. Owner Amy Burch explained why she decided to consult a feng shui expert when building her winery. “I have always subscribed to the premise that if your environment is well thought out in planning, allowing for good spaces for people to enjoy work in, you will find that people are happier. I am of Asian extraction and it seemed a natural way to go to use Asian practical techniques to enhance our building project.”

Building principles were used to enhance the flow of chi energy throughout the site. Built 2.5 degrees off magnetic north, the winery is positioned in the most auspicious spot at the highest point of the property. There are a number of smaller details to consider when enhancing the chi of a site: There are no sharp edges and even the number of different colored fish in the pond is an important part of the equation. When asked what positive effect all this had on the wine, Burch’s answer was equivocal. “It is hard to judge. If the people in the company are prepared to invest in feng shui principles, then we are open to any aspects that will enhance our production — and that can only be positive.”

It’s easy to see how winemakers might refuse to be drawn into stating the positive effects spiritual techniques might have on that wine. Spiritual energy is rather hard to quantify and, in my experience, impossible to detect at a tasting. So why use it at all?

Although scientific methods have gone a long way to modernizing and improving today’s winemaking, there remains an element of the process that is akin to art. There are a number of decisions that the winemaker has to make on instinct, such as how long a wine ought to be kept in the barrel to age, or what kind of oak to use for the barrels.

Jim Elder, director of marketing at the Sorting Table, a large Californian wine importing and distribution company, is a strong believer in the good instincts of winemakers. “There’s science but there’s also art to it, no one will ever know the exact truth of whether or not a certain technique is actually doing it.

“Wine is so complex, even if you change just one particular thing, because the weather pattern the next year will be different, you’ll never know for sure if it was that one thing that made the wine different. It’s a lot like cooking. No one’s been able to ‘dial it in.’ There are a lot of judgment calls that happen.”

There is, however, a particular branch of winemaking that claims to have come pretty close to “dialing in” the recipe for success, and that is biodynamics. Despite the technical-sounding name, the biodynamic movement is the nearest thing the wine world has to a religious cult, and feelings run high as to the veracity of its teachings. It’s a holistic approach to farming that has its roots in the spiritual philosophy of anthroposophy and posits that the winemaker should consider the vineyard as a self-nourishing system.

Propounded by theosopher Rudolf Steiner in 1924, anthroposophy was a springboard for the organic movement, stipulating that artificial fertilizers and weed-killers must not be used in the farming process. The dictates of the system are rather strict, for example planting is strictly based on an astronomical calendar. “Things like how many times you should stir your concoction of fertilizer. Sticking ash into the horn of an animal and putting it into an acerage. That’s pretty much superstition, there is no technical proof to any of that. So biodynamics has completely wrapped its arms around the mystical side of winemaking,” says Elder who is a confessed cynic about the biodynamic process.

In contrast, Californian Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon wineries is a proponent of biodynamics and believes that the system has a lot in common with Eastern philosophy. “I’m drawn to the spiritual aspect of it. To try to make a person more present with his grapes, his vines and land, more observant and more intuitive. There is something very Eastern in the whole notion of attempting to make a wine that expresses terroir (sense of place).

“The French make a distinction between a wine of effort and a wine of terroir, the former is where the winemaker is really manipulating the wine to suit his own ends, whereas with a vin de terroir the winemaker is taking a more passive attitude, his presence is more discrete allowing the land or the site to express itself — and that seems very Asian. We are making wines with more life force or chi.”

Grahm believes that the more science intervenes in the winemaking process, the less the natural magic of the vineyard is able to express itself, down to using indigenous and not cultured yeast in the fermentation process. “If you grow the wrong grape in the right place or the right grape in wrong place you are always out of balance and trying to correct yourself, whether having to add acid to the wine or picking too late or adding other things to fix the wine. You’re never quite there.”

Grahm tries to attune himself as much as possible with the rhythms of nature and has used experts in feng shui and geomancy (earth divination) to locate the site for his new winery in San Juan Bautista. “A wine of terroir has this resonance, you can think of it as a vibration or a signal; it has a frequency or pulse. It’s a coherent vibration. What you want to do if you make the most expressive wine is to amplify that signal and how you do this is to create sympathetic vibrations, undertones or overtones.”

In addition to knowing their way around a laboratory, modern winemakers need to possess a certain creativity that enables them to step beyond science and into the individual art of winemaking. But trying to nail this ability down with spirituality and a set of rules may bring the winemaker’s mysterious art back down into the realm of the mundane.

The first thing that caught my eye was in the paragraph:

Modern winemakers fully understand the science behind the alchemy of fermentation and aging, so why would they feel the need to recourse to mysticism to improve their wines?

Where Reiki is referred to as mysticism. This didn’t sit quite right with me as I never considered Reiki to be related to any form of mysticism. While there are many different interpretations as to exactly what mysticism really is, my own perception relates mysticism more to paranormal activity whereas Reiki is more related to spiritual activity. Again, some interpretations of mysticism equate spirituality directly to mysticism… so those catering to that interpretation would have no problem… but to me mysticism reeks of the occult… which has some bad stigmas skepticism and negative connotations which I don’t feel should be associated with Reiki.

That kind of put me on guard, but reading on I was quickly assured that while the author may have had the wrong impression of Reiki, the Reiki Practitioners giving Reiki to the wine had no such problem. The statement:

…reiki harmonizes the wine with the energy of the universe, and when people drink our wine it balances body and mind. We believe that reiki energy flows in nature, and we want our wine to be one of the channels through which people can receive this energy.

I found this to be a rather enlightened perception and really liked the way she put that… brilliant!!!

The article turned to discussions of feng shui and biodynamics a bit too quickly for my tastes. I would have liked to hear more about Reiki, but they also made for some interesting reading and I wholeheartedly concur with their interpretations and application to the wine making process and overall wine experience. Now all that remains is for some Japanese reporter for the Japan Times (an English language newspaper) to get curious about Reiki and start digging… Cronkite style… think I’ll go meditate and send some Reiki energy to that idea.

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

First off, I want to make it very clear that I am not condoning, approving or validating drug usage in any way, shape or form in this post. On the other hand I am not passing any judgments whatsoever on those that choose to use drugs. I am attempting to approach this from a completely neutral stance in order to explore the relationship between Reiki and Drugs without taking sides.

Drugs, for our purposes here, relates to any substances brought into the body for the sole purpose of changing the body’s normal functioning. In the case of many prescription drugs (which are becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society) the body’s normal functioning may be considered abnormal, and hence drugs are used to balance things out.

In its mildest sense drugs can include such things as aspirin, coffee and green tea. Moving up a rung on the ladder of effect are cigarettes, alcohol and many over-the-counter items found in most drugstores. Prescription drugs can range from mildly effective to quite dizzying while hard drugs (such as marijuana and cocaine) also have a considerable range in their effects.

In my Three Pillars Trainings and as discussed in The Three Pillars of Reiki I clearly delineate between the healing, energetic and spiritual aspects of Reiki. I’d like to examine this issue in turn from these three perspectives.

Drugs and Healing

The healing aspect of Reiki (including mental,/emotional healing as well as distance Reiki healing) involves the detection and treatment of dis-ease. Energetic balances which are virtually always at the root of these dis-eases are corrected with vital Reiki energy.

I have a very good Reiki Master friend in California who smokes marijuana on a regular basis, and has done so for many, many years. She insists that the drug amplifies her sensitivity to Reiki energy and makes her a more effective healer. While this may be true, I would never recommend someone try any drugs to see if it makes them a better healer. By far, the most effective healers I know need no such thing to be effective.

Shamanic healers of the Amazon, native American Indian medicine men and other such healers have historically used quite powerful hallucinogenic drugs in their healing rituals. I’m not sure that I would like to try any of these, but for hundreds (if not thousands) of years… they were considered state of the art medical practice.

Drugs have never been a part of Reiki healing, and I am of the opinion that if people want to experiment they should be free to do so. I’m not sure that I would like to teach, be taught by, or receive a Reiki treatment from any of them… that would be decided on a case by case basis… but there is nothing in the Reiki Rulebook preventing them from pursuing this should they choose to do so.

Drugs and Energetics

The energetic aspect of Reiki involves exercises designed to increase ones awareness of the Reiki energies. Having a greater understanding of, and control over, these energies can certainly lead to a better understanding of Reiki in general.

Since the energy work in Reiki is generally done solo, there is no need to worry about the viewpoints of other people as there is in Reiki healing where you are in direct contact with others. My Reiki Master friend mentioned above doesn’t really do any real energy work apart from her healing sessions, but I would venture to guess that shoe would find the same results, i.e., increased sensitivity to the Reiki energy.

As with healing, I would not be very interested in experimenting with any kind of drug usage in order to test or amplify the results I have achieved thus far without any type of help. And again, as above, there is nothing in the rulebook against it, so those that consider it advantageous are welcome to continue to do so.

Drugs and Spirituality

The spiritual aspect of Reiki involves progressing on one’s individual spiritual path and this is where I see the most possibility in this respect.

The heightened awareness reported by many drug users and the effects of such hallucinogens as LSD have been likened to a fully enlightened state. While I don’t know if the people making this comparison have ever actually been in a fully enlightened state, or if they are just imagining that is what it is like, and vice versa, if any enlightened masters have actually every tried these drugs I do not know. I really do doubt it though.

I really do not know much about either state, so I am only continuing here from full speculation. Going back to the Shamanic healers of the Amazon, native American Indian medicine men and other such healers referenced above, many of these led a very spiritual existence and they were the religious leaders as well as the physicians. It is from this tradition that the use of drugs in spiritual development played a key role.

I recognize the drug problem in America (and elsewhere) both of street drugs and prescription drugs and adhere to the principle that drugs, in and of themselves are not bad, drug abuse is bad. Needless to say, addiction to anything harmful is bad. Many people that abuse drugs (whether Reiki Practitioner or not) need help which they are not receiving which is no doubt why many of them turned to drugs in the first place. We, as Reiki healers, do our best to help them, and Reiki treatments are ideal for breaking through many of the mental and emotional conditions that led to such a self-destructive path. As healers, we are not there to judge, only help… should they want it.

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

While I acknowledge that, in many belief systems, spirit and soul are synonymous, I find them to be quite unique. Without getting into any type of religious discussion, the bible supports me in this where (in the book of Hebrews, 4:12) there is a discussion of the splitting of spirit and soul, yet the religions that use that bible seem to have melded them together. I’ve heard it said that “we are a spirit being, we live in a body and we possess a soul” and I think that really sums it up quite nicely.

In my post on Deep Soul Reiki I believe I may have got it backwards. In that post I said:

My own understanding of the soul is derived from an interpretation (or rather a mis-interpretation) of Rene Descartes famous conclusion cognito ergo sum (I think therefore I am). While contemplating this statement I have often wondered why Rene didn’t say I am therefore I think. And what would the implications be of such a statement. Of course professional philosophers have been debating the implications of this for years and I’m sure I am not about to discover something they haven’t but I believe that by the simple fact that these two statements are quite different in understanding there is more to it than a simple observation.

While I stand by the observation, I now think that was actually the spirit I was talking about. So maybe the post should have been called Deep Spirit Reiki. The spirit is the immortal part of us, that ethereal part that is reincarnated, the real being that lives silently (for the most part) inside of us. The soul basically consists of our minds (and hence the thoughts that are produced by them) and our hearts (and, likewise, the emotions that are produced by them). I should note that the mind and heart I’m talking about here have no relationship to the physical organs of the brain and heart, they are just primitive interpretations of it.

So, while, in essence, spirituality is the quest for a greater understanding of and greater connectivity to the spirit, the soul falls more under the domain of psychology. Our personal psychology might be defined as our personal quest for a greater understanding of our minds and hearts… and this is where, I believe, Reiki plays a very important role.

While not exclusively, the second level of Reiki deals with mental and emotional healing. Since Reiki deals with the dissolving of energetic blocks and the restoration of balance in our various energy fields and systems, any mental and/or emotional Reiki can be said to be Reiki for the soul. Rather than looking at thoughts and emotions as separate things, we should look at them as two sides of the same coin, or the two halves of the yin and yang symbol even.

Being a well-balanced person can be said to be having our thoughts and emotions balanced… not only with and within themselves, but also with and to each other. Sending Reiki to our soul does just that… it breaks though the blocks preventing this balance from manifesting. So rather than doing mental healing with Reiki, or emotional healing with Reiki, we should endeavor to do soul healing, at least in part… I believe this will not only heal the mental and/or emotional imbalances, but create an overall balance between the two, i.e., in the soul… which can only be a good thing.

Does this make any sense? Please ask about any part that doesn’t and I’ll try to clarify it. Otherwise this is certainly an area that warrants further thought… which I will start doing straightaway.

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

Protect my Reiki? Whatever for? You may be asking yourself… well, read on and I’ll tell you about it.

Protection from Others

First off, believe it or not, there are a lot of people that don’t believe in Reiki, and even though it does nothing at all to hurt them they never miss a chance to say something bad about it. I’m sure they have their reasons, but frankly I’ve yet to hear a good one. The thing is they spread their negativity and it proliferates like a virus, gathering support and momentum, until the next thing you know, even the Catholic Church is poo-pooing its practice. People that have even the slightest bit of knowledge about Reiki know that denial of its power, benefits and sheer awesomeness is just craziness talking and given half a chance the people most in denial are probably the ones that need it the most.

A lot of these people are simply inquisitive and curious about Reiki, and depending upon how you (or anyone for that matter) answers their questions it can shape their opinion for a long time to come. They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression, so giving people a good first impression of Reiki becomes all the more important.

Protection from Ourselves

The second area from which Reiki needs protection is from yourself. One thing that never fails to make me chuckle is when people get involved with Reiki and suddenly they are like super holy beings or something. Acting all realized and at peace when they are around other Reiki practitioners, but I know they are still howling like mad dogs when they drop the bowl of spinach on the new carpet (I’ll clean it up later… I promise).

Another thing I see is that some people really change once they become Reiki masters. It’s a sudden change which can just as suddenly revert back when the winds change direction. A sense of superiority that is actually really believed (by ourselves anyway) that can really do some harm if not tethered. I see this a lot with people who have been Reiki Masters for some time and develop the attitude that they know it all. Some of these are quite well known Reiki Trainers and IMHO they could really use a refresher course on what Reiki is all about. I really do my best to make sure I don’t turn into one of these.

Protection from Forces of Evil

I’m not talking about supernatural beings sent to Earth to ruin your Reiki (although I don’t discount it). What I’m referring to are forces such as loss of motivation or loss of interest in Reiki which can send something that was once a godsend to the back of the closet. Keeping our Reiki exciting and new is somewhat of a chore, but with a minimum of effort it can be done. And in the long run this is probably one of the greatest obstacles to total Reiki mastery.

The ultimate way to defend yourself against these menaces is by simply acknowledging their existence and staying alert for their manifestation. And they will manifest… they are just one of the ways the universe keeps testing us and keeps us on our toes… after all, if we really want something we won’t let a few obstacles get in the way, will we?

So just be alert… the world needs more lerts.

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

Seems that every year I just keep getting busier and busier and it doesn’t really seem like I ever have enough time to do the things I really want to do!

Sound familiar? If so, I am dedicating this post to you and offer a few suggestions for making sure there is always enough time for Reiki. Quality time, that is, not just enough Reiki to get you through your daily self-healings, but enough to actually make an impact in your life. Interested? Read on!

 In my post entitled Reiki on the Run I briefly touched on the concept of time management. I believe that to be the true culprit in the never ending battle against time. The advice given in that post regarding 33.33 or 22.22 minutes is, if I have to say so myself, pure gold. I cannot lay claim to coming up with the idea but I can sure lay claim to being one of its strongest supporters. If you haven’t tried it, get yourself a little kitchen timer at your nearest dollar shop and give it a while… it really is phenomenal once you get used to it.

Second to the above the best way to free up time for Reiki is by eliminating activities that are not important in lieu of those that are. Steven R. Covey, in his highly acclaimed book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People presents an awesome tool in his Time Management Matrix. In a nutshell we basically spend our time in one of four ways based on whether the activity is urgent (like answering the telephone) or important (things that help us to reach our goals). So the four ways we spend our time are either doing urgent/important things (meeting deadlines, getting the kids ready for school in the morning), not urgent/important things (working, planning, recreating), urgent/not important things (phone calls, interruptions), or not urgent/not important things (surfing the net, chatting on the phone, surfing the television). Covey recommends spending a week listing everything we do and then sorting it into one of these four groups to get a good idea of how we are spending far too much time on not urgent/not important things. Then all we have to do is eliminate them in order to free up vast chunks of time.

Third & finally, you should decide in advance how you can fit Reiki into the things you are already doing. Chapter 3 of my upcoming book on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Reiki Practitioners (and its companion volume The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Reiki Masters) in its discussion of Habit 3 (Put First Things First) takes the above idea one step farther by not only classifying our activities into one of the four above mentioned groups, but also deciding which of these support our Reiki practice (or not). In other words, deciding in advance how we can fit Reiki into our schedule by applying it to the things we already do, applying it to things we should be doing to make the most efficient use of our time.

An example of this is a student of mine who is currently caring for a toddler. She was admitting how she had no time for Reiki. I asked her how much time did she spend and with what frequency did she breastfeed (we had discussed the Reiki aspects of this previously) and as she started to calculate she saw where I was going with that and with an "aaah sooo" solved the dilemma herself.

I highly recommend Steven Covey’s masterpiece while you’re waiting for mine, and would love to hear any and all suggestions for fitting Reiki into a busy schedule.

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

I have a quick little exercise for the more inquisitive and adventurous among you. Its interesting and I know it works, because I just did it myself.

Go to your local home center and get yourself two little house plants as similar as possible. Take them home and put them in different rooms with as similar as possible orientation (sunlight, open air, room size, etc.) One of them will be your control plant and the other you will be giving Reiki on a daily basis. Take care of the control plant as you would any house plant. Don’t give it any more, or any less attention than usual. For the Reiki plant there are several different things you can do. Only the first is mandatory;

• ♦ Give it Reiki every day (even more than once if time permits).
• ♦ Optionally give Reiki to the water you feed it.
• ♦ If you are a Reiki Master you can also give it an attunement (or attunements) to whatever level you like.
• ♦ You can optionally draw the Reiki power symbol on the vase or container.
• ♦ Perform your self healings or meditations in the presence of the plant.
• ♦ Send distance Reiki to it when you are away.
• ♦ Send distance Reiki back in time to when it was a seed and in its infancy.
• ♦ If you are a Reiki Master give it Reiju as often as you like.
• ♦ Feel free to experiment with any Reiki techniques you may have learned.

Continue this for 30 days and then put the two plants back together and see if there is any discernible difference(s).

The next step is very important… click on the comment button below and let us know what you discovered. Both positive or negative feedback is welcomed and, depending on the amount of feedback received I will take this to the next level (or not).

Enjoy!!!

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

Today I’d like to try to sum up the last 4 posts in anticipation of the conclusion that a balance of all four of these healths will lead to an overall sense of well-being…. which I refer to as Total Health and is pretty much the best that we could possible hope for. Oh yeah… BIAT, in case you’re wondering, stands for bringing it all together.

Balancing Physical Health

The main idea behind balancing one’s physical health is keeping the physical energy channels unblocked and free from energetic clutter. Regular exercise, a healthy diet and a healthy lifestyle go a long way towards achieving this. On those occasions when things go out of whack there is dis-ease, and while it is always advisable to see a doctor, Reiki is a wonderful supplement to any and all prescribed treatments. Regular Reiki treatments can keep the physical channels running smoothly, which will not only go a long way towards preventing dis-ease, but will also make you much more comfortable in the meantime.

Balancing Mental Health

The main idea behind balancing one’s mental health is keeping the mental energy channels unblocked and free from energetic clutter. Keeping the brain active is of vital importance to keep the brain sharp here as is keeping one’s memory in tune… the old adage use it or lose it is quite apropos here. Recently I’ve grown quite fond of Sudoku, and wholeheartedly recommend it as a powerful way to keep your brain sharp. Crosswords and other puzzles are also wonderful to that end as is simply reading. Regular Reiki treatments can keep the mental channels running smoothly, which will not only go a long way towards preventing mental imbalances, but again, make you much more comfortable in the meantime.

Balancing Emotional Health

The main idea behind balancing one’s emotional health is keeping the emotional energy channels unblocked and free from energetic clutter. The use it or lose it scenario applies here as well… you have to use your heart in order for it to function correctly. If you don’t love you can’t know love and hence can’t be loved (or if you were you wouldn’t recognize it as such). This is true of all other positive emotions as well, negative emotions are all the result of fear and the Reiki precept about letting go of worry is the quickest path to losing the accompanying fear. Regular Reiki treatments keep the emotional channels free from obstruction which is the quickest path to true and lasting happiness.

Balancing Spiritual Health

The main idea behind balancing one’s spiritual health is keeping the spiritual energy channels unblocked and free from energetic clutter. Regular meditation and a balanced approach on one’s journey on their s chosen spiritual path are vital for spiritual well-being and since Reiki is first and foremost a spiritual path in and of itself, making Reiki a part of that spiritual path, either through Reiki meditations, Reiki exercises and living a Reiki life.

Total Health

Now, once you’ve got all your ducks in a row, so to speak, that is, once you’ve got your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual healths in balance you can be said to have achieved what I refer to as total health. Once you have done so it is easy to keep them all in check and it is easy to notice exactly where energetic imbalances occur.

One thing that is important to realize is that these healths are all intertwined. For example, meditation leads to better sleep and better sleep leads to increased physical, mental and emotional performance. So an energetic imbalance in any one of these can cause the whole system to be out of whack. <technical term>

Reiki healing and Reiki meditations work in a dimension that we are only just beginning to understand through advances in quantum physics. When we perform a physical healing, for example, we are not only balancing the physical energy channels, but while doing so, Reiki, understanding the laws of this dimension, also sees to it that the interconnections are balanced as well. There are all kinds of things going on behind the scenes, suffice it to say that Reiki knows what its doing so we don’t have to!

In conclusion to this Reiki balancing mini-series I would just like to add that your comments would be greatly appreciated to help us all better understand this aspect of Reiki. I am far from an expert, although I have chosen the path of Reiki Mastery which means that I am constantly endeavoring to understand more and find the best possible means to taking advantage of this wonderful thing called Reiki. So please do let me know what you think about all this.

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!