The Sacred Gift of Darkness

When I look back on holiday memories, I tend to most appreciate the smaller rituals and traditions like baking cookies and decorating the Christmas tree.  I’ve always looked forward to pulling out the ornaments and turning on the tree lights.  To this day, the holidays don’t feel complete until I get a tree. 

The history of the Christmas tree as we know it today is linked to ancient times when cultures from all over celebrated the return of the sun on the winter solstice.  From Egypt to northern Europe evergreens would adorn homes to celebrate renewed life.

Growth does not begin from a place of expansion.  Instead it is born out of darkness, contraction and stillness.  When I observe how the holidays have evolved into frenetic madness, it feels counterintuitive to what this season represents which is honoring the spark of light from deep within all of life which in turn generates renewed growth and creativity. 

 As a society, we don’t celebrate the contraction into the dark stillness.  Instead we calculate our degrees of success based on the expansion and end results.  In turn, we never get an opportunity to fully incubate new ideas or to mindfully reflect on what is true for us without outside influence.

Just as a human being needs nine months in the protective womb to be able to thrive in the outside world, new ideas, growth and desires need to incubate in the metaphorical womb the darkness offers before they can expand and take shape in our lives.  This season offers that sacred space for seeding what is true for each of us and our own unique needs without outside influences judging or reshaping them before they can even begin to sprout.

I invite you between now and the end of the year to reflect on the following questions:

• What needs to be forgiven or released from your life at this time?
• What kind of energy do you want to experience in the coming year?  Is it calm, balanced and steady growth?  Or do you want to feel energized, passionate and dynamic?
• What wants to take shape in your life on a tangible level?  And how will that change your life for the better?
• What truths are becoming clear for you at this time?  They could be “light-bulb moment” type truths, or they could be truths that can feel uncomfortable but need to be addressed.
• What is your truth in this moment without considering any outside influences, including the self-sabotaging ego voice that undermines your personal power?

Short Ritual

Set aside 20-30 minutes to sit with the above reflections in complete darkness with the lights out or while wearing an eye mask.  Do some deep breathing to allow the answers to fully settle into your whole being and not just in the intellect.  When that process feels complete light a candle or turn on a small light and say aloud a statement that affirms the renewed energy you want to experience with the growing sun.  Some examples:

• Joy is my natural state of being.
• My life is becoming more and more abundant with the growing sun.
• I experience deeper states of love in my closest relationships.
• The more I balance my time and energy, the healthier and more focused I feel.

This time of contraction during the winter season can offer deep replenishment for the mind, body and spirit.  Embracing its sacred energy will help you flourish in the coming weeks and months!

When the Patient Becomes the Healer

In the first few years of teaching Reiki, my friend Will was diagnosed with leukemia.  Having just spent his 40^th birthday in the hospital, I invited him to take my Reiki 1 class thinking that the meditation and self-care practices would help him restore his energy.  A well-known New York street artist, Will carried a light with him that touched thousands of lives in his community.  It was hard for people to find out just how sick he had become because imagining him in any state other than his joy was almost impossible.

When Will took the Reiki class, it turned out that one of the other students was a cancer survivor and they had certain commonalities to share about the side effects of treatment.  Something that surprised Will as he learned the Reiki tools was that he found himself enjoying the hands-on healing for others even more than the self-care.  Being in flow of Reiki helped him feel even more at ease while simultaneously being a calming presence for his loved ones who were emotionally stressed by Will’s illness and the thought of losing him.

When we practice Reiki, in many ways there is no giver or receiver.  There is the flow of Reiki and as the flow increases, both parties are receiving.  Will’s experience is a beautiful lesson in this. 

I too had a similar experience to Will’s when I met with my own Reiki teacher, Margaret Ann Case, when she was undergoing treatment for stage 4 colon cancer.  I had stopped by her apartment to do a hands-on Reiki treatment for her but in many ways, I felt like I too was being treated.  Her state of receptivity to the flow of Reiki enabled me to also receive the flow for myself on a deeper level.  At one point, I couldn’t tell where my hands ended, and her body began.  I just kept experiencing this beautiful light flowing in and around us.  

In each of these experiences, I learned that whether you take on the role of the Reiki “recipient” or Reiki “giver”, if both parties are open to the flow, they both benefit from it.  Ultimately the patient becomes the healer just as much as the Reiki practitioner. 

When I finished the session with my teacher that day, what seemed like 1 hour was 2-1/2 hours that had passed!  I came away feeling the flow of Reiki amplified exponentially within me.  In many ways it was like an attunement only stronger. 

When I work with cancer patients, I find it helpful at times to not only offer them Reiki healing sessions, but to also teach them the Reiki tools to use for themselves.  In fact, when both the patient and their caregivers learn Reiki, they are empowered to experience its benefits on a deeper level even when they continue to receive hands-on treatments from a Reiki practitioner.

For myself, I found that to be true with my own healing process when I first studied Reiki with Margaret Ann.  Having been diagnosed with a precancerous condition, the combination of receiving sessions with my teacher and doing the personal practice for self-care are what boosted my immune system and restored my health. 

Each time I step into my Reiki practice, I remember Margaret Ann’s words, “Breathe, Receive, Relax and Let it Flow!”  In doing so, we allow for the best possible outcome in finding wholeness once again, even when facing a serious illness. 

Restoring Balance

Photo by Oliver Hihn - @mr_kuchen

My brother recently asked me if I remembered the first two movies we ever watched as kids on our VHS player.  We had a good laugh over some of the Eddie Murphy movies and reminisced about the Star Wars trilogy.  Growing up in the ‘80s, Friday nights in my household had a ritual that we looked forward to.  My Mom would make pizza and brownies from scratch, and we would either watch a movie or play a board game.  I remember those Fridays being some of our happiest moments.  It was time set aside for us to be together and find our balance as a family unit once again.

When the spring or fall equinox approaches, I tend to contemplate where I need to restore balance in my life.  Six months ago, my usual spring cleaning evolved into a take-no-prisoners purge to help my daily routine flow with more ease.  Taking old clothes to the textile recycling and handing off books to friends who would enjoy them was blissful!  During the process I recognized a need to also reprioritize where and how I spend my time and energy in the day-to-day. 

It’s easy to mindlessly go through the motions of daily rituals and habits.  Yet, these moments throughout the day are opportunities to come back to center, even if for just a few moments.  And, because your needs change and evolve over time, so should your daily rituals.  For example, I recently returned to morning journaling.  In turn, I’ve stopped turning on the news first thing which has helped support my mindset for the rest of the day. 

Making small but mindful shifts in your daily routine not only nourishes and replenishes your energy, but it brings your whole being back to center.  With each cycle of your day, week, month and year there is a shift in gears, and how you align your energy with intention during those transitions informs the next cycle you are entering. 

I spent decades of my life rushing from one activity to the next without considering my energetic presence or clarity of intention.  I look back and realize how much harder life was for me back then.  My personal Reiki practice has taught me that the energy and mindset I bring to any given moment is far more powerful than the actual effort I apply. 

Life rarely stays in balance for very long and isn’t necessarily meant to remain in balance.  Otherwise nothing would evolve or progress.  However, the small habits and rituals that frame your day, week or year help you return to center whenever you need to.  While at times you may find your limits being stretched to accomplish something, are you in turn taking moments to rest, regroup and refocus?  I’m hearing more and more workout experts explain that it’s in the resting that your body builds its strength and stamina, not the workout itself. 

I’ve observed over the years the potential for people to either get so caught up in maintaining balance that they miss out on new opportunities or get so carried away by what they “have” to do that they forget to rest.  Either way, one’s energy, health, wellbeing and sense of happiness are at risk. 

This year, my daily rituals have been shifting seasonally which has felt great.  It’s created clarity and restored my energy and focus.  It’s also helped me become even more present for myself and others.

I invite you to reflect on where you desire more balance in your life.  What areas seem stagnant and what areas are overwhelming or need to simmer down?

And what new habits or rituals would help restore that balance?

When one area of your life finds its balance, it can’t help but restore balance in other areas of your life.  The purge I did this past spring not only spruced up my home, but it refocused my personal energy. 

Ultimately everything is in constant motion, so being in balance is a subjective measure.  However, when life gets out of balance for too long, you eventually experience the consequences.  As summer winds down and the last third of the year gears up with school, work and other responsibilities, allow the fall equinox to inspire you to create new habits or rituals that will restore and maintain the balance you need to thrive in the day-to-day.

Power in the Unwind

Strolling through the farmer’s market last month, I was on the lookout for some small plants to bring home as an early birthday present to myself.  Browsing through a vendor’s rather large variety of plants, a scraggly little vine caught my eye.

Immediately memories came back to me of a plant just like it that I’d given my grandmother when I was a child.  It had come in a turtle planter and, slow and steady just like a turtle, it grew into a massive vine.  She was always giving clippings away to people. 

A few years after she passed away, I looked for this ivy plant that was called the Creeping Charlie back in the day, but eventually gave up my search.  Unlike typical ivy, it had these round scalloped leaves.  Stumbling on it out of nowhere felt like a birthday blessing from my grandmother.

Unsure if it was the same plant though, I asked the vendor its name and he answered, “It’s the Creeping Jenny!”  With its similar but more delicate leaves, I realized I was looking at the feminine counterpart to the Creeping Charlie.  In looking up the Creeping Jenny, it turns out this plant is also called the moneywort because its leaves grow to the size of pennies and it also produces yellow flowers in the spring. 

After putting 3 of these little plants together in a larger pot, they’ve shed some leaves and parts have died off as they settle into their new home.  Certain vines however have started to unwind and reach for the window to absorb more light.  Small and fragile, there is a determination as tiny new leaves start to unfold at the tip of the vine.

What I love most about the second half of summer is moments like this.  Life seems to take a nice deep exhale, helping us recharge our batteries and take in the all the good that is around us.  For me, this moment that brought back a happy memory is an example of how taking regular breaks to unwind makes life a fuller and more satisfying experience.

There is a power generated in the unwind that makes life less of a struggle and creates space to receive the blessings of life.

What simple blessing have you experienced during the summer unwind?

Sometimes the biggest shifts in how we experience life are held in the smallest of details!

Say it Like You Mean It!

Going to mass on Sundays when I was growing up, I would often find my mind drifting with random thoughts as I’d recite the prayers and sing the hymns.  I remember noticing how the Catholic mass was much more subdued than other churches.  I’d see clips on TV of gospel choirs and there was such a dynamic energy and enthusiasm behind their beautiful voices.  If anyone sang with that much spirit during mass, they would most definitely stand out against the reserved backdrop of mumbled prayers and softly sung hymns.

In working with my Reiki clients and students, I’ve learned that when you combine consciousness with a specific quality of energy your whole being aligns in such a way that your desires manifest with much more ease.  However, the key isn’t so much in the words as in how you feel as you speak them or write them down.

For example, if you are looking to have more prosperity in your life, working with an affirmation is great just so long as you also activate in your experience a felt sense of what abundance or prosperity means to you.  How does it feel in your body to receive money?  What freedoms would it give you and how would that make you feel? 

Anchoring the desired energy and felt sense into your body and connecting with that feeling daily is what will help you transform prayers, affirmation and intentions from just being words to a dynamic form of consciousness that actually “conspires” for your highest good!

This explains why practices such as gratitude journaling, working with affirmations, visions boards, etc. will work like magic for some and lead to nowhere for others.

In my free e-Book Guide with Meditation Download, I offer tools that help you align your mind with your energy, so you can say it like you mean it!   Go to www.innerhealerawakening.com

The first step helps the mind to find stillness and be in a receptive state of awareness. 

The second step which is a Gratitude Anchoring Meditation, raises your vibration through consciously anchoring the energy of gratitude in your body. 

The final step guides you to remember the energetic essence of your unique gifts through working with the inner child.

In this e-Book Guide, I also offer a free 30-minute energy activation call where I can assist you in taking this work to the next level. 

Download Your Free e-Book and Meditation Download Here. 
www.innerhealerawakening.com

To schedule your Free 30-Minute Energy Activation Call reach out to me at reiki.essence.light@gmail.com or call 212-496-5287.

Finding Your Inner Spring

When I left for southern California the last weekend in March, it was with the full expectation that I’d return home a week later to a city that had finally put winter behind it.  Instead, I awoke this Monday to the sight of more snowflakes falling from the sky!  Even for those of you who don’t mind winter (or even love it!) this week may be the final straw as the desire to feel the warm sun mixed with the cool aromatic spring breeze on your skin grows stronger with each passing moment.

So how can you create your own sense of spring when Mother Nature is imposing a different agenda?  How do you experience a change you desire when the outer world seems hell bent on mirroring back the opposite?  We often hear that change starts from within, and then our outer circumstances will begin to shift, but then there are those times when the results we desire seem a bit slow to arrive. . .

In the practice of Reiki, the instructions for meditating on the precepts (principles that affirm one’s true self or true nature) ask us to morning and evening place our hands in gassho (prayer position).  This practice of starting and ending your day with intention helps you to align with the energy you want to embody throughout the day as well as the energy you want to settle into as your day winds down.  

Over time, this practice of framing your day with intention reinforces the inner experience of your deepest desires, even when your outer world has yet to catch up.  Eventually, the energy springs up so strongly that it can’t help but influence your experience of the world around you.   While none of us have control over the weather patterns and how nature decides to transition seasons, the more we allow our daily practices, habits and rituals to align with the spirit of spring, the less the weather will even matter.  For myself, I am seeing this extended winter as an opportunity to do some deeper spring cleaning at home so when the weather does become nicer, I will feel even more free to enjoy and appreciate my time outside. 

When we don’t see the world reflecting back to us what we most desire, it becomes an opportunity to dig in deeper on a soul level to embody the energy of our intentions.  It is an invitation from spirit to take greater responsibility for the changes we want to make and not passively rely on our circumstances to take us there.  To do this, it is not only important to greet each day with clear intention, but to also use your daily rituals, habits and activities to engage the energy of those intentions as well as use your natural intuitive sensitivities to guide you in the direction of your desires.  When you make it a habit to return to your intentions and activate the energy you want to experience throughout the day, your natural sensitivities will automatically kick in and you will find yourself seeing, feeling, hearing and even tasting the things in your world that align with those intentions.  I know for myself, on the grayest of days, I soooo appreciate the colorful sight of the flowers on the stands outside the corner stores, and the joyful sound of silly laughter coming from young children.  These reinforce my intention to allow spring to unfold from deep within this year instead of waiting around for Mother Nature to do all the work for me!

Resting on the Energy

During our Reiki II Okuden class this past Sunday, we practiced a technique for scanning the energy above the body.  One student beautifully described her experience as feeling like she was resting her hands on the recipient’s energy field.  She didn’t feel like she was using any effort to hold her hands above their body, and as the energy shifted, she would then feel her hands drop into the flow of its movement.  Her lovely description gave me a moment to reflect on how hands-on healing with Reiki really is all about resting our hands on the energy.

As with many beginners, when I started my Reiki journey almost 15 years ago, I had this need to feel like I was doing something “more” than resting my hands on or above the body.  It took me a little while to trust that the energy, in its infinite wisdom, would flow where it is most needed.  As I learned more and more to enjoy simply being in the fullness of the energy without the distractions of too many bells and whistles, my experience and the experience of my clients grew deeper and more fulfilling.

While navigating these stormy weeks that will transition into spring, I realize that the noise of the rain, ice, snow and wind is the beginnings of nature’s flow of energy becoming full once again.  As the weather settles, Mother Earth will once again become filled to the brim in her mud-luscious state, and life will quietly and magically emerge.  The flowers will seemingly bloom overnight, the air will be full of their perfume and animals will gear up for the active cycles of the year.

Last weekend I also watched the sweetest film called Dare to Be Wild.  It is based on the true story of Mary Reynolds, the Irish woman who, against all odds, won the 2002 Chelsea Flower Show.  As she came up against each obstacle, in her own way she would stay present in her faith and higher vision until something would start to flow in the direction of her dream.  One of the main attractions of her landscape design was the use of the mystical Hawthorn tree.  The night before the judging, she is found whispering to the Hawthorn tree, asking it to bloom in time.  In Celtic tradition, the Hawthorn tree is known for not only protecting one from negative influences, but also “fertilizing” one’s deepest wishes.  It is a tree known for beckoning the spirits of the faery realm, reminding one to let go of the logical mind and experience the mystical side of life and nature itself.

Despite the cold winter weather this week, there is a rumbling of new life beneath our feet.

As we prepare to enjoy the onset of spring’s beauty and become more active in the world, what wishes are you fertilizing?

In what ways does your life already feel full and leave you in a state of gratitude?

How are you staying present with that fullness as you encounter any obstacles, and trusting in the flow of the great river of life?

While it’s easy to point out the things that aren’t working or to make a long list of what we “should” be doing, when we rest our focus on the energy of how we want to be and feel, life transforms into a magical journey!

Igniting the Spirit of 2018

As we step through the doorway to this new year, what keeps coming to mind more than setting goals and resolutions is the question of what you want to feel and experience in 2018.  The goals, wishes and resolutions will always be there.  As humans we are wired to have desires as we experience the contrasts of living in a three-dimensional world.  We are also biologically wired to focus more of our attention on what isn’t “right” in our lives than the positive anticipation of what we are creating, shifting into, and changing for ourselves and the world.  For example, if you decided to eat healthier in 2018 is it because the doctor said to or because you want to feel more energized and focused?  If you want to save more money, is it because you feel financially insecure or because you to feel more appreciation for what you already have?  If you are seeking a life partner, is it because you feel alone or because you have love you want to share and experience more deeply?  For each of these questions, the answer could be both.  However, choosing the latter will shift you into the vibration that aligns and fully supports you in the process.

In some instances, the changes we desire call for immediate and full on transformation to activate the sustainable momentum one needs.  I find in many cases though, the changes and goals we desire are more lasting when we take the pressure off and create space to enjoy the process along the way.  For some people, jumping with both feet in is the way to go, but for many, that can be a shock to the system and back fire.  So perhaps instead of jumping into yoga class at 6 am every day when you aren’t a morning person to begin with, you try one class a week after work or on the weekends.  And then after a couple of weeks, you attend two classes.  And then, maybe that fun dance class on Friday evenings makes its way into your weekly routine.  It becomes fun and fluid instead of a shock to your mind, body and spirit which in turn has you giving up on week 2.

Putting more emphasis on the results when deciding to make a change will only lead to a sense of failure each step of the way.  When you focus on what feels good and make a little more room for it each day, then it becomes a full and satisfying experience. 

What is the energy you want to ignite for yourself in 2018?

And in turn, what is that focused energy asking of you?

Is it asking you to surrender certain attachments?  Jump all in with passion and momentum?  Move forward but with ease so you don’t feel overwhelmed? 

And in turn, how does this energy contribute to the shifting of the greater consciousness of the world?  As you feel healthier and more focused, do you have more energy to be present for loved ones and your community?  As you become more financially prosperous, are you inspired to contribute to a cause you believe in?  As you release attachments to certain things, are you finding ways to give them to people who could use them?

The middle of winter, even in warmer climates, gifts us a time to journey within and reflect on the spirit and energy that longs to emerge with the growing sunlight over the next six months.  Now is the time to anchor it in and ignite its qualities from within.  When we take just a few minutes each day to remind ourselves of what we want to feel and experience, then each breath, each action, each small step will unfold with ease, joy, and mindful awareness.