Our next reiki celebrity is Dr. Oz. I just love how this man's genial personality and desire to heal spills over and gives credibility to what many consider a fringe healing method. This article from the International Association of Reiki Professionals sums it up beautifully.
Have you ever looked at someone and thought 'why are they doing that?'
I think that is the basic state of existence since the only head we can get into is our own. When I am trying to figure out people, or, better yet, the client in front of me, I turn to the enneagram. It is a tool for understanding how we come to the crazy decisions we all make. The enneagram describes internal energies expressed through outward actions. Think of a habit you just can't break, or the thing that you do that everyone around you asks you to stop. From my life, it's over helping. The first words in my mind when someone describes a problem are always 'how can I help?' After learning the Enneagram, now I keep offers to help inside (some times).
Have you ever tried to explain something you 'know,' only to realize what you 'know' is just a feeling, not knowledge? How frustrating! Last week, I was trying to explain Patreon, a website that allows creators to get paid for their work. It's a great concept to help bloggers, YouTube creators, and artists of all stripes get funded so they can keep creating the content we love. Each month I pay for webcomics, writers, and podcasters works that I access for free on the internet and through the library. It feels powerful to help them create what I love.
So there I was, trying to persuade my friends of the importance of free information, and that people will pay for it if you set things up properly. I was (trying to) explain my new Patreon account. I set up the account because I love to make things. How fortunate to be born in an era where there are so many free venues to show my creations! One of my YouTube videos has over 800,000 views and weekly I get questions through the comments section and through email. Wouldn't it be great to get paid for it?
I couldn't believe my eyes. Reiki in the New York Times. The article talks about chef Sean Brock and his recovery from post traumatic stress disorder. They say "he spends a few hours a day in self-care activities like meditation and reiki." Just assuming everyone who reads the article knows what reiki is. We live in great times my friends! Happy Saturday!
Several years ago I took a great class from Peaceful Meadow Retreat. The Hanna Kroeger 1 class taught me two very important things. The first was that it was not for me. I loved the class, but it was not at all what my clients come to see me for. They come for peace, not for supplements. The second is three simple questions that changed my practice and how I approach life.
May I? Can I? Should I?
Who knew that six words could be so profound?
Let's consider our first question 'may I?' When you ask yourself this, it is all about permission. Do you have permission to work on this person or object?
On Tuesday my bike found a piece of glass in the road and I got a flat tire. I was only a mile and a half from my house, so it was no big deal. Since severe thunderstorms were starting to move into the area, I had to get home as quickly as possible. It took about a half hour (boy do we have big hills!) so I had loads of time to think.
At first I was thinking 'who would you trust if they stopped to help you?' It was strange. I usually trust everyone, enough so that it makes my husband nervous. After a while, I moved on to 'why is no one stopping to help?'
Working with the human body is a touchy thing in more ways than one. When we adjust in yoga or touch in healing there is always the possibility of harming the person you are trying to help. There is nothing more irritating than the practitioner pressing into your body when they should be gently laying on hands or an instructor forcing your body into a position it does not want to take.
Just yesterday I experienced something amazing. My Tai Chi teacher gave me a hand up from the floor. Now this is a man who has made a career out of breaking people. He has forgotten more about martial arts than most black belts ever learn. But when he gave me a hand up off the floor, it was with the perfect amount of force, like the lift was evenly distributed throughout my entire body, not just through my hands to my shoulders, to the body. He always jokes that if you know how to cause pain, you also know how to heal.
How do we learn to do the same thing? First by becoming more aware of your body and it's edges. Those edges might be your hands, clothes, hair, or a healing accessory (like the lotion bottle of a massage therapist). If any part of you touches your client it should be intentional. Not only does it remove your client from the experience, but it can become actively irritating (when the yoga instructor's long hair touches you).
Once you've learned your edges, it's time to discover your power. Press your hands together as hard as you can (according to NASA this is force is between 30-50 pounds). Now, push half as hard (between 15-25 pounds). Now, half as hard again (7.5-12.5 pounds). That last one is as hard as you should ever push when working with a client or student. Granted these are averages, but the exercise I described works very well in practice. And on that note, just like getting to Caragie Hall, the best solution learning to adjust poses is to practice.
The final hurdle is forming a relationship. Before touching a client in a healing session or a student in a yoga class, always get permission first. Part of this process is making sure the person you are working with will tell you to stop if it is irritating or begins to hurt. Go into it gently. Sometimes, you may need to have the discussion several times in one session.
This week's video is about the Hanna Kroeger technique for resetting the brain stem. In it you gently manipulate the client's head to reset the brain stem. It is the perfect way to practice your use of gentle force.
