Several days ago, I was preparing my agenda for today’s Reiki Refresher workshop. I happened to engage in a discussion on Facebook with my friend Sherri about the oil washing up on shore in Alabama and Florida. She mentioned that she and a friend of hers were going to head down to Ft. Morgan, AL to spend time at the beach and send Reiki to the Gulf Coast.
The Gulf Coast is a special place for me. A friend clued me in many years ago to the stunning natural beauty of Ft. Pickens in Pensacola, FL. There’s nothing like camping near the beach and walking out at night under a bright moon down to the water, sand dunes and breezes all around. In fact, I’m happy to be on the beach pretty much any time of day. The water exerts powerful energy; you don’t even have to be in it to feel it pulling away all stress and tension. I’ve had some powerful moments standing in the surf, sending Reiki to the Gulf and feeling her return the love.
My family goes down to the Gulf Coast several times a year, because that’s where my husband grew up and many members of his family still live there. Our love of that area is one of the things that connected us. It was painful to see the devastation wrought in those communities after Hurricane Ivan in 2005, but we understand that these are forces of nature over which we have no control. You pray for the best and prepare for the worst.
The recent oil spill disaster is so much harder to comprehend and accept. It’s impossible not to feel angry, sad and helpless at news reports showing slicks of oil staining pristine sand, and aquatic animals covered in poisonous muck. The oil spill is not a singular event where we can quickly take stock the next day and begin figuring out how repair the damage. This is damage that will continue for an unforseeable amount of time, devastating the ecosystem and livelihoods dependent upon this life source.
I decided to add time into our agenda for today to have my participants join me in sending distance healing to the Gulf. It’s not as immediate as going down and shoveling tainted sand, but I do believe that energy builds on energy. Whatever we send with positive, loving intentions will be made manifest somehow. We don’t have to know how it came about; we just surrender to the process.
My workshop participants were very enthused and grateful for the opportunity to send Reiki. It was a very powerful, emotional experience for all of us. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one wiping away a tear or two. Several of us shared what we experienced during the distance healing session. I envisioned Reiki as a big strainer of sorts, sifting through and removing all of the oil and impurities. I’m not a highly visual person but the vision was very comforting. Another participant said he saw Reiki entering the oil sludge and breaking it up, while another said she saw beautiful greens and blues – our hopeful end state.
Of course, there is so much more we can and should be doing to help restore our coastlines. We are all interconnected and what happens to our Earth directly affects us too. Sending Reiki helps by maintaining hope and positivity for healing and wholeness in the face of loss and heartbreak.
*sandcastle photo taken by Dana L. Young at Johnson Beach in Florida
