I came across this wonderful quote and wanted to share it, because this is very much in line with what I believe about the healing process and Reiki’s role as as a tool for facilitating our healing journey:

The human being’s ability to heal is extraordinary. The power of love and intention a person can generate for healing is remarkable. Using the power of your mind and heart is in complete alignment with the law of nature. Bodies regenerate themselves naturally. Sometimes we need to help our bodies remember how to do that healthily and if we choose to do this consciously, we embark on a healing journey. – Misa Hopkins,  The Root of All Healing

Many of these same concepts are captured quite beautifully in Louise Hays’ classic book, You Can Heal Your Life, which I’m reading now.   I know from my own personal experience that the more I learn to let go of incorrect, outdated or negative beliefs about who I am, the more I am able to love, receive love without fear and experience increased forgiveness and compassion for others – and myself.  This is key to healing, emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually.  Reiki has helped facilitate much of that healing, but I also credit my studies on spiritual philosophies and practices, meditation, yoga and prayer for their role in my healing journey.  They all form part of what I like to call my “healing toolkit.”  What’s in your healing toolkit?

Today is World AIDS Day, where we acknowledge and send our love to the millions of people living with HIV/AIDS, while also remembering those who remain with us only in spirit.  While we are so fortunate that advances in medical treatment have allowed many to deal with HIV as a manageable chronic health condition, there are still far too many people without adequate access to HIV medication and health care, especially in developing countries.  Those of us with a friend or loved one with HIV remember the dark fear in the pit of our stomachs at the announcement of the diagnosis.  Twenty or so years ago, those announcements were met with terror, because the vast majority of those infected with the HIV virus succumbed to the disease within months or a couple of years.  I am so grateful that the development of HIV medications and treatment have made it possible for so many people, including beloved family and friends of mine, to live with dignity, vitality and a good measure of health. 

I came across a good case study on the efficacy of Reiki for the treatment of HIV/AIDS symptoms that I wanted to share.  The first is a report by Robert Schmehr, CSW entitled, Enhancing the Treatment of HIV/AIDS With Reiki Training and Treatment, published in the peer-reviewed journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine.  He is the Director of Complementary Therapy at the HIV Center of St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York City and a Reiki II practitioner.  The report discusses a person living with HIV who received Reiki treatment and also was trained to do Reiki self-treatments to help overcome substance abuse and psychological distress.  Schmehr states that the ”patient’s physician and former psychotherapist have repeatedly described the patient’s belief that Reiki self-treatment as the single greatest factor contributing to his successful behavior change.”   Those of us who practice Reiki also know that once a person is no longer dependent on drugs, and experiences reduced anxiety and psychological stress, significant healing can occur.  Indeed, Schmehr mentions that the patient’s viral load and CD4 count, while still detectable, was much improved, an indication he is thriving and experiencing greater quality of life.

Another study I wanted to share with you was conducted by Pamela Miles, Founding director Institute for the Advancement of Complementary Therapies (I*ACT) and a well-known Reiki Master Teacher.  The report, Preliminary Report on the Use of Reiki for HIV-related Pain and Anxiety, also published in the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, focuses on the use of Reiki for treatment of HIV-related pain, anxiety and depression.  Like the previous study, the study also focuses on teaching the patients how to do Reiki self-treatments.  As with the previous study, the results were favorable:

In an evaluation of the program, it was noted there was a decline in reported pain after the Reiki treatment; on an 11-point scale, the average pain rating dropped from 2.73 to 1.83. Results were similar for the anxiety scale, with mean anxiety dropping from 32.6 to 22.8. There was no significant difference in pain or anxiety reduction as a function of whether the Reiki was self-administered or administered by another.

I have also read of similar success in the article, “Reiki for Veterans,” published in the Winter 2008 issue of Reiki News magazine, where returning war veterans suffering from PTSD were trained to administer Reiki self-treatments and experienced decreased pain, anxiety and other symptoms associated with PTSD.  It is very empowering for people to be able to literally put the responsibility for healing into their own hands and in conjunction with prescribed allopathic or therapeutic treatment, experience relief from chronic or debilitating symptoms and have improved quality of life. 

Please contact me if you would like to learn more about how you or a loved one can utilize Reiki as an adjunct, complementary therapy for relieving symptoms associated with many chronic health conditions.

Science Daily recently published a review of a new study examining the efficacy of biofield therapies such as Reiki, Therapeutic Touch and Healing Touch, entitled Biofield Therapies: Helpful or Hype? that was conducted by Dr. Shamini Jain, from the UCLA Division of Cancer Prevention and Control Research, and Dr. Paul Mills, from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, and the Moores Comprehensive Cancer Center in San Diego, US.  The study found that these biofield therapies demonstrate “promising complementary interventions for reducing the intensity of pain in a number of conditions, reducing anxiety for hospitalized patients and reducing agitated behaviors in dementia, over and above what standard treatments can achieve.”  Additionally, the researchers found “strong evidence that biofield therapies reduce pain intensity in free-living populations, and moderate evidence that they are effective at lowering pain in hospitalized patients as well as in patients with cancer.” 

As a Reiki practitioner, I have seen the evidence of measurable pain reduction quite clearly while working with clients in my practice, including chronic pain and post-surgical pain.  I am pleased to see this evidence borne out as a result of clinical research.  As with any complementary therapy, individual response may vary, but generally speaking people are seeing good results with using Reiki and other biofield therapies for pain management and comfort for a number of different physical or medical conditions.   The inclusion of these biofield therapies in the clinical setting would be a welcome presence for many people and may reduce the amount of drugs or other interventions needed to keep patients stable and comfortable.

“Today, find ways to create balance in your life. Cast all negativity in a positive light, and let go of any fears that block the flow of vital energy within your mind, body and spirit.” – Caroline Myss and Peter Occhiogrosso

I recently downloaded the “Healing Cards” application for my iPod, which was created by spiritual teacher Caroline Myss and Peter Occhiogrosso.  There are fifty gorgeously designed cards created with the intention of providing users with a daily practice for maintaining spiritual balance.  Because we are all so wrapped up with the stresses and minutia of everyday life, it’s very handy to open up the application and reflect on the healing thought/meditation and accompanying guidance as they rotate through.  Each time I open up the application, it presents me with a different card and it never fails to amaze me how that particular card always seems to be speaking to something specific to what is going on at that moment.

Today’s card began with the healing thought: “To heal illness, begin by restoring balance.”  This seems obvious, but how well do most of us accomplish this?  I personally am going through some soul-searching in order to make changes in my life that will allow me to have more physical, emotional, mental and spiritual balance.  Some of these changes are not easy; they are forcing me to be honest about what I need and to state or ask for it in a straight-forward, unapologetic way.  Some of these changes are a natural result of aging, and require me to take a close look at what support my body needs in order to accept and experience those changes without suffering unnecessarily.   

Self-care is an important part of restoring balance.  The healing card talks about reconnecting and living in harmony with nature, citing that many “spiritual traditions also find a strong link between physical health and spiritual well-being.”  In addition to practices that connect and ground us to nature around us (spending time outdoors, eating healthy, nourishing foods, embracing the change of seasons) we can observe other practices to help us create and restore balance.  Some of these include: reframing our life in a positive way, finding opportunities for gratitude on a daily basis, spending time with loved ones, sending love and compassion to our fears and traumas (as well as doing the necessary work to properly integrate and release them) and taking time to rest.  Practices and healing therapies that directly help or teach you how to reconnect to your body, mind and spirit are also necessary for good self-care.  They include: energy healing (Reiki, Qi Gong, etc.), meditation and breathwork, yoga, Tai Chi, massage, acupuncture and chiropractic. 

One of the things that attracted me to energy medicine was that its basic function is to restore energetic balance.  By nature, I am a person who has a hard time relaxing.  I always feel like I need to be doing something and I have often pushed myself to physical and emotional exhaustion (and illness) in the past.  I’m empathic and easily pick up on other people’s energy, not to mention that I also inherited my maternal family’s gift of intuition and clairvoyance.  All of these characteristics can easily lead to energy drain.  Reiki has been such a blessing because it has helped me balance my energy, establish more appropriate boundaries, as well as heal and release some unbeneficial habits and behaviors.  Reiki has taught me to pay closer attention to the disconnections and discomfort I’m experiencing within my body and allow it to tell me what I need. 

Our body instinctively knows it needs.  Watch children and you can see how attuned they are to their bodies.  Parents witness this regularly because their children are continually asking for assistance in fulfilling those basic bodily needs.  However, the older we get, the less we stop listening because of internal or outside stressors that pull us in numerous and competing directions.  Some of these stressors are an unavoidable part of life, but we can find ways to minimize their influence.  Self-care is the first step towards integrating the healing we need and increasing the flow of beneficial energy for restoring mind, body and spiritual balance in our lives.

I’ve released my first “official” newsletter – check out the new design and find out what Dragonfly Reiki has in store for this month!

Dragonfly Reiki News and Specials for October

If you are not currently subscribed to the newsletter and would like to begin receiving it, please send me an email.  I do not share my subscriber information with other providers and I try to limit my communications to once or twice a month. 

Thanks as always for your support!

“I am not what happened to me,  I am what I choose to become.”  – Carl Jung

When we are on the path to wellness, one of the aspects we have to consider is how our life experiences shape us, and whether or not those experiences are serving us in constructive ways.  For example, it can be useful for someone to identify with being a cancer survivor if they feel that experience made them realize their own inner strength and allowed them to make changes that will contribute to their overall health and emotional well-being and maybe even inspire them to help others going through the same situation in their lives. 

Far too often, however, we become attached to labels or beliefs about our experience that do not serve us well. Eventually, the labels and beliefs can limit the scope of who we are and what we can become.  It can cause us to stagnate in a situation or patterns of thinking and responding that disconnect us from our highest good.  We are then unable to integrate those experiences properly on physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels.  Integration allows us to release what no longer is useful to us from those experiences. If that doesn’t happen, we don’t heal. 

Naming things is the first step in confronting experiences or situations that are painful, uncomfortable or difficult to live with.  So, what happens after we name, explore and try to get our arms around this reality?  Acknowledgement and acceptance are necessary next steps on the path to healing, but sometimes the barriers can be formidable.  Most of us may only partially accomplish the task and then find ourselves still struggling to move forward in certain areas. 

Prior to receiving and practicing energy healing, I lived for about six years with a chronic inflammatory condition called Interstitial Cystitis (Pelvic Pain Syndrome) that required five different medications, plus supplements, in order to manage the symptoms.  The medical establishment acknowledges that people with IC can manage symptoms for improved quality of life, but do not have a “cure.”  After several years on this regimen and countless doctor visits later, I was experiencing improvement but was not free of symptoms.  I was terrified my condition would suddenly deteriorate.  I often wished I could remove my bladder altogether and felt very disconnected from my body.  And worse, the inflammation was starting to spread to my reproductive tract.

With the help of Reiki, I experienced a complete remission of my symptoms and weaned myself off all medications.  I was also able to conceive and give birth to my beautiful daughter a year later.  (The extent of my healing is unusual and I cannot guarantee similar results, but I feel it’s important to share my story because it may help someone else.)   What was really key to the process was making the decision to no longer attach myself to the labels of “a person with IC”, or “a person with medical conditions.”  They were of no help to me, and clinging to them put me in the position of living in fear that the symptoms might flare up again.  Releasing my identification with these conditions hastened deeper healing on an emotional level.  Eventually, it motivated me to commit myself to the service of helping others with their healing journeys. 

Most recently, I credit the book The Biology of Belief by Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. for validating what I experienced first-hand: that our bodies can be changed as we retrain our thinking and adopt changes and practices that are beneficial to the healing process.  It’s been amazing and inspiring to me to watch clients who had have lived with chronic pain or fatigue now find themselves more active and energetic, or feel emotionally that their situation is more manageable because Reiki has helped them make the shift from being a “sick person” to being a “well person.” 

Always keep in mind what I tell my clients or anyone interested in Reiki: true healing happens at the individual level.  I’m there to help, but it all starts with you.  Reiki helps facilitate the healing process, but it’s you that utilizes this universal life-force energy present in Reiki to move beyond your illness or conditions and realize your greatest life potential. 

(Note: It is recommended that you see a licensed physician or health care professional for any physical or psychological ailment you may have.  Reiki treatments complement but should not replace other medical treatment or therapy that your physician or health care professional may recommend.)

…to Drs. Jamie and Liliana at Lotus of Life Chiropractic for publishing my article/blog post, “The state of what is now” in their April newsletter!  I appreciate that they gave me the opportunity to share perspectives on Reiki’s benefits for the healing process with their participants.  I have to say, I am very fortunate to know so many amazing healers here in the Atlanta area – other Reiki practitioners, chiropractors, massage therapists, reflexologists, yoga teachers, doulas…the list goes on!

I also would like to say thank you to all of the people who came out to yesterday’s Heart Offering Reiki Clinic!  What a great day it was, sharing Reiki with all of you.

What is healing?

Healing is more than just about maintaining a positive state of physical wellness.  Healing encompasses the four major forces that comprise our existence: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.  If one or more of these areas is not functioning optimally, then we are in need of healing to bring those forces back into balance.  We can be physically healthy but if our relationships with others are rife with conflict, we are in need of healing.  Conversely, we can be physically compromised in some way, but if we have accepted that state and embraced a new way of living, we can consider ourselves to be healing because we are not rejecting what is physically not “working” but rather, seeing it as an integral aspect of what makes us who we are.

Still here, still healing

I recently read Ram Dass’s book Still Here, and was struck by the honesty and grace with which he talks about experiencing, rejecting and then eventually coming to terms with his physical limitations following a stroke.  A well-respected spiritual teacher, he traveled the world giving talks and doing workshops, and was an avid golf player.  He talks about the effect that the stroke had on him and how he eventually made the shift towards a state of healing by accepting that his life had fundamentally changed and resisting the temptation to manifest his symptoms within his identity:

After any major physical “insult,” as they call it, it’s all too easy to see yourself as a collection of symptoms rather than as a total human being, including your spirit – and thus to become your illness.  Fear is powerful and contagious, and at first I allowed myself to catch it, worried that if I didn’t do what the doctors ordered, I’d be sorry.  Healing is not the same as curing, after all; healing does not mean going back to the way things were before, but rather allowing what is now to move us closer to God.

Barriers to healing

Why is it that we sometimes don’t heal as we should?  How does a simple injury or illness suddenly rage out of control, spinning off new chronic conditions and wearing down the body?  Why do some people, after going through a difficult phase in their life, have trouble moving forward? 

Sometimes we don’t heal because medicine or counseling can only treat one aspect of the problem we’re experiencing.  People who are chronically sick may need to make lifestyle changes – dietary modifications, some form of exercise, stress reduction techniques or set healthy boundaries in their relationships with others – in order to see a major shift in their overall quality of their health. 

People who have experienced trauma often continue to manifest symptoms in their bodies long after the event occurred because on an emotional or spiritual level, the wound is still raw.  A recent study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry has shown that children who were traumatized by some form of physical or emotional abuse are more likely to develop chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) as adults.    There may be other reasons adults develop CFS, including environmental triggers or an inflammatory response that went haywire (again, also traumas of their own) but it’s important to note that unresolved deep traumas do continue to play out in our lives long after the event has passed.  Even if we do acknowledge those traumas, we may not have fully integrated the experience so that deep healing can occur.  Depending on the nature of the trauma, it can take time, commitment and one or more approaches to facilitate the healing process.

Sometimes people do not heal because they are resistant in some way.  Either they have received so much negative reinforcement about being sick in the form of attention – from doctors, family or other caregivers – that they have trouble letting go psychologically of their identity as a “sick” person.  Other reasons people do not heal is because on some level, they don’t believe they are worthy of being well.  If they suffer from low self-esteem or were made to feel at some point in their life that they do not deserve to be happy or have good things happen to them, it can be difficult to let go of negative mental conditioning that allows illness to manifest and take residence.  These are not “bad” or “messed-up” people, let’s be clear about that.  They have just been conditioned for a long time to believe and integrate their experiences in these ways, and healing cannot begin to occur until they recognize those patterns and process them differently. 

The healing gifts of Reiki

Reiki has allowed me to open and balance my body, mind and spirit so that I can fully integrate my life experiences and heal the whole self.  I have seen tremendous change in my physical wellness, emotional clarity and quality of my relationships with others as a result of the work I’ve done with Reiki.  Reiki has helped me recover from Interstitial Cystitis, a debilitating and painful inflammation of the bladder wall lining.  Reiki helped me heal physically and emotionally after an emergency c-section and massive post-partum hemorrhage.  Reiki has helped me find ways to heal and nurture relationships with people that had been broken or problematic.  Reiki has helped me manage anxiety in positive and constructive ways.  Reiki has helped me be more caring and loving towards myself, which has allowed me to give of myself in a more authentic way to others. 

Like many healers, I also seek out other supportive practices, because what we ideally want is a functional toolkit of resources we can draw on during the healing process and facilitate positive change.  Reiki is a great enabler of positive change, because its energy helps you gently release what is no longer working for your highest good.

I go through challenging times just like everyone else, but Reiki has given me a solid foundation to stand on to live my life and keep me grounded.  I know I could always be doing more to keep myself “healthy” but I have very deep gratitude for my life and the journey towards healing that I have consciously taken.  The state of “what is now” that Ram Dass describes is where I find myself more and more these days.  It’s a great place to be – I hope you come visit and stay!

I’m excited to announce that my article on the benefits of Reiki for conception, pregnancy and post-partum healing has been published:

http://www.soulscode.com/mission-make-a-baby-accomplished-with-the-help-of-reiki/

Much of the article relates my own experience with Reiki when I became pregnant with my daughter, and I’m seeing some of these same experiences being borne out while treating other clients or friends of mine who are trying to conceive or are pregnant themselves.  It’s an honor for me to be able to share this story and I always love the opportunity to help other women who are preparing their bodies for conception or are supporting new life within.

My friend Debbi forwarded me this link to a Fox news story about a cancer patient in Morristown, NJ who is receiving Reiki to help deal with her cancer symptoms and get relief from the side effects of chemotherapy.   I’m glad to see news stories like this, because it helps bring more awareness of what energy healing is to the general public.  I was also pleased to hear that the hospital in Morristown has Reiki practitioners who provide treatments to cancer patients for free!  Reiki is a great way to provide relaxation and support for people who are going through a difficult time physically, emotionally and spiritually as a result of health conditions or diseases like cancer.