The Indian & Tibetan River of Buddhism (Class Review)

I’m enrolled in an online class at Columbia University called The Indian & Tibetan River of Buddhism. Signed up when quarantine began and I am glad I did. The class is taught by Dr Robert Thurman - one of the founders of Tibet House in NYC. We are only on the second week, but I wanted to share it now as you can still sign up. 

We’ve covered the history of Buddhism: what society, culture and government were like 2600 years ago and why the Buddha's approach to happiness, compassion and freedom was appealing to so many people, especially freedom from the hierarchy of the caste systems. It also feels like a  lot of the concepts are still relevant today, for example, the study of the nature of reality and how we can find happiness.  

The class looks at the concepts of Dharma (as far as I can tell, a search for truth), the Eightfold Path and how these lay the groundwork for enlightenment through meditation. To become enlightened is to have your human mind grow to the point where it is obvious that we are interconnected and that personal gain is an illusion*. When someone else hurts or is in pain, a part of us is too and doesn't know it. 

Before we align ourselves with the collective's happiness, as part of a win-win scenario, we have to work on our inner selves and find our own happiness. Your happiness always comes first, and that isn’t necessarily dependent on external factors. It also helps to have an understanding of what it means for everyone to win. This made me think about why it is important to heal ourselves, working through anger, doubt or sadness -  and to express those feelings by journaling or other means, rather than suppressing our emotions. 

To quote Professor Thurman:

"Only a self-fulfilled truly happy person can embrace the happiness of others as his or her own heart-felt goal"

The other thing that I loved about Professor Thurman's class is his interpretation of meditation in one of the last steps of the Eightfold Path. When the texts speak of meditation, the translation is not just to meditate / concentrate - but to bring into (your) Being the quality that you are meditating on. This resonates 100% from an Energy Healing and intuition point of view because whenever I have tried to connect with Buddha, I kept getting the message to meditate on Happiness and I didn't know that that meant  😅

Buddhism emphasizes love, compassion and impartiality - though it is not selfish to want to be happy, as I had to remind myself. Please join me in meditating on health and happiness. Start by grounding yourself so that it is easier for you to relax. 

* My View of Personal Gain: We do have individual needs and aspirations and it’s unhealthy to deny that. Maybe “having it all” means the personal and the collective are satisfied, but for that to happen, we have to get over the ego’s whims and insecurities.  

Along the same lines, the things that we think will make us happy are often just placeholders for deeper emotional needs - read my book to work your way through that: Chakra Healing & Magick 💛

Reiki hugs, 

Regina 

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Reiki hugs, Regina 

What Do Happiness & Magic Mean To You?

I have spent lots of time meditating with crystals, journaling and going for walks to clear the air. One of the themes that has been running through my mind is the concept of magic and if we can manifest anything we visualize. Call it magic, manifesting or the law of attraction... 

This particular question is time-sensitive now - this March 2020 - as the whole world has received a cosmic time out, with a bit of fear and uncertainty thrown into the mix, and lots of time to contemplate our lives. 

The message that came through today was that YES - everyone can experience happiness, love, security, health and belonging, but how that looks will be different for each of us. 

We won't all have a house as big as Oprah's - or a big business to run - but we can all have and deserve to have work that we we enjoy, a beautiful roof over our heads and loved ones to share this with. And to be honest, many of us wouldn't enjoy the pace and maintenance that go with a lifestyle and a career path as big as Oprah's. Or any wildly successful individual. Some of us just want a happy and healthy life, as stress-free as humanly possible 😅 

Magic begins with intuition and intention-setting, followed up by action. The idea is to focus on the essence of what we intend to create and not how it takes shape. Think about welcoming Love, Happiness, Security, Health and maybe Adventure to your life, rather than asking for a specific outcome, object or need-filler. And if we're feeling sad, stressed or angry it is important to address that too; we can rely on energy healing and creative tools to process our emotions (link).

Where do we begin? 

👉🏻 With introspection - What do love, happiness, security, health and belonging mean to you? What do you need to feel happy or fulfilled? For me, a big learning was to be satisfied with where I was in my life, letting that gratitude bring extras. I know that can be tough or even impossible in certain circumstances, especially when things go haywire, as they have now. If all we can do is survive, let’s take it one day at a time. But I feel that many of us are being pushed to go within and to reinvent ourselves both individually and as a community. 

One of the things I love about the Chakra System is how it gives us a roadmap to find answers through meditation. As mentioned in my book, chakra healing is its own kind of magic. The Heart Chakra opens the gates for us to receive love, wealth, healing and miracles. The Brow and Solar Plexus hold beliefs about whether we deserve to experience those qualities, and if we think we can have them. Belief in impossibility is a huge barrier. The Root Chakra deals with financial security and sense of belonging. The Throat and Sacral Chakras pour energy into our action plans and determine how vocal we are about them. There are many ways to go about healing and opening the chakras, meditation is one of my favorites! Here is a recording to get started 🧡🧡

If you would like to know more I have two books on energy healing, intuition, and creativity. Creativity can be artistic, but it also relates to your life - imaginanging, sculpting and creating that life. The e-books and/or paperback are available in 17 countries, in the Bookstore HERE. 

Reiki hugs,


Regina 

ps ... There are crisis areas in the world that need healing before individual realities can begin to shift on a massive scale. 

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Reiki hugs, Regina 

Image: www.canva.com

Are You a Love or a Happiness?

I have had the weirdest dreams since I started studying intuition. Last night I had one where it felt like I was traveling to another dimension or to a new kind of planet. The people there were made of energy and light. I didn't get a sense of physical bodies but they were conscious. They had light bodies and individuality. 

When I was approached by someone who seemed like he was of the opposite gender, I began comparing my energy to his and a question came to mind:

Regina, what are you?

And without missing a light-beat, I replied: I am a Happiness. 

The one asking was a Love. And the feeling was that in that dimension - in this dream of mine - Loves paired up with Happinesses. Yin and Yang in a world of light.  


This idea definitely rang a bell... 

One of the biggest lessons for me has been to define the word Happiness on my own terms and what it means to live a life that makes me happy. Is it selfish to prioritize happiness? On some level, I used to think so. That is what my latest book is about and what Holy Fire® and Karuna Reiki® are about, happiness and compassion. 

A few years ago I had the idea of writing a novel about a flower fairy who noticed that flowers faded faster if they went home with unhappy families. The fairy closed up her shop to go looking for happiness so she could put it in her bouquets.  

I am not sure if I have found "it" yet, but energy healing has made a huge difference in my life. If you would like to know more, both of my books are geared towards self-healing as a road to peace, love and empowerment. 💛

Reiki hugs, 

 

Regina 

Ps..... The books are available HERE   

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Reiki hugs, Regina 

 

* Holy Fire® and Karuna Reiki ® are registered trademarks of the International Center for Reiki Training. 

Use Reiki to Lift Your Mood (Authentically)

I taught an Usui Holy Fire ® Reiki class and something odd happened with the energy. It felt like Reiki was talking for me - I’m still trying to wrap my head around it 😅

Towards the end of the class I was talking about how I use Reiki in my daily life.  For example, we can jot down our goals and fill the paper with energy before brainstorming on how to bring those plans to life. Reiki opens the door to our intuitive faculties, tapping into the unlimited creativity that surrounds us, including the knowledge that your higher self has to share. It opens our eyes to new ways of doing things. Placing your hands on your Brow Chakra also opens up the mind.  

I was talking about these practical uses when my palms started to buzz the way they do at the beginning of a Reiki session. The energy usually feels like electric tingles, before becoming hotter and hotter as I am ready to approach the client in the healing session. But in class, the heat never came, the tingles never left and instead, I clairvoyantly saw a white mist floating out from my palms into the room. Fifteen minutes later, it felt like I was looking at the students through the mist! 

Then on Monday I gave a one-to-one Reiki class. The student was curious about using Reiki with personal triggers, psychology and emotional healing. I mentioned that Reiki and journaling go well together and how I use it in my own life - and funny enough, that white misty Reiki started to flow out from my palm chakras! It's like Reiki was talking for me LOL. 

Back to the Mood Lifting Tip!

Journaling has always been one of my favorite activities since childhood, hence this blog 😇 Then in 2017 I signed up for a psychology class where we learned to write about the things that bother us as a way to release those feelings. As you write, you tend to gain a deeper understanding of how you really feel and why. Adding Reiki gives the session an extra oomph, as we direct healing energy at those feelings and let them evaporate gently. When you're done writing, place your hands on your Heart Chakra and fill your body with a sense of calm, peace and love (Reiki). 

Reiki doesn't keep us from feeling our feelings, but it gives us a chance to understand them and hopefully feel just a fraction of what is there, as it makes its way out of our Aura. In some cases, for example trauma, it is best to see a therapist, but most of us will be able to give ourselves Reiki informally at home. Either way, Reiki is complementary to medical care, not alternative. 

Many spiritual fads tell us to think positive, keep our vibes happy. I like to think of myself as a generally upbeat person, but I also spend a LOT of time thinking or writing (or drawing) about the sad, angry, and fearful feelings that make an appearance. And that is a big part of self-healing; otherwise the happy thought is no more than a bandaid. There is no reason to be afraid of our thoughts, but running away from an unhappy one can make it more resistant. 

Reiki gives us an opportunity to deep dive into our feelings - letting the things that 'get us down' come to the surface in a gentle way. It serves to clear and heal the emotional body so that the things that aren't going perfectly well in our lives don't weigh us down so much. My spiritual psychology teacher likened each 'difficulty' of sorts to a glass that was full of water - every time we self heal, journal, or give ourselves Reiki, a bit of that water pours out. 

Ready To Get Started?

We can only channel Reiki if we've been attuned by a teacher, and I would definitely recommend taking a Reiki Level 1 workshop. If the time is not right, there are other energy healing techniques that we can practice without attending a workshop. Both of my books guide us through the process. Chakra Healing & Magick includes creative techniques for chakra healing, intuition and a bit of crystal magick! 

The energy healing exercises in the book can be done with Reiki or by following the steps in Chapter 5: Awaken Your Inner Healer. Available on Amazon below:

USA ~ Canada ~ UK ~ India

 Australia ~  Singapore ~ Nederland ~ Sweden

Germany ~ Italy ~ France ~ Japan 

Mexico ~ Brasil ~ Spain 

Emirates ~ Belgium

 Disponible en español 🇲🇽

USA ~ Mexico ~ España

Join me on Youtube for meditations to complement both of my books. 

Please reach out on social media with any questions, I’d love to hear from you! Thank you for reading Diary of a Psychic Healer. 

Reiki hugs, 

Regina 

>> Please Note: I’m an energy healer and philosophy major (nerd), not a psychologist. I do love taking random classes to learn more about myself and the world 🦋🦋

*** 

Regina Chouza is an energy healer, angel medium and the author of A Personal Guide to Self-Healing, Cancer & Love and Chakra Healing & Magick. Blogging at Diary of a Psychic Healer since 2010, her passion is bringing the qualities of love, joy and empowerment to healing pursuits. Read her books to heal yourself.  Find her on Instagram.com/reginachouza or on Facebook, as DiaryofaPsychicHealer

> Español: @AngelMedium33

 

* Holy Fire ® is a registered trademark of the International Center for Reiki Training. 

 

11 Ways to Bring More Joy into Your Life

There are Oracle Decks that I use for readings, and others that I turn to for inspiration and healing. Stewart Pearce’s beautiful Angels of Atlantis deck falls into the second category. The messages are inspired by Archangels like Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel - who I know from psychic school. Each card has a bright orb for us to meditate on, and broad themes involve feelings like joy, healing, peace, and abundance. I like to use these cards as meditative prompts and this Tuesday, they were also the source of inspiration for my radio show. I wasn’t sure what to talk about and I pulled a card for inspiration: Joy. 

The result was a list of ten simple things that we can all do to bring more joy into our lives. Joy is said to be the purest and highest emotion, for some, even higher than the energy of love. 

Here are eleven simple ways to bring joy into your life:

Spend Time with People you Love:  What else is there? The rest of the tips help us refocus the mind on happiness 🌻

Smile More Often.  When you smile, the world smiles back. The benefit is two-fold: being surrounded by friendly faces has been proven to affect our brain in a good way. And smiling often also fools our brain into thinking we are happy, releasing feel good chemicals that help us feel happy. Note: I’m not sure of the science behind this but based on personal experience, smiling makes me happy.

Get Some Exercise. Go for a jog, dance a little salsa or run up the stairs if that’s all you have time for. Working out is a great way to release stress. It also helps us feel better, releasing endorphins that make us happy. And to quote Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde, “Happy people don’t kill their husbands”

Meditate. I started meditating on joy, peace and happiness after reading a book called The Essential Dalai Lama. Close your eyes for a minute, listen to your breath and picture gold or yellow light around you. I also like to call on Archangel Jophiel for help. Jophiel can help us change our outlook so that it is more optimistic. He’s one of my favorite angels and I feel his energy as yellow.

Count Your Blessings. Sometimes things go wrong and that’s all there is to it. But even when it feels like we are starring in a tragic-comedy, we can still cheer ourselves up by turning our attention to the things we have to be grateful for. Volunteering can make these blessings very obvious too. If you’re reading this online, someone in the world is getting by with less than what you or I have.

Let Things Slide. We all have our buttons and they get pushed. What bothers me may not bother you, and vice versa. The next time someone says or does something that rubs you the wrong way, consider giving them the benefit of the doubt. Look inward for any triggers that may need to be healed. That said, I wouldn’t discount the importance of self-respect, so drawing a line is important.

Switch Off Your Phone and sit in nature for a while. Or hangout with friends. Act like it’s the 80’s and your troubles and to-do-lists are not in your pocket.

Be Yourself. Living up to expectations doesn’t feel good, whether those expectations are real or self-imposed. Don’t apologize for who you are, what you do, or who you love. Be yourself and let the right people find you. You can heal your sense-of-self and shine bright by focusing on the Chakras, especially the Solar Plexus, and by grounding yourself in love (Read my book. Chakra Healing & Magick). 

Put the Past Behind You.  Life is full of ups and downs as well as plenty of life stages that eventually come to an end. It can be tempting to look back to the past with nostalgia, especially if we have been through a difficult ending. But we can only find joy if we appreciate the present and embrace the future. Heal yourself to let go; it’s not about forgetting the past. 

Be Willing to Forgive. It will give you peace of mind. It is said that holding a grudge is like letting someone live rent-free in your head. When we forgive we give ourselves a break, whether or not we also give second or third chances.

Enjoy the Moment. One of my favorite books is A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle. It tells us that when we are faced with a tough situation that can't be changed, we can make the conscious choice to tolerate it until it passes. The next best thing is to enjoy yourself, after all, even rough patches have good times. And when things are going great appreciate your good luck and en-joy yourself!

***

Manifesting Tip! The happier we feel, the easier it is for us to create situations that we want to experience. Listening to songs that put us in a good mood is a great shortcut (though it always helps to heal yourself, too). Read This to Manifest with MUSIC! 

Finally, that clip from Legally Blond.

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Reiki hugs, Regina 

Image: canva .com (updated 2025)