Using Reiki in Energy Healing Work - a Guest Post by Nathan

I'd like to introduce this guestpost by Nathan from the psychic blog, A State of Mind. There are many types of energy healing, some involve calling on universal energy and others, working with our own energy which as Nathan points out, can be exhausting and counter productive. The type of energy healing that I practice is similar to Reiki; it involves channeling universal energy ~ Regina

"Every time I have an opportunity to share some information about Reiki, I use it. Today, Geena gave me such opportunity, allowing me to write a guest post for this blog. And since Geena focuses upon energy healing, I think it’s a great idea to explain how Reiki can help you and other energy healers in your work. 

For the purpose of this article, I assume that energy healing is the type of psychic work, in which you use your own life energy in order to heal someone. In Poland, this is commonly known as bioenergy therapy and it’s an official profession, for which you need to have proper authorization and certificates, and you have to be a member of a therapist guild. 

Now, it’s essential to explain the theory behind energy healing, and theory behind Reiki. Let’s start with energy healing - in this form of psychic work, you use your own energy (Chi, Prana, Ki) to manipulate and heal blockages or damages in other’s person energy body - well, that’s standard theory, in practice it looks a bit more complex. Because you have control over your own energy, you can shape it into tools, and use it in whatever way you like. But whenever you use this energy of yours, you lose it - your life force reservoir  is being depleted, it’s a fact known to every person who works with his or hers own energy. Therefore, after long session of energy healing, you need to recharge your batteries through various techniques. Reiki is one of such techniques.

How Does Reiki Work

Reiki works in a different way than classic energy healing does. You do not have control over Reiki energy, you’re a channel, through which the energy flows into the other’s person body in order to heal it. It is Reiki that heals, not the practitioner and his energies. And, while our own energy can be contaminated with our own fears, worries and concerns, thus making it risky to use it for energy healing (unless you learn ways to purify and cleanse the energy you’re using), Reiki is a pure, spiritual light - not the most powerful energy in the Universe, but still a very gentle, spiritual form of vibrations. It comes from the Source (God, the Universe, the Absolute), and it flows through the practitioner into the person who needs healing. There, it heals blockages and brings harmony back. Quite simple, isn’t it?

As such, Reiki can help you in your classic energy healing work - even if you won’t be using Reiki for healing as a stand-alone technique. I know a lot of healers who use their own energy to heal, but they use Reiki on themselves after work hours - why so? Because it’s very, very useful.

Recharge

The very first thing that Reiki can help you with is the process of recharging your batteries. As you work with your own energy - to heal, or to do psychic readings, or to create a psiball or even play with telekinesis (because you can), you deplete your own energy. This life force is like a fuel, the more you do, the more energy is being used. When your energy level is low, you feel tired, depressed, and if you won’t recharge yourself, it’s just a matter of time before you’re struck with an illness, not to mention some more serious consequences for your physical and emotional health. So, you need to recharge yourself.

Reiki can help you with this - after becoming a Reiki practitioner, you can simple spend 30 minutes each day doing self-treatment session, and the spiritual energy will flow into you. Within you, Reiki is transformed into normal life energy, Chi, which fuels your every action, thought and emotion. Doing Reiki self-healing sessions after any form of energy work or psychic work is a way to recharge your batteries, and feel alive once more.  And of course, its a great way to keep yourself spiritually healthy.  

Cleanse the environment and yourself

But more than that, Reiki can be used to create a sterile environment for your healing work. It’s a standard procedure to cleanse the room in which you do psychic work, and to cleanse yourself. Some people use white sage to do this, others prefer candles and magical rituals, some visualize a bright, spiritual light that cleanse and protects the room. In similar way, practitioners of the second degree of Reiki can use symbols to cleanse and protect the room. But they can use Reiki symbols to cleanse themselves, as well, and make sure that their aura is clean, so they won’t transfer their worries and concerns to their patients. 

Keeping your aura and your environment clean on energetic and spiritual level is essential for safe and successful energy healing work.

Heal Yourself, First

Finally, Reiki is a path of spiritual development, as well. It can help you face your own dark side, your fears and worries and bad beliefs. And it can help you heal these so called “blockages”, through self-treatment sessions and guidance on the path of spiritual growth. This leads to two things. First, your life gets better and better. But also, this leads to the fact that with time, you become more and more spiritual person, and the more spiritual you are, the less problems you carry with your own energies. The more spiritual you are, the less probable it is to transfer your fears and negative beliefs to other person. In Reiki practice there is a rule - first, heal yourself! And it’s essential for successful healing practice.

That’s it - as you can see, Reiki is a very useful tool for every energy healer, even if you do not plan to use Reiki for healing others. But since it can help you in your daily healing practice, and it can support your spiritual growth, then I think it’s worth becoming a practitioner of the first two degrees. It won’t hurt you, but it will improve your life and your healing practice, for sure!"

2023 Update: I haven’t been in touch with Nathaniel in years and his website appears to have come down; however, his books are still for sale on Amazon Here. Have a look & read the one you’re drawn to. 

 

Blogging a Book on Energy Healing

The past few days I've been on holiday - Now I'm back and ready to go again! It is nice to take a break and regroup, otherwise we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of every day life.  While I have been away I realised that I haven't been writing about healing as much as I'd like to. My new resolution will be to write about energy healing and spirituality rather than my personal reflections and adventures. Don't worry! I will still tell you what I'm working on and what my new interests are, but the focus will be to explore these topics in more depth and hopefully make it more engaging. 

My roots are in philosophy so I like to spend time thinking about the possibilities, as well as writing about clinical experience.  These are the topics I want to explore in the coming months:  

• Why people get sick in the first place
• Approaching Healing as a Complementary Therapy
• What we can expect to achieve with healing
• Science vs Faith - and can we bring them together?
• Genetics vs Memetics / Nature vs Nurture
• Medical Intuition, i.e. what does the body have to say? 
• The Chakras and the Subtle Energy Body ... 
• What happens in a healing session 
• What to expect from a Healer
• What NOT to expect from a Healer
• The difference between Reiki and Energy Healing
• Energy leaks, Depression and Dis-ease
• Clearing and Healing Meditations 

I'm planning on taking a more structured approach with the blog so that the posts follow a natural sequence. I'll be Blogging a Book if you like! Please let me know if there are any other areas you'd like me to explore. I would love to get your thoughts while I'm still in the planning phase. The content will be a combination of short-form posts as per usual and longer How-To-Articles that will be available for a small fee. Later this week I will send out a link to a questionnaire with a variety of topics. Please log on and tell me what you'd like to learn about in the coming months and year.   

On another note I am still working on those Energy Healing Guides I mentioned a few weeks ago! I hope to have the first one ready before Christmas - give the gift of Healing this December!  

2020 UPDATE!!! In the end I didn't blog a book on energy healing, but I did publish two of them: one on energy healing & cancer, the other on creative healing tools, intuition and crystal empowerment. You will find both below. 

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Reiki hugs, Regina 

Living in Alignment

I went to a really cool lecture last night by Jan Janssen, a tutor with the Barbara Brennan School of Healing. The lecture was organised by the Healing Forum and it was supposed to be about chakra chords and ended up covering lots of non-chordy topics. One of my favorites was alignment and how you can practice it by surfing on public transport. Really! I write a lot about how important it is to be aligned with your higher purpose and with your higher self. Yesterday it was more about being energetically and physically aligned, and how that can help you be more in tune with life and with your intuition. 

The way Jan described it when you are aligned you're grounded to the earth, centered and connected to Spirit all in one go. Alignment and mindfulness combined lead to an increased state of awareness. =)

On a physical level alignment is also about standing or sitting up straight so that the energy flow through the chakras is clear. In some of my healing sessions I will see a beam of white line running down the client's core, from their crown all the way to the tip of their toes. We refer to this as the channel in my classes and when something is out of alignment it is visible in the channel. I'll often spot an imbalance because the channel looks muddy, it has a color, or the energy flow is slower and muddled in a specific section. If I'm doing a chair healing I'll ask the client to sit up straight and then I'll work on clearing it. This is probably why I'm also intuitively prompted to sit up straight when I'm meditating or giving psychic readings. The posture helps me take deeper breaths and it also makes me feel more alert, energised and connected! 

The lecture last night also got me thinking about how people can be grounded, centered and aligned without engaging with spiritual, energetic or psychic currents. There are lots of grounding hobbies out there and plenty of people enjoy them without being into meditation or energy work. The ones that come to mind are surfing, fishing, gardening, and rock climbing. I'm going to cover two of these here and I'd love to have your thoughts on the others!  

• Surfing:   So I grew up in California. The Pacific Ocean is so much fun to swim, surf and boogie board in.  The sand is really grounding and spending time in the ocean is amazing. It feels really calming and overwhelming at the same time and you have to develop this connection to the waves so that you can body surf,  boogie board, or swim in the water without being thrown around by the waves. Its a lot of fun and after an afternoon at the beach I would always feel very relaxed, invigorated and grounded. This was how I spent my weekends and summers growing up. Until today I never thought about the link to meditation, groundedness, etc. I don't surf but surfers tend to be very laid back, easy going and chatty in a down to earth and humble way. Friendly. I heart California! 

• Fishing: When I think fishing stillness comes to mind! Sitting quietly on a lake for a couple hours is not my idea of fun. I'd much rather run, walk, surf, ski or swim when I'm outdoors. If you think about it, fishing is a lot like meditating and lots of people enjoy it.  A person would have to be calm, grounded and patient to enjoy fishing. Or maybe fishing makes them feel calm, relaxed and disconnected from the stress of daily life. The most relaxing and healing part could even be the water under the boat. Spending time near a lake can also have a soothing effect on the emotional baggage carried around. 

The other cool topic covered last night was about the link between the personality, the soul, the spirit and the core. I think it would make a really good topic for a guest post or a Q&A! Stay tuned! We might have a guest appearance in the next few months.    ;-)

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Why is it so hard to quit smoking?

I asked this question on Facebook and got lots of great responses (read them here).  My initial thoughts on the topic are that we need to have a real reason to LIVE, be it someone or something that we want to stick around for. With good quality of life and lots of zest for living. I arrived at this conclusion because when a person smokes they extinguish the part of the body that regulates our life force. We can survive with out food, water, shelter for days but how long can you last without breathing? The smoke also clouds our ability to receive guidance and intuition from our angels. More to come on that later .... 

I've spent a couple minutes thinking about why people might find it hard to quit - beyond the nicotine addiction and the habit: 

• Taking deep breaths is good for the body, the brain and the spirit. Smokers generally take deep breaths when they are smoking and the body mistakes the benefits of air for a benefit of smoking. It makes them feel more alert, but so would a pure deep breath and a liter of water. I'm not a smoker but I experienced a similar sensation with fizzy drinks and coffee. A year ago I realised that I never drank water. If I was thirsty or bored I'd reach for a Diet Coke or an Iced Coffee. One day this occurred to me and I reached for a glass of water before having my morning coffee. WOW. I also noticed that when I felt like snacking it was usually moisture rich foods.  What I really needed was to drink water.  I think smokers crave a nicotine fix but their body also craves a nice dose of fresh air. 

• Clearing your head is a good way to bring in new ideas and inspiration. When people fall into the habit of going outside to smoke, as is often the case because of smoking bans, they are craving some quiet time alone and "fresh air" ... this helps them clear their muddled brow chakras and go back to their desks with a little relaxation. Taking a cigarette break is like meditating in that it lets you escape for a few minutes and focus your mind. This could just as easily be done without a cigarette though it might feel strange at first. Try taking a meditation break instead of a ciggy break and see how it feels!

• The sacral chakra is the one most often affected by addictions. It contains our desires, passions and our emotional link to the outside world as well. The heart is the seat of love, but the emotions are in the sacral chakra. Any addiction masks the feelings that we are not prepared to deal with. In healing sessions we are often taught to focus on the sacral chakra when the client has an addiction to recover from, no matter what it is. This can be cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, sex, shopping, etc. People with addictions need help managing their emotions in a constructive way, which in turn will prevent them from desensitising their experience of the emotional situations. The sacral sits just under the belly button. Below that we have the root chakra. These two chakras are linked to our  impulse control. A healthy chakra system can make it easier to resist (more will power!), problem is that addictions can weaken these chakras. Downward spiral here we come .... 

• Back to my original thought - just about everyone has someone or something to live for.  And they'd want to live long and live well. So how does this will to live link with the willpower to quit smoking? It is the moment when the = fear of missing out on a life experience is bigger than the fear of actually experiencing that very experience. Scary stuff. 

See here for a post on Addictions & the Sacral Chakra.  

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Big hugs, Regina 

Falling into Place

Now that my healing school is over I am going back to my Angel Reading Classes in September. The past few months have been intense and turbulent with so much change, good change but still lots of change. The weekly angel classes really help me stay grounded and relaxed. The more I chill out the more enthusiastic I am about my plans. I've been reading up on my Mythic Tarot deck and that has actually helped put things in perspective. 

The descriptions are about psychology as much as anything and I see myself in a lot of the concepts they describe. The card that I am most drawn to is the Star, which is about hope in the face adversity. The other card I've pulled recently is the Nine of Swords, which is about worrying about things that aren't really going to happen. 

This weekend I'm going to take some time to relax with friends. I'm also going to start writing my book again. It took a lot of prodding to get me going but I've made the right move with my new adventure. There are moments of doubt. Would it have made more sense to wait a couple years? Who knows ... 

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Reiki hugs, Regina 

Grounding 101 - by Justin Luria

It's my pleasure to introduce a guest post by Justin Luria from Healing for Grounding! Justin is a spiritual blogger and energy healer from the Barbara Brennan School of Healing.  He does great work with sensitive souls, helping them feel welcome on the earth and safe in their bodies. 

"A big thank you to Geena for giving me the space on her blog to let me write about what I love! :-)

This is a post about grounding- what it is, why it's important, and (briefly) how to do it.

First, a quick introduction. My name is Justin, and I write a blog called Healing for Grounding. I'm not naturally a very grounded person; learning to ground has been a life-long challenge for me. So I approach this topic with patience, empathy, humour, and lots of experience :-).

So. Grounding.

If you're interested in New Age spirituality, you've probably heard that it's important to be grounded. If you're a healer, you might use the 'GAPP' protocol (Ground, Attune, Protect, Permission). You probably have an idea of what grounding entails, but might not be entirely sure, because it isn't spoken of in depth very often.

The advice given about how to ground is usually quite simple: to do exercise (especially mindful ones, like tai chi or yoga), to spend time in nature, to eat root vegetables or chocolate, and to imagine roots growing out of your feet into the earth. Which is a great start.

I'd like to take you a little deeper into grounding, if I may..

Firstly. What the hell is grounding?

In a sentence? It's the quality of your connection to the earth.

It's got a broader connotation: being present and embodied; being engaged with living life instead of living in fantasy; not too caught up in the mental. When muggles (non magickal folk) say that a person is grounded, that's usually what they mean, and it's also true in the New Age context we're talking about now.

If you're curious, you might wonder, "What is it that actually makes a person grounded? What gives a person their groundedness?". It's a good question, because once you know, you can work on your own grounding :-).

I've found there's a few things that contribute:

• A nice juicy, charged, open root chakra
• Good energetic+feeling contact with the lower half of your body
• A strong flow of energy into and out of your feet (but especially into them) from the earth
• Having your aura/energetic bodies firmly seated within your physical body (instead of hovering slightly above it, or displaced to the side)
• Feeling safe: both in the moment, and in the broader sense of your life, trusting that you are safe as a physical being
• Being deeply relaxed, your energetic pulsations slowed to match those of the earth (thus 'coupling' with the earth's energy field, charging you up with momma's love)
• A clear wish to engage life fully

It probably seems like a long list, but don't worry- they're mostly interrelated, and working on one automatically helps the others. For example, it's nearly impossible to heal the root chakra without also benefiting the legs and pelvis, and feet. If you're able to discharge or process some of your fear and anxiety, your energy field will automatically seat itself more deeply into your physical body. When that happens, you feel safer, and your intention to engage with life will improve as a result. A healing cycle begins.

Consciously engaging with your grounding can take you on a beautiful journey of self-healing :-).

The reason why we bother at all with grounding is because of what it means, what it gives us. Our grounding is literally our foundation (funny how language somtimes reflects spiritual truths!). From the energy healer's perspective, the root chakra is the foundational 'key stone' that sushumna (the principal energy channel, parallel to the spine) and the other chakras rest on. If the root is in a bad state, the other chakras will be impacted. The amount of energy in the root places a cap on the amount of energy in general, and in all the other chakras.

Working on the root is, in many cases, the easiest way of unlocking difficulties found elsewhere in one's life/body/aura.

It's really common to get caught up in the grounding techniques themselves, and miss the point of the actual grounding. For example, visualisations for grounding are really popular, but probably the hardest technique to get right. It takes a lot of training and practice to be able to visualise 'correctly', and it not be a mental thing. I hope that doesn't sound judgemental- the 'correct' way to visualise with energy, as I understand it, is to use intention to effect an energetic change or movement, and witness the change as it happens. Doing it 'incorrectly' means either making a thought form, or just creating more mental energy (which, as westerners, we're very good at). A thought form might sound like it would be helpful, but it isn't; grounding really needs to come from within.

When someone like Doreen Virtue or Sue Allen speak about visualisation, I think they forget (or never knew) what it's like to be a 'normal' person; they're so used to living half in the spirit world that they don't experience much of a split between their 'thoughts' and a spiritual reaction. When they imagine a ball of pink light, it's there. When a normal person imagines a ball of pink light, the aura around their head swells slightly with the mental energy, and their general aura tinges yellow (meaning thought). No ball of pink light appears.

Something similar happens with grounding. If you like using visualisation to grow your energetic roots into the earth, then I recommend going light on the visualising: use your intention, not your imagination. Really feel those roots growing. Make it a full bodied experience, not just an exercise in imagining. For example, rather than picturing tree roots, imagine what it would feel like if you were a tree, with feet as roots going down deep into the earth. 

Make it experiential, not conceptual. 

Here are some easy ways I recommend to help with grounding. It helps to mix it up, so you're not putting all your eggs in one basket. Remember, grounding (and being grounded or ungrounded) isn't a problem to be solved; it's a path of getting more in contact with your body, and with the earth. So, do what works for you :-). And persevere. It may take months of daily practice before you notice the difference, if you're as deeply ungrounded as I was!

• Physical exercises, such as those used in core-energetics and bio-energetics. Rotate your ankles, do squat thrusts (gently and mindfully!), roll your feet over a golf ball.

• Massage, especially of the feet and legs, using calming and grounding oils (but probably not at the same time, that might not smell good!), to loosen the grounding blocks. Massage of the whole body, to release stress and fear.

• Spending time in nature, real quality time, where you connect with the world around you, and feel your body in relation to nature. This is super important.

• Having cranial work (cranial osteopathy, cranio-sacro therapy) to release old traumas from the body."

2021 Update from Regina: Justin contributed an essay on grounding and the root chakra to my book, titled Chakra Healing & Magick. It looks at fears that keep us from grounding. 

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Reiki hugs, Regina