Lift Yourself Up: 6 Things That Work
Sometimes, we’re aware of life’s impacts when they happen. Other times, they sneak up on us. We wake up and realize things haven’t been “right” for a while or even a long time.
Life is many things to many different people. Over time, things change. The changes can come daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or even more slowly.
However that is for you, when you realize things aren’t what you consider ideal – or even acceptable – it’s time to lift yourself up.
This is a good opportunity to spend energy connecting with your community. You may find that your community is experiencing adjustments as well as yourself. Who are you in this community? Are you comfortable with your place here?
The important thing is to connect with people who lift you up. You find them when you connect with your community – through friends, groups, and extended families.
Check in with those who are important to you.
Take a deep breath and a break. Self-care activities such as meditation and enough sleep can be particularly healing now. (Meditation always comes up first on the self-care list. However, it is not popular with everyone. The point is to choose something that works for you.)
Returning to body work habits such as reflexology or Reiki therapy can be particularly appreciated now. While you’re focusing on these new (or renewed) connections, schedule extra sessions to keep you grounded and steady.
This is also a time to pick up a new skill through classes, books, or other ways of learning.
Finally, show up for others in positive ways which honors them. This makes you a conduit for healing in ways you may not have thought of before.
Being a conduit for healing is a basic tenet of self-healing. Being a conduit does not require that you change your story or anyone else’s.
Being a conduit for healing does not really offer therapy even. Simply being there and showing up is enough.
Thank you for reading this blog post. Please forward this post to your friends and relatives and also share it to your preferred social media network.
Thank you.
Thurmangreco.com
Reiki and Me: A Personal Transformation
Flashback to the 90’s.
I lived in the Washington, D.C. metro area when I went to the dogs.
I took my complete professional wardrobe (conservative suits, white blouses, natural colored stockings, sensible shoes, and matching power jewelry) to the Ft. Belvoir Thrift Shop and said “goodbye” to my past life.
I dusted off my massage therapy certificate which I earned from the Potomac MyoTherapy Institute in 1980. (I wrote about PMTI in my wellness book “Healer’s Handbook”.)
I practiced massage therapy and foot reflexology as far beneath the radar screen as I could get. Except for my clients, my goal was “invisible”.
And, I studied canine massage therapy, more foot reflexology, and animal communication at different workshops and classes around the country.
Names like Jonathan Rudinger, Penelope Smith, Dawn Hayman, Marge D’Urso, and Bill Flocco bring up extremely fond memories.
This is where my life took a change.
I attended an introductory canine massage therapy class in Clinton, New York, at Spring Farm CARES. At the first (of many) class I attended there, every other student in the class was a Reiki practitioner or master.
Not only was I the only student not attuned to Reiki, I couldn’t even spell it.
Don’t get me wrong. Reiki wasn’t a part of the curriculum in this class. It was simply a part of each student’s credentials and vocabulary.
I was intrigued by this healing technique they all knew and used. As soon as I returned home I began searching to find out about Reiki and how was it taught. I asked everyone I knew about it. Keep in mind, this was the Northern Virginia suburbs where not even massage was legal.
It was also just before computers became common. I didn’t yet know about Google.
What I really wanted to know was where I could find a teacher. I definitely didn’t like being the only person in a class not connected to something that was obviously important to the rest of the people in the room.
While searching for a teacher, I discovered only 6 Reiki books. One title I remember: “Essential Reiki” by Diane Stein.
I also learned that two friends were Reiki Masters. In seeking a Reiki Master Teacher, I learned that people I knew very well were keeping deep dark secrets from the world. The secrets? Reiki.
Amazing: Knowing that a close friend’s deepest, darkest secret was Reiki says things about my close friends, about Reiki, and about Virginia.
Kathy Levin and Barbara Kaplan were healing people and not even sharing their skills with anyone. And, finally, they weren’t even whispering the names of their teachers. Both women claimed to have learned Reiki years before. Their stories could have been begun with “Long ago and far away…”
I dug and dug and finally found a metaphysical gift shop in Vienna, VA which taught a variety of interesting things on the weekends. Reiki was buried in a long list of interesting spiritual-sounding classes at Terra Christa.
Needless to say, Mary Ruth Van Landingham and her classes were a gold mine for me. I learned nine different types of Reiki and a whole host of other things. For the next few years, I was a student in most of the weekend classes in Mary Ruth’s classroom behind her shop.
Soon, Reiki joined my below-the-radar healing sessions of reflexology, massage therapy, canine massage therapy, animal communication.
The Reiki training I received fit well into every service I offered.
Not in the Reiki category, but important: Dan Chesbro ordained me at Terra Christa. Throughout the years, most of my Reiki students reached out to Dan Chesbro for ordination.
Mary Ruth Van Landingham planted the seed for my first book “Healer’s Handbook”. It took years from Mary Ruth’s guiding suggestion to an actual book. My life experiences had to catch up with the text.
While all this was happening on the weekends, something else happened that was quiet, calm, positive, and distinct.
My life changed. I turned some kind of spiritual corner.
Reiki is not necessarily an out-loud modality. Reiki touches every life differently. After all, we’re all each individual and unique.
It became a part of my life without much fanfare. And, it was certainly easy to learn. Through the years, it’s become such a part of my life that sometimes I feel I don’t give it enough credit.
Reiki is automatic and quiet. Reiki doesn’t need a lot of attention. It stays with me. It doesn’t need equipment and it doesn’t require periodic recertifications.
I use Reiki and reflexology together regularly. They work hand-in-glove without the need of a prescription.
I’m grateful for the healing modalities I’ve learned throughout my life. They served my clients and students well. Sometimes I feel I don’t give Reiki and reflexology the credit they deserve.
When I think about it, part of the usefulness of Reiki and reflexology is that they don’t need attention. They don’t need credit. They just do the work.
SO, thank you Reiki and reflexology.
And, thank you to everyone who has read and does read this blog. Thanks for buying the books and thank you for referring me to your friends, relatives, and neighbors.
I regularly invite Reiki practitioners to come on my show to discuss and receive Reiki.
Find out more about healing and wellness at www.thurmangreco.com.
Finally, thank you for dropping by my Tarot booth at Mower’s Meadow Saturday Sunday Flea Market. This is one of my favorite places in the whole wide world. The Flea Market is both mystical and magical. Join me there!
Respectfully submitted,
Thurman Greco
