Your Body Scan: Use This Ritual When You Need Uplifting Calm and Well
Have you ever experienced the luxury of a body scan? Have you ever heard of a body scan?
This little-known technique releases tension effectively. Use it often. Your muscles, bones, and nerves will thank you!
A body scan helps you release not only tension, but also pain, tightness, or warm areas.
Begin your body scan by finding a quiet place where you can sit or lie in a comfortable position. As you get comfortable, encourage your breath to become deeper and slower. Lengthen your inhales and exhales.
Focus on your toes. What do you feel? If you feel tension, allow your toes and feet to relax. Encourage tension to leave your body with every exhale. See the tension disappear into the air.
Now, repeat this process as you work your way up through the rest of your body. Pay attention to your feet, calves, knees, thighs, hip and pelvic area, back, shoulders, upper arms, elbows, lower arms, hands, neck, jaw, face, eyes, and scalp.
Notice what you find: Stress, tension, stiffness, cold areas, tight muscles.
When you reach your scalp, reverse the process and move your attention back down your body. When you finish, you will be back with your toes.
Now, notice how your feet feel. What about the rest of your body?
Stay with this feeling for a few minutes. Enjoy the relaxation and calm for as long as you want before ending the session. Take as much time as you wish.
When it is time to end the scan, move your body just a little. Shift into the here and now. Let the calm soothe your body – from the toes to the top of your head.
Take a slow, breath and join the here and now at your own pace.
Thanks for reading this article. Contact me at thurmangreco@gmail.com if you have questions or comments.
More information is available at in earlier posts of this blog. You may also find more information in “Healer’s Handbook”
Thanks for forwarding and sharing this blog post.
Thanks again!
Thurman
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
Where Are You Hiding?
I admit it….. Volunteering changed my life.
The message here is this: Don’t read this article if you’re happy where you’re at.
And…..
Skip this article if you don’t want to change your life. Or, maybe, even ruin it forever. Because, it’s just possible that, like myself, you’ll never again ignore the plight of people living on the margins.
It’s also possible you’ll find a community. Everywhere I go, I encounter people living in new surroundings they discovered during the pandemic. They live in the new place but are not yet a part of the location.
To put it bluntly: They haven’t yet found a community. To do that, they need an activity which calls them to do something beyond themselves.
People in this situation are homesick for a past which is not going to join them in the future.
To feel good about your home and your life in the present moment, find a place, a job, a hobby, a community which feeds you physically and spiritually.
This is where volunteering comes in. When I began working at the food pantry, I had no inkling that my old life was gone forever. I had no clue that what would replace it was a much richer tapestry.
I didn’t know I was being given an opportunity to do something great beyond myself. Why was I hiding?
I simply immersed myself in my community doing what needed to be done. This brought a pivot in my life.
So, I ask you: Are your curtains up? Have you got the sofa where you want it in the living room? If the answer to these two questions is “YES”, then where are you hiding? Go for it!
You’ll soon be motivated to a more positive attitude because your self-image and social esteem are improved. You’ll feel better about yourself.
Don’t know where to go? Look around you. Opportunities are all over the place.
Think about something you like: dogs and cats, art, reading, children, politics.
When you find your volunteering place, you’ll see change. You’ll discover what the word “impact” means. You’ll write a new chapter in your life.
But, what if you don’t want to involve yourself in life on the margins?
What ifs are all around you. But, they are not everywhere. Scout around and find yourself a Reiki Master Teacher and go for it! New horizons wait for you in Reiki, that’s for sure. Your inner self is calling out.
ENJOY!
Thank you for reading this blog post. Please share it with your friends and relatives and forward it to your favorite social media network.
Check out some of the early articles in this blog and also in www.hungerisnotadisease.com.
Books are available:
Find out more about Thurman Greco at www.thurmangreco.com
Anchor Yourself in Reality
On December 25, 1968, with my two toddlers, I landed on a remote airfield in the interior of Venezuela, on the outskirts of El Tigre.
Gulf Oil had just hired my husband, Tony, to work in the Mene Grande Oil Camp. ,In the weeks before he started this job, we sold our cars, and home, located in a Dallas, Texas suburb.
Movers packed our belongings and sent them down to the seaport in Maracaibo, Venezuela by boat. We didn’t see our household goods for six months because of a shipping strike.
We lived with nothing and no way to get anything. Think of the things you feel you might need: coffee pot, dishes, sheets, towels, chairs, tables, beds, sofas.
We borrowed from the neighbors.
I found myself living in a country where we lived in a community ringed by a high chain link fence near a remote village where I didn’t know the language. My spouse spoke Spanish but he was at work all day long.
After a short time, the reality of my situation sank in. The oil camp where I lived was fifty miles from a grocery store in one direction and fifty miles from headhunters in the other. Ciudad Bolivar sat eighty miles in the third direction on the south bank of the Orinoco River.
I lived a life where a uniformed guard aiming a machine gun at me was the rule of the day as I went about my “que haceres” to the bank, bakery, gas station. Wherever I went throughout the day, I took Jennette and Michele with me. The goal was to never get separated from them.
Lastly, there was no outside phone line.
What a place to be when so much was happening in the rest of the world. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated. Arlo Guthrie sang “Alice’s Restaurant”. The My Lai Massacre was the scandal of the Vietnam War.
By the end of the first month, I found my anchor, my information line to reality. I read about current events and news every Tuesday evening when the previous Sunday’s New York Times was delivered to my door. As soon as the DC-3 landed about 4:30, we were all ready at our house. We loved greeting the paper delivery man as he dropped it off at our front door. Tony and I read the last Sunday’s paper from cover to cover.
I had never been to New York City and it didn’t even matter. The New York Times brought the world to me.
And, I’ve been reading the New York Times regularly since then. I read it in San Francisco, Mexico City, San Antonio, Dallas, Monterey, CA., and Washington, D.C.
Some places I got the paper daily. Others, it was weekly. Wherever I lived, I read every copy I got my hands on.
No matter how the current events of my life unfolded, after reading the New York Times, I had a calmer, more realistic perspective. The New York Times brought news with the calming reality of facts most of my adult life.
Even with all the drama of Biden versus Trump, stories in the New York Times are balanced, informative, real, and important.
To The New York times, I send a thank you for doing what you do so well.
To my readers, I sincerely hope and pray that you have found a way to stay anchored. Life is much easier that way. This anchor adds an extra layer of depth to my spiritual work. For me, this is essential.
I am simply unable to live my life from day-to-day without including planetary events. I have friends, close friends, who are able to shut everything around them out. I cannot. I live on the planet earth and cannot ignore the reality of current events.
Along with the Reiki and Reflexology, I’m a more balanced person. Current events are part of this circle of spiritual growth. Include the necessary elements for balance.
THANKS AGAIN FOR READING THIS BLOG THROUGHOUT THE YEARS.
Thank you for reading this article. If you enjoyed reading it, please forward it to your friends, neighbors, relatives. Share it with your favorite social media networks.
Two Books to Read:
The Tarot is many things. One thing people don’t think about: It’s rooted in the wisdom of the past and relates to the current events of our lives in a very modern way.
Order them both at www.Thurmangreco.com. You can also order them through email at thurmangreo@gmail.
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One Thing About Reiki and Healing
Since the ’90s, I’ve taught Reiki and Reflexology to students of all ages, sizes, and shapes. I made a conscious effort to let my students fly free, once he or she received the certificates earned. .
Healing is a personal path for a student. Eventually, the learned skills will surface in a way that is best for the universe. Sometimes the surfacing happens quite soon. Other times, it may take years as the student carries the energy around quietly, underground almost – waiting for just the right time. Meanwhile, the healing Reiki energy percolates, hidden below the surface.
Soon after Donald Trump was inaugurated, I put out an extremely quiet call to some Reiki Master Practitioners. “Come over and get your teacher wings.”
A few answered the call. I attuned them all to the Reiki Master Teacher Level and, again, set them loose to do what they felt called to do.
Karen kept in touch. She took her attunement seriously and, throughout the Pandemic, taught and practiced Reiki. Karen worked outdoors throughout this time. She practiced her profession in a park about 2 blocks from her home.
Some days were hot. Others were cold. Nobody seemed to mind.
Now, in these days and times, Karen is ill. She is teaching us all how to prepare for the future when there isn’t much time left on this plane.
She is allowing her students and fellow practitioners the opportunity to offer Reiki. This is a special time for all of us. Her students set up a time: Tuesday afternoons at 3:00.
People drop by her home to see how she’s doing. Some prepare food. Others run errands, etc. Everyone is finding things that need attention. Hospice is in the mix.
Reiki is at the core of this transition. We participate the best way we can.
One thing happening out loud is this: When we learn Reiki or other healing modality, we’re not sure what we’re going to do with our new certificate and skill.
Whatever we do, Reiki meets us where we are. However we use the things we’ve learned, it’s all for the good of the universe.
We are not here to change a story when offering therapy. Instead, we are a conduit for healing. Nothing more.
I am grateful to each and every student I’ve had over the past years. Each of you is an educational experience for me. You have, one and all, given me the highest honor a teacher can receive: Your trust.
Thank you to everyone. Thank you to Karen for allowing us to be with her at this special time.
My first book, “Healer’s Handbook” took 10 years to write. It’s gone out to over 3 dozen countries. I think it needs another edition to highlight End-of-Life Reiki. What do you think?
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Earlier posts of this blog may have answers to your questions. Check them out. Also go to some of the YOUTUBE segments of “Let’s Live” which cover wellness and healing.
Find out more at www.thurmangreco.com.
Contact me at thurmangreco@gmail.com.
The shows have been hold for several weeks because Ellen had surgery. We are resuming our shows soon. Join us!
One Way to Explore and Expand Your Path
We are, each of us, on a unique path.
You may follow your path from childhood and continue throughout your life, honoring your traditions.
Or, you may create your own path, making meaning out of each new step.
Wherever you are on your journey, your path is yours alone. Only you occupy your space.
One thing you can do to help yourself advance on your path is to journal. Because your path is yours alone, your journal will help you reflect on life’s meanings and what they teach you.
You can create your journal from an old tablet you found lying around on a table. Or, you can create your a journal as a work of art with drawings, photos, paintings, and a creative cover. Or, your journal can be anywhere between these two styles.
However you decide to create your journal, it can help you explore your spirituality.
Whatever you do to create your journal, it can help you explore the wonders of your life. The words of your journal will help you learn more about how you think and feel. This will help you create a deeper connection with your self and your path.
Your journal entries will help you explore your beliefs and how you feel and think about them.
The spiritual exploration offered by your journal will enhance and strengthen your path.
Thanks for reading this article.
It is not intended to change your story or offer therapy. It is written to offer a conduit to your own healing journey’s path.
Find out more about reflexology, Reiki, and healing, at www.thurmangreco.com.
If you are seeking specific information, check out older blog posts and also go to some of the YOUTUBE segments which cover wellness and healing.
A recent book features the major arcana of the Tarot. These cards explore well-known symbols and archetypes which heal, shape, and reflect our lives.
Beyond the boundaries of this book, I will explore archetypes and how they affect our spiritual growth in future blog posts..
You can order this book at thurmangreco.com or email me at thurmangreco@gmail.com.
Concerns, Challenges, and Stress? Change Them With One Challenge Management Technique
We can’t eliminate all of our daily challenges, concerns, and stress. But, we can manage our reactions to them.
Challenge management will make your life easier. You’ll change the way you feel, and the way you act, as you respond to your concerns and stress.
Worries distract and steal your energy.
Through the years, I’ve learned that challenge management can improve your daily life. This encourages you to focus and move toward your goals.
So – what you do is this:
Set aside and schedule time specifically for thinking about your challenges. Name each challenge and examine your emotions surrounding it. Examine how your life would be if things worked out for the best.
Then, get a piece of paper and quickly write about what’s on your mind. Focus on the concerns, challenges, and stresses that are foremost on your mind this very minute. What are your daily distractions?
Don’t worry about the grammar or spelling. You aren’t writing this for someone else. You’re not going to show these words to anyone. Your private thoughts will help you identify and describe your situation.
What is going on in your mind?
Describe your concerns and worries.
To find a possible positive outcome, ask yourself “Where is the peace in all of this?” Focus on an ideal situation. Identify where and how things might improve for you.
Where is the hope?
When you schedule writing sessions where you focus on a positive outcome, you decide where to focus your time and energies.
As this writing exercise shifts your energy to a more positive outcome, you let go of the negativity.
Calm moves into the space that negativity just vacated.
Your mind becomes a powerful tool to create your own life, focusing on you. You can now create your reality from peace and positivity as fears and worries disappear.
Making a habit of this exercise will bring hope and positivity and good change your way.
Making time to listen allows you to embrace your inner wisdom.
As you process your worries, you can support the good things you need.
You may decide what is the best thing you can do for yourself. You may decide it is a good thing to stop hanging onto things that are of no help to you.
At some point, you may feel gratitude.
Thank you for reading this blog post. Please forward it to your favorite social media network and share it with your friends and relatives.
For more information, please check out some earlier posts on this blog. This blog has been exploring healing for over 10 years. Reiki and Reflexology have been important in my life for years.
You may even get a copy of my first book:
You can find it listed on www.Thurmangreco.com. OR, you can contact me directly at thurmangreco@gmail.com.
This is my latest book. I loved writing it and feel that you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Even if you are not interested in the Tarot, you will find the archetypes found within the pages far interesting and have a practical application in your life.
Find out more about Thurman at www.thurmangreco.com.
One Thing that Works When You are in an Anxiety Bubble
It seems, these days, that everyone I encounter is in an anxiety bubble.
At the Mower’s Meadow Flea Market Saturday, people were slowly walking through the market not even seeming to notice the booths they were walking by.
They didn’t even seem to even know that Woodstock was in the midst of a gorgeous day.
Frankly, I’m not surprised. All we have to do is glance at the news on the phone – or on the computer – or on the TV. None of us can escape current events. Even my friend Annie, who knows how to block out all kinds of current events, can’t get away from this.
Now is a moment to schedule a Reiki or Reflexology appointment. Scheduling several sessions over the next few weeks is ideal but reality permits us this healing based on what we can do. One session is certainly better than nothing.
Now. It’s time to rely on inner resources for peace.
It is time to be alone.
Just like that reflexology session you need, it may be you need to be alone and can’t get the time. Truthfully, maybe you are terrified to be alone.
Whatever the situation, it’s time to feed your mind, your body, your soul. You need to do this so your inner self can do its job properly.
Now is a good opportunity to follow in the footsteps of a Hermit as you take a short time off from the world so your inner and outer selves can meet, collaborate, and support you in the ways you need.
The Hermit is a card in the Tarot. The Hermit is an archetype. Well, you may not have the luxury of a neighborhood card reader. Really, the Hermit can become a player in your story without a Tarot spread.
Were you ever in a situation where contemplation and soul-searching helped you come to an authentic decision? Were you able to keep a mental/spiritual space to mull over your thoughts and situation without interference?
When you are in such a situation, you know this on some level: a truth is waiting for you.
Are you there now? Is life calling for a time-out to reset things. Use this time-out to think, rest, read, meditate, pray, focus on the important issues.
Sometimes you can get away. Sometimes this getaway is a mental time out in your living room or a bench in a park or a walk through the flea market.
After all, your light is your light. Your path is your path. You need to work things out on your own.
You’ll feel better and calmer after its over.
Trusting in the change is basic. All things change when the time is right. With the Hermit, your inner voice will speak out to connect you to your wisdom.
Consider your long term aims and ambitions.
We all travel alone – each on our own vision quest. This is how we find humility and peace. Withdrawing from the hustle and bustle of the everyday world, we regain a perspective which includes the wisdom of silent introspection.
Enjoy this peace.
Solitude and soul-searching are the rules of the day. When you are finally alone, you can be free of the external. You have a chance to process what you’ve learned so far.
Enlightenment is on the way!
Thanks for reading this article. Please share it with your friends and family. Forward it to your favorite social media networks.
Contact me at thurmangreco@gmail.com.
Learn more about healing, wellness, and hunger in America at www.Thurmangreco.com.
New books and popular books:
A Healer’s Handbook” has been popular since the first book was printed. Thanks to everyone who has bought and shared it in over 3 dozen countries!
Do One Small Thing For Your Success.
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Choose one small opportunity.
To get yourself out of your rut or away from whatever is holding you back – do one small thing which will give you a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of success.
Success, no matter how small, takes you the distance.
So, how does this work? Choose one small opportunity.
Take your goals and break them down into tiny components which will not let you down. Life can get frustrating when we work toward goals which aren’t going to happen anytime soon.
When you break things down to small tasks, you can achieve success much more easily. And, all it takes to get you unstuck is to do one small thing.
Recently, I found myself in a real stuck mode. I felt as if I were wading in thick mud and getting nowhere.
I thought about a small success: I decided to finally write that letter I’d been putting off for weeks – months, really.
So, I sat down and wrote one sentence: “Several days ago I read a post on the net somewhere by Trish Lease-Way.”
I set the letter aside and continued with my day.
Things went much better after that. That one sentence of the letter shifted the energy.
And, guess what, the mud disappeared with the shift.
That sentence turned out to be a bonus! I finished the letter in a few days and sent it off. AND, i moved forward with my primary objective.
I don’t always get a bonus. But, an energy shift works really well when I’m stuck in the mud!
Thanks for reading this article. Please forward it to your favorite social media network. Share it with your friends and family.
Find out more about me at www.thurmangreco.com.
Coming Soon!
“A Healer’s Tarot Memoir” should be available on the website in a few days! This book explains how to use Major Arcana Cards for greater insight into your life and to discover more about your role in the world. Representing important events in your life, these archetypes explain the wisdom in your soul so they can do their work.
ENJOY!
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