Reflexology For The Spirit

spirituality of one's health

Reiki Healing and your Chakras

Reiki therapy is a specific healing modality used throughout the planet.

Reiki means “Universal Life Energy” and is the word used to describe this system of healing.  Reiki is a light touch given to a clothed body to improve the overall wellbeing of the recipient.  Using an intention, the Reiki practitioner gives healing energy to an accepting receiver.

The healing energy flows through the hands of the practitioner.

I feel that the Reiki we practice today is old.  Its origins are shrouded in the mists of time.

Dr. Mikao Usui developed and used the healing modality we use today.  He  operated clinics in Japan in the 20th century.  Dr. Usui is not only remembered because of the Reiki he developed but also because of his spiritual lifestyle.

Dr. Usui worked with others in his clinic and in his spiritual practice.  Two people include Dr. Chujiro Hayashi and Hawayo Takata.

Hawayo Takata brought Reiki to the United States after World War II

It is said that Dr. Usui meditated on one of his five principles daily:

Original Reiki Precepts

 Just for Today,

I will not worry

I will not be angry.

I will do my work honestly.

I will count and be grateful for all my many blessings.

I will be kind to every living creature.

When I offer a Reiki session focused on balancing the chakras of the recipient, my client is usually seated or lying face-up on a massage table or other flat surface.

I offer my client a blanket and eye pillow if it’s appropriate.

After setting the intention, I invoke the symbols:  Standing at the head of my client, I draw first the ChoKuRei, then SeiHeKi, then HonShaZeShoNen.  Finally, I repeat the ChoKuRei again.

I place my hands on the shoulders of my client.

So far, this part of the session should take 5-10 minutes.  However, this time length can change with the practitioner. Each practitioner works in a different way so the time will not always be the same for everyone.

I then move to the side of the client and go to the first chakra.

I balance the primary chakras beginning with the root chakra.  I balance each chakra by hovering my hands over each chakra about 2 to 6 inches above each chakra.  I usually spend about 5 minutes on each one although these times can change depending on the client.

I am an old massage therapist and believe that touching my client will help me do my job better in many situations.  As a massage therapist, I feel that I gain a better understanding of what is happening.

However, this is a personal situation and will be determined by your training, and previous experience with not only Reiki but other healing modalities.

A Reiki session works with the physical, mental, emotional, energetic, and spiritual levels of a person’s body.  On a physical level, many people appreciate the warmth generated by a Reiki practitioner’s hands. On a mental level, the client is often comforted by knowing where the practitioner’s hands are at all times.

Respect your client privacy at all times.  It’s important to do the right thing at that moment.  Some people do not want to be touched at all, no matter what.

Always respect your client’s privacy.  Chakra balancing is extremely intimate work.  And, Reiki energy naturally finds its own path, going exactly where it is needed.

The first chakra to be balanced is the root chakra.   When I balance this chakra, I place my hands outside the person’s hips where they  meet at the base of the spine.  This chakra is your client’s connection to the physical world.  Trust is an important issue here.

The second, or sacral chakra is located about 1-2 inches below the navel.   This chakra is the seat of creativity and inspiration.

After balancing the second chakra I move on to the third or solar-plexus chakra.   This is where the upper chakras and lower chakras meet.  The solar-plexus chakra is found just above your waistline, where your client feels the chakra as “butterflies”.  This chakra is where your client finds her power.

Moving on from the third chakra to the fourth chakra, balance your client’s heart chakra – the center of love, healing, and compassion.    Your client’s heart chakra is located in the central chest.

After balancing your client’s fourth chakra, move up to the fifth, or throat chakra.  This chakra houses voice and self-expression. As expected, this chakra is located in the throat.

The fifth chakra, the third-eye chakra, is located in the forehead in the area of the eyebrows.  The third-eye chakra focuses on intuition and awareness.

The next chakra, the crown chakra, is found toward the top of the head.  This is where the higher self and the divine come together.

After balancing each chakra and finally coming to the crown chakra I focus for a few moments at my client’s feet.  After all, I’ve come to a full circle along my client’s body.  It has been a session of shifts and adjustments – many not yet known by the client.  It may take several days for your client to begin to understand what is happening.

A Reiki chakra balancing session can often be repeated more than once or twice in a lifetime.  Your client may want to have several weekly or monthly sessions. A few of your chakras may want to be balanced several times until they are happy in their new place.

Whatever the outcome of the chakra balancing session, a few minutes spent at your client’s feet for grounding purposes are a good idea.  The options here are many.  Have you taken any reflexology classes?

No?

There’s a video out there that might inspire you.  You probably won’t spend more than about 5-10 minutes on your client’s feet.  You are there to offer a path back to present time for your client.

The are many classes waiting for you on YOUTUBE.  Some are mine and some are produced by other teachers.  But, whichever one you choose, the idea is to gently finish your session.

One final suggestion: a chakra balancing Reiki session, or a regular Reiki session, are both good for the body and the soul.  Every person needs some Reiki every week or so.  If you feel you don’t have the budget for this, learn Reiki and partner up with another practitioner.

You can connect with me on Facebook.  If you have friends who might enjoy this post, please forward it to your favorite social media network and to your friends.

If you’re looking for more, check out my books.  www.thurmangreco.com.

THANKS AGAIN!

10 Steps to Inner Fitness and a Life That Unsticks Itself.

We’ve all got a lot on our plates these days.  All of us.

We’re at a point where it’s time to return to normal.

The question is this:  What is normal anyway?

Certainly it’s not what we had before.  It’s time to make way for a better life..

Whether we’re interested or not, our spiritual centers need encouragement, support, and protection.  Inner fitness smoothes out the bumps in our travels through life.

I don’t know if I speak for everyone, or even anyone, but I find myself embracing this new normal while experiencing grief.

With a grounded inner core,  a new normal is easier to find and recognize.  Essential requirements for inner fitness include encouragement, support, safety, and self-confidence.

There are things you can do:

Think Positively.  

Positive thoughts are essential – even before you get out of bed.  When you wake, ask yourself “How can I be happy today?”

Happiness is the great equalizer.  You are never too young or too old for happiness.  Happiness doesn’t need education.  Happiness doesn’t need good health.  Happiness is the only thing I know that is available to everyone.

All happiness needs is for you to “be happy.”

Listen to Your Body.  

When you listen, your body will talk to you.  It will never lie to you as healing  begins.  Inner fitness is real.

Are you trying to adjust to your new reality?  Do you want to change your life?  Is something wrong, and are you trying to find out what?

Tune in to your body several times a day.  Do you have pain anywhere?  Is your spine aligned?  What is your energy level?  Are you hungry?  Thirsty?  Tired?  Joyful?

Good Health is a Priority.

When you value your good health, you become a valuable person.  You love yourself.  When you expect excellent health, your thinking changes.  Life unsticks itself.

Claim your wellness!

Respect Your Emotional Self 

Your feelings are opportunities to grow.  Emotions are messages from your body which will help set you free.  Your emotions can help you understand pain, extra weight, sorrow, fear.

When you remove these feelings, you make way for joyful health, peace, grounding.

A better life emerges.

Connect with Your Community.

Get a part time job.

Or a full time job.

Read a newspaper.

Use your library.

Volunteer at a food pantry.

Join your local church or synagogue.

Teach someone to read.

Include Exercise Every Day

In 1513, Ponce de Leon discovered the Fountain of Youth in what is now St. Augustine, Florida.  The Fountain of Youth still exists and keeps people everywhere healthy.  There is at least one branch of it in your neighborhood, located on a sidewalk or roadside where you can walk every day.

If that’s not convenient for you, another nearby branch is in your local fitness center.  You’ll be healthier when you visit it regularly.

Take a Grounding Break

Try meditation, walking your dog, giving your cat a massage, or staring out the window into nothingness.

The activity isn’t so important.  What’s important is that, when you complete this small task, you’ll have given yourself a refreshing, grounding break.

You’ll continue with your day feeling more positive, relaxed.  Your fresh new take on the day will ripple out to those around you.

Review Your Situation

Now might be a good time to write about important moments in your life.  You don’t  have to focus on what happened in your life.  Focus, instead, on what you did about what happened to you.

Write short stories, essays, poems, or keep a journal.

Whatever you choose, if you need help, you may find it at your library.

Reflexology and Reiki

Do not overlook a weekly session.  Both these modalities bring homeostasis which is crucial these days.  Both these modalities are adaptable to many different situations.

Do you practice Reiki?  No?  Find a teacher.  If you do…have you thought about a Reiki circle for your area?

We all need more Reiki.  We all need more reflexology.

When I think about Reiki and reflexology, my heart sings!

Thank you for reading this article. Please share it on your favorite social media network.

Please send it to a friend.

Thurman Greco

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Practicing Reiki-Part 3

When I enrolled in  my first Reiki therapy class,  I was primarily interested in learning  something  I was curious about.  A massage therapist, I regularly participated in continuing education programs.  I liked to learn new things to use in my healing  practice.  Reiki  therapy  interested me because it was so hidden in my area.

I learned Reiki therapy was easy to use, and extremely adaptable.  In short, I loved Reiki.

For the next few years, I was in a Reiki therapy class somewhere learning something at every opportunity.  I liked to tell my classmates that I loved Reiki therapy classes and somehow the universe saw to it that I had enough $$$ to pay for every class I signed up for and that my car had enough gas to get me there.

But, not everyone who studies Reiki therapy is a massage therapist seeking  continuing education credits for annual certification.

Whether healing professionals or not, a question in every student’s mind was “What am I going to do with my new skills?”

Reiki therapy  is a keeper skill.  Once you  receive an attunement, it stays with you – whether or not you consciously use it.  Reiki accompanies you on your life path.

Reiki helps you create your life story.  Because each of us experiences a unique life journey, Reiki therapy is different and inique for each of our needs.  No two people experience Reiki in the same way.

If you received a Reiki attunement 20 or 30 years ago, you  still use it.

Books were few and far between when I learned Reiki.  Today, Reiki books are everywhere it seems.  You have the luxury of picking up any Reiki book that attracts you.

We can all thank Diane Stein for that.  Diane Stein changed the game  in the healing world when she wrote a memoir/expose about her career as a Reiki Master.   “Essential Reiki” is probably still found in book stores and libraries today.

I  have a suggestion for you if you are attuned to Reiki and are not sure what to do next:

Get yourself a spiral notebook, or bound journal, or whatever.

Get yourself an appointment book or calendar.

Call around and tell people you have learned Reiki therapy and are doing your clinicals.  Schedule 100 sessions.

Include your hairdresser, neighbors, friends  and anyone else who might take you up on your offer.  Find   five people  with health issues.  This can include things like MS,  headaches, allergies, low thyroid, cancer.

These five people will  receive five Reiki sessions as close together as you can schedule them.

Everyone else receives one or two sessions.

Record each session in your Reiki journal.  Include the person’s name, address, contact information, and a short description about the session.

At the end of these 100 sessions, you will have learned  much about Reiki, yourself, healing, and life.

Join or start a Reiki circle.  In a Reiki circle, you’ll meet new people and share Reiki on a regular basis.

But, what if you don’t want to do any of these things?

Your new-found Reiki therapy skills are with you – assisting you throughout  each day.   You carry the Reiki energy with you every where you go on your life journey.

How cool is that?

Thank you for reading this article.  Please refer it to your favorite social media network.

Thurman Greco

 

 

 

 

A Reiki Practitioner’s User Manual – Part 2

When I studied Reiki, Mary Ruth Van Landingham’s classes and handouts were  my user’s manual.  They didn’t even begin to approach all the things Reiki can do for us all.   I think Mary Ruth Van Landingham did that intentionally  because we each write our own user’s manual.

Reiki is a unique and individual  experience for each of us.  Our attunements are the user’s manual for each of us.

I learned to practice Reiki on my massage therapy clients.  Each one got a 10-minute Reiki boost at the end of the massage therapy session.  Because Reiki was still unknown  in my area, none of them had ever heard of Reiki.  Their introduction to Reiki came during the last ten minutes of  a massage therapy session so it came at a moment when they were blissed out, pain free, and totally relaxed.  Needless to say, they all loved their Reiki.

This was good for me also because I was new to Reiki and was fearful about the results.  It took a while for me to  become accustomed to how Reiki worked.

I worried that they might not receive a proper introduction.  So, what happened was that both my clients and I learned together.  For starters, we  learned to recognize  my warm hands  when I introduced Reiki into a session.

Over time, I learned that my hands warmed up whether they were on another person’s body, or my body, or a plant, or a car.  Or whatever.

I learned to trust Reiki.  This was a huge life lesson for me.  I suspect it is also an important lesson for others as well.  Many people go through life never learning to trust people, places, or things.

When I teach Reiki, I don’t think I even mention the word  trust.  The word floats above the classroom like a gorgeous cumulative cloud.  It’s there for all to see.

A wonderful thing to do is practice self-Reiki  to experience a regenerative sleep, easy your headache pain, feel comfortable in your body, or simply feel grounded.

Actually, it’s not necessary to do anything with Reiki.  Just enjoy having received your Reiki attunement(s).  Rest.  Heal.  Let Reiki be with you.

You do not give up anything to learn Reiki.  Reiki does not  test you in any way.   Reiki is not a cult.  It does not come between you and your religious beliefs.  You do not need to change any of your core beliefs.

Instead, Reiki opens doors and windows of learning, opportunity, and enlightenment for you…if that is what you want.  For some, changes are apparent,  immediate,  and outward.  For others, changes are slow, careful, discreet.  It all depends on you, your situation, your life path.

Some students, after receiving their attunements, internalize their new skills.  Reiki is private, intimate, internal.

Other students  use their newfound skills,  practice Reiki and give sessions at every opportunity.

Neither way is better than the other.  In all cases, Reiki assists you on your path.  For me, there is nothing more beautiful than to travel one’s life path.

Thank you for reading this blog post.  Please refer it to your preferred social media network.

Thurman Greco

heart with wings