Mind-Blowing Attunements

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I've been a professional Reiki practitioner and teacher for about five years. I've attuned over 900 people to Reiki. I have run a school for three years. 

And still, I feel like there's so much more to learn about working with energy, its effects on people, and how to understand the complexities of energy, guides, karma, past lives, ancestors, angels, and life path. 

Every time I work with energy or intuition, I learn something new. Every class I teach teaches me more. I'm constantly reading, seeking out classes to help me grow and deepen my knowledge.

And I feel out of my league sometimes. 

I don't have all the answers, and sometimes I don't know where to get them. 

Here's an example. I taught a Practical Reiki 1 class recently. Everything seemed normal. I spent the morning teaching how to recognize your intuition, and experience the energy. I gave a little Reiki to each student. Every student could feel the energy and identify how it felt to her. (Every student was female in this particular class). 

In the afternoon, I taught Level 1 and gave the students their attunements. During the attunement, everyone sat calmly, eyes closed, experiencing their attunement. Except, suddenly, one of the students fell to the floor and seemed to be having what looked like a seizure. She flopped around on the floor, out of control of her body. (I've never seen someone have a seizure, so I am going by what I have seen/ read about them). Shocked, we all jumped up and I asked if I should call 911. I was told to wait, because one of the other students knew her well and rushed over to help her. She held the student tightly (I held my phone tightly, finger ready to push those numbers for the paramedics!) and then the student having the episode started crying and recovered. 

She explained that she had started having an out of body experience during the attunement, which scared her and caused a kind of struggle to happen. She had never had an experience like this before. She is, however, very psychic and just discovering these gifts. 

The whole thing left me feeling shaken and uncertain. I suggested she follow up with a doctor, just to be sure. I've been processing, trying to align my experience with anything I've ever learned. I haven't been able to do this conclusively. I've heard from her since, and she's feeling fine, better, lighter. She reported that she feels like a big bunch of "stuff" was released. 

I've never seen anything quite as dramatic happen in one of my classes. Tears, yes. Laughter, yes. Students reporting amazing visions or physical cleansing symptoms (one student had dry heaves on the way home after her first attunement), yes, lots of times. 

I am left with the humbling reminder that this is powerful stuff I'm working with. Energetic transfer, or attunements, is serious business, and needs to be respected. I'm not in control of how a person will react to receiving an attunement. Once I intend the attunement to begin, and the recipient intends to receive, it's out of my hands, so to speak. 

But there's certainly no doubt that it works. 
And for that, as well as the opportunities to learn more every day, I am profoundly grateful.


What's been your most surprising energy experience? Please share here in a comment. 

Putting a Price on Healing

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During Mercury Retrograde (finally over as of yesterday, thank you), we are called to think about things. Reflect on our life, our business, our relationships, all while communications and plans are disrupted so we can do that. Ha. 

And now it's a New Moon. That's the time when we should set our new plans, goals, and dreams in motion.

Seems that I've been given the opportunity to do both - big time - and now I'm here to report on it. It was a lesson that was put right in my face. (Thanks again, Universe.) Here's the way things went down:

A couple weeks ago, I received a newsletter from a copywriter who I've followed for a while. In it, she detailed some serious emotional blockages related to her unfortunate childhood. I felt moved to write her back, encourage her to stop being limited by her past, and go for her dreams. I also mentioned that some Reiki healing can greatly help with releasing those painful past experiences, and allowing yourself to move forward. 

She responded that she was curious about Reiki, and could we talk on the phone. I answered that of course I'd be happy to speak with her. We set a time. We spoke yesterday. 

It was not what I had expected. 

She asked me some questions about Reiki, and I explained. She seemed enthusiastic. That is, until she asked me how much a distance Reiki session costs. I told her $50 or 5 sessions for $200. There was a pause.

"That's ALL?" 
I answered yes.
"Why on earth do you charge so LITTLE?" She asked in an astounded tone. 

I explained my rationale. An in person Reiki session is about the same cost as a massage. A distance session doesn't require me to travel anywhere or prepare a massage table with a sheet. So it's less. 

Then she told me that she simply can't understand how something that could help change someone's life, help the person heal from years of baggage and turmoil, could be priced so low. She went on to say that it must mean that I don't value my own services. She also told me that she had gladly paid $4,400 to attend a program designed to teach you how to think.

She also said that she was no longer interested in my services. She advised me strongly to raise my prices by about five times what they are. She said that charging as little as I do means that I'm telling the world that I am not offering something anywhere in balance with its value to those who receive it. 

I told her I would be happy to accept more money, and assured her that affordable doesn't mean not powerful. It was apparent, though, that this wasn't really the right connection for either of us. I thanked her for her advice, told her that I hope she finds what she needs, and we got off the phone. 

About an hour later, she blogged about our conversation. 

I spent a good, long time thinking about this. I asked myself:

• Am I undercharging?
• Am I undervaluing my work?
• Am I holding myself back? 
• Does my work have a perceived low value?

I really pondered this. I searched inside myself. I tested my feelings about charging more. I tested my feelings about her reaction. 

I came to a conclusion that some people think that if they pay a lot of money for a solution that says it will resolve their issues, that it will take the problem away for them. It must be the best if it costs so much more than the others. But that says a lot more about the people who think that way than it does about the people who charge the highest fees. A friend (and one of my clients and professional associates) from Facebook who I asked for some feedback added, " I will also say that paying a huge price tag and getting little results is often more palatable to the ego than being presented with an actual solution for a very low price.  It's a way that the ego appeases us by pretending we are doing "big" things to solve our pain or problem."

I think that I agree with that. And, also, I think that it's another reason that she was not a good potential client for me. 

In answer to my question to myself about my pricing, I feel that my fee for distance healing is affordable, but that doesn't mean it's not powerful. I know from experience that the distance healing sessions I offer are received in powerful ways, with life-changing results, by those who accept them. But I like that they are affordably priced. I feel comfortable with the price point where it is. 

I guess that I know what it feels like to struggle to afford something I feel I need, and I also know how it feels to be grateful to afford something I feel I need. I think it could be harder to fully receive a healing session if you're thinking in the back of your head how hard it was to pay for it. So that's another thing. 

I can't measure the value of a Reiki session. Priceless. That's about it. So I have to set a fee that feels comfortable for me to offer. 

My Practical Reiki classes are also affordably priced. I used to charge less, and I realized (after my friends and students alerted me) that the fee was too little, because it did have a lower perceived value. ("Dollar Store Reiki" is not what I offer!) So at the time, I raised it to a number that felt more in balance with how I felt and how I want it to be perceived. Let me say that I am completely confident about my Practical Reiki training's value. It's outstanding. It's priceless. I could easily charge double for it and deserve it. Although if I did, some people would struggle to save to receive this training. But, I could justify the price because it is seriously excellent and allows one to immediately become a practitioner, if desired.

But, the other side is that it's really easy for me to teach, doesn't take a lot of time to learn, and I want it to spread far and wide. I want there to be a million people using Practical Reiki in five years' time, because I trained them or someone I trained (or their students trained) did. Practical Reiki is a straightforward, unplugged method of energy healing that anyone can learn, regardless of previous experience.

Then, I asked myself about the value of my time spent teaching. That was a good question, and I felt a slight disconnect was there, so I have slightly raised the fee for live classes (compared to recorded), and offered an add-on for a private hour on Skype with me for Q&A to those who take the recorded version. I also include the books with the live training. That adjustment feels in alignment with my values, and feels like a quality offer.  

It's true that some people undervalue themselves, and undercharge for their services. The opposite is also true. And, it's true that some people take advantage of the fact that there are people out there who actually go looking for the most expensive option, and charge accordingly for their services. I can't be in integrity with myself if I try to be one of the people who raises my fees to target those who want to pay top dollar. So that's good for me to know also. 

I am grateful for the lesson from this past Mercury Retrograde, and ready for the New Moon to take my goals, plans and dreams and energize them into being. 


Comments and feedback are very welcome.

In My Face

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A most amazing chain of events happened to me lately, starting with last week. It's so filled with "coincidences" that I had to blog about it, just to process and actually make the list that's blowing my mind.

As they say, "There are no coincidences." After reading this, you might just agree. I can't think of any better evidence that this could be true.

A week ago, my oldest daughter, Rayna, was wearing her Camp Wise tee-shirt to middle school gym class. Camp Wise is an overnight camp in the Cleveland area, where lots of kids go in the summer. 

Another girl noticed Rayna's shirt, and asked her, "Are you from Cleveland?" Rayna replied that yes, she is, and we just moved here. The girl, Hannah, said she had moved here from Cleveland ten years ago. And they started talking. Rayna came home and told me about it. I thought that was cool.

Well, shortly after Rayna came home from school that same day, a school secretary called to say that she had found Rayna's math binder in the Guidance Office, where Rayna had been keeping her too-large-for-a-locker backpack. Rayna exclaimed that she needed that folder for her homework, so I sent Rayna on her bike to go up to school and get it. Rayna cajoled her sister, Sari, into coming with her. 

It just so happens (here comes the flood)...that Hannah and her sisters and mom were at school when Rayna and Sari got there. They were all talking excitedly about Cleveland, and when Hannah's mom heard Rayna's last name, she said that she knows me from the same temple where I had worked, where she belonged before they moved here. She remembered me, and remembered that I had some notoriety there because I wrote the Apples to Apples: Jewish Edition games. Not only that, but she also knew a bunch of the same people that Rayna and Sari knew from school in Cleveland. She gave them a ride home with their bikes so she could say hi to me. 

We talked in my driveway, and she (her name is Kelly) invited my family to dinner Friday night (which was last night). She said she thinks her husband might know mine, because her husband, my husband, and I all went to the same elementary school. 

Last night, we went over to Kelly's house for dinner. The game of Jewish Geography (that's what it's called when Jewish people connect everyone they are mutually acquainted with) went on and on, of course. Most amazing of this was that Kelly's husband knows Evan's aunt and uncle, next door neighbors from his parents' house, and about a zillion other people that Evan or the both of us knew from school years and from living in the same area. And, also, our kids went to the same pediatrician (who is also my cousin). She has four kids, as do I. Her two youngest are in the same grades and school as my two oldest. Her older daughter does pet sitting (something we also needed to find for when we go on vacation in May, and if/when we visit Cleveland on a long weekend between now and then).

But there's more. 

During the course of conversation, Kelly said that she loves and has been to Lily Dale three times. I've taught in Lily Dale for the last two summers, and will teach there again summer of 2014!! The odds that the first person I "randomly" meet from Maryland is into holistic/metaphysical stuff, and has been to Lily Dale, are rare enough, let alone that I am sitting having dinner with this same person, and she knows me from living in Cleveland, and we went to the same temple...I mean, these are lottery winner odds. She also went upstairs, got her little bag of stones and a pendulum, and we played with those for a bit, while sharing stories of how we've found lost items using intuitive techniques.

And yes, there's even MORE!!

Kelly also told me about a metaphysical "church" around here that's having a healing service this Sunday, and I suggested that we go together. So she's going to pick me up, we're going to go there, and then get some lunch in Georgetown afterward. 

Mind blown. 

And I'm thinking back to how I had created goals for myself before moving here. One of the goals I'd put out to the Universe is to get acquainted with others who are into holistic work out here. How gorgeously generous of my Guides to arrange for me to meet Kelly, someone with ties to back home, and for her to be one of the people who will help me meet this goal.

Since writing my last post, I've also found a local place for my Reiki practice and have scheduled a Practical Reiki 1 & 2 Training at a lovely wellness center in DC. I also connected with the director of another Reiki organization, and we're having lunch together this coming week, and I joined a couple Meetups in the area. My new website will be launching at the end of next week, too. Things are moving, and they're happening easily, and in absolutely incredible ways!!

It's like the universe is saying YES, but not subtly. BIG, bold, and right up in my face!
So I totally had to share this with you.

Peace.

Tiny and Huge

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I've been thinking lately about the paradox of being. Doesn't that sound philosophical?

What I mean is that on the one hand, I've learned a lot about Reiki in the past five years or so. I've taught lots of people around the world, and aim to teach many, many more how to access this powerful, yet simple connection to healing, growth, and balance. I've written two books, and published a set of cards (and an app!). I started a school. 

Yet, every day, I am acutely aware of how much more there is that I don't know yet. There are levels of intuitive sensitivity that I have not reached. There is a vast sea of knowledge that I have barely absorbed a drop of in all this time. 

I feel as if I've followed a spark, and it led me into a sky full of stars. Yet this one spark has given me so much that it can't be measured and I haven't reached the fullness of it yet. It's overwhelming to consider sometimes. 

Here's what I mean...

• I'm a "big voice" for Reiki. Yet what I know is so very tiny compared to what there is to learn. 
• Here we are on this planet, each of us unique, and yet even our planet (which seems huge to our perspective), is a tiny droplet in a sea of universal vastness. 
• Our bodies are complex, powerful interactive machines, yet inside us, between the tiny bits of atomic matter, is mostly space. 

Big, and yet so very small. I know lots of people have pondered this. I'm not presenting a new idea here. 

Lately, I've felt the need to grow more, and I've decided that 2013 is a year for self-development and growth. Opportunities are presenting themselves to me, and I'm saying yes. It's pretty cool.

I have no idea what will come next in my growth, but I'm trying to prepare myself to house new knowledge and intuitive abilities. I want to make my energy a "fertile" place. 

So I've been meditating more. That's new, as my readers know, and also challenging for me. To assist me in finding the "most effective" meditation technique for me, I have some cool tools. Among them is a Neurosky Mindwave Mobile headset, which can measure and track my different brainwaves, and an app called Transcend that keeps track of how often I manage to access those theta and delta (meditation level) brainwaves, and how long I sustain them in my meditation period. Having these tools gives me the chance to try different things and learn about myself. For instance, I am testing whether staring at a candle is better than closing my eyes. And whether listening to music is better than silence, humming OM, or listening to a binaural mp3. I'm using this to test whether visualizing myself floating, counting breaths, or keeping my mind as quiet as possible helps to create the most effective meditation method for me. It's a learning process. 

I've noticed that since I started meditating more often, I'm more frequently calm in the face of drama. My kids, for instance, get angry or upset about something, and instead of getting swept away in it myself, I'm staying calmer without effort. I also noticed that my energy work feels stronger to me - meaning that the tingles in my hand feel stronger. I know that's a signal of intuitive growth, and I'm telling the Universe to keep it coming. 

Drop by drop, the new knowledge will come. And I'll share it with my students (and blog about it here of course too) as it does. 

And drop by drop, I may grow a little bit. But I still know how small I am at the same time. 

Being as small as we all are, though, the coolest thing is this - we are all connected to the absolute HUGENESS of EVERYTHING. Oops, I think I shouted that.  All of our knowledge, experiences, thoughts, emotions, and molecules of our body, are part of the giant, flowing, interacting and changing sea of all that is. The energy that I share, and help others share, can bring that light into this vastness, and make a difference. Thinking about this is reassuring, and also helps me feel that I can be significant for all of my tininess. We all can.

Ready? Let's make some waves.

43 in 13

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It's my birthday and the 5th anniversary of the day I started this blog.

I went back and read last year's post and am grateful for the progress in achieving my goals, and the new goals that I've added.

But I'm not going to talk about those things this year. I just want to share my day.

There's a lot of hoopla going on right now. People are all excited over tomorrow, 12-21-12, and the Winter Solstice too. Energy people I've spoken with are talking about the intensity of the energy they feel. I can't say that I'm as swept away as some are, but I do feel a sort of intensity. Plus, with the recent events in the news, who doesn't feel the intense energy right now?

So that was all the more reason for my choosing to spend this birthday on myself. Time for some "me time"!

Here's what I did today to celebrate my birthday:

• I met a Facebook friend (who I've never met in person) at a lovely little bakery cafe for some breakfast and really great "Reiki talk". Her name is Michelle Winkler, and her website is http://www.createhealingreiki.com/.
• I went to see my very favorite massage therapist, John Goad, for a very nurturing 2-hour massage. Not only is John amazing as a massage therapist, but he incorporates energy work, aromatherapy, and  myofacial release techniques. I had the honor of teaching John Practical Reiki two years ago. His energy work is very powerful! The whole experience was wonderful. If you're within 2 hours drive of Mantua, Ohio, an appointment with John is well worth the trip!
• Then I got my driver's license renewed (it expired today). The man taking the pictures at the dmv was smiling and so nice that it's my best driver's license picture ever!
• I came home, made a nice dinner, spent some time with the kids, and now I'm enjoying a quiet glass of wine while I share my day with you lovely readers.


• My new Energy Healing Cards (which I just published!) came and they look really great! They are now available on Amazon as a gift for the energy healer you are or the energy healer you know.(Energy Healing Cards are a tool for anyone practicing Reiki or other energy healing techniques. Beautiful, full color cards each feature an intention and an affirmation to inspire and encourage your daily healing practice. Choose a card for extra healing, meditation or journaling, or inspiration. Many uses and lots of healing potential in every card. 44 cards plus an instruction card. 3.5 x 5", rounded corners, laminated, packaged in shrink wrap and sent in an organza drawstring bag.)

So I'm sharing all of this with you because it was such a lovely day. I'm so very grateful that I had the chance to take some time for myself. I promised myself I wouldn't wait a year to do it again.

The message here (there's always a message, isn't there?) is that especially when stress is in the news, our work, and energies surrounding us are high, we NEED to take time to care for our bodies and our souls. Whether it's your birthday or not, this is really important. It helps us stay at our best to manage all we do. 

May you all enter the new age refreshed and ready. 

Happy holidays and new year too!

In the Fire

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Last night I attended a Fire Ceremony. A man named Ljubomir Rozic has these Shamanic ceremonies at each new and full moon. There's a bit of learning about a healing concept, a meditation, and then the fire. He teaches everyone to touch the fire and bring it into their heart chakra (there are no burning or special effects involved!). We also put a list into the fire of things we would like to remove from our lives. Then Ljubomir changes the frequency of the fire to manifestation, and we put (either symbolically or physically) into the fire a list of things we want to manifest into our lives. By the way, it was pouring rain last night, and we still gathered and did the ritual. This was my first time going, and I really liked it. It was also my husband's birthday. He wanted to go (to my surprise), and also really liked it.

I've been thinking lately that I have lots of things in the fire (symbolically). You know the expression "A lot of irons in the fire"? That's what I mean. I've got a lot of irons in the fire, and I'm waiting to see what's going to come out.

The things I have in the fire are all things that I've applied for, or inquired about, and am waiting for results or answers.

Here's my list:

• I applied to be part of the new Transdisciplinary Holistic Care Education Program at the Cleveland Clinic. This includes specialized training in holistic patient care, rounds, case studies, and lots of direct experience in being an advocate for Reiki and holistic care in the hospital setting. Only CCF staff and volunteers from the Healing Services Department were allowed to apply.
 
• I sent in my application to teach in Lily Dale for the Summer, 2013 season.
 
• I've been invited to be a practitioner for a research study on comparing the effectiveness of acupressure vs. Reiki for people with Gulf War Syndrome. I completed all necessary forms as asked. Funding should be approved (or not) in two months.
 
• I pitched an idea for a board game to a game company. They received it and will get back to me...whenever they do.
 
• I am beginning to plan a very big two day Practical Reiki training weekend for April, 2013. The goal is to have at least 100 participants. I'm looking for a venue, interviewing holistic event marketing professionals, and waiting for people to get back to me.
 
• I'm starting a project, called the Just Love Project. There will be t-shirts that on the front say "Just   love."
  On the back, will be a variety of quotes, cartoons, and specifically chosen artwork that fits the theme. The writers and artists who created the selected works for the back will also be featured on the website. 100% of the profits from the series of shirts will go to charity. Each quarter, we'll change to a new charity. The idea is to spread messages of being loving and kind, while also doing something more to help those who need it. I've initiated contact with the first couple of artists and writers whose work is fitting, and am waiting to hear if they are willing to participate. I had one shirt made to see how it would turn out. It arrived yesterday. Stay tuned for a more official launch...whenever it's together. I've got the website, the manufacturer, and the idea. Now I'm waiting to see who will participate so I can get to work on the website details.

So, these are a lot of works in progress, and my need for patience is at a premium. There's such an element of surrender in waiting. I'm very much an action person, and those of you who've read my blog over the last few years (bless you all!) know that this is one of my life lessons. 

Meanwhile, I'm working on things that need action now - teaching, giving Reiki, promoting events, finding a venue for my big spring Practical Reiki workshop, etc. Of course, there are personal life things going on always too. Next month is my oldest daughter's Bat Mitzvah. There are school activities, homework, lunches, grocery shopping, chores, and a big group of holidays to observe in the next few weeks. 

So I breathe. And put myself back into the space of the present moment. "Just love," I remind myself. It's all about that.

And, I'll let the fire ignite, offer, and shape what's been placed in there. I look forward to seeing what emerges, all in the right time. 

Now I Know Why

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At the end of August, I had the wonderful opportunity of teaching Practical Reiki at the Lily Dale Assembly in Lily Dale, NY. It was a fantastic time. The class was the largest number I've ever taught in one group. Their ages ranged from 19 to about 80-something. My class included a mix of people new to Reiki, Reiki Practitioners, Reiki Masters, and practicing Mediums. The absolute best thing was the joy and enthusiasm with which Practical Reiki was universally met. I was told repeatedly that it was "refreshing" to have a "real person" teaching this. (That made me laugh!) I had the opportunity to meet privately with 13 of the 20 students, and get to know them better. I heard about their lives, and offered some intuitive advice and instructional support. I loved it. I left feeling like a rock star. 

I realized that Practical Reiki is more needed, and has the potential to help more people than I had ever imagined. It confirmed for me that I'm really here to bring a simple and powerful way of healing to the world. People new to Reiki discover an immediate connection to the energy that they can instantly tap into. People who know other Reiki modalities discover an easier way exists - one that spells out what took them years to figure out on their own (because they were taught differently) - and an additional frequency that strengthens their own energy work. And people who were intimidated about teaching Reiki because they learned a complicated process of symbols and ritual are now empowered to teach it "straight up" - as I do. Practical Reiki needs to be big, and it's time to share it with more people on a bigger scale. 

So now, I'm starting to think big, and have begun to plan my first two-day Practical Reiki training for Spring, 2013. This will be an event that people can travel here (Cleveland, OH) to take, and it will be a weekend. I'll get good rates for blocks of rooms at nearby hotels, and make it as easy as I can for people to get here. It's time, the guidance pushes me, and I'm listening, and feeling the little nervous flutter in my stomach that means that it's exactly what I need to do.

The Lily Dale experience taught me something really important, and today I saw it as part of the bigger lesson about life that applies to everyone. 

Man, when I ask for inspiration for my next blog post, I get it!!

This morning, as I perused Facebook (better than the morning paper!), I found this. I realized that it's the truest thing I've ever read, and it's also the overarching theme of the bigger picture I've been shown. I wish I knew who wrote it, but I have to share it regardless. Whoever you are who wrote this, I send you gratitude and admiration.

This quote. This.

I needed to read this. It gave me the courage to move forward with this bigger-than-I've-ever-done thing, and face the voice that counters with "are-you-really-worthy?" Because it's love that is moving me to action. Love for this role I've taken on to share Practical Reiki, but more so, to help people find that inner power for healing that was there all the time (right, Dorothy? Of course, says Glinda). It's love that I receive from the grateful emails that pour in from my students. And the feeling of being connected to this great big LOVE that is the light I'm connected to when I'm teaching, sharing Reiki, and attuning people.

This quote also gives me permission to make mistakes as I move forward. It's so accepting and forgiving, and it gently takes my little snarky background voice and wraps it in a cocoon of love that soothes it to sleep...for a while. 

So that's my message today, and as always, I share it with you, in hopes that it will inspire you to go for that big dream of yours that's fueled by love.

------------------------------------------
Follow-up...I found the author. Her name is Courtney A. Walsh, and there's more to the quote than I posted above. The entire quote, and her contact information is here:
Dear Human:

You've got it all wrong.

You didn't come here to master unconditional love.
This is where you came from and where you'll return.

You came here to learn personal love.
Universal love.
Messy love.
Sweaty Love.
Crazy love.
Broken love.
Whole love.
Infused with divinity.
Lived through the grace of stumbling.
Demonstrated through the beauty of... messing up.
Often.

You didn't come here to be perfect, you already are.

You came here to be gorgeously human. Flawed and fabulous.

And rising again into remembering.

But unconditional love? Stop telling that story.

Love in truth doesn't need any adjectives.
It doesn't require modifiers.
It doesn't require the condition of perfection.

It only asks you to show up.
And do your best.
That you stay present and feel fully.
That you shine and fly and laugh and cry and hurt and heal and fall and get back up and play and work and live and die as YOU.

Its enough.

It's Plenty.

-Courtney A. Walsh
https://www.facebook.com/loonybus
http://www.courtneyawalsh.com/

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I simply love this quote so passionately that I've ordered a tee-shirt with the part of the quote I posted originally on the back, and "Just love." on the front.  If anyone would like one, I'll order you one and ship it to you for $25 free shipping (inside the continental US). Be sure to indicate size (S/M/L/XL) when ordering. Here's a picture.

$25 and free shipping. Let's start a love movement!

Stigma and Cred

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I first learned Reiki in person from a teacher, and took the Master/Teacher level in a class, in person. It was traditional Usui Reiki training. I found that my training left some things to be desired. There was no instruction on intuition, for example, or chakras. I was not taught how to feel and experience energy, just taught traditional hand positions, symbols and ritual that "had to be" done in order to give a Reiki session. 


Three months later, I learned Kundalini Reiki, by distance, online from the founder of the system. I felt my attunements more strongly than I had felt any other, ever. I also learned that symbols, hand positions, and ritual are not needed in order to practice Reiki. Although this conflicted with my Usui Reiki training, it made more sense to me. I spent lots of time pondering and practicing after this. And the pondering and practicing really helped me the most in developing my understanding about Reiki, and how it can be effectively taught so that people can learn to feel the energy and understand what they are doing. 


Since that time, I've taught over 500 people Kundalini Reiki or Practical Reiki. I've written two books about Practical Reiki, to help those who want to learn get a more thorough education in energy healing. I have received only powerful, positive feedback from all of my students and clients. 


I'm proud of my work and am committed to being a dedicated and approachable teacher for all who learn from me. My students share the love of Reiki, whether they were previously Usui Reiki trained or not. 


At times, I've been informed (and even involved) in online discussions about what's "better," in person or online training. As I've said there and will say again, it depends on the teacher. It also depends on the student's comfort level, but I do my best, even with online teaching, to provide the most personal experience possible for my students. Not all online training is equal, just as not all in-person training is equal in quality. It depends on the teacher being of high integrity, knowledge, approachability, and dedication.


Now there's another issue that my students are facing, as well as others who receive training online. Some hospitals and other organizations who accept volunteers to provide Reiki will only accept individuals who have received training in person. Others will only accept individuals who have received Usui Reiki training. Practical Reiki (and other methods) are not treated with the same respect. So what are my wonderful students to do when they want to go out and dedicate their precious time to sharing Reiki in these places?


I guess we need to start a grass roots movement to establish cred and overcome the stigmas held by those who think that Usui Reiki is better than Practical Reiki, or that in person teaching trumps online learning. Yeah, we've got our work cut out for us. 


So here's what I suggest.


If you're faced with a challenge such as this, don't give up. Politely request a meeting to discuss your training and demonstrate your expertise. Show the person in charge my book, and encourage them to read it. Offer to give the person a Reiki session. Talk clearly and confidently about your understanding and love for Reiki. 


If that doesn't work, don't worry. Send in your students, your friends who have learned, and others to do the same. Eventually, we'll get a second look. 


If you want, have the person you meet with contact me. I'll be happy to talk about my year at The Cleveland Clinic, and my two years at The Gathering Place (a support place for families touched by cancer). I'll also be happy to talk about my Practical Reiki for Nurses course, which is approved to offer 8 CEs by the Ohio Board of Nursing. 


We are the change we want to see in the world. Reiki is healing energy, and the practitioner is the one who has the ethics, experience, and attunement to share it.


Let's move the world with our light.

The Practical Reiki Companion is HERE!

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In response to student request, I've created a workbook for Practical Reiki students and teachers. It's called The Practical Reiki Companion, and it's now available! 


I started out writing this workbook to offer students a way to log and keep track of their practices and healing experiences. But, as things often do, it became so much more. For each chapter, there are reminders and reflective prompts for journaling about your experiences. I added light lines and vibrant images so the workbook is a beautiful keepsake journal, not just an academic tool. (Have a look inside here!)


Also, I realized that the process of writing down reflections creates an important change for the student. If you know that after you complete this healing session, you will be writing down what you experience, think and feel, you will be in the mindset of paying attention during the session. The "assignment" cues your left brain to stay focused and present, which in turn increases your ability to tune into the right brain's feed of intuitive sensations. It's amazingly powerful as a tool for mindfulness and strengthening your intuition. This process will accelerate your ability to feel the strength of the Reiki energy. My goal is to empower every student with confidence in his or her ability to work with Reiki. This workbook is designed to do exactly that!


It's also an excellent tool for the student who completes Practical Reiki training and wants to teach others. Having the logs of your attunement experiences and healing practices will enable you as a teacher to reflect and share some of the unique and powerful experiences you had while learning, thus enriching the learning for your students. And I've also included several attunement logs for the teacher, so it's easy to keep track of how passing on attunements went on the teacher and student end. This workbook is designed to take you from beginning the journey to helping others to do the same. 


I'm proud and excited about the Practical Reiki Companion! Those who have had an advance peek, and the first student who is currently using it and giving me feedback all share this excitement. 


If you've already learned Practical Reiki, I encourage you to get one to transfer your notes from your learning into this keepsake.


If you're beginning to learn Practical Reiki, you need this. It will help you, empower you, deepen your learning and accelerate your growth.


If you're teaching Practical Reiki, this is for you and for your students. You will be a stronger teacher and your students will be successful because this tool will be part of their journey.


Thank you to the students who encouraged me to create The Practical Reiki Companion and waited with excitement. It's here! 


You can order autographed copies and get a package discount for the book and the Companion here.


You can order direct shipping from the publisher here (Use discount code F6TTENE5 for 15% off) and find it on Amazon here.


When you get yours, please leave a review on Amazon if you would! 


Thank you all. It helped me learn so much about learning to write this, and I know it'll be a great service to Practical Reiki students and teachers around the world!

Time to Read

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The last week in May, my family went on vacation, and stayed in a quiet little beach house in Sandbridge, VA for a week. It was lovely to be by the ocean and have some time away. I had brought my netbook, in the hopes of blogging and getting some other writing done a little bit each day. However, that was not to be. My hard drive crashed and died the first day of the trip.

That left me with the books I had brought. Not a bad trade.


I'd like to present to you with some of what I learned from having time to read some really fascinating books!
This post will highlight the first of three books I read. 

The first book I enjoyed is "Reiki: The True Story: An Exploration of Usui Reiki" by Don Beckett.


In this book, I learned all about the "original" of the "original Reiki method." That is, Reiki the way founder Mikao Usui taught it. I found out something really fascinating!! Mikao Usui did not use symbols. He did not use hand positions. Reiki was meant as a personal enlightenment practice. Healing was a side benefit, and it was done by intention. Usui taught different people individually, and each was taught a little differently from the last, because Usui varied his teaching to fit the experience, frame of reference, and ideal usage of Reiki for each student. There was no formalized system, no defined rituals. 


This is extremely significant to me for a number of reasons. First, because Practical Reiki, the method that I use and teach, does not use hand positions or symbols. Its main emphasis is on intention and attention. Quiet, gently focused observation is the best state of mind for practicing. It sounds to me as if Practical Reiki is very much like Mikao Usui's Reiki. 


Second, Usui Reiki as it's taught in the United States, follows Mrs. Hawayo Takata's teaching method. She brought Reiki to Hawaii and introduced it to the West. She taught structured ritualized Reiki, including the addition of hand positions, symbols, and lots of formalized procedures. Practical Reiki differs so much from this version of Usui Reiki that many have treated me as if I am teaching a rogue or rebellious form of Reiki - as if I'm going against tradition by not using those things. Takata's method of Reiki, which is also William Rand's version, the most commonly taught in the US and many parts of the world, has become accepted as the "original authentic Usui Reiki." But I have just learned that it's not. 


Turns out that Practical Reiki is closer to the original Usui Reiki than the method most accepted as the one that's widely taught here. Not sure whether to laugh or yell, "SEE!!!?" I believe I did both several times as I read.


While in VA, my family visited the Edgar Cayce Institute in Virginia Beach. It's a really fascinating museum and huge metaphysical library dedicated to the work of a man whose channeled information filled hundreds of volumes of texts. I brought a few copies of my book, and soon as I showed it to the woman who runs the gift shop, she immediately placed an order for the store and asked for an autographed copy for herself. Two visitors to the museum who were nearby asked if they could buy a copy from me too, and I gladly shared. It was a great experience, and helped to validate that what I'm teaching is needed and meaningful. 


I'm training Practical Reiki instructors now as well as students, so that more people can share this accessible healing modality. And Usui was right - it's a method to personal enlightenment besides being an excellent way to help oneself and others receive healing. My Practical Reiki for Nurses course is approved by the Ohio Board of Nursing to offer CEs to nurses and massage therapists. I'm training instructors for that course too. 


Reading Beckett's book was like a nod from the Universe and a blessing from Mikao Usui himself. 


More book reports will follow in future blog posts! 

Magic is relative

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It's true. I feel magical. I feel like a super hero of healing. I just feel like there's something magical about being able to be a part of a healing process for someone across the world who experiences it and feels better. And I also love teaching others to do the same. 


But, I realized, it's not magic. The only reason it is magical is that science doesn't have an explanation for it. Think about it. Before the microscope was invented, the idea of germs was "magic". If someone had suggested that germs are responsible for illness, it would have been interpreted as little magical sickness fairies that no one can see go from a person's cough to another person's body and make that person sick. And scientists would have scoffed. And then, poof, the microscope is invented, germs can be seen so science deems them real, and it's accepted. Science can now study germs, identify different ones, and determine the specific treatment for each. 


One day, this will happen for Reiki and other healing energy methods. In fact, once some scientist actually invents a way to see the human energy field and how it's affected, big changes will happen. They will find a way to measure "frequencies" of Reiki and other healing energy. They will work to determine which healing energy frequency works best on which malady. Doctors will write prescriptions for people to see Reiki Master X because she has 6.79 ReikiOhms of energy, which is effective for such-and-such a condition. There will be tests, measurements, experiments, and a lot of excitement. Then will come regulations, licenses, and health insurance coverage with reps suggesting this or that practitioner. Next will follow science attempting to synthesize Reiki energy into a pill. Or perhaps they will take another look at homeopathy and Ayurveda, and measure the way a person's energy field changes frequencies when the person meditates. Wow. Can you see this future?


Right now, scientists scoff. And what we do is labeled as "pseudoscience," "metaphysical," "faith healing," "placebo," or...magic (in a rather sneering and derisive tone). But the growing numbers of people studying Reiki and receiving health benefits from Reiki are strong enough to make waves. These waves disturb those who need tools to convince them something is real.  


I'm honored to announce that The Ohio Board of Nursing has approved my Practical Reiki for Nurses class to offer 8 CEs. This class is taught online so that anyone with a computer and internet access can be part of it. This class offers Reiki training through Master level, and a method that is simple and directly applicable to nurses, caregivers, massage therapists, occupational therapists, and anyone working in a health care field. After taking the class, one can teach it to others. It's nice to see there is some evidence that western medicine is getting tired of waiting for the scientists to acknowledge Reiki, and are taking their own initiative.  


So about that "magic" idea...there is a part of me that really thrives on the magical beauty of it all. But even if it becomes commonplace, the beauty still shines. I mean look at it this way - the power comes through us. The power is not in a tool or a pill. It's innate, completely organic, and benefits emotions, body and spirit. It's MORE than any tool or pill can claim right now. The self-awareness that comes from giving and receiving Reiki is more profound than anything science, psychology or western medicine has to offer. 


That's why I'll never stop believing in the magic.

Practical Reiki is READY!

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Hello everyone! It's funny, but a year ago I was told that I'd write a book about Reiki and I laughed and said that was silly, that there wasn't anything to say about Reiki that wasn't already in a book. I stand corrected.

Recently, I was at The Cleveland Clinic, where I volunteer with the Healing Services Department giving Reiki to patients, family and staff. I was talking with the head of the department, telling her that I'd love to teach Kundalini Reiki to staff there. She told me that people feel that the word "Kundalini" is too mysterious and has negative or strange connotations. So I said I could change the name and take out the word "Kundalini" and the method would still work and have the same effectiveness.

I checked it out with Ole Gabrielsen, the founder of Kundalini Reiki, because I wanted to be sure it was okay with him that I'd make adaptations to the method he channeled. He told me that it would be just fine. Green light!

So instead of revising the Kundalini Reiki manual, I decided to put everything I say when I'm teaching into a book. There's a lot that I have been adding when teaching in person - information on clairs, chakras, intention -all important stuff!

My family went on vacation to Virgina Beach - a 10 hour drive each way - and so I took my laptop in the car and typed the first five chapters on the drive. It was a good start! Now the book has 10 chapters, includes FAQs, recommended books, and two Appendixes (a quick guide for teachers at the end, and articles on using a pendulum and Master Kuthumi). The cover is absolutely gorgeous, thanks to a talented graphic designer who was able to beautifully recreate my attempt to express a design!

So here it is!


Practical Reiki ^TM
for balance, well-being, and vibrant health. A guide to a simple, revolutionary energy healing method.
by Alice Langholt

If you’ve never heard of Reiki, this book will explain it in plain, clear language.

Reading the book will help you understand what Reiki is, how it works, how it helps, and how it can be learned. This book presents a down-to-earth, “woo-woo-free” approach that’s easy to understand whether you’ve had any experience with intuition or none at all. Anyone who wants to learn to connect with the innate, natural power for healing is capable of doing so.

If you already practice Reiki, this book will show you the true essence of working with energy, beneath the ritual, symbols, and mystery surrounding the practice.
It will widen your knowledge and strengthen your connection.

Practical Reiki ^TM is a new, revolutionary Reiki modality for everyone who wishes to quickly and easily learn to practice Reiki energy healing for themselves and others. It is simple, strong, and will change your life. The entire method through Master level can be learned in just three weeks.

Order Practical Reiki here.

If you'd like to save $3 off the list price (because you are such awesome blog readers!), you can enter the code: FBSBD4JN

For an autographed copy of Practical Reiki, use this link to order directly from me! Just let me know how to inscribe it!

Who knew, when I started this blog as a Reiki level 2 practitioner, that I'd be writing this post today?! Not me for sure!! Thank you all for being here for this journey with me, and for the path ahead!