Thoughts on love, light, and energy work

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This is the companion blog to my business site, Desert Reiki.
After you read here, come visit there.
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Saturday, February 4, 2017

Emerging

I have long associated the personal growth of my life with the symbol of the butterfly.  My fascination with butterflies, beginning in my childhood, runs deep and now that the secret of my fascination is out, my collection of butterfly trinkets and home decor is vast (and continually growing).  I suppose the secret spilled when I had a pair of butterflies tattooed on my right hand.  Since that moment in time, students and friends have gifted me with a variety of butterfly beauty to adorn the Reiki room, my car, and my home. 

Of course, the fascination with butterflies goes beyond an appreciation of their beauty and grace.  What draws me in is the generally accepted symbol of the butterfly as a being of incredible transformation.  

Consider the early days of the butterfly life cycle, as the newly hatched caterpillar crawls slowly along a plant, eating and eating in preparation for the next stages of the cycle.  The caterpillar itself does not generally garnish much enthusiasm from onlookers as it slogs along, growing plumper with every day that passes.  To be fair, this stage of the life cycle isn't as glamorous as the final stage of transformation, yet it sets the groundwork for the time ahead.  Without the methodical eating and growing (taking in nutrition), the caterpillar will not be able to move ahead toward the butterfly stage.  

As is dictated by nature, the caterpillar one day stops the crawling and spins a chrysalis, wherein it hangs in the balance as the deep internal changes to its very being occur.  The chrysalis stage is fascinating to behold. It may seem as if all time stands still and nothing at all is happening within the quiet shell.  Yet, there is so much change occurring all at once, there is scarcely time to track it all in the short period the chrysalis hangs silently under leaf or branch.  Following, of course, is the emergence of a creature of wondrous color, new ability, intelligence, and grace. The butterfly appears to be altogether a wholly other creature than the one who crawled along leaves just days before.  A creature of transformation with the ability to fly!

Symbolically, this transformation is available to us as human beings.  If you carefully examine your life’s patterns, you may readily identify the caterpillar stage or stages of your past.  Those times of head-down crawling, without understanding the opportunities for growth that may lie ahead for you.  It is not easy to be a caterpillar.  You may feel bogged-down, uninspired, or an emotional and mental heaviness.  You may have asked (or be asking) yourself  ‘what is the point?’ as you struggle with identity and perhaps, feel that happiness and contentment is just out of reach. 

Here is where the transformative power of Reiki energy can benefit your life today and in the future.  As humans, we do not have the capacity to spin a chrysalis and await triumphant change. We must access the tools and occasions available to support ourselves in altering our course and moving from the crawling phase toward the ability to fly (figuratively, of course!). 

Reiki has many, varied benefits in this process of change for you.   A Reiki treatment session promotes deep relaxation, offering you a chance to pause, reflect, and assess where you are now and where you would like to be (physically, mentally, emotionally).  Reiki increases your supply of life force energy and helps you heal from any mild discomfort or complex health issues.  Reiki will reduce your stress and bring your energetic body, your ki, into equilibrium, effectively moving you toward your unique physical, mental, and spiritual balance.  I often tell clients that the session may be a simple relaxation hour for them and, if they so desire, will also be a metaphysical experience that grants insight and inspiration for their personal transformation. 

Reiki offers you the opportunity to grow, to change, and to emerge as a new being, altogether different than the person you may have been in the past. 

Honestly, if you could be a butterfly instead of a caterpillar, wouldn’t you?   

Love, light, and graceful emergence, 
Jenn

Thursday, March 29, 2012

On growing and gardening

It is spring in the desert. A short subtle season which arrives on a  breath of excitement as deciduous trees begin to bud and cactus begins to bloom. Spring means gardens that were planted in the winter months  are ready to be harvested and space cleared for summer growing. Spring is my favorite season, here in the desert or anywhere.


I have a garden spot in the front of my home where I like to keep a smattering of colorful flowers. To be fair, when we first moved into this home last summer, that patch of earth was a massive dirt mound; it needed a little flair. During the winter months I spent some time with my hands in the dirt turning and tilling the hardened ground to prepare it for planting. As is typical in this city, landscaping is done via rock, cactus, sun-hardy plants, and ground cover. In the creation of this garden spot I moved river rock from one end of the yard to the other to create pathways of rock over and through the newly turned dirt mound. It wasn't until I had hauled and placed 100 or more large, smooth rocks that I noticed the pattern I was creating was ever-so-slightly hinting at the design of a peace sign. It tickled me immensely that my subconscious leanings were manifesting in rock and earth. From that moment I made my design efforts more deliberate.


A peace sign in my garden.


A peace garden.


Perfect.






As I turned to the task of planting flowers (I had picked up plants at a local nursery in a bright palette of red, orange, and yellow--the earthbound colors of the first, second, and third chakras) I began turning plants from their pots in order to loosen the root ball in preparation for placing them in the soil. As I did this I was struck by how tightly wound the roots for many of these plants had become inside the plastic pot. Root bound: that is the term for it in a plant.  Entangled, stubborn roots swirling 'round at the base completely entwined together. In fact, so deeply had the root wrapped again and again upon itself there was actually fairly little room for further growth. If it stayed where it was, its chance of survival seemed limited.


 I shall repeat that last for emphasis: Its chance of survival seemed limited IF IT STAYED WHERE IT WAS.




Carefully, I pried through the mass of intertwined roots, shook loose the foundation of the plant and lovingly offered it a new place to rest in soil prepared and ready to give the plant the opportunity to grow. And thrive. I am happy to report that the garden planted weeks ago has bloomed abundantly into a vibrant collection of color and light.


The metaphor may be apparent, but I will spell it out here anyway.  People and plants? They are the same. At least in this instance. How readily we (the collective we) become set, stubborn and stuck in our lives. It is possible that looks different for each of us; in my own life it is a lifetime of patterns of behavior which require examination, untangling and a loosening that allows me to more freely explore my potential. Consider that it may be our habits that entangle us and lock us into ways of thinking which are actually limiting our own abilities to grow. And thrive.  Consider too that shaking that out a bit and opening ourselves up to the experience of change and re-planting, as it were, just may turn us from root-bound, habit dependent people into beings of beauty, abundance, and vibrant light.


Perhaps it is time to open ourselves to the subtle season of our very own spring.



Love, light, and happy growing,
Jenn

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

What's Been Said

There's an awful lot in this world that's already been said. True fact. Some of it bears repeating. On the subject of Reiki (which, whether you know it or not is what you came to read about here) there is much expert opinion, conjecture and theory already in print. I might say some stuff here that you already know. In fact, it's possible I'll say stuff here that you know more about than I do. I can live with that. What I hope we accomplish here together (me writing, you reading) is that we do some mutually beneficial learning.
  
I've been wandering the Reiki path for quite some time. I found it, or rather it found me, when I was pregnant with my third child in 2003. As I was preparing for the birth of my son and my subsequent maternity leave (I am a teacher, by day job), the woman who had been hired to finish out the year joined us in the classroom. It so happens, in addition to being a phenomenal teacher, she was a Reiki Master. So we talked Reiki. Often. When she offered me a reiki treatment session I jumped at the opportunity (let's be honest at eight  months pregnant I didn't really jump, I more sort of leaned). That session was all it took. I was hooked. 

It's been nearly nine years since that moment for me. I am now a Certified Reiki Master. And while that looks and sounds pretty cool, I'll tell you straight up, it's a most humbling thing to see those words by my name. I feel honored and awed that the title is mine.  I am  glad reiki found me and called me out to the path. 

And I'm glad you're here to read about it.