This month I filmed a video for you all describing four different things you can do first thing in the morning to help keep you hydrated and your gut healthy. I have used all of these and believe it has helped maintain my overall health and happiness. I was inspired to make this video after reading the article "Takata's Handouts" from the Reiki News Magazine posted where Hawayo Takata listed one of these practices as a way of "cleansing out the system."
Read moreReiki Healing Summit Spring 2018
I'm happy to tell you all about the Reiki Healing Summit Spring 2018 put on by Reiki Rays University featuring interviews with Reiki Practitioners from all over the world including Pamela Miles, Walter Lubeck, and yours truly. This FREE online event will run from May 21-26 with topics including Reiki Research, Reiki Drumming, Distant Reiki, Reiki as a Spiritual Practice, and Reiki in Cancer Treatments. Over 30 leading Reiki Practitioners offer their knowledge and expertise to the worldwide Reiki community to help us develop ourselves and deepen our practice.
I am deeply honored to be a part of this global event as I share about my experience working with “Reiki and the Cancer Community.” Register now and tune in on May 24th to listen to my interview or UPGRADE and listen to it at anytime along with all of the other insightful interviews.
I registered for the Full Access Pass for the Winter 2018 Summit and thoroughly enjoyed listening the interviews at my leisure, and I even had the option to download the mp3’s and transcripts of each of the sessions. Choose which option suits you best and enjoy the summit.
Read more about the Reiki Healing Summit HERE.
Aside from the summit, I have a few other things going on this month that I’d like to share. The first weekend of the month is jam packed full of goodness. On Friday May 4th I’ll be playing bass for the Atma Bhajan and the Sounds of Truth Kirtan Soundbath Experience at The Yogi Tree. It’s been a while since I’ve played a Kirtan in SoCal, so I’m looking forward to sharing in the vibe with you all there. (Sign up for it here.)
On Saturday May 5th, I will be presenting a talk on “Implementing Mindfulness in Schools” for the Burbank Unified School District’s First Annual Wellness Symposium which is open to all staff, parents, and community partners in Burbank. The event runs from 8:30am-12:30pm at John Burroughs High School and has a wide variety of topics ranging from “Addressing Bullying and Cyberbullying” to “Zumba!” If you’re a parent in Burbank or know someone that is, please pass on this information to them. There’s something for everyone there, plus they’re giving away prizes. :-)
I also have a Reiki I class on Friday May 25th for anyone that wants to get their certification at the start of Memorial Day Weekend.
With the birth of my son expected at the beginning of next month I will be cutting back on seeing private clients in June and I won’t be teaching any other classes until mid-July at the earliest. If he decides to join us early I may even have to cancel the May 25th class, but one thing is for sure. I will be focusing on his and his mother’s health after he arrives so if you reach out and don’t hear from me that is why.
I wish you all a wonderful month and hope to see you at one of the events in May.
Read moreBill Nye Saves the World, But What Does Reiki Do?
Bill Nye, the famed Science Guy, has a new show released on Netflix and being a fan of this science educator I decided to dive in and watch a few episodes the other day. The second episode caught my attention because it was on debunking claims from alternative medicine. Although it didn’t bring up Reiki specifically, it reminded me of some of the opposing views that I as a Reiki Practitioner have to face in the world. Someone even said that I was doing “the work of the devil” a few years ago when referring to my Reiki practice, and these types of thoughts and beliefs about what I and other practitioners do can get me down. I’ll even admit that there are times when I think of myself as a “snake oil salesman” and charlatan when comparing what I do to doctors and other medical professionals because I don’t know nor can I explain scientifically what, if anything, is actually happening during a Reiki treatment.
The practice of medicine uses scientifically based methodologies that have shown to produce consistent and repeatable results time and time again, and Reiki has yet to be consistent in its results nor has enough research been done to refute the claims that is no better than a placebo. With articles such as “Reiki is Nonsense” (2015), “Reiki: Fraudulent Misrepresentation” (2014), and “Giving placebos such as reiki to cancer patients does more harm than good” (2011), it makes it hard to share openly in public what I do for a living, and even harder to talk about it some family members.
These critiques of the use of Reiki helps drive me to find out what research has been done and to look at what the results say, and surprisingly there are a lot of studies that have been done. Not all research has followed the strict guidelines of being a double-blind study, but more and more of them are starting to show up. I’d like to share some of the research and articles that I have found with you, and let you come to your own conclusions and conduct your own research.
Read moreFollowing the Red Blinking Lights
Marie jumped out of my hands staring me down with large questioning eyes and exclaimed, “HOW DID YOU KNOW???” I jumped back startled by her response to my question, and then she gave me the whole story. But before I fill you in on her story I need to tell you how we got to that point.
I was at the Saddle Ranch in Universal CityWalk to see some friends play in a band showcase when Marie showed up looking…
Read moreReceiving My First Reiki Treatment
After sharing about my first reiki attunement last month, I thought I would continue the story and tell you about my first reiki treatment. I went about things a little backwards from a lot of reiki practitioners that I meet in that I first was attuned before I had ever experienced a reiki treatment. I was ready to go out and give reiki to everyone that was willing and interested, but I had no idea what they would be experiencing or even what they should expect to experience. All I could do was regurgitate what my first reiki teacher, Julie Raftery, told me in the class. After a couple short sessions I gave to friends I realized I need to experience a treatment for myself so that I could speak about reiki from a place of experience with those I would be giving reiki to, and learn from both mine and their experiences during the sessions.
I looked through my notes to find Julie's business card, mustered up the courage to call her, and dialed the number.
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