Find us on Google+ Blue Mountain Reiki: 2014

Friday, April 11, 2014

Susan Gale Returns to WNC

I am thrilled to announce that my friend and mentor, Susan Gale from A Place of Light, is returning to WNC to offer teachings about healing through walking in balance with our Earth Mother. Please check out the announcement below!

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Susan Gale on the land at A Place of Light

Hello, dear ones. I am writing to share with you another opportunity to sit with my dear mentor, Susan Gale, and learn (and for some of you, learn MORE!) about walking one's spiritual path in balance with Mother Earth.

This workshop will be a little different than previous ones, as it will be held at a beautiful mountain retreat called The Heart CenterThe Heart Center is the perfect setting for all to immerse themselves in nature's bounty while receiving these teachings. 

Dates are FRI evening JUNE 6, 2014 through SUN JUNE 8, 2014. Participants will leave the center for home on Monday morning June 9th.

Cost for the workshop is $450, which includes:
  • $300 class fee for SAT and SUN all-day teachings
  • $150 for three nights lodging at The Heart Center (FRI 6/6, SAT 6/7, and SUN 6/8); please note that people will be sharing rooms (details to be sorted out as RSVPs come in)
  • Two delicious organic meals and one snack per day are included (please note if you are vegetarian, which is easily accommodated)
  • Access to all the facilities in your down time, including a labyrinth, tennis courts, gymnasium, and endless forest for you to explore
In addition to working with Susan for about 8 years now, I have taken two of her previous workshops with these teachings, and I cannot recommend them highly enough. Her friendship and mentorship have changed my life, and I am thrilled to have another chance to support her in sharing these teachings with our local community. I hope you can make it!

Please review more workshop details below, and email me with any questions.

Space is limited, so please RSVP as soon as possible to confirm your spot. A deposit of $225 will hold your space.

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DETAILS

  • Who -- Susan Gale, a spiritual elder (herself non-native) who was taught by a Navajo shaman chosen by his people and initiated into shamanism at age 6, and who has given Susan permission to teach these ways. (Susan would say, "I'm not a shaman! No person can call themselves a shaman or medicine man/woman. Only the people can call them this.")
  • What -- An intensive and experiential study of how to walk in balance with Mother Earth (see more complete description from Susan below)
  • When -- JUNE 6 - 8, 2014; Friday arrival; class on Saturday and Sunday from 10am ~ 5pm with an hour break for lunch.
  • Where -- The Heart Center in Robbinsville, NC
  • Why -- To deepen your own spiritual quest/knowledge/understanding; to take another step along your healing path
  • How -- With Love and Integrity

COST: The cost for the full weekend (including workshop, room, and board) is $450. You may set your intention to be there by submitting 1/2 of the fee--$225. The remaining half can be brought with you on the first day of class.

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NOTES FROM SUSAN

This will be an intense seminar where participants can learn about healing through being connected with Mother Earth. 
Some of the topics that will be covered are
  • using the medicine of plants, stones, feathers and other tools for healing
  • being able to read the energy of the body
  • coming to an understanding of how your energy interacts with the energy of different medicines
  • identifying strategies for various physical and emotional situations that are encountered
  • coming to an understanding of your own effect upon the process



Participants may wish to bring feathers, stones, rattles, drums that they may own and have prepared for spiritual use.

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If you are called to join us for this retreat, please get in touch! :)

Blessings and thanks,

Haley

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Reiki Article Translated to Ukrainian!

Special thanks to Reiki colleague Vladyslav Makaruk from Ukraine who has just translated my "Can Reiki Cause Harm?"article into Ukrainian! It is exciting to be able to share thoughts on this important topic with people all over the planet. Earlier this year, another of my Reiki News Magazine articles entitled "Reiki and Intuition" was also published in Italian by the lovely folks at Cascina Rosso.

Sending Reiki blessings and much gratitude to all who have come together to share these Reiki words.

...and here's some capybara love for your day, just because. :)


Sunday, February 23, 2014

Understanding Reiki (with Special Thanks to the Hands-On Museum)

This post has received a lot of positive attention recently, so I have updated it and added some new material and am republishing it! Blessings and thanks!

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I am often asked what Reiki is and, each time, I try to come up with a fresh way to talk about this beautiful energy practice. One of the things that often throws people off is when we start talking about "energy." What is this "energy" stuff anyway? Is it all a bunch of woo-woo nonsense? Nope. :)

This past week, I visited the Hands-On Museum in Ann Arbor, Michigan with my family and was presented with a perfect tool to help explain exactly how practical and tangible "energy" really is.

As we were walking down the exit staircase, we reached a landing that had a station where you could place your hands on a set of metal hand prints and then watch the needle on an energy gauge move to show how much energy was coming from your body. We all have energy coursing through our bodies, helping us to function. When that energy flow is not optimal, we can feel the difference, whether the effects are physical, emotional, or spiritual in nature. Reiki is a practice that is used to remove blockages in the flow of that energy and return us to a state of balance and wellness.

This simple tool at the Hands-On Museum shows that our bodies are energy conductors. We can also see energy working in and on our bodies when we get a shock from a static charge, or in the way food turns into energy to help our bodies function--these are very real, very approachable ways to think about and understand what energy means when it comes to the human body.

It is important to note, though, that we Reiki practitioners are not using our own energy to restore balance to our clients. Instead, we are merely the lightning rods that the Reiki energy flows through to affect balance on the client's energy system. We conduct it, but we do not create it. Reiki founder Mikao Usui discovered that Reiki was a practice that he could use to help people without draining his own energy. That is one of the most beautiful things about Reiki: It works on the practitioner as she or he practices.

Rei = spiritually guided

Ki = life force energy

When this spiritually guided life force energy comes through the practitioner into the client, both receive healing. Ahhh... :)

So, relax and enjoy a Reiki session sometime soon. And if anyone looks at you sideways next time you talk about "energy," think of the Hands-On Museum and how easy it is to talk about the human body as a walking, talking energy conductor!






Saturday, January 25, 2014

What is a Healing Reaction?

After a Reiki session, one can sometimes have what is known as a "healing reaction." But what is it, and how can you tell if you're having one? Let me offer some thoughts here that I hope will help practitioners be able to more easily explain healing reactions to their clients, as well as assist anyone who has undergone Reiki treatments (or is considering doing so) to understand what a healing reaction is and why it's a good thing!

"Healing reaction" is the name given to any reaction--be it physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual--that occurs after a Reiki healing session when unhelpful energy can still be in the process of clearing from the body.

For example, if you come in to receive Reiki on a weak ankle that has been bothering you, after the session, you may notice that the issue seems to briefly flare up! Confusing, right? But after this brief flare up, you notice a significant improvement in the strength, pain level, and mobility of your ankle. The brief flare up would be considered a healing reaction.

The same is true for emotional issues you may be working through with the help of Reiki. If you are healing from an emotional wound and have received Reiki to help you in this process, you may notice that you have a brief surge of palpable emotions around this issue shortly after the session... but then after the seeming "surge" subsides, you feel remarkably better!

You may be noticing a theme here; the key to recognizing what is a healing reaction and what is just a separate bothersome issue is twofold:

1) Brevity -- Healing reactions vary in intensity, but they are brief. They are the visceral experience of the unhelpful energy coming up and out of your body and your energy field. You may feel that unhelpful energy intensely as it comes fully to the surface to be released. 
  • If you find that you are experiencing a prolonged issue, that issue itself needs to be addressed; it cannot be called a healing reaction, and you should reach out to your Reiki practitioner to check in on what your best next steps might be. Additionally, you should contact your doctor or another medical professional if you have any pressing concerns about your physical or emotional health.

2) Improvement -- Do you notice a significant improvement around the issue afterwards? Once again, if a healing reaction occurs, it is as a result of the unhelpful energy that was shifted during your Reiki session now coming up and out, exiting your body and your energy field. Though you may feel it more intensely as it reaches the surface of your body or your consciousness, when it has fully cleared from your system, you should notice an improvement! It need not be a huge, life-changing improvement (though it can be!); just observe how you feel and check in to see if you have improved around the issue at hand.

Now certainly, healing reactions do not occur after every session, even if deep or intense healing has taken place, and there is no one type of reaction that is typical to all who experience them. The above is simply to help practitioners and receivers of Reiki better understand when and if a healing reaction is taking place. 

It should also be noted that healing on any level can bring other issues in need of healing to the surface that weren't ready to be addressed before the more top-level issue was dealt with. That reality, where a new issue rises up to the forefront to call for healing, is not technically a healing reaction in the terms that we are discussing it here, but one could assert that the reaction of readiness to work on a new issue is a form of healing reaction.

It's easy to feel like you're grasping at straws when trying to put words to the work of energy healing and its properties and effects, so I hope that what I have written here is helpful! All in all, I hope that those who may have had questions about healing reactions have a clearer picture of how they can be identified, and that their very occurrence means that HEALING has taken place, and unhelpful energy has been released! 

I would love to hear your thoughts about healing reactions and how you have experienced them. Please engage with me in the comments section below!

With LIGHT,

Haley


"A heart with a mystery on it" (c) Haley Steinhardt


Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Can Reiki Cause Harm?

Happy new year, Reiki friends! I would like to share with you here the unabridged, original version of an article I wrote that was just published in the Winter issue of Reiki News Magazine: Can Reiki Cause Harm? This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart, and I am excited to share the full article with you here on my site.

Wintry Reiki blessings to you!

LOVE,

Haley


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Can Reiki Cause Harm?


From explaining Reiki to a client or student, to Reiki support group discussions, to social media, chat rooms, and message boards, Reiki people far and wide are compelled to address this very important question: Can Reiki ever do harm? I’ll spare you the suspense and tell you that the short answer is, no, Reiki can never do harm. That said, let’s dig a little deeper into the title question here. Let’s look at some of the misconceptions that surround the practice of Reiki on people with certain conditions. Let’s even look at the aspects of our own human nature and personal responsibility and how these come into play when it comes to practicing energy work in a safe and conscious way.

            In my Reiki classes, I make a point of discussing the different forms that energy can take in the world around us, such as the way our body turns food into energy so we can go about our day; the energy of a lightning bolt as it charges up Mother Earth’s grid; the energy of our hopes and dreams when they take the form of desires. These are only a scant few examples of the many forms of energy that are constantly at work around and within us, and not all manifestations of energy are that of pure healing love and light.

Reiki is the energy of pure consciousness, untainted by emotion or desire. It does not depend on our approval, our understanding, or even our belief; it simply is. Reiki is a healing energy that is beyond any explanation of the word “healing”—or even the word “Reiki” itself—that I, or anyone, may have to offer. (And yet here I am attempting it!) Reiki is the energy of life as guided towards its highest purpose by the energy of spirit; it is the energy of the pure source of love and light.

Now, raise your hand if you’ve ever heard any of the following “Reiki don’ts”: Don’t do Reiki on a broken bone; it will heal too quickly, causing the healed bone to be out of alignment. Don’t do Reiki on a cancer patient; you will give energy to the tumor. Don’t do Reiki on someone who has low blood pressure; it will lower it even more. Don’t do Reiki on a pregnant woman. Don’t do Reiki on someone who has had a stroke. Don’t do Reiki on someone who has had a heart attack.

The list goes on. And perhaps you are even someone who has been taught or teaches these Reiki warnings. But let me ask you this: What would you say if I said no, don’t use the source of love and light on that broken bone. Don’t use light on that cancer patient. Don’t use love on that low-blood-pressure patient, pregnant woman, stroke patient, heart-attack patient. Don’t use the spiritually guided universal energy of life on that. It might make things worse. Sounds silly, right?

Here, I want to return to my initial point about how not all energy is Reiki; not all energy is the energy of pure healing from the source of all that is. Here in this physical realm, energy often manifests as electric in nature, so yes, absolutely, if you are practicing energy work that calls on the energy of the earth and its elements, certainly use caution! If you are doing energy work that uses your own energy to transfer to those around you, please, by all means, use caution (and more importantly, reconsider whether draining yourself truly serves anyone). But if you are practicing Reiki, that sacred art of getting out of the way to allow universal healing light to pass through you, the same cautionary notes do not apply.

            There is a story on the Internet about a person whose finger got cut off. As the story goes, there was a Reiki practitioner present who then did Reiki on the wounded individual the whole ride to the hospital. Upon arriving to the emergency room, when the surgeon went to look at reattaching the finger, he found that the injured hand had miraculously already healed up to such a degree that reattaching the finger was no longer possible. The conclusion was that somehow the Reiki was to blame, and that if the injured person had not received Reiki, the finger could have been reattached.

Let me first say that I am not a medical professional, and I do not personally know what conditions must exist in such circumstances for a detached finger to be reattached. I am, however, a Reiki Master. And to that end, I will simply offer the following questions. Do we only accept and validate healing that we can fully understand? If, in fact, the story above is a true one, does that mean that Reiki should not have been applied, and that it harmed the patient? How can we begin to know what would have happened if Reiki had never been applied? Did Reiki prevent the patient from bleeding out or suffering a blood clot that would later lead to stroke or death? Is it possible that we as humans do not typically have the capacity in this physical form to understand the nuances of deep healing on a universal scale? I would venture a guess that the patient in question would prefer to be missing a finger than losing a life.

The point is that we don’t know how Reiki helped this person. We don’t always get to know. It’s not up to us, which is perhaps the hardest truth to wrap our minds around (though our hearts know better). One thing that we do know is that Reiki is not bound by the confines of our wishes or understanding. Another thing we know is that Reiki is not the energy of harming; it is the energy of healing. Can we experience pain and suffering as we heal? Sure. But that is the nature of our human emotions and our physical experience.

Reiki is a healing catalyst that supports all beings in moving ever more towards right relationship with their highest purpose. And as a nice added bonus, current science also shows that it supports stress reduction and improves the body’s capacity for self-healing! As for putting science to the larger cosmic piece, we just aren’t totally there yet (though I highly recommend a fabulous documentary film called I Am if you’d like to learn more about the existing science on this larger cosmic scale).

Can Reiki ever do harm? No. Can we do harm? Yes. Simple, right? Well, yes and no. If we can do harm, what does this mean for those of us who are Reiki practitioners? I will offer you the considerations that I hold awareness of for myself each and every time I practice. See how and if they resonate with you.

1. Take responsibility for getting out of the way.
The key to allowing Reiki to flow through us as practitioners is that sacred transformation into the proverbial hollow bone or hollow reed. We empty ourselves of our “selfness” and ego to make room for the love and light of the universe to flow more strongly and clearly through us. Like meditation, this is a practice.

In the practice of meditation, we are taught to empty our minds, and not to struggle against thoughts or feelings that come, but rather to acknowledge them and allow them to float on by as we return to the meditation. This is also a good teaching for the practice of Reiki. As we enter that sacred space where we are vessels for Reiki to flow through, we can simply notice when we encounter thoughts or feelings that are outside of the Reiki. It is then our responsibility as practitioners to have an awareness that the ego has presented itself, to acknowledge it with compassion (i.e., don’t bother with negative self talk; simply be aware that personal thoughts or feelings have arisen), and then allow those manifestations of ego to simply drift on past as we return to the clear Reiki flow.

I find it very helpful to turn my full awareness to the love and light, basking in the energy of deep healing, smiling with gratitude and residing in that place even as my physical body serves as a tool to transmit healing energy to my client. In other words, I allow my ego mind to be held and healed and experience gratitude in the process of detaching from the physical act of doing energy work. This takes the ego to a safe, healing space so that the Reiki can work through my body to shine out into the world. The idea is not to throw the ego way or to scold it into submission; it is, rather, to allow all aspects that we identify as “self”—our emotions, thoughts, physical body sensations, etc.—to be healed and taken care of simultaneously to, yet separate from, the healing that is being transmitted to those we work on. So don’t beat yourself up for having a thought or a feeling during a session, but do maintain a clear awareness of when it happens so you can best serve yourself and your client.

If we were to do session work without this awareness, it is likely that the energy work being practiced would not be Reiki. Going back to the initial discussion here of how many different manifestations of energy exist in the world, this is where our responsibility lies, and why dedication to practice and awareness is an essential part of being a Reiki practitioner. Reiki can do no harm, but energy work delivered from the place of one’s own personal emotional reality drains the practitioner and may even do harm to the client.


2. Listen.
The practice of reiji-ho entails allowing yourself to be intuitively guided to where Reiki is needed most. Take this seed of thought and carry it over to allowing yourself to be aware when you encounter somewhere, something, or someone where there is resistance to Reiki. In other words, “listen” with your intuition for energetic yeses as well as nos.

To be clear, if you are practicing Reiki and not the energy work of your own emotional reality, you will not do harm. With that said, it is still good practice to cultivate your skill for intuitive listening. As discussed in consideration #1 above, we are human. It is natural for us to encounter the ego self even as we practice Reiki, and it is crucial that we are aware of that so we can allow the constant return to the Reiki flow. Taking the next step and cultivating our intuitive listening helps to ensure that we do not bring the energy of the ego self as healer (rather than Reiki as healer) into a session where there is an existing energy of resistance.

Reiki can never do harm; Reiki never forces or manipulates energy… but human beings can do all of the above, even unwittingly. So, trust the Reiki as healer, cultivate awareness of when your own energy comes into play so you can gently return to the flow of Reiki, and practice your intuitive listening skills so that you don’t unwittingly apply ego-based energy work to a resistant person, place, or thing. (NOTE: I will sometimes silently ask an area of the client’s body if it is ready to receive healing. If I get a clear push back, I will simply hold space nearby for a moment and let the Reiki flow through me to wherever it is needed most, trusting that the Reiki will help prepare that resistant area for healing whenever the time is right. I may check back with that area later in the same session to see if the energy has shifted, and sometimes, it has! If not, I observe with awareness, acknowledge, and continue with the session, returning to the space of being that sacred hollow bone.)


3. Don’t fling energy around.
Last but not least in my short list of practitioner safety tips is this little gem: Don’t fling energy around. I was told a story this past year of a Reiki practitioner who had a tree right outside her treatment room. As she cleared energy from her clients, she always flung it out the window. Well, the tree died. I will say a couple of things here, as I think this has the stuff of Reiki urban legend about it. First off, I do not know this practitioner personally, so I cannot speak to his or her practice of Reiki. I am of the opinion that if one is truly in the place of being the hollow vessel for Reiki as one moves energy, this would not happen, as the Reiki would take care of the energy completely. That said, I think this story also has an important lesson in it that we can all take to heart. No one wants to be the wet, muddy dog that walks in and shakes itself off without a thought, covering the room with mud spatter even as it beams love! Just because the dog didn’t mean to make a mess, doesn’t mean it didn’t.

            What does this mean for Reiki practitioners? Certainly, many of us feel the need to clear our energy field, whether during or after a session, or even out in the world going about our day. We can certainly accomplish this without thoughtlessly flinging energetic crud around. Here are a couple of suggestions:

  • Consciously give all cleared energy to the light. This doesn’t have to be a big ordeal or take a long time, and you can do it easily even as you work on a client. Simply be aware of giving all cleared energy to the light itself, or to any beings of light who are your helpers, if that feels good to you.
  • Give the cleared energy to Mother Earth. One of the sweetest gifts of this beautiful planet Earth is her offer of transmutation. Earth can transmute negative energy into positive, healing energy, just as she takes death and decay and creates growth and new life. It is always good to do this practice with deep gratitude, a space which you are ideally already in if you are in session!
             
And as I mentioned, you can do this out in the world, as well. I energetically sweep seats in public spaces, or do the kenyoku “dry bathing” technique on myself whenever I feel called to, and I hold an awareness of moving this energy to the light or to Mother Earth as I do so. Awareness is the key element here. So, be aware. Practice compassionate acknowledgement and release of ego so you can be a clear channel for Reiki energy. Cultivate your intuitive listening skills. Be conscious of clearing energy in a helpful, non-harmful way.


Reiki can never do harm. Our responsibility and commitment as practitioners is to continually cultivate our Reiki connection, our Reiki practice, and our self-awareness to help ensure that we don’t either. Shine on, Reiki friends.

Winter Tree © Haley Steinhardt