REIKI: HEALING HANDS IN KENNEBUNK MAINE

I recently received a referral from a friend of mine who has a day care for dogs.

This week (Thursday, March 17, 2011) I will be teaching the first lesson of a four hour course in Reiki I at Kennebunk High School, Fletcher St, Kennebunk, ME.  This week's lesson begins at 6:00 PM & goes until 8 PM.  Each class is different, but I have found that almost everyone who is interested in learning Reiki has a desire to be helping his fellow man.  However, the focus of Reiki I is SELF help.  I teach that the healer must fill her own vessel before she can offer healing to another.  I encourage the student of Reiki I to take care of herself first, and when offering Reiki to others, to be aware of her own well-being during the healing session.  Reiki is not about self-sacrifice.  Rather, it is about taking responsibility for your own health, comfort, and well-being.  One's first responsibility is to himself.  While Reiki is also meant to be offered to others for healing, the healer must first attend to her self.  A healer who takes care of himself and demonstrates this to others teaches all who know him a valuable lesson about self care. 

If you would like to learn a way to help yourself as well as others, a way that is easy to learn, a way that can change your life--join us this week & next at Kennebunk Adult Education.  I would love to have you in my class.

Namaste.

Adult Education of the Kennebunks has kindly invited me back to teach Reiki I for what may be my 7th year.  Starting this coming Thursday evening, October 7, 2010, I will be setting up my reiki table at Kennebunk High School on Fletcher St  and teaching the course to several new students.  The course starts at 6 PM and will run for 2 hours.  We will start with simple introductions:  I ask each student to tell us a little bit about himself, especially what he expects to get from our class & what led him to reiki.  After introductions we proceed with introducing reiki:  the pronunciation, the derivation, the history, the effects, and more.  Then, after a brief break, we gather around the reiki table to start the most popular part of the course--the practice of reiki.  In this portion  of the class each student will practice a reiki session, learning the hand positions.  Each student will feel the movement of reiki for himself, and will see how it affects the recipient.  Each student also gets the chance to be the recipient of a reiki treatment.  I am not sure which is more life-changing:  feeling the peace and healing of reiki in your body as reiki is given to you, or seeing the immense change in the person you give reiki to and knowing that you can now "flow" this healing energy yourself.
Being able to give reiki is a privilege and an honor, and I have never met a student of reiki who has felt otherwise.  I know that, for me, it is an honor to teach this course, and I give thanks to all my students for what they have brought to my understanding of reiki. 

"Effects of Reiki on Anxiety, Depression, Pain, and Physiological Factors in Community-Dwelling Older Adults"

This article is about the Reiki Research Study that I participated in at University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME in the fall of 2008.  It is published in Research in Gerontological Nursing, Volume 3, Number 3, 2010.  To view the abstract go to:  
 http://www.geronurseresearch.com/view.asp?rID=66065

What exactly is meditation anyway?  "It's not what you think."  In other words, meditation is not thinking about something, pondering big issues, or contemplating your navel.  It is about emptying your mind or quieting the endless chatter that your mind barrages you with whenever you attempt to slow down and be still.  There are different types of meditation.  Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peacemaker, and poet, does walking meditation where he walks slowly, deliberately, and mindfully, preferably somewhere outdoors exposed to Nature.  He co-ordinates his breathing to his step; for instance, you can take 3 steps for each in-breath and then 3 steps with each out-breath. Doing this keeps you in the present moment, the here and now.  It discourages the incessant chatter of the mind. 

Sharon Salzberg, tells of another type of meditation:  lovingkindness meditation.  This type of meditation is a little more mentally active as it requires you to direct your feelings of lovingkindness, first to yourself, then outward to those closest to you (in relationship, not proximity), and finally to your enemies.  It sounds very simple, and it is; however, it is not easy!  It is one of the first meditations I ever attempted.  It is a beautiful meditation and engenders happiness and feelings of well-being.

Another type of meditation, and this may be the most difficult, is emptying the mind of all thoughts so you can hear "the still small voice within".  The mind gets noisier as you try to clear out the thoughts.  Many meditators feel they have failed at meditation if they can not eradicate the wayward thoughts, but meditation is bringing the mind back to silence -over and over again.  When a new thought invades the quiet, simply notice it,  let it go, and then bring your mind  back to the silence.  Do not be judgmental of either the thought or of the thinker.  You may even find that after you have done this type of meditation for a long while your thoughts become more "unmanageable".  This is usually a sign that you are approaching the stillness, and the mind, in a last ditch effort to overcome its own annihilation, throws everything it has at you.  Be diligent and you will experience the stillness. 

It is helpful when meditating to ask:  "Who is the meditator?"  "Who is thinking the thought?"  If you can step back from yourself and be the observer of the thoughts, noticing the thoughts as they pass, neither judging them nor "scolding" the thinker, it may lead to less frustration. 

Whatever type of meditation you do it is an important part of your spiritual life.  It is only in the silence that you can hear your inner voice and the truth of its message for you.  In his book "Your Life is Your Message", author Eknath Easwaran, Indian author and teacher in the United States,  encourages  his students who are seeking harmony in their lives to adopt his Eight Point Program.  The number one point in this program is:  Meditation. 

Helpful reading:
1.  "Your Life is Your Message", by Eknath Easwaran
2.  "Lovingkindness", by Sharon Salzberg
3.  "Peace is Every Step", by Thich Nhat Hanh
4.  "Discover Inner Peace", by Mike George

Inspiring words that are helpful in one's spiritual life:

If you have hurt me in thought, word, or deed, knowingly or unknowingly, I freely forgive you.
If I have hurt you in thought, word, or deed, knowingly or unknowingly, I ask you to freely forgive me.
May I find happiness, peace and freedom.
May all my friends find happiness, peace, and freedom.
May all my enemies find happiness, peace and freedom.

May you enjoy a rich spiritual life.

I will be teaching a Reiki I course for the Adult Education program at Kennebunk High School, Kennebunk, ME for the 6th year.  We always have a group of students who are interested in growing and learning new ways to help themselves and others.  If you are searching for a way to take responsibility for your own life, healing & well being and to help your friends and family, this may well be what you are looking for.  The focus in Reiki I is self healing and taking on the job of minding your own health.  You must first of all take care of yourself.  It is not selfish; it is the only way we can be strong enough to take care of others.  The first thing the Reiki practitioner learns is how to perform self reiki.  In Reiki I the student learns that healing another is not about sacrificing your own well being or health in order to help others.  One's first responsibility is to one's self.  One teaches by example:  eat well, take your vitamins, wear your seat belt, exercise, save your money, eat 5 to 7 servings of fruits & vegetables daily, practice reiki every day.  Having said that, I must also tell you that you do not need to wait until you have reached a state of perfection before offering reiki to  others.  If that were true no one could teach reiki to others.  Reiki, like LIFE, is a process, a becoming, an unfolding.  In reiki we start with what you are & build upon it.  We are all on our different paths.  Reiki can be a way to advance on your path.  Come try it!   The world needs more reiki energy.
To enroll in Reiki I at Kennebunk Adult Education, Kennebunk, ME call (207)985-1116.

My Reiki II class is well underway.  It is a private class with only one student--a lady who has been using her Reiki I skills on a regular basis, for self-reiki as well as reiki for her friends and family.  She has shown herself to be committed to reiki and a serious student.  She is ready for this next step.

We begin Reiki II with a brief review of  Reiki I and then go on to an introduction to the 7 chakras.  Chakras are energy centers or vortices  that correspond to 7 nerve plexuses & also to the endocrine system.

• Chakra 1 is located in the region of the coccygeal plexus, is related to the adrenal glands, corresponds to the color red, and, as the root chakra, is concerned with issues of survival. 
• Chakra 2, also known as the relationship chakra, is located at the sacral plexus, is related to the gonads (ovaries and testicles), corresponds to the color orange, and is active in matters of creativity--the incubation of creative ideas. 
• Chakra 3  is located at the solar plexus, corresponds to the color yellow and is involved with the ego or your personal power. 
• Chakra 4 is the heart chakra and is active in matters of unconditional love, self-acceptance, and a non-judgemental viewpoint.  Either the color rose or green is the corresponding color representing this chakra; the thymus gland is the connection to the endocrine system, and it is located at the heart or the cardio-pulmonary plexus. 
• The throat is the location of the 5th chakra & is involved in issues surrounding your creative voice and artistic expression.  The color associated with chakra 5 is blue, the glands are the thyroids and parathyroids. 
• The 6th chakra is known as the third eye and is located on the brow between the eyes.  The gland that corresponds with the 6th chakra is the pineal gland, and the associated color is indigo, a dark blue.  This chakra is the site of intuition. 
• The 7th chakra, located at the  crown, is involved with spirituality and living in the present moment.  The color is lavender, the gland the pituitary, the master gland.

The above treatment of chakras is just an overview and a superficial treatment of the chakra system.  Two of the books I use to teach chakras are:  Anatomy of the Spirit, by Caroline Myss, and Wheels of Life, by Anodea Judith. 

My Reiki I course that is offered through Kennebunk Adult Education was a success.  The world now has 4 more people who have started on a path of healing.  Soon I will be offering a course in Reiki II.  Where the focus of Reiki I is self-healing and taking responsibility for one's own health, Reiki II is now encouraging the student to offer healing to others.  This course will concentrate on the 7 Chakras-their location on the body, the parts of the endocrine and nervous systems that are related to them, and several other correspondences, such as colors, gemstones, and the psychological meanings.  The course also covers the three Reiki symbols that are used at this level.  These symbols must be learned & memorized.  We also learn their many uses, especially their use in distant healing. 

The books that I use in this course are Diane Stein's "ESSENTIAL REIKI", Anodea Judith's "WHEELS OF LIFE", Caroline Myss's "ANATOMY OF THE SPIRIT", and William Lee Rand's "REIKI, THE HEALING TOUCH".  As you can see from all that we cover in this course, there is quite a bit of homework.  This homework consists of reading, journaling one's experiences in using reiki, learning the 3 symbols & their uses, and the names, locations & significance of the 7 chakras. 

During the first class the students will receive a single attunement.  This is an initiation, an opening up or clearing of the student's energy channels to better allow the flow of reiki energy.  Each student experiences this attunement process a little differently.  Some students have felt tingling in the palms of their hands, or their crowns.  This is not surprising since I send reiki energy & symbols to both those areas.  Others feel warmth in their hands.  Since this energy can be quite subtle many students don't feel it immediately after the attunement, but do feel it later on in the class.  And some  people don't feel anything until the next day.

Those students who complete the Reiki II course will receive a certificate stating that they have attained the second degree in the USUI REIKI method of natural healing.  I will be offering this course in Kennebunk, ME sometime in April or May.  Those who are interested in this class should call or e-mail me for dates & times.  Students who received Reiki I training from another teacher are welcome to take my Reiki II course as long as they bring their Reiki I certificate.

In March 2009 I will be teaching a REIKI I Class for the Adult Education program in Kennebunk, ME.  It will be held on 2 consecutive Thursday evenings:  March 19 & 26, from 6 pm to 8 pm at Kennebunk High School on Fletcher St, Kennebunk. 

The focus of REIKI I is self healing, taking responsibility for one's own health and well-being.  In this class I will teach a little history of Reiki, including the traditional story of its founder, Mikao Usui; the derivation of the word "reiki"; and the story of its introduction to the US by Madame Hawayo Takata.  That is all very interesting, but the most popular part of the class is the actual hands on teaching of self-healing & healing another.  After being given the first attunements, the students learn the hand positions that form the basis of a REIKI treatment.  Each student gets the chance to give REIKI and to receive REIKI during this class.  It is very much a "hands on" type of learning experience.  Students are encouraged to use their intuition, but I have found it is helpful for beginning students of REIKI to have a set of hand positions to use at first until they trust themselves enough to follow their own intuition.  Each student is given a handout that includes illustrations of the hand positions, the REIKI story, an outline of what I teach in the class, a book list, a resource list and more.   Each student is encouraged to practice REIKI on himself and on anyone else who is willing to receive it and to write about his REIKI experiences in a journal which he can then share with the class or not.  There is also a simple assignment to read part of a book on REIKI and be prepared to discuss it in class.  During the second and final class students discuss their homework, receive their final attunements, give and receive REIKI, take an exam and receive a certificate.  These new students are then encouraged to do self REIKI every day and to start to view life in a new way.

Dr Mikao Usui formulated the following REIKI Principles:
    1.  Just for today, do not be angry.
    2.  Just for today, do not worry.
    3.  Just for today, be grateful.
    4.  Just for today, earn your living honestly.        
    5.  Just for today, be kind to every living thing.

What a wonderful way to live one's life!

Recently (October 2008) I became involved in an exciting research study at the University of Southern Maine.  A Reiki student of mine, who is an associate professor at USM, received a grant to study the therapeutic effects of Reiki on patients, age 60 years and over, who suffer from anxiety and depression and/or pain.  The subjects were carefully screened, and then they answered questionnaires to determine their levels of anxiety, depression and pain prior to starting the study.  Each Reiki practitioner (master/teacher level) met with the same subjects every week and gave 30 minutes of Reiki to each subject once a week for 8 weeks.  At the end of the 8 weeks, each subject was interviewed again to determine any change in level of anxiety, depression or pain.  At every visit each of the subjects had his or her blood pressure and pulse recorded before and after the Reiki session as well as his level of pain.  The study is still underway even though my part in the research is over.  I got so much positive feedback from the subjects that I had the privilege of working with for 8 weeks that I am already convinced of the therapeutic effects of Reiki.  I now eagerly await the tabulated results of this research study to be published.