ALOHA
Welcome to Thursday
in
Honolulu
click on photos to saturate your senses
The cruise ship is in!
"The mind I love must have wild places,
a tangled orchard where dark damsons drop in the heavy grass,
an overgrown little wood,
the chance of a snake or two,
a pool that nobody's fathomed the depth of,
and paths threaded with flowers
planted by the mind."
Katherine Mansfield
Holidays are nice, but isn't it a relief when the relatives have all gone home?
"We are only the beginning. I am only a beginner."
I was successful in digging up monuments
from the substrata of the mind.
But where I have discovered a few temples,
others may discover a continent."
Freud
Who? ME?!
"The little things? The little moments?
They aren't little."
Jon Kabat-Zinn
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Dr. Mehmet Oz is an outstanding surgeon,
author, and medical professor,
whose communication skills and easy going presentation
make him arguably the most popular and influential health educator on the scene today.
On his popular daily TV show (where does he find the time? The energy?)
he engages the audience in an authentic and effective way
that never fails to give me some simple, practical ways
of supporting my health & well being.
Yesterday (Jan 6) he shared and demonstrated his "best" of
"Alternative" or rather "Integrative" medicine;
practices that his own family relies on.
The doctor's #1 tip of the day?
Try REIKI.
I have been a practitioner of REIKI for around two years.
Discovered and promulgated almost a hundred years ago in Japan by
Dr. Mikao Usui, and brought to Hawaii (as well as the rest of the world)
The US National Institutes of Health
consider it one form of "Energy Healing"
and investigation is underway.
Instead of purporting to move the recipient's bio-energies
as some other techniques do,
REIKI practioners (like me) balance their own energy
(as well as the energy of those they serve)
by gently placing our hands on certain positions of the body
and allowing the REIKI to flow.
It does so because of an "initiation" (opening up natural channels)
and some instruction
given us by a REIKI Master.
One needn't think or believe anything in particular
in order to recieve a REIKI treatment.
It is compatible with any faith, or no faith,
though Mrs. Takata oft called it "God Power" in her teaching.
Normal life depletes the body's natural energies.
Sleep replenishes us, so does REIKI -
and it is JUST as natural!
One's energy field is gently, yet powerfully
balanced and "re-filled"
which results in the reduction of pain,
anxiety, nausea, and other discomforts.
New practioners often report improved sleep and digestion.
(Me too!)
I have enjoyed some amazing insights as well!
When I told my trusted physician about my new practice
he told me the story of a concert pianist who suffered a stroke,
but was able to perform again "because of REIKI."
Those are my doctor's own words!
And YES, I do still go to the physician from time to time.
I often think of REIKI as a massage from the inside.
It feels good, my life (including certain health issues) has improved immeasurably, and it has twisted my mind into a
most pleasant pretzel.
How can this work? I wonder-
even as I experience results.
Sometimes the hands feel hot, or cold,
or as if they are vibrating subtly.
Sometimes nothing is felt but the results,
including a spectacular sense of well-being
which, incidentally, fuels much of the writing here at Da Spiral.
Many hospitals now integrate REIKI into patient services,
some even employ REIKI masters (sometimes the hospital chaplain) to supervise this service, and even to initiate interested staff!
Dr. Oz told us that his wife is a REIKI master,
and that she often treats him and their children.
"Do the hands feel warm?" He asked the audience member
receiving a brief treatment on stage.
When she answered affirmatively, he asked her what else she felt.
"My headache is going away." She answered.
Suddenly Dr. Oz' easy manner,
boundless energy,
and contagious attitude
made sense to me:
It's the REIKI!
The same practice that has improved my life,
and that of my family
isn't "fringe" any more after today.
So listen to your intuition.
If it is telling you to try REIKI
take it from me:
you have nothing to lose
and much to gain.
Recieving a treatment is nice.
But getting initiated
and practicing self-treatment regularly
will do more for you
than any apple-a-day ever will!
ALOHA, CLOUDIA