My latest Reiki Blue post ...

Reiki ~ “The Secret Art of Inviting Happiness”

Since my last visit to Prototypes I’ve been meaning to post a blog entry. I have considered going a number of directions with this blog. I’ve sat down to write four times and the words simply didn’t flow. My first subject matter, the title of this blog is the only thing that I am called to write about. I initially thought that this subject was just too simple, not enough about the actual experience at Prototypes, too much about me and my experience with Reiki. I am back here at the keyboard (for the fifth time now) to write about my first subject matter and it is flowing, after all how could I write about an experience other than my own anyway?

Mikao Usui is the founding father of Reiki. I am not a worthy historian when it comes to Usui or Reiki so I won’t increase the number of words in this post with too much of the story, even HIStory (Master Usui’s story) in this blog. I will say that in my opinion Master Usui was an amazing man, unique in many ways. Master Usui lived an authentic life of expansiveness and diversity. He forged his own way in the world, sacrificing his own comforts for the highest good of others. He devoted his life to energy healing, healing others, becoming “one with Reiki”. He was a modest Super Human. Master Usui was a great example of living a life of loving service.

It is said that Master Usui was approximately a decade into his walk with Reiki when he determined that even with the difficulties he had experienced along the way, Reiki had given him the greatest happiness of his life. He knew that loving service, helping others, promoting energy healing, being One with Rieki, living his life as he was meant to live it had established an art. After ten years with Reiki Master Usui decided that Reiki was “The Secret Art of Inviting Happiness”.

My last visit to Prototypes was on Thursday, March 31. I started the day with the open mind to share with the women at Prototypes whatever my heart spoke of Reiki in the moment. I knew that I would offer an introduction to energy healing, the importance of patterned breath and breathing deeply and fully. I knew I would encourage the women to breathe in this way so that they could engage easily into the center of their being, at the heart beat itself and from there, they would become more present in their bodies.

During the day leading up to my visit to Prototypes I found myself filled with serenity while walking step by step through my life. I was working my basic tasks of watering my garden, cleaning my dog’s teeth, feeding the backyard menagerie of bird life and doing basic household chores. The day was one of our first really warm days of spring, and after many, very many days of chill and rain, I was delighted to take in the warmth of the sun on my body and the beauty of the clear blue skies above me. I was joyful and simply happy.

I paused at one point to consider my happiness and I thought of my walk with Reiki. I thought of how my life has changed so much over the years (a decade) and I thought of my pleasure in my work tasks that used to be more of a pressure from work tasks. I acknowledged my growth and I realized that I had found myself living Master Usui’s claim, that Reiki, when practiced devotedly over time is “the secret art of inviting happiness”. I decided in that moment that I would share a bit that day with the women at Prototypes about Reiki being this secret art form, leading to happiness.

As always, one good direction heading towards Prototypes can easily go another good direction once you enter the doors there. As I mentioned in my last blog the women are often experiencing one form or another of stress or anxiety, they have a multitude of thoughts on their minds, they have come from an assortment of previous environments and they are easily distracted. They appear to lack a deep, long attention span and rarely are they present in their bodies. It is always amazing to witness the massive energy that a group of these women can show up with and I love this.

This day was no different than the others with the women entering with their own experiences front and center for them. This day included the majority of these women working to organize a large rummage sale that was scheduled to take place at Prototypes the upcoming weekend. The day was warm and the women were all affected in one way or another by the rummage sale organization and by the warm weather.

Allison Stillman was right by my side as usual … OH THE JOY OF HAVING ALLISON STILLMAN RIGHT BY MY SIDE … and Allee worked her magic in bringing the Prototype women into circle. The group energy was WILD. It was particularly hard to get the group focus together and some of the women were completely interested in Reiki and others were in their chairs and completely out of body, many appeared to be completely out of the room and not at all interested in Reiki.

I began talking about breath and working with the women to get them into their bodies and to get the Reiki flowing. One by one the women connected in, even the women who were out of body and the women who appeared to be out of the room eventually came into the room and into their bodies too. Keeping the women on track for breath alone was not easy so the challenge was there to get them to consider working with energy for healing.

The group eventually became receptive and it was beautiful to see these women support themselves in a greater calm, a more present state of being and these women created change that affected the change of the entire room and each person in it. One woman was very resistant to it all; typically this woman has remained resistant to me, to Reiki and any idea of energy work, energy healing and self healing. She has been consistently difficult to try to keep on track and she has been unwilling to conform to group activity. She is not obnoxious or rude in anyway, she simply has and holds her own agenda.

I was verbally guiding the women with deep breath work, connecting them to the heart beat and working with them to sense the energy in their bodies. The group was cooperative and most of them were very successful in feeling their individual energy field. These women were markedly affected by the calming nature of this basic practice. The one woman continued to be demonstrative and kindly combative with me. I kept at the process, encouraging them all to stay with in, focusing now on the woman with the greatest resistance to it all.

I talked to the women about feeling the energy. I asked them to feel the physical body, to feel the emotional and mental state that they were in. I asked them to feel for a shift in energy in and around them. It was all positive at this point, even the gently combative nature of the one woman, as she caused me to go deeper with the other women who were present.

At this point I asked the group to place their hands close to the other hand in prayer position but with their hands about and inch or two apart to see if they felt energy coming from their hands. This request created a sweet experience as the women could all feel this energy. This request created the best experience as the woman that was most resistant to the entire experience literally jumped out of her seat and almost stood completely upright, before she circled back around to her seat to sit back down. She exclaimed that she could feel the energy between her hands. She was none the less “trippin” (that was her word) on the full effects of Reiki, and the Reiki that she was “trippin” on was her Reiki. This woman exclaimed that she felt “high” … “really high” and she asked me … “is this Reiki? Is this Reiki that is making me feel high?” I answered her that she was feeling the natural high of her energy body.

I was delighted at this point.

In less than an hour, again … a large group of women went from one side of the spectrum of energy to another side of the spectrum of energy. They went from stressed out to blessed out. It was wonderful to experience.

I left knowing what I felt. I felt great happiness. I thought that perhaps I am an art teacher instead of a Reiki teacher.

What would the heart do ...

What would the heart do if you decided to really grow?

The heart would rise to 'unmeasurable' heights, it would fall to 'unmeasurable' depths, it would expand to 'unmeasurable' widths and it would beat beyond any capacity that you have known in any previous moment. The heart would reach to the ends of time to gather together the very best of you. The heart would reach from the beginning of the first moment to gather together the very best of you. The heart would call to the angels and the demons for surrender. The heart would support each and every breath that you take with light and love. The heart would open and reveal the soul. The heart would love you ... always and in all ways as you are and of course as you will be too.

So grow, grow now ... grow as you want to ... grow as you should grow, grow as you are called to ... grow now ... just GROW.