The "Just Fold it in" Series: Raising Your Vibration

Hey everyone it's Amanda and I'm back this week with another update to the, "Just Fold it in" series. So that's what I've been calling this series, where I'm defining more clearly some spiritual terms that are used often, but I find are often left kind of hanging and left not clearly defined. I'm calling it the, "Just Fold it in" series (for anyone who's not familiar), there's a tv series called Schitt's Creek, and the mother and adult son are making a recipe together. The mother just keeps telling him to "Just fold it in" and he doesn't know what she means and she doesn't know what it means either, so she just keeps saying, "Just fold it in". So that's what I'm relating to these spiritual terms that people keep repeating but not always necessarily knowing exactly what they mean. So far in this series, we have covered grounding and clearing your energy. If you've missed those you can look back in the other previous videos. Also, this week I wanted to add in, "raise your vibration". I think that's another term that gets thrown out there a lot in the spiritual world.

So what exactly does this mean? We have to remember that we're all energy ... everyone is energy, everything is made up of energy. Everything and everyone has its own vibrational frequency that it is emitting out into the world and that they're operating in. This can fluctuate and change, which is the good news, that we have some control over our energetic frequency and state. So, when we're in a high vibrational state, this can be described as light and easy, and peaceful. However, when in a lower vibrational state, this will feel heavier, darker and feels more difficult and stuck. When we're finding ourselves in those lower vibrational frequencies, this is a time for us to raise our vibration. So, what can we do now, when we realize that we're in this lower vibrational energy? What can we do now to raise our vibration?

One of the best ways to raise your vibration is through, gratitude. At the top of the emotional frequency chart is gratitude. It is one of the top emotions on the scale. So, if we can catch ourselves in those moments where we're feeling in that lower vibrational frequency and flip our thoughts to gratitude in the moment or implement a routine practice of gratitude at a certain time each day, we can immediate raise our vibrational frequency. I really like the book, 1000 gifts, where the author speaks about noticing all the things throughout daily life that we have to be grateful for ... all those beautiful small things that we overlook. For example, how the light hits soap bubble in the sink and creates a rainbow, how dewdrops look on the leaves in the morning, or the sound of a crackling fire. All those small moments that we can stop and anchor ourselves in the moment, adding to our mindfulness, adding to our presence in the moment, and raising our vibration with this gratitude.

Some other ways to raise your vibration is to surround yourself with beautiful nature, such as taking a walk in nature (adding in the exercise piece as well), surround yourself with positive media (TV, books, music, videos) and surrounding ourselves with positive relationships that nurture us. I think that's something that we maybe need to take a look at sometimes is, what are we allowing into our space, what types of media, are we consuming, and raising our vibration by carefully selecting what we're letting in.

Additional ways to raise your vibration include clearing methods such as: Palo Santo or Sage, clearing out physical clutter, or clearing out clutter from your calendar, taking a bath, a shower, or being in natural waters.

Looking at your diet is another great way to raise your vibration. So looking at reducing alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and any of those things that are in the lower vibration and adding in more of those high vibrational foods (fruits and vegetables and things that we know nourish our bodies).

Lastly, looking at the toxins that are we're letting into our life. Are there any areas of our life that we can reduce our toxic load and clean it up a little bit.

I hope that this was helpful for you to learn a little bit more about raising your vibration and hopefully there's some more clarity around what that means. Maybe you can try to incorporate one or more of these ideas into your life now. If there are any other terms that you'd like to see defined more clearly, please let me know!

If you're ready to take a look at your energy, and maybe you needed a little bit of time for yourself ... some clearing out and balancing you can schedule your Reiki appointment yourself right on my website, amandakugler.com.

The "Just Fold it in" Series: Clearing Your Energy

Hey everyone it's Amanda, and I'm back this week with another video for you in the "Just fold it in" series. If you missed last week, we talked about grounding your energy. I used the example from the show, Schitt's Creek. There was a scene where the mother was telling the son to "just fold it in", when they were cooking, and he had no idea what she meant and she just kept saying just fold it in. I feel like there are many terms in the spiritual/self help arena that people use that aren't very clear and I'm not sure that they're ever really well defined. So, I was hoping to do this series to shed a little more clarity on some of these terms. For this week, I was hoping to talk a little bit about "clearing your energy" or "cleansing your energy".

So, when might you need to clear your energy? When you're feeling a little bit heavy, you're feeling a little bit scattered, a little bit sad, or a little bit anxious. Sometimes you may be experiencing these undesirable feelings and maybe you're not even sure why you're feeling some of these. Sometimes what can happen is we can pick up energy from others around us. When you're in a crowded environment around a lot of people, you may pick up the energy from others (the frequency that they are putting out into the world), and some of the emotions that they are feeling. It can be helpful from time to time to clear your energy, as well as the energy of a room or a house or an environment.

There are several ways that you can do this, and one of them is using sage or Palo Santo. Sage is sold in little dried bundles and you can buy them anywhere in local natural shops or on Amazon even. What you'll do is burn the end of the bundle for just a short period and blow it out, and then spread the smoke around the environment. It's good to have the windows open during this process to help with the clearing. Palo Santo is another option for clearing out a space. Palo Santo is a considered a holy wood, and this wood is only harvested once the tree has naturally fallen. They don't cut down the trees to harvest the wood. I personally prefer the scent of the Palo Santo better than sage, it has a really nice sweet scent to it, and both will help to cleanse or clear the energy of a space or yourself. You can also use the smoke (carefully!) around yourself with the intention of clearing your energy as well.

Another method you can use for clearing your energy or cleansing your energy is using crystals. A really great one is Selenite. Selenite is a really nice cleansing, clearing crystal. You will just pass the crystal over your body while holding the intention to clear your energy. You can also keep them around your home to help cleanse the energy of your space.

Another one is water. Water is a very cleansing, clearing element. Taking a bath with Epsom salt or sea salt can also be really cleansing and clearing. Other ways to utilize water to cleanse or clear your energy is through a shower or swimming in the ocean or other natural waters.

Next, meditations can be a great cleansing practice. There are many meditations that are meant for clearing your energy. I have one that I've recorded (I can attach below) that visits each of the seven chakras and sets the intention of clearing each one, helping the energy to flow through each, so that the energy flows through your system as it's supposed to.

Lastly, the practice of Reiki can be an excellent way to clear your energy. Reiki is an energy healing modality that works to re-establish balance within your energetic system. Negative stored energy is released and your chakra system is cleared so that energy can flow through the system. Following a Reiki session, you will feel lighter, balanced and more grounded.

So those are some ideas for cleansing and clearing your energy. After clearing your energy, you'll notice lightness ... lightness in the room ... lightness in your body ... an overall feeling of balance and lightness.

So that's what the phrase "clear your energy" means ... to let go of any energy that's not your own ... let go of energy that is negative ... let go of any energy that's not serving you and keeping you moving forward in a positive manner.

The "Just Fold it in" Series: Grounding

This week I wanted to start a new series. I'm going to call it the, "Just fold it in" series. So if you're not familiar, there's a show called Schitt's Creek. In this show there's a scene where the mother is telling the son to just "fold in" the cheese into the dish that they're making. He didn't understand what she meant by "just fold it in" and she kept saying "just fold it in". This was a very funny scene, but I feel like it relates to a lot of these spiritual terms that people throw out, and a lot of times we're not always exactly sure what they're talking about. Most of the time they don't actually ever get defined well enough and we're left confused and unsure. So one of those terms for me was grounding. People would say you need to ground yourself or you have to ground your energy. I felt like in the beginning of my journey, everyone kept saying, "just ground your energy" and I was like, Okay? What? So it felt like that "just fold it in" scene for me. So I was hoping to do this series to hopefully bring a little more clarity to some of these terms.

For today, I want to talk about grounding, or grounding your energy. This practice is very important and helpful and it's not as complicated or involved as it sounds. So first I'll start with why what grounding is, why you might want to do it, and when you might need to do it. So grounding basically means to bring yourself back to the present moment, to immediately connect within, and to connect with your physical environment and your physical body. Grounding is pulling your mind back down, out of that other time/other place where it is. It's about balancing your energy between the spiritual, emotional, mental, and the physical. So, anchoring is another good word for it, anchoring yourself here in the physical body in the physical environment where you are.

Sometimes we can find ourselves getting lost in our mind and in our thoughts. Even possibly our spiritual connection can at times leave us feeling disconnected. We also need to make sure that we are balancing our energy and connecting back with the physical because we are here on Earth and in our physical bodies.

The question now is, when might you want to do this? You might want to do some grounding exercises when you feel scattered, or disorganized. When you notice that you are all over the place, when you're making mistakes left and right, when you can't get yourself together, it may be time for some grounding. Also, when you're feeling anxious or you're focusing too much on the future grounding will be helpful. Also, when you're feeling really disconnected from reality, or disconnected from others. Any kind of disconnection is a sign that it's time for some grounding. Lastly, if you're feeling really depressed, or really stuck on past experiences, and you find you are continuing to ruminate over and over, you might want to bring in a grounding exercise.

There are several different ways that you can ground your energy and there's no wrong way. Find what resonates for you and what feels right, or just doing whatever you can remember in the moment. I think sometimes we don't do practices that can be helpful for us because we get stuck on trying to do things perfectly.

The first way you can ground your energy is to connect with nature. Whenever you're in nature, that's a great start. Feeling your bare feet on the earth is a really great way, feeling the grass, or the dirt. Being in the ocean. Being at any natural water source, listening to the sounds of nature, or observing nature, just getting out there is the number one way you can start to ground yourself and bring yourself back to this physical connection with the physical.

The second way to ground your energy is through visualization exercises. This is one that I often do and is really my go to. I use this a lot as part of my Reiki sessions for others too. When I am working with a person who has a lot of anxiety, or has a very busy mind, I'll try to help by doing some visualization exercises during our session to ground them. These exercises will help to bring them back down, keep them feeling stable and steady. When we're anxious we're not feeling safe or secure. That's part of what grounding is about. So one type of visualization you can do is to picture roots growing from the bottom of your the soles of your feet, and then the visualizing those roots growing deeper through the building, down through the floor of the building, down through the ground underneath, and all the way to the core of the Earth. I sometimes visualize those roots going out connecting to all living beings. This exercise will also help us to remember that we're all one and that we're all connected. When you visualize that nice, deep root system, it helps to give a feeling of security, that we're connected to this earth, and that we have a nice stable wide base to help us be steady.

The next exercise you can use to ground your energy is a one-minute, 5...4...3...2...1 countdown. When we do this we're going to use our five senses, which are always here in the physical. For this exercise you will start by noticing five things that you can see in your immediate environment. Then noticing four things that you can hear in the present moment. Then noticing three things that you can feel in that moment. Then noticing two things that you can smell, and then ending with one deep breath. Don't worry if you mix up which number goes with which sense! It doesn't matter! This is another great exercise to pull you out of your mind and into the present moment, and help you to connect with your immediate physical environment. This is a great strategy because it only takes one minute to do, you can do it anywhere, and you can do with your eyes open. So, whenever you're feeling scattered or anxious, just do a quick 5,4,3,2,1.

Another way is holding, carrying or meditating with grounding crystals. So there are certain crystals that are really great for grounding. One that I used a lot in the beginning of my journey that I really like is, hematite. Hematite is a darker gray crystal that is usually very shiny. Black Tourmaline and obsidian are two other crystals that are great for grounding. Those are just three, but there are many other grounding crystals. Usually you'll find that they are a darker color. They're going to be gray, black, or dark reds. You can put them in your pocket and keep them with you (my favorite), you can sleep with them under your pillow, or you can do some kind of meditation while holding them.

Lastly, physical exercise, outdoors would be better because you can connect with nature at the same time.

So, those are five ways that you can ground your energy. I'm hoping that this, "Just fold it in series" will be helpful for you.

The first term in this series that we talked about was grounding. Basically I am trying to bring some clarity to these spiritual terms that get thrown out a lot. Grounding again is, pulling your energy back to center, back to the present moment, feeling connected with your physical body, your physical environment, and feeling safe, stable and secure.

I hope that that is helpful for you, and please let me know if you have any more terms that you would like to see explained or talked about further. Also, let me know in the comments if you have any other grounding exercises that you'd like to do.

Worthiness ... Investing money in our healing

Worthiness ... What is necessary to bring someone peace and healing? What is necessary for us to get to that place of healing that we need? The first step in the healing process is awareness. The past month we've spoken about awareness of our physical body, our emotional and energetic bodies, how those systems work and ways that Reiki can support our healing on all those levels. Next, there is worthiness. We have to feel worthy of healing. We have to feel that we deserve to put time, effort, money and resources aside for this process ... for our own healing and wellness. Last week we talked about time, more specifically putting aside time for our wellness ... time for treatments, time with a therapist, time for massages, time for energy healing or meditation. Whatever the practices are that resonate with you for your healing ... are you making time for them?

The next component to worthiness is how we allocate our money. This has been another really tough one for me, maybe even more so than time. It's another piece to consider in terms of worthiness and where we're spending our money ... where are we prioritizing our money? I think our society has an opinion on where our money should go. I think us parents often wouldn't bat an eye at spending $500 or even more for a sports program for our kids, but if we were to spend anywhere near that amount for a coaching program or treatments something for our own healing or wellness, we may consider it frivolous or unnecessary.

Another piece of the money conversation is our spending habits. If we were to add up all the money you spend at restaurants or things like that. When you have that hesitation when you go to spend money on yourself, for your wellness (healthy meal prep foods, etc.) maybe we can just stop for a minute and think about the long term investments of our money. Also, think about if we feel worthy of spending this money on ourselves ... think about what the investment of this money will bring to me in the long run.

So I would like to encourage you to think about that. Think about that you are a beautiful divine being, and deserve everything ... deserve all the happiness, peace, and wellness that you can get. So, that's not an easy one for us to remember, but remember that love and care that you want to give to everyone else. Let's remember ourselves in that equation as well.

Worthiness ... Time for Healing

We've talked previously about the awareness of our body, our physical body, emotional, energetic bodies, all that it entails. I talked a little bit about how Reiki can help on all levels on all three of those levels and even in ways that we don't realize. In addition to awareness, we also need to feel worthy. I think many of us struggle with the worthiness of healing. Do we deserve to have this healing? This may not be on a conscious level, but if we felt worthy, then would we put the time aside for it? So I feel like that's the first part of the worthiness right is using our time. How do we prioritize our time? What are we allocating time for and who or what is at the top of the list? If we really are in search of healing ... if we really are in search of something more and better for ourselves ... if we want to be free of pain ... if we want to move forward with goals ... if we want to heal from past issues that we've been hanging on to, then maybe worthiness is the place to visit. Are we worthy enough to receive healing for ourselves? Do we deserve to put this time aside for ourselves every day, every week, every month towards our healing?

Addressing our healing can take place in many forms. I just wanted to put that out there today and see your thoughts. Maybe it's time to check in with your worthiness, check in with what might be stopping you for prioritizing your healing, prioritizing time for yourself each day. It might be time to schedule a doctor's visit, schedule a massage, an counseling appointment or maybe an appointment with an energetic Reiki healing practitioner ... whatever it is that you feel like might be on your healing path right now. Are you putting that time aside for you and what you need? If not, maybe it is something to think about in terms of worthiness. Do I feel worthy enough for this or are others more important than my own healing than my own well being? This might be a tough question. I send this message out with all the love in the world, because it is something that I also need to constantly look at and address myself. I know that you nurturing, loving, giving people want everyone else to be well and we want them to feel loved.

There was a message that came through on one of my morning messages from spirit ... "Heal thyself, heal the world". I think a very important message to remember that if we do want to heal the world and help everyone starting from within, is first. Really starting to address our issues, give ourselves the love and compassion that we deserve, and provide ourselves with the time to do this work and to refuel, refocus, reset and heal.

How Reiki Supports our Energetic Body

This month we've been focusing on the energetic system of our body, including the chakra system, the seven main chakras that run down the midline of our body. We reviewed what they govern and how we might know if there's an imbalance in our system somewhere. We discussed how we would know if one of the chakras is underactive, or blocked, or if one of them is overactive. So now I'd like to talk a little bit about how Reiki can help with our energetic system. There's this energy running through all things. If there is something that's off in that system, then we will see some symptoms ... emotional symptoms or physical symptoms.

The first way that Reiki can help with this is helping to clear out any negative energy that you've collected. This might be familiar situation for a lot of people, where you enter a room and you can just feel the tension, you can tell that someone just had an argument there. You go to a really crowded place and there's just so many people and you can feel all of their feelings and all of their energy that's there. We collect that throughout our day and when you return home in the evening, you can really feel that heaviness and sometimes you can feel worn down. Some people who are very sensitive and empathic can feel other people's emotions. Maybe you even feel sad or feel upset and you're not really even sure why. You might not have any specific thing that you can link it to. With the incredible stress that we've been under this last year, the collective energy can be really heavy and really difficult for us to sometimes take in. So Reiki can help by clearing out some of that energy and resetting our system so that it's just you and your energy.

A second way that Reiki can help with our energetic system is by addressing the root underlying causes of some of our symptoms. So, we may be having back pain or knee pain or some other physical symptom, and we may not be linking it to something that happened years ago. Either there was a physical trauma or emotional trauma or some stressful event was going on, and sometimes it can be stored in our body. We just keep it with us so we keep functioning at the surface level, but underneath there's this underlying energy that's still there from that event. For example surgery can be a traumatic event for the person and the body. Even though you may feel like you are over it and you're not worried about it, your body still went through a really difficult period, so it can help to clear out some of that as well.

Another way that it can help with your energetic system is really giving your body that time and space to rest and rebalance and restore. We need to give our body that time to get the parasympathetic nervous system activated. That's where it does healing work and does its restoring. So by giving yourself that time and space to enter into that rest and digest mode, that's when your body can do its healing, healing physically and emotionally.

Lastly, Reiki can help with our energetic system by refreshing and filling us up with this loving light energy, and that's what I can, as I'm performing a session, feel passing through me. I can actually feel that rush of energy. There are certain sessions that are for clearing out and then more that seem to be focused on filling up. So that's why I really love the cumulative sessions. Over several sessions, you may see that you feel a little bit more refreshed and light and balanced when you leave. I do find that over time, there's layers that we're addressing. So I hope that this helps answer a little bit more of your questions about Reiki and how Reiki can help with our energetic system.

Please visit amandakugler.com for more information!

Why I've been setting limits on MY OWN screen time (& I think you should too)

The last time we met we talked about the signs that there's some imbalance in our energy system. We specifically talked about each energy center, and what those signs would look like, what symptoms we might be experiencing, if there's some kind of blockage or if that chakra is overactive. So this week I was going to talk a little bit about what affects our energy. I've decided to pivot a little bit, just because of my own personal experiences, and I often find that when I'm experiencing something I'm probably not the only one, I hope. I always like to be upfront and honest with everyone. I think there's a lot of pressure that I put on myself doing this kind of work, to present myself like I'm always peaceful and things are always good. But that's not the truth, right? That's not how the human experience is supposed to be. There's a range of emotions and all these experiences are here to help form us and shape us. So, the title that I've given here kind of gives a little hint about what's been going on, but I've just decided that I am ready to regain control back of my life and my energy, specifically.

One of the major things can affect our energy are environmental factors such as: other people's energy, other people's opinions, other people's words, things that they're bringing into your life. People who are very empathic, which I bet a lot of you are, as well as myself, we will absorb a lot from others. As sensitive people, we sense more. So, not a bad thing, but this is something for us to be aware of so that we can monitor that. I also have a very addictive personality where I have a hard time stopping and transitioning to something else. So, I've been recognizing lately that the social media, and just phone use in general, has been getting a little bit more than I'd like. I'm noticing how it's affecting my energy. Even when it is good things, like an audio book or an inspirational video, I'm recognizing that sometimes I am using it as an escape.

So, the first aspect is that we have to be careful what we're taking in. I often find that I will be matching the emotion that I see in the videos. If it was something upsetting or sad or something that someone else went through, I would feel so much empathy that I feel their emotions. That can be a little bit tricky, right? That's something that we have to watch and monitor, so that we don't get too far entrenched in someone else's feelings or energy, so that we can keep ourselves where we need to be.

The second thing to consider is about using screen time to avoid or escape. These behaviors are things I've used in the past as coping mechanisms, and I'm sure a lot of people do. I remember the couple weeks leading up to my mother's passing, were very difficult. I think to survive that traumatic time, I used a lot of escaping behaviors (like drinking alcohol & being entrenched in an audiobook series). I remember saying, "when is this going to be a problem?" Because I recognizedthat this was a traumatic time but when is it time to move through it.

I think there is that want versus need, and sometimes like I use that with alcohol now and I'm trying to use that now with other things as well. There's nothing inherently wrong with television, social media, audiobooks. They're all great enjoyable things. I think maybe we need to stop ourselves, use some mindfulness, and ask ourselves, "do I really do I want to have some enjoyment right now? Or am I purposely using this as stress relief or as an avoidance/escape from something? I think that can help lead us in the right direction.

Right now I feel like it's become so addictive that I'm trying to use some of the technology tools that are built into the phone (i.e. screentime limits, downtime restrictions) to help me. It's been very eye opening! I think that you might find also how much more time you have, that you didn't realize you had. You'll have a chance to hear your own thoughts, to feel your own feelings. Sometimes that can be difficult, right? I think that's why we do this. But, if you're ready to start to get to know yourself a little bit better, start to move to that next level, then I encourage you to give this a try.

This journey is never ending and I think there's always another level up that can happen. So I think that's maybe where I'm at, I'm not sure where you guys are in your lives, but I encourage you maybe to just take a moment and just to think about some of the things that you might be using as coping mechanisms or as stress relievers. Maybe it's okay, at this time. Maybe it isn't the right time for a level up. Maybe it's time get through that difficult moment. I think we have that we need to give ourselves permission to sometimes be in those places where we're not okay for right now, feeling some of those other emotions. The key there is to when to move out of it, starting to recognize if it's time now.

I think that that's where I am. I didn't even realize that this might be leftover from the COVID quarantine time. I felt that I had done pretty well during the quarantine time but I think I'm almost now recognizing what kind of a big thing that was that we all just went through. I have to say that I was very lucky and it certainly could have been so much worse. But I think that I may have picked up some of these coping mechanisms during the quarantine period. It's time to let go of them now ... it's time to move forward ... time to level up to that next level. So I need to hear my own thoughts ... feel my own emotions ... and not be clouded by the other things.

So, I'm not sure if this is right for you right now. But if it is, I'd love to hear how it goes for you. I'd love to hear any insights you gain. Maybe you'll recognize much more often you're reaching for your phone than you thought, realizing how much more time you have in your life, noticing that some of these emotions and feelings are not your own.

If you are in need of an energetic tune up I'd love for you to come see me. My website is amandakugler.com and you can book your own Reiki session right there.

Symptoms of an Imbalance in the Chakra System

Last time we spoke, we spoke about the our energetic system (The Chakra System) of our body. We talked about the seven main chakras that run down the midline of our body, and they are just another level of our body. We have our physical body, our emotional, mental and our energetic body. I think that we oftentimes underestimate how much of an impact our life force energy has on our lives. Today I'd like to talk about how we can know if there is an imbalance in our energetic system. So that's the ultimate goal ... to be balanced. Ideally we want each of our chakras to be spinning freely with no blockages. Often if there is a blockage, if one of our chakras is blocked or underactive, it can throw off the whole system and can cause another chakra to be overactive. You'll see different symptoms when they're over or under active, but ultimately we want them all flowing freely, the whole system working as one, working as a whole. Today I'd like to go through each of the chakras and talk about some symptoms (physical and or emotional symptoms) that you may see in your body if you have an imbalance in that chakra.

So, first we have number one, our root chakra down at the base of our spine. For this chakra, some of the symptoms of an imbalance you may see are: financial worry, some stress over money, not feeling connected to others, difficulty with the male reproductive organs (if you're a male), the prostate, and/or constipation.

Next is the sacral chakra, which is the, the second chakra right under our navel. Symptoms you may see if there is an imbalance in this chakra are: issues with the female reproductive organs, difficulty with hip, pelvic, or lower back pain, urinary problems or kidneys issues, lack of passion for anything. Also, you may have sexual or reproductive health issues, difficulty expressing your emotions or desires ... since this is the center for our passion, creativity, and sexuality.

The next chakra is our solar plexus, which is our third chakra. That is located in our abdominal area right above our belly button. So, because of its location, you may see difficulties with digestion, any digestive issues, problems with pancreas or gallbladder, and issues with fatigue. Also, you may have a strong fear of rejection or be overly critical of yourself and have a really poor self image. This center deals with our personal power, confidence, and self esteem.

The next is our heart, our fourth chakra. Symptoms of an imbalance in this area include: upper back, shoulders, arm and wrist pain. You may have issues with jealousy, with being overly clingy in relationships, or have a fear of being alone. Also, you may experience difficulty letting others in (difficulty receiving love).

Next is our throat chakra, the fifth chakra. An imbalanced throat chakra may show symptoms of: issues with the thyroid, issues with sore throats, ear infections, neck and shoulder pain. Emotionally you may have a fear of not being in control of things, you may have difficulty expressing yourself (specifically, expressing your truth, what's truly inside your heart and what you really think).

Then there is our third eye chakra, which is the sixth chakra. Physically you may see headaches, you may see sinus pain, or any sinus issues. In terms of emotional symptoms, you may have difficulty trusting yourself (frequently looking outside of yourself for answers), or have frequent moodiness.

Lastly, there is our crown chakra, at the top of our head, our seventh chakra. If there is an imbalance here you may see, lack of inspiration, you might feel a sense of isolation or separation from others, and also may have some learning difficulties.

So those are the main seven chakras and signs that they may be out of balance ... signs that you may need to address your energetic system in some way. So I encourage you to just consider your energetic system, consider if your energy is a little off, if you're a little unbalanced in some ways. I would love for you to reach out if you have any further questions about this.

The Chakra System

Today I’d like to talk to you about our energetic body. Over the past couple months we've been talking about our physical bodies and our mental and emotional bodies. We discussed how our emotions and our thought patterns all have an energetic frequency to them. Our energetic body consists of many things, but one of the main components is the chakra system. So chakras are our main energy centers that are located along the midline of our body, and they run along the line of the vagus nerve, which is the main nerve of our body. I find that very interesting that there's an acknowledgement of the energetic effect on our physical body and our physical well being. The vagus nerve innervates all the organs of our body and that also is something that we'll see in the patterns of our chakra centers. Each chakra will correspond with a physical part of our body as well as the emotional side. Today I wanted to just talk a little bit about each of them and what they govern ... what are the areas that they oversee.

So, the first chakra, the root chakra, is at the base of our spine. It is represented by the color red. This deals with our safety, stability, connection to nature, and connection to our tribe. Financial security would be under this this chakra as well. So, if we're seeing any disturbances in any of those areas there may be blockages in our root chakra.

Next is our sacral chakra, which is represented by the color orange. It is located right below the belly button. This center involves our creativity , our passion, and our sexuality. This is our birthing center ... birthing literally or birthing ideas and and projects. Each chakra also has a physical area that you could see some disturbances in if they aren't functioning. In Sacral Chakra we're talking about the organs of reproductive organs.

Then we have our solar plexus chakra, which is represented by the color yellow. It is located right above the belly button, and physically it governs our digestive system. The emotional counterpart deals with our personal power, our self esteem or self worth. You may see someone who's struggling with self worth ... struggling with self esteem, will also have issues with their digestion.

The next is our heart chakra, represented by the color green, and located at the heart center. This is our love center ... self love ... love for others ... giving and receiving love. It involves feeling worthy of love, easily letting our guard down and letting people love us freely and giving love to others without fear.

The next is our throat chakra, and is represented by the color blue. This area involves our true expression of ourselves ... the genuine, authentic expression of us. It involves speaking up for ourselves ... holding boundaries that we need for our well being. Expressing our true selves is the key there. Speaking up when we need to and not always biting our tongue and keeping the peace. Physically this chakra governs the structures of the throat (i.e. thyroid, etc.).

The next is the third eye chakra, located between the eyebrows, and that is represented by the color indigo. This centers around our intuition, that's is ... trusting ourselves, trusting that what we have inside of us, trusting the messages that we hear, trusting our gut instincts. Physically this area governs the pituitary gland, eyes, head, and lower part of the brain.

The last is our crown chakra, that's our seventh chakra, up at the crown of our head, and it's represented by the color violet or white. It is our connection to the divine, our connections to Universal Consciousness ... to God. It is that connection to divine and feeling connected, feeling like there's that communication.

So those are our seven main chakras, that run the midline of our body. The idea is that we want all of these to be functioning as a system. We want the energy to be flowing through the whole system without any impediment, without any blockage. What you'll see, it's like the circulatory system where we want our blood to flow freely through all of our veins. It's the same concept with our energetic system. We want this energy flowing through our body to promote optimal wellness. If there any blockages, if there's an area that we're not taking care of, then that's when we'll see some manifestations of physical or emotional unwellness.

If you have any questions about the energetic system please let me know!

How Reiki Supports Emotional & Mental Well-Being

We've been talking over the last month about how our emotions and our thoughts are energy, and how by bringing those to our conscious awareness we can take better control of what energetic frequency we're putting out into the world. Next trying to match that with what we want to see coming into our lives ... what kind of life we want to design for ourselves. Another way that we can help support ourselves, is through practices of self-care, like Reiki, an energy modality that I work with. We had talked a couple months ago now, about our physical well being and how Reiki is a great fit for supporting our physical body. If we're only doing that then we're missing several important pieces right, our emotional, mental and spiritual bodies.

The wonderful thing about Reiki is it's a modality that covers all of them, because it is a wholistic modality, meaning that it treats the whole being and gets to the root of issues. So that's the first way that it can support our emotional and mental well being is that Reiki gets to the root of the, of an issue. So we may present with something like we're not sleeping well ... we have pain ... or we're struggling with maintaining a healthy weight. Reiki will help get to the root of what the main issue is at the bottom of that symptom. It will help uncover what the beliefs are, where is it stemming from, and bring them up to the surface to be healed. Reiki can get at layers that you didn't know were there or that are not in your conscious awareness right now. I've had several experiences in my sessions where someone will even just sit up from the session and say, "I think I know why I've been struggling with this". This wonderful miraculous thing seems to happen, where now people can really start identifying things. These effects are cumulative as well. I have found in my years practicing Reiki on myself that the effects have been cumulative over the years, and healing takes place in layers. It's not a one and done but there are layers to us that we can keep uncovering. There are things that we pick up and the Reiki energy modality can help clear out those things that need to be released ... rebalancing our system, whenever needed.

Another way that Reiki can support our emotional and mental well being is giving ourselves the space and the time to process things ... to process through emotions ... to process through our thought patterns ... to process through experiences that we're going through. I think that we underestimate the value of slowing down and giving ourselves time. I love to be able to provide that space for people and hold that time for them. Also, it's so important to give yourself the time to prioritize yourself and your well being. There are so many things we can just ignore and push down, but that true wellness can only come if we can bring them up, work through them and release.

Another way that Reiki helps support our emotional and mental well being is that Reiki energy goes where it's most needed. The practitioner is not necessarily directing the energy. We can set intentions, or target certain areas if you're having some pain, but ultimately it goes where it's needed most. Reiki translates to spiritually guided life force energies. It will go where it needs it the most rather than just treating a specific symptom. This is why it's such a powerful practice where we can now again get to that root, and not just put a bandaid on things. That's where that long lasting healing comes in.

Lastly, another way that it can help our emotional and mental well being is that it balances and resets our system. It allows you to have more clarity and reset yourself back on the desired path. It will help give you that jumpstart you need, or will help give you that reset to get back on track.

If you have any further questions about Reiki I'd love to answer them for you. I'd love to be here to hold space and time for you. If you feel that it's the time for you to come in, you can always reach out.