How Reiki Supports Physical Wellness

There are several ways that Reiki and energy healing can assist with our physical wellness. Over the last month we've been talking about awareness of our physical body, identifying our physical needs, and how our stress can be stored in our bodies (and possibly manifesting as physical ailments). The practice of Reiki and energy work in general can help with healing our physical body in many ways. First, Reiki will activate the Parasympathetic Nervous System, helping our bodies to enter into the "Rest and Digest" mode where our body can do its own healing. Secondly, Reiki goes to a deeper level, helping our bodies to release the blockages from our energy centers, so that our life force energy can flow smoothly through our body.

First, thinking of the parasympathetic nervous system. Our body has what's called the vagus nerve which is the main nerve of our body and innervates all of the organs of our body. I find it extremely interesting that it runs parallel to the chakra system, the energy centers of our body. They are actually placed along the midline of our body, just as the biggest nerve is, and each of the chakras, is associated with the various organs of our body as well. So there's acknowledgement, that there is association between those physical and emotional and energetic parts of our body, working together in unison. Reiki will activate the parasympathetic nervous system by stimulating the vagus nerve will activate the parasympathetic nervous system, our rest and digest mode.

Unfortunately, especially in our day and age, we're in the fight or flight mode for the majority of our lives, where the sympathetic nervous system is engaged. We are in stress mode, in fear mode, where our bodies are working on overdrive. So our heart rate is up and our body is working hard. For our healing and our restoring to happen we need to be in the rest and digest mode, where the parasympathetic nervous system is activated. So the first way that Reiki helps with your body's healing is it helps to tap into your body's own healing capabilities. We've known for many, many years about our body's amazing ability to self heal. We need to give our body that opportunity to slow down in order for it to utilize its self healing abilities. Allow our body to get into that mode and allow for the restoring and healing to happen.

The second way that Reiki can also benefit our physical wellness is on a deeper level. Reiki will always go where you need it the most. It will always be for your highest good. So, it will sometimes goes to a deeper level. As we talked about previously, we all may have stored stress in our body. That's where Reiki can come into play. It can help to release some of the stored energy and help the energy to flow through our system, like it should, without any blockages or impediment.

So with those two pieces working together Reiki can assist your physical wellness.

Awareness of our Physical Body

So definitely the first step to any wellness, is awareness. We need to be aware of where we are, aware of that there is an issue in order to address it right. We need awareness of where we're at, so that we can move to that place that we want to be. I think so often in this world we are moving so quickly, and we are filling ourselves to the brim. We are filling our minds and filling our schedules to maximum capacity. So we don't often have that moment or that mental space left for us to think about and to to really tune in to our bodies and find out where we are. I know several different professions where we are encouraged to keep going and we don't have that moment to really listen to what our body needs because of responsibility to students or to patients, or to clients of some sort. We have been trained to ignore those body cues, like hunger and thirst and having to use the restroom. Some of those basic needs, we have been training ourselves to ignore them, so that we can fulfill our responsibilities. What I'm encouraging you to do now is to take that time to purposely build in some time, a few times a day, maybe to check in, and really listen to those cues. Ask yourself, "Am I hungry? Am I thirsty? Do I need to use the restroom?". Listen to those aches and pains of your body. What are they telling you? What is it that your body needs? Being in the moment, and being present is the key. That's easier said than done, right? When we are in this, "Go, Go, Go" busy culture it takes some actual practice of mindfulness and being in the moment to get there.

What I love to do for this is a nice body scan. So this is something that I practice daily and I use this when I do my live guided meditations during the week. The reason why I love the body scan is because it gives you a systematic way to go through every part of your body and listen. You can tune in and have full awareness just on that body part, just on your body at the moment. It helps us to practice. That's what meditation is ... a practice ... practice bringing our minds back to the present moment. Our minds are going to wander! Some days more than others. And that's okay! The practice is bringing it back to the focal point. In this case the focal point is your body. When we can really tune in we will start to notice how we are holding our bodies throughout the day. Sometimes we don't realize that we're going through our days with our shoulders hunched up to our ears and then we come home with a neck ache or backache or headache and not really sure why. So, when we do this and we take this time to go through our body it helps us to tune in to get those cues from our body. The more that we do this, the more that will be ingrained in us to do this throughout the day so not just during a meditation, quiet, sit down time, but throughout the day as you're moving along. You'll be more apt to stop and think, "How is my body feeling right now?". Or you'll start to notice when something's tense, and you'll be able to then let go and release those muscles so that you don't end up at the end of the day with these aches and pains that we don't need to have. I encourage you to try this every day and you'll get to the point where you don't need the guidance anymore and you can you kind of know the process of going through each body part.

It really does amazing things for relaxing our body and amazing things for training us to be more mindful to be in that moment to tune into our bodies to our physical bodies. We do have several layers of our body and that's where I'll be going next time for some future videos. But wanting to tune in to where our physical body is is a great start. So slowing down ... presence ... checking in ... and then changing course, if you need to. If you're noticing that your body needs something, if you're noticing that your muscles need to be let go or need to be released, then you now have that choice. Now that you have the awareness, then we're empowered to have the choice to help our body, in whatever way it needs.

I Had a Moment

Well I was tested … I have been doing okay for the most part during this pandemic.  It’s been hard, it’s been challenging in many ways, but overall I’ve kept my emotions fairly in check.  I’ve had the occassional moment, but finding a routine and working on projects that give me purpose have kept me anchored.  However, I didn’t realize how sheltered I’ve been.  When you’re almost exclusively at home it’s easy to get out of touch with what’s going on.  Yes, I’ve seen it on Facebook or videos but it’s still removed.  This week, my anxiety was tested.  We received some difficult news and then needed to make a decision.  Making a decision right now in this time where everything seems uncertain, was not an easy feat.  However, a decision was made … and then quickly changed.  I had the wave of anxiety hit me.  I had a moment.  Okay, several moments.  I talked in a recent post about some anxiety strategies that have helped me in the past.  After this experience I realized I left out a few other strategies.  

The first was to just allow myself to not be okay for a bit.  I talked previously about acknowledging that these emotions are legitimate, but also not rushing through, or making yourself wrong for feeling what you’re feeling.  Taking a step back from the spiraling “what ifs” did help.  But the second thing I did this time that helped in the moment of intense anxiety was really trying to pinpoint the root of the anxiety.  There was a point where I was questioning, “What am I even anxious about?”.  I was completely operating in my emotional brain.  Taking a moment to step back to the present moment helped me to sort out what was going on.  Just acknowledging the actual source of the anxiety helped me to move forward.  I didn’t solve the causes or make them go away but identifying and acknowledging helped “give it a name” so I could move forward with the other strategies.  I talked it out with my support team … shout out to my sister and husband who are always there for me even when I’m at my worst.  I tried to balance caution with not letting fear (of what might never be) stop me.  I had to trust that I will be protected, trust in my body, and trust in my ability to make the right decision.  Then there was some nourishing … a nice fire with the kids in the warm evening.  

Following this, I tried to return to my journaling, meditation and self-Reiki routines to re-balance.  I feel strongly about being honest and upfront about my struggles.  I hope that these are helpful to you all in some way.  I’m here for you.  

- Amanda

Forgiveness

Is there someone you need to forgive? 

Perhaps it’s yourself. Maybe you lost your cool with your child ... snipped at your spouse... handled a work situation poorly. I know we all struggle with this at one time or another as being fallible is part of being human. However, if we hold onto those negative emotions (anger, regret, guilt...) we are only hurting our own bodies and minds. Here are my thoughts: 

* Acknowledge the wrong doing
* Apologize or try to make amends/Be open to an apology
* Make a plan for doing better/What did I learn from this
* Try to move on

** If we feel our minds are stuck on the situation try a positive mantra to occupy your mind and bring it back to reality
“I am strong ... I am kind ... sometimes I make mistakes... I will use this to grow and be better “ (insert any words appropriate to your situation)

* Also you could try sending positive thoughts/energy to the one you feel wronged you or you wronged. (*credit to my sister for this idea)

When I’ve made mistakes with my children I’ve tried to show them that the behavior wasn’t acceptable but at the same time trying to teach that we are all human and will at times make mistakes. So I try to teach them that we need to make a plan for doing better next time but not get stuck in negative patterns of beating ourselves up.  Please visit my YouTube channel to view a children's meditation on mistakes "I can grow from my mistakes":

https://youtu.be/QhIbdxX6p3g

Do you have any tips for forgiving yourself or others? Please share in the comments!