Balancing Rocks

One of my happiest memories from the summer was spending an evening on the beach in

Pembrokeshire with Alec while he balanced rocks.  To make a rock stand on its end takes patience and sensitivity.  The same is true for achieving balance in our own lives and Reiki can be helpful in this.

Daily self treatment with Reiki has increased my sensitivity to what my body needs.  It’s a daily check-in with how my physical and mental balance is doing.  As a result I’ve been able to address a few health challenges before they became more serious. 

Alec needed to be completely present and focused to make the rocks balance – something that’s also necessary when bringing the body and mind into better balance.  Paying attention to what I eat, how much exercise I’m taking and how I’m managing my mind so I don’t get stressed all require presence of mind and attention. Changing the old habits that cause imbalance can also require a lot of consciousness.

I have found that Reiki practice has helped me to be more patient with my body as it changes.  Having discovered something that is out of balance my mind wants things to be different instantly.  In the real world it doesn’t work like that: change in the body and even the mind takes time.  Unhelpful habits can be difficult to let go of, making overnight change impossible.  Once better habits are established, cells need time to divide and grow to create new healthier tissues.  Changes in body rhythms can take a while to get established.  Receiving Reiki helps my mind to slow down, accept reality and gain more patience while changes take place.

The Reiki Principles also help me – reminding me not to worry about any change I’m looking for or how fast it will be achieved.  Not becoming frustrated or angry about how slow change can seem is also essential – if Alec had been annoyed with the rock for not standing up it would have made it even less likely that he would find its point of equilibrium.    Similarly if I get annoyed that my weight has not gone down today it only creates stress, which never helps balance to be restored!

I would say that Alec honoured the rock, being totally present with it to find its true nature and balance-point.  Honesty is also vital when finding balance in myself:  self deception about how much I was exercising, for example, was the cause of unhealthy imbalance.   Taking time to be grateful for Reiki, my food and all the other elements that help me to achieve better balance with the natural world and my place in it, is an essential part of my practice, inspired by the last principle.

Once the rocks were balanced there was a wonderful feeling of achievement and a joy in seeing them stand there in that wonderful environment, balanced between earth and sky.  They were like a wonderful representation of yin and yang.  All the times the rock fell over were forgotten.  There was only the extraordinary miracle of a rock that looks as if it should not stand up, resting in stillness and balance.  Finding balance in my own body and mind feels similar – quite miraculous at times, all the times of falling over forgotten, just the sense of achievement, joy and wonder!