My Father was a Healer

As it was Father’s Day this month, I thought I would write about my father, who was an NHS GP and psychiatrist working in Coventry.  In many ways he was ahead of his time in his
approach.  He knew that people’s thinking affects their health generally.  He would have approved of the movement for Social Prescribing, started by another GP, Dr Michael Dixon, who saw that those who repeatedly attend the GPs surgery often have some social need, such as loneliness or poor diet, so that other solutions are needed to support them, rather than the pill they are asking for. 

My Dad also knew that medication was not always the answer.  Sometimes he would prescribe Smarties – to be taken 3 times a day – because he understood that the ritual of taking ‘medication’ could be as powerful as the actual medication.   He also foresaw the danger of antibiotic misuse and has been proved right, with anti-biotic resistant bacteria and the potential damage to the gut bacteria, the general health consequences of which are only now being fully understood.

Dr Dixon has written² about his concerns about the decline in a human approach to medicine as technology has increased and doctors and nurses have become busier and forced to follow systems that reduce time spent with patients, impacting how they can care for them as individuals.  There is research that shows the benefit of this listening and care to patients¹ and current NHS systems often don’t allow time for this. 

My Dad certainly understood the need for listening to people and that’s why I think he was more than a doctor, he was a healer.  He was famously late for family appointments – if he was supposed to be somewhere at a certain time you could add half an hour before he would get there.  The reason for this was his care for patients.  He found the 10 minutes allocated for surgery consultations too short and, in those days, doctors still frequently did home visits to their own patients after hours.  A friend recently commented that he was asked why he still needed to visit when the patient had died, his response being that the family still needed support.

He had a particular interest in helping people recover from drug addiction, helped to set up medical services for students in Coventry and did training for the Samaritans, in particular the Festival Branch which was one of the ways of getting in touch with people having drug problems.

Sadly, he died before I learned Reiki.  I asked my mother what he would have thought about it.  She said he would have been interested, because he sometimes went to a spiritualist church where they did healing.  I agree with her, not just for that reason, but also because he was a doctor who did more than analyse symptoms and dispense treatment.  He tried to understand the needs of each person, taking a holistic rather than mechanical view.  He understood, as we do in Reiki, that the underlying cause of physical illness lies on the mental and emotional levels and that effective healing addresses these as well.  He also understood the importance of touch and spirituality.  I think he would have been supportive of the movement towards integrative health which Dr Dixon is at the forefront of and which I hope Reiki will be part of.  

¹ Neurophysiology of human touch and eye gaze in therapeutic relationships and healing: a scoping review https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6382052/

² The Human Effect in Medicine: Theory, Research and Practice by Dr Michael Dixon

Honouring 70 Years of Service

As we celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, I have been touched by hearing how she saw her role as one of sacred service from the start.  My understanding of what it means to serve has grown over my years of Reiki practice, so I honour the Queen’s 70-year commitment.

Service, doing work that is for the benefit of others rather than for personal gain, is a core principle in many spiritual practices.  It is a way to surrender our ego to something greater than ourselves.  According to the Dalai Lama it is essential in finding our joy.  It has certainly been my experience that there is joy in serving others, in doing something that helps people to connect, eases pain, brings comfort and lifts the heart.  

Just over 12 years ago I visited Phyllis Furumoto, the late Lineage Bearer of Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki, shortly after she was diagnosed with cancer.  This had expedited her exploration of how to choose a successor for the lineage she represented.  As part of this exploration, she interviewed me for one of the radio shows she was doing at the time, as someone who had a perspective on lineage through living in a culture with a monarchy.

I could see the similarities in Phyllis’ role to that of our queen: like Queen Elizabeth, she became her grandmother’s successor at a young age, in her early 30s.  She also felt that she did not have a choice in taking on this responsibility.  I know that Phyllis also saw this role as being in service to something greater than herself: Reiki, the Usui Shiki Ryoho System and the Reiki community.

I was also quite young when I began my Reiki service at just 30, serving the Reiki community through the newly founded Reiki Association.  This led to many other opportunities to explore service over the years, including service to Phyllis.   As my Reiki master Martha Sylvester said when she left her day job to work full time as a Reiki master: it was like working for the ‘cosmic civil service’ instead of the civil service!  As a Reiki master I have often found myself doing things in service to the Reiki community that I never imagined I would and, like Martha (and perhaps the Queen), was called on to travel to many places in carrying out my Reiki work.

The recent events in my life have reminded me that it's also important that our service is not at the cost of our own health.  Queen Elizabeth’s long life and reign would suggest that she is able to balance her commitment to serve the public time with family and self-care.  Those who do not get this balance right often end up burnt out and unwell, making further service impossible.

Phyllis’ successor, Johannes Reindl, was chosen by her partly because he is young.  He too has recognised that he has been asked to serve the Reiki community and the Usui Shiki Ryoho system in a particular way that means his role is not a job he can simply give up.  He has given his commitment, as Elizabeth Windsor did, to serve for his lifetime and in doing so to support the practice of Reiki people all over the world.

I offer a bow of gratitude for the commitment of those who serve in this way, surrendering their own life plans to serve for the benefit of the world and I wish them the wisdom to balance their work with time for family and self-care.

Congratulations and the CNHC Reiki Register

Congratulations to Cheryl Devall who completed my Professional Practitioner Course last year and is now a Verified Practitioner and on the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council Reiki register!

She went through the verification process as an individual, which many people find challenging due to the paperwork and case studies required.  Many practitioners have not followed a course that prepares them for the standards required, so struggle to answer some of the questions.  As a verifier for The Reiki Association I have frequently seen questionnaires that demonstrate a lack of understanding of the role of professional practitioner.

Now that my Professional Reiki Practitioner Course is verified by Reiki Council it means that I can support people through this process.  Students on my course will have my support and guidance in completing the verification process: I will be providing the required questionnaires and ensuring the case studies are completed adequately.  This means that at the end of the course, for those who complete everything successfully, verification will be quick and easy and they will then be fast-tracked for CNHC registration.

So why join the CNHC Reiki register?  Firstly it is public recognition of your role as a professional practitioner, ready to support the public towards better health.  As CNHC themselves say: “A joint report from the Royal Society for Public Health and the Professional Standards Authority, Untapped Resources: Accredited Registers in the Wider Workforce, highlighted that “Practitioners registered with CNHC support public health by encouraging their clients to make a range of lifestyle changes. These include improvements to diet and nutrition, support with giving up smoking and losing weight, support with reducing stress, improving sleep, managing pain and other symptoms, as well as overall enhancements to wellbeing. All CNHC registrants are committed to enhancing the UK public’s health and wellbeing.””

As a CNHC registrant you are able to use a logo that identifies you as a professional practitioner who cares about the public receiving a high standard of care.  As CNHC is an Accredited Register approved by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care, a body that is accountable to parliament, this means that anyone registered with CNHC is recognised as meeting UK-wide standards of quality of service and safety.
Another benefit is that some Private Healthcare Plans will cover complementary therapies if the practitioner is CNHC registered, meaning that the client can claim back the cost if they have such a healthcare plan.

When I began giving Reiki treatments no such recognition was available.  It has been amazing to see Reiki receive the trust to be included by CNHC as a reputable treatment option.  It creates the potential for Reiki to be more available and accepted alongside mainstream medicine, offering the comfort and support of human touch at difficult times, in a way that conventional medicine is struggling to do in many places.

What is needed for this to happen, however, is more people like Cheryl who would like to commit their life to working as Reiki practitioners, to meeting the standards expected of us in a professional role and to take Reiki into places it is only just beginning to reach in a solid and trustworthy way, so that more people can benefit from what we know can be so helpful at times of distress and pain.

The Challenge of Being Healthy

Tidying my office last week, I came across a definition of health as:

•         Good functioning of organ with flow rather than congestion
•         Energy to do what you want in life
•         Not being limited by pain
•         Feeling positive 
•         A state of balance in body, mind and spirit
•         State of resilience

I find this a really good definition and can recognise that I have felt like this.  However, I find that
being in a healthy state like this is a daily challenge!  We humans are so good at challenging our bodies, minds and spirits with things that cause imbalance, such as poor nutrition, exposure to toxins, negative thinking, stress and disconnection from Nature.  One of the things I observed when nursing my mother was the way her body had an amazing ability to try to maintain healthy balance, even when her cancer was very advanced.  In her last weeks of life, she even managed to fight off an infection.  This showed me that given the right support, our bodies, minds and spirits are constantly trying to achieve and maintain balance, if we allow them. 

Covid-19 has made most of us more aware of the challenge to stay healthy and that certain conditions of poor health make further illness more likely.  Many people are struggling with Long Covid which, as with many other health conditions, requires rest for recovery.

I have been exploring rest deeply in the past months, having been completely exhausted in body, mind and soul.  With my body still preferring to be in a ‘fight or flight’ state than a ‘rest and digest’ phase I have not found it easy relax or rest.  Deepening the connection to my spiritual self has been the key to this.  Also, self-care is one of the things we often don’t prioritise in the belief that the needs of others should come first.  I am experiencing the truth of the teaching that without that self-care we end up not being able to help anyone.  It is no accident that self-Reiki, which is restful, quiet and reconnects with body and soul, is the foundation of our practice.

I hope soon to restore my health, so that I will feel more positive, resilient and have the energy to do what I want in life, which is to support others in having all the benefits of being healthy.  I am doing what I feel able to do, gently and gradually.  It’s not easy to take this time because although I know it is necessary, there is so much I want to do!  I am grateful for the Reiki healing I have received to help my recovery so far.

With my sabbatical over, I am making a phased return to work.  It has been good to have time to catch up on some projects that have been waiting for a space like this, including creating the e-book ‘Musings of a Reiki Master’, having my Professional Reiki Practitioner Course verified through The Reiki Association and completing my Nutrition Coaching course.  I do not feel ready to return to face-to-face teaching or treatments yet, but am starting with a few online mentoring sessions and preparing for further teaching later in the year. 

So I have a few more things to offer you this month…

Wishing you good health.

Reiki and Gratitude Practice

 Here is an article I wrote in January 2007...

I have often found January a tough month with the anti-climax after all the busyness and festivities of Christmas.  Once the New Year arrives, I am usually exhausted and often ill. 

I have also learned that I am affected by the lack of light during the winter, so in the past have regularly been quite miserable as a result and January is usually the worst month of all: it is cold, dull, there is nothing special to look forward to in the near future and money is tight due to the Christmas spending. 
Oh, and then there's the taxman who needs to be paid at the end of the month!

In recent years I’ve found things improving, however.  Giving myself Reiki on a daily basis has improved my health, including my mental and spiritual health.  I have also found other practices that help me and I would like to share one of them with you as a gift to welcome the New Year... Keeping a Gratitude Journal.

All you need to do is find a lovely notebook that gives you pleasure to handle and a good pen you enjoy writing with.  A simple notebook will do, but if it is a thing of beauty, it will encourage you to pick it up each day.  Then simply write down in the book, at the end of each day, 5 things that you are grateful for.  You need to write 5 different things, but you can write the same things again the next day if you want to.

You could write down people you are grateful to have in your life, your home, your animal friends or the food you eat.  You could write about something of beauty you have seen or experienced during the day, such as waking up after a good sleep, being free from pain or meeting an old friend.

I made a commitment to keeping a Gratitude Journal for a year and ended up doing it every single day for 2 years.  As I don’t find it easy to practice anything on a daily basis this was truly amazing!  After a bad day it was difficult to think of 5 things; but on those days it helped me to refocus on the blessings in my life.  Then I was able to go to sleep with those positive thoughts in my head, instead of staying awake and worrying about the bad things.  Also, I was able to look back at previous days and see how much good there is in my life.

Sometimes I had more than 5 things to write and this brought home to me the wonderful abundance of my life.  Writing the gratitude journal each day seemed to allow more abundance to come into my life too.  I attended a workshop on the Reiki Principles only 6 months after starting this practice and we were asked to spend a 10 minutes writing down things we were grateful for. I wrote for the whole time without stopping and still could have written more, thanks to being so much in touch with gratitude in my life.  And I noted that the Reiki Principles encourage us to SHOW gratitude, in other words make it an action, not just a thought.  Keeping a gratitude journal does just that!

So why not resolve for this year to keep a gratitude journal?  It is a simple thing to do that will help to improve the quality of your life.

This article, along with many others, will be included in my forthcoming book "Musings of a Reiki Master (volume 1)" which contains articles I wrote for my newsletters from 2007 - 2011.

Christmas Articles 2007 - 2011

 Here are some articles I wrote for my newsletters in December 2007 to 2011.

Coming Home at Christmas with Reiki - December 2007

In November I travelled up to Scotland to teach a First Degree Class in Ayrshire.  It is a couple of years since I last taught there and it was a real joy to me to return.  Alec and I first started teaching in Scotland in 1992 and I have been returning regularly ever since.  I've always felt at home there, partly perhaps because of my Scottish ancestry but mostly because of the warmth and friendliness of the people I've met.  One family in particular have taken me to their hearts (and the feeling is mutual) so it is always something like a homecoming when I spend time with them.

At the Reiki Association Annual Gathering I attended recently Phyllis Furumoto spoke about how
learning more about Reiki felt like coming home for her.  I could understand her feelings as I have also experienced, through Reiki, these homely feelings of comfort, safety warmth and love.  The experience is often strongest when I gather with other people to share Reiki.

Those who attend Reiki shares often comment on how at ease they feel soon after arriving and how quickly they feel friendship with those they are sharing Reiki with.  This may be because we have to allow people into the category of 'friend' because we will be touching each other.  But perhaps it is also something more: the special quality of loving kindness that Reiki brings.  A quality that many people associate with Christmas.

As Christmas approaches, I think of how many people are preparing to gather at home with their families; often spending time with people they see little of during the rest of the year.  For some (like for me returning to Ayrshire) this can be a delight, a time to re-connect and recognise that the love has been there all the time, so it is as if we have hardly been apart: there are just lots of good stories to share!  For others being with family can be a less happy time, whether due to unresolved difficulties from the past or clashes of personality in the present. 

 Perhaps remembering some of the qualities we experience during our Reiki sharing can help us to have a have a happier time when we go home to our families.  The qualities I am thinking of are: kindness, compassion, a willingness to listen and to accept each person in their uniqueness, to be willing to see another's pain and offer comfort and most of all to hold a space that love can fill, without the need for words.

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Count Your Blessings with a Gratitude Journal - December 2008

 

Listening to a recording of Hawayo Takata (the Reiki Master who brought Reiki out of Japan) at the Reiki Camp this summer I was struck that when she talked about the Reiki Principles she also included the suggestion: "Count your blessings". This seems to me to be an extension of the fifth principle "Show gratitude to every living thing" because counting your blessings is also about gratitude.
 
There have been times when I have not been grateful for the many blessings in my life. Rather than focusing on the abundance in my life, I have focused on how little I have, and then got stressed about it. This is not a good way to live a happy and healthy life! Over the years, with the help of Reiki and the Reiki Principles, I have shifted my thinking, so that I now see how blessed I am in so many ways.
 
The current financial climate can be very worrying, but counting your blessings is a very good way of reducing your stress levels I find! There is so much more in life than money to be grateful for: such as the love of our (Reiki) family and friends, the animals who live alongside us, or the beauty of the natural world around us. The banks may be collapsing, but that does not affect the excited welcome from my dog, the beauty of a tree covered in snow or the song of a robin. Jobs may be uncertain, but what is certain is that the sun will rise each day, giving light, warmth and the energy for plants to grow. And at a time of celebration and gift giving, there is so much to be grateful for!
 
One of the little practices I use that helps me to count my blessings is to keep a Gratitude Journal, where I write down at the end of each day 5 things for which I am grateful in that day. They are sometimes the same thing as I wrote the previous day (my husband Alec features very often of course!), sometimes different. For example, I might write about the phone call from a potential student, the scent of a rose unexpectedly still blooming in my garden in December or the wonderful vegetables that arrive on our doorstep in our organic veg box! By writing down these things I am giving them my attention and appreciation, focusing my mind in a positive way.
 
I like to add to the experience by using a notebook that gives me pleasure to pick up and a pen that I enjoy to write with. I have found that by doing this each night, before I go to sleep, I end my day on a positive note, which helps me sleep and prepares me well for the next day. I have also found that by doing it regularly my whole attitude to life shifts and I tend to see more of the positive in each day and count my blessings all the time.
 
So why not try keeping a Gratitude Journal yourself for a couple of months and see what happens?

 

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 Four Aspects: Mystic Order - December 2009

The Fourth Aspect of Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki is Mystic Order.  It refers to the way the practice of Reiki helps to meet a need for connection and community that is fundamental to human beings.

In modern times we have lost many of the old communities we had: the village, street or extended family. Many people yearn for this kind of connection again. Reiki seems to offer a new way to be in community, where our essential connection with other human beings is acknowledged and nurtured.   This is what the Aspect of Mystic Order is about.

My First Degree students often comment, at the end of the course, on how they feel a strong kinship with their fellow students.  People who were strangers on the first evening often feel as if they have been friends for years by the end of 4 days.

People often remark on the special quality that seems to be present when Reiki people gather together, whether it is at a Reiki share (where people give each other Reiki treatments) or other event.  I was at a sharing group recently and there were 8 of us. We could either have used 2 Reiki couches and had 2 groups of 4 people, or we could have one big group. This particular group of people decided they would like to receive Reiki from lots of hands at the same time! So we had one big group. We treated in silence, so there was little social chat. Yet by the end of the evening there was a deep sense of connection. This was Mystic Order.

‘Mystic’ implies something mysterious that is not easy to put into words. Very often the people I give Reiki to through treatments or teaching, find the special quality Reiki gives them difficult to describe. One person said it is like 'a hug inside', another said it was like a feeling of coming home. Most people have a feeling of comfort and connection that goes beyond the physical.

When students receive the initiation into First or Second degree, this is also a mystical experience. They are asked to close their eyes and keep them closed for the ceremony so they do not know exactly what is going on, yet many have an experience that is moving on a deep level.

The word 'order' was chosen with the idea of monks and nuns who share a common spiritual practice and live together in community. Reiki people do not generally live together, yet we often come together in groups, whether of just 2 for a treatment or a few for a Reiki Share or bigger numbers for gatherings and other events.  We share the common practice of Reiki and the experiences it brings, giving us a sense of connection. 

Connection is one of the essential qualities of a spiritual life to me and I have found that the more I have practiced Reiki, the greater my sense of connection: with myself, with my family and friends and with the Reiki community. Reiki has enabled me to feel more comfortable with myself and being in a group. I used to be shy and awkward in groups of people: Reiki has helped me to see how a community can offer support and nurturing in a way I haven't experienced anywhere else.

 

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Be Kind - December 2010

Last month a lorry damaged my car while it was parked and didn’t stop to leave his details.  However, a kind man who witnessed the collision left his phone number for me.  The kindness of this stranger has helped me in this unpleasant situation.

This led me to remember a story I heard once:

There was once a great guru who many people had gathered to hear.  It was said that he would be giving a great teaching that day.  The audience waited in eager anticipation.  The guru walked onto the stage, sat down and looked at them all.  After a long silence he said: “Be kind.” And walked off the stage!

Reiki, I have found, has had much to teach me about being kind.  Many people learn Reiki in order to be able to help their family and friends or their animals.  Giving your time and presence through gentle touch to someone in need of help is a lovely act of kindness.  It is also kindness to give Reiki to yourself.

Stress often leads to unkindness.  I’ve noticed when driving in Birmingham, for example, that the traffic really keeps moving thanks to the kindness of some drivers, letting others out at junctions.  When I am stressed, I often feel as if I don’t have time to pause and do something that would be a kindness.  Sometimes I’m so busy I don’t even have time to think of it!  However, over the years I’ve found that Reiki has helped me to slow down so that I have the space to notice where I have an opportunity for an act of kindness. 

We can be kind to ourselves by receiving a Reiki treatment: receiving Reiki helps us to slow down, becoming more balanced and healthier.  A calm and happy person is more of an asset to those around us, so it really is a kindness to everyone to live that way!  If we receive Reiki from someone else, we are also being kind to the person giving the treatment as we give them the opportunity to help us and also to receive whatever we give them in exchange for the treatment. 

Kindness to ourselves can be the most difficult of all.  We often judge ourselves more harshly than we would judge anyone else!  Giving ourselves a Reiki treatment each day, which I encourage all my students to do, is a daily practice of kindness towards ourselves.

I have often been touched by the kindness of people who have learned Reiki.  I have found that there is great kindness among the Reiki Sharing Groups for example.  As they get to know each other they offer support, but even as strangers there is always a feeling of wanting to help each other with Reiki.  This also often goes beyond the Reiki Share evening, such as the way one of the students recently asked for support during a very stressful time when she was doing an important exam.  She received distant and hands-on Reiki from fellow students who were only too pleased to help.  Happily (and perhaps because she knew so many friends were thinking of her kindly) she passed!

I am also very grateful for the kindness of my students in their willingness to support me.  I often received lovely replies to my e-mail messages – even if it is to say they are unable to attend a workshop I’m offering I appreciate their kindness in taking time to respond.

December, with Christmas and other holidays, can often be a stressful time.  One antidote may be to remember this teaching and be kind to yourself and those around you.

 

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Giving and Receiving - December 2011

 With Christmas approaching, many of us are thinking about the gifts we will be giving or receiving. The practice of Reiki teaches us that what will bring good health and happiness is balance, which includes the balance of exchange.

Frequently people who are drawn to learning Reiki are those who feel more comfortable giving than receiving, helping others but reluctant to receive help themselves. This can work for a while, but is an imbalance that can ultimately lead to exhaustion or feelings of resentment. To achieve healthy balance these people need to learn how to receive and to do so graciously.

Other people are happy to receive without giving anything in return, which is also an unhealthy imbalance. This often stems from taking things for granted, or lack of awareness of the true value of what is being given. This can lead to feelings of resentment and judgment when the gift is felt to be lacking. This feeling of lack is an imbalance that can create discomfort and unhappiness. What helps people with this imbalance is to develop a sense of gratitude.

What can also happen when we give or receive is that we have some agenda attached to it. For example, we may give in order to be liked more, or give a large gift in the hope that we this will raise our status in the mind of the receiver. On the other hand, we may feel that if we give a gift of lower value we will be seen negatively. We are also encouraged at this time of year to look for the 'perfect gift' the one that will please the other most and of course the advertisers try to get us to believe that the more we spend the better, which if we believe them can lead to overspending (financial imbalance) or feeling inadequate, both of which are stressful and unhealthy.

There can also be expectations about what gifts we will receive. The value or nature of the gift is often seen as a measure of that person's valuing of us. Looking for a particular outcome when giving or receiving can lead to disappointment and also placing value where it doesn't belong. We have a natural instinct that calls our attention to the imbalance of this and the stress that it causes.

When there is balance, the giving of gifts can be a real pleasure and receiving can be a joy. To be able to
give and receive without attachment is what brings true happiness and the practice of Reiki gives us an opportunity to explore this. We are encouraged to give Reiki treatments unconditionally – without looking for a particular outcome, because Reiki will help the person however they most need it on that day. We are also encouraged to practice exchange, receiving something in return for the Reiki treatment we have given or giving in return for the treatment we have received, which maintains the balance between us.

So my wish for you this festive season is one I have learned through my Reiki practice: may you give graciously and receive with gratitude. May this be a practice you continue to explore in coming year and may it bring you good health, peace and happiness.