Mediation offers you the opportunity to gain perception and wisdom in the inner calm.   Connecting with nature promotes personal and spiritual growth as you feel the love and harmony of the earth.  Gaining a relationship with the earth provides the opportunity to develop intuitive and creative abilities.  The connecting with nature workshop teaches how to take walking meditation to the next level.

Modern professional medical care is the answer to a mental or physical crisis, but for maintaining homeostasis of mind, body, and spirit Gendai Reiki-ho, Komyo Reiki, herbs, connecting with nature, and meditation take center stage.

Awareness comes from that inner self.  Meditation is not difficult even though some structured forms require study, determination and discipline.  Easy forms such as I teach can flow into your life style, helping to smooth out some of those sharp edges.  Unlike Usui Reiki Ryoho, you do not have to be connected by a qualified teacher, but like Reiki, practice is necessary.

Before I explain how I teach meditation and connecting with nature, and what a guided journey into your past is, I would like to share some quotes with you.

A quote attributed to the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung -- "Your vision will become clear when you can look into your own heart.   Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside awakens."

A quote from Zen practices --”Nature has a perfect sense of composition, a naturalness that always seems to reflect a perfect sense of order.”

A quote from American writer Louisa May Alcott , which while written before Mikao Usui founded the practice of Usui Reiki Ryoho reflects the original essence -- “Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.  I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead.”

Theophrastus Bombastus von Hoheheim, popularly known as Paracelsus, said, “The earth moulds man's (human beings) shape, and the heaven endows this shape with the light of nature.”

Hiroshi Doi, one of my Reiki Master/Teachers said, “Every time when you sit quietly and join your hands to pray and chant morning and evening, you can develop a pure and sound mind, and there is just an essence in making the most of that for your daily life.”

Affirmations are one of the things I teach in Shoden level of Gendai Reiki-ho and Komyo Reiki. At the beginning of the 20th century, French physician Emile Coue was responsible for thousands of remarkable documented healings combining western medicine with the power of affirmations.   One of the most popular affirmations being, “Each day I am better in every way.”

Meditation is consciously slowing your brain waves from the normal Beta level to the Alpha and sometimes lower levels.  If you are skeptical about such things as Meditation, and Reiki you are not alone.  In 1953,
Dr. J. B. Rhine's published work on ESP caused quite a stir.  However from the world of science Albert Einstein said, "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.   We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.  "   We all have an intuitive mind.

The practice of naturally healing using universal energies is not that far removed from the scientific world; the two often meet and sometimes overlap.

Because it is a time for “me”, or more precisely your mind, body and spirit. Meditation is a practice that is beneficial to all of your life.  Meditation is the perfect gift you give to yourself as your brain waves slow down allowing you time to organize.  A quiet meditative mind helps to maintain longevity.  If you would like to learn to meditate, check out my scheduled classes or contact me for more information.

Before you go on to read more of my words I will share with you some others thoughts on meditation.

Even beginners achieve many benefits, and you do not have to sit in the lotus position saying “OM” unless you want to. One benefit that becomes a part of your life is learning to listen to what you hear.  The expression “I hear you” often means I am listening and I understand your meaning behind your words.  Too often a person may hear another’s words, or his or her own inner guidance, but is too busy with all the dozens of thoughts racing through his or her mind to listen. In meditation, as in Gendai Reiki-ho and Komyo Reiki a person learns to bench their thinking/logical mind and allow vibrations to be received unaltered.  Ask any deaf person and he or she will tell you that sound is vibration; it is how those vibrations are received that determines a person’s understanding.

Meditation can awaken creativity and the inner healer, and transformation can occur.  Some people spend most of their lives looking outward for that the source of happiness, peace, and fulfillment. When you look inward you may be amazed at the positive strength you can find. Meditation allows you to explore your true/essential nature, restoring the memory of wholeness in your life.

I introduce various breathing methods and mantras, so that you can choose what fits with your nature.  Each person is unique, and as I learned in my Japanese Usui Reiki studies, recognizing this supports health and happiness.  The practice of meditation in class helps to get you in the daily routine of not putting off meditating until a better time.

Meditation is not about forcing your mind to be quiet, and becoming frustrated when an unwanted thought pushes its way in.  It is finding that welcome stillness that allows you to drift into the peaceful silence where rediscovery happens.  My father taught me an easy way to erase thoughts when I was a little girl, and many people I have taught find this a useful technique.  I teach other simply ways to deal with thoughts as well.  While you are reading this, how many other thoughts are racing through your mind?

Meditation reflects the essence of Gendai Reiki-ho and Komyo Reiki in that in the highest dimensions anger and worry do not exist, thus allowing the positive to manifest.

Both easy forms, and disciplined forms of meditation are paths to the same goal. I introduce basic styles that are simple and easy.  Once you begin to meditate daily, you can find energy changing to a kinetic form that makes a positive impact in many areas of your life.

While channeling the universal energy we commonly call Reiki requires initiation from a qualified Usui Reiki Ryoho Shihan (master/teacher) and study, meditation only requires your desire and someone to show you how.  The right attitude for meditation is the same as for Usui Reiki Ryoho; it involves letting go of worry, anger, and all those other negative vibrations holding you back. As with Reiki, you will be dealing with the cosmic consciousness and individual consciousness. You do not need expensive equipment or tailored clothing; unrestrictive clothing is best, but not a necessity.  

Meditation like Gendai Reiki-ho allows you to uncover the true you. In one technique I developed, I never tire of hearing the different experiences students relay after coming back to their Beta level. Meditation most commonly is in the alpha level and sometimes the theta level.  The delta level is usually associated with unconscious/deep sleep because the brain wave frequency is 0-4 (some sources say 0-3) cycles per second as opposed to 14-21 (some sources say 13-30) in the Beta level.  The alpha level is very relaxing and beneficial to all areas of your life, which I explore more in my classes. 

In meditation you go into your space that is free from worry and judgment. In that space of deep peace you can touch that inner part of yourself where talents may have laid dormant.  With life moving at its most often fast pace you may not have had time to uncover some of your talents. In meditation you are in a safe place, and most often when doing ‘one focus’ meditation, which I introduce, you find solutions. In that peaceful positive place of meditation, you attract peace and positive vibrations.

I think Vincent Van Gogh best described the visual of meditation when he said, “One of the most beautiful things one can do is to paint the darkness, which nonetheless has light in it.” 

If you would like to see when my next meditation class is offered please go to my calendar/contact me page.  Most commonly, my Meditation and Reiki classes are held in my healing room nestled in a wild life habitat in Windsor Maine, USA.  I do travel to teach Gendai Reiki-ho, Komyo Reiki and meditation, so please contact me if you have a group of people in your area that would like to learn from me.

When you mediate, you remove the veil of other’s thoughts. Gathering information shared by teachers or borrowed from written works is excellent, but having a head full of remembered data is not enough for health and happiness.  In addition, through meditation you can see the full meaning of data gathered during your awake Beta level. I have heard people say they get their best ideas when taking a walk. Walking meditation is one of the forms I introduce.  I have shown people in class that some of his or her common activities are times when the mind is quiet, which is a form of meditation.

What happens when you have too many programs opened at one time on your PC? The human brain and computers are very much alike.  The hectic pace of the outside world can interrupt some of the netting that makes up your memories/your data files. From the science world, authors Thibodeau & Patton tell us, “the altered state of consciousness known as meditation leads to decreased sympathetic activity and a group of changes opposite to those of the fight-or-flight response”. 

Meditation allows you to calmly regroup before your first response.  When your fight or flight reaction kicks in there is little time for meditation, but daily meditation gives you an edge in such situations. I teach how to weave meditation into your daily life instead of rearranging your life to fit in meditation -- the same as Gendai Reiki-ho and Komyo Reiki. Meditation, like Gendai Reiki-ho, can become both a way to replace a habit that is not beneficial to your health and happiness, and a way of life.

For centuries receiving answers and sorting through challenges has been accomplished through meditation. Centuries ago, when technology was only a vision, healers often depended upon meditation for the answers in healing an illness. 

In inward meditation and guided meditation, you are always in control.  Outward meditation, sometimes called channeling, I discuss in classes.  The guided meditations I do vary with the people within each class.  One will allow you to go into your past in this life or another life as the observer for healing or self-discovery.

Affirmations, as taught in the Shoden level of Gendai Reiki-ho and Komyo Reiki, are powerful tools.  Affirmations in the Alpha state can be even more powerful.  Thoughts/messages received in the alpha, theta, or delta levels can come to you later in your daily Beta state.   What goes into your brain at any state stays unless reprogrammed.  As you learn meditation, you can learn reprogramming that has similarities to the reprogramming you can learn in the Okuden level of Gendai Reiki-ho.

Your brain is an amazing complicated collection of cells functioning in ways not totally understood.  You have heard warnings about what not to put into your body, but what about your mind.  As Hyakuten-Sensei said, “the mind is the master and the body follows”.  You have heard of the Law of Attraction responding to your thoughts.  The cells in your physical body also respond to your thoughts.  The next time you are repeating, “I always trip over everything” think of the fewer bruises you will have when you reprogram your thoughts.

Meditation, like certain Gendai Reiki-ho and Komyo Reiki exercises, stays with you during the day allowing you to handle the most stressful of situations.  Holidays are joyful times of the years, but can be very stressful. One holiday, a situation was such that if I went “by-the-book” it was going to be a sad and stressful time for me. I could not change the situation, but I could accept it and focus on the good feelings within my heart.  I meditated, went into that safe peaceful place, and allowed Reiki to flow.  The evening before the holiday, I thought about the next day and was overwhelmed by a sense of deep peace.  In that Now/present moment I felt nothing negative, and easily connected to Usui-Sensei’s words, “Maintain the peace of mind and not to worry.”  Once you feel that sense of deep peace, you can move forward in the positive way that is most beneficial to you.

In meditation, there are no daily life obstacles.  In 1980s when taking counselor courses, a co-student who was blind taught me how my eyes often prevented me from seeing the beauty in life.  An instructor of ASL, who is deaf, taught me how ears can be an obstacle to hearing that which is beyond what the ears can receive. When we depend upon any one of our senses, we can loose touch with the others. In my connecting with nature workshop, I introduce how to gain awareness that is often overlooked.

Our five standard senses serve us very well, and when one stops functioning we gain a greater awareness of another. In spite of that, there are some challenges that our five senses can only help us with to a point.  At those times deep in the peace of meditation we can see solutions, not problems.

In this Now/present moment, allow your eyelids to gently close over your eyes.  Relax all muscles in your body, still your mind, and focus on an event.  Allow visual, sound, smell or touch to come into your mind. Do not force, but simply allow.  Enjoy that quiet space as the observer, being open to whatever comes to you.  When you come back think how many senses were functioning that are not your standard five senses.  When a student asks me to explain how I see the energy field that surrounds each life form, my first reaction is to say simply relax and look. Because these fields, commonly called auras, are not often thought of a part of each life form many people are not aware that they are recognizing another’s aura with one or more of their senses.

Glucocorticoids released form the adrenal cortex is the body’s first response to stress, and authors Thibodeau and Patton say science is unsure if that successfully helps to cope with stress or not. Abraham Lincoln, US President, said one should always let a letter set overnight and read it again before sending. Allowing yourself that time in Meditation, allows you to look at an idea/problem/situation from all sides.  Sometimes in that space the perfect action to take might appear to you, that otherwise would have been overlooked.

I invite you to join one of my mediation classes and experience that calm relaxing place where problems do not hide solutions.  As with Reiki I make no promises, but give you guidelines to uncovering what will make your life the best for you.

These can be a very important tool in healing.  Traumatic events in your childhood can look entirely different when seen through your adult perspective. All traumas look differently when you are the observer without the strain of emotions.  Traveling into your past can also help to uncover the reason as to why you are easily upset over something that the logical side of your brain says should not upset you.  Once the reason is uncovered those upset feelings can fade away.  

Have you ever started to clean out a hall closet and then pushed those cluttering things even further back in the closet?  Sometimes we do the same thing with our brain’s networking. Pushing in the back of the closet brings to mind the trite saying “out of sight out of mind”.  Unfortunately, that only works in theory.  In the following quote, Carl Jung points out what can happen to those things in the closet. “The cat neglected becomes the unconscious tiger.”   The unconscious tiger can become your own personal monster. Sometimes encountering a sight, sound, smell, taste, or even touch can make you feel an unpleasant by-product of that monster.

  Tigers or monsters can easily be created through no fault of anyone. To show how easily they can be created and how hard they can be to recognize, I will share with you a time when this happened to me. I was recovering at home from one of those accidents that no one likes to remember.  One evening I joined family members to watch a movie on TV.  I had watched the movie before and had enjoyed the suspense woven into the plot. The background music announced the shock was coming that would create the atmosphere for the rest of the movie, and I relaxed knowing what I would see.  What I did not know is what I would feel.  I had watched the same scene before, but this time a terror gripped me that I could not remember ever feeling.  A movie I had first rated as a good thriller, now to me was terrifying. The movie was the original “Jaws”, and that evening each time the shark appeared I was filled with a illogical panic I could not ever remember feeling before.  I could not think of any reason why any movie would terrify me to such a degree.

The mystery of my terror that evening was not solved until as an observer I went into my past.  We all have the wonderful gift of imagination, and the ability to visualize.  I was recovering from a car accident.  The day I had driven around the corner of the road to see a car speeding toward me on my side of the road, I had visualized a great white shark coming at me with its mouth open.  A great white shark had become my symbol for all the pain surrounding that accident. Once my shark was out of the closet I understood how terrified I had been that day and was able to unload those feelings.  To make certain my monster had merrily gone on its way I again watched that movie.  I found that the bone chilling terror had been a by-product of the monster, and like the monster it was gone.  If I had not gone into my past I would still be carrying around the weight of a very unpleasant by-product.

Symbols have always been a part of our culture, and anyone can easily create a symbol to represent anything.  Symbols can remind you of the positive in life, or they can represent the dark side of life.  Those representing the negative, like my shark, if left in the closet can turn into monsters.  Sometimes those monsters in our closets are so illusive that we do not even know they are hijacking our attempts to manifest abundance in our lives.  Once the monsters have been brought out into the light and been convinced to go away, the hijacking ends.  I have had various clients say, “Wow I just feel so much lighter now”.  You cannot change the past, but you can change the way you think about things and release any monsters.

Guided meditative journeys are safe, in the respect that you are the observer only.  As the observer what was once seen as a tiger can now appear as a harmless bunny.  Sometimes the way in which you view a situation is more harmful to you then the actual situation.   My article "The Past Cannot be Changed, but Today Can" shows how powerful reprogramming your way of thinking can be.   How you see things today is important, as one Zen saying portrays, “Now it’s all you have”.

There is another side to these journeys that is sometimes overlooked. This is the side that fits perfectly with the universal law of attraction. You most likely will have remembered the flame that burned your finger. On the other hand, the flame that brightened up a dark room might have been forgotten. While pushing aside those curtains to reveal why you react in the ways you do, you might find forgotten warm smiles. Once you have exposed those smiles you can create you own symbol to help lighten up any dark time in your life.  Bringing back positive feelings is like lighting a candle in that it pushes back the darkness. The more positive you have in your life, the more positive you will attract to your life. 

Clients come to me for journeys into their past for different reasons.  Healing, balancing and awakening the positive I have already gone over. Another reason is for discovery.  If you believe past lives are possible, then it can be fun to go back and see how you lived in another time and place.  When you come back from a guided meditative journey you remember everything, so what you see in your past becomes a part of you today.  It is possible that events from past lives can have an effect on your reactions today.  It is also possible that traveling to a past life can bring forward a skill or by accident uncover a talent that can be helpful in your current life.

Clients sometimes combine one of these journeys with a Reiki healing session, which can be a very powerful healing tool. I have also, at the student’s request, added these journeys to Meditation classes and private and semi-private Reiki classes.  I also offer a mini Reiki session with the guided journey into your past. 

If you like more information please contact me.