New Leaf Mentoring … new thought. new health. new life.

Posts tagged ‘meditation’

A Promise to Myself


Several years ago I discovered that I needed a blueprint that I could follow on a daily basis to build my spiritual growth by. Some of these things I was already easily doing, others I needed to remind myself of. I put them all in a list, pinned it up on my wall and read it many times a day! I promised myself to follow my list. I noticed that the days I felt low and crappy were the days I wasn’t following my promise. And I also noticed that following my ‘promise’ list would pick me up out of any depression and immediately shift my mood into a happy, stable place again. Try it for yourself!

My Promise to Myself

Today I will…

~ meditate 10 minutes in mindful awareness and silence.
~ journal one thought, idea or feeling.
~ express gratitude.
~ notice one beautiful thing.
~ appreciate someone else for something.
~ receive a blessing.
~ let go of something.
~ meet another with compassion.
~ do something kind for me.
~ pray for the wellbeing of one other person.
~ have faith that everything is in good hands.

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Metaphysics

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Awakening the Sacred Self


In times of change, economic, climatic, environmental or otherwise we find that we need to be very clear on our own inner resources to maintain a sustainable sense of stability and peace. Without a clear knowing of our personal strengths and challenges we can easily be swept along in the chaotic spin of the moment. However, with knowledge and awareness we may not only learn to conserve our strength and resources but may also find ourselves in situations where we can offer added strength to those around us. The key to all this is coming to personally understand where the truth of our own heart lies. (more…)

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Healing, Metaphysics

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Reiki: A Discovery of Self-Empowerment


I came across Reiki one day back in 1995 while giving a talk about herbs and organic gardening. Up until that minute I had never even heard of it, and in the last 16 years since then I haven’t experienced one minute without it. There was an instant recognition that Reiki and I somehow belonged together, but I was gun-shy about joining into any belief system and literally ran in the other direction. It took me a full year before I was willing to entertain the idea of learning Reiki.

Doubtful Beginnings

I’m a self-starting kind of person, I have always been self-employed and have always called my own shots. I have always felt very strongly about maintaining my independence and helping myself, and although I was at a point in my life where I needed a new perspective and certainly some help from somewhere I just couldn’t wrap my head around a nebulous healing modality that was based in channeling energy. I did however, eventually take the courses and immediately understood myself to be engaged in a very personal discovery of self-empowerment. I felt better about it then. When I could feel the power of Reiki in my own core, in my own hands and use it for myself I was hooked. I determined to find out as much as I could about it and tried to experience it in every aspect of my life. Certainly Reiki was something I could share with others, but most importantly I could use it for myself.

The first degree of Reiki teaches us about self-treatment. Not only are you given a treatment protocol that teaches you how the give yourself Reiki, it also teaches us the value of doing so. Reiki gives us  5 precepts, that when practiced serve to awaken ourselves to peaceful ways, compassion and tolerance. In Reiki you become attuned to a vibration of energy that is highly organized and intelligent. It immediately stimulates the body to search out health and healthy patterns.

Reiki, Me and the Rest of Creation

I practice Reiki today because I am concerned for the well-being of humanity and our earth. I am fascinated by the possibility that we can change the world, indeed our future by the way we think, feel and of course behave. But all behaviour stems in thought and belief systems. I had been exposed to the power of the subconscious mind, positive thinking and creative visualization since childhood and began actively working with these concepts as a young adulthood. As I’ve grown and matured – [which is code for gotten older and made a lot of mistakes] – I began getting smarter and less controlling with my practice. I gradually began to understand the power of surrender, patience and ease. My Reiki practice gave me ample opportunities to experience suffering, pain and hardships from a new perspective of choice, non-attachment and opportunity.  I learned to observe without meddling, I learned to give Reiki treatments without minding my clients’ business, I learned to remain unattached to their outcomes, their journeys and their pain. I focused instead on the perfect principle of health that presides in our bodies and universe. When I do this – focusing on the health in any situation – health blossoms. It’s that old adage in action: where attention goes energy flows. I practice on myself – diligently. I understand that  the change I want to see in the world starts with me!

I discovered that in every broken down body, in every situation of despair and suffering and in every circumstance of perceived failure is opportunity, healing, and success. In Reiki we are able to access that Divine aspect of ourselves that has not forgotten our greatness and our truest soul purpose. In Reiki we can learn to restore our intuition and natural vitality to create sustainable life for ourselves and our children. By empowering all that is Divine on our bodies, hearts and minds we align ourselves with the highest creative forces of our universe. Creative energy is omnipotent, and while it belongs to everyone equally it can not be harnessed and controlled by one for another. Awakening your creative energy is personally empowering, and personally gratifying.

Reiki empowers people in their strength and their spiritual resilience. We remember our greatness in Reiki. We become awakened to the Divine aspect of ourselves and our boundless limitless potential to be healthy, creative and vibrant entities.

Reiki; Part of the Solution

Many years have passed and Reiki is still a daily part of my life. Although I am a Reiki Master which means I am able to teach and attune others to this amazing modality, in my heart I am and will always remain a student and practitioner of Reiki. I meditate and give myself t daily still. Reiki offers us a very simple technique to build a relationship with peace that sits in our core. Reiki meets us where we live. Where ever we are at Reiki can be without question, without judgment. Reiki offers us a new attitude with which to negotiate a challenging world and difficult stressful life situations. Everyone can learn Reiki – and at the risk of passing a judgment everyone should! The world would be a very different place.

I am offering a One day Workshop – ‘Reiki+ Meditation; Help Yourself with Basics’ to introduce self-help techniques for stress, worry, and chronic pain. See above under Upcoming Events for more details.

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Healing, Reiki

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Keeping it Real This Bleak Mid-Winter


We’ve entered the deep freeze phase of winter. It’s a very surreal kind of time; everything is covered in snow, sounds are muffled and quiet, even the colours are muted. The earth  – at least in our hemisphere – is deeply frozen in sleep.

In times long gone by, the people, mindful of working in harmony with nature, would rest during this time, but alas, in our modern world we tend not to afford ourselves this luxury. If possible we try to escape the cold and head somewhere warm and sunny for a few days to get our vitamin D fix for the remaining winter weeks ahead but if not possible, we continue to slough it out at the same pace and rhythm of the rest of the year.

The energies of mid-winter support our need to hunker down, stay low, and rest. But as life tends to carry on and we can’t just slip into hibernation as some species do, we need to try to stay balanced by doing the things that will cause us the least resistance and difficulty. When we work in resistance we create unrest and imbalance in our body systems which will inevitably lead to colds, flus, broken limbs, accidents, and over exertion which in turn can develop into full blown disease. When we work in harmony with the seasonal opportunities however, we will find that we can move through winter easily and peacefully. Winter is peaceful, in fact it is almost monochromatic, showing us the beauty of simplicity and the joy in rest not just the need for it.

In Touch with Sacred Me

Winter is the ideal time to get in touch with our sacred self. Consciously moving our attention inwards to our core will help us get and stay grounded. The earth still beats out her heart rhythm and we are still engaged with her though the signals may seem quietly muted. There are things we can do to remind ourselves of our deep connection to the Earth and universe.

i) practice non-attachment: Since winter is already a hard time to keep things flowing, in order to  prevent life from freezing up on us it is important to lighten our loads. By this I mean that it is time to start letting go of ideas, attachments and clutter that no longer serve our highest good. For many aboriginal tribes this is the time of purification. By releasing our attachments to things we encourage subtle energies to keep flowing allowing new possibility to trickle in. Clean out, dust off and smudge stagnant energy.

ii) breathe, ground and meditate: This is a time of restructuring and coming into a new harmony for possible growth ahead. This is quiet and invisible work, it can only be realized in quiet contemplation. Just as the roots of a great tree reach deeply into the soil, through the frozen layer into the still warm earth beneath, so is it time to reach into our core to allow the warmth of our soul to maintain our vitality. Our soul, always connected to our divine blueprint will keep us moving through these months with guided purpose. Deep breathing exercises and longer meditations will keep providing us with focus and clarity.

iii) get outside: It’s cold, so bundle up and go for a walk anyway. Walking in nature in the winter can be a deeply spiritual exercise. It’ll clear your head, clear your lungs, and open your eyes. Winter walking is slower and more mindful than in the summer. Watch every step, breathe deeply and keep your eyes peeled for animals. They appear vibrantly in winter and have much to teach us. Cardinal for example teaches us of our sacred selves, the value of being grounded through the root chakra and in the same breath inspired to the loftiest goals. It’s clear song teaches us of speaking truthfully and sweetly, its colour teaches us of our vibrancy and passion and reminds us that while all may seem dormant today will revive in full power in Spring.

Spring is only a couple months away. In a few short weeks you will be feeling compelled to be moving at a much faster pace and chomping at the bit to get going, but for now rest…plan…meditate…and spend some time truly getting to know yourself and your relationships to all people and all things. Your ability to manifest yourself this spring will depend entirely on how real you can be with yourself now.

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Healing, Metaphysics

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Reiki; old fashioned, incomplete or just perfect?


The other day I heard a Reiki Master say that in his opinion Reiki was old fashioned and outdated…interesting.

I was dumb-founded. How can Reiki – Universal Life Force energy be old fashioned and outdated? I realize I can be a pretty literal person so I tried to comprehend how else this may have been intended.

Reiki as energy cannot be outdated. It is after all universal life force energy, it is a constantly co-created emanation of energy grounded in all life systems of our universe. Reiki as a modality could perhaps be outdated but only in context of the relationship the student of Reiki has with the practice of it, which makes it the responsibility of the student not the modality itself. I certainly have never experienced Reiki to be anything but currently applicable and relevant furthermore I believe that the truest power of Reiki is yet to be discovered as scientists learn more about the nature of energy from a quantum perspective. I don’t think we have even scratched the surface of it’s potential yet!

I’m involved in many chat groups on the internet that discuss Reiki healing and possibility. I’m seeing that Reiki practitioners in general have very personalized and limited perspectives of what Reiki is and can do. As usual people spread their personal fear garnished ideas around demonstrating how little faith they actually have in the power of the dynamic that is universal life force energy. It is so weird to me how many practitioners have tried to alter reiki with new symbols and theories and techniques when it is so powerfully and simply effective as it is.

Usui, the japanese metaphysician that developed this modality of healing brought to us an awareness that we have the opportunity to work with the energy that we are immersed in to create a possibility for peace, harmony and happiness. He became enlightened to this possibility after an extended meditation retreat where he apparently determined to release all his preconceived ideas of life in order to experience another way. Legend says he was willing to die if necessary.

Maybe I’m an old fashioned kind o’gal but I’m not gullible, niave, or easily bamboozled and I think Reiki is very cool. Reiki fits perfectly with well established metaphysical philosophies, evolving quantum theories, natural laws of our universe, sound spiritual practices (like meditation) and all health issues of modern man. Remember I’m talking about original Usui Reiki…The precepts of Reiki are, I admit, pretty old fashioned;

“Just for today do not anger, do not worry, honour your parents,teachers, and elders, earn your living honestly and show gratitude for all living things.”

But you know, all things considered, it’s a pretty honourable code of ethics to live by. As far as the rest of it I would suggest that before you decide Reiki is out dated – look perhaps to your own ego and it’s ideas. Reiki Is…it really doesn’t need your thoughts and perceptions of understanding to work, in fact try instead surrendering to Reiki, get out of the way, stay present and watch the magic begin! Reiki is precise and perfect every time. What do you think? Let me know.

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Reiki

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Fact, Faith & Superstition


So often when I introduce Reiki to someone new who’s never heard of it before, particularily men (it’s the whole left brain thing) they inform me they don’t believe in faith healing. So I tell them the facts. I tell them why Reiki doesn’t require ‘faith’ in order to work and also what the scientific world is now starting to understand about energy and the human body. Then they get on the table.

Having said that I have tremendous faith in my Reiki treatments; I trust them to work 100% of the time. I have faith that there will be change in the client’s life – even if they don’t recognize it right away. Sometimes the changes that come after a treatment are different than what the client expected or wanted to happen, but again I have faith that Reiki – Universal Life Force energy knows best. I also have faith that Reiki will continue to work for our highest good always whether we believe in it or not. And as much as all this faith sounds a bit airy fairy – my faith is based on 15 years of facts, success stories and ‘miracles’.

You see I really am a skeptical person, I have put my Reiki through the paces. It has never made sense to me to blindly trust something that could affect someone else. Further more, since I have no religious conditioning I’ve never had to have blind faith in anything in my life. Everything I’ve ever held faith in had to be proven at some point, before or later makes no difference. If I’m going to believe in something it has to hold water. So I tend to look for the leaks in theories, ideas, people, friendships, stories etc. of course this also extends to my Reiki/Healing/ teaching work. Some leaks can be easily fixed and are worth the effort, other leaks require a complete tear down and start over.

All the work that I do is prone to superstitious undertones. Reiki, tarot cards, meditation, metaphysics, positive thinking etc. Superstitious ideas like ‘healer’s can’t work on themselves’, or ‘ Reiki is witchcraft?’, ‘don’t ask for healing/abundance for yourself’ are taking decades to work their way out of human consciousness. And the new age has also brought a few strange ideas to the table for instance, the other day I met a lady who almost did a backflip trying to erase the word ‘fear’ out of the energy field around us when I suggested that our freedom is governed by our fears, She felt that just saying ‘fear’ would attract fear to her. Very bizarre. She had fear for the word fear…hmm, what’s wrong with this picture. I systematically avoid all superstitious belief systems and rituals based in superstition. My work is for the real world, grounded in facts, with real results.

I have a couple things though I am superstitious about. 1. I always pick up pennies, and if I sweep one up off the floor at home I don’t throw it out with the rest of the dirt. Because superstitiously I believe if I don’t pick it up I am throwing away good fortune.  2. I never throw out any cards, notes, or letters that have been signed with Love; again I don’t want to throw wishes of love away. 3. I have never thrown a book out in my entire life; I won’t throw knowledge or words away. Hmmm… maybe I’m just a packrat?….nah!

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Metaphysics

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