Arm Deep in Adventure

MY REIKI STORY
Welcome to my adventure in healing. For a long time, I have been on the opposite side of the fence: pain free, energetic, unstoppable in doing what I have wanted to do. Often working with others who are not feeling pain free, energetic nor doing what they want to do because of a challenge they have been experiencing. Well, since I have now, jumped to the other side, I thought, maybe I should chronicle this adventure. Hopefully it will be a short one, a post or two, then faded away into memory.

So why not join me in Arm Deep in Adventure! People invariably make the mistake that if you work in the holistic field, you are always a vibrant picture of health, and I would like to dispel that myth--it couldn't be further from the truth, especially today.

Monday Morning...4/7/08
As I sit here this morning in excruciating pain, I figured maybe I should chronicle the adventure. I have been healthy and pain free for so long, it feels so unusual to be in this condition.

The awareness of this adventure began a few nights ago. I was laying on the sofa watching TV and feel asleep. When I woke up I noticed an ache in my right shoulder, upper back, and upper arm...the type that you get when you sleep on your side for too long. I got up, went to bed, and assumed it would be gone in the morning.

Wrong! Next morning, the ache was still there, noticeable but bearable, able to continue my normal activities. This continued for a few days. Fast forward to Sunday, mid afternoon. For the past few days I have been working with the pain, but not really consciously. As I am doing other things, I'm also doing some Reiki with crystal work. The pain subsides a bit but then returns. Hello! I should know better, pay better attention before it blows up to more than I wish to experience.

Suddenly the annoying, nagging, bearable pain is not getting its message across so it notches it but a bit, well...actually quite a lot. Ok! Now I listening:throbbing pain from the right shoulder blade area, moving up and around into the shoulder/arm ball and socket, going down outside of the arm, through the elbow, into the wrist, and then over to the thumb.

OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! The pain on a scale of 1 -10 is a 14+. As I move my arm around I notice more pain. Then I try to reach up to grab something and yikees! Searing pain...I could not lift my arm up. Hummm. Now what's going on!

All this adventure has driven me to the couch for recovery. Let's see...we will start with Reiki, do a cold pressed castor oil treatment and then add in some meditation. The pain from afternoon, through evening, through late night, becomes progressively worse.

My daughter was returning from a school sponsored trip for a national competition and was due to arrive back at school at 1:00 AM. How would I ever be awake to pick her up? No problem!

The first recognized gift of my pain...keeping me awake so I not miss the call to go get her. The only problem was trying to put my coat on. Driving was a bit challenging as well when I had to shift gears.

Came home, went to bed... lathered in Tiger Balm...woke my husband to help me get undressed..took 2 pain relievers... which I normally never do... slipped a Slim Spurling ring around my shoulder and prepared for sleep. Well actually. prepared to lay in bed, fading in and out of light sleep...more out than in.

Woke up. Okay enough of this! Called my friend Kim who is an awesome energy healer and booked an appointment with her. Called my chiropractor, my first line of defense when I think I may need an extra boost of outside help, and set that appointment.

Then received a phone message from another friend asking for the number of my chiropractor, she has this terrible pain, running down her arm and she is ready to gnaw her arm off. Hmmm! I called her...our symptoms are similar...hers on the left, mine on the right...but we chuckled as we described the last few days of our attempts at healing ourselves...Misery loves company.
Be sure to check back later to see how I have made out at my appointments. I am also getting ready to go in deeper and do the soul searching connection work, for there is where the key to recovery lies!

Healing Begins...Evening 4/7/08
Well I saw my energy healer friend. She assessed where my energy was not flowing optimally, she did her magic and got my energy opened up. By the time I left working with Kim, my right arm could be elevated to chest height with less pain and I could begin to move it in slight motions side to side. The pain was still present but much reduced in intensity. On a scale of 1-10, I would say I was at about a 6 when I left, a very significant drop from the early morning rating of 14+.

Next stop--the chiropractor. Her assessment--frozen shoulder--a little lit of this, a little bit of that...she worked her magic and I scheduled another appointment for Wednesday morning. She felt it would take 2-3 days before I would start to feel myself again. The pain remained about the same at about a 6.

A few hours later...the real magic kicked in...the frozen shoulder began to thaw, the arm could be elevated without any pain to chest level, tender spots were relaxing, and my energy level has returned. Yipee! Now that did not take too long... Am supposed to put a moist heating pad on it as frequently as needed, but have not needed to do so tonight.

So the day ends with a pain rating of a 2. Wow, pretty amazing! Had I gone a more traditional route, it would have looked more like...visit...off for some tests..handed a script for pain...see you in a week or so...oh, and by the way, what was your number, opps, I mean name?

Now I am off to bed, even through I am on the road to recovery, I think I will still tuck my self in with some tiger balm to keep the process working. Nite!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Well, I slept through the night comfortably and woke up this morning feeling full of energy! Hopped into the shower. Amazing! I can now wash my hair with 2 hands, really made me think about what I couldn't do when in pain. There is a wee bit of tenderness at the shoulder when touched, but other than that, my arm goes straight above my head with no pain.

Now my chiropractor said 2-3 days before I would be feeling normal again, but I hadn't mentioned I went to my friend the energy worker before her appointment. With Kim getting that Ki moving around, things then had a chance to rebalance alot quicker. This is one of the reasons why we say Reiki combines so well with other modalities to help with the healing process.

So this little experience brought up several things for me to look at once again:

When my body whispers, pay attention...don't wait for the screams

What parts of my life have I placed into deep freeze that need to be thawed out to move on?

I knew I was having problems staying grounded, pain brings an end to that right away, so what other ways can I choose to be more in my body that are joyfully?

When fully anchored in the moment, it is easy to feel gratitude for the simple things I take for granted, such as having two hands to wash my hair, putting on my coat without asking for help, driving my car and shifting without creating tears of pain, etc

Keep your appointment with the chiropractor, don't cancel just because you feel better, continue to work on the healing.

Guess this is the end of this leg of the journey, but the trip continues. Hopefully, these learnings will continue to have a strong impact and I won't slip back into a state of forgetfulness.
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Reiki to the Rescue: Reviving Depleted Batteries

REIKI STORY...
When I was taking my Level I Reiki class, I can remember my teacher mentioning as an aside, "Oh, yes and by the way, you can Reiki batteries also." I also remember thinking, "Ok, I was with you-- until now. Don't try to sell me some hocus pocus magic tricks."

All along, what I was being taught seemed reasonable, even though the name Reiki was kind of weird sounding, the ideas made sense on some level to me. And besides, I was only there taking this class so I could continue to do Polarity work without being energetically drained myself. Wrong! Just when I think I have it all figured out, the universe throws me a curve ball.

My teacher continued very matter-of-factly explaining, if you have a battery that has died but has not been sitting in a drawer dead for some time, you can Reiki it and it will revive itself, enough that you will not need to immediately replace the battery. "Yep! Sure! No problem! Watch out Energizer Bunny, I'm looking to take over your job" I'm thinking, holding the laughter in as she was speaking, not wanting to be disrespectful.

Well it just so happened that a few days after this class I was getting ready to prepare dinner and my daughter was doing homework. She came into the room and said, "Mom, my spellchecker just died, you need to go out and get me a new battery." Well my ears perked up on that one. Acting very confidently I said, "give me that battery". I sat down on the couch, put the battery between my hands, activated the Reiki energy, and kept one eye on the kitchen clock.

One minute passed...what am I doing? Am I nuts? Two minutes passed...I feel so stupid!...Three minutes passed...humm, I wonder how long I should hold this battery? Four minutes passed...what's that I feel? Five minutes passed...now it's cooking. Six minutes passed...well, she should be fired up by now.

Very gingerly, I handed the spellchecker battery over to my daughter, waiting for the ridicule that would come, after she put it back into the device and it wouldn't turn on. In goes the battery, "Thanks Mom, it's working!" Whew! I'll tell you, I slumped back in my seat and thought- it can't be true. Then I thought, well I'm sure it won't last. Wrong again, it was several weeks later before I had to actually go out and replace that battery, which totally amazed me.

Shortly after that, I was in the store, and at the time, you could purchase a battery pack with a test strip on the side to see how much energy was in the battery. I would use that to experiment with, giving Reiki to depleted batteries and watching them be re-energized. Each time it would happen, it would still amaze me. Unfortunately I can't find those test strips anymore. But I am beyond needing some demonstration of proof in that manner.

I have a relatively old digital camera by today's standards. It takes two AA batteries which have to be replaced frequently. I would always carry extras around with me, but I no longer need to. There have been quite a few times when I have wanted to take pictures and there are no replacement batteries close at hand, I just take the ones out of the camera, and Reiki them for a few minutes, pop them back into the camera, and I am good to go.

Still, even though I have done this on numerous occasions, I was still have a hard time accepting this was actually happening. Then one day, I had one of those hit yourself on the side of the head type of epiphany's...duh, we are acting just like a set of jumper cables. Our bodies are electrical systems that have life force energy flowing through them, therefore when we hold the depleted batteries we are essentially doing what a full battery does for a dead one when hooked up to the cables--we are giving them a jump. Once I was able to make that connection, I couldn't believe I hadn't made that deduction a lot sooner. So now as I teach my Level I Reiki class, as my teacher had done many years before, I mention to my students, "Oh, yes, and by the way, you can Reiki batteries too." That look I get is one I can identify with. I laugh, and tell them my story...The Day the Battery Died.

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Reviving Batteries and More Reiki Stories

REIKI STORIES

Batteries Revived
Scott and I went to the Nature Lyceum for an awesome class on organics. I had my camera with me to take pictures and thought I put some extra batteries in the carrying case. Well as luck would have it, when I went to use the camera, the batteries did not have enough juice in them to take any photos and the extra batteries could not be located. So I took the batteries out and Reiki-ed them for about 7-8 minutes, then tried again. Volia! It worked and we were able to use the camera the rest of the trip with the reiki-ed batteries. I have done this on several other occasions, but it still always amazes and surprises me that it works -- Susan Anderson.

Spiritual Guides
I'd like to share something, although I'm not sure what to make of some of these things that happen. I see many things when I do Reiki on people I'm very close to. I see their spiritual guides, their deepest struggles and some on myself some images just keep coming up.

I have a friend I'd been dating on and off over the last year and a half. It had been a wonderful, confusing and painful relationship, with two ex's and two kids on each side. We really enjoyed each others company, but it just seemed like there were so many obstacles. Recently his mother passed away and I had some "visitations" from her. I met her and got to know her a bit. I don't really know what to make of it. When I do Reiki, I see her watching him and it's comforting. He needs space to get through this and his father is quite old as well and the thinking is he won't make it too much longer either. His father let me know at the funeral how special I am to this man so that was comforting to me. I've let this man know I'm here if he needs support, but it seems like that's all I can do.

This type of thing has happened to me before, when my own brother passed away last year, I had the same type of presence from him and my mother, who passed away in 1999. It's like there is this window surrounding people's death, where they linger and visit and I suppose try to finish some undone business or leave messages. Submitted by Debbie D...

Response from Susan:
Thank you for sharing... Others may be having similar expereinces...you are tapping into the energy of when someone close is passing on or transitioning into the next stage of their journey...it is a wonderful thing...comforting in knowing that life exists, although it takes on a different form..comforting when you can share this with others that it is significant for...I am receiving some regular visitations from my father-in-law, not visually but he is making his presence know when he arrives by touching me, ie patting me on the head, shaking the massage table as I lay on it to do meditation, and he passes along messages more in a telepathic way...my husband has been receiving contacts from him as well...he passed over almost 5 years ago and the visits/contacts have been occurring within the last year...we have a good understanding of why they are coming and it is comforting to us to know that he continues to support us both from the other side in the work that we are doing.

If you have a Reiki story or experience you wish to share, send it along to us and we will post it for you.
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Visited By An Angel

REIKI STORY
Many of you who have been in my classes have heard me tell the reiki story of the evening that my daughter Jenna had her accident on the swing at our house.

Just to recap for those unfamiliar: A ladder had fallen on her causing her to receive 2 layers of stitches above the eyebrow, as well as having a number of facial bruises, and injury to her shoulder and arm. On the way to the hospital both her and I Reikied her injuries, as well as having her take Arnica, a homeopathic remedy in a small amount of water.

Her healing was unbelievable, within 2 days there was literally very little indication that an accident had occurred other than the stiches. So, anyway as I was tucking my daughter Jenna into bed after returning from giving the presentation at Grand View Hospital, I mentioned to her that I told the Reiki story about her accident at the swing set...although I always tend to mention this experience in talks, I have never mentioned it to Jenna that I do so...she took me off guard with her response that I would like to share with you, that just makes it even more of a miracle...

She said to me: "Mom, I have never mentioned this to anyone about that nite, but I think I was visited by an angel." I asked her what she meant...She said, "that ladder was too heavy and I couldn't lift it off of me, I thought I was going to die or at least get knocked out and I would lay there bleeding until someone found me, then the ladder lifted off of me without me doing anything and I was able to get free". It sent chills through me to hear her say this!

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Long Distance Reiki Assistance

REIKI STORY....
This experience was submitted to me from a Level II practitioner regarding the passing of her mother-in –law. She asked me to maybe reword or restructure her notes, but after reading them I feel it is best for her story to come through exactly as she had written it up. ~Susan


Thurs: Message from Florida, mom in critical condition on life support, around 6 am, unresponsive. Had surgery on her back earlier in the week
8am: Sister from NY called to book a flight down
Frank and Rob’s flight at 8pm. Flight cancelled because of bad storm, rescheduled to go in AM after they were already there for awhile . 10:30 pm update from Florida-did tests, sleeping, no response, heart strong.

Friday:Frank & Rob left again.

11:30 AM: I started long distance reiki

11:45 AM: Frank called from airport in Florida, Lynda there, going straight to hospital

12:14 PM: Activity (pulsing) in hands really slowed . Has a vision of a coffin with Joan in it . I felt a very cool draft . A dark cloud filled in over the coffin. Mentally I kept saying that Frank was on his way, to hold on for Frank. I tear up. The darkness gradually fades away to gray,, then white. The pulsating activity in my hands grows stronger.
12:25 PM: Activity slows down and I get cold. I have thoughts that it’s over
12:30 PM: Feelings of relief come over me, no more struggle, no more pain.
12:36PM: Why am I thinking these things? Stopped sending Reiki—too upset
1:00 PM: Frank arrived at hospital
4:00 PM: Took her off of life support, they all had said their good-bys before she was disconnected
4:30PM: Joan passed away peacefully, all of the family there, Dad read some scriptures

Submitted byPat S. This was a difficult experience for Pat to submit. Thank you for sharing that deeply touching story. This is a good example of how Reiki is so effective and powerful in giving assistance when a loved one is making that life transition. Susan

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Using Reiki with the Elderly

REIKI STORY...

My neighbor, who is 86, has had knee, back and open heart surgeries in the last five years is doing well. I have done her (given her a Reiki treatment) the last four days, not yesterday as she had her stress test, and I'm supposed to do her again today.

She really enjoys the Reiki treatments. She slept pretty soundly through her last one. I did her last one on her back -- one to try something new and two to see if it would make any difference for her as balance seems to be a problem.

One things I did notice. I don't know if this is because of her age, but "reading" her (scanning) is more difficult. I have to really concentrate. Where on my horse, kids, or husband my hands can be fairly far off them and it's easy to read them. Also, she had , no kidding, a cold breeze over her buttocks. She feels great after each time.

The first time I did her on the table at her house she was concerned if someone would come by what would I do. I said I would stop. The next day she said, if someone comes just ignore them!! She wanted me to continue! Submitted by Paula D.


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Using Reiki with Chronic Kidney Disease

REIKI STORY...

Reiki is such a gentle, yet powerful healing modaility. Each month in my Reiki newsletter I post Reiki stories or experiences that help inspire. This is one from a rather recently attuned Reiki practitioner who is having amazing results.

My name is Rob and I have C.K.D.,,aka chronic kidney disease. As you probably know your kidneys play a major role in filtering the body's wastes. I was diagnosed about three years ago, after a routine blood test revealed a high Creatinine count. Creatinine is a waste by-product produced by the kidneys. The average person has a creatinine level of 0.02-5...my level was 3.2...an indication of kidney failure.


Now,the magic number for total kidney failure is 7.0, that means Kidney dialysis. Unfortunately or more, foolish of me, I put off going to the doctors. I sort of denied it. I reasoned that if it took all my life to get to that point, it would take many, many years to reach total failure...I was wrong!

Once reaching that level of 3.2, the condition starts to snowball towards failure! After more than a year since being diagnosed with c.k.d, I went for another blood test to see where I stood.. the test came back 4.3...I could no longer deny this. So I went to a Nephrologist, a kidney doctor....and began treatment.

I will never forget the first time I went to the kidney clinic. The waiting room was comprised entirely of elderly people, clearly with multiple problems. I, being 41 yrs old at the time,stood out! Right from the beginning, my mentality was "I don't belong here". Looking back I didn't realize my defiant attitude would play an important part of my treatment.

Treatment,by the way of conventional medicine, simply meant drugs and diet. Now there happened to be a dialysis room there at the clinic so curiosity got the best of me and I took a peek in! What I saw jolted me! Two rows of beds, about 10 per row, all filled with elderly people who looked like they've been to hell and back. If you don't know, a dialysis machine draws your blood out, its then filtered through the machine and returns it back to your body cleansed. The process is done 3 days a week: Monday,Wednesday, Friday--,5 hours each day, it leaves the patient feeling drained of energy,usually.

Well at the sight of that I thought "there is no way I am doing that"!!! I will do whatever it takes to stay out of there! So I dutifully followed the Drs orders and took my pills and watched my diet, and signed up for a kidney transplant. However I fell into a depression. The treatment wasn't intended to stop kidney failure just slow down the inevitable. Nothing was going to Stop my kidneys from failing,and this was depressing.

I was recently divorced, my condition had a hand in that, and I was working two jobs to survive. Things were not looking good for year. So I started praying, something I haven't done for about 7 years. I delved into books of a spiritual nature and content,looking for a positive outlook on life. I even went to therapy for help.

I go every 3 months for blood work and every month the creatinine level goes up. Not
much,usually a point, but always up. Now I was always "energy sensitive", and a few
years prior I had looked into Reiki and had a respect for it, but didn't embrace it at the time. Then in June 2007 I felt the time was right to look into it again, after all reiki is about healing. So I simply "googled reiki masters in pa" and had a list to choose from. After perusing some names, Susan Anderson and her Seeds for Change appealed to me! So I studied Reiki Level 1 and found it had wonderful possibilities!

The first few weeks after attunements, found me fascinated with rediscovery, both of
myself and this world,our universe! Really I am still going through this process. I've learned how to channel energy through touch and take an active role in treating my c.k.d.! Since i've studied with Susan, I've had two blood tests since becoming a reiki practioner..Before I went to Susan my cretinine level was 4...now its at 3.8!!

I give myself a reiki treatment almost every day for at least 30 minutes. My sessions are ever evolving and taking more dimension and depth! I presently incorporate visualization, crystals, jade and mantra's into each session. After which I have a deep satisfaction of knowing I am taking a proactive approach to my condition thats its actually working. Reiki is one of the best things that i have discovered in this life..its rewards are really amazing!! Sincerely, Rob G

Comment from Susan: This is such a powerful story illustrating the need to empower
ourselves, and once we do, we are firmer ground. One thing that Rob had mentioned to me in previous conversations is that the cretinine levels he was referring to do not go down...they may slow down, but they do not reverse. This is an amazing testimony to Rob's work on himself and using the healing power of Reiki to bring about positive change.

Many who know me, have heard me tell this story numerous times....about 15 years ago I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, the doctor told me it was a degenerative disease and would only get progressively worse. I was handed a few prescriptions, and an appointment was made to come back to see my doctor in 1 month. I walked out of that office, and committed a very defiant act, I tore up the prescriptions and declared to the universe..."I don't do rheumatoid arthritis, not in the realm of things that will be part of my life." Didn't know what I was going to do, but the answer arrived a few days later. I worked using a natural, holistic remedy and within 1 week's time I had no remaining symptoms left. Prior to that I was in bed, with every joint in my body inflamed and extremely painful. I do not have RA. Could it be that when we take the power of control, with our mind, body and spirit, we have the ability to create our own miracles? I think so...my experience and Rob's are good indicators. Read about my story of healing from Rheumatoid Arthritis.



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Reiki Story Index

Reiki to the Rescue
Batteries Revived
Long Distance Reiki Assistance
Using Reiki with Chronic Kidney Disease.
Using Reiki with the Elderly
Spirit Guides
Visited By an Angel

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