Animals And Reiki
By
Animals love Reiki. They are very sensitive to energy, and will be curiously attracted to sudden shifts and concentration of energy.
Often when we engage in meditation at home, our animals can’t stay away. They slink in and lay down nearby and just relax for the duration contently. When we finish the session, they go about their kitty and doggy business.
If we dare to close them out of the session, they will whine and scratch at the door until we include them, and since they don’t disturb or interact with us during sessions, we just find it easier to include them.
When we are ill or injured, our animals give us healing too, as they are natural conduits. Have you noticed your dog or cat will come to comfort you when you’re upset or depressed? They want to help you in order to restore energetic harmony in the home.
And animals appreciate being given Reiki too. It soothes them during times of stress, trauma, or illness. And sometimes, they just need a little body boost, just like we do!
Reiki is for everyone!
Categories: Uncategorized
Leaving Your Comfort Zone
By
How much time do you spend each day dreaming of a different or better life for you and your family? Have you taken any steps in the general direction of your dreams? While day dreaming is an important aspect of changing your life, the most important component to changing your life is action.
How often do you leave your own comfort zone? If you’re like most people, your closest resemblance is in your daydreams. You think about leaving your comfort zones with “if only I had this circumstance, I could do the unrealistic thing”. But the truth is, if you never take that step out of that which keeps you safe and secure, you will never explore your potential capabilities, and your life will not change.
It’s not enough to leave your comfort zone once and then assume that’s all you’ll ever have to do. In order to reveal our unseen selves and find our true path, we must leave our comfort zones, not just once, but often. The more you explore, the more you understand about yourself. The more you understand, the more opportunities you find available to you. Each opportunity is a choice you can make to create the life what you want.
Each time you leave your comfort zone to try a new thing or do something you’ve avoided for a long time, you are facing fear down with courage. It is the best possible way to find confidence in yourself. Fear is what is keeping you from living your life to the fullest.
Your dreams of a better life are merely an intention you are setting for “someday”. You must follow the intention with an action as the catalyst to make that mere daydream a possibility, and eventually, a reality.
Action steps can be big or small, long term and short term, and they all work together to build a foundation that makes any goal you wish to achieve completely reachable. Fear is natural. It’s how you let it motivate you that is important. If you take a step and stumble immediately, consider a set of smaller steps to bring the forward opportunity for much larger steps in the future.
Timing is also a factor. When you see an opportunity, take it! If you don’t benefit from the action, that’s okay. What is important is that you took action. And every time you take action is a chance to be successful. The key is to accept disappointment and invest in loss. What you will learn from any failure will propel you forward to the next opportunity, and reveal another layer of awareness and understanding.
Never give up on yourself, no matter what. Wants and needs and daydreams, those can be transitory as life circumstances change your view of the world and your role in it. But your potential, your imagination, your life spark, all of that is unique to you. With confidence, you can achieve more than you dream, you can make the reality you’ve always wanted by leaving your comfort zone, not once, but often.
Categories: Uncategorized
A Moment Or A State of Being?
By
Is happiness a state of being, or is it a moment we perceive which inspires intense feelings we can retain and revisit? Are the moments of happiness we perceive more an indication of inspired joy from external sources, and unrelated to a happiness state of being? I believe the latter.
From my experience, joy is something we experience in small bursts. The intensity of the feeling depends ultimately on many factors, but when we are in a happiness state of being, we appreciate joy filled moments more. We recognize them more often.
However, true happiness is not inspired, but cultivated by choice from within. Choosing happiness makes experiencing joy more possible. Living in a happiness state of being enriches our shared experiences, because an open heart is quick to share with others the best parts of ourselves.
Joy and happiness are not mutually exclusive, they compliment each other and encourage us to be kind to each other and share in peace.
How would you like to express your happiness or spread joy today?
Categories: Uncategorized
Tuning In To Animals
By
Animals possess the same 7 chakras as we humans do, and they can become out of balance just like us. Reiki is one way that we can help our furry and feathered companions when they need us most.
Physical changes to their bodies and environment can be very stressful for some animals, and mental trauma from sudden events, health issues, and abuse or neglect are also contributing factors to an animal’s lack of internal balance.
In my practice, I’ve performed Reiki for both healthy and convalescent dogs and cats for a variety of conditions from anxiety to pain and chronic conditions. Most recently, I had the pleasure of meeting a visiting senior cat at Peanut’s Green Acres, a domestic animal sanctuary. Founder, Michelle Murphy, and I have been friends for many years, and has heard me talking on a number of occasions about animals and their Chakra systems, and about Reiki in general. So when she became the temporary caretaker for a senior cat recovering from medical problems, she thought my services might prove beneficial.
This senior kitty had had surgeries and problems with her hips and back legs. Though she can stand, she isn’t able to balance very well, and spends a lot of time lying on one side or the other due to pain and weakness. She appeared very cooperative, and did not resist being picked up, other than a little bit of old lady grumble.
Before the Reiki was administered, she seemed lethargic and was visibly suffering from stiffness and pain. I knew she would probably be very sensitive to touch on her back end, so I started by directing the Reiki energy to her root Chakra from her legs up first, instead of starting from the head, without touch, and it really helped right away. She began to relax her body language within a few seconds, her eyes brightened, and the purring started and didn’t stop for the duration of the visit.
Once I got to her head, I began incorporating light touch on my way back down through the 7 chakras, which was well received. At the end, I thanked the old girl for letting me help and set her back down in her bed, happily purring and flipping her tail contently, where she curled back up to relax.
The feedback from Michelle was great, so when she asked me to come back a few weeks later to do it again, I was more than happy to comply. This venerable little kitty actually seemed happy to see me again, purring right away and lightly flipping her tail. I was glad to see her doing better. She seemed less grouchy and less stiff.
When we finished the second session, I could really see difference in the effect of the Reiki after the treatment the time before compared with this time. I set her down in her bed, and instead of curling up to sleep, she walked around the room a bit and settled on the play station her caretaker had made for her (you can see more about that creation, and the organization here).
This is but one example of how animals can benefit from receiving Reiki. If you’d like to know more about how your pets might benefit, feel free to contact me at jlombardi@spiritlifewellness.com. you can also ask questions in the comments.
Have a great day!
Categories: Uncategorized
Reiki Healing Grid
By
With each moon cycle, I redo my Reiki Healing Crystal Grid. I also do my best to remember to charge it again each morning to support the intentions included for that moon cycle. With the full moon approaching, I thought I’d share my process, and invite others to try it.
As you can see from the photo, I have used a large cloth with a Karuna Reiki symbol already on it and I use some of the smaller stones I have collected over the years as the power centers. However, you can find many examples of variations of Reiki grids by doing a google search for it, and most everyone can find a style that they resonate with. And if not, one can make their own.
On to the process! I start a new cycle by removing the stones and soaking them in salt water for a few hours, then dry them and let them charge in the sun, either outside or in a sunny window (in a room away from the cats). This allows them to be free of energy associated with the previous cycle.
Next, I take a lint roller to the cloth to make sure is as clean as possible. I use a technique called “cutting cords” to detach any residual energy from the grid. I also take this time to review the previous requests and set aside those that are on-going requests, and discard those that are not.
As soon as I have the new requests, I write then on small pieces of paper and slide then under the grid. Then, I take the charged stones and place them at the points you see in the photo. They are not always put back in the same place, but I think that is okay. I let the energies guide me on that, it seems to work out fine, and I believe it’s because I start from scratch each moon cycle.
On the full moon, I focus my intentions on the grid to remove obstacles that are preventing healing or other requested items for help from manifesting. On the new moon, I briefly review all of the requests and set the intention for manifestation or forward movement. At the beginning of the next cycle, I repeat the process overt again. I also make it a part of my daily routine to do a brief recharge each day.
Because I want to help as many people as possible, I invite any and all of you to send me an email or leave in a comment, your personal request for help. I will stop taking requests for this moon cycle on Friday November 7th.
Don’t be shy, no request is to big or too small. And while I will not guarantee results, I can promise that it won’t hurt or hinder anything, and that most people do report that they did see positive results when asked for feedback.
Have a great day!
Categories: Uncategorized
Forgiveness Is For You
By
This is another of our most popular posts from Facebook. Enjoy!
The topic of forgiveness keeps coming up recently in conversations with friends and clients alike. Well, lets talk about it.
Forgiveness is not about the person or situation one forgives. It is about freeing the forgiver from the negative emotional attachment to the person or situation bring forgiven.
Forgiveness is not about forgetting what happened between you. Forgiveness is closing an ugly chapter of your history and moving on, together or apart.
Forgiveness is not for releasing the other person of the responsibility for their role in hurting you. Forgiveness is for releasing the hurt you felt responsible for experiencing, and nothing more.
Forgiveness doesn’t guarantee an accepted apology. Forgives removes the need to hear one in the first place, because their validation of your feelings is no longer necessary.
Forgiveness doesn’t let the guilty off the hook. Far from it. If the offending party feels guilt, your forgiveness won’t change anything for them. They will still feel guilty until they forgive themselves for their transgression. Forgiveness lets you walk away without dragging their guilt with you.
Categories: Uncategorized
Manifestation Is Key To Life
By
This week I’ll be putting some of my favorite posts from my Facebook page in an effort to share some really great stuff with you all that you may have missed. I hope you enjoy them all. This week one was from Manifestation Week, Day 5! Thank you for joining me on the journey this week.
Today, let’s remember that manifestation IS life. We manifest all that we experience. I realize this is a controversial and potentially unpopular position, but I do believe it’s true. We manifest our worst fears without hesitation or recognition. So I see no reason why we can’t manifest our wildest dreams and everything in between.
Our thoughts have power, and so do our words. Remember that as you go about your day. Are you using powerful words and phrases in your everyday speech? Are you talking a lot about the negative things in your life?
Manifestation through proper intent is the key to making your life what you want it to be. All of the hard work is 90% conscious internal direction. You can do it. I believe in you.
Categories: Uncategorized
What Can Coaching Do: Define Success
By
Hello, and welcome to today’s installment of What Can Coaching Do, where we will be discussing how we define success.
In many circles in the coaching and self-help communities, even just the mention of the word “failure” is a no-no, because the idea, in very general terms, is to always speak in positive ways, and avoid the use of toxic words and phrases. But what do we expect to review when a client comes up short of successful goal fulfillment? First, let’s look at what success means.
Is the completion of a goal the only measure of success? I say no. The only true failure, in my opinion, is when we do not choose to give our goals our best efforts and when we give up on our ability to be successful in our own minds.
Typically, when one of my clients is having a difficult time staying motivated, or have had their confidence shaken, or they find their endeavor to be far more difficult than first imagined, the first thing I do is ask them questions about how closely they followed their plan. I want to know if they feel as though what they are experiencing is a non-success or merely a set back, and ultimately, how they would like to move forward from there. Do they wish to review and revise their strategy, or will they decide that their goal may have simply been unrealistic?
I never tell any of my clients they can’t do something or achieve anything they desire, or whether I think something they want to do is unrealistic, as that is for them to decide. My opinion of what they want is sincerely irrelevant.
What IS relevant is if THEY believe it can be done, and are willing to take the action steps necessary to move forward. The action steps are the most important, because it is in the action steps that we find investment in loss and new opportunities to grow and expand our comfort zones. What seems unlikely today might be assured tomorrow, depending on our mindset.
Even the best laid plan, the most researched and analysed endeavor, has a chance of non-success. So what do we do when we see a client struggling? We look at the action steps. Whatever they have been using to move forward, we discuss together what could have been done differently, or what important steps may not have been utilized. We also must visit the true desire for the outcome. If interest had wandered away, this may be time to review priorities before the next step is taken.
Often when clients are impatient to get to their goal quickly, they’ll stray from their plan in an effort to save time, but this often leads to the opposite in the form of non-completion or significant delays. For this reason, I encourage long term goals with many short term support goals. These offer clients places to recognise and celebrate tangible results that reflect progress.
Even a small success is worthy of celebration. However, when we blow off or ignore an important action step, not only do we disrupt the flow of the plan, we rob ourselves of the opportunity to recognise success and progress.
Now then, is a non-success truly a failure? Is reaching a goal a success if the cost was higher than the yield? That really depends on what our definition of success is. As we grow and change, our priorities and what is important to us also change, the reasons for non-success are important to review. Let’s ask some more defined questions.
If we grow and change through the work we do in support of our goal, and realize we can use all that we’ve learned to support a completely different idea, and change course moving forward to another outcome, is the non-success of the previous goal a failure or more of a place card for goals better suited to our expanded potential?
If we work hard and stick to a plan through the end, and the goal is not reached, is that a failure or an opportunity to reformulate our strategy and an important realization of our character?
What we want matters. How we attain it also matters, because at the end of the day, we still have to live with all of our choices. I believe that the only true failure is the lack of effort due to fear and/or lack of confidence. If we abandon a goal because we are fearful of judgement, of success, of acceptance, or of failure, we will manifest those fears through lack of confidence in ourselves. In order to achieve success, the most important thing is to have enough confidence to never give up, to face the fear and move forward anyway.
Even if the goal is never realized, as long as we pick up and move forward, or continue to expand our comfort zones, we will always be successful at living life.
Categories: Uncategorized
What Can Coaching Do: Creative Visualization
By
Our third installment of What Can Coaching Do is about creativity and how we can use it to our advantage through creative visualization. The creative tools I employ with my clients offer them a variety of opportunities for further introspection, while simultaneously supporting their goals and desires through positivity and dynamic expression.
Every client I see differs, so what I take out of my toolbox varies from person to person. I use at least one form of creative visualization with every client, but those I coach will usually experience all that I have to share. I like using a combination of skills, and eventually all clients will experience at least one of the following items: Vision Statements, Guided Meditations, and/or Vision Boards, as well as tasks centered on creative vocabulary replacement.
Vision Statements
One thing I use for all of my coaching clients is a personalized motivational tool known as a Vision Statement. This is based on the clients own words, but flipped over to be statements about the present, rather than wants, desires, or wishes for the future.
The goals and desires laid out my by clients during our initial session together are the backbone of the Vision Statement, and offers each individual an opportunity to see what life would look like when their goals are fulfilled. We call it “playing the movie forward”, telling them their story from a future view of what had already transpired.
This is a very effective and powerful motivational tool. Every client I’ve worked with who reviews the vision statement as recommended in their personal coaching program have reported that they’ve noticed an immediate shift in their thinking from negative to positive, and and remain excited and focused on pursuing their goals over the long haul.
The best part about the vision statement is that, as we continue through their coaching programs, we can make revisions to the vision statement at any time in order to ensure it reflects the future they are working toward. Changeable, yet retainable – I love seeing how quickly my clients blossom as they see their own words inspire them more and more over time.
Guided Meditation
I use guided meditation with pretty much every client, even if it’s only a very short meditation. There are countless applications for guided meditation, from overcoming an anxious moment or feeling to seeing oneself in different roles to describing the details of ultimate goal fulfillment – the list is endless.
During Reiki sessions, I encourage my clients to use creative language and virtualization to describe their perceptions and sensations during the experience. For instance, for pain treatment, I might ask them to describe the shape, texture, or color of the pain they perceive in their mind. The method and questions obviously change with each individual in accordance to their reason for seeking Reiki healing, and I find it to be a very effective mode of communication during sessions.
Guided meditation, alone or in groups, is also a wonderful way to target one issue at a time. One day at lunch you may wish to have a quick 20 minute “power nap” guided meditation designed to refresh and revive for the rest of the day. Another day, you may want a guided meditation to inspire positive feelings, or to quit smoking, or relaxation, etc. Many people find it to be an effective and essential part of their daily routine.
Vision Boards
Some of you might remember a time in our youth when we had to make art projects with post board and glue sticks and pictures from magazines. Maybe you made them for your room with pictures of celebrity crushes, or friends, or whatever theme struck your fancy. Perhaps you made a scrapbook or two in this manner. The point is, you put your inspiration up on display to see it every day, and it probably brought smile on your face, just thinking back on it, even now as you read this. That is how powerful imagery can be.
That being said, a vision board is just like that, but with direction. Whatever your goal or impassioned subject is, there is imagery of that subject. However, it isn’t as simple as just pasting pictures of one thing over and over that makes a vision board effective.
In my class, I help clients see not just their goal, but also all of the work and action steps required to realize that goal. The pattern and style is as varied as the individual human mind. I’ll elaborate.
One of my first class attendees actually cut her board into a circle, put a picture to represent her goal in the center, then put in images of the action steps spiraling in and decorated with some of the art supplies I had brought in. Without any prompting, she thought of the idea on the spot, and it looked amazing. All of the other projects were equally impressive in their own right, but seeing such diverse creativity in one group was wonderful.
In the same class, some will glue on a series of images covering every visible part of the board itself from edge to edge, others will use only a few large images and write words or use smaller images or art to draw the eye to their main focus. The important part is that they feel excited for their goal whenever they look at the vision board. And it works!
The more we see what we wish to attain, the more we are able to gauge our progress through completed phases or actions, the more likely it is we will see success. Creative visualisation is probably the most important component to success in any endeavor.
Categories: Uncategorized
What Can Coaching Do: Accountability
By
What Can Coaching Do, Part Two, examines personal accountability.
What is personal accountability? The best definition I’ve found so far is “a personal choice to rise above our circumstances and demonstrate the ownership necessary for achieving desired results”.
Let’s break that down to its base elements and really get to know the concept.
A PERSONAL CHOICE
We all know that we make choices every day, but not all of them are conscious. One way to keep ourselves in check is to question our motivation for our behaviors. For instance, how we deal with surprises may not seem like a choice, but it absolutely is. We can choose to allow life’s surprises to knock us off course, or we can roll with them and see them as hidden opportunities for action or growth.
To recognise and own these choices, it requires a shift in perception to be prepared to accept the positive of any situation, rather than the assumed negative aspects. Only when we choose to see the good in things all around us do we recognise the good in ourselves – an essential aspect of accountability.
RISE ABOVE OUR CIRCUMSTANCES
I’m sure we’ve all heard people say it – rise above it. Such an easy thing to say in theory, yet such a challenge for some to do in practice. This ability requires a certain amount of balance between being present in the moment and a detachment from the emotional intensity of the situation. There are some who seem to have a natural ability for this, but for most people this is a learned skill. A requirement for moving forward taking personal accountability seriously. It is essential to success with any goal.
DEMONSTRATING OWNERSHIP
Probably the most challenging of the aspects of accountability is demonstrating ownership of our choices, the results that follow, and the best way to continue moving forward. This is where working with a coach becomes invaluable. Where we are unable to see where we went wrong, a coach can ask us questions we may not have thought to ask ourselves on our own, particularly the very difficult questions that result in forcing us to look more closely at our less desirable qualities.
However difficult, this is an important step, because when we bring these uncomfortable truths to light, we free ourselves of burdens, such as repressed shame or anger, and things that keep us from enjoying the success we wish to achieve.
By examining closely, admitting truths to ourselves that we may have long denied, we come to a clarity in thought and emotion that is essential for success. A coach is there to ensure we look at these things honestly, and then encourage us to see the gift of this revelation as an opportunity to adjust our plans with a more realistic perspective.
Instead of using the word “failure”, I encourage replacement with the phrase “opportunity in disguise” or “unexpected result”. When things don’t go as planned, these phrases take the sting out of non-successful moments, and allow for adjustments or employment of new methods in order to continue moving forward.
Today, ask yourself these questions: How do you handle disappointments? Think about this for a while. Are you a good sport, or do you become negative and moody when things don’t go as planned? Do you like this quality? Would you like to change your perspective?
If you feel you need help learning more about personal accountability, a coach might be just what you need.
The next installment of What Can Coaching Do will be addressing the role of creative visualization in achieving success. See you then!
Categories: Uncategorized
