Love First

I’ve finally come to realize that this is my intention for 2014: Love First.  On the surface it seems so simple and easy.  My mind says, “Of course, love first.  No problem,” but to put this into practice is another matter entirely.  This is not easy in the face of many other things that my mind and ego want to go first, for instance:

  • Be right first
  • Be angry first, especially when others don’t acknowledge that I am right!
  • Be heard first
  • Be judgmental first
  • Be self-righteous first
  • Be better than others first
  • Be fearful first
  • Be protective first
  • Be selfish first
  • Just be first  . . .

Now, what happens when I love first?  I’ve noticed when I love first I release my anger.  When I love first, I move past small injuries to my ego and see the light and love in the other person’s being.  This has been working really well with my family and can be helpful in other settings where I feel safe and able to open in this way.  Loving first is incredibly powerful in all settings, however, for finding the right words.  When speaking in a loving way, my words are more mindful and, in general, I listen in a more profound way.

For this Valentine’s Day, I wish you the strength and resolve to love first.  So I am replacing the above list with the following:

  • Love first
  • Love first
  • Love first
  • Love first
  • Love first
  • Love first
  • Love first
  • Love first
  • Love first
  • Just be loving

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Reiki is Enough . . . for me

Image Reiki Japanese characters on stoneReiki is enough for me.  I don’t need to practice any other healing modalities.  I am not drawn to learn a variety of other techniques.

However, for others I know their experience is different.  As bodyworkers and healers, they integrate multiple modalities to provide the best experience for their clients.  However, for me, it’s Reiki, Reiki, Reiki.

I’m not sure I can explain this singular focus.  I LOVE other modalities and luxuriate in the healing that comes from them.  Unending gratitude comes from me to those who can provide a healing massage, a skillful acupuncture session, or an uplifting CranioSacral treatment.

When I think about whether or not I want to learn another healing modality, my answer is always a shrug of the shoulders.  For me, Reiki is complete.  I love its simplicity and the ability to provide self-care in any setting.  This love of Reiki does not mean I love the others less, it just means this is my focus, this is . . . my path.

I hope you’ll join me on this path by attending one of my upcoming Reiki Classes or Clinics.  By becoming attuned you can treat yourself and others and offer universal life force energy for the highest healing good.

Wishing you profound healing.

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Is Reiki Magic?

Photo by Christopher J. Hopper
Photo by Christopher J. Hopper

Recently, this question has come up in a variety of settings: Is Reiki magic? When I first heard the question I was startled. To me, Reiki seems so natural, innate, and pure. Calling it “magic” seemed to have a negative connotation for me. When I use the Reiki symbols, in an attunement or for a session, am I calling on something otherworldly? At Mass this past weekend, Father John said in his homily, “Baptism is not magic.” To call upon the Holy Spirit is not magic. To welcome a baby, or adult, to our community of believers is not magic. It is life and it is love. I am not equating Reiki and Baptism, because they are certainly different. However, I am noticing how when we are faced with something we cannot see, like universal life force energy or Spirit, we question it. Sometimes we may even fear it. I can’t touch it, but that doesn’t make it magic.

There is an energy inside us and all around us that can’t be seen or touched. However, it is felt. It is Reiki. It is universal life force energy. My teacher, Libby Barnett, says that prior to attunement in a Reiki Class we sometimes tap into universal life force energy but that we do so in an inconsistent way. After attunement we are able to consistently pick up that radio station. Hands on, Reiki’s on. So simple and so instinctive.

Sometimes though Reiki’s simplicity seems to be one of its shortcomings. Our minds want to know how it works. Our minds seek evidence — proof that we’ve been healed and changed. However, Reiki is an offering. As a Reiki practitioner you are a conduit. You offer and allow the healing to happen as it will — outside of your control, outside of your will, outside of your mind and ego.

Perhaps it is exactly this “unknown” aspect of Reiki that makes it seem so magical and mysterious. As we release our need to know, as we open to the unknown and a place of innate knowledge, we experience Reiki and all its goodness. This opening can be scary and certainly are minds protest not being at the forefront of our experience. However, as we allow Reiki into our lives we allow healing and experience fully the universe’s love and light.

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Fear: Is there really a place inside of me that is always safe?

This post just doesn’t seem to want to come out. (I’ve been writing it for four months.) I am wrapped up in fearfulness writing about fear.  I’m filled with anxiety that I’ll fail.  I worry about how things will turn out and if I’ve said, and done, the right things in the past.  Will I do and say the right things in the future? I’m concerned I’m a worrier and I’ve given birth to one too.  Oy Vey!

Where do I feel it in my body? In my shoulders, in my gut, in my legs, in my feet, in my middle back, in my forehead, in my jaw . . . Where do I not feel it?  So I’m experiencing it.  Really, couldn’t I experience it a bit less, please?

Then I see a billboard that says, “Do something each day that scares you.”  No problem.  There are plenty of things that scare me.  I face them every day:  crossing the street, participating in meetings, walking down the stairs, etc.  I don’t need to go skydiving to find one.

Maybe I’m more fortunate than my more calm and confident counterparts.  Maybe I’m experiencing life more fully than others.  I definitely feel — a lot.  I feel fear and it sometimes grips me.  Most of the time it’s just annoying and potentially embarrassing.  There are plenty of times in life when my fear has embarrassed me, e.g., stuttering in a presentation, shaking in a wedding procession, or being speechless at the wrong moment.  There are even times when my fear keeps me from moving forward.  From asking for the opportunity that will move me closer to a dream.  However, there are times when I face my fear.  When I say, “Yes, I’m fearful, but I’m going to do this anyway.”  Is it a great experience?  Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Being courageous at moments that require it is vital. I often use Reiki to assist me by drawing on universal life force energy for myself and stating in my mind the desired, positive outcome.  As I’ve reflected and researched on this topic, I’ve noticed that some Reiki Masters even claim they have used Reiki to remove fear from their lives.  Perhaps that is the case for them, but I’m skeptical. I’ve been noticing in the past few weeks a statement in books and blogs that I’m reading where people state that there is a place inside of us that is always safe.  I believe in the soul, I believe in Reiki, how can I not believe that there is a place inside of me that is always safe?

Recently, I’ve been using the Reiki Resolution Technique to work with my fear.  I have held it in my heart and allowed Reiki to do what it will.  At first I feel as if I can’t breathe — not in my lungs, but in my heart.  Then, I feel calm.  I’ve asked my wise self, “Is there really a part of me that is always safe?”  As Christine Reed writes, “. . . nothing can really harm us.”  If I believe this, it will change my life.

I would love to expel fear from my life.  Live fearlessly.  Will fear always be a companion in my life?  Is that bad?  Maybe not, if it doesn’t stop me from achieving my goals and living life fully, that is, if I can push through it and if it doesn’t make others uncomfortable.  Can I love my fearful self as much as I love my brave self?  Can I connect with the part of me that is always safe?

Please share in the comments your journey with fear and Reiki.  I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Wishing you all courage, when you need it most!

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My Wintery Soul

My wintery soul longs for that which is not here.

Wintery Soul Sky Photo
Photo by Janice E. Lodato

It breaks and cracks from the effort of
Trying to do what’s right
Smile and say, “It’s okay,” until it hurts.
Head down,
Heart aches.

This soul won’t wait for Spring.
Wake up!
The time is now!

Janice E. Lodato, Reiki Master of Masters
Winter 2014

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Reiki at the National Student Conference on Integrative Medicine

I was honored to offer Reiki to medical students at the National Student Conference on Integrative Medicine which was held at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago on October 26-27, 2013.  Seven Reiki practitioners offered 10-minute Reiki sessions to conference participants during the registration and check-in process.

Heather from the Midwest Reiki Community coordinated the event and produced this video about the medical students’ experiences of Reiki.

5 Signs You’re a Real Reiki Master

From a place of fun and lightheartedness, here are 5 signs that indicate you’re a real Reiki Master:

  1. You’ve said about Reiki: “Maybe this will work.  Maybe it won’t.”
  2. You believe the body heals itself.
  3. You’ve sent Absent Reiki by just intending to.
  4. You practice self-Reiki as frequently as possible.
  5. You know that you do not heal others, Reiki does.

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I want to heal YOU

As a Reiki Master, sometimes I can’t help but feel this way, “I want to heal YOU!”  Some of that feeling is not a bad thing.  It definitely can be a motivator that gets one to learn Reiki and to practice it — at times.  However, the Reiki Practitioner or Master is not the healer in the Reiki session.  It is the Reiki that does the work.  It is Reiki that creates the environment for the body to heal.  It is Reiki that opens someone’s mind or heart to a new possibility.  It is Reiki that supports someone to make a change in his/her life.  It is Reiki that calms the mind and brings that blissful state of being.  It is not me.

However, this feeling of wanting to do the healing, of wanting to be the healer, is very strong.  I find it especially strong when offering Reiki to family members and friends.  I so strongly want to help them and heal them that my ego creates lots of negativity and frustration when I don’t do the healing.  When I cannot heal them.

There are some rituals and states of mind that are helpful.  For instance, it is vital for the Reiki Practitioner/Master to remember that she/he is a conduit, channel, pathway, facilitator — the one who offers.  It is the recipient who is in charge.  Sometimes as I wash my hands between Reiki sessions, I imagine my ego washing away along with any germs.  Another ritual that is helpful, is placing my hands in prayer position before placing my hands on the recipient in order to enter a state of offering — a state of service.  A place where . . . the Reiki is the star.

Wishing you abundant Reiki and a lightness of ego!

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What I learned at the Waterpark

Like many Reiki Practitioners I have studied meditation for many years and have received excellent instruction.  In a meditation or yoga class, there is often a direction around observing our emotions.  As we do this observation, we notice that emotions arise and fall away.  For me, I was observing the negative emotions, e.g., anger, anxiety, resentment.

Image by Janice Lodato
Image by Janice Lodato

However, recently I had the opportunity to observe my positive emotions arise and fall away.  My family and I spent a long weekend at a waterpark.  It was a weekend filled with fun, laughs, lots of physical exertion and challenges to my feelings of safety.  I left the waterpark filled with feelings of enjoyment and happiness.  After arriving home, waking the next morning and commuting to work, those feelings had fallen away.  I missed them and mourned their passing.  I wanted to hold onto them and puzzled over why they had left.  Then I remembered the words of my meditation teachers, “Emotions arise and fall away.”  Now, I understood from an experience that was closely observed that this was true for positive emotions too.

So I invite you to observe your emotions in moments of their heightenedness and their everydayness.  You can do this through meditation, your Reiki practice, your relationships and your beingness.

Wishing you love, light and the companionship of your emotions.