Challenges: Can you do more?

Healing session in the movie, Kung Fu Panda 3
Healing session in the movie, Kung Fu Panda 3

“If you only do what you can do, you’ll never be better than what you are.”

Master Shifu, in Kung Fu Panda 3

If you’re looking for an entertaining, light film with a generous use of the term, “chi,” then Kung Fu Panda 3 will definitely fit the bill. It’s a continuation of the Kung Fu Panda story, that begins with Po, the Dragon Warrior, receiving a promotion of sorts from Master Shifu. Po will now be responsible for teaching Kung Fu to the other Masters. This creates great angst for Po as he believes he is not prepared for the challenges of teaching the likes of Tigress, Mantis, Crane, Viper, and Monkey. When he protests to Master Shifu, he receives the response above.

Honestly, there were so many times during the film that I thought to myself, “I say that exact thing.” Or, “I just said that yesterday!” Maybe there is not so much of a difference between being a Reiki Master and a Kung Fu Master! Maybe they are just different ways of working with energy and for different purposes.

When Shifu said, “If you only do what you [know you] can do, you’ll never be better than what you are.” I realized I had said the exact same thing (just worded differently) the day before. The women’s running group that I’m a part of was in the midst of wrapping up our January 100-mile challenge and let’s just say, it was very challenging for some of us. For some it was more mileage than we usually log in a month. For some, life got in the way – work schedules, illnesses, and injuries – oh, and frigid temperatures.

As we tried to encourage each other, through online messages about the challenge and our monthly total mileage, I offered the following: “It’s a challenge and therefore challenging. If you only did the challenges you knew you would accomplish, what would be the point?”

Shifu is saying a similar thing. We need to assess what we’re being presented with. Is it a challenge? Why is it challenging for us? What are the barriers? Are you not even starting the challenge because you’ve already determined that you will not, or may not, succeed? What if you try? Is this challenge a choice? Does it speak to you? Does it resonate with your soul? Does it align with your values? What if you did give it a try and didn’t succeed? What would be your worse case scenario then? However, if you never try, you’ll never know what you could possibly do.

So I offer to you today, what challenges are you avoiding? What are you not doing because you’re only doing what you can do? How can you stretch beyond your comfort zone and still align with your values and your true self? (Please let us know in the comments below!)

I know for myself there are running, writing, and teaching challenges ahead for me this year. Will I succeed at all of them? Maybe, maybe not. Though, how else will I know except by trying?

Wishing you the joy of trying.

My Reiki Focus is Teaching

Offering Reiki to a Student
Offering Reiki to a Student

In 2003, I became a Reiki Master.  At that time I was fully prepared to teach Reiki level 1 and 2 classes.  For many years, I taught infrequently.  However, in the last three years my focus has become teaching.  In many ways I feel like the “Master” in my title has been achieved because I have more years of experience practicing Reiki on myself and others.  Also, I have grown closer to my true calling.

Before I discovered Reiki, my goal was to become a teacher at the university level.  I wanted to teach Philosophy.  That journey was filled with obstacles and the opportunities in the liberal arts were narrowing, so I decided to redirect my focus.  This didn’t lead me directly to Reiki — stress, a quest for relaxation, and an unexplainable interest led me to Reiki!  In its own beautiful way, Reiki has led me back to that original desire to teach.  I love teaching!  The process of sharing my knowledge and facilitating the learning of my students fills me with joy.

Teaching Reiki not only fulfills my heart’s desires but it places Reiki in the hands of others — literally.  By teaching others to be Reiki Practitioners who practice on themselves and others, I am passing along the ability to access universal life-force energy for the highest healing good.  After I teach a class, students continue their own practice in their own way.  Receiving and offering Reiki will continue to be part of each student’s practice.  I support my students through monthly Reiki Clinics and remain available to them for sessions and ongoing support of their practice and their Reiki journey.  The beauty of this is that it is a win-win situation for all.  I put my focus on my heart’s desire: teaching, rather than solely on offering Reiki sessions, and my students learn Reiki — a hands-on healing modality that they’ll have for the rest of their lives.

More information on Reiki Classes can be found here.  For additional details, please email me!

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