Live simply; love abundantly

Raising the vibration

2012-02-08T04:29:00.000-08:00

We think that we cannot love enough to change the world. We think that we are small, that what we do doesn't matter from day to day. Our thoughts can be selfish, and it doesn't matter to anyone except ourselves. We think that it is of no consequence to to others how we use our moments, our days, our lives. Wrong.Each of our individual lives is simply a manifestation of a certain vibration we are putting out to the planet. That vibration affects every other vibration; i.e. every other living thing on the earth. In science today, things are being discovered every day about the effects of these vibrations on our earth.If only, together, we could collectively raise our own vibration to one of goodness and light, we could, as individuals and as a whole, change the world. It is not through a study of quantum physics that I learn this; it is simply through learning Reiki.Reiki does, in and of itself, raise a person's vibration, similar to tuning an instrument. The person receiving Reiki or a Reiki attunement, actually begins to operate on this higher vibratory level. They feel lighter, more connected. They are healthy and their immune system strengthens as a result. They are relaxed but alert.This is no hocus pocus; this is the Universe and how it operates.We are not only able to change the world by changing ourselves; it is our job to do so. If you think that what you do every hour of every day doesn't matter, think again. It all matters.Vibrating with Reiki,Rose

Why Reiki why me why now?

2012-02-01T19:30:00.000-08:00

I've just finished a meeting with a group of Reiki friends and fellow hospice volunteers, a group I have come to love dearly for their many strengths, their vast inner wisdom, and their diversity of Reiki spirit. I am thankful and honored to be a part of such a group and come home feeling, as always, a renewed sense of 'what I am about, what I am here to do.'Although teaching and writing about many things is a part of the work I am to do, teaching Reiki, sharing Reiki with the people on this planet that get up and breathe and live each day simultaneously with me, is a huge part of that to do list. Oftentimes I get blissfully sidetracked, as it were, by many many other things that make up what we call life; earning a living, giving other kinds of treatments, such as massage or reflexology, teaching yoga (a beautiful thing unto itself), cooking, sleeping, and loving and caring for family and friends. But then someone (my Reiki guides) taps me on the left shoulder (remembering of course that the right brain, our intuitive side controls the left side of the body) and clears their throats as if to say, "remember? this is the work we need to get on with now."Why Reiki? Reiki is a beautiful amazing and perfect gift that promises to surround and embrace us and turn our lives into a thing of beauty if we choose to open the door to it. Reiki I promises to open the door just wide enough so that we can see our glorious self who has been standing in the light all along, just waiting to be noticed. It clears our energy body and clears the path for self healing to begin. As Thich Nhat Hanh says, "When you produce peace and happiness in yourself you begin to realize peace for the whole world."" Peace begins with us. This in and of itself is enough reason to learn Reiki I.Reiki II opens the door wide, acknowledging our openness to healing and giving us symbols to take our Reiki to others both near and far. Now this Reiki light can carry us from place to place no matter where that may be; the past, the future, the other side of the room or the other side of the world. If we are willing to do the work of healing that Reiki II brings we can share joy with so many others. Opportunities will knock for us to send Reiki near and far. People will begin to look for us before we even arrive on the scene.If drawn further to take Reiki III, here lies the missing pieces, the puzzle that now begins to suddenly come together with a life all its own. Discoveries happen, layer upon layer until all one sees is the miracle of Reiki at work in their lives, guiding them, helping their loved ones, healing round every corner and turn. Spreading Reiki to others, both through treatments and classes, lectures and the most casual conversations about it, becomes something one must do. If we allow our intuition to speak to us, there will be no doubt about it...in order to balance Mother Earth and her people, Reiki is needed now, now more than ever before.Why me? Because the more people who learn and practice the peace and love of Reiki the sooner that peace and love will be felt by all of the Universe. Because now is the only time there is. Because now is the time our spiritual evolution, not revolution, is happening. Because now is when you heard this, read this, felt this. Do it now.Standing in Reiki light,Rose

Gratitude List

2012-01-31T05:43:00.000-08:00

How easy it is to complain, yet I find more and more often that it is just as easy and much more productive to count my blessings and turn every complaint into a thank you. This morning I say to my husband-to-be, "It drives me crazy to have so many leftovers" and he gently reminded me of our saying..."Bless the abundance."

You can do this for every single thing in your life. Bless the red light that keeps you from getting to work, bless the pain in your stomach that has you in bed today, bless the noise next door that keeps you awake, bless the cold, bless the heat, bless the day that you are alive on this earth.

I started out writing this to suggest making a gratitude list every day, something I try for every morning. I start by saying when I wake up "thank you for the breath I breathe, thank for hot showers and tea with honey, thank for my beloved, thank you for sunshine (or the lack of it!) the list can go on and on, like a string of mala beads throughout the day, like a mantram that plays continually in your head. But even better is being thankful for the things that annoy you, make you late, give you pain, or just plain get in your way. Just for today step back and says thanks.

Namaste
Rose

Just being Me

2012-01-29T16:20:00.000-08:00

Just being me is a tremendous undertaking some days, especially when I try to 'be everything to everyone.' This line I read in today's meditation.

I often try to be everything to everyone and what that usually amounts to is being no good to anyone, especially myself. In my mind I want to do and be many things to many people, but I can only, in reality do one thing at a time and sometimes not even that. My mind, it seems, does not rest in the moment on these particular days. It races ahead to what is next, what needs done, and how I am going to do it all. And in truth I never ever am!

So it is time for me now to go quietly within myself, taking a long soak, and do the work of not doing for a little while. The world outside of myself will still be there when I return.

Namaste

Flowing with the river

2012-01-27T06:34:00.000-08:00

This is a time of great change for my fiancee and I. He is retiring, we are selling our home, and we are moving across the country to start a whole new life. Strangely enough, I have experienced almost this identical scenario before in my life, on more than one occasion, and so it seems that I should be experienced with this idea of letting go of the old to embrace the new.

And yet, as we vascillated back and forth yesterday about renting a home in our new state, trying to be 'in control' of every aspect of the decision making process, he gently reminded me that we should, in fact, flow with the Universe. To me this means stop trying to 'push the river.' Allow life to take you where it will.

What extraordinary lives we could lead if only we could stop trying to control our destiny and go forward with faith. This is my life lesson and here I am at the drawing board once more to see what I have learned.

Change happens each and every moment, with each and every breath we take. In his book, "Wherever you go there you are" Jon Kabat Zinn says, "You can't stop the waves but you can learn how to surf." He is speaking here of the eternal chain of thoughts that flow through the mind. It all starts here with the mind. Once we learn how to allow our thoughts to flow and beocme less attached to them, we begin to learn inside the letting go that we can then apply to our whole lives.

Just for today, try to flow with the river of life. It's so much more fun than trying to swim upstream.

Namaste

Living in the moment

2012-01-19T06:04:00.001-08:00

We hear this all the time now. Live in the moment. As the world keeps spinning by faster and faster and we struggle to keep pace, the moment is the only thing there is, and the only way to slow down time.

Slowing down to be in the present moment is an auspicious task indeed. I struggle with it every day, and yet when those moments come and I am still enough to watch the world as it watches me, those are the moments of my day that I remember the best. Those same moments will be the ones that I remember on the day I die. Not the ones I rushed to get someplace other than I was.

Lots of people are asking me these days, "You must be counting the days until you leave for Colorado?" Colorado, that place where I and my love are moving this year, is a goal, part of a life vision. And yet as I am asked this, I realize that, unlike a former me who was always living for some future moment, I can wait and it is okay because this is where I am right now, doing the work that I need to do.

So how do we begin to capture the present moment? Meditation is one way. Reiki is another. So is yoga, which, in its essence, is preparation for meditation. Start with the breath. Notice today that you are breathing. In and out. In and out. Try using a meditation technique to focus on the in breath and the out breath, such as "Breathing in......peace" "Breathing out......love"

You can only begin at the beginning. Breath is where it begins. The first thing we do when we enter this world is take a breath and it is also the last thing we do. Make it count. Namaste.

Look around you

2012-01-18T04:44:00.000-08:00

Our life is about our attention. Whatever we are paying attention to becomes our life, our experience. What are we paying attention to? The next thing we have to do probably or the next text we have to send or the next call we have to make or the next nonsensical thing that has nothing to do with real life.

Real life is out there around us all the time, just waiting for us to notice it. Real life is in nature, real life is in people, real life is the breath you breathe.

Every time you worry today, stop and smell the apples. Breathe in life. Be amazed at the marvelous things around you, whether they be skyscrapers or squirrels. Feel the wonder of being alive.

Namaste

A New Day

2012-01-13T16:43:00.000-08:00

"Come to the edge" he said. "We can't, we are afraid" they said.
"Come to the edge" he said. "We can't, we will fall" they said.

"Come to the edge" he said. And they came. And he pushed. And they flew.

by Guillaume Appollonaire

It's time for each one of us to fly. We've been afraid of falling for far too long haven't we? What would you do if you weren't afraid?

The answer is - you would fly.

We're afraid of getting old,running out of money, losing our jobs, being cheated on, being alone, getting fat, not fitting in, having someone else take our glory, losing our ego, getting lost, falling down, being less than the best,being mugged, not being good enough, people disliking us....the list goes on and on. But what if....we weren't afraid?

What if we had something inside us that allowed us to know that, no matter what happened to us in life, WE, ourselves, our inner spirit, our sanctum of self, would be OK? What if we had someone or something to really truly turn over all of life's problems to? Just think how light we would be.

It sounds like I am talking about God, for some of you, perhaps that is true. For me personally, I am talking about the power of Reiki. For some, for many, the light and spirit of Reiki is God's light. Whether you call it God, or spirit, or Universal energy, or oneness of all things, it is a light that shines goodness everywhere you shine it.

There is much talk about the end of the Mayan calendar in Dec 2012. They say it will be the end of the world. Or as I like to think of it, like the song says, "it's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine." The end of some things and the beginning of others. We are in the midst of a spritual revolution whether we know it or not.

My contribution to this change is to help others be the best they can be in this world, and one of the best ways for me to do this is to teach them Reiki.

Many people think you have to be someone special to use Reiki, but all I can say to this is that you are already that special person. We all can embrace Reiki in our lives and, should we decide to so, Reiki's light will shine through us to create an amazing world.

For more on Reiki and other stuff, join my blog and read on.

Live simply love abundantly,
Rose

Our Deepest Fear

2011-08-20T20:40:00.000-07:00

January 12, 2011

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” Marianne Williamson

I chose this quote as my mantra for this year, 2011, because, although I have glimpsed the castle in all its glory and have, at times, seen the powerful side of myself, I have lurked far too often in the realm of fear. Whilst happy most of the time, I aspire for more than just happiness and contentment in life. I dare to reach for the highest goal of true fulfillment of purpose, of living a miraculous life. And Marianne’s words serve to remind me that greatness exists, and exists within me. It has been there all along and it is time to move beyond the ordinary; often, and with emphasis.
All of my life I have had glimpses of this essential essence which eludes me like the piece of yarn that the cat chases around a corner. I see it, I reach for it, paw at it, and then it disappears again, only to reappear in a different corner of life, never quite leaving altogether. Life brings me messages all the time, messages to walk the healing path, not just step on it now and again, but well and truly walk it until my shoes are worn through and I can find my way even in the dark. I have, in this past year, begun to move beyond excuses, beyond linear thoughts that prevent me from grabbing that string and running with it. I know that doubts and worry only exist in a small mind that does not look beyond itself to see the vast expanse of the Universe and all the possibilities it holds, yet it is difficult at best to move beyond the small self. Meditation and forms of self inspiration are necessary daily, sometimes even from moment to moment. Gratitude has become a way of life for me, as is prayer and feeling my essence and that of those around me.
Today I read a passage from a little book that tells of a man who was a LomiLomi healer who worked in a pizza parlor. He decided he needed to go out and be a healer, so he trusted in ‘akua’ (Hawaiian for god) and set out to do so. Very soon he had a free room to use and someone gave him a massage table. People came from all over the world for his healing methods. This man accessed his power beyond measure; now I hope to do the same.
Not unlike a marathon runner in training, I am a healer in training to run the marathon of a life fulfilled. The past few years I have been preparing to do the work by taking classes, finishing a degree, completing this certification and that certification. When the New Year rolled around I finally got around to framing my certificates and hanging them on the wall in my living room, in order to remind me of where I’ve been and to empower my journey forward. Yet now I face an even greater challenge, one not dissimilar to taking the words from my gut onto this page. I must do the work, I must live the work, I must be the work, regardless of the changes required, the uncertainty involved, or the temperature of the water. There is no more wait time; it’s now, the Universe tells me, or never. I have the patience of Ant and the tenacity of Crab and these traits have served me well in the past; but it is truly time to let go and trust in akua. Namaste.
Rose

Breathing room

2011-07-11T16:23:00.000-07:00
When we strip away all the external stuff of life and get down to the bare essentials, as it were, we begin to realize that there is so much that is simply unimportant.

As I sit here by the Blue River in Colorado I realized that this entire past month has been a period of time in which I just stripped away at things…..let go, essentially, of the ‘stuff’ of my life to begin to see what is left. We spend our lives in such a constant state of doing, going, and thinking, that just being becomes the most difficult and often unattainable thing we can do. We may take a yoga class or even meditate daily, but let’s be honest with ourselves…are we just ‘fitting’ it into our already busy and full lives?

The mountains have a way of slowing you down, whether you want to or not. I have been here amongst the mountains for exactly 23 days now, and it has taken all of those days for me to look around, all around my being, both body and soul, and……just be. I left a fulltime job,an aspiring second career, a home with my fiancée, and a very active social life to come here for the summer.

I've come to be in Colorado with my daughter for a roommate, taken a part-time job where I’ve only worked a few hours so far, and essentially have loads of time on my hands. This time, which has felt somewhat like a sentence at first, has led to boredom, depression, internal chatter to ‘make money’ or ‘spend money,’ a need to fill up my time, and, also daily, a sense of wonder at my surroundings.

Suddenly I realized, at this very moment, that what I have been resisting for these last days and weeks is simply being with myself. I believe that this is why most people resist changing their lives. Most are content to stay in the same jobs, adhering to the same routines, and living out life clinging to that sameness. What is wrong with that is not the routine itself, but the fact that many of us are using it to hide from ourselves. We are afraid of looking just inside us, at who we really are underneath all the stuff.

When I started this year, I decided to blog the adventure of my life; the journey of coming to Colorado. Little did I know then, just six months previous, how exhilarating, scary, heart wrenching, depressing, and fulfilling this journey would be. It didn’t turn out anything like I thought it would be. I thought as soon as I didn’t have to work a nine to five job anymore that elation would fill my soul, but alas, it doesn’t work that way with change. Elation has to be earned.

So I sit here today, July 11, 2011, watching the snow hit the top of the mountain while it rains in the valley below, and know that in this moment I am truly here, by myself, with myself, inside myself, and the world is an amazing place to be.
Namaste.

"Too much stimulation; not enough touch

2010-11-19T06:15:00.000-08:00
I write this for you, those I care about and connect with. A friend and I agreed the other day that there is just too much stimulation in this world of ours. I'm sure if you think about it you will agree. With the constant flow of stimulation flooding our senses constantly, like the drip of a leaky faucet; cell phones, text messages, emails, traffic noise, airplanes overhead, people talking, horns blaring,construction noise, our to-do list ticking away in our heads, the constant chatter of our minds, it's a wonder we can ever quiet ourselves, even for a moment.
Perhaps we kid ourselves into thinking that it's almost the weekend and then, by gosh, then we will relax, yes then. But the weekend comes and we have errands to run, shopping to do, phone calls to make, emails to answer, cleaning, social engagements, etc., and even when we finally sit down with a glass of wine in the evening light, we fail to realize just how 'turned on' to the world we still are.
But the power of touch has the power to change all that. The safe and soothing touch of a massage or reflexology treatment, or even the gentle energy of Reiki can transport us into a place in which we can come home to ourselves. Often when clients leave, they smile at me and I know that they have found peace in themselves, if only for a little while. This peace can reveal itself to us in other ways, through meditation or yoga, for example, yet the nurturing power of touch has in itself certain qualities of healing that are unique.
Yesterday a woman at work gave one of the men a friendly rub across the back and he laughed, making a joke of it, saying it was a long time and I suddenly realized that he meant, sincerely, that it had been a long time since anyone had touched him, at all, in a caring and loving way. In our society, we have such taboos about touch, and yet all of us crave, long for, and truly need, whether we know it or not, caring and nurturing touch, the type of touch that makes us feel safe, protected and connected to the world and ourselves. I've encountered a number of women and men who have told me that they hate to be touched, and that makes me sad, because I know they have lost connection to a part of themselves that is necessary for a healthy mind and spirit to grow and thrive.
So for you, my friends, clients, and family, I am happy and proud to be part of such a great profession that allows me to nurture you, relax you, ease your pain, and show you your most glorious self. Love and light.
R

Reiki women

2010-07-16T05:23:00.000-07:00
Only when we as women take down the walls that seperate us will we be able to unite the feminine to heal the world.

There is only one way this planet will be saved - it is up to us, the women who represent the soul of the earth. It is we who are life givers that understand the mysteries of healing such a torn and battered wound that is Mother Earth.

It is through our united feminine strength that the killing will stop, the land will cease to be raped, and Earth will be nourished to flow once more. It is we who will stop the bleeding waters, not with ego or politics or finger pointing, but with careful nurturing and tending of the earth's wounds.

We who believe in and see the miracle of each other will raise the vibration so high that healing will happen in every corner.

And humankind will respond, building bridges of kindness and community towards each other. It is the women of this world who will inspire us to think as one and give up our seperateness. For women of this time see the oneness of us all. We know we cannot heal until we become one Spirit, until we lose our seperateness from one another.

So every chance you get, women lightworkers of this planet, UNITE and know each other as a reflection of yourself. Gather and let the energy rise. Do not seperate yourselves by looks or shape or age or society's rules of you. See the divine goddess in every woman you meet and know her as a kindred soul, someone who is simply you in a different package.

Stop looking in the mirror for the inherent beauty you have had inside you from the beginning of time itself. Instead light the flame of true beauty inside your soul and let it flow outward like a growing flame that becomes so warm and bright that you will see its glow reflected in others' eyes. Look for that same flame in every woman you meet; kindle the fire within your sisters of joy until you see their soul light up as bright as your own.

Then move on, sisters, down the line. This is your mission and nothing else for when it is ready there will be nothing else to do but watch the healing begin.

And men will praise you or hate you but it matters not which for you will have done what you have come to do.

Rose O.

energy choices

2010-04-13T06:13:00.000-07:00
I've been reading a lot lately about energy and the choices we make. It seems that we have only so much energy to expend each and every day and, by way of our choices, we either expand that energy field or deplete it.

Think about a time when you were connected to the 'Source' as it were. When you were doing something that completely moved you, creating something, playing music, even just sitting by a lake, but you felt that rush of being completely in the moment and being totally alive. When you are in this energy state, time has no meaning or purpose and nothing is an effort. You just are.

Imagine that you could access that energy every single day of your life, that you could make 'room' for feeling that way. Begin by examining your choices each day. Every time you make a choice, whether it is to be frustrated by the traffic in front of you, or annoyed by your fellow worker, or pleased when your boss approves something you do, you are making a choice. And with that choice you are expending energy. Begin by making small choices not to expend energy on things that are beyond your control (and believe me everything is beyond our control) and see what happens.

Focus on love in everything you do. If it's not about love, it's about fear. The more you let go, the closer you will get to accessing all the power that the Universe has waiting for you, to manifest whatever you want, to experience true freedom, true bliss.
Namaste

Mexico

2010-03-22T06:00:00.000-07:00
When we think of ourselves as being a certain way, doing the same things, attaching ourselves to our idea of what our life is; we bind ourselves by way of our thoughts. It is as though we become an unmoving boulder in the middle of the stream of life, and life continues to change and flow all around us and we feel it and see it rushing past us as we sit and weather and grow moss, but we never move, we never jump into the flow of life. Unlike the leaf that has fallen and merely happily goes with the flow, following the stream wherever it goes, around twists and turns, into another stream and another, and eventually a river that leads to a vast ocean of endless possibility.

The best thing we can do for ourselves in this life is to get moving, get out of our molds, our thoughts that continually bind us to be a certain way. Recently I went to Mexico, to visit small towns and clincs and to meet the people there. An experience such as this takes you out of 'yourself' and allows you to see more, feel more of yourself as well as those around you.
I strive to do this sort of thing for the rest of my days. Let's get off the boulder and move on into the stream!
Peace,
R

Life is just one day

2010-03-03T05:42:00.001-08:00
Every day takes work. We live many many days on this earth, some of us get more days than others. And each day is a gift, although we don't always see it as such.

It takes work and perseverance to be a thankful being on this planet Earth. We can slouch through our days, thinking things like, "Today I am going to be sad because the sun isn't shining, or I have to work today and it's Monday so I will look forward to Friday when I can feel happier."

Happiness is not just an attitude; it's an everyday commitment. Starting your day with ritual helps (more about rituals another time). You can choose to start your day with a short (or long) meditation. You can start your day by climbing into the shower and counting all the things you are grateful for this day. There are many many ways you can start your days with a sense of the sacred within.

What's important here is that you do something besides roll out of bed and trudge along, making that first cup of coffee the most important thing to 'start' your day. Your day has already started the minute you opened your eyes and you were breathing! God and the Universe and your sacred wondrous physical body has already done everything to put you on this planet for another day. Now it's your turn to do some work not only at appreciating it, but striving to turn the ordinary day into something sacred.
Go for it!

How I got here

2010-03-02T04:45:00.000-08:00
We need a lot of help these days. The world is an amazing place, full of beauty and joy and miracles, but sometimes they are very hard to see, especially when things are moving so fast. It is time to learn to hold onto the moments, and not be swept away by all the modern things of this world. Step away from technology whenever you can in order to breathe the air and connect with Mother earth. We are being tested right now; this is only a lesson for us. Be like the eagle and see the bigger picture.

Take care as you go my friend. Stay inside each moment without rushing it by. Find places in your day to take a breath and stop doing. It is here that you will begin to see the light. It is here that you will begin to live from the heart, to know that everything is really alright. The world may seem to be spinning out of control sometimes, but it is only trying to find its balance, just like you. It is trying to realign itself with Spirit, just as you are.

It's time to reassess your world, the one which directly surrounds you. What things do you have that you do not need? Pass them on, whether they be of a material or emotional nature. You need to be like the earth and have a great upheaval, ridding yourself of your baggage so that you can be free again. Take small steps at first if you are afraid. Leave your cell phone at home for an afternoon. Take something that's important to you and give it away. Practice being free.
Rose O