What The Heck Is A Chi Ball?

If you have ever received distance Reiki or any other type of distance energy work from me chances are you have received it via a chi ball. I am often asked what a chi ball is and how they are created. Simply put, a chi ball is a ball of energy that is formed between the palms of both hands. It can be used to send energy to a person, event, or location. This video offers a very basic explanation. There are many ways to work with chi balls and I may cover them in future videos. Let me know if you have any questions!

Common Reiki Myths

Reiki is a healing energy modality that I have been passionate about for many years. I truly believe that everyone would benefit from receving Reiki as well as learning how to work with Reiki. Why? Because I believe that access to healing energy is not only our birthright, I believe that at one time Reiki was as natural to every human being as breathing. 

Reiki has become fairly common, which is a good thing! However, there are many misperceptions and beliefs that are not true. I thought it would be fun and worthwhile to address a few.

Reiki is “new age,” a religion, or a cult.
Reiki is definitely NOT a religion, cult, or new age. Rediscovered by Dr. Mikao Usui in the mid 1800’s, Reiki has been around much longer than the new age movement that traces back to the 1960’s and 70’s. You do the math!
While Reiki can deepen one’s spiritual practice, it is not aligned with any particular religion, nor is it a religion unto itself. It is a deeply personal practice that can help you feel more grounded and connected to your personal energy.

Reiki practitioners are always happy, calm, and preach love and light.
Have you met me? LOL. Reiki practitioners are human beings just like you! We face the same issues and challenges as everyone else. We experience the same range of emotions, those that feel good and those that don’t. Working through life challenges with the help of Reiki and other energetic practices makes a Reiki practitioner stronger and better able to help other people. They can relate to others through shared experience. (I’ll let you in on a secret. We even occasionally drop eff bombs!)

Learning Reiki is complicated.
Reiki is deceptively simple and easy! At it’s most basic, Reiki is the transfer of Universal Life Force Energy from the practitioner to the recipient. The recipient can be yourself, animals, objects, as well as friends and family. There are a few guidelines on how to facilitate this energy transfer and they are easy to learn. Learning Reiki is really more akin to remembering something that is already within you. Anyone can learn Reiki.

Reiki can diagnose and cure any illness.
Not true. Reiki can bring relief and comfort to physical ailments but it will not cure or heal everything. Reiki should not be used in lieu of medical treatments. It is a complementary modality that does not replace professional medical care. It is very relaxing and great for minimizing stress which enhances the body’s ability to heal. While Reiki is a very powerful tool for relaxation and healing, it does not necessarily cure illnesses.

Reiki practitioners should not charge for healing sessions.
Hairstylists, massage therapists, doctors, etc. are not expected to provide their services free of charge. Reiki practitioners invest in their training. Those who offer services professionally have the same business expenses as other business owners. While it might seem contrary to pay for healing energy, you are paying for the practitioner’s time and expertise.

I would love to hear your thoughts about Reiki. What would you add to this list? Let me know in the comments! 

Curious about learning Reiki or receiving a Reiki session? I offer Reiki classes and one on one sessions online! Message me here for more information.

Not All Soul Mates Are Meant To Stick Around

On the topic of soul mates and twin flames, there is a tendency to romanticize both. I’m not going to get into the differences between soul mates and twin flames as there is plenty of info online to be found. What I will delve into is that someone being one of your soul mates (yes we have MANY) or your twin flame, does not equate to instant long term relationship, romantically or platonically. People come and go from our lives. This is also true of soul mates and twin flames. An experience I had many years ago illustrates this beautifully.

Somewhere around 2006 or 2007 I was on Zaadz. com which was like a “spiritual MySpace.” This is where I met Jackie. After commenting on many of the same posts we began messaging each other. We had many things in common. These are just a few…

✨We were both Capricorns.

✨We had red hair.

✨We had cats that were nearly identical in appearance.

✨We made jewelry.

✨We lived in Los Angeles.

Surely we should meet! But, as life goes, we kept putting it off. One day she shared a post that included her full name. A few days to a week later I went to the mailbox and discovered a piece of junk mail with her exact name on it! Her married name was hyphenated to her maiden name and neither was all that common. I was amused. Highly amused! I ran into the house, sat at my laptop, and messaged her. It turned out that she had actually lived in the same house I was living in thirty years prior. Imagine that! Surely it all had to mean something, right?

We met for dinner about a week later. We sat in the restaurant for more than three hours, it might have been closer to five! There was so much to talk about. A fabulous friendship had been born. It was a great friendship too. Brian and I hung out with her a lot.

One day we began to drift apart. Around that same time I had scheduled an appointment with a channeler recommended by a friend. I do not remember the name of the entities she channeled. After asking them the questions I had I decided to ask about Jackie. The response I received was that yes, she and I were soul mates, but it didn’t have to mean anything. They went on to offer that I should not read anything into it as not all soul mate relationships (platonic or romantic) are meant to last forever. They said that there was nothing that needed to be resolved energetically between she and I in this lifetime and that the connection had run its course.

This was very enlightening to me as it was the first time I had heard this. At my core it resonated, though. I knew it to be true. Jackie and I continued to drift until I just stopped hearing from her. Losing a friend is not fun or enjoyable but I knew it was what was meant to be.

Was 2022 Harder Than It Should Have Been?

As 2022 came to a close I found myself just tired. The year did not pan out the way I had envisioned. It wasn’t a bad year or a good year. It was a year that transcended the simplicity of good vs bad. As I looked around social media and talked with more and more people I realized I was not the only one feeling what I felt. Some of my friends had an amazing year but a lot of my friends did not. Some of the words and phrases that kept popping up were “exhausted, disappointed, frustrated, nothing left to give, it was harder than it should have been.” Most of the people I spoke with didn’t understand why they felt this way. Having already pondered this I knew, at least for me, what was going on. 2022 was not a standalone year. It was one more year on top of several deeply uncomfortable years.

Allow me to break it down…

After the shenanigans and drama of the past several years (2016-2021), 2022 was supposed to be the year we got back to normal (whatever that is LOL). 2020 saw the world shut down. Most of us in the U.S. were literally confined to our homes for at least 3 months with the exception of seeking medical care and groceries. Some of us complied and some of us did not. Either way, that’s a huge blanket of fear that was wrapped around each of us whether we acknowledge it or not. People became crazy over buying TOILET PAPER. We saw empty shelves, actually, completely empty aisles at the grocery store. We lost our income and some of us saw unemployment checks bigger than our regular paychecks. Shit got real and shit got weird. We saw and felt things we had not felt and seen previously. We expected to never have this experience. Whether that originated from naivete or entitlement we were not prepared. I know for me, personally, this situation played on every fear and insecurity that dwelled in my psyche. Oddly, I actually thrived during the three months we were locked down. That was only because I knew I had a job to return to whenever we were allowed to venture back out. However, once we were able to go back to work, my psyche was not a fun or pretty place!

Then one day we were released. We were allowed to go back to work and shop for more than groceries. However, there were conditions; wear a mask, sanitize your hands constantly, keep your distance from everyone, etc. etc. etc. Like I said, shit got weird. Even if you agreed with the guidelines and adhered to them, it was still weird. This was not the life we were told we would grow up to have. This country was already severely divided due to the politics of 2016. The subject of viruses, masks, vaccinations, etc. served to deepen the divide even further. Conversation and respectful debate were replaced by declarations, accusations, and ultimatums. We moved through the days navigating fear and trauma whether we recognized it as such or not. Then 2021 arrived…

2021 found us trying to live more fully. We still navigated the ever-present virus, wore masks, and kept our distance but we wandered out more and more as the year progressed. We knew things were not yet normal though. For a period of time entering businesses and restaurants required proof of a couple of jabs in the arm. We tried to live life, but shit was still weird. Again, not the life we expected. Some of us waited for normalcy to return and continued isolating. Some of us knew that things would never return to what we thought of as normal and ventured out. As the year progressed society became more eager to get back to life as we knew it. Then suddenly 2022 rolled around…

Two years into the pandemic and I think people were just over it. Period. The end. There was a sense of “I’m moving forward no matter what!” Some thought the pandemic was over. Some believed it was here to stay. Either way, we moved on, trying to live as normally as possible. And THAT is and was the problem. We have endured 4 years of the most divisive politics in recent memory. Regardless of which side you were on, it was exhausting. Then we segued right into the pandemic. We are looking at a minimum of 6 years of fear, anger, confusion, sadness, and yes, trauma, all the while keeping our chins up! Most of us have not taken time to catch our breath let alone, practice self-care. We have been too busy trying to keep calm and carry on.  It has been one long adrenalin rush. Nervous systems are shot. If you found yourself coming into 2023 feeling fatigued and not understanding why, perhaps this will resonate. Take time to acknowledge that you have been through a lot. We all have. Not everyone realizes the depth of it. We never know what a new year will bring until the year progresses and eventually ends. We don’t know what to expect from 2023. My plan is to continue focusing more locally and see what I can do to positively affect my life and the lives of those around me. I read enough of the news to hopefully stay updated but not so much that I get sucked into the fear of it all. If any of this resonates with you, the message that I want to convey is to allow yourself time to regroup. Allow yourself to process the emotions brewing beneath the surface. Talk to a friend or two. Get a massage. Schedule some energy work. Just sit and breathe. Regularly.