The Reiki Digest for January 24, 2007: Singing the blues? Here's some news

Woke up this morning...
Remembering the great blues concert I went to last night
Oooo-ooo!
Woke up this morning...
Remembering how much work I had to do today (and tonight!)
Decided this week's edition
Could address the blues condition
Cause Reiki makes you feel all right
Uh-uh-huh...

Last night was an unusual one for me: a weeknight out. My husband and I went to B.B. King's Blues Club in New York to enjoy the live blues stylings of John Hammond and then Marcia Ball. The tables there are decorated with large black circles the shape of an old-fashioned record, with the names of B.B. King songs on their record labels. The song on our table was "Woke up This Morning" from 1953. As you can see, it kind of got stuck in my head.

We had such a great time, and it seemed like most everybody else in the room did too, especially the performers. Singing the blues makes you feel good, or at least better, and so does listening to the blues. Why? For one thing, it causes an energy shift. When you give someone Reiki, their goal and yours is to create an energy shift: a negative into a positive, just like the blues.

Coincidentally, today we offer a blues-busting technique from the recent Reiki Symposium at the New York Open Center.

Before we get to that, however, let's look at some of Reiki's built-in blues busters, starting with the Reiki precepts:

For today only:
Do not anger.
Do not worry.

If we "woke up this morning" every day with an intention to follow those two precepts alone, that relieves us of the most likely causes of the blues right there. Let's continue:

Be humble.

You can sing the blues and be humble at the same time. But even if you do get the blues, knowing that you practice the following two precepts should be a comfort:

Be honest in your work.
Be compassionate to yourself and others.

And you can always do a self-care session -- or better, book a table session for yourself to bring even more Reiki into the blues battle. Be compassionate to yourself.

You may not have noticed it here, since for some reason our readers are reluctant to make comments on our web site, but by e-mail and telephone, Reiki Digest readers have been clamoring for more coverage of last week's Reiki Symposium. Since the event took place last Monday and we had to put together The Reiki Digest the following day, there wasn't quite enough time for our entire staff (that's me!) to give the symposium more than a brief mention. We make up for that this week with a more detailed report on one of the sessions, with further coverage to come in subsequent weeks.

Breaking news: The Second Annual Reiki Symposium has been scheduled for FEBRUARY 18, 2008, so mark your calendars accordingly. (Note: previously we reported January 18 -- that was incorrect.)

If you're feeling blue, here's a quick, easy way to get back into the pink

I was a volunteer for one of the presentations: Connect With Your Inner Self – A Four Step Process™ with Reiki Master Sinikka Laitamaki. For her demonstration, Sinikka asked me to think of a pleasant experience. That was easy: our family had just gotten together a couple of days before to celebrate my husband's birthday. Since my children are grown and we all have busy lives, it's a rare treat for us all to be in the same place at the same time, and we thoroughly enjoyed the day together. Then she asked me to give it a name: I called it "Pleasant Family Gathering." Next, Sinikka asked me to place my hand somewhere on my body in a place where I would like to anchor the memory "Pleasant Family Gathering." I put my hand on my heart, and Sinikka guided me through the process of anchoring the feeling of that pleasant day in that spot. Since then, whenever I put my hand there, I am immediately reminded of our family's most recent good time together. I could just as easily chosen my knee or elbow, but the heart seemed to make more sense.

As the name says, this technique has four steps: "Aware, Awaken, Anchor, and Affirm," and Sinikka followed the anchoring by offering me a list of her favorite affirmations to choose from. Most of them were quotations, but one is from Sinikka herself:

"I choose to do things that make my heart sing, my soul dance and my spirit fly."

It's true: she does. Becoming a Reiki Master was one of the things Sinikka chose. After years in corporate America working on motivation and leadership programs, Sinikka took a break to spend more time with her family and look for a new direction. It was during her Reiki studies that she developed the Connect With Your Inner Self process, which she now teaches in many different environments, from universities to the workplace to the home.

Sinikka explains:

My search for accessing a "desired state" for performing with ease and efficiency culminated when I was developing high performance teams and leaders in the leading pharmaceuticals. Like everyone in the highly competitive business, I and my coworkers felt the pressure to perform "faster and better" – also outside the work. The Four Step Process is the outcome of my search. It was completed during my Reiki Master studies and integrates research and information from various disciplines. The overall benefit of utilizing the Four Step Process is enabling us to go with the positive flow of life. Some of the specific benefits include attaining an access to a powerful platform for peak performance, especially when the following is needed:

•Mental and emotional clarity and focus

•"Outside the box" solutions

•High levels of creativity

•Planning and co-creating the future

•Visioning, strategic thinking and an ability to see the "big picture"

•Delivery of results during highly stressful situations

•Development of new products, art, music, writing, etc.

•Preparation for any kind of performance

•A resource to call upon when your deepest capacities and abilities are needed

Some additional thoughts:

•Reiki II practitioners may "pause" prior to each action step to allow any symbols to arrive to support the steps.

•Music plays an important role in relaxing and drawing you into the desired state.

•"Practice makes the master" applies to this process. The more you go into the highly desirable state, the easier it is to get there!

For more information, e-mail Sinikka at: Laitamaki@comcast.net

OK, I think I'll try that right now myself, and anchor the feeling from last night's concert to my rusty guitar-playing fingers.

Sinikka is originally from Finland, so I asked her to write a brief greeting to our Finnish readers:

Terveiset koto-Suomeen! Iloa, valoa ja rakkautta kaikille - ja
paljon Reiki - hetkia!

And here's one in Swedish:

Hej, mina Reiki vanner! Hoppas alt ar fint med dig. Mar bra!

Thanks, Sinikka.

Coming soon: even more from the symposium, including supplemental materials from Qigong for Reiki Practitioners and Reiki in Cyberspace.

Meanwhile, a correction and an update. Last week I belatedly welcomed Mauritius to our global family of readers, not realizing that was our second reader there. We are up to 40 countries now, however, and we welcome our new readers in Germany, Korea, and Sweden.

Next, our Celeb-Reiki feature, brought to you by Miriam's Well Healing of New York, New York, specializing in the health and well-being of performing artists. (By the way, Claire Schwartz of Miriam's Well Healing has a new article in the online publication Soul of the American Actor.)

Update: As you recall, when Sen. Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota) was unable to speak for himself after emergency brain surgery, others requested Reiki for him. He is now out of intensive care and able not only to speak again, but to watch Tuesday night's State of the Union address in which his name was mentioned. His wife told reporters he was touched by George W. Bush's kind comments about him.

This week's Celeb-Reiki is Oman-based British writer Jane Jaffer, author of the new book Scent of a Rose. Jaffer is also a Reiki practitioner.

On to the Reiki Roundup

Have you seen the Uncyclopedia? It's a spoof of the popular Wikipedia, and it already has an entry for the word "Reiki". My favorite part: "Though some travel to Japan and undergo considerable expense to receive the training, most are certified via free classes at Home Depot."

Last week we found a Reiki-practicing rabbi and hospital chaplain, this week we meet a rabbi with a Reiki-practicing wife.

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, we meet Jeanette Lesada, an art therapist (and Reiki Master) who became "sketchbook buddies" with an autistic teen, communicating by drawing. Now their work together has become a book, Sundays with Matthew.

And Reiki gets a brief mention in the first daily newspaper I ever worked for, the Dayton Daily News in Ohio. Unfortunately, it's included in a list of "massage techniques," which is erroneous, as is the claim that Reiki has Tibetan origins.

Ask the Masters

This feature is off to a slow start, but this week we have not one but two questions, both from Anna in New Jersey, a Reiki 2 practitioner:

1. Is it possible to have a private attunement from a Reiki trainer (i.e., could you give me some or any of the Reiki 1 and 2 attunements again for a fee)?

2. I can feel the energy when putting my hands on myself or an object, but when I send Reiki energy to my desires (all the desires written on pieces of paper in my box), how does sending the energy to the pieces of paper also send energy to the desires themselves? Thanks if you can clarify this.

Reiki Master Teachers -- you know who you are. Please give us your answers to Anna's questions, either by adding a comment to this post on our web site, or by e-mailing editor@thereikidigest.com. It would be great to hear from an assortment of lineages and styles.

And here are some more questions, courtesy of Reiki Master Colin Powell of Reiki:Pure & Simple, from a recent broadcast of the UK game show Mastermind:

On 30th December, 2006 the BBC here in the UK showed a Celebrity version of our popular quiz show, Mastermind. On the show was a former children’s TV presenter called Josie d’Arby, whose chosen specialist subject was Reiki (she is also a Reiki Master). She did very well, only getting one answer wrong and passing on one question.

Here are the questions that were asked:

1) Who originally developed the Reiki system of healing in the early 1900s in Japan?

2) Which word from the Sanskrit for ‘wheel’ or ‘circle’ is used for the energy centres in human beings that run down the body?

3) The 4th chakra associated with the heart sometimes uses rose pink crystals but is mainly associated with which colour?

4) Which Hawaiian-born woman introduced Reiki to the United States?

5) Which name is sometimes used for the 6th or forehead chakra because the area of brain behind it is said to be sensitive to light?

6) Do not anger, just for today is the second of the Five Principles of Reiki as originally taught by Dr Usui, what is the first?

7) Who developed Rainbow Reiki, which uses crystals combined with a Reiki energy charge to aid healing?

8) On which mountain did Mikao Usui have an important mystical experience during a 21 day retreat?

9) What Japanese word is used by some Reiki practitioners for a technique of breaking away negative energy for cleaning inanimate object such as crystals?

10) Some practitioners use the word ‘Shoden’ as another word for which stage of Reiki training?

11) What term, literally meaning ‘breathe’, is used for the energy field that surrounds, penetrates and extends outwards from the body?

12) Which retires naval officer trained Mrs Takata and is said to have been appointed Dr Usui’s successor?

13) What is the alternative Japanese term for the third degree, or Reiki 3, the Master Teacher Level?

14) What is the name of Hawayo Takata’s granddaughter, who, after her grandmother’s death, was recognised by the Reiki Alliance as a Grand Master?

15) What term is used for the energy transmissions that initiate a newcomer to Reiki?

16) The three symbols that Dr Usui received on Mount Kuryama (sic) during his spiritual retreat are given to students of Usui Reiki at which level of initiation?

The answers can be found here.

As you can see there is some mention of up-to-date information such as the Japanese terms but this is mixed with chakras and Grand Master and I think the question on the Reiki Principles is a little picky as there are so many versions with various orders of the principles. Still it gave the opportunity for a huge audience to hear about Reiki!

Ai to Hikari

Colin

Thanks, Colin.

The Sounds of Reiki: This week The Reiki Show podcast takes us to Ireland. And if you haven't already voted for your favorite Reiki Show podcast of 2006, hurry, because voting closes at the end of January.

Remember, The Reiki Digest now comes in a printable, portable PDF edition. Click here to download this week's edition.