It's Not Personal

At the lungs, I saw a soldier, wounded on the left side. I saw this very clearly. When I say "saw," I mean that this wounded soldier materialized energetically under my hands as I treated my client. I was reading information just as if the wounded man were lying on the table. When I moved to the client's shoulder and elbow, I got that he (the soldier) had lost his arm from the elbow down. This was confirmed when I reached the elbow and wrist.

By the time I moved to his hand, the story came together. I sensed/saw a grenade in his hand. I realized it must have exploded.

It felt like the arm was at war with itself energetically--lower arm with upper arm--and there was guilt in the hand, blame and contempt for it in the arm. As the Reiki flowed, they all seemed to be making peace with one another. After a time, I felt forgiveness between arm and hand: beautiful.

I did not go looking for any of this, but I had opened to it. I put my energy field at "2 % Kathryn," as I call it, and the rest was automatic. As the Reiki was running, all this ran with it.

I told this client about the past life after the treatment.

"Yeah, and I was shot at," he said: this life as a soldier wasn't news to him.

He'd mentioned pain in that arm at a prior session, and when I treated it, a woman had shown up, I remember--again, energetically. She seemed contrite, apologetic. Today, he tells me his mother broke that arm. Ah, there it is, I thought.

There was the lineage of this energy pattern--two lifetimes' worth, anyway. I understood when he shared this piece of the puzzle that it was the energetic unrest--the arm at war with itself--that drew the broken arm to him. None of this wounding was his fault, of course. He was blind to the pattern repeating itself--right up until the moment when he wasn't blind to it any longer.

Things happen to us, some of them unpleasant--some of them violent, even. Of course there is healing when a detrimental energy pattern is resolved. But beyond that there is the deep peace that can come from understanding the source of a pattern. It is important to realize that in the world of energy, likes, not opposites, attract. If my boundaries aren't clear for example, I vibrate the energy pattern "I have wiggly boundaries," and should not be surprised when people step over them. The energy is "dumb," and that's important to remember as well.

"This horrible thing happened to me: you should have compassion!" one might cry, as if such things happen at random. Such things happen because energy is reading energy all the time, matching with what it matches and bypassing what it doesn't match. The so-called "law of attraction" is not personal; it simply does what it does, without playing favorites and without exceptions. Still, some jump to blame at hearing this:

"You're saying I attracted that?!"

Did my client attract his broken arm? Did he want his mother to break his arm? No. He did not want his arm broken, and he did not attract the injury. But his arm did, his energy did, unbeknownst to him. Clearing that energy, he is free from drawing injury to it again. Then the war is over.

Manifesting on Air

I will be a featured guest of Victor Venckus once again this Saturday (October 8) on the Expanding Awareness show from 10 - 11:00 a.m. Boston time. Tune in to 90.3 FM or online to listen. My esteemed teacher, Walter Ness--master of the energetic realm, gifted clairvoyant, performer and poet--and I will be sharing from our experience of working with the energy, and offering methods for immediate manifestation.

I hope you will join us--and maybe even chime in when Victor opens the phone lines in the latter half of the program. After Saturday, the show will be available via the wzbc archive for the next two weeks (until October 22). Once you enter the archive, simply scroll down to Saturday October 8th 2011, 10:00 a.m. Expanding Awareness, and click "Listen."

Reflected Essence

"How did you see her spirit?" my mother asked me today about her beloved feline companion of 16 1/2 years that she'd just "put to sleep."

"It was in a Reiki treatment," I reminded her. "It's hard to describe. I see an image, or get a sensation, or sometimes I hear things. It happened with a client yesterday," I continued, and told her the story.

"Do you have a creative expression?" I'd asked A. after her session. Her eyes lit up: "Yes!" she exclaimed. "Photography. But I'm not doing much with it lately." I told her I could feel it pulled deep into her, wanting to get out. I could feel a sort of energetic limpness in her arms, and a lot of heat in her hands. I knew she was either a healer (known or unknown to her), a musician, or an artist--that she did something with her hands, or was destined to.

I encouraged her to let it out. To stay aware this is inside of her wanting expression. I could've said, "It's Life (or Love) wanting Its way with you. Let It have it!" but I didn't, not exactly. She got the message just the same, and seemed very grateful for it.

Ditto M., who I treated next. This was her second session, and although she looked familiar and I recognized her name, I remembered her circumstances only when I laid on hands. I remembered she was looking for work, as a Nanny, because I felt again the energy of love and nurturing through and through her: she is the Nanny any loving, responsible parents would want to care for their children!

"Have you found work yet?" I inquired after the session. I expected not, because I felt her energy, her pure heart, her love and nurturing had retreated some since the previous week, and her "No" confirmed she had not.

"It feels like you're losing heart a bit: don't. You're a natural at this work," I told M. "You have so much love and nurturing in you, but you're not letting it all the way out: let it out," I encouraged her. "They'll see it, and they'll hire you."

"Let them see who you are; rather than trying to sell yourself, just BE. Be yourself," I'd told her the previous week. But this week I realized, when I felt her energy more pulled in, that I could be more precise about what I'd meant. She got it. And, like A., she looked very happy to receive the information and encouragement.

I think it is good to share such information when it presents itself. Who among us hasn't felt confused, or blundering, or discouraged? Who among us hasn't lost sight at one time or another of our own essence, gifts, nature? It is deeply affirming to hear and see our essence reflected back to us (or, in the case of my mother, the essence of her beloved, newly deceased companion). It is a comfort, and a reminder that there is always more than meets the eye.

I have no doubt: if those prospective employers saw what my hands "saw" in M., they would have hired her on the spot! It behooves us to let ourselves be seen. Can you imagine a flower hiding its petals? It wouldn't think of it! And neither should we.

The Intelligence of Reiki

In the course of a Reiki treatment, I often pick up information about the client which I usually share afterwards. The specifics for each individual can be wildly different from week to week. (If ever we needed proof that we are not the same person moment to moment, here it is!) When something I pick up seems a little far out or illogical (i.e., no history of that with this client), I feel a bit timid about sharing the information. Such was the case with L. recently.

"Weak in the knees," I told her. "I kept hearing that phrase, "weak in the knees."

"Wow," she exclaimed. "My son's been having knee problems. He might need surgery, and it's been on my mind," she explained. "That blows my mind."

When she turned to leave, I realized that with all the attention on the knees, I had almost forgotten what had happened at her head. I called after her:

"Oh, and there was something going on in your sinuses."

She stopped and turned toward me. "You're kidding!" she said, wide-eyed.

I told her about the sinus clearing I felt happening as I worked on her head.

"Okay, now I have to tell you about this morning."

She proceeded to share the details of a distinct yet uncharacteristic sinus event that had taken place a few hours previous at a business meeting. L. found this correspondence of my sensations to her experiences quite remarkable. She walked away shaking her head in amazement.

On another day, it was E.'s brain that was especially prominent in the treatment. The left side felt shriveled and much smaller than the right. This didn't make sense to me, and nothing like it had ever turned up in any of her previous sessions. Still, what I'd sensed was very distinct, so I shared it. The look on her face confirmed it made sense to her. She proceeded to tell me of her son's brain deficits--on the left side--and the current legal struggle they were facing related to his disabilities and circumstances, which she was troubled about.

In each of these cases, was the situation receiving Reiki? the client? or the client's son? Was E. experiencing "sympathetic shrinkage"? Was L. developing weakness in her knees by focusing on her son's weakness? I don't know. Had these questions come up during the treatment, I might have looked or asked for the answers. But what matters in my view is that in all cases, what needed treating got treated.

I love this about Reiki energy: it knows where to go, and goes there. It knew J. had a heaviness in the heart and went there. It rooted out C.'s self loathing and went there. It showed me V.'s High Priest energy, and M.'s eight-year-old self--all in service to the client and what he or she needed at that moment in time.

Recently, not long after the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan, P. came for a treatment in Braintree. The music playing during her session, selected by a fellow practitioner, sounded Japanese to me. I thought maybe it had triggered the remarkable experience I had while treating P., so I didn't share it with her. But then she remarked about it as she got up from the table.

"Oh, that music," she said, and touched her heart.

I decided to tell her what had happened. As I treated P., I felt the unbroken link of being--all humanity, all life. It felt very clear and very logical to me, as it was happening, that I was conducting a healing treatment for Japan. I felt the Reiki--concretely and actually, not conceptually or metaphorically--reach the Japanese people and land.

P.'s eyes filled with tears, and she started nodding. "That was my intention when I got on the table," she told me. "I wanted some of this to go to them."

"Well, it did," I said.

And it had. In no uncertain terms, it had. This is the intelligence of Reiki. This is the power of intention, of thought. This is the function of a clear channel. What a beautiful and wonderful thing.

Reiki According to Western Medicine

Reiki is a simple, natural and safe method of spiritual healing and self-improvement that most everyone can benefit from. It has been found to be effective in helping every known illness, including cancer. It may be used in conjunction with all other medical or therapeutic techniques to relieve side effects and promote quality of life. Reiki energy is non-invasive and safe.

~ Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard University Medical School

Research on various types of energy work has shown that, in addition to deep relaxation, Reiki can promote a reduction in anxiety, muscle tension, and pain, can promote accelerated wound healing, and can promote wellness and a greater sense of well-being. It is useful during illness, after injuries, pre- and post-op, as well as for health promotion.

~ Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT