Tag: #reiki

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Reiki & The Scientific Evidence: Something to think about before Reiki Training this weekend.

There is still room to sign up today. Information is here…

by Ann Linda Baldwin, PhD

People who have given and/or received Reiki know, first hand, how energizing it feels and how one’s worries seem to melt away after a session. However, people who have not experienced, or even heard of Reiki may naturally be more skeptical, and may not want to venture into the unknown. What is really needed is scientific evidence showing exactly what Reiki can do to promote health and wellness. Fortunately, the Center for Reiki Research (CRR) has set up an easily accessible website (www.centerforreikiresearch.org) in order to promote people’s scientific awareness of Reiki. This site provides a list of evidence-based research published in peer-reviewed journals along with a critical summary of each study. The list is kept up to date and currently includes 33 studies. The summaries of the studies were produced by carefully analyzing the quality of each study in terms of experimental design, methodology, results, statistics, and conclusions, using a procedure developed by CRR named The Touchstone Process.

The following is a distillation of findings from the more robust of the studies (as scored ‘Very Good’ or ‘Excellent’ by The Touchstone Process in terms of the above criteria) that demonstrate positive physical effects of Reiki.

Probably the most commonly reported benefit of Reiki is that it reduces stress. One of the first places in the body that stress manifests itself is in the heart and circulation. Heart rate and blood pressure both increase during stress and these responses are caused by increased activity of sympathetic nerves in the heart. On the other hand, increased activity of the parasympathetic or vagal nerves causes the heart to relax. Studies have shown that Reiki can reduce the stress response of the heart in both humans and animals. Friedman et al (2010) found that when nurses gave Reiki to 12 patients recovering from acute coronary syndrome, a disease involving blockage of the coronary arteries, the vagal nerves became more active, indicating a relaxation effect, as reflected by changes in the heart rate variability. This was a good sign because medications that enhance vagal nerve activity, such as beta-adrenergic blockers, improve the outcomes of patients with this type of heart disease. So in this case Reiki was having a similar effect as a medicine that is a known effective therapy for heart disease. The increase in vagal nerve activity was statistically significant compared to the results from the groups of patients who listened to meditative music (13 patients) or just received standard care (12 patients). Unfortunately the study did not include a sham Reiki group, in which someone untrained in Reiki mimics the hand-positions of Reiki, and so we do not know whether just touching the patients, without giving Reiki, would have the same effect.

…there is preliminary scientific evidence that Reiki reduces stress, pain, depression and anxiety, and can help mild Alzheimer’s patients to overcome their cognitive impairment to some degree.

Studies of Reiki on animals provide particularly robust data because the animals are all kept under the same controlled conditions and so variations in diet and lifestyle that are present in human studies are eliminated. This means that the results are easier to interpret unambiguously. Baldwin and colleagues (2006, 2008) showed that Reiki, compared with sham Reiki, significantly reduced the physiological effects of stress in rats. In previous experiments, Wilson and Baldwin (1998) discovered that their research rats were stressed by the noisy environment in which they were housed and that the stress was manifesting in the body as shown by cellular damage. Baldwin wondered whether giving the rats Reiki would (i) reduce their stress and (ii) heal the damage, and so she designed experiments to test this hypothesis. In one study (Baldwin et al, 2008), a Reiki practitioner sat in front of each of three cages and sent Reiki to the pair of rats inside each cage for 15 minutes every day for five days. Reiki significantly decreased the mean heart rate of the stressed rats by 6% on average, and sham Reiki had no effect. Neither Reiki nor shamReiki reduced blood pressure. One reason that Reiki reduced heart rate but not blood pressure could be that blood pressure depends on multiple factors, including heart rate, force of contraction of the heart, and the degree of contraction or relaxation of the blood vessels, so Reiki would have to affect all these factors in order for blood pressure to be reduced. It is possible that longer sessions of Reiki may be required to achieve these changes.

In the other study, Baldwin et al (2006), showed that the rats stressed by their noisy environment also had damaged blood vessels in the mesentery, the sheet of tissue that holds the intestine together. The damaged regions in these tiny blood vessels were leaky to a large protein, albumin, in the blood. Normally, albumin is contained in these blood vessels and does not leak out into the tissue. This condition is necessary in order for the correct balance to be obtained between water in the blood and water in the tissue. It is not known exactly how stress causes damage to blood vessels but it is probably linked to activation of nerves in the intestine, leading to release of neurotransmitters that may stimulate immune cells to release toxins. When four rats were given Reiki for 15 minutes a day for three weeks most of the leaks disappeared. Four rats that received sham Reiki also showed some reduction in the number and size of vascular leaks but it was not statistically significant. The experiment was repeated on two other groups of rats and a similar result was obtained. These experiments show that Reiki can work on animals, even rats, to reduce their stress and to heal the cellular damage mediated by the stress.

Another frequently reported benefit of Reiki is that it reduces pain. Vitale and O’Connor (2006) showed that Reiki significantly improved preoperative relaxation and reduced postoperative pain in women undergoing hysterectomies. The 12 women in the Reiki group received a 30-minute treatment immediately before surgery and 24 hours and 48 hours post surgery. The 10 women in the control group received standard care only. There was no sham Reiki group. Data were collected using the State component of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and a visual analog scale for pain measurement. The Reiki group reported significantly less anxiety pre-surgery and significantly less pain 24 hours post-surgery than the control group. Interestingly, the time duration of the surgery was shorter on average for the Reiki group (59 minutes) than the control group (72 minutes).

Chronically ill patients often not only feel pain, but also get depressed. Dressin and Singg (1998) demonstrated a significant reduction in the pain, depression, and anxiety experienced by chronically ill patients with a range of medical conditions who received Reiki compared to sham Reiki (two sessions per week for five weeks). In these experiments there were 12 men and 18 women per group. The men experienced a significantly greater reduction in depression than the women. These beneficial effects were still seen three months after completion of the Reiki treatments. Shore (2004) showed that 30 people needing treatment for mild depression or stress, and who received hands-on Reiki or distance Reiki once a week for six weeks, experienced significant reduction of mild depression and stress and the beneficial effects lasted for at least one year following treatment. The measures used in this experiment were the Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale. The 15 patients in the sham distance Reiki group who were told they would receive distance Reiki but actually did not, reported no significant change in their depression or stress.

Finally, people who regularly use Reiki often find it helps them think more clearly and improves their problem-solving capabilities. Although no research has yet been published confirming these benefits in healthy people, Crawford et al (2006) demonstrated that four 30-minute Reiki treatments, once a week, significantly improved cognition skills in 12 elderly patients with mild Alzheimer disease or mild cognitive impairment compared to the 12 patients who received no treatment. The measures used in this study were the Annotated Mini-Mental State Examination and the Revised Memory and Behavior Problems Checklist. Once again, the study did not include a sham Reiki group, and so we do not know the role that touch and personal attention played in helping the patients regain some of their cognitive skills.

Overall, although the studies are small and some of them do not address the question of Reiki versus touch, there is preliminary scientific evidence that Reiki reduces stress, pain, depression and anxiety, and can help mild Alzheimer’s patients to overcome their cognitive impairment to some degree. To find out more about these studies, and others, you can visit the CRR website, www.centerforreikiresearch.org, or read our review, The Touchstone Process. An Ongoing Critical Review of Reiki in the Scientific Literature (Baldwin et al, 2010).

References

Baldwin, A.L. and G.E. Schwartz. 2006. Personal interaction with a Reiki practitioner decreases noise-induced microvascular damage in an animal model. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 12(1):15–22.

Baldwin, A.L., C. Wagers, and G.E. Schwartz. 2008. Reiki improves heart rate homeostasis in laboratory rats. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 14 (4):417 – 422.

Baldwin, A.L., A. Vitale, E. Brownell, J. Scicinski, M. Kearns,. and W. Rand. 2010. The Touchstone Process. An Ongoing Critical Review of Reiki in the Scientific Literature. Holistic Nursing Practice 24(5):260 – 276.

Crawford, S. E., V.W. Leaver, and S.D. Mahoney. 2006. Using Reiki to decrease memory and behavior problems in mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzhemier’s Disease. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 12(9):911 – 913.

Dressin, L.J. and S. Singg. 1998. Effects of Reiki on pain and selected affective and personality variables of chronically ill patients. Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine 9(1):53 – 82.

Friedman, R.S.C., M.M. Burg, P. Miles, F. Lee, and R. Lampert. 2010. Effects of Reiki on autonomic activity early after acute coronary syndrome. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 56:995 – 996.

Shore, A. G. 2004. Long term effects of energetic healing on symptoms of psychological depression and self-perceived stress. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine 10(3):42 – 48.

Vitale, A.T. and P.C. O’Conner. 2006. The effect of Reiki on pain and anxiety in women with abdominal hysterectomies. Holistic Nursing Practice 20(6):263 – 272.

Wilson, L.M. and A.L. Baldwin. 1998. Effects of environmental stress on the architecture and permeability of the rat mesenteric microvasculature. Microcirculation 5(4):299–308.

Ann Linda Baldwin, PhD. Ann is a Research Professor of Physiology and Psychology at the University of Arizona and is Director of “Mind-Body-Science” (www.mind-body-science.com). She obtained her Bachelors degree in Physics from University of Bristol, UK, her Masters degree in Radiation Physics from University of London, UK and her PhD in Physiology from Imperial College, University of London. Her research focuses on the deleterious physiological effects of mental and emotional stress and how these outcomes may be minimized. She is currently exploring the efficacies of Reiki and of Biofeedback techniques in promoting sympatho-vagal balance, as indicated by analysis of heart rate variability, and thereby reducing the damaging effects of stress. She is also testing whether these techniques enhance mental, emotional and physical performance both in Parkinson’s patients and in otherwise healthy individuals.

This article appeared in the Fall 2011 issue of Reiki News Magazine.

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You are a Ripple Maker, a Co-Creator, & a Miracle Producer

If each individual could experience their unique purpose and strength coming from the heart, they would finally be able to trust in their own self discovery. If they were allowed to discover this on their own through countless ways of self acceptance, we would collectively shift the world. ~Trancending Limitations (Pegasus Publishers, 2022)

It starts from within… a sensation, an experience of something that wants to transcend something within you. It wants to be released to free us from our own perceived limits and go where you have yet to experience. And how do we just allow this to happen. Why do we struggle? Why does it seem like such a long road to get to where you know is possible which may be undefinable at the time and where you know you are supposed to be. We can not explain why or how or what this is and we can only feel it within the heart ourselves.

How do we do this? We allow intuition to guide us. We allow the heart’s knowing to take us there. It may seem messy or confusing at the times and this is completely normal. We just allow it to keep shifting and transforming us into something bigger and better than ever before. A part of us that is more focused, stronger, and in alignment with our true self.

We can be affected by so many things; the web of work relationships, family members, educational institutions, religious institutions, governments, & societal structures in general.

And when we take ourselves out of the web and begin from within the unraveling of what we have been tied to (literally and figuratively) happens before our very eyes. When this begins it is sometimes a bitter and sometimes a sweet process. New awarenesses drop in and we finally begin to elevate ourselves into a new level of existence that sees all these cohorts we have been intertiwined within from an eagle’s perspective. When this happens our world shifts at a dramatic pace and we simply just need to allow the process to take us there. We are shifting into something bigger and more profound than words can express. It is a feeling, a sensation that only comes from the heart.

It may seem scary at first… because it is a whole new world completely different than anything we have ever been invested in before. And we now TRUST. We TRUST in something bigger than ourselves taking us to the unification with our authentic self. In this process we become stronger physically, mentally, and emotionally. We become the true connectors of the light frquency that is capable of absolutely anything and everything.

This is when the miracle happens and we realise just how powerful we are by simply understanding ourselves. We see the effects of our actions and we see how we can either create or destroy. And within this rebirth we have a choice to do things the way we were intended; in unification with the truth of our own being. As we shall thinketh we shall become. This ripples out into the world. Once eneough of us realise this… and see the fruits of our actions we become ever more still. Realizing that in the stillness and pure being we are able to manifest anything before us and we become incredibly CONSCIOUS of our Oneness. In this connection we CONSCIOUSLY CHOOSE to create love and abundance for all because we know that through these simple actions we can collectively shift the world at an extremely fast rate creating the miraculous across the entire planet.

YOU ARE THIS POWERFUL….

I invite you to experience your heartful POWER beyond words in these upcoming events this weekend and next week.

Join me and the collecitve of ripple makers that are creating heart CONSCIOUSNESS right here ad right now.

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Show up as Your Truth

When Ethan was born I was stretched into a world that did not exist at the time. It was a world that I had to create. A world of miracles, synchronicities, strength, and an internal knowing that healing is possible. That miracles are the truth and nothing can hold you back from realizing your true purpose and what you came here to become.

23 years ago I began as part of an entourage. An entourage serving the LIGHT. I didnt realize it at the time, there was a group of wayshowers beginning the long journey ahead that you are now reaping the rewards. We were spread across the world, made to begin the long journey, believing we were alone. What we didn’t know is that as we grew stronger in the light, little by little, deeper and deeper in the truth we would one day grow stronger and unite with each other and the world. We are the wayshowers of the light. We lead, guide, and direct people into their loving fearlessness. Where there is will, where there is light, however small it may be, we will find a way to shine.

The book I wrote about my journey through Ethan’s healing, is just a small snap shot of what needed to happen to change the way I viewed the world and what was possible, leading us to the miraculous. I will never stop believing in the purpose. To inspire you to find your own way. We have gifts. Everyone has a contribution to make in this tapestry of golden grid we are making of this world and this universe. If you find it in your hands and can make the words your own… apply them to your own life and watch how your world will unfold into the miraculous like it has for mine and our family. (Book available for purchase here. )

Reiki was always a part of this journey, it’s what led me to believe in the healing power of love. And for that… I am proud to say that new offerings and trainings are just around the corner. Join me at one of these events.

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New class at BCY… Reiki + Meditation

Combining Light Body Meditations with the shower of high vibrational loving Reiki energy to attune to higher states of consciousness. Join us!

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And if you are looking to unite with Women of Light and connect to the Ancestors of Light through the masters, sages, angels, and priesetesses all around you… join me at this home event at my studio on Winwood. You will not be disapointed.

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And of course… come receive a 1:1 session to shift your body and mind out of pain and suffering on any level and into pure energy in motion bliss with the strength capable of rising above all perceived issues. I truly believe.

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Lastly, kundalini every Tuesday and Thursday… it teaches you how to ascend and become one with your own light. Truly an amazing practice and a village of tribal support every week.

Kundalini at BCY – 107 E Cook
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The gift of sensation takes us to the other side…

We tend to look at our lives through a lens of emotional energy that creates overwhelm and a sense of seperation. This can sometimes further lead to an energy of ‘shut down’ and an unwillingness to become related to the truth of what we really feel. We ‘cut our selves’ off from feelings and sensations because we decide it will hurt too much to ‘go there’. We also tend to do this because if we ‘open ourselves’ back up we may hurt or the fear of pain may be so great we desperately feel we will never make it. We may even have a fear so deep we feel as if we could actually die. This may seem extreme and it often feels this extreme for many of us.

This is an aspect of trauma. It can be a specific event of trauma that happened many years ago, let’s say when we were a child, or it can be trauma that has built up over time from one disappointment to the next. These traumas can be the root cause as to why we make unconscious life choices. These life choices end up leading us down a path that may or may not be a part of our highest potential. We may keep subconsciously going on this path thinking we are doing what needs to be done just to get to where we think we may want to be only to realise when we get there that it is not what we really wanted. Yet still, we keep trying and keep finding the way we always did things before just doesn’t work anymore. No matter how many times we try and no matter what we do it just feels as though we are spinning our wheels.

Most of the time, this is because we are trying to solve the problem with the mind that created the problem in the first place. This just doesnt work.

Meaning, we have been conditioned to believe we can solve our lives like we solve an equation. If I keep doing things in the way it has always been done then it will eventually change. And it just doesn’t. No matter how many times we try and no matter how many ways we apporach this situation we get nothing accomplished. Repeatedly, we find ourselves in the same issues with the same people and our ‘play’ we have created. It simply no longer works because we are trying to solve something with the mind that thinks we have to figure it out.

We can keep approaching these situations in the way we have always done and we can keep coming up frustrated. Until we decide to do things differently. Except it is not that easy to decide with the mind when we are trapped in lower emotional patterns. Many of us either blame ourselves or the outside world for our problems. This is the very reason why we remain trapped and unable to move foward. It’s one of the many reasons why we don’t reach our goals or never seem to ascend to the next level in our lives.

We are not meant to stay where we are and nor are we supposed to keep spinning our wheels. We are meant to shift, grow, sense, shed, and become more. It’s a cycle of birth, living, death and rebirth that is supposed to help us keep going, moving higher and higher into stages of elevation that can be blissful and effortless if we allow it to be.

Unfortunately, many of us become stuck in the overwhelm feeling defeated and not good enough thinking and believing we have failed. When in actuality we only need to move to the other side through sensation. What we think is a problem remains a problem because our minds created a problem based off of stored lower emotions forgetting to tune back into our hearts to sense and feel what is truly happening.

When we open up to sensing and feeling and allow the body to speak we finally bubble up the stored fears and lower emotions unconsciously navigating our life. Our stored lower emotional energy was keeping us in a perpetual motion of loop experiences keeping us where we are. Recreating the same experiences until we finally allow the gift through sensation to break us through to the other side.

When we stop, sense, and feel into a moment we finally allow this congestion to move and transform and finally release. What we were doing with the mind wasn’t working because it was stored energy fragmenting our lives and creating chaos. We just need to clean it up by being in the experience, breathing into it, and allowing the stored energy pattern to dissolve. Thus we can then move into new expereinces unlike anything we have ever experienced. Every times we move these lower emotional patterns and shift the energy within ourselves and all aound us we re-position our lives, opening up to more possibility. In the moment we allow this, we become the opportunity and new awarenesses drop in.

There is no need to remain trapped in the stories and dramas of life and our life frees to a new level of expereineces unlike anything we could ever imagine with our minds.

This is the beauty of the heart consicousness that allows us to break free from lower emotions and move us to the other side into elation.

As we go through our next portal in our lives, through the fall equinox allow this perspective to be your new framework navigating your life. Here are some ways to cultivate and enhance this aspect.

Services to take you to the other side:

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The Fall Equinox – A time of the Cosmic Mother & Our Divine Truth

On Friday, September 22nd into Saturday, September 23rd we mark the transition from the longest day of the year into the gradual progression towards the shortest day of the year. The fall equinox is upon us. The significance of this moment… at precisely 1:50am central time on Saturday the 23rd we are presented with equal day hours and equal night time hours across the globe as the sun crosses the earth’s equator from north to south. It is a point in our global community where we can bring in global balance. During this time there is an opportunity to shift our own consciousness and spiritually merge into our own personal truth. Meaning, our previous goals and aspirations are now harvested and we are preparing to be taken to the next level of our alignment, whatever we may determine that to be.

It is an opportunity to recognize our accomplishments and remain in sincere gratitude for the help of the universe bringing us closer to our desires. It is a time to pause, give thanks, and begin to contemplate our next cycle of celestial rebirthing. We celebrate our prosperity as we begin to nourish the next cycle of development beginning to unfold before us. As we begin the descent into the darker months we honor and internally nurture the next phase of our goals by continuing to refine and strengthen our talents. It is truly a sacred time.

This is the significance of merging with the Cosmic Mother and the opportunities before us calling us to unite with our Divine Sovereign Truth.

As we acknowledge and harvest we also begin directing our intentions. We refine and enhance our personal alchemical process.

The darker months unite us with the cosmic mother, the womb of creation. We enter into the next phase of comfort and reassurance as we reaffirm we are on the right path. Summer moved us into a grander vision as we spread our wings and either learned to fly or elevated our skills into acrobatic miraculous measures. We have gained an undeniable understanding of who we are and what we desire to bring forth during this next phase of internal growth and nourishment.

We realize we are capable of extending ourselves further than ever before and we desire to continue to diligently work on the next phase of our expressions of truth. We faithfully begin to enter into the rebirthing womb of the cosmic mother. We intend to cultivate our desires by allowing time to refine creative projects and develop new aspirations as we merge closer to our soul’s purpose and spirit’s joy. We set our heart’s intentions forward on the next 6 months knowing that as we envision our future in this NOW moment, all will come into fruition as we prepare our rebirthing in the Spring – the emergence of the Cosmic Father.

This is truly a time of refined learning, more tuning within, and deeper understanding of our truth.

We ready ourselves for the next journey by honoring where we are and envisioning what else will come. We walk side by side with our highest potential and holding sacred our divine sovereign soul’s purpose and spirit’s joy.

A sacred time indeed.

In honor of this time…. i invite you to a sacred ceremony.

THE COSMIC MOTHER & OUR DIVINE TRUTH

This is a two hour evening dedicated to honoring the divinity within through sacred ceremony and activation meditations.

The unified chakras, light body consciousness, and active manifestation processes will be some of the evening content.

It is my goal to honor how far you have come and help you learn how to activate and enhance the next 6 months of the sacred time of darkness as we enter upon the womb of the cosmic mother. An inspiring opportunity to move consciously into the next 6 months of our highest potential.

Join me as we step into this next divine phase.

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Then if it feels right and good for you… I encourage you to continue to…

MAXIMIZE THE FALL EQUINOX ENERGY & ACCELERATE YOUR REBIRTHING PROCESS THROUGH

THE SANDWICH CONNECTION

The Sandwich Connection – Rebirth your life in 6 weeks and actively manifest for the next 6 months.

The Sandwich Connection will begin on September 25th marking the next 6 month process with 6 weeks of coaching & learning how to incorporate ritual and divine sovereign techniques into your day while enhancing the highest potential possible and infusing spiritual concepts. This course defines your goals for the next 6 months and accelerates your manifestation process by zoning in on your soul’s purpose and spirit’s joy in 6 main areas of life; Career/Purpose, family, relationships, health, spirit, and prosperity. Thereby enhancing your ability to manifest your exact goals and desires for this next 6 months of the rebirthing process.

Take advantage of this sacred time of year and learn how to allow the sacred course of the cycles of the universe can help you elevate and enhance your time here on Earth. Click on the links today to sign up for your spot. More website information here.

Information & Sign Up

The Cosmic Mother Friday, September 22th – IN PERSON

The Sandwich Connection – 6 week course beginning Monday, September 25th – REMOTE

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Reiki & the Miraculous

Reiki is universal life force energy beginning to be understood by the general public. I like to think of reiki as a direct connection to Consiousness with a capital ‘C’. It is universal life force energy that has the capacity to upgrade our energy to greater versions of ourselves that can be tuned into and tapped into miracles. I discovered this about 20 years ago and it keeps me humbled today.

I wrote about “Why I do Reiki” in a recent blog where I briefly spoke about many of the reasons I find Reiki an asset to almost any practice. It is NOT an alternative therapy and it IS complimentary to many of the day to day activities we already engage. Reiki has been a part of me for so long that it just is in everything I do. From therapy related roles, to being a parent, cleaning my own house, to consulting with businesses, to workshops, and life changing programs I offer on a regular basis. It is infused in everything.

I am attaching an article on the scientific ‘normalcy’ of Reiki and how it is studied and proven to shift energy which creates a more neutral / zero point balance within people, places, and things allowing for healing and accelerated shifts in consciousness (little ‘c’ on purpose) to higher more connected states of awareness and a return back to Consciousness itself (capital ‘C’ on purpose). Understand? (wink, wink)

I also want to invite you to learn Reiki with me. I’m teaching at Black Cat Yoga in Libertyville, IL this coming Friday thru Sunday and again in October (links here). AND I am extending this really great possibility IF you would like to learn but scheduling and distance is a problem… we can learn REIKI REMOTELY!

Because energy has no bounds and I perform services online all the time with energy clearing and reiki sessions the possibility of learning reiki and feeling and personally embodying the energy IS absolutely what we CAN do.

As for now… please enjoy this brief and thorough article on The Science Behind Reiki.

Reiki-The-Scientific-Evidence-1Download

SAT NAM

Jennifer

Reiki-The-Scientific-EvidenceDownload
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It’s Only Change…

14 hours of reflection on my drive back from Colorado.

I just returned from a long drive out to Denver, Colorado. It’s about 14 hours. Coming from Illinois it is very serene, beautiful, and eloquently elongated ride through the countryside of Iowa, Nebraska, & Colorado. There is something I love about hoping in a car and going for a ride across country. Driving just brings a serenity and state of mind that allows for clean thinking and being along the routes of the beautiful country we live upon. I’ve driven up the coast from Arizona to California, driven across from Arizona, thru New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, to Illinois. I’ve driven down through Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida. Across the country again through Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York State, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York City. I’ve gone through Virginia, North Carolina, & South Carolina.

With all of these trips there is always one connecting thread, ‘wherever we go and whatever we do, there we are.’ We see what we want to see in every moment. We see with the eyes that come from the perceptions of our inner truth. It doesn’t matter where I go or what I do I always see in others a reflection of what is truly within myself. Everyone is a reflection of a facet of a diamond with which we all contain. Truly we are all facets of the same diamond reflecting upon one another an aspect of ourselves.

This one recent trip out to Colorado was a significant turning point in our family. My middle son made his final transition over to college. It has taken him several extra years as a high school graduate of 2021. Well worth the wait, he entered upon a new chapter in his life. For this, as a parent it comes with mixed emotions. Relieved, he has finally come into his own grounded stated of awareness that took the time to reflect what was truly important to him and what he wanted to do with these next years of his life. Sorrowful, I don’t get to see him everyday and look into his love filled eyes of purity that shine upon you when he connects. Delighted, he is becoming a self empowered man and gaining skills and confidence daily. Joyful, this new beginning is happening for us all.

After the long awaited anticipation of this time was finally here and after we spent the past week unloading his new life it finally came upon me the time to reflect on my solo 14 hour drive back from Colorado. I savored this time with myself. Allowing to work through every emotional wave of instability, doubt, and fear that would surface as I contemplated all the memories of our past 20 years together. I felt hollows and depths within my heart that I was never aware of until this long drive. Not trying to figure it out and allowing the memories, the regrets, the excitements, the wins and the losses of his life in our family come to surface. I have my version and he of course, he has his. As I completely let go and allow for the new relationship that will be forming between our family to unfold I look back at all the events in our life containing Aiden with complete honor. I am honored to be his mother and friend. Honored that he allowed me to enter into one facet of his life for such a short time. I hold new hopes of a new life that will be filled with more diamond moments of Aiden and all the love that he offered in this stage of his life. I look forward to more and how our family dynamic continues to evolve and transition over to new possibilities for us all. A beautiful dance we get to do where we think we know the next steps and then have to just go with the flow of the music.

From this day and every day, I will allow for new versions of all of us to come forward. Once someone shifts to a new level in our life everyone gets to try out other versions of themselves. For this, I am thankful. Now we get to see what else is just around the corner.

Sometimes change can be difficult and sometimes change comes with great relief and sometimes change is exactly what we needed but didn’t know we needed it until we find ourselves in the change itself. The thing is, we wake up new everyday. We are never the same as we were yesterday, nor shall we ever be. The only thing that stays the same is the idea that there is always change. And that is good.

In Kundalini yoga, there is a mantra, “Sa Ta Na Ma”. It’s about change. How we go through the seasons of life through all the seasons of change and living fully in every way possible. It is a mantra of reflection, allowing, and cycles. When it is repeated for 11 minutes it begins to allow ourselves to sink deeply into change with the new heart felt understanding that with love and living change will always be there and embracing this constant is the way though many perceived obstacles in our lives. It has been said, to be the change you would like to see in another. For me, I like to see people evolve and become more versions of themselves through simple change by breathing into life and allowing what speaks in our heart to live through our day to day actions. I believe in love and how the love of life always changes us for good. When we allow we evolve and shift into something brighter as we stay present, listen, and let go.

And much like the new season of fall that is upon us, as we witness the leaves drift to the ground, we get to welcome more changes and more seasons taking us further along on our journey we get to call “life”. My highest hope is that you welcome change, allow it to unfold, and that it comes effortlessly into existence through drifting peace that is all around us.

And if it ever seems to be a struggle, I pray you take the time to be still and know “it’s only change” the forever constant we will always have within our hearts. I pray you will reach into the stillness of your heart and allow for your dance to flow through you taking you to the next steps of your life.

Here are some offerings in the upcoming weeks:

Sunday, 9/10
September2023
Reiki Share for Practitioners, Friends & Family Experience an ancient healing modality with practitioners who are collaborating to learn and elevate their skills. Meditation, reiki requests, and practice will fill the evening. Sign up in advance here
6pm-8pmLake Forest
Friday, 9/15 & Sat. 9/16
September 2023
Reiki 1 Certification at Black Cat Yoga Reiki is for parents, teachers, business professionals, health professionals and anyone looking to bring clarity, vision, balance, and focus into their career, family, relationships, health, & spirit. Reiki helps to create abundant health and clarity in all areas of life. Learn how. Sign up here and more information
Friday 6-9:15pm Saturday 1-4:15pmBlack Cat Yoga Libertyville
Sunday, 9/17
September2023
Reiki 2 Certification at Black Cat Yoga You must be level 1 certified. Learn how to bring in the next level of energy to help elevate your practice, create harmony, strengthen your connection with your higher self, and elevate your ability to synchronize and enhance your life. You are attuned to the next three symbols and we practice using them in all areas of life from personal to professional. These symbols will elevate your practice. Synchronicities and balanced life living in harmony with your life goals and desires is a side effect! Sign up in advance
Sunday 9am – 1:15pm Back Cat Yoga
Libertyville
Friday, 9/22
September2023
Goddess Workshop – The Cosmic Mother & Our Divine Truth Return to your internal truth. The divinity residing within you. Be activated to fully ground your powerful gifts into the new earth frequency filled with light and strong powerful divine mother love. Fully embrace and become the 144 qualities of divine love. Immerse in transformational energy through light body activations. More information here
Friday 6:30-8:30pmWinwood Retreats, Lake Forest
Mondays beginning September 25th 6-8pm
September thru October2023
Sandwich Connection – Surround yourself with purpose and joy – ONLINE This 6 week program will bring purpose and joy back into your life through community. We will find your soul’s purpose and spirit’s joy reconnecting you to a life worth living. Our connection with spirit through a ritual filled life creates miracles when we pair this connection with a desire to manifest what we truly want in 6 areas of our life: family, relationships, career/purpose, prosperity, health and spirit. When we are aligned, life is effortless and miracles manifest at accelerated heights. First we must tune in and tap into spirit and then the rest is history. We support each other, we manifest for each other, and we create dreams for each other in this supportive and life changing group. More information here
Monday evenings 7:00pm – 9:00pmOnline
Friday September 29th 6:30-8pm
September 2023
Ancestral Clearing CircleHave you ever wondered what kind of impact the energy of our ancestors and lineage has on our current reality? Why do certain physical and emotional issues keep reoccurring in life? What can we do about these things and how can we possibly shift our current reality to line up with a completely different outcome more in line with our purpose + joy? Come ready to shift your energy and vibrationally attune to your more authentic self through energy clearings and meditations. Sign up online here
Friday 6:30pm – 8:00pm
Trillium Yoga Grayslake
Posted on

Stillness

Sometimes, there is nothing left to do.

We feel it, we sense it, it is undeniable.

With all our heart.

And yet…

Obligations, pressures, responsibilities… keep us pressing foward.

One day… after we have been around the same corner… time and time again… we decide… it just doesn’t matter anymore. 

What drove us to do it the way we did it before…

              Changes

What inspired us to believe the way we did before…

              Shifts

What created the life around us in the past…

              Moves on

And everything changes.

It just goes away.

All thoughts,

All fears,

All worries,

Linger in an abyss.

They will always be there…

Until eventually, we find the hold they had on us before…

Just no longer exists.

The darkness is no longer fearful.

It becomes instead…

A sacred womb.

A tomb of safety.

A confinement sought after.

A stillness much desired.

We find…

In the darkness… is where we find ourselves again. 

It’s where we were always hiding, waiting to come home. 

A place of process.

Change.

Evolution.

A becoming.

All pain and grief are released. 

Making room for new forms to be created. 

Only within the womb of the mother.

Remain in the darkness.  Not to be feared and only cherished and desired. 

Through darkness… we become.

In the past our directions were navigated by the winds out there. 

Blowing us around… making us feel inadequate and insecure. 

We reacted to the world around us. 

Until one day, we finally realized.

The stillness is where we dig deep into our grounding. 

The darkness is where we allow the roots to take hold. 

We hold onto something bigger than us.  Something that surrounds us eternally.  Something that has always been there. 

The light we could never see. 

Come back home.

Spend time in the womb.

Be in the darkness.

The stillness of the heart.

No need to achieve, or become, or have, or do. 

You are a wild thing. 

Meant to grow and prosper right here.    

The darkness.  The depths.  The seeds.  The roots that grow deep.  Becoming stronger.  Effortlessly growing into the desires of the heart. 

In the stillness of the dark is the return.

Come back home.    

Return.

Where there is stillness, we see again.  Where there is nothingness, we sense again.  For there we are, and everywhere we shall be.

Through the eyes of a child, there is hope.

The laughter of a sparrow, there is presence. 

The callings of a crow, there is knowing. 

Be still and know, there is always more.

It will always be there. 

Begin On Line Anytime
In Person in August
Zoom On Line Event
In Person Beginning in August
July 10 & 24
IntuitLove Energy Circle Become your heart desires by allowing your energetic vibration to match your manifestations. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/669968914057
6:30pm to 7:45pmZoom
Session Packages for July
3 sessions purchased in advanced for $80 each Do something special for yourself and your family… purchase 1 hour intuitive energy healing sessions. 3 sessions at $80 each for $240. Normally $125 each.
Includes reiki, craniosacral therapy, crystal sound, and any combination of my 22 years of experience. Online or in-person.
CONTACT ME 224-500-7797
July ONLYIn-Person Lake Forest or On-Line Zoom
Reiki & Healing Energy
Sunday
July 30th
In Person POP-UP Reiki + Meditation (upstairs) Description
Experience the high vibration and meditative benefits of Reiki. In this 75-minute class we will discuss and experience the benefits of reiki energy and how it can help to alleviate all types of stress and anxiety as well as enhance one’s daily self-care, yoga, & meditative practice for individuals and families. https://www.blackcatyogastudio.com/schedule

 
Sunday July 30th 6:00-7:15pmBlack Cat Yoga Libertyville
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A Summer Solstice Blessing & Offerings

Be More of You

For what it’s worth…

On this special day of sunshine and cheer

Allow the light to shine upon you.

All around you

And especially through you

Do what you love.

Only what you love to do today

Be who you want to be.

Don’t hold back.

This day only comes once a year…

It is here, in this moment right now…

Right here, right now

That the rest is born

Into the ecstasy of your ecstatic vision

A voice that wants to be heard

A voice of the divine within you

Speaking through your heart

Listen

It is calling you.

To be more of you

We need your brilliance.

We need you to shine.

And no one needs you more.

Than you

Give yourself to the desires of the heart.

Sing and let go.

Finally, set yourself free.  

From this day forward

Today and every moment to come.

Fill yourself only with what you love.

And from this moment on

One hundred-fold will be blessed upon you

This is the secret to all life.

To really live

To truly live

Connected and in unison with the heart.

For there is no greater gift or lesson to learn than the gift of the heart.   

Blessings,

Jennifer Lauren

IntuitLove.com

50% off SALE TODAY ONLY
June 212023
Happy Summer Solstice Sale The summer solstice is incredibly significant
Sing from your HEART
Remote & In-person
1:1 REIKI Healing sessions are 50% off …
Today Only 
All you have to do is email me or text by midnight tonight on this beautiful summer solstice day (the longest day of the year).
Buy three or more sessions for the year… (all sessions must be used in 2023) 
Normal prices are $125
Today only… $63 
Starting at 3 sessions for $189
A gift for you and a friend?  
Contact me today
AND
LIVE MORE AUTHENTICALLY   
Through your HEART
6.21.23Today only contact me by email or text
Jenniferlauren@intuitlove.com or 224-500-7797
BEGIN ANYTIME
Summer Solstice Sale
June 26th
See it, Feel it, Become it 75 minutes of breath, meditation & energy healing to manifest your heart desires. Join me on line at eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/e/644060330787
Zoom 6:30pmhttps://www.eventbrite.com/e/644060330787
June 22, 27 & 29th
Kundalini Yoga Open the door and walk through to your higher intuitively connected self through breath, meditation, postures, and balance. Allow Kundalini Yoga to take you there. Where all is possible. Join me in person
7:30pm Thursdays main floor
or Tuesdays 7:15pm upstairsBlack Cat Yoga
Begin Anytime
Become IntuitiveAllow me to be your guide as you align to higher vibrations and learn how to tune into and tap into your higher intuitive guidance system that is uniquely yours. 4 weeks of downloadable audios and personal written lessons coupled with weekly meetings remotely with me. Contact me directly and lets begin.
Anytimeremote and personalized for you
Posted on

Stillness is the doorway to a perception without limitation and full of creative possibility.

Our lives are constantly moving forward, no matter what.  Everything keeps going…moving…shifting…changing.  There is no stopping change.  It just happens.  We all change.  We all shift.  It is inevitable. 

Everything around us is a representation of this.  The cycles of life are present everywhere. In kundalini yoga there is the mantra Sa Ta Na Ma…birth, life, death, rebirth.  Then there are the seasons of mother earth…winter, spring, summer, and fall.  We also have the four directions…north, south, east, west.  We have four basic elements around us everywhere…earth, air, fire, and water.  The cycles of life are intertwined and a living and breathing part of all stages, all realms, all disciplines, all environments, all institutions.  These stages are a part of everything, everyone, and everywhere.  Change is the only thing that is constant.  It is a part of us.

I have difficulty with change.  I usually stay where I am until forced to go forward.  It can be one of my largest assets and one of my biggest detriments.  

This became so apparent to me the other morning.  As I was practicing kundalini yoga, breath, and meditation… I was feeling a sense of hesitation.  I did not feel fully present and was having difficulty moving through certain postures. 

This is not the first time I have been present to the resistance with my practice. I decided to continue to only focus on the techniques of the breath pattern and the formation of the postures and allowed myself the freedom to explore the sensations that were coming up.  First, I began focusing my breathing… I breathed into the resistance.  With breath control, I stayed present to the energy and allowed the energy to naturally move on its own.   Then I decided to breathe light into any area of my body containing resistance.  I stayed out of all the mind chatter.  Allowed all thoughts to just wander away.  And continued to only breathe and practice.  And things began to shift. They started to unfold.  The fears began to unravel all on their own.  All I did was breathe, move through the postures, and allow the thoughts to just drift away.  I kept going.  Taking the breath to the next level.  I used an 8 counted breath, inhaling deeply for 8 counts, suspending my breath, and then exhaled completely for another count of 8.  With repetition and persistence, I began to shift even more.  My body began to relax, my nervous system aligned, and my mind silenced.  The intensity subsided, the constrictions softened, and space began to emerge.  The breath and the postures became effortless and flowing.  And suddenly, yoga became my friend again. 

I sank deeper and deeper into my practice.  I became rooted and all obstacles ceased to be present.    

Suddenly, there was nothing left but the air around me, the water in front of me, the earth below me, and the fire within me.  I became the cycle.  The cycle became me.  And in that moment, nothing but stillness remained, and the greatest gift emerged.  Stillness became the doorway taking me to a perception without limitation and full of creative possibility.   

Thoughts may come and go, cycles continue, and seasons change.  We have breath and choice.  By choosing to breathe through the sensations it is possible to gain access to a reality where resistance no longer exists.  ~Jennifer Lauren, IntuitLove

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