Reiki for Addiction
16 May 2012 2 Comments
in addictions, Reiki Tags: addictions, Reiki
Addiction to any drug, substance or habit is a difficult and challenging to change. I’ve worked with s Reiki with clients who have had numerous addictions with some degree of success (personal beliefs and other lifestyle habits need to change as well). I’d like to devote the 5/17 distant Reiki group to sending Reiki to addictions on all levels.
In your own life and to others in the world. It effects us all.
Targets include substances such as nicotine, alcohol or harder drugs such as cocaine, heroin or meth-I watched Frontline’s documentary on Meth addiction last night (1.5 million users in the US). This was the inspiration for this focus.
Also behavioral addictions like gambling, sex, internet, shopping, over/under eating. I’m sure if we think about it, we all know someone who has been chronically addicted to something, as well as our own over dependence on external stimuli to provide immediate and pleasurable results.
Not an easy subject to think about, but just for tomorrow morning, we can give some space for healing these difficult issues.
Finding Motivation: 5 steps
15 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in motivation Tags: motivation
Sometimes this is the most challenging thing to do, right? We go through the motions of the morning, and yet we feel a kind of abyss, a sense of ambivalence toward our tasks and day ahead.
Here are 5 steps I feel can help find motivation when it just doesn’t seem to be there:
1. Honor your feelings. Do you feel in a slump? Are you tired? Hungry? Cranky? Give space for that, maybe even write about it or talk to a friend about it.
2. Be prepared to move on. Moaning and groaning perpetuate negativity. Give yourself space for those feelings, but then also, cultivate a grattitude list. What are you grateful for? What makes you happy?
3. Eat something. Not a whole 5 course meal, per se, but a bit of something nutritious to help normalize brain chemistry can help to shift perspective. I’m not a nutritionist, but research shows that eating breakfast, for example, tends to give you energy (Mom always said…).
4. Do something fun. Yes, we all have the laundry list of things to do, but I’m sure there can be one fun thing you can spend 10 minutes on to give you a bit of ‘excitement juice’. From hanging out with your kids, your pets, your plants or taking time to surf the net for jokes or a funny video. But again, moderation, not a whole day of it.
5. Take a break. But maybe you need that whole day, or a few days. Perhaps your lack of motivation is that you’ve honestly been working too hard and doing too much. If you can swing it, take the day off. And unplug. And if nature is your thing, go for a walk or hike. Replenish and Renew.
Copyright 2012 Eileen Dey
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Meeting a blind dog playing fetch
14 May 2012 2 Comments
in blind, dog Tags: blind, dog, ego, limitations, overcome
…is no small affair. I went to a friend’s birthday party this weekend where there was this beautiful dog, Tulaila, who although blind, loved to play fetch. Not in the way a seeing dog will play, she doesn’t ‘catch’ her stick, but she finds it by sound and smell. Over and over again, she’d bring the stick to me, I’d throw it, and she’s find it without fail. Into the darkness of night, but to her, all is dark, and yet, she’s not limited. She recognized my voice each time.
If there ever was an inspiration for overcoming ‘limitations’ it was my precious interaction with her. Her owners said that she had sight when they adopted her, but due to a degenerative condition, she eventually became blind. But the rest of her carries on and she’s happy as any dog would be.
Lately I’ve been doing a bit of writing and contemplating on the ego, how it functions, how it limits us and how in animals it doesn’t exist. At least, not the extent it manifests in our human beingness.
Thank you Tulaila for the reminder that what might be perceived as an obstacle is merely an adjustment.
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How to get to enlightenment
12 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in enlightenment Tags: enlightenment
Zen Master Huang Po said, some 1200 years ago, “Were you now to practise keeping your minds motionless at all times, whether walking, standing, sitting or lying; concentrating entirely upon the goal of no thought-creation, no duality, no reliance on others and no attachments; just allowing all things to take their course the whole day long, as though you were too ill to bother; unknown to the world; innocent of any urge to be known or unknown to others; with your minds like blocks of stone that mend no holes – then all Dharmas would penetrate your understanding through and through.
In a little while you would find yourself firmly unattached. Thus, for the first time in your lives, you would discover your reactions to phenomena decreasing and, ultimately, you would pass beyond the Triple World; and people would say that a Buddha had appeared in the world.
Pure and passionless knowledge [Enlightenment] implies putting an end to the ceaseless flow of thoughts and images, for in that way you stop creating karma that leads to rebirth – whether as gods or men or as sufferers in hell.
Once every sort of mental process has ceased, not a particle of karma is formed. Then, even in this life, your minds and bodies become those of a being completely liberated.”
Meaningful words make you pause
11 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in pause, pinterest, think, twitter, words Tags: pause, pinterest, think, twitter, word
Lately I’ve been posting various quotes, trivia, and humorous sayings via my Twitter account. I feel that there’s so much that can be communicated by these technologies, maybe offering some words that make you stop for a moment, make you think, laugh, or even pause can infuse your day with a bit more meaning.
I’ve had criticism for quoting others, instead of coming up with my own phrases. But really, reinvent the wheel? So much incredible wisdom that has been recorded over time, is there to be shared, taken in, re-examined and integrated into one’s existence.
My whole M.O. is encouraging people to stop and ‘honor the pause’. Sure, Reiki is a method to do that, but if you are reading this from an office where you are sitting in front of a computer, how do you sneak that quiet moment of bliss in? Try convincing your boss that you were meditating and not falling asleep at the job.
So, reading something online that makes you pause and wonder may be a way to at least bring a state of contemplation into one’s busy day.
I’ve been experimenting with Pinterest as a visual ancedote too, it’s another way of presenting something makes you go, ‘ah, now that feels good’.
These are steps toward experiencing something refreshing and new, the best is the real deal which is stepping away from technology and being outside in the sun and fresh air. No app for that. It just is.
But, to help you through your work day, I offer these devices. May you enjoy a moment of pause!
Increasing consciousness about plastic debris
09 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in environment, garbage patch, ocean, plastic, Reiki Tags: environment, garbage patch, ocean, plastic, Reiki
Ok, it’s time to get our Reiki intentions in gear. Tomorrow, 5/10, let’s send to increasing consciousness around preventing the expansion of even more plastic debris into our oceans. Manufacturer and their consumers, which are us, are all related to phenomena. Let’s not leave this legacy. Send Reiki to increased awareness and mindfulness of your own consumption of plastic products. Can we imagine another possible non-toxic product that could be produced in it’s place?
Here are the facts: The quantity of small plastic fragments floating in the north-east Pacific Ocean has increased a hundred fold over the past 40 years.
Scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography documented the big rise when they trawled the waters off California.
This Scripps study follows another report by colleagues at the institution that showed 9% of the fish collected during the same Seaplex voyage had plastic waste in their stomachs.
That investigation, published in Marine Ecology Progress Series, estimated the fish at intermediate ocean depths in the North Pacific Ocean could be ingesting plastic at a rate of roughly 12,000 to 24,000 tonnes per year.
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To be free the Ego must be Undone
08 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in death, Ego, persona, undone Tags: death, ego, persona, undone
Our egos in the Western world are stroked and coddled as soon as we come into this world. Our ego serves as an anchor into reality. It has simple, basic needs: it wants attention and recognition and if possible, control over circumstance.
So, we come into this life and are given a name, an identifier. Ah, attention to that ego. You exist. Perhaps your name connects you to past ancestors. Ah, recognition. Perhaps there are expectations for who we are supposed to become. Ah, control over destiny.
So your ego sets about a course that will reinforce all that has been laid down by your family and culture.
You create your world so that the ego can continue to survive. One coping mechanism for this survival of the ego is the development of a persona, our presentation of self to the world.
We build up a persona based upon our family, our culture and our schooling. Persona comes from the Latin root that means ‘mask’.
We might have several personas, several ways we show ourselves to the world. Our happy persona, our confident persona, our responsible persona.
But, personas and our ego often are often intertwined, masking what our true calling, our true nature is.
We often aren’t even aware we are walking around in these costumes, created and reinforced by someone or something else, especially if they continue to be reinforced and we receive benefits from who we’ve become.
If we make a good living, have relationships that work, achieve recognition and generally embrace our life, then the ego continues to operate unchallenged.
But often, what happens, is that one or several parts of life fail to manifest what the ego wants. The relationship(s) may not be working, the job or career is unsatisfying, there is a deep sense of longing for something. The void feels enormous.
The root of this existential discomfort is the ego. But oh, how the ego doesn’t like to hear that. The ego is there, slinking back into a corner hoping you won’t decide to dismantle him. And yet, to find the greater potential that lays within us, the ego needs to become undone.
The personas, like masks collected from travels around the world, need to be dusted off and investigated. A total cleaning and clearing of accumulated beliefs need to be undertaken. But personas are the symptom and not the cause of this void.
Talking about them, through therapy or through journal writing can bring some of their malfunctions to light, but to get to the root core or cause, of that slippery ego we need to tell it something that requires us to have courage. It requires us to summon within in us a statement that will shatter the illusion of our world and of the personas we think we are.
It requires us to say to the ego: You must die. That’s right, the ego needs to die.
The ego recoils in terror, “But if I die, you won’t exist”,
“If I die, all of you will die and you don’t want that”.
This is a big, fat lie that the ego has constantly perpetuated to keep you from living in a constant state of anxiety.
So, being brave, you need to challenge the ego. Imagine it coming undone, decomposing, rotting in the ground. Imagine it thrown on a pyre and ignited, burning away until nothing but ashes remain. Imagine it hacked to pieces and fed to wild animals to be devoured until no morsel is left.
These might be disturbing images, but your ego stands in the way of the you that is self that is all that is.
Letting it come undone, over and over, in meditation, in writing, in therapy, gives a chance for the True Self to emerge.
You are unwinding a tightly constructed persona-ego pearl and as you do, you will find the grain of sand within you that is the real jewel.
Copyright 2012 Eileen Dey
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Why Not Quote Everyday People? Pt.2
07 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in expression, people, quotes, writing Tags: expression, quotes, writing people
We’ve got this one precious life, as the people we are now. It’s a short life and we can make it meaningful or not. We can choose to be inspired or not. We’ve got a choice in how we see the world, and yet, we forget that. We think the world has to give us things rather than us engaging with it. We wait and wait and wait for the next distraction, feel-good.
My daily posts, blogs, photos might have that quality, and yet, that’s not what I’m doing this all for. I’m giving a point of reference for others to stop, for just a moment, and look, listen and feel. But that’s my hope. Perhaps all that is happening is in each post someone is simply consuming more knowledge without any digestion of it.
One phrase I hope does cut through the delusion is ‘many paths, one way’. We are shaped by the path we have walked upon. We are shaped by what decisions we have made along that path and where we now stand on it.
We can choose to get off it at any time, regardless of consequence. Perhaps inspiring words, phrases, images and film, all the fodder of social media is one way of helping us find the true nature of the path we are to walk.
Perhaps that’s a lofty goal.
I get tired of having to think about the ramifications of my noble efforts. So I come back to what I said before and that what I have to say, what I have to teach others is simply an offering.
Like a gift.
Here it is, if it works for you take it. If it doesn’t, keep surfing, keep seeking, you’ll find something else that can assist you. Maybe it’s years of mindlessly going through life, shopping, buying and accumulating things to fill this existential void. Maybe it’s having 1000 Facebook friends because you need to feel you are popular.
I’m saying destroy this false illusion of self-importance. Corral that ego. We are taught to strive for our individual accomplishments, but what is really important and meaningful?: Our contributions to the world that make us unique and special.
So, consequently, individuals who have achieved greatness are quoted, memorialized. They have done something that no one else had done. They are our heroes.
Everyday man is capable of the same achievements, but he or she often, for a whole variety of circumstances chooses another way. No legacy, no words, no biography is left.
Perhaps if everyday man is inspired by the work and words of someone who has accomplished greatness, they too will also be recorded in history, passing along the same inspiration to others on the path.
Copyright 2012 Eileen Dey
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Why Not Quote Everyday People? Pt.1
07 May 2012 2 Comments
in people, quotes, writing Tags: expression, people, quotes, writing
Why don’t we just quote everyday people? Do we remember what they have said to us? We usually don’t write these things down. Maybe once and awhile we see something on a billboard or hear something meaningful, but do we take the time to really connect to it?
Is relying on quotes from others a crutch? Isn’t it helpful to look at the wisdom that has been passed down through the ages and see what resonates in our soul?
Maybe aphorisms, sayings and quotes from others can give us a moment to pause, reflect, smile and possibly gain insight into our own greater truth and ability to create a meaningful quote.
Words are just a means by which we communicate. You could also gain insight and impressions through pictures, music, film.
Knowing there were others on this planet who chose to look through reality and document their observations in words is comforting.
Writing tells a story. It invites us in if it captures our attention. It’s a tool to create art.
Writing also is a means of expression, of depicting emotions and feelings on the page. It can be cathartic the way throwing a bunch of paint onto a canvas is or dancing your heart out on the stage.
I offer words to the world as an offering, of hope, of stirring up feelings, of encouraging people to question, encouraging people to feel something.
We’ve tuned out a lot. Our smart phones and social media give us this impression that we have all that we could ever need: “friends”, “connection”, “information”, “entertainment”, “popularity”, but it’s a big delusion.
What remains when we disconnect from all that technology is our human selves. Our in and out breath. Our mind. Our existence.
So, with that simple state of being, what can cut through all the layers of distraction? Perhaps a short phrase. Perhaps a joke. Perhaps an image or sound that creates a swell of emotion within.
I look for that first for myself. To save my own self from being swallowed whole by the ever-turning machine of civilization. I seek out inspiration so that I can continue to exist in reality and serve as a beacon of hope and light for others.
Without other sources of inspiration to guide me, I am lost at sea. I am lost in advertising, people’s agendas, people’s postings of their pets and recipes. I want to connect to the deeper impressions people have left behind. Signposts, guidance, to shock me back into the fullness of life.
Copyright 2012 Eileen Dey
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