The freedom of being lost

A few days ago during a break in the weather, I went for a walk in the nearby woods of suburban Westcrest Park in-between appointments.  I had 40 minutes of ‘free time’ so I could take a stroll and let go of the stresses of the day to be more fully present in the counseling and Reiki work I do.

The woods are and always have been a place for me to surrender and feel supported.  To let my mind get lost so my spirit can be found.

On this particular walk through the park, I brought my phone with me to keep track of the time and perhaps take a photo as I’m oft to do on my nature meanderings.

I set the timer for 20 minutes so it would ring and remind me to turn around and walk back.  I put the phone in the inside pocket of my jacket and happily bobbed along through the forested path.

My mind was becoming calm and soon I saw a fantastic photo opportunity of a moss laden wooden fence framed by the trees.  I reached inside my inside pocket to take out the phone and….

It was gone!

Because I was in such a relaxed state from the walk I didn’t panic, but realized it must have slid out along the bopping.  I still had 20 minutes or so left, so I turned back and retraced my steps.

As I walked and looked, it was becoming apparent that someone must have picked up the phone.  Then the reality of that truth began to sink in.  Who picked it up?

The Reiki and optimistic part of me ‘sent’ a request to the Universe that whomever picked it up be kind and good-willed.

Then the cynical city part of me felt the fear that whoever took the phone might be emptying my bank account and stealing my identity right now.  That fear suddenly kicked me into a rapid run back to my car and into my office nearby where I was able to use my laptop and go online and quickly change all the passwords to my banking and email accounts.

I was running out of time.  Soon, my first client was arriving and I had a full 5 hours of back-to-back appointments.  The adrenaline from the run and the fear was still in my blood so I started to do a calming breath of 4-8-12: 4 counts inhale through the nose, hold for 8, released through the mouth for 12.  It took my anxiety from a ’10’ down to half and then to an almost normal state just in time for the first session.

As the hours went by, in-between clients I would check my email, making me realize that having Wifi access in any office I work in is an absolute requirement.  Second would be a an old-fashioned land-line which this office also had.  I left messages with the park and my partner and then realized there was absolutely nothing I could do.

That moment of not being able to ‘do’ anything about the situation because of my commitment to my work was actually liberating.  ‘Well,’ I told myself. ‘worst case is that I have to get a new phone and I can do that tomorrow.  Everything that had value to me has been secured and anything else is backed up to the cloud.  The phone is just an object.   I’m safe and I’m here doing my work’.

5 hours went by.  Healing sessions unfolded.  I was actually pretty present with each one as I have learned to do over my career.

I was aware that if someone wanted to call me they couldn’t reach me, but when I’m in sessions that’s the case anyway.  Another level of letting go.

I checked my email on the laptop for the last time and lo and behold!  I received a note that a woman had found my phone and wanted to know how to get it back to me.

I sent her a note and left a message for her on the landline.  She was able to stop by the office while I was in the session and by the end of the day that phone was resting back in my hand.

I gave the good Samaritan a gift certificate for a Reiki session as reward for the return and look forward to meeting her and thanking in person.

Lessons learned?  Get a watch! for timekeeping.  Trusting is hard.  Sometimes putting out a request to the Universe gets heard and when it does it is cause for celebration.

I am glad that on both sides of that experience I had been a relaxed state of mind so that my responses were more centered and less frantic.  It reminds me that the practices of of mindfulness, meditation, Reiki and quiet contemplation all are beneficial for such circumstances.

Having back-ups of everything is a necessity in this age, we all know it, but do we do it?

Hope this story is an encouragement for you.

Thanks of reading.

Photo and story copyright Eileen Dey Wurst 2020

 

 

Labyrinth Insight Walk

The light from each candle defined the dark perimeter of the nearly thirty foot labyrinth painted on the floors of Arcadia studios.  On this rainy and very soggy night of Winter Solstice weekend, it seemed a fitting ritual to partake in such a contemplative walk and reflect inward on the turning of this season toward the light.

I’ve walked many a labyrinth in my life, Chartes Cathedral in France, Findhorn in Scotland, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and numerous retreat centers across the country.  But this experience, like every sojourn, was unique in it’s perspective.

When I first arrived, there were only a few participants, mainly staff, taking their turn through the maze.  The music playing in the background was hypnotic, so I closed my eyes and meditated on being present in this special evening.  When I opened my eyes several minutes later, there were seven people walking through the labyrinth.  Watching each person twist and turn, some walking faster than the other was a fascinating observation in itself.  A metaphor of how some of us rush through life, some take their time, some don’t seem to look like they know where they are going, and so forth.

When the next person exited the path, I made my way toward the entrance and soon I was a part of this dance we all were doing, walking, twisting, turning, walking some more, twisting again, and so forth.

Because there were so many of us, I never felt ‘alone’ because we would be walking next to each other at every turn.  When the people who had reached the center began walking back, they often entered the same path I was on, so we both made space, like two cars trying to pass each other on a narrow road.

At some points, it all felt very confusing, like, who was going where, and who was right, who was wrong, and then I just had to laugh internally at noticing my judgements.  We ALL were on the path, and really, it doesn’t lead anywhere in particular.  As the saying goes, ‘it’s the journey, not the destination’.

When I finally walked the whole maze, and came out the other end, I took a few minutes and just sat with those thoughts.

I closed my eyes again and meditated for awhile.  When I opened them, all those people had left and there was no one now in the labyrinth.  It was just quietly being outlined by all those candles defining it.

I went up to the entrance for the second time and began walking it slowly, having it all to myself.  But that entitled sense was soon overwhelmed by the feeling of loneliness on walking the path without anyone around.

Such a stark contrast to the walk just minutes before.  I realized that the people who were walking with me actually helped define the experience.  When they were to my right,  I had to be to the left.  When they were in front of me, I was in back.  When I was walking fast, they were walking slow, and so forth.

Just like the lines on the floor defined the shape of the maze, without them, there would only be an open, bare floor.  These polarities, the contrast of the other people and myself, or their opposite behaviors are necessary to actually make sense of the experience.

Walking the labyrinth alone allowed this insight to surface, but it was walking it with others that yielded the idea of needing polarity to define experience.

I look forward to the other contemplative classes and events I have planned for this solstice weekend and will continue to share the discoveries.

Copyright 2019 Eileen Dey Wurst

Photo credit

Welcoming Beings of Light

Expanding consciousness is so much fun!  Every 4th Wednesday for the last year and a half we’ve been diving into the ancestral realm before beginning to practice Reiki.

The ‘results’ of this exploration have yielded much healing and insight for myself and circle participants.

Over the last few months I’ve been ‘giving myself permission’ as I often say, to open to other realms besides familial ancestors, such as those within nature and kindred lineage bearers of Reiki

Last night at our Reiki circle, I was getting the ‘direction’ to go up and outward and composed a meditation where we welcomed inter-dimensional beings of light into our sacred healing space right in the middle of industrial Georgetown, south of Seattle.

The point of doing any kind of expanded consciousness meditation is to permit yourself to flow into it regardless of where you are in time and space, because the ‘place’ you go to in your body and mind is beyond where you ‘exist’ temporarily.

I’ve personally experienced many sessions and meditations in exploring the celestial realms, but have rarely facilitated groups there.   I find I have even more room for the unexplored, and it feels to me that there is a new direction (no pun intended) for where my group work may now be evolving.

Just as ancient civilizations have known of the connection and  integration of celestial and terrerstrial realms, I will be mindful and observant of the synchronicities that occur to illuminate this path.

Copyright 2019 Eileen Dey Wurst

Photo location

Ancestral Healing Meditation

From our monthly 4th Reiki Circle last night.  We opened by calling in the energy of all the directions.  Then, I began the meditation:

Envision a great tree magnificently standing at the edge of a field.  As you approach it, you are humble to it’s enormous trunk and branches.  This tree is ancient and has been here a long, long time.

As you approach, you offer a blessing to this great tree of cornmeal or tobacco.

With your hands folded in Gasho, you ask the tree for permission to enter into the earth realm, beneath the ground, down deep where it’s roots are connected to healing mother Earth.

The tree permits you to begin entering down deep into the earth, into the depths where the traces of your ancestors have lived and now lie.  Their mortal remains now part of the Earth.

I invite you to call upon the ancestor line you may be working with or feel most connected to-on your mother’s or father’s side or perhaps a spiritual lineage, such as that of the Reiki founders.

All those who have gone before are connected to you and now you to them.

They have had their own challenges when they were alive, and now have much wisdom to pass along to you.  Their experiences have taught the how to navigate the world with more ease.

I invite you to be open to the wisdom they have to share with you and also to ask any questions you might have for them to hold and reflect on.

As you connect to these ancestors, always ensure they are bright light.

Let yourself receive this guidance now.  Not forcing anything, but naturally allowing what needs to unfold to do so.

Ancestors often communicate in symbols colors or feelings, so notice what you notice if you attentions is drawn to any of these areas.

Give yourself permission to receive this wisdom.

I will play the drum for several minutes to allow any additional information that might need to come through. (Drum beat for 3 minutes)

Now, coming back to your breath, to your body in the chair, your feet on the ground, notice where you are now in body and mind.

Take your time coming back.  Rub the tops of your arms and legs and take a stretch if you need to.

Take this experience into the Reiki sessions we will now share in.

(We concluded the circle with giving each other Reiki sessions and closed each of the directions).

If you’d like to join us, we hold ancestor Reiki circles every 4th Wednesday, 7-9pm Georgetown Reiki Circle, 5701 3rd Ave S.  www.reikitrainingprogram.com

Copyright 2019 Eileen Dey Wurst, M.A, LMHC text and photo.

 

 

Flourish in Life!

Here is the audio and below, is the written essay of my talk at Everett Unity church a few weekends back.  Enjoy!

Flourish in Life!  I used the word ‘flourish’ because it implies that regardless of what is going on in your life, you can learn how to come through it with grace and ease and with a sense of lightness.

I feel, as both a counselor and Reiki teacher, there are several tools I have worked with that can help one flourish in life.

In my last talk a few months back I discussed cultivating the quality of being able to surrender and let go.  Today, the focus will be on developing ways to cultivate resilience, endurance and patience.  These 3 qualities contribute to a flourishing life.

So let’s begin.  Resilience is the quality of being able to bounce back from the disappointments that may accompany you.   Resilience implies flexibility and a certain amount of stamina to keep going.

We develop this quality over time.  Positive and encouraging people in our lives often help us cultivate resilience.  I’m one of those positive and encouraging people, so if you are ready, let’s strengthen these inner tools.

First, I want you to visualize what I call your existing Resilience Rucksack.  You all have one.   It is a metaphor for the tools you already have to help you when things get tough.  You can even close your eyes for a moment.  Pause.  Take a mental inventory of this inner equipment.  See what your resilience rucksack is made of.  What color is it?  How big is it?  Is it new or well worn?

Let’s work on making that rucksack even stronger.

Feel within yourself the tenacity and strength you already possess.  Think of a time in your life you had to go the distance.  Perhaps you were involved in a complicated work or school project.  Perhaps it was having to rebuild a  relationship, or you had to deal with your own or a family member’s health crisis.

Whatever that past challenge was, I’m sure you can reflect and remember that it was a hard time, but somehow you got through it. Something within you and perhaps others around you encouraged you to go on.  You wouldn’t be here now if you didn’t find a way through it.

I’m going to encourage you to tap into that strength now, and I’m going to send some Reiki your way to assist the process.  So let’s take a few moments again to go within and give ourselves permission to feel that strength now.  Pause.

See it infusing every molecule of your being.  Breathe it in deeply.  Pause  Receive that strength download.

Also, perhaps with that strength is the community of friends and family that you have that also have helped you in the past.  Give gratitude for their assistance and realize they also are a source of support when you need them.

Now, pause, notice what you notice?  Check back in with your Resilience Rucksack, how is it doing?  What’s changed, what’s new?  Do you feel you have some shiny new tools of ‘strength’ and ‘gratitude’ to add to your rucksack?

We’ll add some more tools in the workshop after the service.

Now, moving to the next topic, another great quality to cultivate that allows you to flourish in life, is developing the quality of endurance.

This is different than resilience.  Endurance is the power, strength and stamina that lets you be resilient.

I recently went for a hike up near Paradise at Mount Rainier.  At a lookout point around 6000 feet in elevation, there was a lone pine tree growing tall against the stark rock background of the mountain.  It’s trunk was well weathered but sturdy.  One side had more branches than the other due to how the wind flowed over the lookout.  And yet, this tree was healthy and thriving.  It had been growing there for many years.  This tree reminded me of what image of endurance can look like.

Cultivating endurance requires you to go deeper into the present moment of your current challenge.

Endurance is the opposite of what I call ‘future tripping’.  You know what that it is, right?  Tripping ourselves into the future.  Worrying, over-planning, basically doing anything other than being present.  It’s difficult to endure anything if you are worried about what or how something is going to happen.

Cultivating mindfulness and being in the now are tools to work with developing endurance.  When the situation you are in gets challenging, and there isn’t much for you to do but just endure it, see what happens if you just drop into it.

Getting stuck in traffic is a good example.  Can’t do anything about it, not right now, sure, you could have left earlier, but in the moment of being stuck in traffic, you are stuck.  What might happen if you just accept that fact.  Just acknowledge to yourself, ‘I am stuck in traffic’.  When you do that, you aren’t fighting against ‘being stuck’ or fighting with yourself for the situation.  There is nothing to ‘endure’.  You just are in a circumstance.

This way of being, is one way to cultivate endurance.  To be very present releases attachment to result and to the struggle.

So, again shifting to your powerful inner world, I invite you now to be with what is. Feel free to close your eyes again. Pause.  Take a moment and breathe all the way through your body.

Perhaps in doing so you notice tension in your body.  Thinking about traffic can do that.  So, take a few breathes into these tight areas.  Notice what you notice.  Scan your body from head to toe.  When your mind is distracted, gently bring it back to your body and awareness of breath.  Let go, let it flow.  Stay present in your breath.  Taking one, then two, then a nice long exhalation.

Take your time coming back.  Notice where you are now in body and mind, what’s shifted, what’s changed.  Perhaps you sense a greater awareness of inner strength and tolerance.  Over time, cultivating mindfulness permits even the most unbearable circumstance to be dealt with grace and ease.  And being at ease allows one to flourish.

And finally, a gentle and easy way to conclude our journey today will be jumping into the Pool of Patience.

Many times in life, there are no known answers in sight.  Not knowing is the step before manifestation.  It is necessary, it is part of the process.  You can’t force knowing in not knowing.

Patience requires inner listening.  What is your mind and your body saying right now?  Perhaps you sense you are tired or hungry. Maybe you are frustrated.  Maybe you are more at peace.  Whatever the inner state is, honor what you notice.

Honoring the pause, practicing gratitude and noticing what you notice are hallmarks of patience.  They are the cornerstones of your practice and what we teach in working with Reiki.

Reiki energy naturally flows through you.  It’s all around us.  We all have the ability to be channels for this healing energy.  As you connect to this infinite universal life force energy, you can’t ‘make’ it happen.  You allow it to.  You let your ego step out of the way and you let the healing light effortlessly flow.  It’s not about you, it’s greater than you.

This is patience.  The quality is yielding, witnessing, observing.

For this final meditation, I invite you now to incorporate these qualities of yielding, witnessing, and observing into your being.  Think of times in the past where you were simply observing.  Perhaps you were on a trip or out in nature and you were taking in the view.

You don’t ask anything of the view, you take it in.  You give yourself permission to receive.

Patience is like that.  You give yourself permission to be patient.  You allow yourself.  It is a choice.

And the more that you permit patience, the greater your own capacity for the other attributes of resilience and endurance.

Take a breath now.  Close your eyes.  Bell

Witness your breathing

Witness your mind

Witness your body

You are taking this time now to swim in the Pool of Patience.  Lay back as if floating in a calm warm pool on a lazy summer afternoon.  The pool contains your waves of reassurance.

Feel the rays of the sun on your face as you effortlessly float in this pool of patience.  This place is exactly what it is.  Nothing more and nothing less.

There is nowhere you need to be right now except right here.  You are in the flow.

Any concerns or worries you have dissolve into the gentle currents of the pool.

Take another breath now

Witness your breathing

Witness your mind

Witness your body

Take several breaths and see the worries floating away.  You are supported here as you float in this place of non-effort.

Honor this pause.

Release the urge to fill this place with anything else.

Make Space for the Potential that is Emerging..

I am going to go quiet so you can deepen your own connection to patience and be with the healing energy of Reiki through the sound of the drum.  Bell

Pause

Take your time coming back.  Move your fingers and toes, open your eyes, take a stretch as you need to.

As you come back, take several deep breaths and feel yourself now in your body and mind, patience as well as resilience and endurance integrated within.

Copyright 2019 Eileen Dey Wurst

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seattle Brought the Party!

Over the weekend, several Reiki Fellowship members and myself attended the 35th annual NW Reiki Gathering in Breitenbush, OR.  It was the first time our group had attended.

Spread out over 4 days, over 90 participants came from around the world to connect, learn and exchange healing energy and ideas.  The founders of this gathering were from the Reiki Alliance, an organization set up by the Reiki grandmaster Hawayo Takata ( who was trained in the lineage of Reiki system founder Sensei Usui).

This traditional aspect of the Reiki Alliance permeated the gathering.  Timed hand placements,  Reiki performed in silence, emphasis on the Reiki precepts, and much acknowledgement to the past lineage bearers consumed the program.

Our Reiki Fellowship is a hybrid of Reiki Alliance principles and non-traditional techniques.  We were welcomed to the gathering, but felt cautious and discerning eyes watching us for the first days we were there.

I am grateful to our community, because were were a source of support during the early days of acclimating to an organization that was in the middle of changing (the recent leader had passed away and a new representative had just been elected).

The speakers chosen for this gathering, 3 men, actually were a hybrid of old and new school Reiki in their beliefs. Because this panel was male dominated, it was off-putting to many of the women and representatives of the LGBTQ community present.

But I suppose, all the different challenges that occupied this gathering, also permitted stronger bonds amongst community members to occur.

Our group met and exchanged information with almost everyone who had attended.  They now know about the only licensed vocational school of Reiki in the PNW, The Reiki Training Program and our work with hospice and veterans.

One of the highlights for me was on the last night of the gathering.  They held an 80’s themed dance party (and you know I love the 80’s!).  All our our group was out on the dance floor, being silly, having fun, dancing with one of the speakers and making a lot of people put aside beliefs for a moment and just bond through the medium of dance.

One of the participants came up to us afterward and said ‘Seattle brought the party!’.

Bringing joy and light has been our way each time the Reiki Fellowship has gathered.  It appears we have accomplished that mission!

We’ll continue on with our work in the world in Puget Sound, where our home base and community is.  Next year, we all agreed to resume our regularly scheduled summer retreat.  Stay tuned for details and in the meantime….

Always walk in your own integrity, your light will shine forth evermore!

Copyright Eileen Dey Wurst 2019

Releasing Ritual for 2018

I wrote this last year and am posting again because the ritual is quite strong.

To transform old energy, I am writing down on slips of paper the things that were obstacles, challenges, frustrations and disappointments.  They go into the pile to be burned.  I’m not saying that I didn’t learn from those things, and will continue to learn from them, but they didn’t necessarily help the forward motion of light and love in the world.  So they are to get turned into something new that can be beneficial to the planet at this time.

The following is a guideline for how I begin to transform the accumulated energetic debris through the release ritual:

1.  On one slip of paper I write what needs to be released from my energy field.  In this instance: ‘ Bad Behavior of Mean-Spirited Person/People’.

2. Then I say out loud: “I burn away your attempt to harm me and in it’s place I receive the Universal love and light and support that is Reiki”.  I burn the slip of paper.

3.  Finally, I say:  “Reiki has no judgement, it only honors and respects the practitioner and receiver.  I allow myself to receive that love and light. It is non-judgemental and only seeks to raise my vibration.  It does not take away from me but adds to my being.  In that I have the opportunity to move toward wholeness.  I promote my own self-healing.  I turn away from your direct attack and step aside into the flow.  In the flow is peace, truth, my essence.  These are eternal and nothing you can do or say can effect that integrity.  This is my power.  You cannot effect my essence.  I am a Divine Being of Light on this Planet and with that knowing of my own personal truth, you cannot prevent me from shining that into the world.  My choice is compassion and benevolence.  I bestow peace and love.  I bestow peace and love.  I am sorry you cannot see or honor that, but I walk the path released in that Truth.”

For each obstacle, disappointment or frustration that is still within my energy field (it’s an extensive inventory for the year, believe me!), I tailor steps 1-3 accordingly.

But as I’m doing the inventory, I might find that there were some of those things that were helpful after all, so they might just need further integration.  And of course, in doing the inventory, there are many things that contributed to light, love and abundance.

I write all these things, the things that still need integration or the things that were very positive on slips of paper and put them in a ‘Blessing Bowl’.  It’s a bowl I have made in mt pottery studio.  In the next year I will be creating bowls for purchase through my pottery studio.

Those statements in the Blessing Bowl receive the Divine Light of Reiki for the new year ahead and for greater transformation and evolution.

Copyright 2016 Eileen Dey Wurst

10 signs you are having a New Age Christmas

1. The angels on your Christmas tree start giving you advice.
2. You open all your Christmas gifts and realize you aren’t attached to any of them.
3. When you wear your Santa hat you actually start to channel him.
4. You wake up thinking you are ‘seeing the light’ and then realize it’s just your neighbor’s holiday light display.
5. You send distance Reiki and hear Christmas carols play back as a soundtrack.
6. You can read the future in the swirls of nutmeg in your cup of eggnog.
7. Your Reiki hands heat up as each person tells you ‘Merry Christmas’.
8. Your friends tell you your aura looks brighter than usual and you realize it’s leftover tinsel in your hair.
9. You see everyone’s root chakra glowing red and heart chakra glowing green and you realize the true meaning behind Christmas.
10. You realize just for a day there might be ‘Peace on Earth’ because there are signs everywhere that say it.

Copyright Eileen Dey 2018

Photo credit

Reiki to clear the smoke and haze

Every client without exception I have been seeing this week has had some respiratory effect from the smoke in the air from the wildfires.  Most have developed a cough, runny nose/eyes and fatigue.

One client who had still been recovering from a month-long hospital stay for complications with congestive heart failure came in for her counseling session with me, but could barely talk because of being so incapacitated by the smoke. We did Reiki instead and within the hour, the congestion in her lungs had cleared enough that she could talk again and was able to have more depth of breath.

I’ve seen Reiki clear congestion, aches and pains before, but never like this, so very dramatic and effective.

I am curious to see what effects the Reiki will have on recipients at our Reiki circle later this evening.

Like many in the Northwest during this week, I’ve been staying indoors, air purifiers on and windows closed.  I have minor symptoms, but am in good health and I count my blessings for that.

Climate change is being effected.  I think of the all the individuals to the north of me in British in much closer proximity to all the wildfires.  On the other side of the sea, the residents and visitors on Hawaii, dealing with the onslaught of a category 5 hurricane.  We will include them in our circle tonight and offer Reiki for the highest and best good.

Image credit

Copyright 2018 Eileen Dey Wurst

Freedom to Speak

In the news and online lately, much is being discussed about freedom of speech. I am grateful as a writer I can speak my mind and instantly communicate via this blog or other social media posts. It’s truly self-expression revolution.

Sharing thoughts, feelings and impressions through public media has become the way in which the world communicates.

I had a reader really enjoy my post from yesterday.

But, for that same post, I also had a reader tell me that others ‘may not care’ what I have to say when I write about my own personal process.

My first thought was: ‘Wow, if you aren’t interested in what I have to say, read something else.’

But then I reflected and thought more about that comment.

Because of who I am and what I do in the world, I have to convey my feelings and often share my process.

This is how I contribute light to the world: By being transparent.

In a word where so many things are secret, hidden, unspoken, condemned, and judged, this way of sharing brings in light. It lets others know they are not alone.

I am transparent in my writing, my work and my art, all of which I feel are blessed and supported by a large community who care about what I have to say and do.

It’s important to include all voices, that is what freedom of speech is about. Some people care about what I do and say, others don’t. Such is life.

Learning to trust my voice, I offer it for those who want to hear. That’s what freedom of speech us and I am grateful to be a woman living in a country that has this right.

Copyright 2018 Eileen Dey Wurst