Today is the day, one year ago, I took the jump into social media and in particular Facebook! I know that may seem silly or even trivial to most people, but to me, it’s a big deal. The reflections of this past year have been a year of huge changes. Good changes. Who would have thought I’d be the Tracy part of The Russ & Tracy Show? I certainly never imagined it! Through Facebook my world has also expanded exponentially to meet new and amazing people. I’ve shared many laughs, and even several tears with friends. I’ve gained many courageous ideas, and found many more people on the same path I’ve chosen to walk. I’ve had the honor of sending healing energy to people who have reached out to ask for help for themselves, or their loved ones. Thank you to the many friends who have been a part of my new Facebook world for the past year, and a special thank you to Russ for the “strong” 😉 nudge to take this amazing jump. 

I’ve wanted to write this post for a few months now. The idea has not left my mind, but summer and fall busyness have kept me from writing, until now.

On a hot summer day a few months ago, my oldest daughter came back to the house from walking in our hay field. She exclaimed, “Mom you’ve to go out in the field, it’s amazing! Hundreds of butterflies all around you.” This did in fact sound amazing, so my youngest daughter and I headed out to the hay field. What we experienced is hard to put into words. We must have been a stopping point for the migration of these beautiful butterflies. With each movement we made, several butterflies would fly up all around us. It felt like we were in another world. We almost felt like we were soaring in the sky, and walking on a cloud all at the same time. It was an experience that I will never forget, and a beautiful reminder to enjoy these lovely moments in life that are precious and make me feel so alive.

My First Reiki Workshop

I was scared! I later learned I had no reason to be scared. My first Reiki workshop was in Lethbridge on July 5 & 6, 2014. Russ Littau was my teacher. There were five students, including me. Leslie Winters was one of those students! 🙂 We started the first day by sharing stories of who we were, where we were from, and why we wanted to learn Reiki. I was a shy type, so I didn’t give out a lot of information, at first. The morning flew by with all the stories, and it was time for lunch. I was feeling really thankful to have made some new friends that were interested in Reiki too. Back to class after lunch, we learned a lot of theory about Reiki. Before coming to this class, I had not experienced anything about Reiki, but I could sure feel something happening. My body felt strange! Since then I’ve learned that this is the time in class that energy really gets amped up, and boy could I feel it! Russ assured me I was releasing “stuff”, and he kept an eye on me. The theory about Reiki, and really about life, was amazing. Russ called it Geometryxs, which is unique to him and his teaching, and something he had been given from the Universe to share with his students. As I watched, learned, and took in all this information I was amazed at how things I couldn’t articulate myself, was being presented to me in a fashion I could really understand and even explain. The night after the first day, I was exhausted! The second day was more theory and more amazing findings of things that were now explained to me in an understandable way. After lunch we learned how to give treatments. So, each of us took turns on the table, and the rest of the students were practicing giving a treatment. I’ll never forget the heat I felt from the student working on my neck! Reiki was working—on me! Since my first workshop, I’ve never looked back. Russ’s workshop changed my life, and I am thankful.

Do you have any Reiki stories to share? I’d love to hear them. 🙂

Some of you might know what I’m talking about, some may not. Let me explain. The idea of Morning Pages is from the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. First of all, The Artist’s Way is phenomenal and I encourage you to work through this 12-week course. I’m on Week 7, and this is my second time through it. Since I’m at a different place in my life now, the second time through this course is completely different for me. It tends to open up the Creative Flow inside to places I never knew existed. It also purges areas I had forgotten existed that needed to be purged.

Morning Pages are pages written every morning throughout the course and most likely beyond the course as well. They are 3 pages of longhand writing, meanderings of your brain. These pages are meant to be simply the act of moving the hand across the page and writing down whatever comes to mind. There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages. Nothing is too silly or too weird to be included. The Morning Pages are not supposed to sound smart—although they sometimes might. Nobody is allowed to read your morning pages except you. And you shouldn’t even read them yourself for the first 8 weeks or so. Just write 3 pages—every morning—and don’t leaf back through. Although occasionally colorful, the morning pages are often negative, frequently fragmented, angry, or bland—even silly sounding. That’s good! All that stuff that you write down in the morning stands between you and your creativity. So once you get rid of that stuff, it opens up doors, breaks down walls, and your creative self emerges through in ways you never thought of before, or ways that you never thought possible.

Even if you don’t have time for the course just yet, I encourage you to incorporate Morning Pages into your life. You may not love it at first, but you will more than likely see positive changes in you.

If you have any comments about The Artist’s Way, or Morning Pages, I would love to hear them. Please share what you know, or what you do.

Books…books…books! Did the title catch your eye? If so, I’m guessing you’re a book lover too! 🙂 I read all sorts of books, but my favorite genre in the last few years has been non-fiction. My daughters groan, or laugh at me, but here’s what’s on my favorites list in the last few months:

Conversations With God – Neale Donald Walsch
The Law of Attraction – Jerry and Ester Hicks
The Sedona Method – Hale Dwoskin
The Artist’s Way – Julia Cameron
Your Aura and Your Chakras – Karla McLaren

**I also have two favorites that are Christian based, and if you’re interested they may be life-changers as they were for me.

Both of these titles are by Clayton King:
Stronger
Overcome

I believe a great environment is conducive to a great Reiki treatment.  I’d like to share a few things I do, and if you have any ideas to add, I’d love to hear them!

So, when a human or animal is coming for a Reiki treatment here’s what I usually do…

1. I have to be in the right frame of mind, so a self-treatment is first and most important!
2. I clear all the rooms that my client will be visiting.  I use Reiki symbols for this.
3. I create low light in the treatment room.  It is not really dark to be uncomfortable, but definitely no bright lights.
4. I have a selection of music chosen specifically to be soothing and quietly turn it on in the background.
5. Smell!  I have a diffuser for essential oils and my favorite oils to use is a mixture of lavender and lemon.  Twice as much lavender as lemon.
6. I check the entry way where the client will be coming in the door, and make sure it’s up to snuff as clean, inviting, and a happy place to enter.

   

7. No distractions!  I make sure all phones, computers, etc. are off.  And since I have pets in my home, the dogs are happily chewing on their bones in another room, and the cats are comfy and cozy in their beds, also in another room.
8. Treatment table.  The massage table is comfy, freshly laundered, and there are extra pillows and blankets if needed.  I usually do animal Reiki treatments on the floor, on a comfy blanket or whatever is comfortable for the animal.
9. Forms.  I have the client consent form and client profile chart ready for their arrival.
10. And last but not least, a smile on my face, and a smile in my heart.   🙂