Reiki and Music both have the capacity to create for a person, or for a group of people, an experience that i refer to as a "sacred space." There exists for people a state of "connectedness," which can be personal or shared, where one steps outside the day to day "reality" and finds oneself in touch with things that matter more.
And we see this every day in many different places. A friend whose mother is critically ill, took off from her job, to spend precious time with her Mom, writing to me, "now i know what really matters."
In our jobs, and in our lives, we go about thinking how important certain things are, and indeed, in a sense they are important. Arriving on time, dotting the i's and crossing the t's, sending a check on time, and for a doctor, completing one's charts in medical records! These things, and the "clock" drive our days - and if we ignore these things, they all have consequences. But in a larger sense, they do not "really matter." I learned that myself when i had a C5-6 spin injury and needed surgery, and until my surgery, and until i had recovered, non of the things that drove my day before mattered at all. And when i went back to work, i understood that i had to be on time, and to do my medical records, but the "human things" would never again recede in value to the "time based things" having faced the potential of my own disability and mortality.
Some deny the "sacred space" that can be caused by Music or Reiki or Prayer or other endeavors that connect us directly to our creator. These are moments that can be understood in an intuitive way, but cannot be measured or dissected. They are both real and non "evidence based."
One of my Reiki students wrote me of an awareness that sometimes people can "perceive those thoughts which float around on the surface of the mind. I wonder if it is because one is well grounded in their own thoughts--sometimes you are able to pick up thoughts but most importantly, to recognize the difference between that person's thoughts and your own. I have been thinking a lot lately about the importance of grounding as I take on this journey into energy healing. One thing which hits home to me about meditative practice-- is that meditation is not something to be achieved. It should have neither mission nor goal. Instead, it is, simply, sitting with oneself, in the midst of all the mind's messiness. It is recognizing and appreciating those seemingly muddled thoughts which scatter about our consciousness during the course of the day. The aim of this recognition is not to change, move, or eliminate thought patterns, but to know them."
People often break music, or sound, down in an analysis of chords, and rhythyms, just as Reiki is almost always taught in terms of certain symbols. We analyze things to be able to understand them and teach them, but with spiritual things like Reiki and Music, often the more we analyze something the farther we really are from the "point." Describing my class, the student noted the symbols and explanations "makes the practice something tangible, but it also externalizes it. The more I practice Reiki, the more I feel that the physical techniques we use is half the lesson. I find that the more challenging thing to learn is how to hold myself (spirit+mind) while practicing. I think that before each lesson, we should have an opportunity to meditate and ground ourselves before practicing. I think that this enhances awareness, and increases our ability to connect with....." the persons whom we are serving.
In doing Reiki and playing Music or Praying for a person who is ill, we are seeking on their behalf a connection to the creator, the lifesource of energy that "really matters," for someone who has been on chemotherapy that has failed, it is like finding an oasis rather than continuing to wonder in a desert.
Every major religion teaches us that while Mortal life comes to an end, Life does not, and creating a "sacred space" within which we are connected tom our own internal faith, worry and pain become banished. In this space there is light instead of darkness and joy instead of suffering.
I had a patient in my office yesterday who has severe hert disease and severe arthritis in her knees. If she did not have the severe heart disease, she would have a total knee replacement, and if she did not have the diseased knees, she could help her heart by walking. And after talking about the medical options and choices, as i am obligated to do as an evidence based physician, i just listened to what she had to say about how she felt.
She started by telling me that she was a singer in her choir, and an usher at her church, and that she was not going to let her prognosis get in the way of her serving God as long as she was physically able. She trusted me and her cardiologist and orthopedist, but once we could not really help her she was going to trust in God. She closed her eyes and she started to pray and started to sing. Her voice praised the Lord and asked for his help for "every cell and sinew" in her body. She did not know that i did Reiki, i had not told her, but she placed my hands on her knee that was hurting her. She prayed aloud that energy came from the Lord to heal her knees.And i simply listened, and placed my intention in joining hers for the Lord to provide to her what she needed.
We were enveloped for a moment in a sacred space, defined by her Music and my Reiki. When she was finishing her prayer that the Lord would allow her more time to do his will in her Church, she added a prayer for me, my family and my practice. And then the sacred space ended and we were back in the "conscensus reality."
I had done my job. She had her prescriptions and knew her prognosis, i had fulfilled my duties as a doctor. An additional 5 minutes had been added to "my busy day" (at no extra charge billed to the insurance company, for how would i describe it). In some ways, the moment of Reiki and Music was the most important 5 minutes in my day, because a doctor is always to start with at the core, a human being.
And we see this every day in many different places. A friend whose mother is critically ill, took off from her job, to spend precious time with her Mom, writing to me, "now i know what really matters."
In our jobs, and in our lives, we go about thinking how important certain things are, and indeed, in a sense they are important. Arriving on time, dotting the i's and crossing the t's, sending a check on time, and for a doctor, completing one's charts in medical records! These things, and the "clock" drive our days - and if we ignore these things, they all have consequences. But in a larger sense, they do not "really matter." I learned that myself when i had a C5-6 spin injury and needed surgery, and until my surgery, and until i had recovered, non of the things that drove my day before mattered at all. And when i went back to work, i understood that i had to be on time, and to do my medical records, but the "human things" would never again recede in value to the "time based things" having faced the potential of my own disability and mortality.
Some deny the "sacred space" that can be caused by Music or Reiki or Prayer or other endeavors that connect us directly to our creator. These are moments that can be understood in an intuitive way, but cannot be measured or dissected. They are both real and non "evidence based."
One of my Reiki students wrote me of an awareness that sometimes people can "perceive those thoughts which float around on the surface of the mind. I wonder if it is because one is well grounded in their own thoughts--sometimes you are able to pick up thoughts but most importantly, to recognize the difference between that person's thoughts and your own. I have been thinking a lot lately about the importance of grounding as I take on this journey into energy healing. One thing which hits home to me about meditative practice-- is that meditation is not something to be achieved. It should have neither mission nor goal. Instead, it is, simply, sitting with oneself, in the midst of all the mind's messiness. It is recognizing and appreciating those seemingly muddled thoughts which scatter about our consciousness during the course of the day. The aim of this recognition is not to change, move, or eliminate thought patterns, but to know them."
People often break music, or sound, down in an analysis of chords, and rhythyms, just as Reiki is almost always taught in terms of certain symbols. We analyze things to be able to understand them and teach them, but with spiritual things like Reiki and Music, often the more we analyze something the farther we really are from the "point." Describing my class, the student noted the symbols and explanations "makes the practice something tangible, but it also externalizes it. The more I practice Reiki, the more I feel that the physical techniques we use is half the lesson. I find that the more challenging thing to learn is how to hold myself (spirit+mind) while practicing. I think that before each lesson, we should have an opportunity to meditate and ground ourselves before practicing. I think that this enhances awareness, and increases our ability to connect with....." the persons whom we are serving.
In doing Reiki and playing Music or Praying for a person who is ill, we are seeking on their behalf a connection to the creator, the lifesource of energy that "really matters," for someone who has been on chemotherapy that has failed, it is like finding an oasis rather than continuing to wonder in a desert.
Every major religion teaches us that while Mortal life comes to an end, Life does not, and creating a "sacred space" within which we are connected tom our own internal faith, worry and pain become banished. In this space there is light instead of darkness and joy instead of suffering.
I had a patient in my office yesterday who has severe hert disease and severe arthritis in her knees. If she did not have the severe heart disease, she would have a total knee replacement, and if she did not have the diseased knees, she could help her heart by walking. And after talking about the medical options and choices, as i am obligated to do as an evidence based physician, i just listened to what she had to say about how she felt.
She started by telling me that she was a singer in her choir, and an usher at her church, and that she was not going to let her prognosis get in the way of her serving God as long as she was physically able. She trusted me and her cardiologist and orthopedist, but once we could not really help her she was going to trust in God. She closed her eyes and she started to pray and started to sing. Her voice praised the Lord and asked for his help for "every cell and sinew" in her body. She did not know that i did Reiki, i had not told her, but she placed my hands on her knee that was hurting her. She prayed aloud that energy came from the Lord to heal her knees.And i simply listened, and placed my intention in joining hers for the Lord to provide to her what she needed.
We were enveloped for a moment in a sacred space, defined by her Music and my Reiki. When she was finishing her prayer that the Lord would allow her more time to do his will in her Church, she added a prayer for me, my family and my practice. And then the sacred space ended and we were back in the "conscensus reality."
I had done my job. She had her prescriptions and knew her prognosis, i had fulfilled my duties as a doctor. An additional 5 minutes had been added to "my busy day" (at no extra charge billed to the insurance company, for how would i describe it). In some ways, the moment of Reiki and Music was the most important 5 minutes in my day, because a doctor is always to start with at the core, a human being.
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