let's talk about light

Was teaching a Reiki class recently. One student was already a Level 2. Another student was just diagnosed with a serious illness. The Level 2 Reiki practitioner told the other student to examine her guilt, as that was probably the cause of her illness. What do you think of that?

Is it OK to tell someone, at in introductory class, that guilt probably caused her disease? No. 

How did I handle it? I said each person finds his or her own meaning in life and illness. Now let's talk about light!

antibiotics

are useless for viral inflammation or infection.

Overused prophylactically.

Given to farm animals, and ingested by humans. In our water.

Many new ATB-resistant pathogens.

Let's use ATBs responsibly.

vacation

best cure for feeling fried, burnt, toast, irritable, lack of joy, discouraged.

Earn points for planning, dreaming, looking at pics and websites, assembling outfits, and searching nearby parks and museums.

Other cures are: fun, play, and spiritual growth.

When are where is your next vacation?

Greg LeMond

new hero

gram negative bacteria

Why can't we just turn them positive?

Ok, I know I sound totally ignorant here. 

Dali Museum

St Pete, FL. Been there? Worth the trip?

Sounds surreal. I hope to be immersed in alternative reality of melting clocks in desolate landscape. Cheery!

Reiki

Reiki keeps me going. Reiki is my inspiration, my faith, my reason to get out of bed in the morning.

Well, family and friends too. Definitely family and friends. Love you and you know who you are. 

tonglen

Learning about it. Something about transmuting pain and stress into love and serenity.

home

Yesterday was my first day home in 2 weeks. I work a lot.

So I had that new vacuum cleaner, still in the box. There were leaves on the lawn, dirty dishes & laundry, and crapola piled up everywhere.

Got out, assembled, and used the vacuum cleaner. Oh, wow. I think the old vacuum cleaner was broken far longer than I realized. I kept using it, thinking I was cleaning, but finally noticed the heaps of dust and that the appliance had ooom but no vac. Ok, now dust is gone. House sparkles. Kind of wish my houseguests of last week could see. Only thing, with that new vacuum cleaner: I read the instruction booklet and it says I have to wash my hands after using because there is an abundance of lead on it. Warning: birth defects, etc. That seems wrong, right?

Raked leaves and piled them between the garden rows. Washed dishes and laundry, disposed of crapola. Took out trash. Trimmed bushes, mowed the lawn, and transplanted narcissus and chives. Swept the deck. Removed canopy from deck and stored in garage. Thought about sweeping garage: didn't. Moved and arranged rocks.

So yesterday was busy.

Today I sat in the sun in the summerhouse and read Rolling Stone and Oprah. Cooked and made lunches (and breakfast & suppers) for week. Washed dishes and laundry. Watched the leaves fall. Felt the sun and wind on my skin. Rested. Happy Sunday, dear reader. 

just breathe

Try to rest. Take deep breaths and feel the healthy energy of Reiki. Breathe in love and light, breathe out pain and emotion. Rest. Breathe.  Relax. Feel your cells spinning with healthy energy.

chakras, ley lines, meridians, and Reiki

Remember, Reiki doesn't reference an energy system (Read Pamela Miles, 2006, Reiki: A comprehensive guide, NY: Tarcher).

Reiki just is. It's inside and outside and all around us. It isn't specific. It's universal. Life force energy.

It isn't chakras, that's yoga. Or ley lines; that's cosmology. Meridians are Chinese medicine and acupuncture.

When I access Reiki, I don't send it to a chakra. Or down meridians. I just hold the energy and hold the space.

So just tune in to Reiki and relax. Heal. Feel the love.

a little distance, Reiki

The Reiki principles, like Buddhist tenets, advise us to step back a bit from life. Step back from drama.

Keep a distance from anger and worry. Be grateful, work hard, and honor your elders and teachers.

family and friends

and love are life.

Happy birthday to my son. You will be a wonderful, loving father and husband.

Hugs to my dear friends.

It was a sunny, mild day. There was good coffee, satisfying errands, a phone call with my sweet son, and a lovely day with dear friends. 

What if

what if you were so ill you didn't know if you would walk again. What if the one thing that motivated you to get better was returning to an October weekend in Maine. What if you had Reiki in the dark, on an October morning, and then walked to your bicycle to get ready for a 20 mile ride. What if.

nursing care plan

nursing  home primary diagnosis: for billing purposes, often vague symptom

primary medical diagnosis: for billing, pathophysiology of certain problems
nursing diagnosis: what's really happening right now

nursing care plan- algorithim, step by step of what to do for one certain problem right now today

feeling immensely grateful

for my life tonight. For family, friends, and freedom. For my fulfilling jobs.

My nephew and his girlfriend came to stay. I was so impressed with their sensitivity and intelligence. We laughed a lot. I talked on the phone with my sister for an hour. I'm grateful for my family.

I spent the day in a tent with cancer survivors and people who raise money to support them. There was Reiki, massage, yoga, and sound therapy in the tent. I'm so lucky, even though it was cold and overcast and my toes were wet from dew and I was chilled all over. Even though all that, it was a great day. I should have dressed warmer, but I thought it was going to be sunny and warm. We all did.

Tomorrow, more of the same. More cancer stories, more bravery, more heart. More love.

dear reader

Oh blog, how I've neglected you.

Well it got cold. It was rainy. And I was just working. No fun original thoughts, no adventures. Nothing new in the garden.

I apologize.

Plenty of thoughts and adventures coming up this weekend. It's the annual fundraiser. I go to meetings monthly, all year. I'll spend the weekend in a big tent, managing massage therapists and Reiki practitioners, meeting athletes and cancer warriors from all over the country. I promise to write.

kale, beets,

Sweet Annie, sunflowers. That's what's left in the garden.

The blueberry leaves are turned red, burning bush too.

Everything ends, changes, shifts, turns into something new. 

government is closed

And please re-open.

My students need a government web site for research. 

trees or flowers

Carpenter came by to pick up his ladders and a check.

Looked up at my sunflowers.

"How do you decide when it's a tree or a flower?" he asked.

government shutdown

Students have a paper to write. We referred them to an excellent US government website for their research.

The paper is due soon. The site is down.

Yes. It affects us.

Congress. Please pay your bills, get along, talk, reopen. Thank you. 

into the garden

Surprisingly warm and sunny after work, another 10 hour day.

Quickly did essential home things and then headed to the garden. Ahhh. Embraced by flowers, vines, fruits, and still growing vegies. An edge to the air. A sharp dryness, a chill as the sun set.

But I sat in the summerhouse and felt the green. Time to relax, breathe, and reflect.