But if you think about it, ego’s not the problem. What would we do without ego? How would we function as individuals? What motivation would we have to practice?

Ego has its purpose. It serves like a skeleton to our psyche, or a tender skin. Ego delineates and gives backbone to our individuality, yet it’s acutely sensitive to touch. Ego is not inherently bad, but it does have a skewed perspective, remaining convinced against all argument that we are separate and disconnected.

Ego is not entirely wrong. There are ways in which we are separate. But although we sometimes feel disconnected, that’s a feeling, not a truth.

So it’s not ego, but wrong understanding, that is the problem. Wrong understanding: identifying with ego and believing its biased broadcasts.

If we are clever, we make ever-present ego our ally. We use it to be steadier, more responsible, more committed; to strive higher, to serve more fully.

Feeling adventurous? Try accepting that ego will keep doing what ego does. That’s not an error; that’s its job, what ego exists to do.

Then harness ego’s ambition. Let ego’s desire to be the best motivate you to practice, and practice every day. Ego doesn’t take vacations.

The inner spaciousness that comes with daily Reiki self-treatment helps us stay mindful and compassionate, and keeps ego’s pain and machinations in perspective.

As long as we try to rid ourselves of ego, or pretend it’s not in play, ego sticks like flypaper. The moment we get over the shame of ego and start trusting it to do what it does oh-so-well, we come to a place of peaceful, and useful, coexistence.

It’s not possible to be human and not have ego, but it is possible–through diligent, committed, mindful daily practice over time–to loosen ourselves from the delusion that ego has our best interests at heart.

Ego has no heart.

But we do.

Related reading: Reiki Self-Treatment Poll, Hire Yourself Health Care, With Gratitude, Work Diligently

And considering something radical.

These are the last shelling peas of the season. Calculating how far I could stretch this sweet green joy of summer, I asked the farmer how long they would keep in the pods. She suggested I shell them and pop them in the freezer.

I demurred. “I don’t freeze food,” I said. And truly, the freezer is the emptiest space in my home.

“Neither do I,” said the farmer, “But I freeze peas.”

I bought an extra bagful, and now I’m contemplating the unthinkable.

Freezing food has never appealed to me. Living on Manhattan island, fresh food in abundance, it’s hardly a necessity.

But the farmer got me thinking, and not just about freezing. Now I’m analyzing what led me to reconsider a long held position, one that was simply not open for debate.

Many times each year, I face the end of a cherished vegetable’s season, but never before have I considered freezing them to buy some time. What’s different now?

This is the first time this particular farmer suggested it. I’ve been buying strawberries, veggies and an occasional fresh brook trout from her since my grown kids were little kids, one in the snuggly, one by the hand.

She’s not certified organic; she’s heart-and-soul organic. She eats what she sells.

I don’t trust the legal organic label, with its month-long sell-by date on milk. (How fresh is month-old milk?)

I trust the farmer. I share her values. She’s an expert, knowledgeable about her food, generous with her knowledge, and with samples.

I trust her, and I’m grateful I can buy from her.

Which is why these peas may be headed for the freezer. If I don’t eat them first.

What’s ripe for change in your life?

As soon as I wake up, I check on my pain.

Usually, I start my day without too much trouble; my steps are somewhat labored, but I can walk to work. Sometimes the pain goes on holiday for a few weeks, allowing me to enjoy a brisk run.  Once I even managed to run a 5K race in Central Park at a moderate pace.

Sometimes, however, pain screams so piercingly that I cannot hear much else, and my life shrinks to the circumference of my bedroom. I fumble for the phone, call in sick to work, and wait for the waves of pain to abate.

I wish I could tell you that Reiki treatment chased pain away forever. That was my fervent hope after I received my first Reiki treatment, falling asleep blissfully on the table and awaking with a deep sense of relaxation. However, pain soon returned with its usual unpredictability.

Disappointed, I thought, “Okay, perhaps Reiki is like all the other treatments I’ve tried: orthotics, cortisone shots, physical therapy, deep tissue massages, hot baths, yoga asanas, acupuncture, essential oils, resting, and reading books about pain. Each of these treatments makes the pain subside for a while, but then it returns. They provide temporary relief, but nothing deeper than that.”

After three months of daily Reiki self-treatment, however, my approach to managing pain has changed subtly. I’ve become more sensitive to conditions that can trigger pain episodes. Observing my body’s response to Reiki treatment has taught me that I need to slow down, to rest more, and to keep my plans flexible from hour to hour.

Because I start each day quietly experiencing Reiki’s ability to calm my nerves, I can now detect when I am getting tired or stressed, just soon enough that I can choose not to put in that extra hour at the office. Sometimes I ask a friend to meet me at my home for dinner, so I don’t have to travel forty minutes to meet her at our favorite restaurant.

Learning to offer myself Reiki has also encouraged me to speak up for myself and to tell others that I need to sit silently (sometimes at their homes or in public places) to give myself a short Reiki treatment whenever I feel the need for healing.

Practicing Reiki has reduced but not eliminated my chronic pain. It has also brought me an unexpected benefit: a new pathway for managing the pain whenever it arises. I am very grateful for this inner shift that enables me to live more peacefully with chronic pain.

How often do we hear that from people after a Reiki sample?

Just relaxed.

No big deal.

Wait a minute!

Just relaxed is a very big deal.

Just relaxed is a biochemical event, the beginning of healing.

And just relaxed is what you’re not getting enough of.

So get your Reiki hands on yourself (if you’re a practitioner), connect with a Reiki buddy, or make an appointment with a Reiki pro.

And just relax.

Give Reiki a try. Doctor’s orders.

Dr. Oz, that is.

Related Reading: Sleep Much?

Not only adults, but–even more alarming–many school-aged children are suffering from a lack of deep, nourishing sleep. And I mean suffering. Science links poor sleep with an increasing list of serious health conditions, including obesity and depression.

In one of life’s great ironies, as you become more exhausted, your body seems to forget how to sleep well. Reiki treatment reminds your body how to shift that gear, and quickly improves the quality of your sleep. People often notice benefits after their very first Reiki session.

How exactly can Reiki treatment help you sleep better? A shift toward a more open, easeful breath is one of the first responses to the light touch of a Reiki hand. This shift happens so effortlessly that people may not notice it at the time, yet it is the first domino in a powerful healing cascade.

As the breath is, so becomes the mind. When the breath becomes open and even, the mind naturally becomes quieter, more peaceful. A calm, centered mind leads to many benefits, including deeper, more refreshing sleep.

In med-speak, we’re talking about a shift from sympathetic nervous system dominance to parasympathetic nervous system dominance. And not only is there abundant anecdotal evidence of this happening, there is also a growing body of research evidence that Reiki treatment is a catalyst for this healing shift to occur.

You can receive Reiki treatment from a friend or professional, or you can learn to practice on yourself. Once trained, you can practice literally in bed, as you fall asleep and/or awaken in the morning–and you’ll have this healing practice for the rest of your life.

People who are sleep-deprived are also often squeezed for time, but you can go ahead and heave a sigh of relief. You can learn to practice First degree (entry level) Reiki on yourself, your family, friends, and pets in a group class that lasts 8-12 hours. Find a class in which you are physically present with a qualified Reiki master (I strongly recommend avoiding online classes).

Since there are no standards for Reiki treatment or training, it’s important to take the time to find a credible local practitioner who is right for you. This is so important that I devoted an entire chapter of my book REIKI: A Comprehensive Guide to help you do this. You can also click here to learn a few tips from a short video I made.

An open, comfortable breath, calm mind, and good sleep are not just good ideas; they are necessities. We simply cannot regain or maintain health without them, and Reiki practice puts them literally in the palms of our hands.

My friend Elena Brower shares how she uses Reiki self-treatment to connect with her breath and improve her sleep in her Huffington Post blog. Click here to read.

Related reading: Just Relaxed. Really, Just?

May we live with the awareness that each time we place our Reiki hands on ourselves, we are placing another brick in the road to world peace.

As you look back over the last year and ahead to the new, contemplate the gifts your Reiki practice has brought you.

Was there a time when your self-practice brought you peace, or enabled you to carry peacefulness into a stressful situation? If so, please tell us about it.

Sharing a simple insight from your practice may inspire someone else to recognize the enormous benefit we bring to others each time we place our Reiki hands on our own bodies.

Our self-practice is the effort we can make to create peace, an offering we can give ourselves and the world every day.

With gratitude, work diligently.

Please write a comment below to share how your Reiki practice has brought peace to your life. If you are receiving this as an email, click here.

So it was a bit surprising when a year after her diagnosis, Milliken’s next MRI came back clean.

Not only were there no new lesions, meaning the disease had not progressed, but also, the lesion seen on her first MRI had faded significantly. Her March 2009 MRI was the same.

Like most people facing a devastating diagnosis, Milliken’s first response was to receive conventional medical treatment. Several months later that she reached for yoga to help her cope, inadvertently embarking on a healing journey that took her far beyond coping.

Milliken started looking at her life, and herself, differently. She slowed down, exercised less, went to sleep earlier, became more present. She continued yoga, followed a complicated regime under the guidance of an osteopath, and received Reiki.

This is not a case of Reiki curing anything. Reiki is one of many healing practices and treatments in this story.

This is an encouraging picture of how one woman took an integrative approach to a debilitating illness with stunningly positive results. Milliken’s story is an example that can inspire people addressing MS, or any serious disease, to courageously engage in maintaining their wellness and their well-being in ways that are meaningful to them and that don’t stop at what conventional medicine has to offer.

Milliken details her treatment choices in an article published in Marie-Claire magazine.

Eat too much?

Drink too much?

Go out too often?

Stay out too late?

Sleep too little?

Get caught under the mistletoe?

Not get caught under the mistletoe?

So much about this time of year takes us off our natural rhythms, and the result can be decidedly un-fun. Kids’ meltdowns become a holiday routine, and adults struggle to hold it together.

Even if you’re not susceptible to holiday depression, the combination of too much sugar (alcohol is sugar) and too many nights out, with too little routine and too little sleep, might leave you feeling a bit edgy and drained.

The best gift you can give everyone in your life–all at the same time–is to take care of yourself.

This year, why not do something radical? Celebrate your wellness—and maintain it—by staying with your daily Reiki self-treatment. (I can propose that because I just finished mine, and now I’m on to my green tea and chocolate.)

Protect your well-being by keeping a rhythm of self-treatment—even adding to it. A bit of Reiki practice at night draws you into a deeper, more restful sleep, and a bit more in the morning brightens your transition into the day. You’re in bed already–how hard can it be to get your hands to your body… and melt…

This is a time when more is less: more practice means less stress.

Much repetition when we repeat the form of our practice—
the when, where, and how.

And often repetition in the sensations of our practice,
the familiar pulsing cascade,
the familiar warmth of our hands,
the familiar refuge of stillness that opens within.

But not always.

Sometimes practicing the form doesn’t yield the same sensations.
Sometimes practicing the form is boring, or worse.
We make the same actions, but we are not content.

With gratitude, work diligently.

This is how my Japanese colleague and friend Hyakuten Inamoto translates the middle precepts. A Buddhist monk for 30 years, Inamoto-sensei brings great depth to his work as a Reiki master. He has lived in Japan all his life, and has done original research into Reiki history and practice. I have deep respect and trust in his understanding.

Reiki is a practice.
A practice is always the same,
and never the same.
And sometimes a practice is work.

Our practice is the work we do to create change–
change in our understanding,
change in our self-concept,
change in the accessibility of our hearts.

And we practice to cope with change,
especially the changes we don’t like,
the ones that make us feel powerless.

But we are never powerless.
We can always practice.
And for that, we can be grateful.

What can you do to maintain sanity, health, and self-respect during the holiday onslaught? Here are a few simple actions to consider. Implementing even one will help, especially if it’s the one that keeps you from sliding down your favorite rabbit hole of excess.

Keep your digestive tract whirring by giving it a tune-up now, and continue extra maintenance as needed during the holidaze. Any form of ginger helps, even the ones that come with sugar (used with care). Keep a bottle of ginger tincture at your desk. Mix with hot water, a little Grade B maple syrup or agave, and a squeeze of lemon if you like for a soothing, warming holiday digestive. Take the intestinal toner triphala nightly, at least through the end of the year. And when you realize it’s too late to prevent overdoing it, even one day eating only kichadi can work rebalancing wonders.

Try chewing your food long enough to savor the tastes and textures. Not only will you enjoy your meal more, you’ll also give your body time to register how full you are. Turn your food to soup in your mouth before swallowing.

Avoid sitting at the table ravenously hungry. If needed, have a little snack 30 minutes before a meal to take the edge off your hunger. A small dark chocolate does the job deliciously, and the bitter taste stimulates digestion.

Put some food in your stomach before sipping wine or a cocktail. Not only will this keep you from falling down and embarrassing yourself, you’ll also be less likely to overeat when the meal arrives.

Too many late nights and holiday-sparked emotion can make it hard for the nervous system to gear down at night, and sleep deprivation has been scientifically linked to weight gain. Once in bed, place your hands for even a few minutes of Reiki self-treatment to help you release the stress of the day and ease into deep, refreshing sleep.

What’s your favorite tip for staying healthy through the holidays?