Retreat as Reminder
GUEST BLOGGER Kimberly Fleisher started the Reiki School + Clinic in Philadelphia 10 years ago –
Ahhhhhh, my Reiki hands. And a guided Reiki meditation. What a gift! What a winning combination! Sometimes it is so helpful to have someone invite me to practice. Remind me to slow down, to drop into that Reiki space and allow my healing potential to rise and bubble to the surface.
I have a daily practice, and it ebbs and flows like any relationship. Sometimes I like it, sometimes it seems boring, sometimes I feel like nothing is happening and I wonder what I’m doing. “What happened to the honeymoon period? Why can’t it be like this all the time? Maybe I need to find something else?” I’ve learned to practice through these questions. Not to ignore them, but to practice through them, to bring them to myself as I place my hands on myself. To just be with whatever is happening, or not happening. And get up and do it again the next day. I’ve found that most of the time these periods precede some big learning or new phase of growth. I’ve learned to go with the flow and trust the process. And then there are the moments when Reiki just brings me right back to that deep place of wellness in myself. It blows my mind.
Resonance. Tuning. Bringing me back to my own vibe of wholeness, and my recognition that I am vibrating in tune with the whole universe. I often think that healing isn’t something that happens to us, but rather what’s naturally there, what’s left when we drop all of our armor, resistances, and defenses against our resonance with all that is.
I guess that’s what the cycles are like. Cycles of remembering who we are, and of forgetting. It’s nice to come to a place where I can accept and love the journey for the journey’s sake, and to keep coming back to myself.
The retreat has been a great reminder of that. I got ‘stuck’ on the week one meditation for 2 and a half weeks, because I loved the reminder of the first meditation so much. Pamela’s simple invitation to tune into our healing vibration was exactly what I needed. I didn’t want to move on, partly because I was so busy I never made time to go back to the retreat website and listen to week 2, and partly because I just liked the first one so much! I hope they stay up on the website so we can enjoy them once the retreat is finished.
Finally, this week I made it to the second meditation. Tuesday morning I arrived at The Reiki School (my office), only to find a lot of organizational complications, coupled with a crashing computer. We sorted through some of the wreckage, salvaged what we could, and decided to listen to the next meditation together. It was lovely! We all came right back to our place of centeredness, and went on with our day. Having the meditation there, as a tool, was a great help. We could have all stopped and practiced self Reiki without the meditation, but knowing there was something to listen to helped give us an excuse to practice. It made it more accessible. We had a little retreat, together, for those few minutes, and we each went on with our day in a much better place.
By the end of this week maybe I’ll even get around to the meditation for week 3!
I am thankful for this retreat, even though I participated in such a non-traditional way. I feel that we all need reminders sometimes, as well as invitations, to renew and refresh our practice. The support provided by the retreat, and the Reiki community, nurture my self practice. In turn my self practice helps me to serve the community.
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Could not have said it better. Thank You. Many Blessings
Excellent! Thanks for sharing this. Your experience has been much like mine. And, I agree, I hope that Pamela keeps the meditations around so that we can treat ourselves to a retreat whenever we want to!
Your wish is my command. Please read the details on the Retreat page.
As I just started week one of the retreat this week it is great to read this. Pamela, thank you as always for both arranging this and making it so available to us in what ever form or time works for us.
It is a great reminder of how our reiki practices connects us all, all the time, not just during retreats.
I have so enjoyed this retreat, as the full moon was rising last night I gave thanks to all who have participated.
Special Reiki hugs for you Pamela, it has been an experience of sharing and giving. I intend to add a ‘retreat’ space in my daily Reiki.
Thank you, Beth. The full moon was resplendent as it rose between the skyscrapers in Manhattan Friday evening.
This retreat was such a wonderful gift – thank you Mari, thank you Pamela!
Though self-practice has been an integral part of my daily routine since my Reiki 1 class, this allowed me to connect with it – and with myself – on a much deeper level.
Kimberly, I love your comment about healing being what’s naturally there when we drop all of our defences, etc. Absolutely.
Thank you and namaste to everyone.
Thank you Pamela, for the opportunity to retreat! Thank you, all of you, for participating together, with me! Self practice supported by others is awesome!
Thanks,
Kim