Fourth in a series of blogs written by Josslyn Streett of Rain Shadow Reiki for her series on nutritional healing and juicing.
A TON of Vegetables!
I made it through the first day of the most fruits and vegetables I have ever eaten in my whole life. If you have not read my first three blogs on this topic you can catch up here.
Started day 1 with a Cherry Cinnamon Apple Bake with 1 cup cherries, 2 apples chopped, 3 T raisins, 1T cinnamon, 1/2 t nutmeg, bake for 45 min. at 375 degrees. Delish!
Day 1
I am doing a ten day fruit and vegetable fast cutting our all dairy, grains, packaged foods and animal protein to help my body heal. You can read my goals for the fast here on blog #2.
I am following the ten day menu from a nutritionist for the ‘Join the Reboot’ team. I am getting weekly colonics to help my digestive system get back to it’s original healthy ‘just like a new born baby’ form, or close to that. That’s the plan anyway, but we know how plans go. I want my body to be able to digest it’s food and for me to get all the healthy nutrients from the healthier foods I’ll be eating.
Menu, Plan Ahead
V8 Juice for breakfast Day 2. Beets, carrots, celery, tomatoes, parsley, jalapeno, radishes, beet greens. This made enough for me and my husband both to have a full 16 oz glass of juice.
So far the menu is very healthy and delicious. However, if you are planning to start this program, know that it is a whole lot of vegetables and a lot different ones. For instance, they have you use a tiny bit of jicama the first day but not again in the first few days. I never buy hicama and haven’t had it since I was a child. Good to try it again and I do like the crunch it adds to salads. But, I didn’t look at the menus soon enough before starting the cleanse to know this or to alter them so I could buy less veggies. Plus, the goal is to eat a variety. So, I am using the ‘extra’ vegetables in salads along the way and just modifying the diet a bit here and there. But, you will have to buy a ton of vegetables so plan on that expense ahead of time. Lucky for me I have neighbors and students with farms and gardens helping me out. Thank you to my wonderful clients and neighbors helping me out. You know who you are. Having your own garden would really help with this project.
Modify the Plan for YOUR Body
Modify by adding more protein if you need to in the beginning or some healthy whole grains. You can always do the full plan at another time. Work towards what you body can do and stay healthy and successful now.
My doctor has me adding small amounts of healthy protein in the morning and lunch meals for my blood sugar issue. I think because I’m an overachiever and wanted to do the cleanest diet possible, closest to the actual one on the program, I didn’t eat enough protein. I added one egg in the morning and one scoop of the Isagenix vanilla whey protein powder in my mid day juice. Not enough. By about 5pm I was hitting a wall. For me, hitting a wall, usually means emotionally. I get irritated, frustrated and start going on and on about things I’m angry about. This is not a pretty seen and my family usually heads to their respective corners to ignore my tirades and read their books.
First Day Frustrations
Mom frustrations
I was most frustrated by the amounts of food preparation that goes into the meals. I guess I thought it would be a lot more juice, not salads, soups, steamed veggies, baked fruit, etc. The juices are not too bad for prep, but the rest take a great deal of washing, chopping and time. I’m a mom, a wife, a house keeper, and a Reiki Master/Psychic, life is busy. I also tend to be a lazy cook because I don’t like cooking that much. I’m not sure how people who work full time would be able to do all this AND work AND take care of their families. Plan for that too. It is time consuming changing old habits into new ones. I guess people who work would prepare a lot at night to be ready for the next day. I’m usually too tired at night to do this and so I do my prep in the morning. However, by the time I’m done with my prep for a morning fruit menu item ANd a late morning snack, it’s almost lunch time. (Consider they have six meals on the menu plus some snacks.)
Eat All the Veggies You Want
It’s a whole lot of food. They want you to eat almost all your calories in vegetables and feel full the whole time. That part is good, but I ALWAYS FEEL FULL. Most people don’t complain about that when doing a diet but with this one you will. Also, lot of these menu items I have never made before so it’s all new to me. New to me causes anxiety to me. But, I push though and do my best. I have literally spent the entire two days preparing vegetables. I’m not sure what I thought was going to happen, but this is what it is.
Always Hopeful
Now I know as I get used to the diet it will be easier and I’ll figure out short cuts like I do for salad. I make a huge salad on the weekend and what we do not eat I bag up with paper towels in the bag to keep it fresh and soak up the excess moisture. This way, the salad will last up to four days or so. Sometimes I’ll have to re-wash it before hand, but, easy way to have salad ready to go for the work week. These are the kind of tricks I’m learning and will put into place for the next time I do this cleanse. I felt much better emotionally after I had a nice salad for dinner with avocado and sea salt. Yes, I’ve been craving salt. There was actually so much food on the menu, don’t tell, but I skipped the soup and steamed vegetables. I was DONE with vegetables by then and just couldn’t eat another bite. I ended the day with my herbal tea and went to bed.
Suggestions if You Are Starting Your Reboot
Healthy proteins, like hard boiled eggs, nuts, seeds, beans and fish are good to add in the beginning if you are concerned about doing the cleanse the first time from an unhealthy diet or have blood sugar issues.
Other than the five o’ clock tirade, I did very well. My impression is, with this healthy veggie fast, the healthier your diet is going into the plan, the easier it will be on you physically, mentally and emotionally during. I have already spent years cutting out packaged foods, animal protein, simple carbs, sugar and such. I eat at least one large salad every day and lots of other fruits and veggies. If you are starting this Reboot plan for the first time from a place of eating McDonalds regularly then you will probably have a much harder time. Don’t give up, just alter it a bit. I might recommend a modified plan that you can work with your doctor or nutritionist with. Start slow and work towards one of these full on fruit and veggie plans for later. Just a suggestion. The goal is to be healthier and help your body, not to hurt it. If you take on too much too soon, you may be setting yourself up for failure. It’s more important to DO it for long term success than it is to take on more than you can chew, literally.
Please feel free to ask me questions or to lovingly comment if you have suggestions yourself. Love to hear from you!
Third in a series of blogs written by Josslyn Streett of Rain Shadow Reiki for her series on nutritional healing and juicing.
To read the first and second blog in the series to get caught up click on the link. (Blog 1 or blog 2)
Pre-Cleanse
I have been doing a pre-cleanse to get ready for the full 10 day fruit and veggie cleanse. I got a lot of my pre–cleanse recipes from My Juice Cleanse. It is a great site with free recipes and helpful articles. They helped me with a lot of my early research too. It is recommended to do a pre-cleanse to get the most results from your cleanse that the week before you start the cleanse to do certain things to prepare. Here is what they recommend from the Reboot Your Life website:
Say goodbye to: processed junk foods, white flours, sugar/desserts, fried food, fast food, processed meats, alcohol and begin to wean yourself off caffeine.
Say hello to: salads, soups, smoothies with a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, natural nut butters, beans and legumes.
The food pyramid I’m working off of but with actually less breads and cereals as my body does not really want them. My body wants it’s carbs from vegetables. Every body is different. Learn to listen to YOUR BODY,
Transitioning off animal proteins: choose wild-caught fish, organic eggs and gradually decrease poultry during the week and choose only organic varieties when you eat them. By last day of the week, your protein should come solely from plant sources such as beans, nuts, and legumes (for example, black beans, hummis, chick-peas, lentils).
Transitioning off dairy: choose only low or non-fat organic dairy with little to no added sugars. If you choose soy, rice or almond milk, have unflavored/plain to limit the sugar content. Choose organic cheese, and transition from cow’s milk cheese to goat cheese by the middle of the week. By the end of the week (day 5) all dairy should be out of your diet to prepare for the Reboot.
This cleanse is fruits and veggies with no dairy, meats, breads or cereals. This Pre-Cleanse gets you ready for the full cleanse and makes the cleanse easier on you emotionally and physically. I feel it working.
My Results of the Pre-Cleanse
I started the full cleanse today. While talking to a friend on the phone about how I’m feeling today, starting the full cleanse, I realized how much progress I’ve made already. Just by doing the pre-cleanse I have altered thought processes that are critical to my success. I’ve started being much more discerning about what I eat FOR MY BODY, not my emotions. When I’m wanting to grab something fast and easy like a cheese stick, I automatically stop, and I start thinking “hmm, if I eat this, I’ll then have to spend time and energy making sure it gets released completely from my body system. (The colonic helped with this too. More on that later.) Do I want this badly enough to do that extra work and to make my body work that hard.” WOW, this is a huge difference from “I’m hungry, I need to eat something quick and easy now.” Or from my typical emotional response, “I need some cheese, or I need some chips and salsa. Nothing else will satisfy me.” Just by doing the pre-cleanse WITH INTENTIONS and GOALS I have started shifting my energy system enough to create major change in my mental thought processes and belief systems. This is huge for me. I’m more concerned about the health of my body than I am making my inner child happy with food.
Energy to Do What I Need to Do
I also noticed yesterday, for the first time in years, I had a full and busy day with a lot of driving to get to my doctor for my colonic and then the kids to their doctors in a whole other city, literally 3 to 4 hours of driving. Usually driving wears me out for the whole day and I’m resting up from it rather than being productive. Yesterday I did all the driving, a colonic for the first time, doctors appointments for my kids, shopping for my cleanse and dinner for my family and I still was going at the end of the day. WOW, for me, chronic fatigue for seventeen years, this was a massive change. THIS gave me a great deal of hope and confidence that this cleanse is truly going to change my life.
The Pre-Work
Meditation, I have found, is THE best way to raise your vibration, work on your emotional patterns, change your subconscious belief systems and connect with your higher self. Plus it’s relative easy to learn, the trick is to DO IT! As with anything, practice makes better!
The pre-work is different from the pre-cleanse. I’ve been doing the pre-work for months now, probably years. I’ve been meditating, doing Reiki, working with Naturopaths and healers to help me get to this point. I’ve worked with hypnotherapists and most recently an MFCC who does Energy Psychology (a mix of Donna Eden’s energy work and Emotional Freedom Technique) to rewrite the beliefs in my subconscious mind. ALL of this has helped me to get ready for TODAY. All of this has helped me to be ready, really ready to give up the belief systems, the dairy and the old eating patterns to the point where I KNOW deep down that I will be successful, for a lifetime.
Real Life Example
For example. With the energy psychology this week we worked on belief patterns that I didn’t believe I could be successful with the cleanse AND be healthy too. This went along with another belief that I had, I believed I needed lots of food and lots of dairy or animal protein in particular in order to stay alive. These were not rational thoughts because my rational mind (10%) does not agree with these thoughts. However, my subconscious mind (90%) does believe them and therefore that is what I follow, knowing it or not. Now I know it, and have worked on it and released it. I did this by tapping on my meridian systems with the EFT process.
I was ill from malnourishment in many lives.
It turns out as I was tapping on these beliefs I was able to watch and see the past lives that these beliefs came from. I had five past lives where I was starving to death but only actually died in one of them. The other lives I just got very ill and was not able to care for my family. My soul held on to the belief that I got sick from not having enough to eat, enough protein. That is how our minds work sometimes. I had to hold on to those beliefs until I could understand them, learn from them and then release them. Now that I have done that, I can truly change. I am changing my eating habits permanently. And that is what it takes to truly reboot your life. It feels good and it feels good to share this with my friends, clients, students and internet readers. I pray this helps to motivate some of you to reboot your life too.
Working on your mind, your subconscious belief pattern are in my opinion, one of the first places to start before you start any diet or healthy new way of eating. Work on those first and the rest will stick.
Got to Be Ready
Don’t rush into it, however. Do the pre-work. Do the research. Do the mind work. DO until you are truly ready to do this for life. These are big changes and I believe people need to be truly ready. I also believe in order to be successful you need to do one major dietary change at a time. If you do more you’ll most likely get overwhelmed and not stick with it for the long haul. These are lifelong changes in eating, not temporary. You have to be ready. But, have no fear. The energy is so strong for change this year that for those waking up, change is happening automatically and faster than usual. THIS is a great time to make major changes like this with Divine Source along with you to help and guide.
I also recommend working with someone like me, or another spiritual support person to guide you and help you along the way with mental thought patterns, emotional addictions, issues of letting go, energy work, etc. I’m not doing this alone, I don’t expect anyone to do it alone. Gather your support team and do the FIRST dietary change YOU feel is more important for you. That is how I have done it and that is how I’ve been able to be successful with each step, including this one. I’m thinking ahead on that one.
Love and Light to you all,
Good Luck on YOUR personal challenges this month. I’m here with you.
“A Sensitive System” is the first in a series of blogs written by Josslyn Streett of Rain Shadow Reiki for her series on nutritional healing and juicing.
Do you ever wonder why some people can eat anything they want and not gain weight? Why some people can smoke and drink and still live into their 80’s or 90’s? Or why others can do such stressful jobs and not look stressed ALL the time? I have wondered these things all my life. That is because I am the opposite of those ways. I look at food and gain weight, seriously. Once it’s on it’s very difficult to get it off. I feel frazzled and stressed out almost all the time and my body can’t handle bread let alone alcohol. So what is the difference between these people? I’m still working at answering that question completely. Yes, some of it is genetics, but aren’t genetics just energy too? For me, some of the answer is, I’m different. Special. Blessed in a special way. My friend and mentor, Jill Raiguel says “We have been blessed with sensitive systems. It is up to us to care for them.”
Over the years I’ve discovered that one of the reasons I’m so sensitive is because I’m clairsentient. Some of the signs of being clairsentient are:
Clairsentient people often feel like they don’t fit in anywhere, even in their own families.
Feel stressed easily and need a lot of time ALONE.
Crowded noisy places leave you feeling exhausted.
You feel tired on waking even after many hours of sleep.
Others feel better having been with you or having spoken to you.
Suffer from physical sensitivities, unexplained aches and pains (stomach disorders, eye problems, migraines, or sinus troubles.
You feel different and have some sense of not belonging.
Have trouble remembering facts but are creative and imaginative.
In relationships do you find yourself with “emotionally unavailable” partners, probably ending up with the emotional work for two?
If any of these made sense for YOU then you may want to read the full-page on being clairsentient before continuing. I am clairsentient and have a great deal of experience in helping others to work with it, live with it and view it as a beautiful gift in their life every day. It is possible but it does take some dedication, practice and know how.
A New Beginning
And so it begins. I have been blessed with a sensitive physical body and have finally come to terms with it. Now what? What matters now is HOW to deal with the physical part. I’ve learned how to work with the energetic part and the psychic part, it is my physical bodies’ turn and it is crying out loud for it. My main current physical bodily symptoms are:
Migraines are extremely painful. Mine always come with the throwing up part too.
depression
migraines
thyroid disease
immune system dysfunction
lifelong hormonal fluctuations, with severe headaches and emotional fluctuations
adrenal burn out
chronic fatigue
weight gain
difficulty concentrating and remembering
A.D.D.
Not THAT Sensitive
literally poison to me and other sensitive people
I have heard about psychics who rarely even leave their homes because they have so many allergies to chemicals, fragrances, the energy of being around so many people and foods, that being in public for them is dangerous and simply not worth the chance of a break out. I always considered myself lucky that I’m not THAT sensitive. Hey, I can still shop at the grocery store, right!? I must be o.k. But, I do believe I’ve been a bit in denial about it. Because you know what, I am pretty darn close to that, sensitivity wise. I can eat whatever I want if I don’t mind the migraines, the total lack of energy and memory, depression and mood swings. Thus, I eat what my body wants and not what I want. Luckily I’ve found that by eating what my body wants, my taste buds quickly change and soon enough I want it too. It all works out.
Raising your energetic vibration
Eating in a Higher Vibrational Frequency
Eating is one of the things that has been the biggest challenge for me and the higher I raise my vibrational frequency with Reiki, meditation and working through my past issues, the more sensitive I am to the lower energy foods. When talking this over with my Medical Intuitive, Candia Sanders, she said the goal is to raise your vibration to such a level that you are then ‘above’ the sensitivities and they no longer bother you. You become immune in a vibrational way. Raised above, so to speak. I have yet to reach this elevated station and thus, continue to give up foods that I can no longer tolerate in hopes of someday getting to it.
We Are All the Same, We Are All Unique
I believe everyone is different, every body is different and therefore what is not good for me is different from what is not good for someone else. I do not ever expect anyone to live life the way I do but I hope to encourage anyone who reads this to live the life that is best for them. Listen to YOUR body. Find out what YOUR body wants and DO IT. This is a story about me doing that and making it through the hard parts to the other side so that you and everyone who reads this can know that it is totally possible and doable.
I am definitely not a saint. Saint Lucy
I Am No Saint! Where’s the Beef?
Saying that, I’ll also tell you, I am no saint. I love all the things I’m not supposed to love; meat, alcohol, bread, pasta (deserves its own category) cheese (really love cheese), sugar and more. I am, pretty much a lover of food overall so giving up foods I love one after another for the past eighteen years has not been any easier for me than it would be for anyone. The first food I had to give up was red meat; beef and pork. Years of IBS in my twenties was enough to tell me it was not good for me and time to give it up. I have not had a beef hamburger for over 17 years. I miss them from time to time, usually when my family is eating them, but really, overall, it’s not a big deal. I rarely think about it.
Migraines Will Convince Anyone
A year and a half ago I started getting migraines if I ate sugar, wheat or soy. I thought I would die, both with the migraines AND knowing that I’d have to give up wheat, soy and sugar all at the same time. I had been mainly gluten-free at home for many years but ‘cheated’ when I went out. No more cheating. With some help from my Naturopath, I gave them all up and have had very few cravings for at least a year.
Next Adventure
So, my next challenge and adventure to improve my vibrational system and my health is to give up dairy. I have cut it back, way back, from how much I used to eat but that isn’t enough. I grew up on dairy, love dairy; milk, grilled cheese, cheese and crackers, quesadilla, mac and cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese!! I haven’t met a cheese I didn’t like, ever. It is my ultimate comfort food, my emotional go to food and I do not want to say goodbye forever. But, I will. My body has been giving me messages that it is time. Time to give up all dairy from my diet. And, finally, I’m ready.
That is me as a little girl, loving me some grilled cheese sandwich. Mmmmmmmmm
It is my belief that YOU have to be ready or you won’t do it. For me to be ready it usually takes me hitting a wall, reaching bottom, being really sick before I’ll be ready. That’s because I have a really hard time with change. Reiki has been helping me slowly over the years and THIS year I have made leaps and bounds of change towards letting go and altering my life, my habits, BEFORE I have to. Yeah!! Big applause for me because this has been a tough one for me, holding on to everything to protect myself, yet hurting myself at the same time. This has been going on my entire life. Some of you know what I’m talking about and the rest of you probably think I’m crazy. Oh well, it won’t be the first time I’ve been called crazy, that’s for darn sure. So, my next adventure is here. A total and complete change of my eating system for the rest of my life, something extremely drastic for me, not only giving up dairy but also doing a complete fruit, vegetable and body cleanse. I will be detoxifying and clearing out my digestive system by eating 99% fruits and vegetables and juicing for one week.
Yeah, Big Applause for me and the major progress I’ve made!
Read more about the cleanse I’ve chosen in the next blog.
“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
A Spiritual Group
I was recently asked to be a part of a spiritual group that meets from time to time via conference call and once a year at an agreed upon location on the west coast usually. It is a big commitment but also I felt it was a huge honor to be asked. This group includes people of many different spiritual belief systems from all over the country.
The more people in a spiritual group, the more powerful the energy, connection to the energy and connection to Divine Source!
Priorities
Because I’m a mom first at this stage in my life by choice, I asked my family if they were willing to support me in the time it would take away from them, extra to the Reiki time that I spend with clients and circles. They are very supportive of my passion for energy healing and helping others and know how much it means to me to be a part of this group of honored people which includes Shaman’s, energy workers, other Reiki Masters and more spiritually like-minded people.
Meditations
I’ve been with the group a month now and have participated in four conference calls so far. On the conference call I attended yesterday, June 6th 2012 for the astrological events happening with Venus, we all meditated together on the phone with the intention of a group healing for us as well as a healing for our earth.
Group Energy Amped Up
Kid’s Reiki Circle, before practicing Reiki we do our “Gassho” which is asking Divine Source to be with us and to send down the Reiki energy.
The energy in my Reiki room is great all the time because I focus on it a lot with the intention of healing energy and high vibrational Love and Light energy. But with the group of spiritually minded people on the phone all with the same purpose, I felt the energy stronger than I had in a long time. Probably since another group meditation that I had done with a very large group of people many years ago. I felt the energy of each person in the room with me. The energy gets amped up the more people we have all with the same intention. It was decidedly powerful.
A Message
I got a clear message from Divine Source while in that meditative state. Divine wants us to meet in collections of spiritual people and do this spiritual work together. Divine wants us to meditate, do Reiki, pray, learn, cry and support each other as often as possible in groups. This is the way to change our world, this is the way to raise our vibrations faster, sooner. This is how to truly make a difference in our lives, the earth and everyone around us, by connecting in groups of like-minded individuals consistently. This is why I offer the Reiki circles twice a month and to children too, because I truly believe and have for a long while that the true way to make a difference in our world of reality is to work together in small, local grassroots types of organizations like our own little Reiki group here in Sequim, WA.
Where? How?
Find a colorful group that you feel comfortable in that has the same values and spiritual beliefs, then participate actively in your own evolution.
If you do not live on the Olympic Peninsula, then find a group in your area to join. Put the intention out to Divine Source that you want such a group. Look for a Reiki Master in your area and ask if they run such a group. Meanwhile, find an on-line group to be a part of. Join a Reiki Facebook page (Josslyn Streett, Reiki) or other social networking site that consistently has a positive high vibrational and up lifting message and be a part of it. Put yourself out there, try something new even if you are a little scared. I believe you will find that your evolution goes faster, but will also be more rich and fulfilling along the way with spiritual friends along for the ride.
I often find other blogs or articles that say for me what I want to say but can’t seem to put into words. I found this wonderful, easy to read and well written article about WHY to join a spiritual group, what to look for in a gathering and some tips on starting one of your own if spirit encourages you to do so. Well worth the time to read it.
Enjoy! And, I hope to see many of you at Reiki circle!
The truism that no person is an island applies in the spiritual arena even more than it does in the material. From the most ancient times, people have gathered in groups and communities to engage in spiritual practices addressing the Source of life, the Ineffable hidden beyond our senses. Monasteries and other spiritual communities bring seekers together to live in a protected and conducive environment. In lay or non-monastic environments, the work of the congregation, the sangha, the minyan, and the halka offer spiritual brotherhood and sisterhood within the context of life in the greater community.
Why has this always been the case? Primarily because the spiritual community or group multiplies, empowers, and reinforces the efforts of the individual. Meditation, prayer and other practices, when pursued in a group or community, qualitatively and quantitatively magnify what each person can offer and experience. The coalescence of the group into a shared will and shared consciousness in communal practice creates a greater spiritual whole that enhances individual possibilities. The vehicle of the spiritual group or community carries all its individual participants to far greater spiritual depths than they could typically reach on their own. The group serves as a container for energies and as a reminder of the sacred. Each person in the group or community helps all the others by their very presence and by their orientation toward the Divine, toward love.
In business and other life endeavors, people form alliances and partnerships to create much more than they possibly could by themselves. In the spiritual endeavor, the same holds. We can join forces, share our hearts’ search for the spirit, and help each other climb the mountain of transformation.
Nevertheless, spiritual groups and communities often succumb to pitfalls. Some principles to consider in the work of a spiritual group or community include the following.
1. Equality in Relation to the Divine
In the most basic sense, we are all beggars and beginners in the spiritual path. In the face of Divinity, we are all equal, equally children of the Will of the World. This bedrock principle must pervade the work of any spiritual group. Elders, teachers and those with more experience of the path, if their inner work has been rightly conducted, will, through their genuine humility and respect for others, exhibit an implicit assumption of equality in all their relationships, including with people in the spiritual group or community. We all serve the same Source.
2. Shared Vision
For a group to function well, the members must agree on the path and methods to be studied and followed. Without some commonality of technique and direction, the group will (or should) be short-lived.
3. Peer Group Versus Having a Leader
The question of leadership in a spiritual group raises complex and difficult issues. If there is to be a leader, it must be someone with consistently deeper experience in the path than the rest of the group; otherwise the leaderless peer group offers a more appropriate form. Kindness and non-attachment form two more qualities required in a group leader. Without these, history teaches us that spiritual leaders tend to grow abusive, emotionally, sexually, and financially, or they demand loyalty to themselves and their particular path rather than loyalty to the Divine and to the great community of all life. The leader must inspire trust in his or her goodwill, and confidence in his or her wisdom and knowledge of the path. Condescension, a patronizing attitude, an air of being special, abuse of power, arrogance, and insults do not characterize an effective spiritual leader, regardless of the pious justifications and excuses offered for such behavior. The essence of the role of the spiritual mentor is to share his or her passion for the path and to instill confidence in the possibility of realization.
More subtly, we can look at the leader’s role in terms of the three aspects of will: active, passive, and reconciling or synergistic. The great temptation of a spiritual leader is to play an active role, with the students being passive or receptive to the leader’s lead. This causes many, hard-to-recognize problems. It feeds the leader’s ego, as do the group members by fawning over him or her. Then the group builds an ego around the leader, instead of fostering humility. It robs initiative from the group members, for whom initiative in their own inner work is crucial. The group members become dependent upon the leader’s judgments of them, on the leader’s criticism or praise. This stifles real progress. A truly effective group fosters freedom and individuality in the group members, an individuality that forms the basis of service and surrender to the Divine.
The alternative to the active leader is the reconciling or synergistic leader, neither active nor passive, but both and more. Such a leader, in his or her being and in his or her teaching, points the way toward the Sacred, while leaving room for the group members to be active and work from their own initiative. The qualities of humility, lightness of touch, and non-judging, as well as a deep understanding of the spiritual path and a living, thriving connection to the Sacred characterize the ideal leader.
The leaderless peer group can operate by consensus. If the group spends time speaking about experiences and efforts in the path, then what each person shares must be treated with respect. If the members of the group analyze, criticize, offer advice, or make suggestions in response to another member, they risk poisoning the atmosphere of the group. For honesty and sincerity to prevail, an environment of trust and respect must be developed and protected. Peer group members should limit what they share to relating their own experiences and efforts, and not stray into playing the spiritual mentor. No one can do the spiritual work of another. Guidance, to be effective, must be asked for, not offered gratuitously. In a peer group, guidance can come from hearing the efforts, successes, and failures of the other members of the group.
Both forms, the peer group and the led group, have their place and can greatly accelerate the inner work of the members of the group. In the earlier stages of the path, having a leader offers important benefits. In the first years, we need to be taught the methods by someone who understands them. We need to be nudged back onto the path when we stray. We need to recognize the limits of our own understanding and be willing to ask for and receive guidance. This promotes humility and insulates us from that bane of spiritual work: arrogance. We also need confirmation of our understanding, so our confidence and self-reliance can grow. However, a led group requires a leader with the characteristics described above. Lacking such a person, the peer group can be an excellent alternative.
4. Frequency of Gathering
Living in a genuine spiritual community that works and practices together confers the blessings of a powerful, traditional way toward the spirit. Few of us, though, exhibit a willingness to become monks or nuns. Furthermore, living full-time in a spiritual community does not constitute the best approach for everyone. It depends on one’s temperament and style.
Retreats convey the advantages of life in a spiritual community on a temporary basis. Periodic retreats, in which we focus entirely on the work of presence, deepening awareness, and opening our heart, can prove enormously beneficial in reinvigorating our inner work.
In our normal life situation, a weekly group meeting, attended regularly, offers an external reminder, a source of energy, and a shared commitment, enabling us to maintain our practice in the face of life’s many distractions and pressures. In certain respects, this creates the ideal circumstance. We need great determination to continuously return to our practice in the midst of family, job, community, and other responsibilities. Life becomes our training ground. If our spiritual practice can flower within the challenge of normal life, our practice will grow strong indeed, our hearts open, and our lives transformed.
Practice in the special environment of a retreat or a spiritual community can usher us into deep experiences, tastes of the true spirit. Yet when we return to our normal life, those experiences gradually fade, while thankfully leaving a residue of purification and commitment. Practice in everyday life, however, can bring lasting transformation. Daily progress may not be as dramatic and rapid as during a retreat, but can be more permanent. Gradually, the path and our life merge, so that our life is our path, carrying us toward the opening of our hearts and the Great Source of All.
5. The Structure of the Group Meeting: Practice and Sharing
The spiritual group, to be effective, devotes time to both shared practice and shared discussion. A group which does not meditate, pray, or engage in some other collective spiritual practice misses the remarkable opportunity. Discussion alone, even of the most profound, heartfelt and weighty topics, rarely touches our soul. Discussion alone does not serve the transformation of energies and the purification of will in the way that shared practice can.
Group practice alone, however, may not illumine certain valuable details of the path. For this, the group needs shared discussion. The discussion, though, must not be solely theoretical: it should focus on the details of practice, how one actually practices, what obstacles one encounters, what helps, what experiments one tries, what new insights come, and so forth. If each person in the group describes such living details of their own spiritual efforts, every person in the group benefits thereby. Everyone can relate what the speaker articulates to their own life and path. A theoretical discussion of ideas rarely has such an impact.
Like every individual, each spiritual group or community is unique, and will have its own style, its own lifecycle. But all genuinely spiritual groups and communities support the transformation of their members and enable them to serve in a deeper way than would be possible on their own. If we are fortunate enough to participate in a spiritual group that suits our needs and our taste, well and good. If not, perhaps we can find one other person to share our practice with, forming a group of two. Otherwise, we do our best to pursue our spiritual practice on our own: for this also is possible and necessary. No one else can free us; no one else can do our inner work for us. But we can help each other.
One of the many aspects of living in the Pacific North West that I am so enamored with is hearing the frogs in the spring time. (I’m sure this happens other places but not where I lived before) We have a creek and a pond in our backyard and every year in the spring we are honored by the pleasing symphony of the frogs song. I heard them last night for the first time this spring, the night before the new moon, and I remembered once again, how much they help me to connect to the earth and her cycles of seasons, change and growth.
When I was a little girl in Southern California I used to fill up my dad’s wheel barrow with dirt, plants, water and sticks to make a habitat for the frogs and toads I’d find. I thought I was helping them, of course, by making them this nice safe place to live. I’d get my Noah’s ark that I’d collected piece by piece from Arco service stations and add that to the scene for fun. I spent hours, days playing this way. I’d let them go at the end of the day because as most moms do, mine told me I had to. In my memories I spent a great deal of time playing with my arc and the frogs. I’d forgotten until I moved up here how much I was fascinated by frogs when I was a kid. I guess that’s true for a lot of people, as we get older, go to school, then college or a job, we lose touch with some of the nature we treasured as a child. Moving to the Olympic Peninsula has helped me to get some of that admiration back. I don’t have to fly or travel to nature, it’s right here in my yard again, all around me wherever I go here.
Western Green Tree Frog
It always amazes me how the frogs all start-up their earthly singing at the same time with one little guy or gal leading the way, then end all at the same time. Robert and I sit up in bed listening, enjoying the natural melodic hum of their reverberations. In spiritual circles it is said that frogs are the pulse of the earth. That they feel the energy from the earth and through their night sounds are relaying to us what is going on with the weather, with the earth and even with us. When doing research on frogs I read stories such as in China, where a huge frog migration was seen as a bad omen by many of the local people. The government told them it was a normal propagation migration. Seven days later they had a large earthquake and thousands of people were killed. When civilians were angered by the scientists not being able to predict the earthquake,as the frogs did, Chinese scientists stated that animals have a much better sense of detecting natural disasters.
In Feng Shui it is said that a family of frogs living in your garden will bring good luck to your home and it’s occupants. In Chinese culture frogs and toads are symbols of immortality, healing, money, the moon and frivolity. In the North West Coast People’s beliefs frogs are considered good luck as well and it is not considered wise to demean or injure them. And they have native stories about little children who have done this with negative repercussions. In the Bible many of the stories of frogs speak of them being unclean, dangerous spirits and not to be trusted. I liked this Hebrew translation of the stories of frogs from the Bible that I read on this website best. You can read about that at this website if you like. She does a much better job and is more an expert than I am. It is extremely interesting.
“The frog does not drink up the Pond in which he lives.” Sioux
If you enjoy the sounds of the frogs as much as I do and feel frogs may be one of your totem animals then read on. I have enclosed a transcript from my favorite animal totem book by Dr. Steven D. Farmer, “Animal Spirit Guides.” Enjoy.
If Frog shows up, it means: (choose only those that apply to you) (shows up means, in life, dreams, meditations, a story you hear, etc.)
If you hear a frog during the daytime, it will rain very soon.
Do a physical cleanse to detoxify your body.
Do an emotional cleanse by letting yourself really feel your emotions, and cry as much as you need to in order to clear and release any emotional toxicity.
Singing or chanting out loud will help you feel more balanced, at peace, and connected to the divine.
You’re entering into a time of plenty and abundance.
This is the start of a slow and steady transformational process for you, a movement from an old life to a new.
Call on FROG when:
It’s time to cleanse your life of people, places, or things that no longer fit in with your present lifestyle and who you are.
You’re in the midst of any life change, whether small or large, and you need the emotional sustenance and strength to go through it in a fluid and graceful way.
You’re planning to do a clearing and blessing ceremony for your home, office, or a specific space.
You feel intimidated or hesitant about honestly stating your thoughts, feelings, or opinions to someone.
You simply feel overwhelmed with negativity and want to clear it up.
If FROG is your POWER ANIMAL:(Most will apply if FROG is your power animal)
You’re a very sensitive and compassionate person, and readily express deep feelings in words and actions.
Your voice, and especially your singing, can at times arouse deep emotions, yet at the same time soothe anyone within its range.
To others you initially seem rather remote and self-absorbed, yet once they get past their first impressions of you, they discover the depth and nobility of your character.
In your work, you seem to plod along very slowly and have trouble getting started, but you stay with it and get the job done. You enjoy the study of ancient mysteries and particularly the art of magic.
Today I added a video by Tom Lescher, Astrologer extraordinaire to my Face Book page. Love his posts. Watch them every week now and it always seems like he’s talking directly to me, my life, what’s going on in my life. ITS ALL ABOUT ME!! Sorry, a bit of a narcissistic moment there. I am the Goddess and the Center of MY Universe and I’m fine and good with that. But, this is about you all, right!? (another blog I guess) Back on track, really, It’s amazing how he does it. He is no newspaper astrologer that’s for sure. I liked his quote this week and I felt a need to write a little something about it and how it applies to my life as a Reiki teacher and all of our lives as a humans on the healing highway of life.
“I am the bridge between the imagined and the real. When I follow through I truly heal.” Tom Lescher
What does that mean? It speaks to me because I do truly feel like a bridge for people from the “real” to what they think is the imagined life. However, to me it is the other way around. The spiritual world gets more and more real and less and less imagined the more time I spend there. (Have you seen “The Matrix?”) In fact it is just as real as the “real” world. The more time you spend doing Reiki, meditating, praying, dreaming and other activities that take you to your spiritual place, the more you realize that they are real and “reality,” not so much.
Also, the more time I spend in the spiritual world the more neutral I can be to the drama of the Earth plane and the high emotions that go on here. (had no idea I was headed in this direction) Some may feel this is not a good thing, a disconnect from reality. Whatever, they are entitled to their opinions. However, I see it as being able to view the Earth and it’s drama from a higher plane, like the eagle, flying above, looking down from a distance. I always LOVED that Bette Midler song, “From a Distance” for a reason! She’s gently advising us to look at life from a higher outlook and we are getting new information for it. Viewing issues from a higher place can give us new and different perspectives to those problems. It allows us to see even our own drama in a new light, a less emotional light, a less defensive light maybe.
Then, at that point, we can also see solutions. Actions. Things we can DO to change our situation on this planet. When we are so caught up in the emotions only of a situation we have a much harder time of doing this. I’m not saying emotions are bad. I’m all for emotions. They are a fabulous way to release stuff for sure. But, I’m also saying, there is a time and a place for moving past the emotional release and moving into “what can we do about this now” point.
A new perspective!
That takes us to Tom’s second half of his quote “When I follow through I truly heal.” This is the grounded, earthy part of the quote, the action, the doing. The follow through of the plan that you conceived while you were looking at your situation from a higher place. Being the eagle. When we are not so embroiled in the turmoil and theatrics going on we are in a much better situation within ourselves to solve an issue rather than just stew in it or “catastrophize” it. Oh I used to be good at all of it, drama, drama, drama!! Ask anyone who knew me before I knew energy. I was a mountain out of a mole hill type of girl. It has taken time, but I have grown, worked, and changed quite a bit.
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. the slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” John Calvin Coolidge
One thing that helps me a lot, I’m a DOER. I may get into a pity party for a while, but never for long. I figure out what I can DO to make my situation better and I do it. No fear, no lazing around and waiting for things to get better, no blaming, ok, maybe some blaming, but I do something.
THIS is the time of action. The energy of 2012 is so ramped up, I can feel it daily. I can feel the action it is calling for. I hear the messages Divine is giving me. The energy is requiring us to take action, change, grow and learn more than ever. I keep finding myself taking on new projects, new groups, new websites, new blogs, new writings, etc.
The Golden Gate Bridge is one of my most favorite bridges so I included photos of it on this blog. I love how this one is half in the clouds, or the spiritual world, and half in reality. So lovely.
Just knowing, having faith that Divine will be there to support me through it all, I do it all. So far so good. When you have faith you have a nice big safety net. Use it, depend on it. This is the year you are going to need it. Because DOING something new and different is the only way this year is going to work out for us all where we raise our vibrations to a point that the energy is not too difficult to handle. Doing something new and different is the only way, like Tom said, we will truly heal. Follow through! If you have recently started yoga, then DO it. If you are taking a Reiki class, then GO to the circles. If you have recently started with a new therapist, then do not skip your sessions. Whatever it is that is a good new habit to help you learn and grow, DO IT. No excuses. If you need something healthy and new to help you grow, then pick up the phone and call me. I’m here to help you keep moving forward. I’m here to help you on your healing highway. We’ll keep you at a speed limit you can handle but we’ll keep moving forward.
One of the hardest parts of being a healer is having this knowing that you can help people……………………. but only if they show up.
What happens if you don’t show up? Nothing. Nothing at all.
DO YOU FEEL LIKE 2012 IS A HUGE, FAST MOVING, SOMETIMES VERY SCARY ROLLER COASTER RIDE?
The roller coaster of 2012
then read on…..because TODAY, March 18th thru the 24th we are on the really high ramp of the roller coaster getting ready to plunge to the earth as Mercury conjunct with Uranus, watch out………………….
I don’t do astrology, have no idea how, but I do enjoy reading a good astrology report now and again. My friend Ellen turned me onto Tom Lescher’s Facebook page and he does videos on You Tube that are great too. So far he’s cool and pretty right on for how I’ve been feeling lately. I always go with my intuition and don’t always know what’s going on with the planets to back up my feelings until I read a report like this one on Tom’s Facebook page by Palona Somrak.
I’ve been talking to a lot of my clients lately about the feeling of being on a roller coaster. The energy this year, 2012, is fast and furious. We are being tested over and over again. We are feeling the energy push down upon us, putting pressure on us, making life more difficult and/or more busy than usual. Why is it doing this you ask? So we can LEARN! It’s all good!
LOVE this movie! Steve Martin is a father who does not like being on the roller coaster, but his Nana LOVES it! It's so much fun.
The roller coaster I get from one of my favorite movies with Steve Martin, “Parenthood”. Grandma in the movie says about a roller coaster ride to Steve Martin’s character, “You know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn’t like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing. I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it.”
Back then, I personally didn’t like being on roller coasters that much. I was more like the Steve Martin character. But, lately, with my trust and faith in the Divine, and some life experience, I like it and am grateful for it. I can now see it for what it is, as I’m moving up and down those waves of terror. While on the roller coaster we may get sick to our stomachs, we may throw up our hands and scream with joy for the wild ride or we may be apathetic and ignore it all. It’s up to us. It really is. We are in a time of major change. We can either fight the change, try to ignore it and pretend it isn’t going on and make things harder on ourselves and those around us or we can throw our hands up, surrender to the change and scream with joy, or fright. Either way, the surrender is what’s important.
Surrender to the coaster, throw your arms up and scream with joy, or fear, but at least you're living!
How do we do this you may ask?
Good question. All I can tell you is how I do this and hopefully it will help you. When a challenge comes up that makes you angry, frustrated, stressed or even furious, STOP YOURSELF.
Stop – Recognizing the behavior is the first step to stopping it. If you can stop and recognize it then you can….
Look at it – instead of pushing it down inside you where you’ve always put it because it is socially unacceptable, look at it. Everyone in our lives is a mirror for us, good or bad. I say there is no bad because looking at ourselves in a way that will create change is hard but still VERY GOOD! THAT is the roller coaster.
Feel it…..what does it feel like, why is it so scary and horrible? Is it really that bad? Did it serve you when you were young but don’t need it anymore? Once past this point you can then…..
Accept it and realize that it really isn’t so bad. Usually we have these defense mechanisms set up to protect us from something when we are younger. Many times they served us well then, but are not needed in that capacity now.
Thank it, thank the socially unacceptable behavior for helping you all these years, let it know you no longer need it and are choosing to move on in a new and healthier fashion. Surround it in Love and Light and Reiki energy. Allow it to move to the Light and be transformed into Love once again. Gratitude is an important part of all spiritual processes! Practice it regularly!
Stop denying it. Denial will get you NO WHERE and fast, like being on the merry go round. Denial will get you doing this again, in another body, for a whole other life until you do get it. Do you really want to do this same lesson, this same life all over again? wouldn’t you rather move on to another adventure!?
Healthy Activities – Let go of the activities that do not serve your higher purpose (I won’t list those, YOU know what they are!) and add in activities that do, such as; meditation, gratitude, prayer, Reiki circle and Reiki sessions, exercise, tummy breathing, journaling, reading uplifting books, etc. Do these activities with an intention to LET GO of the behaviors that no longer serve you. With intention added, you’ll be surprised how much this helps.
Go for Reiki– Call me, someone on my links page or someone you trust who does Reiki, IEH or energy healing. A qualified practitioner can help you release the really deep and tough stuff. If you do not feel better after an energy healing session then look for a new practitioner. You want to feel better each and every time you leave. I go to others regularly for help with MY tough stuff. They help so much with the really difficult denials.
Take a Reiki class– Empower yourself, learn how to heal yourself, your family, your pets and your friends! I teach all these techniques in my sessions, classes and circles.
You may change the order of these steps to suit you but this is basically how I do it each and every time I come up against a behavior of mine that I no longer wish to work with, (anger, denial, jealousy, guilt, hurting others in any way, lack of self-confidence, frustration, impatience, etc.). the behaviors that no longer serve me. Yes, I’m human, ALL HEALERS ARE HUMAN. We still have Unbuddha-like moments. How else would we be able to help others if we did not go through the process ourselves?
Try it, see if it doesn’t make the roller coaster a bit (or a lot) more fun. Make the journey an adventure! Please comment and let me know how it’s working for you. And, call me or email me if you need some support in the process. THAT IS WHAT I DO! I support you along your personal healing journey.
Link below if you want to read Tom’s page or Palona’s forecast for March, 2012.
Astrology Forecast for March, 2012
by Palona Somrak
“The month of March will be a lot easier for you if you just pretend that you have boarded the high-speed bullet train that gets you to your destination at hundreds of miles per hour (whether you are late or not!). This is a month where our nervous systems are undergoing a great cosmic cleanse. It is an opportunity to rid ourselves of all the shaky, old, outworn mental patterns that are no longer serving us. Beyond that, we will have an opportunity to purge immature emotional patterns lingering from lifetimes gone by that are preventing us from fully realizing our potential.
read more...Powerful days of change this month will be 2, 3, 7-8, 12-13, 15, 18-24, and 29-30.”
WOW! What a great Reiki circle we had on Saturday. I felt a need to write a post about it. You know, if you are one of my students, I talk about the Reiki circle a lot. That’s because I so totally believe in it.
This month we talked about healing ourselves and others using a technique of reliving past lives. We talked for about an hour, answered questions and I shared some of my favorite books about past life healing (which are all available in my lending library)
I led everyone into a meditation for them to experience their past lives themselves. I was pleasantly surprised EVERYONE was able to retrieve a past life themselves, even if they have had very little meditation experience. I don’t know why I was surprised other than it was my first time doing this particular meditation with anyone else. But, when I do past life hypnosis every one has been able to do it as well. This meditation is very similar to that. But, with leading a whole group of people this time, I had to wait until the meditation was over to hear how it was working. I loved hearing the lives that each person experienced themselves and HOW it is able to help them heal something in their lives NOW. It was very exciting. (For more Past Life Healing stories). I’d love to do this topic again in a future circle. It is of course, one of my favorites!
The more people in a spiritual group, the more powerful the energy, connection to the energy and connection to Divine Source!
Another quick pitch for the Reiki circle. I believe in it so much and for so many reasons. Here are some of them off the top of my head:
No matter how busy your life is, you can fit Reiki in once a month. YES, you can! It’s a matter of priorities. Make YOU a priority!
Practice, practice and more practice! Here is a chance to practice on other Reiki people CONSISTENTLY once every month. (Twice a month if you have children)
Getting together in groups is a stress reliever in itself, but a Reiki group must be 10 x the stress relief! We always feel GREAT afterwards.
Getting together with like-minded people is also important for your spiritual growth, affirmation of who you are and the journey you are on.
The more you run Reiki the more you raise your vibration, are able to run more energy and receive information better as well.
When you run energy as a group, your abilities expand even faster and you are able to learn more and TRUST your abilities better.
You become much more confident in your abilities when you come and practice them with others at Reiki circle and are able to ask questions and share ideas.
Plus, It’s just so much FUN!
There are many more reasons but to me those are my KEY reasons to make Reiki circle a priority, once a month. Can YOU think of any? Please comment.
In Love and Light of the Divine, welcome. Here, I share ideas on how to live a more spiritual life using Reiki and other spiritual tools and techniques. I help private clients –like you– break through blockages so you can freely move forward on your spiritual path. –Josslyn Streett
