Surrender to Flow with Cynthia and Toby Ameson

This month's guests are my own Reiki Masters Cynthia and Toby Ameson.  With over 10 years of Reiki teaching experience, they come to share some really unique and profound tips to bring you in closer alignment with your optimal health and wellbeing.

Having originally experienced the power of Reiki in Japan while on a spiritual pilgrimage on the same mountain the founder had traveled, Cynthia and Toby have adapted the traditional practice of Reiki into a state of being practice we all can indulge in every day.

I want to take a moment and share some special words of gratitude to my Reiki Masters for taking time to join me on the show and share their wisdom with you all.  

Connect with Cynthia and Toby :

• Get a session from their Private Practice
• "Get Clients and Make Money as a Holistic Practitioner" Udemy course

Finish your Reiki Level 1 course with one of us:

Rainbow Raaja
Toby and Cynthia Ameson
Hands on Healing Institute (Tujunga, CA)

🎶Music Credit:
Intro -  Condor and Eagle by Kalya Scintilla
Outro - Thor by Chakuna Machi Asa

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Transcript

0:20

Hello, hello hello and welcome to rainbows rising where we ascend together. I'm Rainbow Raaja Shaw, woman and transformational coach. I teach skills to help you rise to the best version of yourself healing trauma, having perception shifts and laughing along the way. Each month we cover a topic or modality to offer new insights, tips and healing skills to aspire you to ascend. Thank you guys so much for joining me today. I have two incredible Reiki Masters with me we have Cynthia and Toby emison Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm so happy to have you guys on you guys are my Reiki Master. I would love to be able to to just share with everyone. I I learned Reiki first with them. I told you guys how my first experience with Reiki was, but something that I didn't share is how many times after I went through your guyses program, I went I tried to just touch up on my Reiki and I went to other teachers. And it was not the same experience and I have had so many students come to me saying I went to a Reiki Master I learned Reiki already or I went to a Reiki healer I didn't feel like anything happened. And they come to me and they say the experience is completely different. They have no idea why that was so different. They felt nothing before the Reiki wasn't working. And now suddenly it is and it's I don't I don't have any words for it. I just know that whatever you guys taught me works. So share, share your journey and how you found it and all that stuff. Okay. Well, once upon a time, the two of us were studying abroad together while we were at university, and we studied in Kyoto, Japan. And while we were there, we both developed some health conditions that were very painful, and did the whole medical route and there wasn't much that medicine could offer for us. So we were talking to our spirituality teacher one day, we took a class in English on Japanese religions and spirituality. And he suggested that we try a Japanese technique called forest bathing, which is where you go out into a forest and take a hike and pray and be with the nature spirits and just be out in nature for a while. And the idea is that nature itself is cleansing and healing and, you know, good things can happen if you do that. And we were like, okay, sure, we'll give that a try. We really like nature. And we're totally here for meeting all these Japanese forest spirits. We keep hearing about and you know, folklore and stuff. Let's go let's see if we can find something. So we did take a hike from panorama to keep an eye. That's right. Yeah. And that's basically over a mountain and through Valley. Kodama and keep an eye both mountains. So we started on Kodama mountain, and then went through the valley and ended up on Cubana mountain. Yeah. And it's all really, really deep, old primordial forest, like these trees are hundreds of years old. And they're almost untouched by humans. There are a few people there monks and things that live out in the forest and take care of the trails and stuff and try to make sure that there the human impact on the forest is is minimized as possible. So it's a very natural and very respected area. And there's, there's sort of a trail marked from one end to the other. So we did this pilgrimage, they call it a spiritual pilgrimage from one place to the other through this forest, and it was one of the most beautiful experiences I've ever had in my life. It the forest has a living presence. And it feels like being watched, but in that like a loving parent has your hand kind of way. And we felt very safe and very guided. Of course while we were there we were being very respectful of all of the nature and you know, not being too noisy and not leaving anything behind and all of those, you know, be good to nature things. And had a couple of like really beautiful moments while we were out in this forest of just feeling very connected to life and to nature and the Spirit and to spirit, very much to spirit. And by the time we got to the other end of this hike, it was about an eight hour hike. Neither of us had any pain. And for both of us, you know, hiking for eight hours, that was kind of nuts. That was a big deal. Given that we had been there because we weren't feeling well. And we started out in quite a bit of pain. Yeah. So she had back problems, and I had an ovarian cyst. And both of those things were very painful when we started and we weren't sure we were even going to make the whole hike. But by the end of the day, there was no pain. It felt so light and easy. You're walking through that forest. Yeah. And a couple of days later, after that beautiful hike. There was there was nothing on my scan, my ovarian cyst had disappeared. And the doctors were like, Oh, that's amazing. Cool. It spontaneously went away. They do that sometimes. Did you do anything special? And I was like film, we did this forest bathing thing. And they were like, Yeah, okay. To the Japanese doctors, this was like, it made sense. Okay. You imagine saying that to a Western doctor? Yeah, I mean, they were practitioners of Western medicine that they were very cool with that. They were like, Oh, yeah. Okay, cool. Good for you. Yeah, forest bathing. Yep. That's probably what did it. So we had this beautiful experience on the mountain and more healing that happened. Yeah. And it's incredible, you know, physical and spiritual healing that happened. Both of us were very moved from the experience. And, you know, felt a lot of both physical and spiritual well being coming out of that. Yeah. And after that, we went back home, and we were looking into energy modalities in that like, Oh, what do people do this? This is exciting. Oh, is this real? I want to go for the size us do this. And we found a practitioner in Santa Rosa. Her name is Kathleen Prasad. She is the leading animal Reiki Reiki therapist in the nation. And so we went up to take her class and that her class, she was talking about the history of Reiki. And one of the things we learned was that the founder of Reiki, Mikao Usui, received his Reiki attunements moments of enlightenment, whatever you would like to call that. So the Reiki, you know, came upon him, fired me because he had a big spiritual experience, right. It was on Mount Koroma. It was in that place where we had been healed. Yeah. Some some sacred site that is, yeah. So you know, we had literally had the spiritual healing at the sacred site where it was Usui sensei had received his, you know, Reiki knowledge and attunement, and we didn't know that for like a year. Yeah, yes. So talk about synchronicity. Gosh, there are no coincidences in life. Holy crap. So we're like, oh, this is the modality for us clearly. And so we took Reiki one with Kathleen and went back for Reiki two. And then our master level Reiki three was with Carrie Draper's. She. She does oncology, Reiki and she runs a Reiki program called Huntington in each Reiki, she's in Orange County, in Huntington Beach in Southern California. Yeah. And also a really wonderful practitioner. Yeah, very much. So you know, from there, we were practicing and just developing our skills and diving deeper into Reiki. One of the fun things for us about Reiki, we're very much like self learners we like to explore on our own. And so one of the first things that we learned in Reiki is that Reiki will teach you. Yep. And that was one of the first things that Kathleen said to us. And we were like, Oh, yeah. So essentially, you learn how to find the Reiki space. And from there, you don't actually necessarily need a teacher. The teacher is there to guide you and to help you go through the class. concepts and the principles and the practices that have been established by Reiki Masters over the decades. But you don't necessarily need that. Because if you're open to the flow of Reiki, Reiki will show you how to do what it does. And so one of the fun things that we enjoyed doing is we would take a level. So we started with level one, and then we'd go practice. And we practice and we practice and we practice. And then we went back to level two, and then Kathleen starts talking about Okay, so here the level two techniques were like what we've been doing for a while now, already, and that we showed us that, yeah, that was very, very validating, very cool to, like, have discovered this on our own, and then to go back to class, and then have that be part of the, you know, official material. Yeah, so we took about six months between level one and level two, just to give ourselves a chance to kind of play with it and be with it and learn what we could add of level one before we tried to add anything more. Level one is kind of the basic level where you learn how to tune into the Reiki flow, and how to do the heart breathing, there's a lot of self care in Reiki one. And then in level two, you start adding more advanced techniques. So there's kind of an assumption that you've mastered the ability to get into the Reiki space by the time you reach level two. So we really want to you were on our students, right, we really, really wanted to make sure that we were ready for level over prepared. I think I ended up taking what a year between regular on into. Yeah, yes. Yeah. And that's, that's, that's very fine. I mean, it's possible with a lot of teachers to take, you know, one and two very close together. Some people will even sorry, go ahead. Some people will even do the, like one through master level in a single weekend. Yeah, I don't really recommend because it's a lot to handle. It's like taking like, an entire college course, in one sitting, you know, it's like, yeah, there's, I don't know, I definitely anytime somebody talks about learning Reiki, I don't recommend that just because there's so much to absorb. And it's like, they don't have any time to actually apply the skills. You know, and then and then they, you know, it's all kind of ego based, in my opinion, in my opinion, my opinion, it's a lot more likely to end up in an ego based place, if you haven't really taken the time to let the Reiki show you Yeah, if you're moving through it too fast, you might be listening to your own inner filter, rather than the actual flow of the Reiki. Yeah, and it can take a while it can take some practice, to be able to tell the difference between your inner ego filter, and what the flow is actually showing you. Yeah, and another thing about, you know, moving through Reiki very quickly, is that Reiki is very much a being a practice rather than a doing practice. So when you look at the teachings of Reiki, like the actual techniques and concepts, and you know, what is what is there to memorize sort of thing. It's not that much. It's just, it's this handful of techniques and this handful of, you know, principles that you learn. So looking at it from, I'm going to say, from a western point of view, or looking at it from a western point of view, where everything is about, like, well, how much knowledge does it contain, you can make Reiki boil down into just a handful of ideas. But that's not where the power is. The power of Reiki is in the being and learning how to be with the energy of flow and with yourself and with the relationship of view to the universe and the relationship of view and whoever you're offering the Reiki to, like that's the hard part. It's not the actual concepts we say a lot when we teach Reiki that, you know, Reiki is very simple. But it's not easy. Yeah, I know that. Even though I've been doing it for what 10 years God it's been 10 years. Happy ten year. Oh, wow, you guys happy 10 year friendship anniversary. I know that even even in this this space. I will catch myself. Yes. You know, like, I mean, if I'm not doing Reiki every single day, I will fall out of flow with my own life and find myself in anxiety and not in the moment. But if I'm doing Reiki every day, even if it's just like 30 minutes just throughout the day, just like splitting it up just like my life. Everything just flows everything in my life just works out I don't know why I don't know how. And then when I'm with clients, if I break the flow, and I end up like thinking about, Oh, you know, oh, I can tell that this client is like, not 100% asleep yet. I wonder what's keeping them up? And are they? Are they having a good time? Are they enjoying this, I wonder if they're, if they're wondering what I'm doing. I'm like, wait a second, my hands that are not working. Where did the flow go? It's gone. But it took me a while, like, I if I had jumped from Reiki one to Reiki two in that first year, I don't think I would have been able to tell the difference between it being you know, what we call on and off right reiki. Now, something I did talk about a lot last week was the difference between Western and you know, Western Western, and Japanese Reiki, like the tradition, traditional Reiki, Western Reiki, and in my, you know, in my personal teachings, I actually break it all down, I did a whole bunch of research on how in Japan, they teach it, versus how Westerners teach it, right? And I give people the option, um, like, you can, you know, take pieces of whatever works for you. There's no bad or good way. It's just an understanding of like how your mind works and how you are going to absorb these concepts better, because really, that's what it comes down to. For you to be able to feel it more. Right, right. Yeah. So again, Reiki is very simple, right? But it's not easy. And it's the way of being in Reiki is a little bit counter to the way that we are trained to live in Western societies. Yes, we are so hostile culture and, you know, constantly producing things and constantly doing and, you know, being very active, and this is what our society values. Literally with money, it values this. But the Reiki way of being is literally about being sitting still and listening and observing to what's going on and being a part of the flow of life and giving up control. You have to surrender controller doesn't work give up control. Yeah, nothing back almost. Yeah. Like Like it just literally like taking a backseat and letting Reiki guide you. Yeah. And if you don't, it doesn't happen. No. And not to say that you can't do energy work from that space, because there are a lot of people who do justice. But what you're doing in that space is no longer Reiki. If you've fallen out of the flow. Now you're doing energy manipulation. And I hope, you know, training behind you to be able to do that safely. I talked about that last week, too. Yeah, yeah. So you know, to to piggyback off what you were saying about the Japanese versus Western teaching. One of the things that we like to talk about is that, you know, from what records that we have of Usui Sensei, like the original founder, the way that he taught, he was a Buddhist monk, right? Is he would just sit in the temple with his students, and he would just be the Reiki but them and that was literally how the teaching is the students would sit and meditate with him and be in the the created feeling space of that universal love energy, that universal well being and life force energy. Just up. Yeah, yes. Just him, emanating that into the rule. Like, and, and letting the students feel that. And through feeling that then they learned how to also be it. Right. So it's taking a feeling and then becoming it. Right. And I think going back to what you were saying at the beginning, I think this might be the difference between why some Reiki practitioners, you know, I don't feel anything, is anything happening? Is this real? And some people are like, Oh, my God, that was the most powerful experience I've ever had in my life. I think one of the factors there is how, how much is the practitioner, really, in the flow? How much have they gotten out of the way and surrendered and are just letting the Reiki be the power in the room? And how much are they trying to do something in order to get paid? Because those those two mentalities are just so far apart in the in the energy flow? Yeah. Yeah, I'm definitely you know, teaching over the years, a lot of the difficulties that our students come back to us with it's like, okay, you know, I'm great when I'm in the classroom, and, you know, the Reiki is flowing, and it's awesome. And then I go and I do a paid session. And then all that happens is I panic, you know, like, Am I doing anything? They're paying me for this. I need to do something this person is coming to me with their pain or their, you know, discomfort or their, you know, their whatever issue they're coming in with. And then now all I'm thinking about is I need to fix your issue. Yeah. And that is like the, the most certain way to shut off the Reiki kind of the opposite. Speaking of that, right, yeah, um, a lot of people that are obviously listening to this podcast, we hope that they go into doing Reiki for others eventually, right? For the most part, I think a lot of people are gonna be utilizing this for themselves. i That's my intention. Right? Right. So, um, you know, how, how do you do Reiki on yourself without getting in your own way, because you know, you haven't be awake enough to do Reiki on yourself. And in a way you feel like you're having to fix yourself like that's, that's your intention going is I've got a problem. I'm trying to fix it. So maybe you can give some guidance to the listeners on like, how they can approach their own self healing in a way that's going to support their healing more than like, them feeling like they have to nurse themselves. Right? Yeah. So let's start with the concept of what what is Reiki? What exactly is it? What's this feeling we're going for. And probably all of you have already experienced the Reiki feeling at some point in your life. Because all it is, is the flow of life. It is the sense of universal love and universal well being. And that being present in the moment and feeling good and safe in your body. So you can be in the flow of life and the flow of Reiki, when you're doing art, when you're being creative when you're exercising. When you're meditating, when you're doing yoga, when you're having a really nice bath. When you're walking out in nature, it's just that sense of being connected to life and the universe and the world around you. Some people will call this being in the zone. Some people call this being in the flow. It can be an active thing it can be while you're exercising or while you're you know, creating something or while you're working on something that you're very focused on. All of that can also contain that flow. And for those of you might have trauma, sitting still with your body. And feeling safe might not be something that's easily accessible, but you can still do the Reiki you can still practice the being with yourself. But maybe instead of sitting still and closing your eyes, you want to take a walk and see if you can feel into the space around you. Can you feel the grass and the trees can you feel the sky and the ground beneath your feet and trying to connect with that sense of life and world and nature outside of your own body? That can be a safe anchor for people who have trouble sitting still in their own body? That the idea of like right now in this moment, there's nothing going on. I'm safe here, right now in this, this immediate moment in my body, right? I'm here with the sky and the air and the sun. And right now in this moment, there is safety and you can start to feel that sense of that universal presence that that that life energy, connecting with you and embracing you. With that kind of practice. I had I don't know. I don't want to interrupt you. Okay, so another thought here. Oh, no comeback thought. You as Reiki. its gone. What was the question that we're talking about? You were talking about? Reiki and ways? Nope. Nope. Okay. All right. All right. Sorry. Anyway, so I like that you brought up people with trauma on how difficult it can be to feel into your body. And you encourage them to like take walks or just be in the moment with what you're doing. I find that I do Reiki like, when I'm doing dishes when I'm driving in my car. Yeah. I can even do it watching TV. I find I you know, when I'm having social anxiety doing Reiki when I'm like listening to somebody talk makes me feel less anxious in the moment. Right. And those are all ways that I have applied Reiki right. You know, like passively to my life. Make me more comfortable in my own skin. And then my own situation. Yeah. Okay, so I caught my thought I remember I was gonna say. So the other thing that is really hard for a lot of us kind of at all stages of Reiki practice, whether you're new or whether you're very advanced is hanging on to this idea of I'm wounded and I need healing. And I'm coming to this space because I'm in pain or I'm having a problem, and there's something that needs to be fixed. And letting go of the idea that you need to fix something in Reiki space. Instead, think of it like, Okay, this is how I'm showing up today. This is how I feel right now I'm in pain, these things in my life are out of balance. What does love know about this? What does the universe know about this situation? What direction is life already trying to pull me and I haven't been quiet enough to hear. And by asking this question, this type of question, you're asking the Reiki, okay, what do you already know what is already the movement of life trying to happen in me to return me to balance and wellbeing. And you can start to feel that there's a direction to the flow. It's from where you're at, toward well being and there are steps along that path. And maybe you're only going to get one step. In fact, usually, it's only the step in front of you that right he will make you aware of it won't give you the 25 step plan from A to Z because that would be overwhelming overwhelming. Most of us looking at a 25 step plan would just give up. So Reiki doesn't usually do that it usually just lays out, what's the next step toward well being? So instead of asking, How do I fix myself, we start asking, Okay, right here, what do you know about this? What does love know about this? What does life already want for me? What direction should I move for wellbeing? And by asking those more open questions, you can start to feel what the direction of that next step is. And you might start having an emotional release, you might start having an inspiration or a new train of thought you, you know, might suddenly become aware of something really, really uncomfortable and start thinking about it. But as long as you can think about it. Within that Reiki space, the Reiki can start to unwind the places where those thought patterns have gotten rigid or stuck, and start to show you places where you could shift your perspective and open up some more possibility for yourself. Mm. And maybe all that happens is that you relax. Yeah. And that's a really actually important step toward well being and toward healing is being able to relax. So many of us go through our lives holding tension, and, you know, holding on to things and not being able to like really relax into our bodies and into our lives. So sometimes the next step toward well being as Reiki is like, Alright, we're gonna get you to relax today. And you get in the flow and your breathing and your body starts to melt. And then maybe you go to sleep. And that's about where I am. I know you guys are doing Reiki, I'm like, stay awake for it. Yeah, yeah. So like for the interview? Yeah, Reiki will always bring you what you need. When you get into that space of universal love and universal well being and Reiki moves you toward the next step of well being. It's not always what you think it is. In fact, oftentimes it's not, you know, you go to the space and you're like, Oh, I'm having this problem in my life Reiki was going on, right? Because like, take a nap. I took a walk. We should just make it I took a nap. Yeah. I mean, sometimes it's go eat a sandwich. Yeah, sometimes it's, you know, go play with the cat, there's not always going to be this is how you fix this problem in your life. Because you're just so far into that problem, that it's gonna take a while to kind of work your vibration out and mend it. And why didn't you travel it enough? It takes a lot of security and well being sometimes to hear an answer, like you need to change everything. Yeah. So if that's the answer that Ricky's guiding you toward, it may not come all in one dump. It might, it might be, you know, first we're gonna get you used to relaxing, and then we're gonna get you used to the idea that, Oh, that's kind of uncomfortable. Maybe we can improve it a little bit. And when he will give you only the kind of steps that you can handle, it's not going to turn your life upside down. Unless that is actually what you need. And sometimes even more uncomfortable than you need to turn your life upside down and shake it is you need to do nothing. Yep. Right. Like, I find that Reiki is really good at getting you to completely do the opposite of what you think you should be doing. Bakley and then when you let go of what you think you should be doing is when you realize what you really should be doing. Right, right. Exactly. Yeah. And, you know, I mean, when we have a problem, a lot of times we want an action step like Okay, tell me what to do. And sometimes Reiki's like, you can't control this, go chill, go relax, take a bath, you know, sometimes reiki is like, that's not actually any of your business, or that's not under your control that's in somebody else's hands right now. So why don't you go do something that feels good instead? Mm hmm. And, you know, let the universe move. Let the universe do its thing. And when there is an action step, reiki, he will definitely give you the urge to go get up and move. Yes, yes. It's not always passive. Sometimes it's like a very active sometimes like a lightning bolt or a giant waterfall. You know, all sudden, you have this like energy, and you want to go do the thing, right? So that that's also a possibility. But really, you know, what you're looking for is that like, open space of just listening. And like, setting aside your expectations, setting aside your emotional stakes in whatever is going on with you. I think that's one of the hardest things getting into this space is like, if if your life is extremely uncomfortable, right now you have a huge emotional stake in making it better. Right? And then coming to the Reiki space, you're like, I have an agenda and right because like, Okay, well, we're just gonna, we're gonna wait until you, like, don't do that. You let that go a little bit, let that go. Because yeah, we can't move you until you release control enough to let us guide you. And that's, you know, that's what you're looking for is that like releasing of your agenda and your, you know, emotional stakes and just letting the flow of life speak and move you and guide you. So I notice that the way you guys talk about Reiki is very much almost like you're speaking about a human like to Reiki is, as you would a living creature person, human, right. So more like a divinity, I would say okay, in person. We think of Reiki as you know, you could potentially compare Reiki to a godlike being. We say that Reiki is divine love. Yes, it is, is the conscious awareness of the universe. That is an all knowing and all loving presence, it's completely benevolent. It's only ever moving in the direction of your well being. And it's, we don't we don't want to externalize it too much. But yes, it's what you're made of. Yeah, literally, you're made of life, energy. Everything in the universe is made at its most basic level out of love. And when you can tune into that, that gentle, loving, vibration, things can shift in the outside world and in your inner world. So it's not that Reiki is outside of you and separate from you. It is you it is your deepest lifeforce. Yes. So when we say Reiki will give you something or when we say that, you know, we're asking questions or talking to it or whatever, right? What we're referring to is getting quiet enough that you can hear your own soul really, right, you can hear the spark of life inside you. Because you're made of the stuff of the universe, right? Everything is energy, right? We have that in physics, everything is made of energy, including us. And so what we're doing in Reiki is we're getting quiet enough to hear that life energy inside us because a lot of times in these physical bodies, we get very busy with what's going on with the physical bodies, which is not a bad thing. But you know, sometimes the body gets loud. And sometimes thinkI brain gets loud. And your life circumstances get very loud, very loud. Yeah. And then it becomes hard to hear that the quiet. You know, it's, it's this like, quiet, soft whisper of what your, your inner self knows what that that spark of life inside of you knows. And when you can connect with that. It's very nourishing, and it's very relaxing. It can be energizing, if you were down and you need a spark of energy that can be there for you also, every time you meet it, it might be a new experience. It's not always the same in every session, except for that it feels good. What feels good to you right now. What's the direction of feeling good. One other thing I wanted to sing is like I really love that you guys have this extremely complex relationship with this modality. modality but it's at the same time you guys have developed this extremely complex system of relation to this energy, this sense of being and the other day A I think it was like last week I was teaching Reiki. And the person I was teaching is a very analytical, logical person. And they were like, I'm not buying this and I asked you, I was doing Reiki in the room. And I was like, Okay, give me give me an analogy that can help this person understand, like, what what this is and how you know how they can relate to it. And I got the answer that, like our body has white blood cells, that attack disease, you know, imbalances in the body. Reiki is the energetic equivalent to that it finds disharmony in environments and in the body. And it attacks you know, not necessarily attacks, but like it almost absorbs it. Yeah, like, yeah, harmonizes. Yeah, is it and then once it is the same frequency as that it moves on to another thing that is like, right, or opposite like a magnet, you have a positive and negative end. And the positive, Reiki is like, Oh, look, here's this thing that is not life, right? The K at it just comes over. It's like, hey, become positive, and it turns it positive. It's like, okay, let's move on. I just thought, you know, as I'm explaining it to this, this person, I was like, I have never imagined Reiki this way, I have never really Reiki this way. And it was such a, for me, it was like, this is the most analytical way to look at this form. And, you know, we have, we have all these medical institutions that are trying really hard to quantify this New Energy modality because they're seeing results. And we don't have a way to measure it gets really interesting that like you said earlier, Reiki does teach as we sit with it, yes, I'm wondering when we'll get to a point when we can sit with Reiki and be like, Reiki help us come out with a way to quantify Western medicine a way to be able to approve your existence beyond just research studies. Reiki doesn't really care about Western Reiki. Reiki, I mean, again, Reiki is you can conceptualize it as any kind of like power, that is what the universe is made of, you know, in physics, we have this the concepts of everything is energy, right? That's Reiki. And, you know, in various spiritualities, we have various kinds of, you know, all loving all knowing beings, right? That's the same energy. So really, it's, you know, this is, when we talk about Reiki, we're talking about this particular metaphor, for the same spiritual, beautiful practice that many, many other modalities are conceptualizing as well, including religions. And so it doesn't really matter, you know, if you use the word Reiki, or if you use something else, we've definitely explained Reiki in class in terms of like, spiritual or religious terms, concepts, and it doesn't matter. The point is the feeling, whatever metaphor gets you to the feeling of that, that safety and that, you know, the universe is on my side, and I am loved and I am safe, and I am moving toward Well, being whatever gets you there, that's fine. You know, and the rest of it is just words, you know, and in Reiki doesn't care to conceptualize it, because it's about the feeling, you know, so these, these new people who are just now learning about the Reiki space, they're practicing this Reiki space for themselves and for maybe their bedrooms or right, you know, their work meetings, sitting there in the space, right? Um, you know, would you, would you, like, where do you stand in regards to people taking that one step further and going? Well, I've been doing this for a little bit. I feel like I should be doing this for other people now, and I'm going to go start selling my services. Well, um, as a field, we encourage people to go get certified, obviously, right. This one makes sure we're, we're on let's say, you hear that, guys. I said that last week. So that being said, all living beings are already a part of Reiki and you don't actually need a teacher in order to be able to tune into your own connection to life. However, if you want to sell it, right, and you want to call it Reiki, then you're gonna need a certification. Yeah. Because you don't go around and start tweaking people. Because no matter what you do, you shouldn't be tweaking people. Yeah, don't don't be tweaking people, whether it's Reiki or not, you guys should know that we can do we get in a class with a teacher, you can learn some basic safety skills, that can be very important for not doing harm. A lot of people who jump into energy work and start doing it on other people, before they have enough understanding of what it is do harm in other people's fields. I have had many people come through my practice who've been harmed by other practitioners who maybe weren't ready for the kind of work that they were attempting. So Reiki will not do harm, but humans can. Yes. And if you are doing energy manipulation, and calling it Reiki, it is not Reiki, it is energy manipulation. You can call it whatever you want. It doesn't matter. The point is, it's not it's not what you say. Right? Yeah. So for safety reasons, it's a good idea to take a class and for the preserving the reputation of the field, it's very important that everybody who's a practitioner actually goes and gets certified and gets a tuned by somebody who's already been attuned in the system. Part of the understanding of what Reiki is that it's a lineage of energy being passed down from teacher to student, right. So if you haven't had any kind of attunement yet, please go get one so that we're all sure that we're tuning into the same thing. And we can call it the same modality because we all know that we're tuning into that same vibration. Now, that being said, yeah, there are eleventy bajillion types of Reiki out there. Yes. And not all of them are gonna feel the same as you brought up at the beginning of this right there. Now. I've actually, I've I've had a bunch of different Reiki done. And, you know, I can tell you, some of them were definitely nowhere near Reiki. And some of them had Reiki, but then it was like, cosmically entwined with some like, other things. But it was, you know, like, some of them were really incredible. And the others were like, What is this? Please don't touch me. Yes, exactly. In this field, I mean, it's an unregulated field, there aren't really any, like formal bodies that get to decide who gets to be licensed, and who doesn't, or anything like that. It's kind of the Wild West. And there are a lot of people out there who just kind of do their own thing, do their own thing. And that can be very good. But it's also a little bit dangerous, because not everybody actually knows what they're doing. And it's hard to tell what you're getting, you know, based on somebody's description of it, right? You kind of gotta use your instincts, go with your gut feeling when you're working with somebody, if you get into a room with someone and you don't like them, or you don't want them to touch you then end the session and walk away. Or if you're why the classic case might be Yeah. And if you find somebody that you really connect with, even if they don't have a lot of like history and training, they might be a really great practitioner who's working on instinct with a very clear connection. So I think your own sense of them is going to be your best indicator of whether that's a good move for you or not. Something's you. What do you guys think about like Reiki practitioners who, you know, like they obvious, you know, we all are trying to live our best lives, right? What do you think about Reiki practitioners that are like, hey, I really recommend you guys take this supplement that I've been taking, I think the supplement is amazing. And I think it could really help you. I see where you're going with it. And I'm not ethics sneaking in. I just want I just want the listeners to know when they see your massage therapist or they see a Reiki person or they see a Hypnotherapist. Anybody, whos not a doctor, yes. Yeah. Anybody who's not a doctor, I just want them to know what's legally allowed because nobody talks about it. Yeah. Yeah. So in this field, we are supposed to get taught, whether you're, you know, in the massage field or the energy field, that there are certain practices that are limited to doctors legally, right? So only doctors can diagnose. Only doctors can prescribe. Only doctors can recommend, like literally we should not be using the word recommend, which is really hard to edit out of your vocabulary. Sometimes as a practitioner. You don't want to suggest even or prognosticate and what that means is that you are telling somebody how long They need to take a certain treatment in order for it to work or how long a particular illness or condition you're predicting is going to last. So like, for example, in a Reiki context, if someone asked me how many how many sessions do I need to, you know, clear up my migraines, I can't tell you that. First of all, it's illegal. Second of all, you you aren't unique, and you know, what your body is doing is unique. And I can't compare you to anybody else, because they're not you. So it's going to, it's going to take as long as it takes for you. And there's a lot of factors that go into that. So it's not, like, it's neither legal nor accurate for us to be saying those things. So we're gonna be very careful with as a practitioner, we're very careful with our languaging, making sure that clients don't come away with an impression that we have told them to do something. And, you know, because if the practice if the client goes home, and they do the thing, and you know, the predicted result doesn't happen. First of all, they're mad. But second of all, you might be legally liable. That could take you to court potentially. So as a client, going to sessions, you want to be listening for your practitioner, are they trying to persuade you into something, are they suggesting you do things or recommending you do things or judging you for not doing things or judging you for not doing things and, you know, trying to get you, you know, on board with their agenda, you know, a good energy practitioner does not have an agenda, they're there to meet you where you are. And, you know, you walk into the room, and that's your fine where you are, and we're here to offer the tools that we have to help you with whatever it is that your goal is, you know, if you, if you want wellbeing, then we're there to facilitate that. If you want healing, we're here to facilitate that we're not going to heal you. But we can help you move toward that better feeling direction. And, you know, you want a practitioner that's going to work with you, and is going to support you and not boss you around and tell you what to do or tell you about their miracle cured, right? Or tell you that they can cure your ills or fix your problems, because that's also not legal, and not accurate, because in the flow of Reiki, it's not up to us. Yeah, this is between the client and the universe and their relationship to that and what that means for their life path and their spiritual and physical path through life. It's not up to us to say, what that's going to look like for them. Or to decide what that should look like for them. Because it's different for everybody. So it's really important that it's okay, if a practitioner is like giving their personal experience with Sure. Like, hey, I used Reiki and this occurred for me, everybody's different. There's a chance that could do something for you, but I don't, yes, personal anecdotes are fine. Professional anecdotes are fine. I, you know, when clients come to me with Hey, what do you think about, you know, this supplement or whatever, then I will talk about what I know scientifically about what it does in the body. And also, if I have any other clients or personal experience, how that came out, you know, did this supplement help with XYZ or not with that individual case? But I'm not going to be like, oh, yeah, you should take that. What we're doing instead is we're offering the client more information so that they can make an informed decision for themselves, right, their health, we're not trying to push them into our conclusion, right? We're just offering them more information. Well, that's awesome. So if somebody you know, like, let's say, the listeners out there, decide, hey, I'm gonna go try this Reiki, I'm gonna go get it with these people. And they show up and the lady's like, Okay, here's your Reiki treatment, I noticed that you have some, you know, pains in these areas. You, you could check out yoga, here's an app. Is that bad? I'm not breaking the laws am I... It matters. Yeah, you want to phrase it like, you know, clients that have had these pains, these kinds of pains, have had varying success with crying yoga, would that be something you'd be interested in trying, you know? So again, you want to be careful with your phrasing because when you're in when you're in a client therapist relationship, it's very important for the therapist and for the client, to understand that the therapist has inherent power, the greater power in the room just because They're the authority in the room, they're the professional in the room, they're the ones providing the expert service, the client is in a weaker position, because they're trusting the therapist to know what they're talking about, and to be an expert in their field. So anything that the therapist says is going to carry extra weight with the client. So clients, you want to be aware of that inherent power dynamic, when you go into a session. And be careful with making sure that you're not just following what the therapist wants, you know, if that therapist is, is being pushy, or even just like subtly suggestive, that might sway you more than your your friend would, or a random person on the street would. It's a subconscious dynamic, most people are not aware of it. So if you're aware that I'm in the client position right now, and I might be more susceptible to this advice than I would normally be, because I trust this expert, because I'm asking somebody who knows more than I do in this in this field. Just kind of take everything you hear with a grain of salt, and remember that it is your responsibility as a client, to determine what's right for you, and nobody outside of you can make that decision for you. Yeah, you want to do your due diligence, still, you still want to like research things on your own, continuing to gather information, and most importantly, listen to your instincts. Your body knows what it wants. So you know, if you if you're, if you hear something, if there's some, you hear some advice, right? That, you know, the person giving, it makes it sound really good, but you think about doing it, and it doesn't feel so good in your body, you don't like that idea. Trust that instinct, your body's knows what it wants. So I wanted to bring us back around to this concept of the inner physician. Because we've been talking about Reiki and universal life force moving you toward well being and, and that, you know, that sense of universal wellness. And I want to tie that into the idea that, you know, just like you have universal life force already inside you, you are made of life, right? Therefore, your inner self has a clear sense of when what it needs in order to heal. And your body is always trying to heal itself, your whole body, including your mind and your brain, like it's always trying to heal itself. And the the difficulty is that a lot of times our life gets in the way. So we're not sleeping enough for, you know, we're running around, we're busy, we're stressed, we're, you know, not able to take care of ourselves, for whatever reason. But getting into a regulated, safe state of being, like we do with Reiki is how that inner physician that inner knowing of what you need for healing activates them is able to start moving toward healing and wellness, both the physical processes and the mental and emotional and the spiritual processes of moving you toward what brings you wellbeing. I think it's important to note here also, that well being like the outcome that you're reaching for may not be what you expect, or what your goal is going in. So if you come to Reiki with a specific problem, Reiki can bring you toward well being in anything, but it's not necessarily going to make you like you were before you had the problem. So you know, a wild example of this would be like, you know, somebody loses a limb, the Ricky's not going to regrow the limb, the limb is gone. Ricky's role in that moment might be to help heal what's left. It might be to help you grieve the loss that you have experienced, it might be to help you find new ways of accommodating yourself and living your life. So that you can return your life to a state of you enjoy living in it. And that might be your return to well being. So it's not necessarily that Reiki is going to fix every problem back to the way it was before. That's not necessarily what healing is. Healing is about being being well in your in your sense of your life and your willingness to be in it and live it and enjoy it be able to enjoy it in your present moment. Right now in this moment. I can enjoy the life that I'm in. That's what Reiki is moving you toward. So that being said, I've seen some really cool, miraculous sorts of things happen When with Reiki, when, when that's what the flow of life is, in that moment, really big, powerful physical healing can happen. But it's not for us to promise that to anybody. It's not for us to help our clients expect those kinds of results, because it's just not up to us what what life is going to do in that moment. So as practitioners, as Reiki practitioners, what we bring to the session is the the therapeutic space, we are creating a feeling a vibration, by feeling it, of universal love universal well being, and letting that inner healing mechanism, that inner physician guide the process. So mostly what we're doing as practitioners is we are listening. And especially when you're working on yourself, yes, you are listening and waiting for the urge to move. And an assumption, something that we recommend for beginners, in particular, when you're getting a feel of like, Okay, what does it feel like when Reiki is moving me? What does that mean? What does that what does that even mean? Is that you just sit and you wait, and, or, you know, if you're not doing a sitting meditation that you walk, and you wage, or whatever it is that you're doing. And just notice what's going on in your body and your feelings and your thoughts. And notice it. And you know, you might notice, I have the urge to put my hands over my heart. Okay? What if I don't write and test it, play with it, right? Get playful with it. This is, you know, we we often talk about Reiki very seriously, but it can be playful and fun to write. So if you're practicing by yourself, okay, you get an urge. All right, what happens if I don't write? What happens? And just see, you know, the urge gets stronger? Or does it move to something else? Or does it laugh at you and say it again? Right? Yeah, well, the just the older on its own, right? Does it just do it by itself? Without you, right, and just see what happens. You know, one of the beautiful things about Reiki is that when you're in the flow, you can't do it wrong. Right. So you know, if you if you get an urge and Reiki and you're like, man, and I gotta do that what's gonna happen, right? Then nothing bad is gonna happen. As long as you're staying in the flow. And, you know, you're, you're still connecting with that sense of well being, maybe we'll just do something else. Or it'll do it anyway. Anyway, get louder, you know, whatever. So you know, it's a very, it's a great modality to start with when you're doing energy work. Because you know, when you connect, and you get in the flow, you literally can't do harm with it. The Reiki will not do harm, yes, if you are starting to move in a direction that isn't right for that session, the Reiki stops flowing. So if you're if you're doing something and then all of a sudden, where did the Reiki go? Where Reiki was going, that we're working with go find it, go look for it, because that's not where Reiki was going. Yeah, and that's definitely something that, you know, a lot of beginners and even advanced practitioners at times can struggle with is like, you know, you're especially when you start getting into like, Oh, I know what I'm doing now. Ooh, right. And you're like, I'm gonna do this technique. And he's like, man. No, actually, you were trying. And people do get excited about the techniques that they learned that they want to try it or like, you know, you see a particular type of, you know, energetic snarl in the body and are like, Oh, I know what to do with that you go to do it and Ricky's like, math. And you'll find yourself all of a sudden, there without the Reiki, you know, and then or if you're like, like me, when I when I first started adding modalities, and like, you know, doing custom stuff, you know, client tells me what they would, what their goals are. When I first started out doing all this, it would be like, Okay, these are the goals. I know exactly what essential oils to use. Oh, I have this whole plan with my crystals. And then I get over there, I'd start doing the Reiki and Reiki is like, no, those aren't the crystals you're using, you're using these ones. Oh, and by the way, you're not doing any aromatherapy at all. You're just gonna sit there and do Reiki and fall asleep. My favorite, my favorite one, it happens more often than the new thing, especially when you start getting excited about your technique. You're like, I'm gonna do this, and I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do this and then you're like, Okay Hara breathing open up the space, my intention to receive Oh, I'm gonna sit here you're at the head of the table and you're all you're doing is doing a scan with Reiki, you're just sitting there scanning, and then suddenly like, like, what time is that you look at your clock. Oh, the session is over. Yeah, Reiki will bring you both what you need. And that's one of the joys of being a Reiki practitioner actually, it's that you know, you get Reiki to when you do a session. And sometimes Reiki will put you in the corner and say, just sit here and breathe time for you, for you to rest and better than you're thinking you're going to be exhausted and then waking up more rejuvenated than you did going to work. Yes, yeah, exactly. Yeah. I mean, I mean, it's not that the Reiki stops flowing for the client, right? If you go into you know, a comatose resting state, you're an amplifier. Right? Exactly where the where the microphone or the amplifier? You know, taking that vibration and making it bigger so that their energy field can feel it too. Absolutely. Oh, yeah. So you were talking about harmonizing. One of the analogies that we use for Reiki is the tuning fork analogy, right? That, you know, the idea behind when we talk about feelings and energy and like people match your energy, whatever, what we're talking about is the same kind of idea. As when you're tuning an instrument, right? When you have it for any of you who've ever played an instrument, you know, that sometimes it goes out of tune, right, and you have to retune the thing. So when you it's not that, you know, your instrument is broken, or you know, it can't be played anymore. It's bad. It's wrong. Just a tune now. Okay, so we got to go retune it right. So Reiki is like the tuning fork. And when the practitioner rings, the tuning fork, then the instrument of your body goes, Oh, yes, I remember how to sing that song in tune, right. And then your natural healing mechanisms will move you back into the song, the sound, the vibration, of well being. And that's really all that's happening is you're holding, like, as the practitioner, we are holding the tune and holding that sense of intuitiveness. And then the client's body will start to move through that natural healing mechanism back toward that song of well being. Yeah. Which all the reasons for these wonderful little beginners? Yes, are there any, like, I know that we didn't get to talk about all the different metaphysical approaches that you can use Reiki for? Like, yes, that's go ahead and drop. Yeah. Drop a couple of those little you know, tidbits in but if you guys have any practices that you know, are playful and fun, for, like a super beginner who's just using it for self healing. What what do you guys recommend for like, playing around with this energy and, you know, being able to create, you know, create create a, a wonderful experience using using this? Well, Reiki is a state of being right. It is a state of feeling that, again, that sense of well, being that sense of universal love that sense of I'm safe in the universe, right? So as you're going through your life, you can play with, what is it like if I do that, do these activities with that feeling? Right? You're gonna go make yourself something to eat. Okay, cool. I'm gonna do some hard breathing, I'm gonna get into that feel good space, and what do I want to eat? Do happens, right? And a lot of times, you'll get an urge for what you want to eat, and follow it and see what happens, right? Sometimes you get into that Reiki space, and you're like, What do I want to eat? And you look at the thing that's in front of you, and you really don't want to eat it. Okay? Don't eat it. Something else, right. So for all of those who like to eat junk food in the middle of the night, and maybe try the detrimental so I mean, sometimes, you know, different tools are good for different things. So if junk food is actually going to move you toward well being in that moment, then guess what Reiki is going to tell you to eat it. If you have chocolate in your bedside table drawer, right? And you know what you need in that moment is a little more energy or little bit of self comfort or something like that. You know, the Reiki might say, yeah, have the chocolate, right, because that might be the next easiest step for you to move towards your well being. So it's not necessarily that there is any step that is objectively wrong, as long as it's moving you toward your own well being. And that can look different for anybody, like everybody's journey toward well being is different. And it's really important that we not judge ourselves as we are moving through that journey. And you know, Reiki might give you steps that you're like, wait a minute, really? I should do that. And yeah, if you are in that flow of well being, and you know, you're you're feeling connected, you're feeling like grounded and centered and present and good. And you're like, Okay, what, what's the next move and Reiki moves you towards something that's surprising. That's not unusual, actually. Reiki will often move you towards something that's surprising. Yeah, so you know, we used to practice letting Reiki guide our day, if you have a day that there's nothing to do right, it's your day off, right? Wake up in the morning and start the Reiki like, Okay, what should I do next, Reiki and let's Reiki moves you through the flow of the day. We found that to be a very rewarding practice. Sometimes. Do you remember any of those days? What did you do? days? Well, mine would often actually start with exercise. Normally, when I get up, I need to eat first thing. So that was very surprising to me that I wasn't immediately super hungry, because I usually wake up hungry. Right? He would be like, Okay, now we're gonna go work out, we're gonna go do some yoga. And I'd be like, really? Oh, am I gonna be okay, okay. All right, I'll give that a shot. And if I get too hungry, I can always stop and eat. And I never did, as soon as I got moving. And I felt really good. Because that was the flow of that particular day, and my body wanted that it was fine. It felt really good. And then, you know, what do I want to eat after that was suddenly an easy question. And, you know, my body was very clear about I want cold water and choosing putting or something, you know, whatever, whatever, whatever it was, it was often not a thing I would normally do. Sometimes it was just have breakfast to do the normal thing. But listening in like, it would just change out activities or the order, I would normally do the activity. And until it felt good to do that thing. There are a lot of ways I have planned my life with my thinking brain, where I'm like, Okay, well, it would make sense if I did this task first, because it's the hardest, and I want to get it over with. And I go into it full of dread and full of anticipation. And it's really, really, really hard. But if I were to sit back and Reiki in that moment and be like, okay, so how do I know that this needs to get done? What's the best way to approach the day, he's often going to be like, actually, you need to go take a walk first, actually, you need to have some quiet space, and do some meditation or some breathing and get your body back into a place where you feel about and you feel safe. Because then when you take that feeling into that task, it's a different task. It's often much easier if you wait for Reiki to tell you when it's time to do the thing. It's just easy, and it flows and it feels good. And it's not the big stress fest I thought it was going to be because I was listening to that flow. And there are times when he's like, No, actually you shouldn't be doing that. That's why it's stressing you out. That's not good for you. That's not That's not a move. That's actually a direction you want to move. So don't do that. Maybe like No, but I need to go do the thing. And he's like, No, you don't want to happen if you didn't. Sure. You sure you need that because maybe there's this other thing that could feel better and be more in alignment with where you actually want to go with your life. And you know, sometimes Reiki will tell you to rest sometimes right? He will tell you to go to the spa sometimes right? He will tell you to go to the beach. We had quite a few beach days that were Reiki days. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, okay. And I did have days that were workdays where Reiki was like, Okay, great. You have this burst of energy and all this motivation and excitement and like now it's time to go do the work. Now it's time to dig into that task that looks so hard before and with all of that, like good feeling and Spirit inspired motivation behind me it was so much easier to do the work. So it's not that he's always passive and relax and do nothing stillness. Sometimes Reiki is very active. Yes. It's just what does your life need in that moment? Yeah. Well, I love that practice, because I personally have never done that practice. So here I am. 10 years in. I'm learning new things. Yeah, there was a time that I recall were something similar while I was doing Reiki, just as like, I used to do it in the evenings at my little meditation corner, and I was just getting Reiki. And I got this urge to go drive. And I was like, yes. I'm gonna go drive. So I got my car, I drove, I drove to my at the time off, it was like near my office, but it wasn't my office, it was over there. You know, you guys know the spot over there on the Montrose, you know, I, you know, went down one of the residential roads and I was still like doing my heart breathing just like, where am I supposed to go? I was like, okay, park here. And there was all these big trees. And I was like, now what do I do? Take a walk? Why it's like 1230 in the evening. Because, okay, so like stepped out of my car. And I you know, I remember walking and I was like, still in the Reiki flows. Like, I'm really nervous walking down the street, like alone. And this was, this was like a while ago back, you know, gosh, this must have been like, I don't know, it was like, right when I first got the office, really, like been in that Montrose area very long. And I was at the time on and off with cigarettes. And I remember like, pulling out my cigarette. I was like, I you know, the regulars like this will help you feel better, safer, whatever. So I smoked like, I think I only smoked like half the cigarette. I felt safer. For some reason. I don't know why it was like my coping mechanism. And I walked down the street. And it was like, okay, sit here. And I was just doing Reiki. I was like, do I just keep me? Yep. Just keep doing Reiki. Okay, and a fox that had been coming down off us during those fires that we were having. And it came down off that fire Hill, and it just came up. And it was limping. And I opened my eyes. I see this box right next to me. And it just sat down, lay down on the pavement. I'm still doing Reiki. Yeah, I'm so close. And I'm just doing Reiki and I'm like, Oh, I'm here for this box. Cool. Yes. And I just was doing Reiki I just closed my eyes. We hung out. I don't even know how long I was there. I was there for a good long while though. I opened my eyes. And the Reiki flow felt like a weird little trickle at some point. I was like, oh, okay, we're, I guess we're closing out here. Box got up. And it looked at me. And I mean, foxes don't talk. But if it were it, I'm sure they were saying thank you. Yeah, it walked away. And I swear to god that Fox did not have a limp. Yeah, nice. Nice. Yeah. Just wandered off. And I was like, I wonder if that box got hurt. I don't know. But that was really cool. Yeah, just like just walking around. After that. I was like, I think I'm done. It's kind of creepy. It's like, two in the morning. I think it's time to go to bed now. I remember that. So clearly that Reiki took me on this interesting adventure where I met a fox and Yeah, ha. And you're such a weird such a weird. Yeah, yeah. Oh, animals love right here. They feel that good. Well being sensation and they will often come over. I mean, I've had lots of weird encounters with wildlife being like, Oh, can I have some? I had a wild hummingbird come and sit right behind me on a park bench, like practically on my shoulder one time and just like, soak it up. And then as soon as I was done, he gave me this happy little like, thank you. And then a new way. And like, Yep, I've had like wild rabbits come sit at my feet. I've had seagulls like a flock of seagulls come and just sit around me and chill. And not even like squawking and trying to get to my stuff. You know, they're just they sit down on the space and walk away. So yeah, it's a very, it's a very powerful space you can create by getting tuned into that feeling. And everybody around, you can feel it too. You can, you can change the room that you're in. Even even when I'm not doing Reiki, like for a client or something, if there's an emergency situation, my reflex now after practicing for like 12 years, is to get into the Reiki space, automatically I drop into that flow and it shifts the room. Everybody around you starts reacting differently. It's like everybody is feeling subconsciously that call toward this is what's needed right now. And things just start to go right where they were like chaotic and messy and maybe going wrong before everything just kind of starts to go right. It's a beautiful thing to watch. And I think you guys must have at one point given me given me some advice that when I start feeling triggered you know, I You guys know I used to have a lot of emotional problems. You guys met me at the very beginning of this journey. When I was still diagnosed with bipolar and super not healthy. Like I mean, people on the podcast? Don't don't know. I mean, I kind of told them but there was a point when I was not good you guys. They can they can attest to this. I was not doing so, so hot. But we all start somewhere on our journey. Right? Right. And there was a point where you guys told me to use Reiki when I got triggered. Yeah, I remember there were multiple times with my current partner, where he, you know, he was saying something or getting mad at me and I got, you know, I started to feel triggered. I started to do Reiki just because I didn't want, I didn't want to be reactive. I didn't want to have this explosion where I'm breaking things or yelling or doing something super. I just had really unhealthy reactions. Yes, like, crazy person reactions. I'm ashamed of it. But I'm no longer like that. So this is something to be ashamed of. That's just the place you were in? That's just your mental health at the time. That's okay. Yeah, you are, you are when you work? Well, and we're we're, I mean, I really don't feel like that's embarrassing. You know, from an, from an outside perspective, like, that's, we're not embarrassed for you, yeah, we're not embarrassed for you. Because, you know, it was, you were carrying a lot of trauma and a lot of wounds. And this was, you know, this is where you were, and you were using the tools that you had. So, you know, everybody starts somewhere. And, you know, we can start in very dark places. And that's not something to be ashamed of, it's just this is, this is what you've gone through in your life. And actually, the fact that you're still alive, in those moments is like, Oh, you've got, you know, there's life in you that wants to live. And that's really powerful. And sometimes that might be all you have, in those kinds of moments, or in those kinds of places in your life, if you've been through a lot, you know, and even if you think you haven't been through a lot, whatever you're feeling is valid, there's a reason that you're feeling it. And, you know, there's a reason that we all act and behave the way that we do. And a lot of it has to do with trauma and the things that we've gone through that have hurt us. And that's actually, you know, a beautiful thing that Reiki can help you with, is, you know, when you're in those, those times of feeling, you know, out of control, or helpless or just in pain in your life, and finding that calm, centered. Okay, right now, in this moment, I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna go in the bathroom and lock the door, I'm gonna, you know, go in my bedroom and cuddle up under the blankets, and I'm just gonna breathe, I'm going to breathe from my belly. And I'm going to be in the moment right now. And I'm going to think about, okay, right now, in this moment, in this, you know, locked bathroom in this cozy bed. I'm safe right now. And I'm just going to be here. I'm going to be here, and I'm going to be safe, right here in my bed, or wherever it is. Right? And I appreciate the perspective and compassion. I know. I know, for me, you know, looking back, I'm like, oh, man, what was up with that, but hearing you guys like really take that perspective and being like, that's just where you were. And we see like, how you were the fact you're still alive is a miracle. And we're glad you use the tools we taught you and look at you now, like that makes a lot. And what's the thing to that where I use your tool, the Reiki tool? Yeah. And it's funny, because in those moments when I'd be getting triggered by other people, my parents or my partner, and I do Reiki for myself, not for them just right just for me. Yes. It there was always a point when I would like when I got calm. And I was finally in the observation. Yes, yes. I was no longer feeling triggered. I actually was in the state of compassion, right. I'm like, you know, what, why are they so upset? I started to like, you know, and they forget what they're yelling at me about. They just immediately like, wait, what, what was I talking about? I don't know. I was just listening to you. Sounds like you were just getting a lot off your chest. What were you saying? And they're like, I don't remember. And I'm like, Oh, why I don't either. I was just listening. So this is something that we actually do know, scientifically, is that emotions are contagious. Right? And that, you know, if you want to boil Reiki down to something very basic, it's that it's that emotions are contagious. So you know, we see that phenomenon. If someone shouts fire in a crowded room, like everybody panics, right? And the fear spreads very quickly. It's a very strong emotion, right? So, in that same way, any strong emotion becomes contagious, it becomes a focal point and anchor in the room. So if you're very strong emotion, and by strong I just mean, like, settled in you, right? If you're very steady settled emotion is that sense of peace and well being, and compassion and universal love or even just calm listening? Yeah, or even just calm listening, right? Then the people in the room around you, their bodies will start to hear you, or to tune to you, they'll be like, Oh, I like that feeling. Actually, maybe I want a little bit more of that, to the point where it can disrupt the thought pattern, or whatever it is that they're saying, As you notice, right. And, you know, so. So we do Reiki for ourselves very much, especially in the beginning, you want to focus on yourself, I'm doing Reiki for myself, I'm doing it for my benefit. I'm doing it for my well being gonna be very careful that even though you start to see these changes in the room where you know, people start shifting their behavior, as you're doing this, you want to be very careful not to get shifted in the mindset of like, Oh, I'm going to do this to you, right? Oh, no, that's what's actually so funny is like, when I was doing it for me, and I noticed it was affecting people. I was, you know, you guys always have this playful mindset of what happens if, right? Like, you know, what, there was like, one time where were, you know, he was getting all worked up very similar to the time before and I was like, Okay, I want to see what happens if I do the Reiki for him. Right? What happened was he got more triggered? Yes. Because he was not consent, like there was, you know, he felt like now he was being attacked by something. Yes. And like, what's funny is even like, when I went to after the fight, and like, I had to go for a walk, because it escalated very quickly after that. I was like, let me just get out, I'm gonna go for a walk. I came back. And he's like, I don't know why I got so mad at you. I'm so sorry, I got so mad at you. But like, you know, you were doing this and this. But then when we were talking, I felt like you were attacking me. Like, you're really attacking me. And I was like, I was just doing Reiki at you. And he was like, Well, I obviously did not want that. Yeah. Right. Well, the last time that me and you seemed to like, like, really liked that. I was like, Well, why don't you stick to that? And I was like, I'm so sorry. I didn't just take them out. I mean, yeah, you know, obviously, you guys are not being trained to do the Reiki for others. But I can give you an example of why that might not be the best in that situation. Yes. And this is a very common thing that happens with certain types of practitioners who learn more the doing energy rather than the being energies, they will start to push on people with their energy. And, you know, like you said, That's not consensual. Right? Therefore, it's threatening. The other person says, you're trying to manipulate me, but no, yeah, excuse you. You're trying to push on me. I don't like that. Right. People don't like to be Reiki, it's still, you know, they'll feel it as an invasion. Well, then it stops being Reiki and writing you manipulating energy. Yeah, it starts being you know, pushing your energy around. And you know, and actually, that's not Reiki. Right? So even when we talk about as practitioners, you know, oh, I'm gonna go do a session. I'm gonna do Reiki for this person. Actually, what we're saying is, I'm gonna go and sit in the room with this person and do Reiki for myself. I'm gonna be the Reiki. I'm just gonna go Reiki. Reiki, Reiki, yes. So yeah, so one of the concepts in Reiki, that actually is from the master level, but I'm gonna bring it in here because it is one of those very beautiful, simple concepts is that doing Reiki being Reiki is like being a great bright light. So when you turn a light on in the room, right, you don't have to like shine it in people's eyeballs, right? Like that. But if you just are like, a glowing lamp in the room, people will still be illuminated, right? They're gonna come into your space because it's warm and golden and feels good. And it's beautiful. And it's lighting up the darkness, right? And they're gonna come and be gravitated toward that because it's a lovely space to be in. But you don't want to take your lamp and shine it in their eyeballs. Not a lovely space to be in when you're doing. Especially if somebody's over in the corner, like picking their nose. They just don't want to be in that moment. Sure. Hey, I mean, you know that there are you'll see this with animals too, especially cats. Like if you're doing Reiki in a room for cats. They often don't want to be in your lap because it's too intense. It will usually go sit just outside the room. And you know, sit right out of sight. And enjoy the Reiki. Yep. And that's like probably the most sensitive dogs and very sadly dogs will live really come up and lay right on you, rabbits. They, they kind of also come up in our write up on you that my cats like even my cat who sleeps in my arms at night if I'm doing Reiki she is like hell no, don't I? Yeah, like, I don't know. I've tried it so many times. I'm like, I can see you got a booboo. Let me like, let me just hold this space for you. And she will literally get up from my lap and leave and leave. And then she'll sit on the other end of the room and kind of like, yes, exactly. She'll smile. And like, I'm like, But didn't you want to be over here? And she's like, No, I'm good. I'm good. Boxer with the with the giant speakers that are up super high. Like when I go to a concert, I actually can't be in the front row. Because it's like, it's painful to be that close to the noise. But if I stand a couple rows back with some bodies between me and that speaker to absorb some sound, then I'm good. And I love being at the concert. And I think that for cats, it's kind of the same thing. Like they're hearing re overload, the energy level is so sensitive and become sensory overload if they're too close. Yeah. Now some cats will crawl right up in your lap and go to sleep. But some cats don't want to be that close to to get it. Yeah. So So again, to bring this back around. When you're practicing Reiki, right. You want to again, do the Reiki for you be the Reiki for you. And you know, even if you start to see changes around, even if you start to see people like Oh, I'm gonna come into your space or animals, be careful not to then beam the Reiki at them, right? You know, be careful not to get excited about that. And like, Oh, I'm gonna shine the Reiki on you. Because they probably get up and leave. Yeah, you're doing it you're doing keep holding that beautiful space, keep breathing, keep relaxing, and just enjoy, enjoy. You know what, what the Reiki brings you? And don't don't try and make it bigger. I've done that too, where I got excited because like, you know, and you get noticed, or, you know, somebody's noticing and then you're like, I'm going to do more bigger. And then it's like people are like, up show off. And like this almost like they can tell they're just like, No, no, I think again, it's about like, if you're if you're the lamp in the room, right? And you're, you're glowing. And then you see people coming are like, Oh, I'm gonna turn it up brighter. And then people like, Oh, it's too bright, you know, you want to let them you want to let the people joining you the animals joining you adjust themselves, right? They know how close or how far they want to be from you. And you just keep doing what you're doing. You know, you just keep doing what you're doing and let it happen. Let it unfold. Let them pick where they want to be in relationship to you. Yeah, again, about giving up control, right? It's just about surrendering to that moment, and being in that beautiful space, and letting life unfold in front of you. I love that so much. Thank you guys so much for coming on. And I'd love to know what you guys have been up to? Is there anything that you want to share with the listeners? Do you guys have any, anything that you're doing that you would love them to check out? As well I wanted to do one thing before we wrap up here is as you're looking for Reiki practitioners, or as you're looking for a Reiki teacher, and you're looking through the descriptions. A lot of times practitioners will have websites and they'll describe their classes describe what Reiki is. Look for the practitioners that talk about Reiki as a being modality and not as a doing modality. Look out for those fixing words, look out for those like the kinds of words that imply miracle cures are the kinds of words that imply that you're going to be a great healer kind of thing, because that's very much not the tone of what Reiki is you want to look for the practitioners that are talking about Reiki as a state of being as a wellness practice as something that, you know, can can move you toward health and well being but it's not going to cause it. Right. Again, you're looking for that being and not the doing quality of life but not not gonna cure your stuff. Right. Yeah. And then And then also, you know, looking at Reiki again, remember, it's a very simple modality. So if you see Reiki teachers talking about chakras, and, you know, one or the other. If you if you see people talking about you know, when I go clockwise, I'm removing energy and when I go counterclockwise, I'm putting energy in or whatever it is that they're saying like that's, that's very specific manipulation skills. Those are not from the system of Reiki, they're from western energy work. They are not necessarily bad things to do if you're well trained in doing them but they are definitely not Reiki itself, right? So you want to make sure or that your practitioner actually has a basis in what Reiki is, and isn't just going into your field and doing energy surgery that they might not be qualified to do, right? Yeah, yeah, you're looking for the very simple well being practices, not for the like fancy. You know, I use 15 colors of lights to get out all of your, you know, all of your imbalances or whatever. Yeah, and ripping blocks out of you. Another thing that we see go by a lot is like this is the most powerful Reiki it's more powerful than anybody else's Reiki, it's like super advanced, kind of like Grandmaster rate, Grandmaster written sick stuff like that, where they're trying to, like, say that they're superior to other practitioners like that, to us is a big red flag. Like, you don't want people that are trying to sell you this, like, you know, Super Saiyan hyped up level 9000 type that's just a marketing gimmick. And at the end, I don't know that sounds really cool, though. It does sound cool. That's super saiyan Reiki. Okay, but like people who are talking about their Reiki practice in that way, tend to be the people doing the ego stuff. Not not the people who I trust. You guys said that. And then I would I was seeing it. I was like, Man, that seems cool. Yeah, those people get a lot of clients for clients seductive marketing, but it's not really what Reiki is about. Yeah, at the end of the day, what they're doing is energy manipulation. Yeah. And, and, you know, you can hurt people that way. Even if they call it Reiki, you know, if what they're doing is energy manipulation and all that like I'm this is the most powerful Reiki it fixes everything is 10 times more powerful than regular Reiki or whatever. Like they're doing energy manipulation. That's what they're doing. So you're, I mean, Reiki is a very humble practice, right? It's a very non ego driven very, like, the self takes a backseat. You know, you are the instrument, you are the facilitator. You are not the doer, you are not the guru, right. So if you are hearing he is the guru, or just the watcher. Yeah, you're the read that that the Reiki blows through, right and makes beautiful music. So you're looking for, yeah, you're looking for that kind of languaging for your practitioners and for your teachers. Because that that is the spiritual practice of Reiki is that very much simple. Get out of the way. Letting go of control, surrendering and letting life show you. That's Reiki. Yeah. So back to your question about what we are currently working on. I have a website for my private practice. I do sessions, both here in Monrovia and also online. So if you're interested, we can drop links to my website. Is there anything we could do Emily? Yeah, I'm gonna have all your guys's info, you guys just, you know, so you can check out my text that to me. And then also, we are starting a new endeavor that is not quite up and running yet. Should we talk about that? Um, I mean, are we ready to talk about that? If we're not, it's okay. I mean, basically, another thing that we do is like, life coaching, like kind of Reiki inspired Reiki based life coaching. So like, and like we were talking about Reiki days, right? And that same way, you know, you get into the flow, and then you have a coaching session in that Reiki space. Right? Yeah, I think. So that's another another thing that we do. And that's also available through zoom. And both of us have what we call trauma informed practices, yes. Which means that we are very familiar with all kinds of mental illnesses and disabilities and working with neurodivergent people and queer people. So our practice is well informed about things like societal oppression, and racism. And, you know, ableism, and we are able to hold space for whatever your journey might be, and wherever you're starting, and wherever it is that you feel like you need to end up and we're not going to be making assumptions about what we think your life should look like. We're judgments about where your life is now. Right? And that's part of what we mean by trauma informed us that you know, trauma shapes you in a particular way it shapes your behaviors and your thoughts and your emotions, and you know, what gets manifested in your life. So, you know, when, when we're, when we're doing our practice, we're always assuming that there's probably trauma, right. And, therefore, we're gonna be conscientious and holding the kind of safe space to try and minimize potential triggers and minimize, you know, potential activating, like, turns of phrases or ways of being, right. So try and make that as safe space as possible. No matter what kind of trauma you're bringing to the table. So we want to collaborate with you about what you want, as a client, we're not going to impose our goals on you, we want you to be able to lead the session with your what it is you want to get out of it, we're not going to make assumptions about what you should want for yourself, we're not going to push our agenda on you for what that healing process should look like. Because your inner physician knows and we don't, yes. And this space is going to be set up in a way that is as accessible and comfortable as possible. So that, you know, everybody can use it without having to worry too much about, you know, not being able to be in that safe space, being in that safe, healing, relaxing space. Yeah, the goal is to create an environment that feels safe enough that the the things that are that are asking for healing, feel safe enough to come out and start that process. What I find really incredible all the work you guys are doing is there really aren't a lot of people that have experience in all of those areas, like you guys have experienced with, obviously, trauma, but you're also talking about, you know, like cultural inclusion, you're talking about understanding like ableism, and the struggle with disabilities. And like, those are some big area, like there's huge, huge groups of people that are not getting that kind of attention. And like, I'm sure there's a lot of people struggling to find support. And the fact that you guys are able to offer that, like, that's remarkable, I really, I just I really want to shine a light on that, because that's there, there's, that's a very small niche of practitioners that are able to hold space for that. So I just I commend we also teach that, yeah, we do run classes, both privately and at the massage school, hands on healing Institute. We do run Reiki classes there also, and also ethics classes, ethics classes and business classes on how to run and start and market your practice. So if you do feel very called to this work, and you resonate strongly with the kind of expertise that we have, we also teach Yes, this these are the kinds of practitioners that we help get out into the world because we think this work is very important. Yeah, you've got a class on. I've got a Reiki two class coming out now. I mean, on. Oh, thank you. You're right. I have a class on Udemy. All right. Thank you for reminding me that I have something to throw that in. But I'm glad you guys remembered. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, so I've got a class on Udemy. It's called get clients and make money. And it is the set of business skills that I teach at the massage school. In an online accessible format, you want to buy into the course you can take as long as you want to finish it. And I'm in there answering questions. It's a video course. So you can take it at your own pace, you know, anytime of the day that's convenient for you. And basically, what I'm going to cover in that course, are things like, you know, how do you get started? What are ethics? What's a business? You know, how do you how do you organize a business, organize a business? How do you actually get clients into your business? Because that's maybe the scariest part for all of us starting out, is where do you get clients? How do you talk to people to get them to say yes to paying you for something? And you know, those those sorts of getting started skills. So that private practice model, right if you wanted to start your own private practice and start charging clients for this kind of work, once you once you have a certification, you can do that or you can get certified through the Udemy online course. There's also energy work certification included in that business class. Yes. So awesome. Yeah. Thank you guys so much. And I really do encourage all you listeners out there to check them out. Because as you can tell as some of the stuff they said you can tell that they really influenced my journey and my passions for ethics and my passions for for What I do they these these gals, people, thank you. Sorry, sorry. Thank you. I met you when you were a different person. I get it. Oh gosh, I'm so sorry I won't barest okay. Yeah, good people appreciate yourself rideable humans. They, they really shaped my my journey and helped me become who I am and be able to offer these skills to you all listening. So I'm just so grateful. I'm just so grateful and are doing incredible work. And I know because I'm one of one of I'm one of the products of your labor. Glad that we were able to help you and give you tools and facilitate your healing journey. And we are very inspired by the place that you have landed after all of that you have done so much work on your own, and it's really beautiful to see you blossoming like this. Yes. I love you guys. I'm just so grateful. Thank you very much. Thank you. I'm always cheering you guys on you may not always see me on. I'm so bad at social media. I see you guys and I'm always recommending you to everybody. And I'm around. I'm we're cheering you on too. Yeah. And thank you very much for having us on your show. What a lovely thing you're doing here. Yeah, absolutely. I feel that some of those tools you guys taught me not even in classes like, yeah, so So these people, they they had these channeling group. Totally, it was just a group where they just practicing connecting with their own guidance. Sometimes they were spirit guides, sometimes they were just higher parts of themselves. And they were just answering questions. And it was such an innocent practice. But the spirit that was coming through them gave me guidance on how to manage things that I had struggled with my entire life. And really, I mean, those tools are what I'm bringing here. And I learned through the channeling practices, how to connect with my own inner guidance and things just developed. And I've I've taught these tools now to you guys. I'm just sharing all the stuff. All this stuff. So we're really glad you're paying it forward. I have to give you guys the credit because I mean really a journey is like it's a bunch of different people and experiences all turned into a big quilt of life. And you guys really were like the first quilt pieces. Yeah. And he very much made it your own. And you know now you have this this beautiful practice of your own. And like that's a lot you so take credit for that too. Yeah, also, you're awesome. And you're doing really well. Yeah, thank you. Yeah. So thank you for having us today. Hello. Yeah, and for all of those listening please go check out those links and you know, support support the masters and thank you guys so much for joining me today. Thank you, Cynthia and Toby for joining me as well. Thank you for having me. Yeah. And thank you all for doing the practices and I hope you guys continue to apply these Reiki tools to your everyday life and thank you all for ascending together have a good day. Bye.