Sana Reiki

Reiki and Self Care Classes and Guided Journal

reiki

3 Ways Reiki Journaling Can Break a Rut

Are you in a rut?  Do you feel stuck?  It could be burnout. Burnout it has consequences for our mental but also physical health.  There are many strategies you can use to address your burnout, but here are three ways to use Reiki Journaling to get back to your present-alert-grounded state.

What Is Burnout?

a lone figure sits in a deep hole and feels hopless
Sometimes a rut feels permanent

Burnout is the exhaustion you feel from being overwhelmed or stressed for too long.  It saps our energy, enthusiasm and can take a physical and emotional toll. Work is usually the cause but we can be burned out by the demands of our home life, family dynamics, chronic illness or mass events such as the pandemic or climate change.  There are a few different types of burnout: overload, under-challenged or neglect.

Overload is straightforward: excessive demands on your time, mental capacity and ability to keep up.  This could be self-imposed, imposed by others or unforeseen circumstances. Exhaustion, resentment and shutting down are all natural responses to this kind of burnout.

Next is under-challenged burnout, which arises from being bored.  Perhaps you have spent years training for a particular profession, only to be relegated to menial tasks.  Or it is possible that although you adore your children, the routines and simplicity of raising children verge on mind-numbing.  Cynicism, detachment and a lack of enthusiasm are all natural responses.

Last, neglect driven burnout is insidious.  This form can arise if you feel that you are not able to meet the demands of your job or activity with an equal amount of skill, knowledge or capacity.  Perhaps you have landed in a highly responsible position before you felt ready or you find yourself in a sudden but prolonged situation that is beyond any previous experience you’ve ever prepared for.  It is natural in these circumstances to feel like retreating, feeling self-doubt and even resorting to compensatory behaviors.

Life is complex, and our burnout is rarely one type only.  Perhaps its a combination of two or even three broad categories.  No matter what sort of burnout you may be experiencing, it is important to recognize that you are having symptoms.

Signs of burnout

Here are some simple ways to assess whether you are experiencing burnout:

  • you’re continually exhausted
  • when there is a new challenge, it causes you more stress than curiosity
  • you make mistakes or forget things that were previously effortless
  • it is increasingly hard to engage in self care
  • even simple daily routines feel difficult
  • “Sunday scaries” are intense
  • those around you who do not seem to share your predicament are “irritating” or “annoying”
  • rest does not restore you
  • you withdraw from activities or people that were once favorites
  • creativity is difficult if not impossible
  • you experience persistent achiness, soreness or muscle or digestive discomfort
  • your sleep is affected (either insomnia or excessive sleepiness)

The Cost of Burnout

Burnout, especially due to the pandemic, has high costs.  There are potential monetary costs, but also an interpersonal toll, not to mention the physical toll that this state can create. You may lose or quit your job, you may be reprimanded or demoted at work, and you could encounter even more fear and worry if your job performance is suddenly at issue.  Perhaps at home, you notice that basic chores aren’t done or you struggle to meet obligations.  You may have increased disagreement or discord over the state of your home or chores. This leads to a build up of frustration and a sense that you’ll never get “caught up” or that no one appreciates your efforts.  It takes patience, persistence and effort to break out of a rut.

There are many traditional ways that we have learned to combat a rut: do things differently, take drastic (but not self-destructive) action, enlist support from friends, family, clergy or a counselor, yoga, meditation and so on.  These are wonderful ways to reconnect and recharge. Your Reiki and journaling practice can also be a source of support and regeneration should you find yourself in a rut.

Like everything, there is no easy fix – but it is fixable

3 Reiki Journaling Techniques to Break the Rut

a bedFirst things first, if you aren’t doing self Reiki before bed, this is the perfect time to start.  10-20 minutes of the self-Reiki routine can go a long way to preparing your body for sleep.  You can do it next to your bed, or even in bed.

Technique 1: Journal before bed

Using your Reiki journal before bed is also a good way to combat burnout.  By writing down what you are grateful for, practicing symbols and capturing your worries, you start to chip away at the apprehension.

A journal practice whether  formal or not allows you to get what is bothering you out onto the page. Keep the journal by your bedside to jot down any middle of the night monkey mind obsessions.

 

Technique 2: Mandala and Reiki

Creativity is often suppressed by chronic stress making creative activities nearly impossible.  One way to gentlycircle introduce creativity back into your routine is to start with an empty mandala circle.  Starting with a page that only has a circle on it, you can imagine a challenge you’re struggling with, recall a warm memory or ask yourself a question like “what message does my subconscious have for me”.  When you begin to fill that circle with no particular plan but a question or memory in mind, it is amazing what happens.

 

 

Technique 3: Use the Se He Ki symbol and an iffirmation to directly address your burnout.  For example, you might take a blank page in your journal and start

sei he ki
Sei He Ki – Mental and Emotional Healing

with drawing Se He Ki in all 4 corners.  Write an iffirmation such as “What if I did something fun and unexpected” and then free write a response.  You might be surprised at what comes up.

Use your Reiki and journaling skills to recover, re-energize and bust out of a rut.

The Chakras – a basic primer

This is a basic primer on the chakra system and the basic meanings associated with them. Reiki practitioners work with chakras by scanning them, balancing them, clearing them, stimulating them and modulating their flow. Some of us literally see them when we work, others of us perceive them as movement or wind, still others get imaginative impressions of what they appear like. No matter how they appear to the practitioner, there is basic information to understand about them.

Chakra is sanskrit for wheel. There are seven major chakras in the human body. They serve as conduits for the ocean of universal energy that we exist in. I like to picture them like valves that run in both directions – in and out. Their purpose is to manage the flow of universal energy in and out of your system.

These are not physical structures, but they do have physical correspondences. The endocrine system is the physical correspondence of the chakras.

Straight on, they look sort of like wheels, hence their name, but if you saw them from the side, they would appear more like funnels. They are all connected together energetically by the central channel, which appears like a white line down the center of our bodies. Besides having a physical correspondence, they also have a relationship to with our emotional and psychological selves. According to ancient traditions, they develop from the root to the crown over the life span, in 7 year increments. So, when you are around 49, they are all formed.

When I was first introduced to chakras many years ago, I did not believe they existed. I thought is simply the remnant of an ancient but medically unsophisticated culture’s attempt to understand anatomy. Yet, over the decades, I have shifted in my thinking, mostly due to extended time learning energy work, body work and yoga. The chakras are conceptual, but I believe there is wisdom in this ancient theory of human energy. Now, when I meditate and practice Reiki on myself, I see their associated colors. Often in session with clients, I see the colors of the chakra quite unexpectedly like the rainbows cast by prisms. Inevitably, when we start to understand the relationship between the chakra and issues, physical or emotional that a person faces, the work we do to balance, clear or stimulate the chakras becomes meaningful and important.

The Root

Muladhara or the Root Chakra

  • Red color
  • element: earth
  • develops from age 1-7
  • kidneys, adrenals
  • security, foundations of life, trust in life, ability to manifest what you need

The Sacral

Svadhisthana or the Sacral Chakra

  • Orange color
  • element: water
  • develops between at 7-14
  • sexual organs and bladder
  • emotions, self worth, sexuality, open expression, being able to give and receive

The Solar Plexus

Manipura or the Solar Plexus Chakra

  • Yellow color
  • element: fire
  • develops at age 14-21
  • spleen, liver, gall bladder, pancreas
  • power, control, relationships, empathy, activity, ability to accept others

The Heart

Anahata or the Heart Chakra

  • Emerald green color
  • element: air
  • develops at age 21-28
  • thymus and the physical heart
  • unconditional love, compassion, healing, warmth, abillity to transform energies with love

The Throat

Vissudha or the Throat Chakra

  • Sky or royal blue color
  • element: ether
  • develops at age 28-33
  • thyroid and vocal cords
  • communication, expression, creativity, ability to speak your truth, a connection to the outside world

The Third Eye

Anja or the Third Eye Chakra

  • Violet color
  • element: none
  • develops at age 33-42
  • pituitary gland
  • conscious perception, higher mind, intellect and intuition

The Crown

Sahasrara or the Crown Chakra

  • White or gold color
  • element: none
  • develops at age 42-29
  • pineal gland
  • self realization, human perfection, awareness of the eternal self

Intuition and Trauma

Is there a connection? Are you a trauma survivor and have noticed a profound uptick in your intuition? Do you worry that you are hypervigilant and not intuitive? Let’s learn a little about the Theory of Post-Traumatic Growth, how to distinguish between anxiety and intuition and how a Reiki practice can channel your intuition into a helpful and positive direction.

Post-traumatic growth (PTG) is a theory developed by psychologists Richard Tedeschi, PhD, and Lawrence Calhoun, PhD, in the mid-1990s, and proposes that people who survive psychological struggle following adversity can often see positive growth afterward, including enhanced spiritual connection. In her research, Sara Dyann Stanton noted that clinicians with complex trauma histories were more intuitive than clinicians without such histories.

Bessel van der Kolk in his book The Body Keeps the Score describes children who are raised in abusive environments often develop a keen ability to read cues from non verbal behavior and micro expressions as a survival tactic. Left untreated, the trauma these children experience leads to an adulthood where hypervigilance and interpreting every interaction as a threat can dominate. It is a lonely and scary place to be, and is a threat to mental health.

But in the presence of healing and resilience, I believe these skills can blossom in to full blown intuitive abilities with time and intention.

When the traumas were fresh and unhealed, I would have scoffed at the idea that they would somehow change me for the better. At 25, I experienced a profound and unexpected post-traumatic growth event: I had a precognition or vision so clear and specific, that it uprooted my entire understanding of reality, the world around me and human awareness. I simply could no longer deny that there was more to existence than what I had been taught. It did not heal me, and I sometimes think that gift came a bit early.

I’ll tell that story soon, but it started me on a journey of discovery and understanding that has not always been easy or safe. But I would not trade it. I now understand that one of the gifts of trauma is enhanced intuition and spiritual connection.

My gift came with a hefty price, that I would not wish on anyone: I suffered greatly and still bear the scars of early childhood trauma and years spent feeling scared and isolated. But even so, I would not trade my intuitive gift away for a more mundane level of awareness and a life untouched by wonder. My experience of loss and pain and subsequent growth is the reason that I became a Reiki teacher and practitioner.

Reiki and energy work give that intuitive gift a positive purpose – it can help others who are on a similar journey. I can’t promise to any other trauma survivor that you’ll develop enhanced intuition and nearly psychic ability.

But I can promise that if you show up, do the work to heal, and accept the task of healing off and on for the rest of your life, you will see rewards. Gratitude, purpose, a sense of personal strength and even intuitive gifts are all possible.

To begin developing your intuition over your hypervigilance, I suggest three practices:

  1. Learn to calm your mind and body. The first level of Reiki attunement teaches a powerful daily self-healing routine. Combining a wellness practice with mindfulness, many Reiki practitioners report wonderful benefits like improved sleep, overall calmness and a shift in demeanor. You can’t perceive clearly if you are in a state of activation. Also, I am a huge advocate of therapy and medication if needed. Take care of yourself.
  2. Play with your imagination. I had a great energy work/body work teacher who used to encourage us to work with intuition by pretending that we were intuitive already. The fact is, we were intuitive, but our conscious brain was interfering by trying to hard. Efforting is the antithesis of intuitive sensing.
  3. Learn to discern between anxious thoughts and intuitive thoughts. The big tell is the “charge”. Is it tinged with fear, or is it neutral and calm? My massive vision all those years ago was a series of pictures and then a knowing. The fear came later, but the actual intuition was clear and straightforward.

The Healing Power of Bearing Witness In a Reiki Session

Bearing Witness is a form of empathy in which you figuratively stand shoulder to shoulder with another and simply allow yourself to empathize with what they are experiencing.  Every day, in every context, we bear witness the actions and hear the stories of others and in so doing, we shoulder some of the burden of carrying that story.  For example, perhaps you are at a clothing store and you witness someone being rude to a clerk. You may silently look at the clerk and share an unspoken acknowledgement that the situation is uncomfortable and hurtful.  Or, perhaps you are walking across a parking lot and notice a young mother struggling to complete an errand while carrying a newborn, and wrangling crying older siblings. You make eye contact with a kind expression while you remember when you were a young mom struggling in a similar way.  In these and many other ways, we shoulder a small piece of the burden of others’ struggle on a daily basis, and it is part of what makes a cohesive and thriving community work. It creates safety and a feeling of being included.  

Bearing witness is part of the invisible social fabric that binds us all together as a species

Some of us choose to take on roles as first responders, medical or mental health professional, greatly expanding that role. Ask any policeman or EMT about Bearing Witness, and you are likely to see that person become very still and solemn. They might tell you that it is the only thing they could do for a person that they very much wanted to help in other ways.  And those of us who choose non-traditional healing professions also make a choice to bear witness to a larger share of the suffering of others. Bearing Witness is part of the invisible social fabric that binds us all together as a species.  Humans are communal animals by design and we thrive when we are interconnected in community and family groups. Those of us who are healers and helpers play an outsize role in maintaining the integrity of this group. We almost never pause to consider what role this form of empathy plays in the mechanism of healing.

According to Dr. Kristi Pickiewicz, in her article “The Power and Strength of Bearing Witness”, bearing witness “is a term that, used in psychology, refers to sharing our experiences with others, most notably in the communication to others of traumatic experiences. Bearing witness is a valuable way to process an experience, to obtain empathy and support, to lighten our emotional load via sharing it with the witness, and to obtain catharsis.”

To bear witness is a fundamentally human act

When I am teaching new Reiki practitioners, I always spend time discussing the power of bearing witness as an intentional tool that facilitates healing.  When we as Reiki practitioners bear witness for our clients, we are not necessarily listening to a verbal story about what has happened. We are observing the effect that events have had on the body and the energy system of our client.  It is a story that is filled with information, and nuance. When you orient your place as the Reiki practitioner to be an equal, you are employing two profound tools at once.

Again, Pickiewicz reminds us that “it is widely confirmed in the literature on the treatment of survivors of trauma…that validation in the course of and bearing witness is vital and necessary in remembering traumatic memories and in the healing process.”  That means that bearing witness is part of the mechanism of healing. You need not be a therapist or physician to bear witness because it is something that human beings do naturally.

At the start of every Reiki session, the receiver and the practitioner set a healing intention for the greatest and highest good of all concerned. I ask that my students remember that we are also there to Bear Witness.  When you are well grounded in your role as a witness and an equal, you transform your role from agent to facilitator; you empower your client to be a co-creator of change and you transform your practice.

Here are some practical tips to help you incorporate an intention to Bear Witness in a grounded and mindful way:

  1. Consciously initiate your Witness Bearing in the same way that you initiate your Reiki session – you can work with this affirmation to help ground your intention into the work:
I am now grounded and ready to call in beautiful Reiki energy.  I am ready to facilitate healing for the soul before me, and to calmly bear witness to the complex and and sometimes painful story that their energy and physical body must tell in order to heal.
  1.  If you feel yourself getting “pulled” by an emotional reaction to your receiver’s “story”, remember to ground yourself often.  Ground as often as you need to; it does not detract from the flow of Reiki, in my experience, it tends to increase the flow even more to your receiver.  
  2. Self regulate when you are not sharing Reiki with clients or yourself – a well regulated practitioner has a profound positive effect on the receiver. (My forthcoming E-book will have lots of self-regulation exercises to help you)

Combining Trauma Informed Care and Reiki

Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that involves gentle “laying on of hands” and is based on the buddhist/shinto idea that an unseen “life force (rei) energy (ki)” flows through us. If ki is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is in proportion and balance, you experience health and vitality. Reiki is an ancient practice that has been shown to reduce inflammation, increase relaxation and reduce pain.  

A Trauma Informed (TI) practice is responsive to and aware of the prevalence of trauma, and works actively to build an environment where clients feel safe and to rebuild a sense of control and empowerment.  This transformative model of care was created for mental health practices, but it is adaptable to other kinds of care.

As an experienced Reiki practitioner and teacher, I work with clients to help them deeply relaxation and stress relief.  But as a person who has healed from trauma, I longed to find a gentle way to empower trauma survivors on the path of healing.  Learning about TI care, I learned that when we bear witness to a person’s history without trying to “fix” them, healing can happen.  That is why I combined Trauma Informed care with my Reiki practice. I meet my clients where they are, whether that is simply for relaxation and self care, or if they wish to engage in a supportive practice that helps them heal from all kinds of traumas.