Most often during a healing session my experience of energy is very dualistic: contraction/expansion, chaos/cohesiveness, swirling/still, lightness/heaviness.
I am not usually the type of healer that can see that in third grade you were thoroughly embarrassed in front of your homeroom class, and you still can’t speak in public without breaking a sweat. I am most often (every session is different) the type of healer who can sense the “thick energy” in your throat and hold a space for you to relax and let it release.
The energy right now in Oakland, California, is unusually chaotic with all the storms, flooding, and rain. I feel this chaos is allowing for faster and deeper transformation. Everything is already stirred up. While things feel ‘broken down,’ there is a powerful, positive, and healing urge to reconnect.
I actually recently ended a healing session after only 35 minutes because the person on the table was just “done.” He was very still on the table for about 45 minutes after I finished. He later told me it was a ‘breakthrough’ session for him.
Life, energy, and our capacity for healing are expanding and evolving faster than ever. These are interesting times.
Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in Oakland, California. She is available for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork Monday through Friday.
A short series of healings can reset your nervous system, body, mind, and, therefore, your experience of life. Energetic sessions provide the space for you to relax and deeply rebalance, making it so much easier to connect with your inner guidance, creativity, and life direction.
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I have clients that schedule sessions every week, every two weeks, and several that come once a month. Others book regular sessions for a fixed period of time to address a specific issue. They might be focusing on anxiety/panic attacks or want energetic support while going through a divorce. Several clients have found Healing Touch and Reiki sessions deepen their daily meditation practice.
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Here are two testimonials from clients:
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“I personally received several healings from Jeri for an undiagnosed condition. I was just out of energy, and at 67, I felt like I was nearing the natural end of my life. After a series of “distant healings from Jeri, I have the energy of when I was in my 40s. This took several months to unfold. I am beyond grateful for Jeri.”
“Jeri, You are the most gifted healer I’ve ever met and felt. Thank you for what seems like a lifetime of service. I am so grateful for that session today. I am pain-free and it makes me feel ready for Thursday’s surgery. Xoxo”
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Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in Oakland, California. She is available for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork Monday through Friday.
“Let us visualize a world where all global citizens are loved. Let us embrace a flow of change and send out positive thoughts of peace and acceptance. Please take a moment to honor all walks of life.”
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I found this beautiful quote and intention in the Healing Touch Community Newsletter. I wish I could report to you today that I only felt peace and positive vibes this week, but that was not my experience.
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I felt a rush of anger, despair, and grief around the tweets, news, and unfolding of events since last Friday. There was so much energy in my body; it was overwhelming. I thought about all the things that I could, and should be grateful for. That didn’t help, in fact, it made me even more irritable.
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Acceptance was my only path through it. Not acceptance of what was happening, but acceptance of how ungracefully I was experiencing it. Acceptance of how overwhelmed I was and how hopeless I felt. Self-compassion for all that I couldn’t seem to deal with.
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After I finally felt that acceptance; I recommitted. I now feel an even deeper commitment to show up, do my best, and stay connected to my highest wisdom in every way possible. To hold space for all that is happening in these crazy times. There are infinite possibilities in this moment. I feel even more grounded, energized, and creative.
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I am so grateful for my daily self-reiki treatments, breathwork sessions, and meditation practice. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without these tools.
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I know the next few months may be crazy. I will probably feel overwhelmed again. I also know that my renewed commitment to holding a high vibration of acceptance for myself and peace for our world is greater than ever.
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Jeri Lawson has a full-time Healing and Breathwork practice in Oakland, California. She is available Monday through Friday for distance healings as we shelter in place.
I have watched this video many times. Each time I learn something new.
Enjoy.
Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in the Temescal Area of Oakland, California. During this time of sheltering-in-place, she is available for Distance Healing Touch and Reiki sessions.
There are so many people suffering from anxiety at this time. The pain of anxiety is isolating. I know when I feel the most disheartened over current events, I feel the most alone.
My daily meditative practice is the Universal Ishaya’s Ascension as taught by Neika Supriya Whittemore. Yet, in the last few weeks, I have found starting my meditation with the practice of Tonglen to be extremely beneficial.
Tonglen connects me with the compassion I feel for others who are having the same experience I am, and in feeling the compassion I have for others I am able to also hold that state of compassion for myself. Self-compassion is a powerful, comforting healing energy. *
Below is a video (under eight minutes) on the practice of Tonglen by Pema Chodron.
May you find as much joy and healing from this practice as I have.
*The word compassion is used in different ways by healers and teachers. The state of compassion experienced here is a heartfelt, emotional connection.
Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in the Temescal Area of Oakland, California. She is available for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork Monday through Friday.
Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in the Temescal Area of Oakland, California. She is available for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm.
This week in my blog I would like to share a significant personal discovery during my month-long meditation retreat last October. A subtle shift in awareness that changed how I experience the world.
I have been studying healing and the nature of consciousness for quite a while now, currently reading books on nonduality and the work of Rupert Spira, Eckhart Tolle, and Frans Stiene. Also listening to and enjoying the awakening consciousness stories of ordinary people from Buddha at the Gas Pump.
Last week I wrote about my healing practice and what I experience in the healing space during a session. I described the dynamic, ever-evolving, morphing healing state I am in five days a week. My question for the last few years has been: What is the relationship of this healing space to Non-Duality, the True Self, Divine Presence?
Many teachers and healers I greatly respect have spoken of compassion as a quality of this healing space and this higher consciousness. This is where I felt like I was missing the boat. I was not feeling compassion in the healing space. Here is how I finally defined it for myself in a past post:
This compassion is not motivated by desire or ambition to heal others. In fact, it had begun to seem like the more powerful and effective the healing space was becoming for my clients, the less emotionally connected I was to the whole healing process. I do not feel any emotions or desires in the actual healing space. I also had periods when I felt so much less ambitious in my everyday life, which was very uncomfortable. Just being in the world was now requiring a new method of navigation that was confusing. There was much less ego. I was finding this stressful.
So, as I began my month-long meditation retreat in October, my intention was to focus on this question.
There was a Supreme Court issue at the beginning of October that had greatly upset me, so when I sat to meditate my emotional body was quite activated. As I began to meditate, I could feel my energy spiraling and unwinding about five feet all around me, with waves of heat and nausea periodically passing through my physical body. It was very similar to the healing space I held for others, except I was feeling my own energy moving. I would like to note here that my clients very, very rarely feel nauseous.
For the first ten days, it was extremely challenging and physically uncomfortable to sit and meditate. I just wanted to run, to move, to get a drink of water, or find my cell phone and text for help.
Then I began to notice a space underneath all the movement. A quiet space. I focused on that, and it expanded over time and became more encompassing, eventually surrounding everything including my energy field and my body. My nervous system and biofield started settling down, and I experienced the heat and waves of nausea less and less.
This new space was utterly still, like a flat void. I could not even describe it as peaceful, certainly not compassionate, yet there was definitely no stress. It was empty.
After 10 days of emotional turmoil arising and releasing this was a welcome shift. I focused on this space the rest of my meditation retreat, and just let all my questions about healing states and consciousness go.
I have now been back from my retreat and working for over twenty days. The healing space and my healing practice appear to be pretty much the same; different every session and still wonderfully effective for each client.
The prevailing thought running through my brain is that there is nothing to seek anymore. Everything is right here, in this stillness, in this emptiness. My intention now is to stay connected to it.
What was the most surprising, and what I most wanted to share with you, is that even though this deeper space is still experienced as emotionally empty, I returned from the retreat feeling more compassion, joy, love, and clarity in all aspects of my life. I can listen to the daily news with much less resistance. The more I connect with this space the more calmer and more peaceful I am.
You would think that connecting with a state of consciousness that creates more compassion would be experienced as compassionate, yet that’s not how it works for me. The experience of emptiness appears to create more compassion.
Meditation is not what I thought.
Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in the Temescal Area of Oakland, California. She is available for Healing Touch, Reiki, Distance Healings and Clarity Breathwork Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm. 510-601-9632
Have you ever stepped out of your life for a whole month?
Preparing to leave my work and life for such an extended period felt so crazy, so extravagant, and even a bit selfish before I left. Now I realize this was one of the smartest and even the most practical things I have ever done.
How did this come about?
I have been studying consciousness and spirituality in one form or another my whole life. I have read everything I could get my hands on about Enlightenment, Satori, Oneness, Presence, the True Self and Nonduality. My healing practice had made it possible for me to study with many incredibly brilliant healing masters and teachers over the last twenty years. Up until the last month, I was a dedicated spiritual seeker. 😉
Around 2014, after a few “not so great” experiences, I found a meditation teacher that was accessible, kind and moved through the world with incredible grace. Supriya Whittemore is a Universal Ishaya teacher who creates month-long meditation retreats wholly devoted to the direct experience with our Higher Self. That is how I ended up on a month-long Ascension retreat in North Fork, California, meditating for hours at a time in a beautiful and nurturing space.
There is a lot less seeking now, and a lot more just being.
If you have been reading this blog, you also know I am also a big fan of community. For me, a supportive community is vital when you are going through significant consciousness shifts. Being in a community environment with others as deeply committed to their meditation practice was such a gift.
It is impossible to write about all that happened last month. It’s like trying to describe an elephant one inch at a time.
In this first blog post, I will say that the first couple of weeks were incredibly challenging, sparked by the political situation at the beginning of the month. I was completely emotionally overwhelmed just as I was settling in for a month of deep transformational inner work.
How perfect.
To sit through all the emotions that flared up and let my nervous system rebalance and relax was intense. The Ishayas’ Ascension Meditation practice is very easy, simple and natural, but for me letting go of “doing” took a while. The second two weeks were flat-out amazing. The process is very different for everyone.
I can’t say that I am fully awake yet, 🙂 but what I can say is that I have come back to my life and my healing practice deeply rested and connected to a simple sweetness of being.
Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in Oakland, California and is available for Healing Touch, Reiki, Distance Healings and Clarity Breathwork sessions Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm. 510-601-9632
As a healer, I have learned that there are three substances that hold energy well: water, silk, and cotton. After I watched the video above, I was so moved, and much more aware of how connected we are on such a tangible, practical level. I started looking for more water videos and the two below reconfirmed this oneness. Enjoy.
Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in the Temescal Area of Oakland, California. She is available for Healing Touch, Reiki, Distance Healings and Clarity Breathwork Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm. 510-601-9632
One thing I have learned from this retreat: If I want to step deeper into my life and my work, I have to step out of it for a while.
I have been back from my retreat for five days. This was the most extended amount of time I have taken off from my healing practice in twenty-two years. I meditated for hours at a time, several times a day and I only looked at my phone when I absolutely had to. No Facebook, Instagram, emails, news, calls or texts. I am still amazed at how profoundly clear and relaxed I still feel.
Meditation was the focus of this retreat, with group meals and engaging conversations that created an intimate, supportive community. If you have read my blog, you know that I am a big fan of community, and I find it necessary for doing long-term spiritual and energetic work.
After sleeping for the first three days, I suddenly needed much less sleep. For two nights in a row, I only managed to sleep two hours each night and never felt tired the next day. That was wild. I had heard when you meditate for long periods of time you don’t need as much sleep, but I didn’t believe it until I experienced it. My overall energy level now is significantly higher than before the retreat. Since I am meditating daily for longer periods of time, I hope this continues.
My meditation teacher is Supriya Whittemore, and she teaches The Ishayas Ascension. Supriya is a gift to this planet. Creating meditations retreats like this one is a profound service to the world. This is from her website:
“We design our spiritual retreats from the intentions of our participants. What we do is provide the environment for you to recognize and nurture the experience of God within you. We implement a state shift that opens up for the next six months following the retreat. This is achieved by design, the community group dynamic, the practices, and listening for the Life that presents Itself when we discover and navigate together.”
“Listening for the Life that presents Itself” I love that line.
Berkeley also has a fantastic time and experienced snow for the first time. He also got a lot of meditation time in. 🙂
Berkeley Contemplates Snow
Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in the Temescal Area of Oakland, California. She is available for Healing Touch, Reiki, Distance Healings and Clarity Breathwork 10 am to 6 pm. 510-601-9632
Have you ever stepped out of your life for a whole month?
