The Podcast: Dive Into Reiki

 

One night last week, I woke up in the dark before my alarm sounded and could not fall back to sleep. So I did what I always do – I put my hands on my heart and began doing a self-Reiki treatment.

For me, there is an instant sensation of expansion, connection, and physical grounding. I completely relax and can be much more present with whatever is coming up, or not coming up, in the moment.

I haven’t written a post just about Reiki lately, even though it is a fundamental part of my daily practice. My first Reiki class was in 1996, and I have probably done it every day since. The simplicity of the practice is so exquisitely beautiful.

So, what I am leading up to is a link to a fascinating Reiki podcast on Youtube by Nathalie Jaspar. It is called Dive Into Reiki.

Nathalie has interviewed over thirty established Reiki Practitioners. Check out the inspiring, high-energy Raven Keyes, who brought Reiki into operating rooms. There is a wonderful interview with one of my teachers, Kathleen Prasad, who was the first to offer Reiki to animals. The link above with Susan Mitchell’s interview particularly touched me, and I had no idea who she was before I found this podcast.

Nathalie has also interviewed another of my heroes and teacher,  Frans Stiene, as well as Pamela MilesBronwen Logan, and Frank Arjava Petter.

Enjoy!

Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in Oakland, California. She is available for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork  Monday through Friday. 

510-601-9632   jerilawson@mac.com

An Interview About A Business Of Healing

My incredible writing coach Beth Barany asked me to do this interview. Here is her website: http://bethbarany.com/

Click below to buy my book A Business Of Healing: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1735545309/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Jeri Lawson has a full-time Healing and Breathwork practice in Oakland, California. She is available Monday through Friday for distance healing as we shelter in place. 

510-601-9632

 jerilawson@mac.com

Kathleen Prasad’s “Healing Power In A Radiation Suite”

I would like to share Kathleen Prasad’s story about her cancer treatment and metta practice.  This article is a great teaching that I have read many times. This is the kind of story that takes me deeper into my daily meditation practice and once again reveals how every one of us makes a difference in this world. Enjoy.

“I realized that no matter what was happening to my body, I could find peace, love, joy and strength in this moment. No matter what, in this moment my heart was perfect and shining bright. The more I could see this within myself, the more I could see it in others, and the brighter I could feel my metta practice shining.

– Kathleen Prasad

Check out more of Kathleen’s writings and website here – Animal Reiki Source.

Thank you, Kathleen.

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 sessions Monday through Thursday, 10 am to 6 pm. 510-601-9632

Healing In These Times: We Are All Connected

I could not sleep last Sunday night.

When I heard the Monday morning news, I learned another “psychic storm” had occurred, this time in Las Vegas. I realized why I had felt so restless and irritated the night before. Many people can feel events in the collective unconscious, can sense the pain of others on the opposite side of the world when a large scale tragedy occurs. I didn’t think I had this “gift,” but I think many of us are now more aware of how energetically connected we are than any other time in our lives.

Many of my clients, friends and healing practitioners report that they are waking up in the morning filled with dread, grief, anxiety, hopelessness, and fear. Then they tell me they listen to the morning news and just feel worse.

How can we survive the violence, the loss, the craziness of these times? How can we stay present, grounded and centered? How do we as teachers go to school each day and face our students? How do we as mothers get out of bed and take care of our children? How do we stay present in times like this?

One thing about the collective unconscious is that it is a collective. We are all connected. You are not alone. The emotions in your energy field at any given time are being felt all over the country, all over the world. When you hold, balance and ground the energy in your own body, and your life, you are healing the collective. You are making a difference. Our personal healing heals the world.

This is the time for radical self-care. Turn off the news if you need to. Turn on and monitor the current events each day,  if that helps you feel safer. Talk to your friends, go for a walk in the woods, meditate, or get a healing to balance your chakras. This is a blog about energetic healing, so I of course highly recommend booking a Reiki, Healing Touch or a Breathwork session. My clients are greatly benefiting from their sessions.

Check out Kathleen Prasad’s simple animal healing meditation written for those affected by war. Do this meditation for people lost in or traumatized by war, people who have been affected by a violent shooting, or for those who don’t have healthcare. Do this meditation for yourself and all those who are suffering from the same issues and emotions you are in this moment.

 

“May the peace which we create today in our hearts radiate out and help to heal the world.”

– Kathleen Prasad

Remember: You are not alone. We are all connected. Your personal healing affects the whole planet.

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 sessions Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm. 510-601-9632

A Healing Story About Animal Reiki, Sepsis, and Synchronicity

 Animal Reiki is also healing for people.

The day after I completed Kathleen Prasad’s Reiki III and Animal Reiki Teacher Training, one of my regular clients ended up in one of the nearby hospitals with an acute case of sepsis.

She had a cyst removed as an outpatient at the doctor’s office. A few hours later she had a life-threatening infection. Her friend, who is also one of my clients, had called to let me know where she was.

The universe had lined everything up for me to be able to go to the hospital in the middle of the afternoon. I had two back-to-back cancellations the day before and had a four-hour spot in the middle of my day.

This type of sudden opening in my schedule has happened several times before, when  I need to be somewhere else besides in my healing space. I am always still astounded at the synchronicity. You would think I would get used to it.

When I got to the hospital, it was obvious how serious the situation was. I did a Healing Touch session, which balanced her energy and allowed her to fall into a deeply relaxed state.

There was no one in the room except the two of us after the session was over. I did not want to leave her alone until her next family member arrived, so I sat by her bed. I realized I had started doing the Joshin Kokyu Ho meditation that I learned in Animal Reiki.

So I went with it. I was breathing into my hara or lower belly, and on the exhale, expanding the energy out all around me and into the room, creating a healing space.

This is a simple meditation technique that is in Kathleen’s book Reiki For Dogs. You can open to page 31 and do it for yourself right after you finish reading this post. 

The room changed in a matter of three breaths. There was SO MUCH energy, and in that energy everything was alive. The room was very bright, almost white. My client started having gentle muscle spasms and appeared to be in communication with someone, or something. I often see this state in my healing practice at the office, but usually during the healing. It felt like a spontaneous crack between worlds.

It was powerful. I felt like a bystander. I just held the space, stayed grounded and kept breathing. It was just crazy. 

Finally, the energy subsided. I really don’t remember how long it lasted. When I left I knew she was going to be ok.

When I checked in with my client a week after, she said she remembered me coming to the hospital and that the healing was the point where “everything turned around.” She completely recovered.

I emailed my client this post to ask permission to tell her story. I had not shared my experience of the session with her before this. She added:

“Wonderful to read your thoughts and description of what was for me an incomprehensible experience that just left me with an overall sense of well-being… I just know that I remember little fleeting things– like you coming into the room– your hands above me in the bed— a nurse poking her head into the room and your glance at her after which she simply nodded, turned, and left, .. closing the door.  I felt utterly and totally relaxed and I distinctly remember ‘calming down’.  I distinctly remember feeling that you were in control of the room (why the nurse left?!)” 

Let me say right away I was not in control of anything and in these kinds of sessions, the less control I have, the more profound the healing.

The nurse saw what I was doing and gave me the space to do it. My first rule in going into hospitals as an energy practitioner is that I work around the medical staff and their schedule. I have been in a lot of hospitals over the years, and so far the nurses have always been very supportive of healing work.

So the bottom line is: Animal Reiki is good for people, too.

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 sessions Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm. 510-601-9632

Reiki: Volunteering At The Berkeley Humane Animal Shelter

Before Playing With The Puppies, Volunteers Have To Wear Scrubs, Gloves And Booties To Protect The Young Dogs From Contagious Diseases

I was worried that volunteering at an animal shelter was going to be emotionally overwhelming, and maybe even a little depressing.

I was wrong.

I’ve been volunteering at Berkeley Humane for three months now, and the whole experience has been nothing but life-affirming. I am inspired by the staff, the heart-centered volunteers and, of course, the animals.

Right now I am mostly working with the dogs. Many of the dogs are only there for less than a week, so when I say good-bye to them at the end of my shift, I know they will most likely be in their new homes by the tIme I return. There are a few dogs that have been there longer, and each one seems to have a group of volunteers who champion for them and their individual needs. One of these champions is a woman on my Thursday shift. She comes in on Saturday mornings, just to walk one of the bigger dogs before the shelter opens for adoptions.

When I greet the new dogs every week, I am happy they have arrived. No matter what their issues, I know that now they have made it to this shelter, things will only get better for them.


At Berkeley Humane the kennels are heated through the floor, and the space is designed to help the animals feel safe. Every animal gets the medication they need, and there are veterinarians on staff constantly monitoring everything. It’s pretty amazing.

Being around animals has changed me. They have taught me so much in the last few months. I could list a million of these changes, but I don’t want this to be an epic blog post. I will say an interesting shift for me is my sense of time. When I am with the dogs it is SO obvious when I am not fully present with them. When I am feeding a hungry dog or playing with a puppy, I have to let go of the next item on my agenda, even if it is another dog who needs walking.

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I became a volunteer at Berkeley Humane, despite my initial apprehension, because of SARA, the Shelter Animal Reiki Association founded by Kathleen Prasad and Leah D’Ambrosio. SARA is a non-profit organization that promotes Animal Reiki and meditation practices for shelter and sanctuary animals.

I have to confess that so far I am not doing much actual “sit down and meditate” Reiki at Berkeley Humane. When I am volunteering, I am cleaning the kennels, feeding, playing ball and walking the dogs. Then – before I know it – it’s time to go. Yet, when I meet an animal that is anxious, sick, or just overwhelmed, I connect with them during the following week in my daily meditations. I have found Distance Reiki to be a very powerful part of my morning meditation practice.

All this has brought me back to the Reiki Precept: Just for today – DO NOT WORRY!

 

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 sessions Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm.

510-601-9632

Meditating With A Snake

A short video from Kathleen Prasad about the benefits of meditating with a snake. I just love this little clip. Thank you, Kathleen, and thank you Blondie!

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 sessions Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm. 510-601-9632

Leaning into Fear

Here is an inspired message from my Animal Reiki Teacher, Kathleen Prasad.

“Own It”

“Trust Yourself”

“Lean Into Your Fear”

“Go For It”

Thank you, Kathleen.

Jeri Lawson is a Reiki Practitioner, Teacher and Meditator in Oakland, California. 510-601-9632

Animal Reiki At The Shelter

emerald_5-2 I have been volunteering at my local animal shelter for the last 4 or 5 weeks. My weekly shift is in the morning, and the first thing I do when I arrive is clean the floors, take out the trash and start a load of laundry. I found there are a lot of blankets, beds, and towels to keep clean in an animal shelter.

After cleaning, I have been helping with the cats. Last week I was asked to visit with Emerald, a beautiful gray and white short-haired cat. He had just had surgery a few days earlier to remove a cyst on his throat.

This picture does not capture Emerald’s sweet nature. He enjoyed my visit and obviously liked the Reiki. He purred and walked all around me during our time together. He even asked for some hands-on healing and to be brushed.

I felt fantastic afterward. Animal Reiki really opens my heart.

Continue reading “Animal Reiki At The Shelter”

What Is Your Super Power?

IMG_1255It’s healing.

As humans, we all have the ability to heal ourselves and hold space for others to heal.

Put your hands on your heart right now and tune into yourself for a minute. What do you feel? The pressure of your hand? Heat? Pulsing? Do you feel more present? Emotion? Space?

Take another full minute right now as you read this, and breath the energy of your hands into your heart. Notice what you notice. No judgement. Just be aware. Are you surprised at how much you can feel?

We are all superheros.

 

If you are interested in leaning more about your super powers, take a class in Healing Touch or Reiki.

There is a Level One Healing Touch Class coming up in Lafayette, CA, Oct 15 & 16, 2016. Taught by a wonderful healer and a woman I have worked with for years – Laurie Ratto RN, HTCP and CCA.

There is an amazing Reiki teacher and community in Davis, California. Check out Elizabeth A Fulmer, RMT, KMT, HTP-A and her website: ReikiFocus.

If you love animals, go to Kathleen Prasad’s Animal Reiki Source. She teaches in Santa Rosa, California, and all over the country.

Learn to access your deeper potential. Super powers can come in handy.

Jeri Lawson is available for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork sessions Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm, in the Temescal Area of Oakland, California 510-601-9632

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