Elaine Grundy: looking for Urban Enlightenment

Writing your 'Ideal Scene'

Several years ago I was on a year long Law of Attraction course with Eva Gregory, Attraction Coach Extraordinaire.  I learnt lots of fantastic tips from her and the rest of my year long coaches but my favourite is the 'Ideal Scene'.

Its so simple and so effective.  The first time I wrote this I was living in Long Island, New York.  To be honest I wasn't in a very good space mentally, physically or emotionally.  I had spent the past 3 years at home with my two babies, and was exhausted, and certainly not in flow.  It was a desperate lurch to get myself back into the groove and out of the funk I had allowed myself to sink into, so I had an 'all or nothing' approach to it, and with hindsight I think that's why the first year was so phenomenal for me - I had a huge list of things I wanted to turn around including the continent I lived in, the work I was doing, my relationship with my kids, my husband, myself, my diet and well-being, my emotional state, my community....a pretty long list!

So I just went for it, I figured, I have nothing to loose - its only paper and ink :)

What you do is write the date a year ahead at the top of the page, ie Jan 1st 2010, then you begin "What an incredible year its been!..." or something similar.  Then you write about all the different aspects of your life that you would like to see change, it could be your 'perfect home', your 'perfect relationship' or your 'perfect job' and ideally should cover all aspects of your life that are important to you - run into several pages and make it as rich and juicy and exciting as you dare!

Here's the synopsis of how much stretch I put into mine: (bear in mind I was living in the USA at the time I wrote this and we were settled in a home we owned, my husband was working for a multi-national, and Singapore was nowhere near our discussion list, neither was leaving the US)

1. I wanted to live in Singapore
2. I wanted to celebrate my 40th birthday in Bali with ALL my family, and siblings
3. I wanted to be teaching regularly again
4. I wanted to be doing something worthwhile with my brain again
5. and a whole bunch of personal emotional and relationship balance stuff.

In one year, I achieved all that.  Some aspects were different to what I had imagined, and some took slightly more than a year to actualize, but in all cases I saw massive progress.  So you can see why I now do this every year!

I think part of the magic is in focusing yourself on what you want, and being honest about what aspects of your life are far from ideal.  For example, if you write 'I had a wonderfully nurturing year with my husband and our relationship just grows from strength to strength' and you choke on your tea as you write this - then you know you have some work in this area!  The same goes for anything you write, 'my job fulfills and excites me, I created so much value this year with my projects and connections with my team that my boss gave me a substantial raise! I can't wait to see what this year holds for me'...etc.  Just go for it, whatever makes you excited, passionate, whatever would make you deeply fulfilled and happy, get it all down on paper and create some energy around it.

Eva asked us to be very specific, eg, my boss gave me a raise of $20,000! but I have to say that personally I find such specifics limiting, I prefer words like 'huge' or 'substantial' or 'bigger than I could imagine!'  I also focus more on the kind of feelings I want, rather than the type of 'behaviour' I want, eg. I would prefer to write "my children and I continue to develop a loving and fulfilling relationship based on deep respect for each other" as it helps to be my guiding light - when I am shouting at my kids to 'hurry up' I can do a quick check, is this 'loving' or 'fulfilling' or 'respectful'?  This is much more effective at changing behaviour then writing 'my children are incredible, they are so polite and obedient all the time' which sort of sets you up for failure right there and then :)

Once you have your Ideal Scene,then just move towards it, one step at a time, you'll be amazed at what you can achieve in a year!

The Reiki Rice Experiment!

I was inspired by Emoto's rice experiments and decided to try my own Reiki version!  Two identical glass jars were sterilized by boiling water.  I then put 2 tablespoons of cooked rice from the same batch into each pot and created one control, which was left alone for the entire time, and one 'Reiki' pot which received a 1 minute blast of Reiki every other day.  Here are the results, pretty interesting right?!

As with all experiments, it is not easy to judge or decipher the outcome.  Why did white mold begin growing in the Reiki jar and not the Control?  How did the Reiki jar remain so white and fluffy?  I don't know what it means, I only know that in an experiment we are looking for significant differences in outcome.  My only hypothesis is that Reiki makes a difference, and I think we can see that it does.  Its not a belief system or in our imagination - we can actually try it for ourselves with experiments like these.  Very groovy!

In the beginning: 2 identical samples

After 1 week: some browning on the control, Reiki jar looks fresh and some white mold beginning to grow

After 2.5 weeks: Control continues to brown, Reiki jar grows white mold prolifically

 

After 4 weeks: a significant difference!  Control rice is all brown with white spotting, Reiki is all white with a proliferation of white fluffy mold.  I didn't open the jar to smell it, but the difference was very clear.

 

 

 If you decide to copy this experiment, please post your photos here too!

Do you want to look like this when you're 66?

My mum sent me these photos of herself during her last Yoga retreat, so of course I have to publish them :) 

 

THIS is what you can look like when you are a grandmother if you have been doing Reiki for 15 years, Tai Chi for 8 years and Yoga since you were in your 30’s…doesn’t she look fabulous?!  I also wanted to write about this topic because recently I have been asked by several of my students why they are not feeling more significant effects of Reiki right after the course. Although I have seen some remarkable immediate effects of Reiki such as eradication of pain, improvement in immune systems, lowering of stress and improvement of a variety of illnesses right after the course, these are much rarer than the cumulative effect of years upon years of taking good care of yourself.  With Reiki, as with all things natural, the effects may take many months to manifest.

Firstly the body will take the Reiki energy and deal with important, pressing issues – this might not be immediately noticeable to you in the beginning, but from one year to the next you will begin to see that every year is an improvement over the last.  And even if you have a shocking year in terms of trauma or undesirable life events, you will grow through them as opposed to sink under them.  You may think you are descending, but assuming you continue your Reiki practice, I guarantee you will look back and see yourself as stronger, more capable, and happier than in the past – that is the cumulative effects of Reiki and consistent self-treatment.

In our fast food/ convenience culture we have forgotten the point of the journey.  Our life is not to rush to some undetermined goal or finish line (um, that would be death, ultimately), but to savour the journey and to enjoy it fully present.  This Economic Crisis has brought it home even more powerfully – so many people slogging their guts out in jobs they hate, in lives they can hardly tolerate, just so they can pack away enough money to live ‘their real life’ – and now, for many, it’s all gone up in smoke.  Much better to live each day deliciously and fully and then when if it all comes crashing down, at least you’ve had a damn good run!

To enjoy fully means listening fully too.  Listening to your body, to your emotions and to your intuition.  Looking after yourself, nurturing yourself, and doing what you need to do to fulfil whatever it is you want to fulfil.  Step by step, year after year, small steps add up to massive improvements, as these photos attest toWell, I’m off to do my Reiki, I’ve got big shoes to fill J

 

More on Kundalini Reiki

Kundalini Reiki is quite different from the traditional Usui Reiki that originates from Japan.  It originates from a Danish healer and meditator, Ole Gabrielsen.  In discussions with my mother, also a Reiki Master, she points out that 'Reiki' is a Japanese term for Universal Life Force and like many eastern terms (eg Kundalini meaning 'coiled' or Chakra meaning 'wheel') has become part of our healing language but this does not confine it to only its original source.  The meaning of Reiki can be applied to any healing modality which utilities Universal energy.  I am still playing with the terminology and for me the term 'Reiki' still applies to Usui Reiki, whilst other terms need to be qualified - thus I still refer to and make a distinction between Reiki and Kundalini Reiki. 

Kundalini Reiki seems to be the 'next generation' of energy healing as we continue to grow and evolve our abilities around our mental energies.  Barbara Brennan says in 'Hands of Light', The Mental energy field "has been the hardest for me to observe.  This may be partly caused by the fact that human beings are really just beginning to develop the mental body and are just beginning to use their intellects in clear ways. For that reason we are very conscious of mental activity and consider ourselves an analytical society.” 

Over the past few decades many 'mental' disciplines are becoming more popular and more accessible.  The Law of Attraction movement made popular by "The Secret" coincides with the development of a wide range of healing modalities which can heal through intention, and thought.  In decades gone by, this type of healing was the domain of 'gifted' people and shamans or their equivalent.  Nowadays, these disciplines are taught to laypeople and our own personal power in terms of self-healing and self-responsibility are greater now than at any previous time.  Kundalini Reiki sits in this mental body area and as such will appeal to those who are already exploring the power of intention.  As we continue to develop this entire field, anyone can develop their power of intention and Kundalini Reiki is a powerful stepping stone to this end.

Kundalini Reiki requires mental thought to activate the healing.  Practitioners are taught to think 'Reiki' to get the flow going.  As a result the practitioner is more involved, and more influential in the healing process, this is particularly true at higher levels of healing in Kundalini Reiki 2 and 3.  Although this may seem like hard work, the process is quickened because of this higher energy involvement so treatments can be as short as 5 minutes.  In my experience, the energy continues to work well after the treatment, sometimes lasting several days.  Through intention, the practitioner can also manipulate the energy and move it around the body, as well as harmonize situations and events, emotions and conduct distance healing.  

If Kundalini Reiki is so versatile, why doesn't everyone do it?

Ever heard the phrase "its too good to be true"?  Well, it is a question of self-trust and how comfortable a person is with their own innate healing powers.  Kundalini Reiki requires the healer to take an active role in the healing, and to trust his/her abilities without question.  It can sometimes be too large a leap of faith, especially if the person is new to energy and healing. 

The people who get the most out of this kind of energy healing are those already doing some kind of energy work, or at least sensitive to energies already.  The great benefit is the speed at which training occurs - one day for Kundalini 1 and then two separate evening sessions for kundalini 2 & 3.

In Kundalini Reiki 1 the Chakras are opened and prepared for the advanced attunements.  This opening allows practitioners to use the Reiki energy as well as several other attunements designed to open and activate individual chakras for specific healing.  Of course we also learn self healing, healing others, distance healing and how to harmonise and heal situations, relationships, karmic and other events.  How to heal emotional traumas, blocks and clear space.  This is all packed into one day with time to practise and experiment.

In Kundalini Reiki 2 (taught 3 weeks after Kundalini Reiki 1), the evening consists of a further attunement to open and enhance the bottom chakras and allow the Kundalini energy a gentle opening to begin is flow up the spine.  This is done as a very gentle process and their is no danger of over-activating the Kundalini or causing any damage whatsoever.  This process, as with Kundalini Reiki 3, is an ongoing process as the body continues to open.  Within the evening we also learn advanced healing, strengthening techniques, and meditations.

In the final Kundalini Reiki 3 (taught 2 weeks after Kundalini Reiki 2) we complete the opening with the top chakras which allows the Kundalini reiki to flow unimpeded throughout the spine.  We also learn more specific healings including DNA reiki, past-life trauma reiki, locational balancing and Crystalline (toxin removal) reiki.  This is the final level which will then allow participants to pass on the attunements and activate Kundalini Reiki in others (Reiki Master equivalent).

All three courses can also be taken via distance attunements directly from Ole Gabrielsen.  My classes and attunements are face to face only as I believe the teaching wisdom and ongoing support is as important in a person's growth as the actual attunements.

Hope to see you in a class soon!
This article is dedicated to Janet Bowden, my original Kundalini Reiki Master and inspiration!

You are nothing but hot air!

What is Universal Energy?

Atoms, Greek for “Indivisible”, is the smallest particle (we now know we can subdivide further), and is the general measure of the building blocks of our material body, and our material world.  Atoms are 1 part physical particle, and 999,999 space.

A great example of scale of a hydrogen atom is at http://www.phrenopolis.com/perspective/atom/

To give you an example, if a nucleus was the size of a golf ball and you placed it in the middle of a huge row of football pitches, the nearest electron would be over eleven football pitches away.  The rest of this enormous atom is empty.

So that begs the question, if we are 99.99999% empty space, why is it so hard for us to believe that energy healing works?  We are so indoctrinated by our 5 senses, what we see, hear, feel,touch, taste that we have forgotten that the vast majority of this universe we live in is unseeable, unhearable, untouchable, unfeelable, untastable by our meager physical senses.  If we open ourselves to the 99.99999% of extra-sensory resources, we will open ourselves to an entire untapped potential of both energic and thought power.  Even tapping into 1% more of our innate potential will unleash a power 10 times what we have already.  How awesome is that for a concept?!

Reiki is one way to access this hidden potential.  Reiki works in this vaste energy space.  Healing and allowing energy to freely flow where it is needed is a big step to uncovering that extra 1 or 2%, it will affect your life in ways you cannot imagine, and in some ways that you can (if you can imagine your life free from pain, blocks, fear, anger then you are getting some indication of what the imaginable part is!). The unimaginable is the course your life takes, the new openings and horizons, the release of personal power and confidence that comes from having more energy.  Sound good?

The Excuses of “Self-Development”

We in the self-development field have to be extra vigilant that we don’t replace one rigid belief system, with another.  In our search for more peace, more happiness, we are programmed and trained to look outside of ourselves.  We look to our parents, to our friends, to our education, our job, our governments, our country, our communities…the trick is, of course, to look within, at ourselves.  But even for those of us who know and understand this, DOing it is a completely different thing….

A friend came to me in a quandary; she has been working very consciously on building healthy boundaries between herself and her husband.  Their relationship in the past has been rather one sided (he dictates, she obeys).  Obviously as the shift to a more equal partnership has taken place, there has been much kicking and screaming as both sides have had to adjust to the ‘new’ style of relationship.  She is much happier, though he possibly isn’t, but he’s getting used to it and seeing other benefits (namely a much happier and friendlier wife!).  Throughout this process I have been coaching her to continue her search for inner peace within, and not let outside influences affect her so much – the number one job for all of us.

Her quandary came about one evening when she was feeling a bit fearful of the future, of what that might hold for them and their family.  Her Husband told her that she ‘wasn’t allowed’ to feel down and depressed as that was his job (to be the worrier).  Her job was to be the rock, the positive and optimistic one.  Well, that sent her into a right little mood!  She came to me complaining and upset “why do I always have to be the rock, why can’t he support me when I’m feeling down, it’s always on my shoulders to be responsible for everyone else’s happiness”.  Fair points, all of them – why should she?  Well the point, of course, is that she doesn’t have to do any of these things.  Her stress is coming from the thought “I have to do/be… this that the other”.

She had already analyzed the situation “he’s crossing my boundaries again, he’s using me and sucking my energy dry – I can feel it!  He’s hooking into my Solar Plexus!  No wonder I’m exhausted all the time, he’s using me like a vampire!”  Ouch!  Well, she had read all the right books!  Coaching 101 around Boundaries, Brennan on Energy Vampires, Myss on Chakras….but did it really matter that she had all the correct language for the ‘New Age Self Developed Woman’?  No, not really.  At the end of the day, she was still looking outside herself to blame and label and excuse.

Essentially the question is, “Do you WANT to feel down and depressed because of your fear?”  Of course not! She said with a start.  “So why”, I asked, “are you blaming your husband for stating a fact and highlighting to you your negative behavior?”  If you want to feel depressed than do so, but please don’t blame your husband for pointing it out.

Ahh, how freeing to truly own your own mood!  How delicious to be honest and brave enough to say “Thank you husband darling for pointing out my negative behavior!  I have told you many times before that I am striving for more peace and happiness in my life and you are highlighting my actions and my thoughts to me whenever I deviate from my course…Thank you!!”

Decide who you want to be in this world, then be it.  And thank graciously and genuinely anyone who is helping you stay on your path.

Excuses on being 'Self-Developed'

We in the self-development field have to be extra vigilant that we don’t replace one rigid belief system, with another.  In our search for more peace, more happiness, we are programmed and trained to look outside of ourselves.  We look to our parents, to our friends, to our education, our job, our governments, our country, our communities…the trick is, of course, to look within, at ourselves.  But even for those of us who know and understand this, DOing it is a completely different thing….

A friend came to me in a quandary; she has been working very consciously on building healthy boundaries between herself and her husband.  Their relationship in the past has been rather one sided (he dictates, she obeys).  Obviously as the shift to a more equal partnership has taken place, there has been much kicking and screaming as both sides have had to adjust to the ‘new’ style of relationship.  She is much happier, though he possibly isn’t, but he’s getting used to it and seeing other benefits (namely a much happier and friendlier wife!).  Throughout this process I have been coaching her to continue her search for inner peace within, and not let outside influences affect her so much – the number one job for all of us.

Her quandary came about one evening when she was feeling a bit fearful of the future, of what that might hold for them and their family.  Her Husband told her that she ‘wasn’t allowed’ to feel down and depressed as that was his job (to be the worrier).  Her job was to be the rock, the positive and optimistic one.  Well, that sent her into a right little mood!  She came to me complaining and upset “why do I always have to be the rock, why can’t he support me when I’m feeling down, it’s always on my shoulders to be responsible for everyone else’s happiness”.  Fair points, all of them – why should she?  Well the point, of course, is that she doesn’t have to do any of these things.  Her stress is coming from the thought “I have to do/be… this that the other”.

She had already analyzed the situation “he’s crossing my boundaries again, he’s using me and sucking my energy dry – I can feel it!  He’s hooking into my Solar Plexus!  No wonder I’m exhausted all the time, he’s using me like a vampire!”  Ouch!  Well, she had read all the right books!  Coaching 101 around Boundaries, Brennan on Energy Vampires, Myss on Chakras….but did it really matter that she had all the correct language for the ‘New Age Self Developed Woman’?  No, not really.  At the end of the day, she was still looking outside herself to blame and label and excuse.

Essentially the question is, “Do you WANT to feel down and depressed because of your fear?”  Of course not! She said with a start.  “So why”, I asked, “are you blaming your husband for stating a fact and highlighting to you your negative behavior?”  If you want to feel depressed than do so, but please don’t blame your husband for pointing it out.

Ahh, how freeing to truly own your own mood!  How delicious to be honest and brave enough to say “Thank you husband darling for pointing out my negative behavior!  I have told you many times before that I am striving for more peace and happiness in my life and you are highlighting my actions and my thoughts to me whenever I deviate from my course…Thank you!!”

Decide who you want to be in this world, then be it.  And thank graciously and genuinely anyone who is helping you stay on your path.