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In the previous blog post, we found ways to use Reiki in real life. In this post, let’s find a few other ways Reiki can be used off the Reiki Table.
Reiki Before Driving
Doing Reiki while driving? Well, maybe before you hit the road.
Doing Reiki on your car before you leave is an excellent way to make your car a Reiki machine. Adding some intention to your trip allows you to relax during the trip while you help yourself and other drivers on the road.
Here’s some inspiration to turn your car into a Reiki Vehicle:
- Draw Sei He Ki on the roof of the car before leaving. Channel Reiki for a few minutes to assure a safe, stress free trip.
- Use the steering wheel. Before driving, envision or draw Cho Ku Rei on the steering wheel before leaving.
You can imagine your car sending Reiki to all the cars around you , keeping all the drivers and you safe and stress free.
Reiki for Napping
Napping has many health benefits. Napping for a duration of 20 minutes has been shown to increase productivity, improve mood, and lower stress.
I love naps, but I often struggle with finding the time during a busy clinic schedule. I also can’t wind down sufficiently enough to actually get into sleep.
I have trained my mind and body to use a short Reiki session to replace a nap, or to use Reiki to help me relax into a nap.
While an entire Reiki session is preferred, I have found doing Reiki on the Mind, Heart, and Gut can clean up any toxic energy, create instant relaxation, and replace a nap.
This Reiki sequence takes 9 minutes:
- Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down.
- An invaluable tool is the Reiki Timer developed by Pamela Miles, which you’ll set for 9 minutes.
- Perform Reiki on the crown of your head for 3 minutes.
- Perform Reiki on your heart chakra for 3 minutes
- Perform Reiki on your solar plexus for 3 minutes.
Reiki When Cooking
We cook for so many reasons. Nourishment, bringing our friends and families together, and for fun!
Is there a better place to add Reiki than with the food we prepare?
The food we eat provides calories and nutrients to fuel our bodies and minds. We absorb the energy of the food we eat on multiple levels. Beyond tasting better, food prepared with intention and love is better for you.
There are so many ways to use Reiki on your meals.
- Beam any Reiki symbol directly onto the food while cooking.
- Reiki your groceries before putting them in the refrigerator to reduce harmful vibrations from transit.
- Reiki prepared meals prior to serving yourself and family.
Do you work at a hospital, clinic, or traditional Health Care setting and want to share your thoughts on whole body healing? Are there secrets you like your patients to know? Shoot me an email!
I’d be more happy to share your thoughts on an episode of Art of Healing Podcast!
Take your Reiki Practice off the table.
Most people think of Reiki in the form of a treatment or healing session. A Reiki Practitioner treats a client on a table in a beautifully appointed room. While this is a fantastic way to receive Reiki, there’s an even more powerful way to use Reiki.
Reiki can be a tool for empowerment. Reiki is meant to be used in any setting. Using Reiki in real life adds intention, purpose, and healing to even the most mundane tasks.
Using Reiki in real life can make challenges tasks easier, and remove blocks.
1. Reiki In the Home
When cleaning the house, you dust, mop, shine and disinfect. What about the energy? A room that is cluttered creates stagnant energy. Even after a thorough cleaning, sometimes you can still feel the “ick” factor in the air. That same “ick” may still be present after having an unpleasant guest in your home. Even after your guest leave, you may notice your home may just feel wrong.
An excellent test of the energy in your home is putting your home on the market. If your house is on the market, have many potential buyers come to look but you get no offers? The same “ick”, which is stagnant energy in the home may be lowering the value of your home. Buyers may come through and pick up a bad vibe and keep moving.
My house sat on the market for a long time. Finally, after finding the right real estate agent, and performing Reiki on my home, it sold to a very nice family.
Is there a part of your home you avoid? It seems dark? Make you tired or you simply don’t like it?
Doing Reiki on a part of your home, a room, or the whole home can help clear out that negative energy and is easier than saging your home.
You can perform Reiki perform Reiki in your home in the following ways:
- Reiki a part of the home or a room by beaming CKR then SHK toward one or more walls in the area. I usually do this for about 3-5 minutes. Doing each wall of a room, the ceiling and the floor will deliver Reiki to the entire room.
- Stand in the center of the room Channel Reiki through yourself, then envision it spreading from you to the entire room.
- Reiki your home as you would using Sage, walking while beaming Reiki from your hands, attempting to cover every space you can reach.
- Finally, use Distance Reiki on a picture of the house.
2. Reiki at Work/Business
The 5 Reiki Precepts can serve as a guiding principle in any area of your life. We expend much of our life force in our vocations. I personally feel that incorporating Reiki in the workplace and business not only reduces stress, but improves your productivity.
- Worried about some aspect of your work or business? Write down what it is that worries you. Then perform Reiki on that piece of paper. If the object of your worry is large or intense, perform this task daily. You may find the solution to the problem generates itself.
- Anticipating a stressful meeting? Send Reiki to the meeting using HSZSHN to prevent angry outbursts during the meeting.
- Needing to increase productivity Start with 3 minutes of Reiki before performing any task to help keep your vibration high.
- Feel like the office is getting toxic? Use Reiki to send thoughts of kindness to your workers. You can try writing down kind intentions then performing Reiki on the intentions to raise the vibration of the office.
- Make a lousy of everything you were grateful for in the workplace. You can use CKR on the list for an extra boost.
3. Reiki for Travel
Traveling can be exciting, but stressful. Flight schedules, who you sit next to, making sure to stay healthy while traveling during the pandemic, all add to the stress. There are so many factors that you can’t control when traveling.
Use Reiki before your next trip.
I send Reiki to flights, rental cars, hotels as well as to anyone I will interact with. Rather than worrying about all the many factors I can’t control when traveling, I turn it over to Reiki and relax.
- Send Reiki to the Future using HSZSN to all your flight plants to help with cancellations and delays
- Use CKR and SHK on yourself before and during travel to keep your nerves calm and your immune system strong.
- When going to bed in a strange place, SHK on the head/heart/belly can help with relaxation.
Ready to start your Reiki Journey?
You can enroll in Reiki I at Healing Arts Right Now, Click To Learn More.
Reiki is a healing tool, but also a tool that can improve your life. I hope you find this article helpful.
This post is for informational purposes only. Please seek appropriate medical care for any medical symptoms. See website disclaimer for more information.
-Charlyce
What’s really making your heart race?
Palpitations should never be ignored. Sensations of skipping or jumping in the chest can sensations caused by palpitations. Many people will also associate palpitations with a feeling of throbbing in the neck or head. Even more alarming, some individuals note chest pain during episodes of palpitations.
After you’ve had a careful evaluation with your physician, and know that a medical condition is not the cause of your palpitations, you should consider what your body is trying to tell you. What’s the real reason for your palpitaitons?
How to Find Your Heart Rate
A normal heart rate is between 60 and 90 beats per minute. Individuals with a high level of physical fitness will tend to have a lower heart rate at rest. Women, especially pregnant women, will have a faster heart rate at rest that typically does not represent any problems.
Heart Rate Variability is a measure of how the heart rate changes with breath. This exciting topic is the next step in wellness, as it is a valuable way to measure how well the Autonomic Nervous System is working.
You can easily check your heart rate with no fancy equipment.
Basic Pulse Measurement
- Set a timer for 15 or 30 seconds
- Use the forefinger and middle finger of your non-dominant hand (the hand you don’t write with) to find the pulse on the opposite wrist.
- The Radial Pulse is located on the wrist on the same side as your thumb.
- If you do not initially feel a pulse, try using less pressure.
- At the end of the timer, multiply by 4 if you used 15 seconds, by 2 if you used 30 seconds
- #beats in 15 seconds X 4=heart rate per minute
- #beats in 30 seconds X2=heart rate per minute
Using A Pulse Oximeter
A pulse oximeter, which is available online and in stores, uses infrared light to measure the color of red blood cells. This is allows for measurement of oxygen content in the blood. These devices will also record a pulse when placed on a finger.
EKG
EKG, or Electrocardiogram, measures how electrical signals travel through the heart. EKG’s are usually done in a medical office, but advances in technology allow for a simplified EKG to be done with smartphones or similar portable devices at home.
Why Are You Having Palpitations?
Once you’ve had a careful workup with a physician to make sure there is no serious cause of your palpitations, then it’s time to start listening to your body.
Your heart rate ( and heart rate variability) are a great way for you to learn what’s going on with you Autonomic Nervous System.
Activating the Parasympathetic Nervous System brings balance to the mind and body.
Here are 6 Ways to Activate the Parasympathetic Nervous System
Overactive Sympathetic Nervous System
The Vagus Nerve and the nervous system inside the heart (called the Purkinje System) determine the heart rate. This system takes input from the Vagus nerve. The heart rate is determined by the coordination of the Vagus Nerve and Purkinje System. A fast heart rate is one signal that you may have an imbalance in your Autonomic Nervous System.
Why is this important?
The Sympathetic Nervous Systems is designed to prepare the body for quick action. This is great when it’s time to run, hide, seek shelter, or have quick reflexes. If the Sympathetic Nervous system is too active, it creates chronic stress, which can lead to illness.
The simplest way to balance the activity of the Sympathetic Nervous System is with Meditation.
Start your Meditation Journey Today.
Lack of High Quality Sleep
Many of my patients come to the office immediately after being seen in the emergency room for palpitations. Naturally, they may have waited several hours to be seen, and often have not slept. If they went in for palpitations, they are often shocked to feel much worse after being up all night.
When you don’t sleep enough, of the quality of sleep is poor, there are several changes that happen within your body that will lead to an elevated heart rate.
Your brain performs many background tasks during sleep. This allows the two most powerful glands, the hypothalamus and pituitary glands, to sample the blood stream and produce appropriate hormone levels to maintain health.
Lack of sleep creates stress signals in other glands, including the adrenal glands. This leads to the autonomic system diverting energy to the Sympathetic Nervous System. The heart rate will naturally begin to run higher than normal.
There are many ways to improve your sleep. Body Scan Meditation is a fantastic way to relax at bedtime.
Poor Quality Breathing
“The first step toward inner listening, and one of the best ways to shift to maintaining open and present awareness, is to connect our awareness to breath. I call this creating the ‘friendship’ of breath awareness. Our breathing has been a friend that has accompanied us through every moment of life; it has never deserted us no matter how terrible we have felt”
Moss, 2007
We take breath for granted. Most of us don’t realize how we are breathing as we go through our days. When driving, for example, so much of the brain must be devoted to safety and awareness of other cars. It seems impossible to take notice if how often and how deeply we inhale.
I consider poor quality breathing as shallow, rapid breaths usually in the setting of sitting with poor posture.
Rapid, shallow breaths that don’t use the full expansion of the chest leads to an elevated heart rate. The organs of the chest will send signals to the brain via that Vagus Nerve that create a stress signal. This leads to a gradual rise in feelings of anxiety and feeling unwell. The brain will then transmit signals to the chest that will drive up the heart rate.
Improve your breathing instantly by improving your postures:
Habitual Worry
The last thing you want to hear when you are worried about something, or many things, is “Just don’t worry about it”.
It feels likes worrying will help the problem. Maybe there will be a solution if you keep thinking about it?
“Do Not Worry” is one of the 5 Reiki Precepts. This is because worry lowers your mind and body’s energy. Worry is recycling of thoughts without action.
In your life, consider how many times worrying lead to a solution. Likely, it has not.
Your feelings about the issue deserve attention. Consider journaling to help with worry thoughts. The act of writing down what weighs heavy in your heart can alleviate the need to recycle those thoughts endlessly.
Lack of Cardiovascular Fitness
It’s good to stay in a relaxed, open state as much as possible. Particularly, if you’re trying to sleep, eat, have sex or just stay in the moment.
Our bodies are designed to take on challenge. If we don’t activate the Sympathetic Nervous System on a regular basis, it may kick in on it’s own. When it does, your heart rate will go up in an unregulated way. This will lead to palpitations that are uncomfortable.
Walking is a fantastic way to get the heart rate up without too much strain. Unless advised by your physician, engaging in walking for exercise is a wonderful way to raise your heart rate, get your blood flowing and regulate your heart rate.
Exercise will temporarily raise you heart rate, then it will gradually go down over the next several hours.
I love to go walking! Take me walking with you!
Moss, R (2007). The Mandala of Being: Discovering the Power of Awareness. Retrieved from Amazon.
Many factors can affect the blood pressure. High Blood pressure is an unfortunately common condition.
Many times, blood pressure is elevated only temporarily, but many times it is elevated chronically, leading to the disease Essential Hypertension.
Listen to the Podcast on Blood Pressure
The Autonomic Nervous System controls the blood pressure. The two major components of the Autonomic Nervous System are the Parasympathetic and Sympathetic Nervous System.
Learn about the Autonomic Nervous System in this blog post.
The Sympathetic Nervous System operates during times of stress. The function of the Sympathetic Nervous System is to increase the heart rate, increase circulation to the extremities, and prepare the body to go into survival mode.
What’s raising your blood pressure?
Blood pressure management medical oversight, but it is possible to work with your mind and body to manage blood pressure.
Mindful Approach To Managing Blood Pressure
Ways to Manage Your Blood Pressure with Lifestyle
- Diet: My “quick and dirty” nutrition advise to reduce blood pressure.
- Sleep: getting enough, improving the quality of sleep
- Exercise: How to keep it simple to get moving
- Relationships: Really? yes, learn to observe how you show up in your relationships.
Putting It All Together
Blood pressure is a great way to understand traditional medicine and energy medicine together. The interplay of the mind and body controls the blood pressure and is not necessarily under the control of the conscious mind.
Exciting Content Coming up!
Sign up for more content! I’m working on some exciting projects on matters of the heart.
The Autonomic Nervous System is made of the Sympathetic Nervous System and Parasympathetic Nervous System.
The Sympathetic System is necessary in times of exercise, or if fast physical action is needed (“Fight or Flight”).
Like all things in nature, we want to achieve balance. This blog post will discuss the benefits of activating the parasympathetic nervous system, why to do it and how to do it.
Working with the autonomic system is truly the playground of energy medicine. The Autonomic Nervous System is controlled by the vagus nerve and spinal cord. This system is very responsive to stress. During times of stress, either prolonged or brief, the Sympathetic Nervous system will govern bodily functions. The Sympathetic Nervous system will change the endocrine system to prepare for a threat. This means the hormone system will be producing more “stress hormones” (such adrenaline and cortisol) constantly.
How do you know when it’s time to activate the parasympathetic system?
- Insomnia
- Agitation
- Restlessness
- Anxiety
- Fast heartbeat
- Feeling lightheaded
- Feeling ungrounded
- Increasing pain levels
- Digestive issues
- Sexual dysfunction
Experiencing any of these signs or symptoms means that likely your sympathetic nervous system is running the show. It’s time to find balance.
1. Grounding Meditation While Standing
Standing with your feet firmly in place preferably barefoot for 1 to 3 minutes can help slow down your nervous system and let the parasympathetic system activate. In the book 21 Day Meditation Journey, we practice doing a few poses standing to activate Earth energy. Focusing your energy on your legs and feet can help to slow down racing thoughts. Do this simply by taking several deep breaths while standing and if your balance allows with your eyes closed.
Download the Free Ebook 9 Ways to Ground Your Energy
2. Hip Openers to Relax The Mind and Body
Yoga uses asanas (Yoga Poses) that focus on the hips to relieve stress. The hip joints are weight bearing joints. The hips, the hip girdle and lower back are also a place where many of us hold stress in our bodies. This can be felt by tightness in the hips, trouble going from standing or sitting, or back pain.
Freeing up the hip joints through stretches will allow the mind and body to relax deeply. These poses can be modified for comfort of course.
How to Modify These Poses
- Sit on a blanket or block in Half-Lotus for comfort
- Use Blocks or Blankets underneath the knees in Cobbler’s Pose
- Sit on Blankets or Blocks in Yogi Squat
- Dead Pigeon Pose on the Back is an alternative to Pigeon Pose
3. Deep Belly Breath
The Parasympathetic Nervous System can be activated with deep breaths into the belly. Breathing is controlled primarily by the Autonomic Nervous System. We can take conscious control of breath be taking deeper, slower breaths.
Taking deep Belly Breaths doesn’t require a formal meditation practice. You can do this even while reading this blog post.
Breath Into the Belly Now
- Sit or stand straight, aligning
- Loosen your clothing if needed
- Inhale by initiating the breath by expanding the belly first, then the chest
- Exhale first from the chest then the belly, squeeze the belly in.
4. Slow Down Your Breath
Breathing too rapidly is a a habit we all fall into easily. Hyperventilation, which is taking in too much oxygen, can occur if breathing is occurring only in the chest. During times of stress and anxiety, particularly if you’re sitting for prolonged periods, this can easily occur.
Breathing deeply and slowly allows the Parasympathetic system to engage. This can calm the mind and body.
5. Express Your Feelings
The Autonomic Nervous System never lies. If you are hanging on to thoughts of pain, hurt, or resentment those emotions are being stored within your body. Finding a way to safely and effectively express your emotions will allow you to release stress and let your parasympathetic nervous system increase its activity. There’s no need to confront anyone or start a fight.
Using a journal, or a piece of paper you can safely discard, write down your feelings that are creating discomfort. Doing this will relief your body of the tension of unexpressed emotions.
6. Meditate to Quiet the Mind
Meditation is a powerful tool to calm the Sympathetic Nervous System (“Fight or Flight”) and engage the Parasympathetic Nervous System.
Meditation can be a simple moment of mindfulness of 3 minutes, or a formal practice.
Start Your Meditation Journey Today-Meditation E Course
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How to know which part of your autonomic system is active. The Autonomic System controls many parts of the body. See full blog post here.
Understanding the autonomic system is a powerful healing tool. The autonomic nervous system controls every function in the body. In the most recent Art of Healing Podcast, we discuss what is blood pressure.
Many patients often wonder why they have high blood pressure. Many others also wonder why they have digestive issues when they feel nervous (such as nausea or diarrhea).
What is the autonomic nervous system?
Understanding the nervous system helps you understand your body.
Within all of us, there is a system the controls heart rate, respiration, digestion, waste elimination, and sexual function. This same system influences our moods, and can control how we feel moment to moment.
The Autonomic Nervous System deeply impacts our experience in reality. Understanding this system will give you the keys to healing your mind and body.
What is the Autonomic System?
The cognitive functions such as thinking, emotions and voluntary bodily actions are governed by the Central Nervous System. The Central Nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord. The brain and spinal cord send information to the body and receive information back through sensory neurons.
While we can control how fast we breath (such as slowing down the breath during meditation), it is difficult to consciously control the heart rate. It is nearly impossible to consciously change digestion, for instance, we can not control how fast peristalsis (contractions of the muscles of the intestines) occur.
The Autonomic Nervous System controls the bodily functions that are not under conscious control This sounds deceptively simple. Respiration, circulation, digestion, immunity and reproduction all most be coordinated in order for the body to function in a healthy way. This must be balanced against the bodies need to move in order to acquire energy, expend energy or escape a threat.
The Autonomic Nervous System is divided into two systems, the Parasympathetic Nervous System, and the Parasympathetic Nervous System.
In general, these systems oppose each other. One is always active, and only decreases it’s activity if the opposing system generates more signals.
“Each system is dominant under certain conditions. The sympathetic system predominates during emergency ‘fight-or-flight’ reactions and during exercise…the parasympathetic system predominates during quiet, resting conditions.”
— McCorry L.K., Physiology of the Autonomic Nervous System
Parasympathetic Nervous System
There are times in which the body needs to rest and recover, such as after meals, when it’s time to sleep, or simply relax. There is no significant demand on the body to exert energy for survival.
This mode of operation is when the parasympathetic system is dominant. This system will influence the body to slow down the heart rate, increase digestive activity, and overall create a feeling of being relaxed. This is the feeling we all have relaxing in our favorite chair reading a book for example.
The Parasympathetic Nervous System allows the mind and body to rest, digest and recover. When the body can slow down, the digestive system is able to absorb nutrients and eliminate waste effectively. The reproductive system can operate naturally, allowing for a natural libido that will ensure healthy sexual drive. The cardiovascular system, through the parasympathetic nervous system, will direct blood flow to the organ to ensure the normal bodily functions can perform at their best.
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Photo Credit: Wikimedia
Function of the Parasympathetic Nervous System
- Increases blood flow to digestive tract to encourage waste elimination
- Encourages blood flow and nerve function ton augment sexual functioning
- Increases blood flow to the digestive tract to improve motility of digestive system and nutrient absorption
- Slows down the heart rate
Sympathetic Nervous System
Rest and recovery are necessary, but there are times in which we need to be active and kinetic. We need to be alert, aware, and reflexes need to be at their peak. When driving in heavy traffic, for example, the body needs to be able to react quickly to avoid a car accident. Blood flow needs to be directed to the extremities to augment fast action if needed. The heart should pick up speed in anticipation of a possible threat. The pupils will dilate to improve vision. This is when the sympathetic part of the sympathetic nervous system will dominate.
The Sympathetic Nervous System controls blood flow, reflexes, and temperature of the limbs. Reflexes are an important survival tool for the living body.
The Sympathetic Nervous System operates mostly outside of the nervous system. This system is designed to run on speed and reflex. It is the Sympathetic Nervous System that governs reflexes. One example is if you reach for an object that’s too hot to touch, you will notice you withdraw your hand before you even register the pain of heat.
The Sympathetic Nervous system is activated in times of exercise but also in stress. The design of the sympathetic nervous system operates with speed, and does not require the input of the brain. This system is able to activate the adrenal glands in times of crisis. The “fight or flight” reaction is when some sort of stimuli that creates fear engages the Sympathetic Nervous system, which will cause the release of adrenaline from the adrenal glands. This powerful reaction can be life saving in times of trauma. It is a very necessary system for survival.
Function of the Sympathetic Nervous System
- Decreased blood flow to the digestive tract
- increased blood flow to the extremities
- Increases heart rate and respiration
- Turns sweat glands on
- Dilates pupils to improve vision
What does the Autonomic System Control?
All of the organs of the body are controlled by the autonomic system. The skeletal muscles and bones of the limbs are controlled by the sympathetic system. Since the “Fight of Flight” of the body usually requires increased blood flow to the limbs, ths Sympathetic System exerts control in this area.
The organs of the chest and abdomen are controlled by both the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic nervous systems.
We often don’t realize our body must be able to respond to external stimuli rapidly. If there’s a threat heading our way, our brain may take several minutes to process the threat. Fortunately, we have intelligent bodies that can take over the process of running, hiding, or fighting. For this reason, the sympathetic nervous system, which governs the body’s ability to respond to external threats rapidly, does not need to communicate much with the brain.
The parasympathetic nervous system governs the body’s ability to digest food, have sexual intercourse, and eliminate waste, as well as influences the cardiovascular system to slow down. From this description we can tell that the parasympathetic system is best to run the body system in times of rest, relaxation or recovery.
Why Understand the Autonomic Nervous System?
The Autonomic Nervous System influences all of the glands of the body. Control of hormonal production is heavily influenced by the Autonomic Nervous System.
I have the blessing of working with individuals with their bodies on a daily basis. Reflecting on this topic has reminded me of the true, miraculous nature of the human body.
The Chakra System, knowledge imparted from the ancient healing system of Ayurveda can be demystified by analysis of the Autonomic System.
It is for this reason I am embarking on my next project with my heart and soul. This project will journey even deeper into demystifying the mind-body connection by understanding the Heart Chakra.
Stay tuned for next week in this series in which we will discuss more in depth be sympathetic any parasympathetic nervous systems.
The next few months at Healing Arts will be full of exciting content.
Sign up for updates, and to catch the latest Art of Healing Podcast
References:
- McCorry L. K. (2007). Physiology of the autonomic nervous system. American journal of pharmaceutical education, 71(4), 78. https://doi.org/10.5688/aj710478
Check out my video for July 2021; Catch up on all the Healing Arts Content in a few minutes.
3 More Ways to Use Reiki in Real Life
In the previous blog post, we found ways to use Reiki in real life. In this post, let’s find a few other ways Reiki can be used off the Reiki Table. Reiki Before Driving Doing Reiki while driving? Well, maybe before you hit the road. Doing Reiki on your car before you leave is an … Continue reading 3 More Ways to Use Reiki in Real Life
3 Ways to Use Reiki in Real Life
Take your Reiki Practice off the table. Most people think of Reiki in the form of a treatment or healing session. A Reiki Practitioner treats a client on a table in a beautifully appointed room. While this is a fantastic way to receive Reiki, there’s an even more powerful way to use Reiki. Reiki can … Continue reading 3 Ways to Use Reiki in Real Life
The Real Reason for Palpitations
This post is for informational purposes only. Please seek appropriate medical care for any medical symptoms. See website disclaimer for more information. -Charlyce What’s really making your heart race? Palpitations should never be ignored. Sensations of skipping or jumping in the chest can sensations caused by palpitations. Many people will also associate palpitations with a … Continue reading The Real Reason for Palpitations
We all make poor food choices at some point in our life. Food has evolved in our lives to be much more than nourishment for the body. You can be stress relief, used to celebrate, are used to calm anxious nerves.
No matter what health condition you’re dealing with, understanding that there may be times you sabotage your own progress helps you to understand yourself. Self compassion is key on any healing journey.
Using Sugar to Calm Anxiety
Many of my patients struggling with their weight or diabetes isn’t it to snacking on sweets excessively and they’re feeling nervous. Furthermore, getting activities very likely occur during times of inside.
The impulse to eat my feel nervous stamps from when you take engage the parasympathetic system. The parasympathetic system is a part of the nervous system that covers eating, slow heart rate, sexual activity, and 3digestive function. During times of anxiety, it is the sympathetic system. This is the system that governs me fight or flight.
Many of us discover on accident that we can engage our parasympathetic system by eating. The act of chewing swallowing will stimulate the stomach to sin signals through the vagus nerve up to the brain that will help calm the system. Naturally, this is not good for the metabolism. Snacking to Lauren’s body levels will lead to weight gain and possibly diabetes.
If you are suffering from this, this is a good reason to consider starting meditation. You can engage your parasympathetic system with purposeful, slow deep breath.
Eating When Bored or Depressed
The digestive tract is a complex system that starts from the mouth and goes to the anus. They are layers of muscle and also a layer of nervous tissue. The nervous tissue of the gut actually contains more neurons then the grain itself. The gut produces and responses to the same neurotransmitters that circulate in the brain.
Engaging and overeating particular when they are depressed or often attempting to raise their serotonin levels. Serotonin is to feel good hormone and one of the building blocks to make serotonin is carbohydrates.
Relying on food to improve the mood can lead on unwanted weight gain, and disease such as diabetes.
Meditations that focus on the core are a good remedy for this. See my book 21 day meditation journey or sign up for my course to get started today
Start your Meditation Journey Today
Available in Print and Ebook
Feeding Your Cravings
I often ask my patients as well as ask myself what food is being craved. There is so much media that tells us if we are craving a food particularly something that’s unhealthy we should eat it. Really, when you’re having a craving your body is telling you you are insufficient in some nutrient.
To the craving for sugar, or salt, find a stack that is just the opposite of what you were craving. If you’re wanting something sweet, try snacking on nuts. If you’re wanting something salty, try something like organic fruit. Snacking on nuts for wanting something sweet will help to stabilize your insulin levels and hopefully stop the for something sweet. And you are craving salt, you like clean water, so in addition to drinking water eating a piece of fruit will get water into your body naturally.
Using the power of observation to connect to yourself.
Observation is a tool frequently used in meditation mindfulness to help focus the brain. When we take our attention to one specific object and not only helps to eliminate distracting thoughts, but we can also learn something about ourselves.
Recently I have deepened my studies in the practice of meditation. Learning that observations are powerful tool I’ve also started bringing this into my medical practice. I have offered patients prompts they can use to observe their mind and body.
I have been pleasantly surprised at how the power of observation is helped my patients to understand themselves and has allowed me to help them more effectively. Here are three ways in which observation can be used in your own healing journey.
Gathering data
The clinical encounter medicine can serve multiple purposes. Sometimes there’s a simple question that needs to be answered. Sometimes there is an emotional connection that will be made. Many times there is a transaction of information in which the patient must share. Data gathering, which often takes place in the form of history taking is extremely important.
Physicians and patients struggle with the exchange of information during the clinical exchange. Physicians are trained to think scientifically and to read patients like a book. Patients experience their symptoms in a linear fashion that is often noted to coincide with life events. Physicians become easily frustrated when patients share details that are often on the surface irrelevant to why they’ve come in.
When I’m working with a patient that’s having trouble relaying information, I will ask them to make observations about what their experiencing. This isn’t to be judgmental and it is definitely not to lay blame. But with a few gentle prompts, patients can start to make observations about their symptoms that are very helpful.
Dealing with addictive habits or self sabotage
Primary care physicians often act as health coaches. It is not unusual to offer more coaching advice rather than diagnosis. This can include inspirations to achieve a healthier lifestyle such as through nutrition or healthy movement.
Addictions and self-sabotaging behavior a much more common than most people realize. Patients often have a real struggle coming to groups with why they would return to a habit that’s hurting their bodies.
I have found that teaching patients about the power of observation and asking them to perform 90 seconds of observation before engaging in a destructive habit is extremely powerful. The instructions are simple. Before you pick up the cigarette set a timer for 90 seconds. During the 90 second seconds, observe how you feel prior to smoking. Then when the timer goes off observe if you wish to still smoke the cigarette, proceed with lighting the cigarette.
In the case of addiction, that observation period can often help the brain rewire itself and calm down the reward system in the brain.
Obervation to Empower
Traditionally the practice of medicine was based on a paternalistic model. This meant that the doctor gave orders to the patient that were accepted and never questioned. Times have changed. This is no longer an acceptable way to practice. Due to complexity of healthcare patients must participate in their own care.
Patients that have not felt empowered in most of their life will have a struggle with this. When it is time to make a decision about treatment options they may feel like throwing up their hands and want the physician to make the decision for them.
Healing the 3 Pillars of Burnout
What Is Burnout?
Burnout is a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job, and is defined by three dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy (1).
The topic of burnout has been growing and frequent in the healthcare industry for several years. Burnout doesn’t impact just doctors and nurses. Burnout is prevalent among teachers, where it can affect student test scores (2).
Any activity that is performed for a vocation can create burnout, particularly work that requires care of other humans. Work that can create burnout tends to be stressful, complex and likely requires specialized training.
3 Pillars of Burnout(1)
- Exhaustion
- Cynicism
- Feelings of Personal Inefficacy
What Causes Burnout?
Burnout is associated with jobs that are emotionally taxing. This can include health care, educations and first responders. Work that is emotionally draining in combination with being technically difficult increase the risk of burnout.
The ultimate solution for Burnout Syndrome is to repair the systemic issues that lead to the condition. Because this is always possible, those working ins stressful environments should know how to help themselves.
3 Ways Meditation Can Help Burnout.
Meditation to Rest the Mind
Exhaustion is one of the pillars of burnout. This is best relieved with a break when feasible. And fortunately, many of the individuals suffering for burnout don’t have the luxury of taking time away from work.
Meditation and serve as a mini vacation. Even practicing for 5 minutes allows the brain to relax.
Meditation can allow the brain to take a break from mentally taxing efforts. Although 15-20minute sessions can do wonders, even 3 minutes of deep breathing can allow for the circuitry of the brain to cool off.
Gratitude Meditation to Heal Cynicism
One the most devastating effects burnout can have is that those in a healing profession will lose contact of the heart of what they are doing. These individuals will have trouble with empathy, which can lead to poor outcomes, particularly in patient care.
Gratitude can be used as a form of meditation. Keeping a Gratitude Journal is a way to help focus the attention on the positive aspects of life. Have a listen to teh above podcast to hear fomr of the benefits of a gratitude practice.
Self Compassion for Feeling Ineffective.
If a work environment is making employees ineffective, there’s likely multiple layers that are causing this problem. Unfortunately, any complex system requiring more than a few humans, is likely to be complex and fraught with error.
Mindfulness meditation reminds us to bring ourselves to the here and now. We were reminded to focus on what we have in the moment, which is the breath. Forming a real life meditation can help heal the feelings of being ineffective and unworthy.
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References
1.Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual review of psychology, 52, 397–422. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397
2.
Daniel J. Madigan, Lisa E. Kim, Does teacher burnout affect students? A systematic review of its association with academic achievement and student-reported outcomes,
International Journal of Educational Research, Volume 105, 2021,101714, ISSN 0883-0355, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101714.
My original curiosity about Reiki was for for my own wellness regimen. I thought it would be nice to have a healing tool I could use on myself.
I completed the 21 days of self-healing and I felt better and I had in years. I have come to appreciate that becoming a Reiki healer has healed me as much as my clients. I am now from believer that being a Reiki practitioner improves the mind and body of the Reiki practitioner as well as their clients.
Learning Reiki has created benefits beyond what I had expected. I would have never anticipated so many areas of my life to improve by learning Reiki.
Even if you don’t practice Reiki on others, here are the reasons that you will want to consider learning Reiki for your own Health and Wellness .
7 Reasons to Learn Reiki
Ability to Stay Grounded in the Present Moment
In order to get the energy flowing in Reiki, you must be able to quiet the mind and center the body. It is well known that Reiki healer’s absorb some of the healing energies of Reiki. This is likely because Reiki is a form of a mindfulness practice. There is a sense of peace and calm that occurs wile performing Reiki on oneself as well as others.
The overall affect if feeling very grounded and centered in the present moment. On of the Reiki precepts is “Do Not Worry”, and it is nearly impossible to worry during a Reiki Session.
When performing a Reiki session on myself or anyone else it is almost impossible not to become centered in the present moment. Even if my mind begins to drift the flowing energy quickly pulls me back to the present. After completing the session I typically feel wonderful.
Improve Relationships
All relationships are energy exchanges. Some relationships, like casual acquaintances or friendships are an exchanges of only a small amount of energy. Other relationships, such as romantic ties and family can involve large exchanges of energy.
Improving your own energy with the practice of Reiki can improve your relationships with others. Your ability to listen with your heart and soul will grow with every Reiki session you give yourself.
Setting Boundaries
Being able to set boundaries professionally, emotionally or in other ways is important to maintaining a healthy mind, body and spirit. Having a personal practice such as Reiki has helped me in this way.
Being a busy primary care doctor, time is often a resource that is lacking. There is always a struggle between spending enough time with each patient while being respectful of the schedule and those that are waiting. I’m able to find gentle yet empathetic language to let patients know that although I want to hear what they have to say it’s simply not possible to spend hours with them.
Setting this boundary lets patient know I will honor their time with me, as I will honor time with each patient that comes.
Preventing Illness
My initial interest in learning Reiki was to prevent illness in myself. I am frequently exposed to infectious disease in my medical practice. I was very excited to have something in my toolkit that I could use in myself to prevent an infection. If I feel the early warnings of an infection I start using Reiki on myself for longer sessions. During the day it is not unusual for me to perform a 5-minute Reiki session for mental/emotional healing at lunch time. I frequently perform Reiki on myself at bedtime to help relax and to help with insomnia.
I have learned from my own body as I suspect many readers have learned that stress plays a role in pretty much any ailment I have. So I usually include Reiki anytime I’m feeling that I may become sick. I consider it one of my long-term disease prevention tools.
Becoming a Reiki Healer improves your communication
Listening with an open heart and a non-judgmental mind is a life skill that helps all of us. Unfortunately, so much of modern life trains us to communicate in a rapid pace, focusing more on our responses to the person rather than listening.
Reiki encourages a mindful state of being. Practicing Reiki oneself and others helps the healer quiet the mind. When the mind is quiet, it is much easier to listen during conversations.
Reiki practice can help heal judgmental thoughts. Judgments about a person or a situation can make communication difficult. When we try not to judge, and especially following the precept, “Do Not Get Angry”, we can communicate with others more effectively.
Increases Intuition
Many individuals are born with natural gifts. They may have psychic abilities which allow them access to information that is not normally available to the rest of us. This can include being able to see, here, feel things the rest of us cannot. This can also include increase empathy to the point that they’re able to sense others feelings (or being empathic).
My own intuition increased after Reiki I training. This blessing allowed me to sense what was going on with patients by making observations about their energy bodies in addition to there physical bodies.
This is a wonderful gift to have but please be aware that these are not always reliable. Using psychic abilities often requires you to be able to enter mindful state which can be difficult during busy times. It also takes practice. You need to be able to perform Reiki on yourself even briefly on a daily basis in order to engage these gifts.
Increase Awareness of Future Events
Training to become a Reiki Healer has been known to create a phenomenon individuals in which their psychic senses are opened up. I do not believe that this is a typical results. I do believe that having a quiet and calm mind opens the mind up so that information that is not normally available becomes available.
In my own life I’ve experienced an increased ability to predict future events. This goes with increased self-awareness as well as awareness of others around me. I would not say that this is an increased ability to be psychic. However I definitely can see how this would be possible especially in individuals that are naturally gifted.
I find that this ability to predict future events helps me most in my personal life and in my own health. Having the increase awareness of what’s driving my stress levels too high, what vibrations are bringing me down helps me to avoid events I may not want to be a part of.
Reiki Helps you Connect to Yourself
We all spend so much time communicating, taking in information and outputting information. Media images often shows us images of individuals that appear happier, healthier, wealthier, and overall thriving in life.
It can be difficult to sort out our own feelings of what is real and what seems real.
Practicing Reiki on yourself can help to reconnect you to who you are, and what your true heart desires are. Practicing on yourself and others can help you sort out what you need and you see around you.
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Does gratitude do more than make you feel better?
Decreases a Rapid Heart Rate
“During the gratitude intervention, we observed decreased HR compared to the resentment intervention.”(1)
Palpitations are a common reson to come into the doctor’s office. Granted, palpitations could be a sign of something serious such as a dangerous cardiac arrhythmia. Oftentimes, palpitations aren’t related to any one specific illness. They are likely the result of chronic shallow breathing, chronic anxiety, and overall disengagement from the body.
This interesting study determined that having studied participants participate in a gratitude intervention, lowered heart rate is compared to focusing on a resentful activity.
What is interesting about this study is that the behavioral intervention starts off identically. They are meditative exercises in which the individuals are instructed to relax. The difference is that in the gratitude intervention the participants were encouraged to focus on gratitude while in the resentment intervention the participants were encouraged to think of things that make them angry or upset. They were purposely encouraged to ruminate negative thoughts and emotions.
Here is the example of the interventions used in the study. I tried an abbreviated version on myself. I noted that I felt worse doing the resentment intervention as well. I felt short of breath during and after the resentment exercise.
How many of us do this on a regular basis? Reading the study I became fascinated with my own thoughts. I soon notice that when I think thoughts of reason I do feel more tension in my chest and upper back. When I think thoughts of gratitude I noticed my energy improves and my pulse seems to come down.
Eases Depression
“Gratitude may be beneficial for improving psychological health in individuals with IBD or arthritis.”(2)
Depression is a serious disease that must be managed just as any other chronic disease such as cancer or diabetes. Diseases linked to chronic inflammation, such as arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease
Cools the Fire of Inflammation
“Patients expressing more gratitude also ha[ve] lower levels of the inflammatory biomarker index” (3)
Soothes Chronic Pain
“Patients with knee/hip OA who receive care at a major academic VA medical center, we found that a six-week intervention focused on building positive psychological skills such as gratitude and kindness significantly reduced OA symptom severity and improved measures of well-being. ” (4)
References
1 .Kyeong, S., Kim, J., Kim, D. J., Kim, H. E., & Kim, J. J. (2017). Effects of gratitude meditation on neural network functional connectivity and brain-heart coupling. Scientific reports, 7(1), 5058. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-05520-9
2. Sirois, F. M., & Wood, A. M. (2017). Gratitude uniquely predicts lower depression in chronic illness populations: A longitudinal study of inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis. Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 36(2), 122–132. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000436
3. Mills, P. J., Redwine, L., Wilson, K., Pung, M. A., Chinh, K., Greenberg, B. H., Lunde, O., Maisel, A., Raisinghani, A., Wood, A., & Chopra, D. (2015). The Role of Gratitude in Spiritual Well-being in Asymptomatic Heart Failure Patients. Spirituality in clinical practice (Washington, D.C.), 2(1), 5–17. https://doi.org/10.1037/scp0000050
4. Hausmann, L., Youk, A., Kwoh, C. K., Ibrahim, S. A., Hannon, M. J., Weiner, D. K., Gallagher, R. M., & Parks, A. (2017). Testing a Positive Psychological Intervention for Osteoarthritis. Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.), 18(10), 1908–1920. https://doi.org/10.1093/pm/pnx141
