Thought it might be good to have somewhere on the forum, where we can mark this day and maybe share something of the women who inspire us. For me right now, those who populate this forum who have walked the BSD trail and are unselfishly sharing information, their knowledge and wisdom; offering unfailing compassion, support and encouragement; are those who inspire me. I am certain that without the wonderful women on this forum, I would not have reached my goal.

Not unusually, I’m going to offer a quote here:
“Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” – Golda Meir
She’s right of course, but here we are all about helping to fan those inner sparks in others too – especially when it’s faltering.

Happy Women’s Day to all of you.

I love this quote – yes we’ re all trying to improve our health and our bodies, but we still need to remember that we are women, human and actually the best we can be at this moment.
SSB
https://pin.it/dpe4x3a3l7dnth

What lovely thoughts, Sunny 🙂 I share your belief that we celebrate women’s day in
every way, 7 days a week here. What began as a long list of user’s names on a forum
dedicated to discussing the BSD, has since morphed into a community of friends that
I both value and respect. When one of us is subjected to an uncharacteristically rude or
dismissive remark, I react as a bull that has just experienced having a piece of red cloth
waved in front of its face! (but of course you already are aware of this 🙂 )
Once again, you’ve found another wonderful, spiritual quote for all of us. (I don’t think
Golda Meier is too “new age”, do you? 🙂 ) Must also thank you for introducing me to the
practice of transferring healing energy through the practice of Reiki,( by way of you tube)
Have you been certified in the practice, or is it something that you’re just interested
in? I could probably benefit greatly by a session just prior to bed! I know what sciatica
feels like, so I hope your son experienced some relief. I don’t take Feng Shui to an
extreme, but I AM adverse to trapped energy in the corner of rooms, and often try to
fill them with a freestanding screen or other device associated with my previous design
business. Are both practices Japanese in origin, or widely used in China as well? Will
have to do some more research… Very interesting!

I love that Meir quote too, Sunny. It’s what it’s all about, really, finding that energy and strength inside of us and feeding it what it needs to grow instead of stifling ourselves with negativity and self-loathing. That’s one of the biggest struggles of embracing a new way of eating, a new way of life. Inertia is a powerful force, but we are not objects hurtling through space without will. We are human beings with agency and can choose our own path, every minute, every day.

Happy IWD to all BSDers!

I missed this yesterday so adding a comment today
Thank you, Sunny, for expressing so well so much of what I feel about the wonderful people that populate this forum. I think it has gone well beyond what Dr M could have envisaged and we are very much the better for it.
Wishing everyone a belated happy IWD and many, many happy other days xx

Hi Alliecat,

Reiki is usually taught as 4 levels, Levels 1 to 3 are for practitioners, and at level 2 people are shown how to send healing to someone at a distance. Level 4 or Masters, is the training on how to ‘attune’ and train others to any of the different levels.
I used to be part of a Reiki circle where we shared help for each other which was a wonderful experience when I lived in Dorset but there isn’t a similar group where I live now.
I do find it interesting how animals are drawn to anyone practising Reiki, my horses will come from the field and into the barn and hang around the wall nearest the adjoining wall if I am using reiki with someone in the adjoining room.
If you ever want a distance session I would be happy to send some energy your way.

Hi Allie – yes I started my Reiki journey over twenty years ago and took approx. five years to graduate to all levels of attunement. For a while I worked with this and Regression Therapy as a complementary therapy little business, but since moving to SW UK ten years ago, I haven’t used either at a professional level. Had planned to, but for one reason or another it hasn’t happened. These days, I only really use Reiki for myself, family and friends, if asked. Of course like JGwen, I also send Reiki if it’s requested – and sometimes just when I feel someone could benefit. One always asks permission of the person’s higher self, so it can ultimately be refused if it’s not wanted. Energy work is a fascinating area and something I repeatedly circle back to.

JGwen – do you use your Reiki on your horses? This was something I did for a friend’s horses a couple of years ago and it was very interesting work. I find that not all animals are keen, especially cats – who seem to either love it or hate it and can’t get far enough away. Our cat – who sadly passed two years ago now – used to love it, so I had to be sure she was well out of the way if I was treating someone, otherwise she’d push in. If I was doing Reiki on myself in the evening, she’d come an push herself under my hand to grab some for herself!

Hi SunnyB
I did my level 1 and 2 with a master who included in the training working with horses and other animals as well as humans. Then I did my level 3 and masters with the master who ran the local reiki circle. For me it was important to spend time talking each week with people who used Reiki within their daily lives to build experience. I have attuned a few friends at different times, but have never used it as a business.
I find with all different animals if they want it they will be drawn to you, but they will often be quite clear with their body language where they want you to pay attention and will walk away when they have had enough. I find it quite interesting that animals will be aware of reiki being used from quite a distance away, a couple of fields and out of sight is not unusual, and if they want it will come to you.
Sometimes when giving reiki, or being with animals i will feel pain in an area of my body and will then find out that the person/animal has a track record of problems with that part of their body. Most of the time when giving hands on healing I feel a pulse on how the energy is being drawn to an area, and notice a change in pulse when the need has been met for that area.

I did all levels with one Master, but I initially did level two with another. However, I was very unhappy with her approach to Reiki, as she included an erroneous religious element which did not sit well with me, so I returned to my original Master to redo level 2 and then later, for the last two levels.

Feedback during treatment is fascinating isn’t it? I think the more one works with energy healing, the more open and aware you become to the nuances of the messages being transferred, both on a physical and spiritual level. For me the physical might be in transfer to the corresponding area of the body as I’m working, but might also be in intense heat in the hands or a nagging ache in my thumbs. What I always find interesting is the feed back from people after treatment and how if correlates with what we found.

For me, the acceptance of and benefit animals find in Reiki, is a huge validation of it efficacy and I very much enjoy treating willing animals.

I don’t tend to talk about Reiki to too many contacts, because most of my friends are from the engineering background, and something so wafty as Reiki isn’t something they would look kindly at. But I think there is a body of evidence that our bodies are more sensitive to very low levels of energy than many people realise.

I did have an interesting issue with my house, there was a very uncomfortable area of the house, both at the bottom and the top of the stairs. It raised the hairs on the back of the neck not just of myself, but also of tradesmen doing work who all described it as a feeling of someone watching you.

After a few years of trying to tell myself not to be so stupid I came across an article that showed that most haunted locations were located near overhead power lines. I cant remember the term to describe the electrical issue, but I eventually hired some special meters to measure the atmosphere in the house, both of those locations indicated high readings.

I got the local sparkie to check the wiring in both areas. He found poor earth connections in both a power socket on the landing, and in both the downstairs and upstairs lighting circuits. The worst locations for the feeling of being watched was near the wiring connecting the switches at the top and bottom of the stairs which controlled the light fitting at the top of the stairs.

Neither problem was enough to make the circuits not work, but once fixed the feelings quickly went.

JGwen and SunnyB – this is a fascinating conversation you are having about Reiki – I’ve heard of it but know nothing about it. I shall consult Mr Google to find out more! Thank you both for sharing.

Very interested to read about the electrical fault and it’s impact, Jgwen. Made me think back to living in an old bungalow many, many years ago and how I always got a feeling there was someone watching me in the kitchen – wonder if electric wiring issues might have been at play there too? The feeling was so intense, I wouldn’t stay in the property on my own.

Like you, I usually only speak of Reiki to people I feel will be receptive to the concept. One of my children think it’s a lot of hooey, one has seen it in action but is still sceptical and the other two are totally sold on it, as is my OH, so even in one family there can be a huge range of attitudes to the topic, so I tend to tread carefully when introducing it in conversation.

My introduction to Reiki was at a very difficult time in my life and one session was enough to set me on a quest to find out more and learn how I too could use Reiki. And whilst it’s not central to my life, it is definitely something I repeatedly circle back to.

Happy to offer distance healing if anyone wishes – just ask.

I’m really fascinated Sunny, so very happy that you introduced it here. Like Kazzi, I’ll be
reading more….I know I shouldn’t bombard you with questions, but how does the heat
you feel on your palms relate to the symptoms your clients present with? The physiological
changes experienced by both practioner and client amaze me! Thank you for your generous
offer, too. I’ll have to look into the practices available in my little corner of the world.

When conducting a Reiki treatment, there is an exchange of energy and areas that draw greater amounts of the energy which the practitioner is channelling, are those where there is an issue and a particular need. All Reiki practitioners experience feed back in energy exchange in such areas in different ways and sometimes will experience different types of feed back in instances of different need.

So when giving a treatment I might feel heat in my hands when treating one area, but tingling and pain in my thumb in another. However, another practitioner working with the same person, might have pulsing in their hands when treating one area and at the other point experience a sensation in the corresponding area of their own body. Equally some practitioners only experience one type of physical feed back during treatments and some none at all. As a practitioner you learn to listen to and interpret the cues that are unique to you when using Reiki. And of course when it’s possible, a lot of insight can be gained from discussing feed back with the recipient on conclusion of the session.

Not sure if that answers the question Allie, or just opens up more questions!

I agree with Sunny that each person giving Reiki will had a different feedback from the experiences. For me it always feels like a pulse in the palm of my hands, and when an area on a person needs energy that pulse is stronger/more rapid and it calms down when as much as is needed for that time has been given to that location on the person. Sometimes I can be walking down the street and I get the tingling as a passer by draws energy.
One thing I would add from having been a member of a reiki circle where 20 or 30 of us would meet up each week and break up into groups of 4 or 5 and take it in turns to receive while 3 or 4 other members of the circle gave healing. Theres a pattern when more than one person is giving healing to an individual with one person at the head, and one at the feet and then one at either side. For me there was a different feel of the energy from each other member of the circle. I could identify even with my eyes closed who was present, and it was really fun to feel and bounce energy back and forth with some of the others when we were working together.
Reiki is like Chi Gong, where you are linking into external energy and it flows through you, while as I understand it faith healing is about passing on your own energy.

Sunny and JGwen, I’m sorry that I missed your replies until just now. I DO have more
questions, but in a completely intellectual way, so it is my intent to stop by our library
where I can satisfy my curiousity and become more familiar with this practice. I’m feeling
quite excited to learn more about it. Wonderful things happen on these forums as we get
to know each other better through sharing those things that give our lives meaning. I
appreciate you both for taking the time to respond 🙂 I’m sorry that I don’t remember
verbatim a quote I once heard, but in essence it concerns intelligence, and suggests that
only the brightest in our midst acknowledge what they don’t know! I always enjoy the
company of individuals that stimulate my curiousity…May we always be “lifetime
learners”!
Thanks much,

Allie

Might the quote you are thinking of be “The wise man knows he knows nothing, the fool thinks he knows all.” Glad that the discussion had seeded an interest in your learning more about Reiki, Allie. Shout if you wish to discuss further – I’m sure JGwen and I will do our best to assist.

I don’t think it is the same quote, but the wisdom is just the same, Sunny. I do feel a slight
prickling of the spine and a rumbling of excitement in my grey matter, to learn more!

I knew it would drive me nuts until I found it, Sunny!

“the wise man is one who, knows, what he does not know”
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Thanks for that Allie.

Hi Allie,
In your reading about reiki you will probably come across all sorts of claims on its links to religion and origins. Personally, I find them very interesting looking at the marketing of a new age ‘treatment/training course and looking at them from the point of view of what people felt they had to do to gain acceptance in countries religion underpins society. But take them with a huge pinch of salt.

Thanks for the tip, JGwen! I’ll try not to make a nuisance of myself with too many
questions 🙂 I am fascinated to learn more, though….