First a few words about journaling. While this is a popular practice, many are intimidated by writing, or journal inconsistently and feel guilty about it.

You don’t have to be Charles Dickens to benefit from journaling! There are no deadlines, you don’t have to be a great writer, or even know grammar particularly well. There are no rejection letters, you don’t need an agent or have to appear on Oprah. The New York Times isn’t going to pan your work, and you don’t have to hole up in the Florida Keys, drunk. So, chill out.

Journaling is about allowing your thoughts, feelings and intuitions to surface on the page. It helps to understand your life, process various things, heal and get clear. It’s also a great way to record your journey and growth. Over a lifetime, significant themes emerge and journaling is a powerful way to use hindsight for future betterment. Your journal is a mirror and container.

It’s also a place where imperfection is allowed. Each entry doesn’t need to be complete everytime you journal. You can revisit and continue exploring. Associative threads emerge, and it’s safe to express yourself in this way.

Chakra prompts

There are many great resources available on the chakras and some basic familiarity will be needed to journal through each one.

Simply put, chakras are nonphysical wheels of energy corresponding to specific locations along the spine and head, which relate to your human experience on earth, and also your spiritual experience as a soul.

Following are one journal prompt for each chakra. Many more and different prompts could be used, and you’ll probably come up with your own. This is to get you started. When you practice personal writing, don’t censor and let it flow.

• Chakra 1, tip of spine, element Earth: Am I rooted and grounded in the earth with a solid foundation to survive and build my home here?
• Chakra 2, genital region, element Water: Do I move well though my emotions and desires, feel pleasure and express my sexuality/sensuality, relating to people, and flowing with my creativity?
• Chakra 3, solar plexus, element Fire: Am I in control of my personal power and will, both retaining authority and avoiding aggression so I can be intact in body and mind?
• Chakra 4, center of chest (heart), element Air: Is there balance between my giving and receiving in the fullness of love and compassion and the openness of my heart space, both for myself and for others?
• Chakra 5, the throat, element Ether: Do I communicate my truth and express my creativity?
• Chakra 6, pituitary gland/point between eyebrows, element Light: Do I honor my intuition?
• Chakra 7, cerebral cortex/crown, element Consciousness: Do I know what and who I am?

As you may notice, the prompts for chakras 5, 6 and 7 are brief but profound. The contemplation for these centers is multifaceted and for 6 and 7, essentially spiritual (and also for the heart chakra). For instance, intuition helps you to know both at a mundane and cosmic level. As for the thousand-petaled lotus that is the crown chakra, this is the transcendent knowing of Self.

When you are going to journal, make sure you can be alone, in a quiet place. This kind of writing is more of a meditation. It comes from inside, not so much from your logical mind. It’s not a diary of the day’s events, but a way to have a deep conversation with all aspects of your being. It’s transformational writing.

If you have any questions or need further guidance please leave a comment. There’s a lot of subtlety involved and I’d be happy to mentor, and provide more information by replying to your comments.

Okay, now go get your journal!

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This truth is often missed. Perhaps your inner work’s momentum hasn’t quite gathered yet. Perhaps your struggles are still in your face. Delight in the fact that still elusive outward changes are a reflection of how you’re changing inside; they just haven’t quite taken form yet. And things may not be all that pretty inside. Instead of being neurotic that change hasn’t manifested, realize it’s in process; you’re working it.

The truth of the matter is that empowerment is ongoing. You have to climb a while before reaching a plateau. And then the path still continues.

Empowerment is personal power. It’s used for routine tasks such as getting up, making breakfast and going to work. It’s also used as self-determination and integrity. Personal power properly claimed and wielded, can bring you emotional freedom and peace of mind. There has to be a modicum of personal power to just survive, let alone thrive. Depending on your ‘story,’ your bio, you may have been raised in an environment that provided this. Then it can be built on. If not, and even if so most of us still need to work on it, personal power is personal: You must dust it off and let it shine. No one else can really do it for you.

Everything that we’ve shoved away, we shoved away with a curse; most of it came from the outside. With a curse comes a hiding, comes a shame. To dare to be seen and to speak from what’s authentic undoes a curse. It’s time to stop hiding behind some fiction of “bad me” and burn through to shining.  — Jeannie Zandi

With personal power comes tremendous trust and energy. You’re able to trust yourself, and life. It energizes your psyche which fuels your imagination, purpose and passions. It lifts you. Personal power can be a diamond in the rough, however. Its best use isn’t for you to impose your will over your circumstances. This can be destructive, short-lived, and in service of the ego.

Humility does not mean you think less of yourself. It means you think of yourself less. — Ken Blanchard

Once personal power is actuated and exercised regularly in a balanced way, it begins to become empowerment. Empowerment is a settled resource, while personal power can fluctuate. Empowerment is lifelong and more of the spirit. Personal power giving way to empowerment is the transition from ego to soul. The soul is truth. When you know your spiritual truth, all other lies fall off. It’s a knowing that can’t become unknown.

This is the pinnacle of empowerment, but it doesn’t have to be fully reached before being radically effective in your life. You need empowerment in your career, for personal growth, to heal, for spiritual development. If you’ve put in the work to find some psychological wholeness, and also reached into your soul and are on a spiritual path, the practices you’re engaged in, the realizations that come, and the way of being that establishes itself in you are all naturally empowering. Over time it becomes firmer and firmer, more and more knowable and reliable. There’s a gentleness to empowerment, a detachment. Even with annoyances or more substantial issues that may still come up, empowerment once accessed filters into your life, and eases your way.

Truth is empowering. Everytime you turn to truth, it empowers you more. Knowing your true nature, and before that growing in understanding it, being it, experiencing life from its perspective is empowering with each encounter. Each moment of spiritual practice polishes your diamond.

Fear does arise on the way to empowerment. Fear is a many-headed beast. Therefore courage is a must. Ironically, you need courage to be empowered, and empowered to show courage. They are inextricably linked. One feeds the other. Courage is a fire that burns away fear. Empowerment keeps the fire going.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. — Ambrose Redmoon

Power is essential to life. Every living thing needs to be powered somehow. Humans are powered by soul consciousness, light, breath, life force, and food and water. Of these, consciousness is the overseer and director, and life force is the ‘electricity’ and subtle hub making each item work with all the parts of a human.

If consciousness and life force are trapped in past hurts, or projected into future worries they aren’t available now where you need them. Their power is diminished greatly, and you’re left powerless in the present. Loss of power is much more than lack of energy. It can lead to depression, confusion, and low vibration choices which exacerbate your situation.

To reclaim and cycle your power in through your present moments is an act of empowerment. Feeding old ghosts or giving juice to future fear dragons is disempowering. Your power is needed now, here with you.

But the greatest power is always love. Power can be used in the service of love, but not vice versa. — Ram Dass

…

Want to stop power leaks? See the simple and affordable 2-month program.

Each post for the Reiki Help Blog can take anywhere from 1-5 days to write/research, proofread/edit, and post with an appropriate image and formatting. If you leave this space with any value, knowledge, joy or understanding, please consider making a donation of your choice.

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© Pamir Kiciman 2010 Text, Photo and Digital Art

What are some of the common symptoms people want Reiki to address?

Physical conditions

Back pain. Migraines. Fibromyalgia. Chronic Fatigue. TMJ. Skin disorders. Cancer. Autoimmune disorders. Thyroid imbalances.

Emotional conditions

Low self-esteem. Emotional distance & unavailability. Hot emotions like anger or jealousy. Panic. Fears. Inability to cope. Feeling uncomfortable in your skin. Feeling out of place. Grief.

Mental conditions

Stress. Depression. Anxiety. Lack of concentration. ADD and ADHD. Insomnia. Confusion. Negative thinking. Mental burdens.

Spiritual conditions

Disconnection from self and life. Loss of meaning. Dark night of the soul. Spiritual seeking. Loss of personal power. Soul loss. Not knowing life direction or purpose. Inability to forgive. Fear of death.

Reiki helps the person. What kind of person? A person with chronic pain. A person living with cancer. A depressed person.

• Do you suffer from migraines or anxiety?
• Does arthritis make every day tasks difficult?
• Have you tried different mattresses for your back pain?
• Do you feel ill at ease, unable to cope, or lack energy?
• Are you just existing and don’t feel well, but can’t put your finger on it?
• Is your family or partner driving you crazy?

All of the above is a sample list. The point is that symptoms are endless. The list could be 100 times this.

Because Reiki is concerned with the person and not the symptom, it can be effective for you no matter what your life looks like, how your body is doing, or how you feel and think.

Reiki’s most significant remedy is that it helps you embrace your innate or natural spirituality.

Why would you care? Because over and over, research shows that people with a personal sense of spirituality report:

• Less use of medical services
• Less minor illness
• Emotional resiliency in terminal illness
• Pain reduction
• Better immunity
• Accelerated healing
• Less anxiety
• Ability to buffer stress
• Being undefeated by crisis

Personal spirituality brings with it a greater sense of participation and empowerment, purpose and meaning, and a broader perspective, with a strong sense of well-being and not just an absence of disease.

In other words, spiritual health has a direct positive impact on mental, emotional and physical health. What spiritual health means to you is completely up to you.

Reiki simply promotes mindbody states that support your wholeness and wellbeing, gently balancing and harmonizing you in a holistic and individualistic way.

Have you tried Reiki?

Resources: Watch my video The Role Of Spirituality in Wellness.

Each post for the Reiki Help Blog can take anywhere from 1-5 days to write/research, proofread/edit, and post with an appropriate image and formatting. If you leave this space with any value, knowledge, joy or understanding, please consider making a donation of your choice.

Donate to this blog. Thank you!

Reiki is a way of living with wisdom and compassion. It’s a way to reclaim your authentic self. To move out of the past, return from the future and live fully awake in the present. Reiki shifts your paradigm too, revealing the many layers of reality. It helps you find energetic integrity. Reiki heals the human condition. It transforms your consciousness so you can be your true self. Your heart and mind become unified and you’re empowered to walk in peace. Reiki brings you what you need. Through the years, I’ve witnessed with inner joy and gratitude everything student practitioners share about their Reiki training experiences. These are nothing less thanpoetic and I’ll now attempt to convey some measure of what I was privileged to witness this past weekend.

An ocean, cloud and light was received. Plans changed many moons ago came to completion and an ordination was received. Tears inspired by sheer beauty flowed. Peace was tangible. Never before reached depth in meditation was commonplace. After lunch heartburn relieved completely. Back pain healed. Several first-time spiritual awakenings. The courage to face things one doesn’t want to. A young person’s talent validated. Success affirmed. Shoulders lightened. Realization of inner powers. Wonder. Recognition.

And hugs. Heart on heart hugs.

Always heart on heart hugs.

Updated July 2, 2008

An early testimonial:

“…Now that I have had a little time to reflect and absorb, I want to thank you for being YOU and what you brought to me this weekend. I can already notice changes in me, there is a deepening sense of calm within, much more energy both physically and spiritually. It has been both a fulfillment and rebirth of sorts. I am different, I am one with myself, and my surroundings. The teaching and empowerments brought through you this weekend are amazing. Thank you for thus far guiding and teaching me. The teaching and tools you brought to me will continue to aid and guide my journey…”

–J.G., West Palm Beach, Fla

The College is deeply grounded in a philosophy of caring. This extends to a holistic approach in all aspects. Even the building is Green, one of the few LEEDS “gold-rated” educational buildings in the United States, featuring Feng Shui principles and environmental sustainability. Included are several spaces for meditation and holistic practice and contemplation.

This foundational training offers specific techniques for tapping into spiritual and healing consciousness and energy. Reiki fosters spiritual evolution, bodily and mental/emotional health; has uses for food, water, environment, relationships and work. Reiki holistically augments care giving, enhanced learning, social projects, global thinking, animal and pet care. See contents of this training.

Saturday, June 28 & Sunday, June 29 10 AM-5 PM
College of Nursing Room 116
Presented by Pamir Kiciman, BA, RM, CHt
Prepaid reservations required, space is limited
954-661-4263 or info [at] reikihelp [dot] com

THE GREAT KAPOK TREE by Lynne Cherry. This one teaches about how nature’s balance is interdependent by using the Kapok tree as home to the many creatures who depend on it, and each other. It emphasizes preservation.

HOLES by Louis Sachar. A very unusual and original story about a kid wrongly accused, sent to a corrupt boys’ camp, with past generations in his own and other characters’ families adding to the richness. The movie is equally good, one of the best from page to screen.

HOOT by Carl Hiaasen. Don’t bother with the movie unless you’ve got nothing better to do. Superb, fast-paced writing, great humor, environmental preservation theme and empowering to kids.

A SINGLE SHARD by Linda Sue park. A new author we discovered. Story of the historically accurate fame of 12th century Korean pottery, involving an orphan boy living under a bridge and how he bests the odds, losses his best friend and finds a new family. Many cultural textures too.

THE FIRE WITHIN by Chris D’Lacey. Another author who’s new to us. It’s the first in a trilogy, with a fourth book now coming out. It is about Dragons with lots of fantasy, but it’s really about people, relationships, personal quests and integrity. The writing is top-notch, thrilling to read, humorous, and a very original voice.

Please visit the authors’ websites. I linked directly to the book page, but the sites have a lot of content, are educational, there are activities and other empowering information.

This is part of Nneka at Balanced Life Center’s 2007′s Season of Gratitude.

My posts in the series:
Grateful despite the news
Gifts of acknowledgment