Reiki – Diana Henderson

Giving and Receiving

March 24, 2022March 10, 2016 by LDH

When I first found Reiki and learned the principle of energy exchange, I wasn’t exactly ready to embrace this in my life. I believed myself to be a “natural giver.” However, after many life lessons that revealed the need for greater balance, I began to take stock of my behaviors and attitudes.

I was definitely overly giving to such a degree that it made others (*fellow “givers,” that is) at times feel uncomfortable or “beholding” to me. I gave and gave and gave until it literally hurt. In truth, part of my healing journey after my lower back injuries in 1994 was to find a place of balance where I could give in alignment with inner knowing and balance and say “yes” only when I meant it.

Prior to that time, I was such a “yes” person that I found it difficult to say “no.” I was such an extreme giver that I had discomfort when it came to receiving. I even fended off a compliment with some remark that diminished what the person was telling me.

Examples:
Other person: “What a beautiful blouse!”
Previous me: “Oh, this old thing. I’ve had it forever.”
Other person: “You look great today.”
Previous me: “That’s hard to believe when I got next to no sleep last night.”

Those who know me now may find this laughable, but this is honestly how I typically reacted to a compliment during the first 40+ years of my life! Most of the time I didn’t even realize how ungracious I was being in not receiving.

In the case of compliments, all the giver wants to do is lift you up, see you smile, make your day. In deflecting such a gesture, we diminish the other person and create an imbalance within ourselves and in the relationship. The kind person who simply wants to give a sincere compliment may go away feeling small and dejected as a result.

On the contrary, when we receive and graciously accept that compliment with a genuine smile from the heart and words of gratitude, the giver of the compliment is likely to feel uplifted too, and the two of us unite in creating a moment of joy that spreads throughout our day and the world around us.

Compliments are a great place to begin practicing receiving if you’re in the state of overly giving and failure to receive that I once called normal. This is a small thing that we can practice regularly. What I learned to do was to say “thank you” and just let the compliment wash into my energy field and into my heart. It does wonders to nourish and replenish and—as with all true balance in giving and receiving—ends up being a gift to both the giver and the receiver.

On the journey to balance, I took baby steps in the beginning in this way. I gradually started to incorporate an openness to receiving as a result.

Yes, I have had periods where I was out of balance since learning to honor this need for harmony in giving and receiving. However, I find it significantly easier after many years of practice to (a) sense the imbalance and (b) make the necessary adjustments in my behavior and mindset.

Yes, I still go overboard in the giving department on occasion. But now I realize that I must align with receiving by opening my heart to the Universe. When we welcome with gratitude the gifts that come naturally by virtue of seeking and aligning with balance, things begin to flow more freely.

Here’s an affirmation that I find helpful: “I joyfully allow the circle of universal flow to move through me in perfect balance. I receive that I may freely give. I give that I may freely receive.”

Understand that I am not suggesting that we all become “takers.” That would be as out of balance as being the ultra giver that I used to be. Swinging from one end of the pendulum to the other isn’t very likely for a giver in any case.

What we can do is work on opening to the flow. Yes, we continue to give when we can feel gracious in the process. A gift that comes from obligation only or from a feeling of “you did this for me so I have to do this for you,” is not a gift from the heart, and frankly those are the only ones worth having in my view.

If I give to someone when I feel empty and spent and like I have nothing left in me to give, that person is receiving far less than a true gift and is unlikely to benefit fully. They even may feel a “tug” of energy being drawn back to the “giver.” (I could write a blog just on that phenomenon!) I imagine most of us have received gifts that had strings attached or ones we knew weren’t from the heart. Is that what we want to offer others? I doubt it. As for myself, I would prefer to bring to the table only my best—always.

Unless I can give graciously with full intent, I know that I’m not really honoring the recipient or myself, and the gift holds no positive energy. So I still give plenty—whenever my heart tells me the need is there and I am joyful in the offering. Yet, I also receive now with the same level of gladness, gusto and gratitude for the exchange.

Each of us can open the space within ourselves to receive a blessing in return for the outpouring of love and giving we send into the world. In opening that space, we are replenished and renewed and have infinitely more to keep giving.

(*Note re second paragraph: A “taker” is unlikely to feel that discomfort as they feel this is their natural state as I did in being a “giver.”)

Usui Shiki Ryoho: Reiki: A Matter of Degree

May 9, 2022February 29, 2016 by LDH

So much of what happens in our lives is a matter of timing. We heal when we’re ready to heal. We learn our lessons at the exact moment we are prepared to experience the great aha!

The same is true when we embark on the path of the healer. Because the world has accelerated and our vibrations are rising as Lightworkers, it’s ever more important to embrace our gifts by allowing ourselves to process them fully. When learning the Usui System of Natural Healing, more commonly known as Reiki, we have a responsibility to honor the power of this amazing energy by integrating each of its levels or degrees before moving on to the next one.

Because I recognize the impact and power of each degree of Reiki, I teach the three levels successively allowing sufficient time for the cleansing and integration process between each class.

I remember well how eager I was to learn the second level after taking Reiki I. As a fire sign (Sagittarius) who wants everything to happen yesterday, I was champing at the bit. But I recall with equal clarity that period of processing after the first incredible Reiki class. During those first three weeks, I experienced some detoxification or clearing, which is relatively common. More importantly, I truly could sense the tremendous changes taking place as the energy became more and more at home in all aspects of my life. It was beautiful to experience the power of Reiki unfolding like the petals of a lotus blossom.

When I took Reiki I in 1997, I received four attunements—each one more potent and amazing than the last. There are Reiki Masters who shortcut this process and teach Reiki I in an afternoon offering only one brief attunement and little instruction. As a Master teacher, I prefer to honor the power of Reiki I by offering four attunements to my own students, just as I received, because I wouldn’t want them to miss out on any aspect of the full first degree Reiki gifts. I give the attunements over a span of time (Reiki I is a 10-hour class) along with the knowledge of how to use the energy more effectively.

On my own path as a student of Reiki, I waited a little over a month between Reiki I and II. My patience couldn’t hold out for longer, and I sensed intuitively that the time was right. Because I had fully processed the first degree energy, when I was attuned to the second level, I could distinguish the difference in the vibration of this life force energy.

To make an analogy to music, I liken Reiki I to middle C on the scales. Reiki II raises the vibration an octave higher, and Reiki III an octave higher still. Had I taken all the levels at once or too close together, I would never have known that first beautiful note that so graciously set the tone for everything that followed.

As an intuitive, I listen to my inner voice and connect with the Divine to seek insight and guidance. For me that wisdom was clear: To learn and to teach Reiki as a matter of degree—one class at a time on a path to greater enlightenment.

My inner sense is that those who learn Reiki as a brief workshop or take two or three levels at the same time miss something vital in the awakening process. A greater concern is that taking too many levels at once could cause an energetic overload unless the attunements given were far less powerful than those I received when opening to this wondrous energy.

I grew up taking piano lessons for seven years. My teacher didn’t start me out playing Bach, because I wasn’t ready for that. First I had to learn the scales. Of course, learning Reiki is much easier than learning piano. For many, it feels like coming home to the light of the spirit that has always been there.

The point is we need to ground ourselves in one level before moving to the next. For some, that time is shorter than for others, but the time required for processing, 21 days, has not changed in the years since I began teaching in 1998.

As a Reiki Master I place great value on each level of Reiki. Each has its unique resonance, its perfect flow of Light and Life Force. I invite those interested in opening to the gifts of Usui Shiki Ryoho to find a Reiki Master teacher who embraces the complete power of each degree of Reiki and honors its mastery.

DNA Activation & Reiki: A Powerful Combination

May 9, 2022February 29, 2016 by LDH

Reiki itself is a powerful healing tool; the same may be said for DNA Activation. Used in conjunction, the DNA Healing Prayer and Reiki offer greater and faster results than anything else I encountered during my first 10 years of investigation into alternative healing methods. (Now I find similar results are available with Sacred Heart Soul Healing in even less time when the person is ready.)

This anecdote offers a perfect example. A woman named Lisa signed up for my Reiki I class in August 1999 approximately two months after her second DNA activation. The day before class Lisa fell and broke her right leg.

When I spoke with her later that day, she was terribly disappointed because she felt she could not attend the Reiki class. I offered to drive Lisa to the workshop and do everything possible to make her comfortable during class, and she readily accepted. She also agreed to view her injuries as an opportunity to see how well and quickly she could heal.

Lisa received four Reiki attunements during the two-day course as well as ample treatment from her fellow students. I also reminded her that she could command her DNA strands to heal more quickly. In fact, as Lisa lay on the Reiki table receiving treatment during the first day of class, she got into theta state, said the DNA Healing Prayer and called on her DNA strands to assist in the healing process.

The results were remarkable. Doctors had told Lisa that she would be on crutches for several weeks and would require two to three months to make a complete recovery. After 12 days, Lisa was no longer using crutches, a walker or even a cane. Her boot-style cast was replaced with an air cast, which enabled her to wear normal sandals and maneuver much more easily.

As Lisa said, “People are amazed, including the doctor—in 12 days time I’m back to pretty close to normal. I saw the x-rays and the cracks are barely visible.”

Three weeks after her injury, Lisa’s new x-rays revealed the break had completely healed. She credits a combination of DNA Activation (and Healing Prayer), her Reiki attunements and subsequent self-treatment for her incredibly fast recovery.

Having used the same methods myself on many lesser injuries (including a broken toe that healed overnight), I have found phenomenal results when combining DNA Healing Prayers with Reiki treatments. Other Reiki students/practitioners who have received DNA activations have reported similar outcomes. Lisa’s experience helps others recognize the potential of this powerful healing combination.

Yet, even the force of the two healing techniques used in conjunction is not the end of the story. One of the great things about learning Reiki is that for most people it seems to open a doorway to a variety of healing energies available (from the angelic realm, the Unity Consciousness, the Ascended Masters, etc.). If I thought that door was open before activation, I soon discovered it had been merely ajar.

I find now that seldom is a Reiki treatment just that. Since DNA Activation, my awareness of the other healing energies and presences has increased dramatically as has my ability to work with and channel all forms of Light for healing.

My work continues to change and blossom as I awaken more and more to the capacity to hear, see, sense and know what my clients need. DNA Activation has opened me more fully to my intuitive and healing gifts and moreover has helped me learn to trust those abilities far more than I did in the past. I feel truly blessed.

Healing Prosperity Issues

May 9, 2022February 29, 2016 by LDH

As a member of a professional Reiki network, I received a question posed by someone else in the group about how we can deal with abundance issues both for ourselves and the world. Below is the response I posted along with a few other thoughts I hope will be helpful to all who seek to move beyond struggle and into harmony regarding the issue of financial security.

As Lightworkers, how can we deal with prosperity issues and the global marketplace?

The answer first and foremost begins within ourselves. We need to work consciously and diligently to clear/heal our own issues regarding prosperity. This takes place on many levels.

1. Clear and balance chakras: All the chakras play a role in this, but the heart chakra seems to be key. Healing issues of unworthiness and releasing feelings of lack from the heart center is vital. Also, working to clear the lower chakras can help tremendously. We can work to heal survival issues that block the base/root chakra and consciously breathe nourishing, supportive energy up from the Earth. We can clear the sacral center for greater ease in manifestation on the material plane and balance the solar plexus to release fears, increase a sense of personal empowerment and align the will with the Higher Will.

2. Heal emotional and mental issues related to prosperity: I recommend the wonderful book called Abundance through Reiki by Paula Horan. It’s great for anyone working to overcome prosperity issues whether or not they have taken Reiki.

Reiki practitioners who have learned the techniques at Level 2 Reiki can make use of the emotional symbol techniques to ingrain prosperity affirmations within the subconscious and the energy centers. Creating your own affirmation based on self-exploration works best, but you also can find a plethora of abundance affirmations on the web by plugging that topic into your search engine. Get ideas from these and then reword the affirmation(s) to align with your specific needs/intentions and your way of thinking/processing.

Once you have your affirmation ready, surround yourself with protective, loving energy, center yourself, align with the light of your spirit through meditation, and impart affirmations using the emotional symbol techniques learned in Reiki 2. Getting into a deep meditative state and centering first enhances this experience. Give yourself Reiki for at least 10 minutes prior to using the emotional symbol in order to fully relax and open to the energy.

If you have never learned Reiki or haven’t moved to Level 2, you can still use the affirmation technique. Say a prayer to anchor your affirmation within your subconscious and in your chakras. Then get into a deep meditative state and center yourself aligned with the Light of Source above and the core of the Earth below. Imagine a beautiful, perfect line of golden white light flowing between the center of the Universe/Source/the Divine and the center of the Earth through your core. Call on the Divine Life Force to gently flow through you to empower your affirmation(s). Repeat this daily as needed until you begin to “own” that sense of abundance as part of your normal way of thinking and living.

In doing this personal work, we are able to hold the energy of prosperity, which can bring great blessings into our own lives AND also touches everyone we meet with that frequency. Think of yourself like a radio tower sending out waves of energy far and wide. What we do personally to enhance our own vibrations and hold a higher frequency can affect the greater whole.

3. We also can honor the concept of energy exchange on a daily basis. We can allow the circle of that exchange to be completed in every experience in our lives to the best of our abilities so that no one is left feeling less than another.

4. We can relinquish fear-based judgments. Getting into the habit of catching ourselves and clearing those judgments as they’re in progress keeps judgments from anchoring detrimental energy in our fields and allows us to move beyond the fear-entrenched habit of judging. While “discernment” aligns us with what is beneficial for each of us, “judgment” simply spreads the energy of fear, which is what we need to clear in order to move to a higher ideal.

One aspect of judgment closely linked to the fear of lack—something even the most conscious among us sometimes might miss—is pitying another person. We may think of pity as a form of compassion, but these are entirely distinct from one another. Compassion says to the person, “I understand and I love you. I will stand with you in strength as you empower yourself to move beyond your current state.” On the contrary, pity says, “Clearly you are weak and have no choice but to remain in this state. I’m sorry this is true, but true it is. Go ahead and stay right where you are. I will enable you to remain stuck in your story.”

All forms of judgment, even pity, place the judger and the judged on unequal footing with the latter beneath the former.

We are one. Any inadequacy we see in another exists within us on some level. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t feel compelled to judge. We might discern that which is out of alignment with our own well-being, of course, for this is simply self-preservation, but the moment we step into judgment, which places someone beneath us, we diminish the other person and ourselves.

The difference between discerning and judging can be difficult to define. Perhaps this example will help: If I discern that it is appropriate not to engage a business partner or associate whose values place money at the top of their priorities, I’m simply aligning with my values based on the knowledge at hand. If I judge someone as greedy and shun or criticize that person, I energize greed within that individual and myself.

5. Think beneficial thoughts: In addition to avoiding judgments, we can be more focused on positive thinking and retraining thought patterns that no longer serve us. Of course, the Reiki 2 technique for emotional healing also assists with this. Again, getting into the habit of catching ourselves and clearing detrimental thoughts in the moment, consuming them with violet flame and replacing them instantly with beneficial affirmations, can assist greatly in retraining the mind and creating an environment energized to receive blessings. (Note: If help is needed in this process, energetic cleansing sessions and Sacred Heart Soul Healing may be of assistance.)

6. Use conscious languaging: It’s vital to pay attention to the words we choose in our everyday conversations. An important aspect of retraining the mind toward greater benefit involves creating an established framework for conscious language. We can begin by repeating affirmations each day. If we hone and alter the language in these often to reflect the shifts happening in our lives, they won’t become stale. We need to “up the ante” on our affirmations to create greater impact over time.

Beyond affirmations, choosing our words carefully will go a long way toward enhancing our lives. Thoughts given voice are more powerful than those that simply pass fleetingly through the mind. If we constantly vocalize dissatisfaction, discomfort, etc., we energize the condition we rue and create more congestion in our energy bodies.

Therefore, we need to work on improving our vocabularies, having in our minds all manner of joyful words and expressions, keeping them ever at the ready for use in our daily discussions. At the same time, it’s most helpful to stop empowering phrases like “economic crisis” by repeating them over and over. This country and the world were experiencing this mindset when I first wrote this article, and that phrase was repeated often in the news of the time (2009). In order to shift beyond this energy, I altered the title of the article when I originally posted it. The second half of the title had been “Alleviating Economic Turmoil,” but I decided that phrase energized the very conditions I wished to “alleviate.”

Another aspect of beneficial languaging, speaking truth can be very empowering. If we present our truths consciously, shaping our words with an awareness of their energy and effect on ourselves and on listeners, honoring all parties involved, we can create a field of empowerment that takes nothing from another and energizes relationships toward greater harmony. This requires diligent attention to the way we speak the truth. Our emotions, word choices, body language and inflection need to align with our highest intentions when speaking truth.

7. We need to bring spirit into business. Certainly in the Western world, for some time business has seemed to be immersed in greed. This wasn’t always so. When I was a child, the business community seemed to have much more heart.

Many Reiki Masters and healing arts practitioners have “day jobs” and work in the business arena. Let us shine our lights and do our utmost to bring spirit back into the corporate realm so that over time the attitudes can change there. I believe the business community already has begun to shift. Certainly on the level of small business, many people are aligning with the Law of Attraction and practicing a more heart-centered philosophy. That seems to be infiltrating the consciousness so that big business will follow suit and in some cases already has begun to shift.

8. Forgive and love: While we’re working on uplifting the realm of business, when we discern an instance of greed, we can practice forgiveness and love. We can recognize that greed is simply a form of fear, and, although we may not want to admit it, most of us have experienced a twinge of greed on those occasions where we aligned with the energy of fear of lack.

Forgiving actions that we see as harmful to us erases the detrimental energy of the experience from our energy bodies and opens the way to blessings. Offering love without condition or limitation to those who “wrong” us enables us to move forward unfettered by the attachments to fear-based experiences/exchanges and opens the space for gifts from the Universe.

Will it help to forgive and love the executives who took billions in a bailout from the government some years ago and then rewarded their people for poor performance, to forgive and love the Wall Street broker who stole billions in a huge fraud scheme, etc.? Absolutely! Forgiveness clears the path to greater wholeness. We can forgive and love every instance of greed in those we encounter—and in ourselves! Doing so will alleviate the congestion of fear in the collective and most assuredly within our own beings, and this can help bring recovery.

9. Breathe gratitude: Finally, we can cultivate profound gratitude for what we have. If every out breath sent the energy of gratitude for the blessings in our lives, with each inhale more blessings would come. Breathing gratitude is something I’ve enjoyed for a long time, and I’ve seen visible results in my life.

For a profound technique to manifest and embrace gifts from the Divine, I love the book, The Moses Code, by James Twyman, which gives you a concrete method for breathing your blessings into reality. Another book I love that helped me move into this state of gratitude more fully many years ago is Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach.

Beyond working on ourselves as individuals, we can also band together in groups small and large to do this same kind of work. Bringing together people—as many as possible—to hold the energy of calm related to the economy, the financial system, as well as our personal finances can help ease the fear congestion surrounding this issue.

Each month I offer a free guided meditation phone call for healing and abundance. It’s held on the fourth Monday either at lunchtime, 12:33 PM, or in the evening at 7 PM (Eastern Time). One month will be evening and the next lunchtime and so on. The call lasts just over half an hour and allows participants to clear detritus, align energies and embrace greater wholeness and abundance according to each one’s readiness. If you want to participate in this event, please contact me by clicking here.

Animal Healing Story

May 9, 2022February 29, 2016 by LDH

The Christmas Blue Bird and the Valentine’s Day Cardinal

Since learning Reiki in 1997 and DNA Healing Techniques in 1999, I’ve seen many miracles—some great and some small—in my own life and the lives of others. None touched me more deeply than what happened on Christmas Day 1999 and again on February 13, 2000.

All my life I’ve had a strong and abiding love for animals. Perhaps closest to my heart are the birds that soar and sing and brighten our lives with their essence. My husband and I share our home with two beautiful parrots, and my connection with these wondrous creatures has served to deepen my affection for all our avian friends.

Of the song birds, the blue bird has remained my life-long favorite. My spirit soars when I see that flash of brilliant blue dart from our rooftop to a neighboring tree. So it was with great distress that I met what happened that Christmas Day in 1999.

On that windy morning, the temperature hovered below freezing. As we opened Christmas presents, we heard a loud thud against the window of our great room. I ran to the sliding glass door and saw a blue bird lying limp on the weathered wooden deck. Tears welled in my eyes. Even though all appearances led me to fear the worst, I held onto a small hope, said a prayer and prepared to face the cold.

I happened to be dressed all in blue bird blue that day; I added a blue hat and blue cape and hurried outside. When I got close, I could see this precious feathered creature was all but dead. I picked up the blue bird, unconscious and barely breathing, placed him in a towel and took him inside our sun room. It’s a cold space that time of year but out of the wind at least. There I held him gently as my being overflowed with love for this wild and wondrous animal. I channeled Reiki to him for close to 15 minutes, but still he remained unconscious, virtually lifeless. I spoke to his spirit from my heart and told him I would understand whichever choice he made—whether to be healed or to leave this world and fly free within the Light.

Then it came to me: Perform a DNA Activation and Healing on him. I knew that the DNA Healing Techniques, along with the Reiki that still poured into him and the prayers I spoke, would enhance and manifest whichever choice this bright bird made. The process is very simple with animals. I began by connecting with the blue bird’s consciousness and asking permission to proceed from his spirit and from the Divine. After receiving consent, in oneness with the Divine Light, I commanded the Youth and Vitality chromosomes to be activated. I followed this with commanding a DNA Healing, then giving thanks and expressing that this healing be made manifest.

Immediately, a voice inside me said, “Get ready to take the bird outside.” True to my skeptical nature, I disregarded this inner wisdom and waited. Within 30-60 seconds of completing the DNA Activation and Healing, the blue bird awakened, looked around, and, startled by the unfamiliar surroundings, began to fly around the room. It took about five minutes to catch the little darling and help him back outside, but I was filled with such joy that I didn’t mind the effort.

I said a prayer and asked to see him again later in the day to be certain he was well, and that prayer was answered. Toward dusk just as I happened to look outside, he came and sat on the railing of the deck (not a typical landing spot for local blue birds). He was unmistakable with his feathers more than a bit bedraggled. Many he’d left on the deck after his crash. He looked at me, sang for a moment and then went on his way.

I gave thanks for this miracle countless times, but, chronic skeptic that I was then, a part of my psyche still whispered that this was mere coincidence. I suppose I needed to be taught the lesson twice, and Nature’s loving creatures were willing to oblige.

On the day before Valentine’s Day, my second favorite of the song birds, a male cardinal, crashed into the same window. I ran outside and once again brought the little one in a towel into our chilly sun room. Again I performed the same ritual: I said a prayer and channeled Reiki to the unconscious bird. He had lost even more feathers than the first, and, although the day was not quite as cold as that Christmas had been, he surely would have died had there been no intervention.

This time the thought of performing the DNA Activation and Healing came sooner. I used exactly the same method with identical results. Within a few seconds of completing the DNA Healing Techniques, the cardinal awakened and flew around the room! This time I listened a bit better to my intuition and opened the sliding glass door just in time; so my small red friend found his way out quickly. Later in the day, he too came back for a visit. I heard the unmistakable call of a male cardinal and went to the window. With tattered plumage and more than a few feathers missing, this still brilliant bird came to say, “Thank-you.”

I must have smiled for a week afterward. “I got it,” I said to the Universe. “We have the means for miracles in our grasp. I won’t forget it again.” And I haven’t. Every time I see a blue bird or hear a cardinal’s song, I remember these miracles and am filled with hope for humankind, for the Earth and all her creatures.