Harness the power of the body-mind. The body and mind are intricately connected and cannot exist without each other.
As a wholistic nurse, my work is about empowering people to balance and heal their lives. I believe that everything we need is already within us and that various “tools” or healing techniques such as Reiki and hypnosis, can help one to access that inner wisdom and harness the power of the body-mind.
They constantly communicate with each other. Every thought we have, every idea, every belief has an effect on our body. Every sensation we experience has an effect on our mind. Thoughts and ideas are chemically transmitted to the rest of our body. By simply changing our thoughts or beliefs, we can bring about changes in our lives and our bodies.
Modalities such as Reiki and hypnosis, harness the power of the body-mind, allowing the person to become their own healer. They work to remove or decrease blockages in the body or the mind, which then facilitate the healing process.
Wholeness—balance of body, mind and spirit, is the goal.
My
journey with Reiki began when Reiki “found” me in 1992. I had studied
Healing Touch and loved the experience of working with energy. A good
friend then told me about Reiki and I said, “If it’s anything like
this…show me the way!” I was able to find a Reiki teacher through the
nurse that had been taking care of my mother who had Lou Gehrig's
disease (ALS). Anne had been bringing Reiki into my home and giving it
to my mom every chance she got! I like to think that Reiki found me in
my darkest hour. I was able to take a class in May of 1992; three weeks
after my mother had made her transition. I began to treat myself every
day and I believe that Reiki helped me heal after losing my mom and
best friend.
Not sure of what to do with this new healing
energy, I was guided to enroll in massage school to help me continue to
develop my healing skills.
I continued to study Reiki and
became a Reiki Master Teacher in 1994. I then met Laurelle Gaia, a
teacher with the International Center for Reiki Training, and was so
impressed that I began studying with Laurelle and entered the Center’s
Licensed Teacher Program. This included the studying of Karuna Reiki®
in August 1995 with William Rand, the founder of the International
Center for Reiki Training. I then began teaching Reiki full-time and
found myself traveling to different states as people contacted me to
learn about this wonderful healing energy.
During this time, I
also wrote many articles for local metaphysical newspapers, Reiki News,
and lectured to various groups on the healing powers of Reiki and as
well as other complementary therapies. Laurelle and I started “United
in Healing,” an organization of Reiki practitioners with the intent to
unite the Reiki community and spread the word to the public.
Since
then, I have taught Reiki to approximately 1600 people. This includes
children, young adults, seniors, doctors and nurses, dentists, massage
therapists, and athletic trainers. One of my personal goals is to help
health care practitioners incorporate Reiki into their professional
practices and to help them learn to nourish and replenish themselves
through the use of Reiki’s restorative energies (see my articles “Reiki
and the Health Care Professional” Part I and II, on the Articles page).
One of the highlights of my teaching career came in August 1999
when I had the opportunity to teach Reiki at Stony Brook Nursing School
on Long Island, New York. It was a class of Nurse Practitioners and
they all received college credit for the course. Then after 9/11, I was
invited to teach at the College of New Rochelle, in Westchester, New
York, teaching Level I and II, and later Advanced Reiki Training and
Reiki Master Teacher, as three credit college courses for Nurse
Practitioners. I have also taught Reiki to the Operating Room staff at
Mid-Hudson hospital, Queensborough Community College, and various
massage schools. I have also been a guest speaker at various support
groups, holistic events, Stony Brook School of physical therapy, as
well as many health fairs.
In October 2002, what started as a
networking meeting of Reiki Masters, quickly evolved into a non-profit
organization now known as the Long Island Reiki Connection
(www.reikiconnection.org). I became the Founding President of the
organization, which is dedicated to spreading the joy of Reiki,
educating the public, and offering networking and support for Reiki
practitioners.
I completed my Hypnosis training in 2003
through the National Guild of Hypnotists (www.ngh.net) and am an active
member of the Long Island Chapter. I have also studied Past Life
Regression with Brian Weiss, author of “Many Lives, Many Masters.”
I
have been a presenter at the Reiki Retreat; an annual event hosted by
the International Center for Reiki Training (www.reiki.org), and am a
contributing author for Reiki News Magazine. I also wrote the chapter
on Reiki in “Conversations in Complementary and Alternative Medicine:
Insights and Perspectives from Leading Practitioners,” Norma Cuellar,
Jones and Bartlett publishers, March 2006.
My private practice
is an integration of all my studies and skills. I offer my clients and
students a wholistic view of healing. My goal is to empower my clients
and my students to become all that they can be and to heal and balance
their lives.
When I think of my spiritual journey, I am reminded that:
“And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.”
