Healing - Be Gentle With Yourself

Hi All,

How are you doing?  I hope you're all having a good summer.  We're nice and toasty warm here in the Arizona desert...and that's alright.  That's what we do.  Wherever you are - I hope you are enjoying every day.

My topic today is, "Be Gentle With Yourself."  This is something I tell my clients on a regular basis.  A lot of my clients have some type of physical or emotional issue that they're wanting to heal.  I provide massage, cranial unwinding or reiki to help them.  They're good therapies and can be profoundly helpful, however we all play a role in our health and healing.  Our attitudes, how we treat ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally are important to our healing too.  That's where, being gentle with yourself comes in.

We don't always treat our bodies in a way that promotes healing.  When we should be eating right, slowing down for a while and resting the injury, we may not.  Being gentle with myself, so I can heal means getting plenty of rest.  It can mean treating your body to a little extra pampering like Epsom Salt baths, (of course) massage, and if needed - backing off of the exercise regimen for a while.

Nutrition is also important in being gentle with ourselves.  Plenty of water to keep the body well hydrated is always important, especially when nursing injury or illness.  Of course you want to be selective about the food you eat, eating healthy, nutrient dense foods will promote healing.  

We also want to be gentle with ourselves mentally and emotionally as well, whether you're dealing with a physical or emotional condition.  How do you talk to yourself?  Are you kind to yourself, or do you beat yourself up for even little mistakes?  I know we all can be hard on ourselves now and then, but it's really counter productive.  How would you talk to a friend that's down?  That's how you need to treat yourself...be loving and gentle with yourself - all the time.  Of course we can still have high standards for ourselves, but we can learn from our mistakes and press on, instead of berating ourselves.

Another way we can help ourselves and be gentle with ourselves is to practice daily meditation.  Meditation can be as simple as relaxing the body and slowing down the mind.  The part that many people find difficult is slowing down the mind.  Jon Kabat-Zinn, a mindfulness expert says we should "be present, without judgement."  This will help slow the mind chatter, but it will take practice.  Meditation is so good for you and after a while you'll notice so many benefits.

Here's the bottom line - it's all about balance.  If we don't treat ourselves right, we don't reap the benefit of being in that comfy, healthy, centered place of balance.  Being gentle with ourselves can be a part of coming back to that.  Of course you may need body work (like massage or cranial sacral therapy), you may need to seek out medical attention, or other professional help.  Always get the help you need to get on track, but don't neglect your part....be kind and gentle to yourself.  You deserve it.

I hope you are always gentle with and take good care of yourself.  Enjoy life.  It can be so much fun.
If you're in the Phoenix area, come by and get a great massage or energy work session.  If you need help learning meditation, I can assist with that as well.  Let me know.

Peace and Love,

Tom

Tom Kreienbrink, LMT, RM, CST
Phoenix, AZ
Website and follow on Facebook
Web: www.HolisticTherapySolutions.weebly.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/HolisticTherapySolutions

Energy Work Therapy For Veterans

Hi All,

It's Friday!  WooHoo!!  I hope you've had a good work week.  Mine's been pretty good.  I've been able to shift gears at work and at home.  Today I able to focus on some projects around the house and made some good progress.  I'm grateful for that.  This weekend - back to work.

I've got an opportunity to go up to the Merritt Center in Payson, AZ, where I'll be working with a group of military veterans.  I'll be heading up there tomorrow and providing CranioSacral Therapy for some of the Vets.

I wish I could give credit for this illustration.  I took the original diagram
and painted it.  I didn't draw the original diagram though.

 The Veterans at this workshop are all combat Veterans and are at the Vets Weekend Retreat to help them heal and leave the trauma of combat in the past.  CranioSacral is an amazing energetic therapy that can help the client unwind those "issues in the tissues," and release them.  It can help the Vet heal physically and also mentally and emotionally.  Of course, with something as traumatic as combat, the physical and emotional healing can be tied very close together but often, when the physical has healed, the mental and emotional pain and trauma remains.

I met Betty Merritt about a year ago.  We were attending a focus group in Phoenix to give input on alternative and complementary therapies to the Veterans Administration.  Recognizing that allopathic medicine is not always the answer, they're looking at alternatives that may be helpful for our Veterans returning from War.  After the focus group, she invited me to come up to her place and provide some therapy for some of the Vets at her retreats.  Last time I did some massage, this time I asked if I could do some CranialSacral.

So tomorrow morning, Sue and I will pack up the therapy table and head 100 miles north and east to Payson to the Merritt Center.  It's a small retreat center where they have a number of different workshops and retreats throughout the year.  Several times a year, they host the Veterans weekends.  This is their passion.  They invite these combat veterans to attend, free of charge, and offer therapy and groups all weekend long to help these Vets heal.

You can find out more about the Merritt Center at their website:
 http://www.merrittcenter.org/vets/vet-program.htm 

I'm truly honored to have the opportunity to work with these folks tomorrow and looking forward to it.

Have a great weekend everyone.  Be good out there - do great things!

Peace,

Tom

My website:
www.HolisticTherapySolutions.weebly.com

Follow me on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/HolisticTherapySolutions

Reiki - Healing Energy Work

Hi All,

Hope your week is starting out right.  It's a nice cloudy and a little bit rainy day here in Phoenix.  We always can use the rain.

Today I'd like to discuss one of the energy work modalities that I practice/provide to clients...Reiki.  Some things Reiki is and isn't.  Reiki is Universal Energy - a very high vibration of energy.  Everything is energy.  For example: Reiki or maybe a bright light would be on a high vibrational frequency.  A rock or table top would be a very dense low vibration.

Reiki is not part of any religion or religious affiliation.  It's available anytime, anywhere.  It's universal energy and it's all around us.  It's like Ki or Chi energy common to the martial arts.  I've seen some martial artists do amazing feats using Ki.  Frank, (one of my Sensei), used to have up to 8 black belts punch him simultaneously and not leave a mark.  My friend Jim bench presses over 500 lbs - because he can harness his Chi.  Reiki is an energy modality where, like the two martial artists I mentioned, you learn to focus the Ki energy.  One difference is it's used as a healing modality.

A portrait I recently created of Mikao Usui, the person who
discovered Reiki as we know it.

What does a typical Reiki session look like?  For me, I usually have the client recline on the massage table.  I'll have them relax, take a few deep breaths and let go of all stress...let the stress melt away.  Usually, I'll scan the body with my hands, feeling their energy from about 6 inches above the body.  When scanning, I'll feel certain areas that need attention, and I'll focus more time and energy there.  Since every client is different, and there are so many variables, each session is unique and different.  Sometimes I lay hands directly on the body, sometimes I'll have my hands above the body.  Even though I may focus on a specific part of the body or work all over - Reiki is smart energy.  It goes were it's needed and does what it needs to do.  A typical session can last around 45 to 50 minutes.

Reiki - 11x14, Artist: Me.  The Japanese characters the spell Reiki.

What is Reiki used for?  What's it good for?  It is used for a variety of reasons.  I gave a Reiki session to a woman with stage 4 cancer once.  What did she get from the treatment?  She got pain relief.  She felt good when leaving and was relaxed.  She felt pretty good for a few days following.  For her that was a remarkable gift.  There have been instances where people have had remarkable healing from Reiki, but I cannot guarantee that.  A person will always get what they need from a session - whether it's physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual.  As I said, it's smart energy.

Cho Ku Rei, 11x 17.  Artwork produced by myself.
Cho Ku Rei is a Reiki symbol used in the healing art.

As an holistic practitioner, I will frequently combine Reiki with a massage or reflexology session.  It goes very well with a guided meditation or hypnotherapy session.  It's a multipurpose modality and is complementary with other holistic disciplines.

Of course, there's much more we could discuss on the topic, like the Reiki symbols, training, and other specifics.  Today, I wanted to give an overview of Reiki, what it is, and what it can be used for.

If you'd like to know more you can find more on the web.  In previous posts I've given my web site, Facebook site, and contact info.  You can contact me with questions or call to schedule an appointment.

I'm now in a permanent business location.  I'm at the Beyond Today Center on 28th Drive in Phoenix.  Go to my web site for the details.  www.HolisticTherapySolutions.weebly.com

Have a great week all.  Peace.

Note - the artwork in this blog post is my own.  Prints are available for purchase.

Usui Sensei Artwork

Hi All,

I'd like to show my latest piece of artwork today...a portrait of Mikao Usui.  I titled it, "Usui Sensei."

One of the bodywork modalities I practice in my holistic therapy practice is Reiki.  Mikao Usui is the person who "developed" Reiki.  Stories vary, I'll let you do your homework on it, but in brief, he discovered/was given reiki while on a 21 day trip up on Mount Kurama in Japan in the early 1900s.

Final Artwork - 15"x15"- available as giclee print

photo of Mikao Usui

Reiki is an energy work modality.  You apply Universal Life Energy - commonly referred to as Ki, thru your hands to your client.  It's great work - soothing and can be so healing on many levels.  Beautiful stuff!

I produced this on a 6 yr old I-Mac with 4Gb Ram and Photoshop CS3.  I started with a sepia tone and built up Master Usui's image in layers.  Each layer a different color (e.g.: red, black, yellow, orange, etc).

And, it started to come together, looking a little more lifelike.

I wanted a little bit of Mount Kurama and sky in the background.  Very basic, but at this point all that I really wanted to have in the picture.

I then used some really cool textured brushes to build up a really nice texture around the portrait. (at least I like the texture - some may not, and that's ok).  In the end, I had over 20 layers....then I flatten it all down.  Now one key to working in the textures is working with a certain level of transparency in the brush itself and then I may or may not adjust the layer transparency.  Really adjusting to what I feel is right for the piece.

Finally, I add the Japanese Kanji symbols that spell Reiki, and put the finishing touches on it.  I'll be selling giclee canvas prints at 15"x15," or 18x18.
I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and artwork.  Also - call me if you would like a reiki session also...it's so good.
Take care and have a great week everyone.
Peace,
Tom