Reiki Unraveled

Thousands of years ago, ancient sages had developed a deep understanding of the nature of spirit, energy and matter. They used this knowledge to attain a state of equilibrium where the body and the mind were in perfect harmony. To be the vessel of this harmony, a practitioner needed to be in perfect synch with the universal life force. This universal life force energy was called ‘Chi’, in Chinese medicine and ‘prana’ in the Hindu Upanishads. The Japanese referred to it as Reiki.

With a view to unravel the routes of Reiki, I have compiled below

essential information about this ancient art of spiritual healing that leads us all to a state of harmony with ourselves and the divine.

Reiki, founded by Dr. Mikao Usui, is the quaint Japanese technique of reducing stress, relaxation and healing. Comprised of two Japanese words, rei which means God’s wisdom and ki which means life force energy, Reiki is founded on the idea of a hidden ‘life force energy’ streaming through us and causing us to be alive. The dipping of one’s ‘life force energy’ beyond its normal level causes one to feel ill and stressed while higher levels is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy. This gentle, non invasive process of healing is administered through the laying of hands to balance the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual problems in one’s life and leads to personal and spiritual growth. Reiki is a holistic alternate healing process that creates a glowing radiance to flow through and around one’s body and treats the body, emotions, mind and spirit thereby creating many positive effects like relaxation, feelings of peace, security and general wellbeing. This spiritual healing and self-improvement process is known to have cured many a maladies and well-known illnesses through a combination with other medical and therapeutic practices and has led to miraculous recoveries.
How does it heal?

Reiki practitioners place their hands above a person’s energy centers with an intent to heal. This energy, which has an intelligence of its own, begins to flow and in the process accelerates the body’s own ability to heal. The energy is not harmful. The Reiki practitioners merely act as a channel to leverage this energy. Reiki releases the various obstructions within one’s physical, mental and emotional states that create unbalance in energy fields and result in unhappiness and illness. The release of these obstructions paves way for the natural energy to flow on its course, thwart toxins and waste products. Once these obstructions are removed, an individual’s ability to hold, store and replenish energy increases too.

Reiki treatments are unique, just like the individuals experiencing them. They may lead to feeling of heat, tickling or nothing at all, depending upon the specific problem of the individual and the way his/her energy flows. However, it is a slow process of healing and may show improvements over a period of time. One can use it on family, friends and even pets.

While Reiki calms one down, it also teaches one to approach difficult situations in a calm and relaxed manner. It motivates individuals to disown their negative thoughts and helps in building greater degrees of self-awareness. This in turn generates greater love for self and others. Its sole purpose is to help people realize that it is only through self improvement that they can really heal their spirit. In order for the Reiki healing energies to have lasting results, individuals must acknowledge their responsibility towards the healing and take an active part in it. These ideals are not only guidelines for living a gracious life but also merits worthy of practice for their intrinsic value.

Remote Healing
Reiki healing aces over other types of hands-on healing techniques because the Reiki energy can be transmitted from the healer to the recipient not only through actual physical touch but also through distance. Highly developed Reiki practitioners, during typical cases of remote Reiki treatments, are able to send healing energies from a distance, without the physical presence of the recipient.

The Benefits of Reiki
• Accentuates inner peace, mental clarity, personal growth as well as emotional stability.
• Supports calmness, removes obstructive blockades and promotes relaxation.
• Reduces stress, tension, anxiety, uneasiness and depression.
• Cures chronic pain, insomnia, lack of self-image, awareness and confidence, addiction to drugs and fear-based ailments.
• Detoxifies the body.
• Cures most diseases like asthma, allergy, arthritis, back pain, blood pressure, cold, diabetes, gastric ulcer, hepatitis, menstrual problems, migraines, scleroderma, sinusitis, and spondylitis, etc.
• Induces new energy in the form of the healing ‘universal life energy’.
• Goes together with medical treatment.
• Promotes creativity.
• Accelerates vitality and energy levels in the body.
• Strengthens the immune system.
• Releases suppressed feelings.
• Purifies the body, aura, and chakras by changing the frequency of body energy and promoting triggering healing beginning on a physical level, followed by the emotional level and finally the spiritual.
• Makes one’s life more comfortable and less prone to anxiety.

Learning Reiki
Reiki is a simple technique to learn and does not depend on one’s intellectual caliber or spiritual inclination. However, it cannot be learnt in the usual way and is generally passed on during an ‘attunement’ imparted by a Reiki master that allows a student to tap an unlimited supply of ‘life force energy’ and improve one's health and enhance the quality of life. Reiki promotes harmony with self and others too.

Reiki courses are very popular and this method of spiritual healing is taught almost everywhere. The ways and prices of the courses vary depending on how a Reiki master has been taught. Students report momentous and reflective shifts in awareness and understanding of the process of healing during and after a course. Reiki healing is fast being accepted in mainstream healthcare settings such as hospitals, operation and surgeries, recovery rooms, nursing homes and even spas. In fact, it is believed that plants respond to Reiki too!

‘Attunements’ in Learning

The Reiki ‘attunement’ is a powerful healing and spiritual experience and is said to increase one’s psychic ability. Individuals aspiring to become Reiki practioners are initiated either individually or in group settings, depending on the courses offered. Reiki attunements open up the energy pathways to facilitate the smooth flow of more life force energy through the body. Some recipients report a mystical experience while others claim that they feel visions, colours and sensations; still others feel nothing at all. Every individual’s Reiki attunement is unique, quite like his/her caliber and life force energy. Since every individual is at a different spiritual path while receiving the attunement, it is but expected that the amount of energy they receive entirely depends upon their capability to receive that amount at that particular point of time in life. Once attuned, this energy is never lost.

Attunement raises our body’s vibration level to match the level of energy added during the attunement. One’s body needs to adjust to this sudden increase in vibration and there are chances that one may have a temporary or mild physical or emotional reaction and need to go through a cleansing process.

Negativity in life, stress, anxiety, unhealthy living conditions, improper food, chemicals and toxins in the body and the atmosphere around a person greatly influence the attunement process and result in slower than average vibration level. Recipients may suffer from a feeling of belittlement during attunement or Reiki healing. Therefore, they must work their way out and above these negative elements and achieve their healing awareness.

Reiki is not an occult or a psychic practice. It is a blend of spiritual and energy healing techniques. In fact if you were to look at the five Reiki principles, outlined by its Japanese founder Mikao Usui, it comes across as a highly practical and deeply humanistic way of life.
The 5 guiding principles that Reiki teachers and practitioners abide by translate into something like this:
• Just for today, I will not worry
• Just for today, I will not be angry
• Just for today, I will give thanks for my many blessings
• Just for today, I will do my work honestly
• Just for today, I will be kind to every living thing

Delightfully simple, isn't it? We hope these principles reverberate inside you and replenish you with your life force energy and transform your life with its profound power.

In the Pink of Health

The Roman poet Virgil advised, “Health is the greatest wealth”. While we have heard the saying a zillion times, we have seldom made the correct health choices to ensure that we stay hale and hearty. With a multi-faceted lifestyle, demanding careers and success being the quest of modern lives, advices on how to stay fit and fine are not only baffling but also change from week to week. The basic practices for good health have remained constant over the years. All you need to do is incorporate them into your everyday life.

A lot of people in this world are seeking success. They spent hours slogging every day, aiming for promotions, pay-hike and a better lifestyle. Truth is, without a healthy body, you do not even have the potential to earn or afford a better standard of living. Unfortunately, there are way too many commercials on the television that promise you the ‘pink of health’ without doing much and only by using their products. Sometimes you get deceived; at others you do realize that they are all hoaxes. So you make plans, diet-charts, and daily routines, only to re-make them the following week. Don’t worry.
Being healthy is not a myth! Health is the greatest asset that we possess. It is a catalyst that helps us achieve our goals and fulfill our dreams in our life. Here are twenty effective tips on staying healthy and feeling great!

1.Your health is your responsibility
Remember the last time you fell ill? How did it feel? Rotten, isn’t it? Well, the good news is that there still is time to have the reins of your health in your hands to avoid such uncalled for run-downs. All it requires is a little bit of planning and prioritizing. Make healthy choices. Have a wholesome breakfast. If you have to stay back in office beyond the usual timings, pack some extra lunch to avoid ordering food from outside. Select water over soft drinks. Moderate yourself from excesses. Pack healthy food items for your children. Help them make correct choices and encourage the habit of eating home-cooked meals instead of snacks ordered from outside. For many parents, helping children develop healthy eating habits is a struggle. With the hectic pace of many families' lives and with more women working full time, even health-conscious parents are finding it easy to tolerate less than desirable eating habits. Although it's a myth that children become hyperactive by eating too much sugar, sugary food is still bad for oral health, can be stored as fat, and aggravates diabetes.

2. Balanced diet
It wasn’t a mere myth learnt at school. Balanced diet is the deciding factor behind good health. The proper diet can help control or eliminate high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. Eat a variety of nutrient-dense foods such as whole grains, low-fat dairy products, fruits and vegetables. Cut down on your intake of sugars and fats. Drink alcohol in moderation.

3. Go organic!
You are what you eat. What you eat directly affects your health. Not watching your diet will cause health problems. Go organic! Organic foods not only taste better but also do your body a whole lot of good. They contain the least amount of pesticides and are thus good for overall health.

4. Say no to hydrogenated food
Hydrogenation Process shadows the fact that the food you are eating could be rancid. Do you really want to eat rotten or stale food? If not, e4liminate hydrogenated food-items from your list. These include all the ‘quick-bites’ that we grope for when hungry including crackers, cookies and chips.

5. Work towards having healthy relationships
Stress from relationships of whichever kind is the worst form of stress and totally wears a person out. Instead of brooding too much on sour relationships, take constructive steps to build and nurture them. This will be one of the greatest steps towards great health.

6. Exercise
Exercise not only helps in maintaining physical fitness but also ensures overall health and wellness. It has uncountable benefits. Exercise strengthens muscles and the cardiovascular system, hones our athletic skills, and enables weight loss and body-sculpting. Regular physical exercise enhances the immune system, and helps curb the ‘diseases of affluence’ such as heart and cardiovascular diseases, Type 2 diabetes and obesity. Exercise improves mental health, alleviates depression, builds self-esteem and boosts our body image.

7. Be positive
Attitude effects health and healing in a major way. While a positive attnitude triggers good health, a negative attitude not only drags you dow but also those around you. We all wallow from time to time and little slips here and there is allowed. When you think positive, you will be able to elude stress, think straight and work your way out of your problems. The point is to maintain a positive attitude most of the time, to learn from our mistakes instead of sulking about them and having a joyful heart to stay healthy and spread happiness all around.

8. Sleep well
After a long and tiring day at work, all that your body needs is a peaceful sleep. Six to eight hours of undisrupted sleep revitalizes all the worn out cells of the body. As against this, not getting enough sleep is been linked to heart attacks, high blood pressure and other serious health issues.

9. Smile
It takes lesser muscles to smile than to frown. Smiling is a sign of happiness. A nice smile not only enhances your face value but also attracts and exudes positivity. This in turn improves mental health.

10. Socialize
Expressing your feelings and emotions to your friends and family improves both physical and mental health. You will not have a hard time keeping things to yourself. It has been scientifically proved that people with strong social and family ties live longer, have stronger immunity to diseases and suffer less mental decline as they grow older.

11. Breath normally
Take your time in breathing in and exhaling. Avoid bad sleeping positions and never cover your head while sleeping as it only triggers the amassing of carbon dioxide that makes the brain function abnormally.

12. Be clean not crappy
Did you know that poor dental hygiene could give you a heart attack? Surprising but true! Brush your teeth everyday and floss regularly. Take showers daily. Ablutions should be timely to make sure that the digestive system runs smoothly. Maintain good hygine for your sake and for the sake of others.

13. Go for monthly check-ups
Prevention is better than cure! Regular check-ups will help you spot little health problems before they become humungous. Consult doctors at regular intervals. Go for timely immunizations, and blood-pressure and cholesterol checks. An illness can strike anytime. It is just proper to have a check-up to prevent or to detect and cure it.

14. Good poise, comfortable clothes
Although this has more to do with personal grooming, but when it comes to maintaining good health, one’s poise and clothes cannot be ignored. Sitting or standing up in a correct position de-stresses the body thus leaving you in a state of comfort. Wearing proper clothes that will maintain your normal body temperature is also important to have all your body parts function properly. You can’t be wearing a jacket when it is too hot or be wrapped in a chiffon sari when it is freezing outside.

15. Watch your hand
Wash your hands before touching any food item. Clean and trim your nails regularly. Remember to carry hand-sanitizers.

16. Abstain from smoking and drinking
Did you know that non-smokers and teetotalers live far longer than those who are addicted to cigarettes or alcohol? It is because once you are addicted to them, the chance of getting cancer or any illnesses increases tremendously. Most lung cancer cases are due to smoking while drinking increases the risk of coronary heart diseases and stroke. Smoking is responsible for most lung cancer while drinking greatly increases your risk of coronary heart disease and stroke.

17. Vaccines
Diseases are highly infectious and can affect anyone with low immunity. Therefore vaccination becomes an imperative if one were to stay healthy. Due to immunization, diseases like smallpox and polio have been almost eradicated. Vaccines are usually administered during childhood to safeguard a child from various ailments that mostly occur before the child reaches the age of two. As a parent, keep a track of your child's vaccines.

18. Stop eating out
While McDonalds and Pizza Hut might be tempting names, they are equally threatening for your health. Would you want a salad when you could easily order a large fry or have an entire pizza delivered to you within minutes? Unfortunately, the foods that taste the best are often the worst for your body. While we usually ignore this important fact, it is crucial that we at least try to consume nutritional food four days out of the week.

19. Manage stress
Stress with heart disease, high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, acne and other health problems. Learning to control your stress can help you feel better every day and decrease your chances of long-term health problems. Meditation, relaxation and exercise are ways to manage stress.

20. Have a motto in life

Finally, finding a purpose in life keeps your mental faculty healthy leading to great physical health. Determine your short and long term goals, learn to plan and stick by them and be focused on your goals. Remember, although it’s all about saying ‘no’, the secret to great health lies in enjoying the sweetest pleasures of life in moderation and not in living in a state of denial.

Lean is In & Achievable!

You have been eating healthy, avoiding fast food and doing practically as much work as the other colleague at your workplace. And still your weight is still on a rise. You can’t seem to figure out why! Most frustratingly, you do not know how to lose those extra pounds, love handles and pouch belly that you never had a couple of months back. Where have you been going wrong? Really, what must you do to get back in shape without compromising with your daily schedule?

Here are a few, yet key things that I personally followed (strictly two months before my wedding) and  did achieve a lean figure.

If you are a working professional your demanding lifestyle of can take a toll on your physical health and body. The paucity of time, the dependence on ‘ready-to-eat’ convenience food, or ‘vegging on the couch’ after hours of toil only lead to a body gone way out of proportions. Clothes stop fitting and lethargy prevails, not to forget a couple of pounds bulging out notoriously at the most unwanted of places. You do practically as much work as your colleague sitting on the other side of the cubicle. You woefully complain that you hardly eat and yet you are gaining weight. You wonder to yourself what he does to stay so healthy and (more importantly) look so lean!  Then you wonder at the possibilities of dieting...or crash dieting...or whatever it takes to fit right back in your favorite pair of jeans! 

The key is not dieting. It is all about choosing the right diet and incorporating it in your daily life.    

Making minute changes here and there in your daily schedule can actually work miracles. No, you do not need to miss work and do not need to do strenuous ‘suryapranaams’ to achieve a lean and fit look (although we never discourage exercises and you can go on doing them as per your wish). It is about knowing what you eat and what impact will it have on your body, or more precisely, your ‘figure’.

A healthy diet is very important in achieving a proportional figure. While it may vary from subject to subject, we have compiled a general list of do’s and don’ts that will definitely help you reduce the overall fat content in your body and attain a balanced figure.

To begin with, certain key information must be furnished.

• Depending on whether you are a male or a female, your body would require more carbohydrates and proteins or calcium, proteins and carbohydrates respectively.
• You must also make a note of your height and have your Body Mass Index (BMI) calculated accordingly to set out on a diet plan.
• Next in line, you should make a note of vices – drinking, smoking, eating out, eating late, and skipping meals.
• Make sure you are not under any medication.
• Know exactly how your day is divided. This will help in making sure that you provide your body with the required nutritional support for enhanced professional performance.

Diet plan according to time

Whether you work from 9AM to 5PM or are in a graveyard shift, there is always a diet plan to help you replenish your body with nutritional food. 

• Working all day:  If you’re a long-run person, on your feet for almost the entire day, your body needs enough energy to keep you going. Keep your sugar level stable with the help of hydro-carbonates. Start your day with cereals and milk, eat vegetables (not too oily or overcooked) with chapattis and salads at lunch, go for a bowl of soup with a couple of baked bread sticks as an evening snack and round it off with chapattis, stir-fried vegetables and dal at dinner. 
  
  
• Late-night worker: If your work starts when the world goes off to bed, you need enough nutrition to last you till the wee hours of the morning. Vitamin B1 is the key nutrient that will keep you on your      toes till morning. Start your day with a breakfast comprising brown bread and honey. Your lunch should include salads, chapattis and vegetables. As an evening snack you can eat a fruit like apple, pear, orange or papaya. For dinner you can have chicken barbecue and salad. 

 While these are basic work shifts that require proper care and attention with regards to one’s diet, there are other general factors that help you maintain a lean and healthy body. No matter what occupation you have, your body needs enough energy to do it well. You need a healthy diet plan so that you don’t gain weight and yet eat only as much as is required by your body to work efficiently and for you to not feel dizzy or hungry and be tempted to hog between meals, even while at work.

 

Sedentary workers: Working professionals, especially those restricted to a sedentary job, perform intense mental activities and have very limited physical movement during their work hours. Your body needs ‘intelligent food’ that gives energy to your brain and nerves while also satiating your hunger. You need food items rich in Vitamin B and C. Eat a wholesome salad, fruits (oranges, apples, pears, papaya) or a vegetable sandwich (made with brown bread) for breakfast. Eat two chapattis with stir fried vegetables, salads and yoghurt for lunch. Have a bowl of fresh tomato soup in the evening and for dinner eat fish, vegetables or porridge (dalia).

For an average person who wants to shed a few pounds, here a few easy-to-do week-wise tips that will not only reduce the fat content in your body but also, if followed strictly, lead to acquiring visible results in body proportions within weeks! The prescribed timings are standard, based on an average person’s daily time table and can be molded by one hour to suit your needs. (And no, you can’t cheat! No chocolates, butter, cheese, rice or potatoes! Not even out of desperation! After all, you do want to get back in shape, don’t you?)

Week 1: Your body needs a detoxification.

7 AM: Drink a glassful of lukewarm water. You may add a dash of lemon if you please.

8AM: Take two slices of toasted brown bread. Toss in freshly chopped vegetables like cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce. Add a pinch of salt. This is your breakfast. 

11AM: Eat a fruit. Avoid bananas, litchis or grapes as they add weight.

1PM: Eat two flour and bran chapattis (the ratio of mixing wheat bran and flour is 2:1) with lightly cooked vegetables and salads.

4PM: Drink a cup of regular tea. You can also munch a couple of biscuits (but only a couple and not a whole pack of assorted nut cookies).

6PM: Drink a bowl of soup. Avoid cheese and butter. If you cannot take soup, you can eat a fruit. This will keep your hunger at bay till dinner time.

8PM: Eat one flour and bran chapatti (the ratio of mixing wheat bran and flour is 2:1) with lightly cooked vegetables and salads.

Week 2: Your body needs a nutrient replenishment.

7 AM: Drink a glassful of lukewarm water. You may add a dash of lemon if you please.

8AM: For breakfast, eat a bowl of sprouts. You can choose to drink a tumbler of thin buttermilk if you like.

11AM: Eat a fruit. Avoid bananas, litchis or grapes.

1PM: Eat two wheat and soya flour chapattis (the ratio of mixing wheat and soya flour is 2:1) with lightly cooked vegetables and salads.

4PM: Drink a cup of regular tea. You can also munch a couple of biscuits.

6PM: Drink a bowl of soup. No cheese or butter to be taken yet. If soup is not available, you can eat a fruit.

8PM: You eat porridge (dalia), cooked with seasonal vegetables for dinner.

Week 3: Your body feels lighter

7 AM: Drink a glassful of lukewarm water. You may add a dash of lemon if you please.

8AM: For breakfast, a brown bread sandwich. You can have an egg-white omelet on alternate days.

11AM: Eat a fruit. Avoid bananas, litchis or grapes.

1PM: Alternate between two wheat and soya flour chapattis and flour and wheat bran chapattis and have them with regular non-oily vegetables. Increase your intake of salads.

4PM: Drink a cup of regular tea. You can still munch a couple of biscuits.

6PM: Drink a bowl of soup minus cheese or butter. If soup is not available, you can eat a fruit.

8PM: You eat continue eating porridge (dalia), cooked with seasonal vegetables or salads or wheat and soya chapattis with light curry for dinner.

Week 4: Measure your weight and inch-loss

Follow the diet plan of Week 3. Increase the quantity of foods that cool your system such as yoghurt, cucumbers, and tomatoes etc. Also increase your intake of high-fiber foods such as oat bran, woody vegetables etc. that keep your energy levels high.

However, do bear in mind that you have already come this far. Three weeks without rice, potatoes, oil, ghee, butter, cheese, sweets, chocolates or fast food indeed calls for applause. This is the final week. A little bit of perseverance will give you astonishing results. Depending upon how much weight you have lost since you began following the diet plan, you can choose to include lean meat twice a week, to be taken at lunchtime. If the temptations are too hard to resist, you can allow yourself a treat of boiled chicken salad. Do remember, no gorgeous dressings should be added to the salad though!

We are sure that once you follow this month long diet plan, you will be a better judge of the food you eat. While continuing to measure your progress in losing weight each week, you will have an idea of what suits you the best and doesn’t leave you feeling weak or hungry. The idea of the diet plan is to keep your stomach full while not adding the minutest amount of fat.

Finally, here are a few tips that one must follow to maintain that gorgeous figure and stay healthy:

• Do not skip breakfast: Breakfast is the first chance for the body to refuel its glucose levels after a gap of eight to ten hours. It is important for weight management as it helps curb your hunger and prevents you from binging later during the day. 
• Eat at regular intervals: Our bodies needs energy at regular intervals. Moreover, frequent food intake helps your prevent acidity, gas or bloating. Mini meals supply a constant stream of insulin to preserve muscle but lesser insulin release and therefore lesser fat gain. 
  
  
• Eat healthy: Eat natural food items. Avoid junk food or eating out. Carry roasted nuts or fruits while on the go instead of chips and munchies.
   
• Say no to aerated or caffeinated drinks: Replace fizzy drinks with water, coconut water, lime drink, fruit juices or herbal drinks. Restrict your intake of tea and coffee.
  
  
• Avoid stress and long working hours: Let your body rest and use up all the nutrients that you have provided it with and produce energy. 
• Avoid cigarettes and alcohol: Smoking or drinking for busting stress is no excuse! These have more negative effects on the body than you could possibly imagine.

Share|