Limitations of Self: As a Reiki practitioner in Vancouver I have learned a great many things from my experiences. The primary of these is that as human we are very much sense creatures. We experience the world very much from our sensual selves. As a personal trainer I have reinforced this within myself and others and shown people how to be better within their physical bodies. This is not a bad thing, but until recently it had blinded me to the world beyond what we can see, hear, feel, taste, smell and experience as a result of our senses interacting with what we perceive. Were we to have different senses the world would be a much different place. For example, if, like a snake we could see in infrared we would believe that the body extended further than our 'solid form'.... If we could hear like a dog we would understand the limits of our vocal range....

Personal beliefs: While completing my Reiki Mastery, I have been offered the opportunity to experience the other side of existence, the side that exists outside the tangible. It is this intangible side of existence that so many fear and that so many shy away from because it is not 'understood' in the classical sense of the word. It is similar when trying to explain where an atom is in space at any given time.

My belief is that Reiki is simply a way of re-connecting to the whole. My definition of the world whole is synonymous with the words; god, light, energy, nature, the source, the infinite, the divine, or whatever you want to call it. To me it is the bond between us on every level, and in and of itself cannot be described properly with language.

So while letting you know that Pillars of Health offers Reiki as a service, I am also sharing some of the insights I have learned. These I refer to as the 5 Pillars written in air.

The words written in air are such because they cannot be described concretely.  Language cannot capture them and they seem transparent to those who try and grasp them.  These 5 words describe what the writer believes to be stages walked when enlightening and/or healing ones self.

Compassion is the art of understanding that all things in life undergo hardship and to not judge those things based on this hardship.  Compassion is the kind of energy that envelops those in need and rather than push them away and offers them what you can from yourself.  True compassion is above ego. It has no agenda and does not pick and choose to whom it is given.  Compassion is one of the strongest human opportunities to reach out and elevate someone or something.  Compassion is not a thought, moreso a state of being.

Acceptance is one of the most powerful human understandings.  If used properly acceptance can unshackle you from attachment, offer solace and clear ego-created problems.  True acceptance overcomes the body & the mind and unties you from that which you cannot change.  When you accept everything, stress vanishes, pre-conceptions disappear and presence is attained.   

Perspective is the ability to see from your universal standpoint whilst looking in all directions from all destinations.  To have perspective is the ability to be in your shoes looking out at the world but understand that your view is limited and not truth.  Most personal truths are simply blind perspective + ego.  When a true understanding of perspective is attained acceptance is embraced, and ego is set aside in the interest of community and compassion.

Community is the acceptance that the perspective of the individual is not the epicenter of existence.  There is in fact no epicenter as the individual does not exist without the whole.  This is not just true of the human population, but whole ecosystems of plants, animals and beyond.  Community is the release of an ego-centered world, the compassionate belief that benefitting the whole benefits the individual.  Community does not work when there is expectation and anything given must be done so freely without attachment to the result. 

Presence is simply being not caught up in the past or future.  There are no what-ifs’ in presence.  The act of being is when your physical, mental and spiritual are in the same state at the same time.  It must be understood that presence is not achieved, it is participated in.  There is no destination with presence, no goal, no final result.  Being present is the gift in and of it’s self.  When you are truly present the other air writings happen without effort, but often it is the journey inwards to finding these things within yourself that helps presence makes itself known.

Reiki is something that cannot be mastered, it is a lifelong process. The understandings you gain from having it done on you or by learning how to do it yourself will transform your life.

One of the things that makes Reiki so special is the knowledge that you do not give your energy to anyone. There are no borders within energy, so believing that you are 'dishing out' your energy to others WILL drain you, because it is impossible. Energy flows, it cannot be contained. When you learn Reiki, what you learn with time is how to stand under the waterfall (or flow) of energy through and around you, and how to dish it out to those around you.