Massage YES! But Reiki and Hypnosis were certainly just right outside of my comfort zone... until recently.

Yesterday I was getting my hair done and although I don’t normally do so, I picked up the Dec 2008 issue of Vogue. I read a quote from Jennifer Aniston that basically said everything we ever want can be achieved; it’s just right outside of our comfort zone! That really struck a cord with me, because most good things in life or certainly some amazing growth opportunities are achieved when we step out of our comfort zones. I was fortunate enough, prior to opening Red Clover Cottage, to fall into a 17 yr career that constantly took me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to grow in ways I never thought possible. I’m always amazed at how often I reflect back to those awkward times and am grateful for them, they’ve made me who I am today and I think I’m more open-minded because of it.
Massage YES! But Reiki and Hypnosis were certainly just right outside of my comfort zone... until recently. Since experiencing them, I don’t really know how I lived without them and I look to the future with great anticipation of what I can accomplish with a regular regimen of Massage, Reiki, and Hypnosis. These are my assessments:
Massage is incredibly healthy and when you have stress, sore, tense, or knotted up muscles, there is nothing like it to make you all better. Coupled with aromatherapy, it’s one of the most pleasurable things to behold.
Reiki is defined as “life force energy”. It is a wonderful hodgepodge: it can incorporate energy work and meditation or guided imagery into a light massage with some reflexology and even some drum work at times among many other possible and wonderful experiences (each practitioner is different, just as massage therapists are). It takes your state of mind to a deeply relaxed, loving and healing place. Some people find it spiritual, some healing, and some simply find it deeply relaxing or all of the above.
Hypnotherapy is a phenomenal technique. We can see a therapist for specific issues or we can learn to do it ourselves for deep meditation and self hypnosis. This technique is best described as a state of deep relaxation in which we can bypass our conscious mind and access the subconscious; once there, great change, pain control and healing can occur. Unlike popular belief, it is not a weak state in which we can “be controlled”, in fact it is a “heightened” and focused state of awareness where we can never do anything that is against any value system that we have.
I’ve had 1 Reiki Visit and 2 Hypnotherapy sessions and both are not only extremely fascinating… they are teaching me how to meditate, which has been elusive to me in the past! Despite taking Yoga class and other more direct attempts to learn meditation, I’ve never been able to stop my thoughts from buzzing around all over the place. My hypnotherapist assures me, with practice, I’ll be able to “self-hypnotize” effectively. It is getting easier! I’ve been googling around and I’ve learned that meditation and hypnosis are the same but different. From what I gather meditation is stilling the mind of all thoughts, you may go to a happy little place for you, such as a field of flowers, an oceanside, a mountain top etc… and you come back refreshed; whereas hypnotherapy takes it a step farther to then work with the subconscious on a particular issue. The relaxation pose that you see most people in for meditation (is it called lotus position?) was originally used because it’s not the most comfortable, to keep you from going into hypnosis. Interesting and fascinating! Do you have trouble meditating or are you a pro? Share your thoughts and experiences with me! Make it a great day…