2011 Year-End Review

When I look back at 2011, I know this is one year that I will never forget. I accomplished so much, I made commitments and kept them, I grew as a woman, I fell deeper in love, and the list could really go on. This was my year of Reiki, where I let go of fear and dove in, head first to a year long Reiki Master/Teacher Class program. There are not many times in my life where I can recall diving into something without a single doubt or 'what if' crossing my mind as I did when I signed up for my Reiki Master/Teacher Class. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to 'do' with this wonderful certification and knowledge other than enjoy it. I only knew and felt completely compelled to go for it. I set my intention in January of 2011 to become a Reiki Master, and I love myself for following through, staying not only dedicated, but enthusiastic about it! I am one of those people who loves exploring different things, and then I get bored with them, and move on to the next one...I think the word is dilettante. Fortunately with Reiki this did not happen, and quite honestly, Reiki has allowed me to recognize my previous inability to commit, as well as look at what & who I am will to commit to.

I was already a Reiki Practitioner in 2009, and I had decided to study under Marla Mervis, of Living Light Reiki, LLC in 2010 after completing Reiki-I. I quickly completed Reiki-II, and Advanced Practitioner (III) in this past year alone! I started this blog, and as challenging as it has been to stay committed to regular posting due to a full-time job, freelance projects and life in general, I still did it. 

This has been a year of growth in all my relationships on many levels. There is this element of myself that I rationalize as pre or present Reiki-self that I have now, because the change in me has been so great. I am still the same person, but the me before Reiki was very introverted, and in some ways I still am, because that is just my natural disposition, it's just how I process. However, I recognize this, and I can now work with this to better vocalize or express myself, my needs, and wants. My relationships with co-workers greatly improved because I had to come to understand better the concept of 'mirrors' and accepted that something in them triggered me, and that trigger also existed in myself. Understanding this concept alone was a huge accomplishment in itself for me. In some relationships, I noticed a tendency on my part to judge, wether this was verbal and in my own thoughts, I have been able to at the very least acknowledge this, and do my best to understand where this was manifesting from within me. Even with all of my personal development accomplishment for 2011, I still have challenges surrounding how to distinguish judgement, from opinion, from pre-conditioning and intuitive knowing; this is a goal in 2012.   

With all of these positive changes & accomplishments, I must thank those that supported me; through my own personal endurance, love, support from my family, friends & Reiki Mates, I could not have done this without you. Reiki has cleared a space for me energetically, it has created an allowance of goodness to come through. Reiki has allowed a deeper connection to Spirit, and evoked a deeper belief & love of myself. I carry into 2012 an abundance of self-love and Universal Compassion, I encourage you to do the same. 

I am beyond optimistic for all of Us as we begin this New Year, and sincerely wish you all many heartfelt blessings.

Chakra Focus 4 of 7: The Heart

Color: Green & Pink
Element: Air
Developmental Age: 18-25 years old
Spiritual Strength: Compassion, Forgiveness
Developmental Crisis: Intimacy versus Isolation
from Susan J. Wright's The Chakra's in Shamanic Practice


It took me quite some time to get here. This was a scary place for me, or so I thought.


Before I could take the leap of looking into this tender place, I had to return to the bold & fiery Solar plexus. It was not settling right, not at all, I even had some physical manifestions there that were not so pleasant. There is so much going on in that very large encompassing chakra, there was so much denial on my part about what I needed to face. The Solar Plexus made me look at my "mirrors" or "triggers" in my life; those people who seemingly 'drove me nuts' for no apparent reason. I had to do some deep soul searching which is not always the most fun thing to do. After looking at all these people who triggered a deep rooted negative reaction in me, accepting that these people were a part of me (yikes!) I finally resolved to understanding the common thread of us all. Uncertainty of emotion, which causes confusion, miscommunication, and mis-trust. Being an empathetic person has been a life-long challenge up until recently. I did not know how to turn it off, or even able to tell if it was 'on', I absorbed other people's feelings to quickly and deeply, I simple did not honor my own.


This was something so far removed from my expectations of what my ego wanted to hear, but I heard it and received the message loud and clear. I have since in most ways been able to move on, I am finding self-forgiveness, which in turn makes forgiving others much easier. I have also been much more confident in my own feelings, I have been very vigilant in distinguishing my my own feelings from someone else's, and on a daily basis asking myself, "what do you need today?"

What Do You Need Today? This brings me to the Heart Chakra, which after sweeping clean the Solar Plexus is no longer scary to me, the Heart represents the 'greatest love of all', self love. Some of us are givers to a fault, and I never really viewed myself as such, I thought maybe I did not give enough, that I could do more, and 'should' help more, and be there for other's...well that is a 'nice' thought to have, however, I left someone very important out of the equation; myself.


Maybe it's a Western thing, or my own thing, but I had this idea in my head that love meant sacrifice, surrender, compromise, and making those 'outside' of you happy. Somewhere in my life I was made to believe that, and while I work on where that cute little lie came from, I will for now expel that from my belief system. We seem to think that love is complicated; in reality I think we tend to over complicate the journey.

Love is pretty simple.


Treat yourself like you would treat others, and as you would have them treat you. The Heart is Universal Divine Love, it is where the understanding of One Heart rests, and where true compassion exists.