Become a Wholistic Practitioner

Learn various methods of alternative health therapies. Use this knowledge to help yourself, your friends and your family.

Learn subjects such as Herbology, Aromatherapy, Nutrition & Chemistry, Reflexology, Bach Flower, Acupressure, Homeopathy, Qigong and more...

Visit the Reiki Center of Venice at:

www.ReikiCenter.50megs.com

Excerpts from the Usui Reiki, Level One Book

Introduction to Reiki

(Insert from the book, "Usui Reiki-Level One Manual" by Francine Milford)

             Today, there is a need for healing that goes beyond just the physical body. The need runs deep into the mental and emotional soul of the human spirit. People are searching for answers for illnesses. They are looking for a way to become whole again.

            There are many paths to wholeness, many systems to healing. Some people choose to go to conventional doctors and listen to conventional wisdom. Other people choose to go to Alternative practitioners and begin a journey of self discovery and understanding. I, myself, began this journey many years ago through my own physical problems.

            I was around 39 years old when I started to get severe and debilitating migraines. I would literally go blind during an attack. This was especially frightening to me since I was the mother of a 4 year old and part of car pool. How could I be responsible for all those little lives with me behind the wheel? How would I handle an attack while I was transporting these little children? There were no answers and then things began to get worse. Then came the panic attacks.

            For those who don't know what a panic attack is, or who think it is trivial, take it from me, it is not. Since I was unfamiliar with what it was, it feels like a heart attack. In fact, it was horrible to me that I actually had my first out of body experience during an attack. Back then, I was unfamiliar with alternative anything, so I went to the doctors for help. I was given a prescription and went home and tried 1 pill. Let me tell you the experience of that 1 pill. That 1 pill took over my body so completely that I had to lie on the couch because I couldn't stand. Once on the couch, I couldn't lift my head up from the couch. I was extremely frightened but the drug made be not care. It was weird, laying there knowing that if the house caught on fire, I could not get up and save myself or my child who was playing on the floor next me, and I wouldn't care. This was also the same day I saw my first aura. Well, at least that was pretty cool.

            It was a good thing that my husband was home that day and we just had to wait out the effects of the drug which took about 6 hours to wear off so that I could stand again. I reported this to the doctor and do you know what I was told? Oh, just take 1/2 the dose next time. Next time? Oh, I had decided there wasn't going to me a next time. I wanted to return to my old health and I had to find a different way to get that accomplished.

            This is where and when I began looking into alternative healing. The first book I ever read to begin my journey was the Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield. This book alone opened doors and avenues that I never felt possible. I learned what an aura was. I had seen auras since I was a child and went to the eye doctor because I thought something was wrong with my eyes. He couldn't find anything wrong with my eyes and didn't know how to explain what I saw. Now I do.

I then joined a discussion group that had formed due to the book and it was totally wonderful. It was here that I met people who introduced me to words such as "Chakras".

            We ended up moving within months and I had to leave my curiosity behind. However, once we were settled in our move: Venice, Florida, other doors began to open. I joined a group who was discussing Louise Hays book, "You Can Heal your Life". Well, that was it. I questioned that poor instructor over and over again. There was so much I wanted to learn and know, I was a sponge and I was only beginning. We become great friends-thank you Shelby!

            It was at this time that I began taking courses in Herbology and Aromatherapy and Bach Flower, and more. I was also an Fitness Specialist and started to learn QiGong. QiGong is a very, very powerful form of martial arts and should not be used and practiced by just anyone. It became so powerful for me that I could harm with a look. When that happened, I decided to pray. I know I loved to work with energy systems so I prayed for a system that would be safe to use on children. I wanted a system that worked on unconditional love and acceptance. A giving and loving system, not one based on fear. The next day there was an ad for a Reiki Level One training class about an hour or so drive from my home. In the ad it stated, "a safe and loving energy". That was it, my prayers had been answered and I called and signed up. The rest is history.

            I finished my Reiki Level One training in a two day workshop and went back a month later for the my Reiki Level II training. Some time passed before I found a Reiki Master and finished my training. After several years of teaching Reiki using the information that was handed down by my master, I began to take additional Reiki training from other Reiki Masters. I explored new methods and techniques, compared symbols and their uses, and even tried new attunement processes. I have incorporated the best of ALL of my teachings into my own personal manuals.

            Reiki has literally changed my life. I am not the same person who stumbled into the first class not even knowing what a "chakra" was. I felt foolish and dumb then, but somehow I knew that I was meant to be here and that I was meant to learn Reiki - the Universe was right.

            This book is my way of thanking all my students who have blessed me with their presence in my Reiki classes both in person and through the Internet. I offer you my sincerest and deepest gratitude for allowing me the opportunity and privilege of sharing Reiki attunements with you.

            You have all confirm the truth that we are all one in the Universal consciousness. That we share all that was past, is present, and will be in the future. We are all connected. We are all one.

When you use your gift of Reiki, you honor me and all those who have gone before me. And most importantly, when we use our gift of Reiki, we honor ourselves and everything on this planet. So use your gift, often.

"May Light and Love Surround You Always"

Francine Milford

 What is Reiki? 

            Reiki, (pronounced ray-key), in the Japanese Character system, is a combination of two separate words. Rei meaning universal, spirit, a boundless essence and Ki, meaning life force energy. Together their meaning is roughly Universal Life Energy, Universal Life Force Energy.

            Life force energy is resides in everything you see around you, yourself included. All animals, plants, humans,  have a life force energy. The ancient discipline of QiGong is the practice of gathering up this energy and directing it into parts of the body. When a person dies, this life force energy departs the body.

            As an exercise to feel this energy, rub your hands briskly together for one minute. Now, pull your hands apart about 1-3" from each other. Bring the hands in together and pull apart a few inches. Do this for a few minutes to feel the energy. That is your life force energy.

            You can also place your hands, palms facing you above your head. Have the fingers of both hands facing each other and keep them about 1/2 to 1 inch apart. It is also helpful if the ceiling behind your hands is white.

            Now, allow your eyes to go out of focus and just lazily stare at the tips of your middle fingers and then allow your eyes to view the space between your two middle fingers. In time, you will be able to see a haze appear around your fingers. This haze will be translucent or opal in appearance. This is your life force energy. With practice, you will also see a second layer form. This layer is have a jagged edge and be blue in color. This is a layer of your aura.

            When working with Reiki energies we can significantly alter and modify the layers of energy that surround each and every one of us. Reiki works on ALL levels for healing, both inside our bodies dealing with physical, emotional and mental healing, as well as, outside of our bodies dealing with the many layers of our aura (our first defense against disease and illness).

            To help you experience the energy from another person, I want you to do the Following:

Rub your hands briskly together again. Take your hands and place them, palms facing your partner's palms. Your left palm will be facing your partner's left palm about 2-4" apart and your right palm will be facing your partner's right palm about 2-4" apart. Come in slowly together until you feel a barrier". This is where your life force meets the other persons life force energy. Now return your hands to the front of your body in a prayer formation.

            Play with this energy by pulling your hands apart and bringing them together. You can play with expanding the energy in front you-make it larger each time you come together and pull apart. You can also compress this energy into an egg shape of concentrated energy and place this egg of energy into a particular body area, or organ. It is very helpful in your Reiki practice, to become familiar and learn to work with energy. It is NOT necessary to become an energy expert in order to practice Reiki, it is just one more tool you can place in your little black bag of healing systems.

            Reiki, in practice, is a safe, natural, holistic way of treating yourselves and others from many acute and chronic conditions. It helps to brings about physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional well being. Conditions that Reiki may improve including stress, menstrual problems, pain, insomnia, anxiety, tension, headaches, asthma, anxiety attacks, intestinal gas, etc.

            Reiki is not a substitute for traditional medicine. No Reiki practitioner should ever tell a client that they can cure" an illness or advise their client to stop taking any prescribed medicines or to stop seeing their doctor. This is very bad business, and the Reiki practitioner must stay out of the choices their clients are making. It is both unethical and illegal to make suggestions such as these to any client.

The History of Reiki

            As the story goes.......Dr. Mikao Usui, a 19 Century Christian Monk was teaching his class one day when a student asked the question,  Show us the methods that Jesus used to heal the blind and walk on water. Usui answered that he did not know how to do these things but had faith that Jesus did indeed do these things. His students replied, We do not want to live on faith, but we want to see with our own eyes. This prompted the good doctor to find the answers that he himself had been asking. Usui believed there was a system of healing out there in the world and He began his journey to find that system.

            Usui's journey led him to America where he attended the University of Chicago and became a Doctor of Theology. He still had not found the answers that he was seeking in Christian writings regarding hands-on healing so he traveled to North India. He studied the Holy Writings while he stayed there. Still no answers. He then returned to Japan where he started to translate Sanskrit Buddhist Sutras where he found formulas and symbols. Having found the symbols, he needed a way to activate them.

            He decided to do a 21 day fast at the Holy Mountain of Kuriyama. He set out 21 stones in front of him. Each day he would cast out one stone. On the 21st and last day of his fast and meditation, he saw a shining light coming towards him at great speed. It struck him in the Ajna center (middle of the forehead) and knocked him unconscious. He saw millions of little colored bubbles that contained symbols in them. Along with the lights, came the knowledge of how to activate them. He had found what he was searching for.

            In ancient tradition, proof of receiving information from meditation was expected to occur in the occurrence of three miracles. According to the Reiki story, the following are the three miracles that occurred following Usui's meditation.

            (1) When Usui returned to natural waking state of consciousness, he was elated and began to run down the mountain. Being in a weakened state from fasting, he stumbled, fell, and his toe was bleeding. He instantly grabbed his toe in both of his hands and both the bleeding and the pain stopped. This was the first miracle.

            (2) He was hungry and stopped at a wayside inn where the innkeeper told Usui   not to eat such a large meal after a fast, but Usui ate and was not sick. This was the second miracle.

            (3) The innkeepers daughter was in great pain from a bad toothache for many days. Usui laid his hands upon her swollen face and she immediately felt better. This was the Third miracle.

            Upon Usui's return to his monastery he decided to go into the slums of Kyoto to treat the beggars and help them to live a better life. He worked for seven years in an asylum treating many illnesses. One day he noticed some of the same people returning for treatments. When he asked them why they had not begun to live their new lives, he was told that working for a living was too hard, they preferred to beg. Usui was deeply saddened by this and wept. He realized that he had forgotten the most important  ingredient in his healing work, "gratitude".   

Ethical Principles of Reiki: 

     The Secret Method of Inviting Blessings 

     The Spiritual Medicine of Many Illnesses

     For Today only, Do not Anger, Do Not Worry 

     Do Your Work with Appreciation

     Be Kind to all People

     Show Gratitude to Every Living Thing

     Say this in the morning and at night, with hands held in prayer,  

think this in your mind, chant this with your mouth. 

by Dr. Mikao Usui

             Soon afterward, Dr. Mikao Usui left the asylum and returned to Kyoto. He is said to have taken a large torch and lit it. He stood with his torch in the streets of Kyoto. When someone would ask him why he was standing there with his torch, he was said to have replied, I am looking for people in search of the True Light - people who are ill and oppressed and long to be healed.  This was the beginning of his healing journey as he traveled around Japan healing and teaching Reiki to others.

            It is said that Usui initiated 13 men into Reiki Masterhood before his death. Usui is buried in a Kyoto temple with the story of his life written on his gravestone. It is said that his grave was honored by the Emperor of Japan, whom Usui had helped with an illness. One of his students was a Chijiro Hayashi who opened a Reiki healing Clinic in Japan. One of Hayashi's patients was a Hawayo Takata from Hawaii. She was healed of her severe illness in his clinic and wanted to learn the Reiki system of healing. After she learned the system she returned to Hawaii where she instructed 22 others in the Reiki system of healing. We, in the West, owe our Reiki heritage to Takata.

            There are many other systems of Reiki in the world today, as there are lineage's. Do not be caught up in either. Reiki is a loving and healing energy with very few rules and regulations. The greatest magnifier of the Reiki energy is LOVE. Pure and simple. Usui did not leave a lineage. He did not leave a manual of Dos and Donts. He passed on to his students what worked best for him and allowed them to adapt his teachings to their own. Reiki works well with other modalities. So feel free to add Reiki to anything other healing modality that you use.

            Reiki energy is transmitted through the hands (and other areas) of an attuned practitioner. This Reiki practitioner is a mere conduit to the passing through of this energy from source. I look at Source as the Creator of everything. That source to be is God. It may be a different name to you, it does not matter. What matters is that you are aware that no energy comes from YOU. In other modalities, the practitioner comes away from giving a treatment drained and/or exhausted. This will never happen with a Reiki treatment. As long as you keep your ego and other healing energies out of the treatment session, the practitioner will feel none of their own personal energy drained from them. It is one of the many things that attracted me to the practice of Reiki. Other modalities like QiGong, use your own accumulation of Qi energy. You must even decide where to amass this energy and when and where to send it. With Reiki, you need to do none of that. Reiki will continue to flow for as long as it is needed and will shut off when the treatment if finished. It takes the guess work out of when, how much, where, until when, etc. Reiki decides where it will go and what it will do and for how long. You are simply supplying the line for which Reiki can make communication to the body. It is truly wonderful!  

204 page paperback

Includes FREE long distant Reiki attunement

Instructional manual for Reiki Masters to use in their classes

Workbook for students

Cost: $ 17.99 + $ 3.99 postage and handling for shipment inside the United States.

For orders outside of the United States add an additional $ 10.

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