I want to understand the ordinary as sacred. I want to see the beauty in the mess. Sure, I can take things at face value, but where is the whimsy and the inspiration in that?

Over the last year and a half, I have intentionally grown two things in my life - my Reiki practice and my knitting practice. It only makes sense that I put them together.

Reiki for Knitters on Youtube

Today, I’m leading a repetitive movement practice. I chose knitting as my instrument of practice, but it can be anything rhythmic really - chopping, folding, walking, even simply breathing.

I connect the pattern to the Ground - to the tangible thing we can trust. I cast the yarn as the Great - the mystery that we think we understand but are often surprised how it works up. And the project we work on is the self - the presence that is created from the meandering, trusting, and focusing.

I hope you enjoy.

Just for today.

I am free from anger.

I am free from fear.

I am thankful.

I am true to my way and my being.

I honor my great bright light. I see the great bright light in others. And I help others see the light within themselves.

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I lead a group of us through daily Reiki meditations. Sometimes we knit. Sometimes we breathe. Sometimes it is a hands-on-body Reiki practice. Live on zoom and recordings.

Reiki Householders

This is how I explain Reiki to my students.

Reiki is the energy that supports us as we move through the world. In the same way that we are physically supported by the ground and water and food, Reiki is the energetic equivalent. It is how we connect to the Sacred, whatever we understand that to be. We don’t have to have any religious beliefs at all to practice Reiki, but it doesn’t conflict with any religion either.

Reiki is a way for us to process our stuff without words or cognitive involvement. Don’t get me wrong – being a therapist pays my bills. Maybe because of decades in the mental health field, I recognize that talk therapy isn’t always enough or necessary. Sometimes what needs to be healed doesn’t have a name, or we can’t get close enough to it to give it a name. Sometimes the wisdom of our bodies and our energies is the key to processing and releasing.

Reiki is the energy, the light, that we all share. I understand and talk about Reiki as light. We carry our own light, something I learned to name as purusa when I was studying yoga. We carry a light inside of us, a light that was given to us and placed inside a lantern. The light we each hold came from the same source, the same original candle. As we walk through the world, the glass of the lantern gathers dirt and grime. When we focus our attention on our inner light, we are cleaning the glass of that lantern. We are able to see and be seen more clearly. And as we increase our vision and visibility, that spreads to others. And they do the same. And those they interact with do the same, and then those they interact with. We have the ability to influence significant change as a domino effect by attending to our light. So as we heal ourselves, we heal everyone around us. And those around them, and those around them. Reiki is one way we can attend to our light.

Reiki gives us the framework to help us move through the world with a sense of light and lightness. Through the study and practice of Reiki, we connect to our bodies as instruments of healing. We build our connection to our true selves through intentions, which guide us to both heal and prevent further harm. With these basic somatic practices (which I’ll show you) and the precepts (which I absolutely love talking about), we become more able to manage the everyday stresses and chaotic events from a place of presence and confidence.

That’s Reiki. This is the practice that I lead every day, sometimes twice a day. It is simple, but it is effective. That’s the best kind of practice, right?

If you want a little sneak peek, here is a recent practice.

Reiki Meditation Practice

You can join us in our daily practice. It may be more affordable than you think.

Reiki Householders

Coming next… Sunday Not-Church will be an offering of Reiki for Knitters. Not a knitter? Cool. This practice can also be experienced with any repetitive motion – folding laundry, taking a walk, chopping vegetables, even your breath.

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So here’s the thing…

I know that Substack wants me to tell you all of the things about me and why I’m here and why you’re here. And we’ll get there. But today? I just want to write.

I’m working on a Cozy Memories blanket. And I am obsessed. I have finally gotten to the point - 2 weeks in - where I’m not thinking about knitting in every stitch. I’m thinking about things. And it feels like things deserve to be written about.

This is a mitered square from my blanket. And this is what I’m thinking about while I knit it.

I met Miranda in a space very similar to this - a blog. And I loved her for many years for many reasons.

And now she’s not here. I don’t know how the world continues spinning without her in it.

A few weeks ago, my niece (The Niece who is almost fifteen!) was telling me about her plans for her first tattoo. It is a tribute to Miranda. A shooting star on her wrist because of the walk on the beach that they took when Miranda saw her first shooting star. The Niece was seven and she remembers this. Miranda just had a way of being a force in every life she entered.

Miranda hated possums. So we taunted her with them. Since she died, she has sent me possums. Memes. Stuffed animals. Christmas tree ornaments. T-shirts in my Instagram ads. Possums everywhere.

On my way home from Thanksgiving dinner, I asked her to send me something else. What if she sent me a blue flower instead? Can she send me beautiful flowers instead of a trash-eating animal?

I got home that evening and was puttering around the house. Our typical rotating screen saver on the tv was showing a giant pink daisy. I heard her voice tell me, “I’ll show you what I want” with a wink. And our screen saver was stuck on that pink daisy for over a month. Until I told Nathan about it the other day. I told him the story, and that the pink flower was her replacement for the possum.

And since I told him that the flower was from her? The rotating screensaver is back. I haven’t seen the pink daisy since.

Well played, Miranda. I see you. And I’m looking forward to the next time I see a pink daisy. (Or a possum, I guess.)

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My roots are in Appalachia. My feet are in the Bluegrass. My heart is in my home.

I am a therapist by profession. A Reiki practitioner and teacher by purpose. And a knitter by passion.

I document and reflect on my day to day so that I can see and be seen more clearly. To help me to remember my breath. To help me be constantly and casually curious.

This is Questions for Dessert.

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