SIMPLE HEALING TOOLS

 
INTRODUCTION
 

Embracing change can be a difficult and challenging endeavor. We all know, however, that change is inevitable — nothing is static. Just as the cells in our bodies are in a continual state of change, with every new thought, our minds change and expand. With every new birth and every death, our world changes. The universe itself is in a continual state of growth and expansion. Because we all are part of this ever changing universe, it serves us to pay attention and to heed the call when it becomes apparent that we need to make a change in our lives.

There will be early signs that begin to nudge us, gently at first, to let us know it is time to make a change. It may begin simply as an uncomfortable or restless feeling. In those early stages, if we take the time to examine the feeling, we can often make the needed shift without too much disruption in our lives. However, if we ignore the initial nudging, the signs become more apparent until we have no choice but to pay attention.

Even though it may appear the signs are coming from outside of us, the truth is they are coming from deep within us to let us know it is time to grow beyond our perceived limitations. The longer we choose to ignore these inner promptings, the more uncomfortable our lives become until we finally pay attention and make the necessary change. I think of our response to these promptings as a transformational healing journey. My hope is you will find the stories within these pages, and the tools I share, to be of service to you on your own journey of personal transformation and healing.

I believe we are all spiritual beings and one of our primary goals as humans is to remember and awaken to our spiritual essence. This often entails undergoing a profound spiritual experience—some call it an awakening. In the pages of this book, I take you on my own transformational healing journey. It began in 1985 when I responded to a not so gentle inner nudge prompting me to make a major change in my life. I divorced my husband of twenty years and moved with my three children from our comfortable home in Wisconsin to the unfamiliar landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area.

This set the stage in the summer of 1991 for my transformational awakening. My oldest daughter, Kris, was living on her own in California and my fourteen-year-old son, Greg, had been living with his father in Indiana for two years. My twelve-year-old daughter, Liz, who was living at home with me, became the victim of a gang of girls who were threatening her on her way home from school every day. The school authorities told me they could do nothing since it didn’t take place on school property. The police told me they could do nothing unless she was actually attacked. Thus, Liz was living in a continual state of fear. In speaking with my ex-husband about the situation, he suggested it might be best if Liz came to live with him in Indiana. This idea ripped open my heart — this was my baby! How could I send her that far away? I told him this was not a decision I could make — it was a decision that only Liz could make.

Liz really didn’t know her father as we had separated when she was three years old. However, after talking it over with her, she decided that she wanted to give it a try. So, in the summer of 1991, I flew with Liz to my parents’ home in Wisconsin. Her father drove from Indiana to pick her up and take her back with him.

Words cannot fully describe the emotional upheaval I was feeling. However, as I look back I realize the Universe was working in wondrous ways. While in Wisconsin I visited with a dear friend who gifted me with a book, saying it had changed her life. I read it on the plane trip back to California.

The book, The World Beyond by Ruth Montgomery, was the first metaphysical book I had ever read. I found it awakened in me a memory of when I was three years old, telling my mother, “When I get born again, I want to have you and daddy as parents again.”

I remember my mom asking, “What do you mean when you get born again?”

“You know,” I responded, “when I get born again.”

Mom looked at me and said, “Honey, people don’t get born again. We all get born, we live our lives, and then we die and go to heaven.”

I remember thinking, “How come she doesn’t know that’s not the way it works?” But, being only three, I wasn’t equipped to have a philosophical conversation about reincarnation. So, it was never mentioned again and my Catholic upbringing definitely buried any idea of reincarnation. The thought laid dormant in my subconscious to be awakened 45 years later by Ruth Montgomery!!

I was so inspired by the ideas in the book that I bought all 10 books written by Ruth Montgomery. I also bought 10 copies of A World Beyond and sent them to friends and relatives in Wisconsin, hoping they would be as inspired by the book as I was. Upon receiving my gift, however, many of them actually became concerned for me, thinking that I might have joined a cult now that I was living alone in California without my kids!

I mark the reading of that book, however, as the beginning of my conscious spiritual awakening. In October of 1991, I was introduced to Reiki, a Japanese energy technique that promotes healing. The ability to use Reiki is transferred to the student during an attunement (or initiation process) given by a Reiki master. In October and December that year I received my first and second attunements. Within a year I had received all the attunements and became a Reiki Master-Teacher. I found that each attunement opened me more and more to my spiritual nature.

The simple, transformational and powerful tools I share with you in this book are those that I have discovered and used since that initial spiritual awakening. Over the years I have shared them with friends and clients, witnessing their healing power, and have come to believe that one of my purposes in this lifetime is to develop and share these simple healing tools with a wider audience. This book is a way for me to do that.

My belief is that planetary healing begins with each one of us taking the steps necessary to heal and empower ourselves. My hope is you will find within these pages, stories and processes helpful to you as you travel your own healing path to personal empowerment and inner peace.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

The book is divided into three parts:

Part 1 contains personal stories. These stories are in no particular order and often they overlap with one another. Feel free to skip around this section, reading the stories that call to you. The specific healing tools used in the stories are listed at the end of each story along with its chapter and page number to make it easy to reference them in Part 2.

Part 2 contains a detailed description of each healing tool mentioned in the stories as well as suggestions on how to use the tool. I created Simple Healing Tools in this way so the reader could easily reference the tools without the need to go back through the stories to find a particular tool. All the tools can be found in Part 2.

Part 3 is a short list of resources I have found helpful along my path. Included are products, books and websites. A more extensive list of resources can be found on the SimpleHealingTools.com website where the list is continually expanded and updated.

Read About the Book | Testimonials | Introduction | Table of Contents | Sample Chapters