St. Andrew’s Children’s Clinic

Here is a very informative look at a wonderful children’s clinic that I volunteer at once a month serving families who cross over from Mexico for medical services. It is an amazing tribute to the determination of one mother who started a little clinic in her home over 30 years ago for her disabled son and now serves hundreds each month with the assistance of the Shriners and Tucson’s University Medical Center doctors and interns. The original mother, Coca Romero, is still the patient coordinator and has been honored by the Mexican government.

Emilie Vardaman

Yesterday I took the two-hour trip to Nogales AZ to visit and help at the St. Andrew’s (Episcopal Church) Children’s Clinic. I rode along with my friend and mentor Cheyenne MacMasters who has been offering her Reiki skills at the clinic, held the first Thursday of the month, for about ten years.
We made it through Sierra Vista and Huachuca City, then into the soft beauty of the wine country area of Santa Cruz County. Through Sonoita and Patagonia, then into Nogales, arriving just in time.
We set up the Reiki table under a little portable gazebo in the peace garden. A perfect place to do our healing energy work.

Then we had a quick sampling of cake and coffee offered to the volunteers and returned to begin Reiki on the children and a few of the mothers, too.
This clinic offers free medical services to severely disabled children of…

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Whose Sorrow is This?

Miles and miles flowed through me as I drove for two hours to the children’s clinic alone with my thoughts. Those who might have come with me were busy elsewhere.  Although I am comfortable with the solitude of a long drive, for the first time I felt like turning back. Ten years of driving in this magnificent desert landscape cradled within several mountain ranges, and I wasn’t sure I could reach my destination. Even when I arrived in the border town of Nogales with only another five miles or so to go, I felt like turning back. Yet it also felt like I was at a fulcrum point in my life, balancing on the edge of progress or dissolution. Progress of course, you can advise the other, but the pull of disintegration is very strong when it is you that is within its grip. What could I offer if I did arrive? Would I be in the flow of healing energy? How could I turn back when there were those who had traveled further than I in expectation of my being there for them? And, so I did continue, shedding the pull of depression and greeting the volunteers who guided me into a place to park.

A white gazebo was set up for my Reiki therapy department in the prayer garden of the church where we hold the monthly clinic for children who cross the border from Mexico to receive medical attention. As I stepped out of my car, releasing the doubts of the journey, I could see my first client waiting in her wheelchair with her father and sister by her side. While I was pulling my massage table from the trunk of the car, one of the parking attendants hurried up to me and offered to help carry it to the gazebo, a distance of about a city block. The first of several first events that followed. I’ll describe for you one of the most significant.

For the past decade, I have been working with girls who suffer from Rett’s Syndrome. Considered by some medical specialists to be an autism disorder, symptoms can also include degenerative osteo problems such as scoliosis, grinding of teeth, and inability to walk or talk. A characteristic of this genetic disability, is a tendency to clasp the hands in repetitive motions. I used to think that it was the goal of therapy to calm the hand motions, especially since one of my clients hits the sides of her face repeatedly, the skin of her hands pulled into little mountains of callouses as she bangs her face back and forth, back and forth with her clenched fists. Then one of the mothers told me that this “hand jiving” is a form of communication, and so we no longer tried to stop her, although we would occasionally place our hands in front of her face when the hitting became intense. Yesterday, for the first time in our ten years of Reiki therapy, this now young woman clasped her hands together and then pressed my hand against her heart as she lay with her hands on her chest never moving them to her face. We stayed that way for quite some time while I told her in Spanish that she was the reason I was there and that she was safe with me. Her eyes were full of sadness, and perhaps she had picked up on the sadness that had trailed me down the road. And then again, perhaps it was her emotional state that was influencing me as I drove to meet her, becoming stronger as I drew near, for it does seem as if she too is experiencing a fulcrum point in her life. To be or not to be, that is the question my client has been considering as she looks at me with wide-eyed sorrow.

Sometimes it takes those of us who are empathic a while to realize that the emotion which felt so strong that it almost makes us turn our car around and go back to the day’s starting point, isn’t our emotion. My clinic day was filled with the vibrancy of working with several children, having the welcome surprise of a guest Reiki therapist who was visiting for the first time, and teaching a mother the significance of giving therapeutic energy to different areas of the body so that she could help her child at home. Many firsts in the above interactions. But, it wasn’t until today, when I wrote about the first of having my hand held to a young woman’s heart while looked at sorrowfully that I realized my drive on the edge of despair belonged to my client, not me. The swell of an emotion’s wave reaches far inland to a receptive heart.

Energy Healing Clinic Notes: Part 3

Sometimes we are so concerned with helping people, that we don’t let their roots find ground to stand on. We discovered that in an image Kate Bishop saw while looking clairvoyantly at a recent healing session. Our team of energy workers was composed of Kate, who is a clairvoyant, Lisa Stone, a Sound Therapist and Healing Touch practitioner as well as being an RN, and myself, Cheyenne MacMasters, a Reiki therapist. We had traveled two hours to a medical clinic where we were privileged to share our complementary and alternative medicine abilities with clients and volunteers. You can read some of our clinic notes in the previous two posts.

Our client was an older woman who had been volunteering for years in one of the medical departments. Her friend, the tennis player from the previous post, encouraged her to come and see us about her vertigo. She is a very proactive person who was already experimenting with controlling the vertigo by doing reflexology on her feet simply by following the pictures in a book she bought. But, she was concerned about lower back pain and chronically cold feet.

We had her lie down on our therapy table and Lisa held the OM tuning forks to her ears while I began the flow of Reiki to her chest area. She became quite relaxed listening to the sounds and she opened easily to the flow of energy. When Lisa put down the tuning forks and shifted to our client’s feet to give Healing Touch, I moved to her shoulders and back of neck. At the end of the session, when we coaxed her to sit up, Lisa worked along her spine while I helped decongest the flow of energy from her knees to her feet, especially at her ankles.

Lisa and I work very well together, establishing a strong flow of energy that is a benefit of working with a team. Even if you are apparently the only therapist during a session, you are always teamed with Spirit. I have had clients jump when they hear my voice because although I might be standing near their feet, they felt my hands on their shoulders, or the crown of their head. Spirit is an active participant in all healing sessions.

Now let’s read what Kate saw: On the etheric plane she is carrying a heavy load.  Holding up a tree by placing herself under the roots.  Huge tree.  I coax her out from under the tree so the roots can settle into the earth and she can be free of the weight.  She lies down in the shade of the tree to rest.

At the end of our session, Kate told the woman that she was carrying a burden that no longer needed her attention. It was okay to lay it down. “It is probably a maternal instinct, but your children are grown now.” Our client laughed and said she was very involved in her children’s lives and allowing them all to come visit over the holidays with their dogs that slept on the beds, much to the distress of her husband. Kate gave her the exercise of saying “No”. The woman laughed and said “No?” Kate: ‘I didn’t hear that…” “No?” Me, “Third time for good luck.” And the woman declared, “NO!”

Energy Healing Clinic Notes: Part 2

A team of energy healers: myself, Cheyenne MacMasters, a Reiki therapist, Lisa Stone, a Sound Therapy and Healing Touch practitioner as well as being an RN, and Kate Bishop, a clairvoyant, had the privilege of being able to offer healing therapy at a medical clinic recently. In my last post, I presented our clinic notes for a couple of clients; a young boy who has a hydrocephalic condition, and a young woman who has Rett’s Syndrome. The next two clients were not in obvious need of therapy, but teach us that everyone is in need of a little healing grace in their lives.

We get a lot of word of mouth referrals from the mothers who travel overnight by bus to reach the clinic. One of those mothers brought her 12-year-old daughter to us, a graceful pre-teen who comes to clinic for vision therapy. Most of our children clients are in wheelchairs and non-verbal, so it is a pleasant surprise to be able to converse with an ambulatory and shyly talkative child.

I’ve chosen the image of a heart for this post because that is the area I was drawn to provide the flow of Reiki energy. Her heart was slow to open at first, and then decongested easily. Lisa gave her sound therapy by holding her OM tuning forks close to her ears. Kate sat at the side and watched the session through closed eyes. When Lisa put down her tuning forks and shifted to applying Healing Touch at the girl’s feet, I moved to her third eye and crown area. My regret was that I didn’t have her take off her glasses before the session started and I had difficulty maneuvering around the frames to decongest her optical nerves and muscles.

Lisa:  Huge right/left split, could be adolescent stuff. Came together. Really liked the OMs.

Kate:  A lot of teenage girl stuff, self-effacement. Ballooning out between Cheyenne’s Reiki points in mid-section of chakra channel. Third and fourth chakras swollen.  Scolding spirit trying to keep her down.  Body image issues. I ask the scolding spirit why she doesn’t just be nice to her.  She explains that discipline is expression of love.  Maybe mom’s attitude?  I invoke Mother Mary to stand before her as a mirror, reflecting beauty and light.  Chakra channel smooths out by the time the tuning forks come in.  Forks support and sustain smooth energy.  Very peaceful energy .  Lisa holding hand also sustained the energy. Treated the mom briefly, surrounded her with Mother Mary. This is one of those sessions that really shifted her energy and  can have a lasting effect on the child.

The cartoon image above is similar to an image that Kate saw during our session with an adult client, a volunteer at the clinic. Kate often sees cartoon like images that describe the client. It was fun to watch her strike a pose very similar to the one above as she demonstrated for our client what she looked like on the etheric plane. Our client is a tennis player who is experiencing knee pain. While Lisa sounded the tuning forks for her, I moved my fingertips minutely around her left knee, decongesting each energetic layer that came up for attention. Our client experienced this as heat, which is a characteristic of Reiki energy, but it also speaks to increased circulation.

When a person is injured, their body clenches. Energy therapy such as Reiki and Healing Touch are able to unclench the body’s defenses so that healing energy can penetrate. Energy workers have indicators that let them sense their client’s condition. Some therapists see colors, other feel heat, some hear sounds, some like Kate see images. My method is very simple: I feel the client’s congestion in my body like a pressure that builds up when one ascends a mountain. My ears pop when the pressure releases and I know that particular area of the body has decongested. Then the next layer may come up for clearing, and the next, each deeper layer taking more time to ascend up to that release of ear popping.  I then move on to a different area of the body and start all over. Simple, yet effective.

Kate:  Higher self doing dance calisthenics.  Mostly on one side.  Encouraged her to use other side.  Physical exercises off the court to use both sides of the body. Moving right leg with left arm and vice versa.

Thank you again, dear readers, for visiting Conversations with Healers. I hope to give you a sense of what goes on in a session provided by our team of complementary and alternative medicine therapists. Finding a friend to assist with a session can deepen the experience for both client and therapists. We are all benefiting.

Energy Workers: A Look at Therapy Sessions

Yesterday, my healing team of three energy therapists worked with several children and adults at a medical clinic in Arizona. Our team was composed of myself, Cheyenne MacMasters, a Reiki therapist, Lisa Stone, a Sound Therapy and Healing Touch therapist who is also an RN, and Kate Bishop a clairvoyant. Many of our child clients are non-verbal, so it is very informative to have Kate on the team to give us an insight into their concerns and perspectives. And, I thought it would be of interest to my readers to get a perspective on our work by sharing our clinic notes for a couple of the sessions. No names of our clients will be given to protect their privacy.

Our first client was a young boy who had travelled in a wheelchair overnight on a bus with his mother to reach our clinic.  He suffers from a hydrocephalic condition and has a shunt in his brain that allows his mother to drain the excess fluid each day. His condition has left him blinded, non-verbal, and non-ambulatory. But, he is quick to smile and makes contact with his hands. Lisa had brought her OM tuning forks and sounded them for the child while I placed my hands on his solar plexus and heart to begin the flow of Reiki energy. Kate sat to the side with her eyes closed in order to tune in on our session. As the sound reached the boy’s ears and the energy flowed through his body, he opened his eyes alertly. He was so pleased by the sound and feel of the energy that he put his finger to his lips and held out a kiss. Sound is a powerful stimulant and the child did not need very much. Lisa lay down the tuning forks and applied Healing Touch to his head and then feet while I continued the flow of energy to his heart area. By the end of the session, his heart chakra had opened, and Lisa could feel the energy flowing at his root chakra, grounded and flowing up his legs.

Kate’s notes: He is attended by two mostly benevolent spirits who are his higher being and have a female appearance.
They are frequently in disagreement.  We bring them together during the treatment.  They dance, and then merge.  At the point of merging, I opened my eyes and saw him blowing a kiss.  At the end of the treatment they were lying peacefully on either side of him.

Another child we worked with is actually a young adult who developed Rett’s Syndrome when she was about two year’s old and to the distress of her family regressed from a healthy chubby girl to a thin child compromised by osteo problems and inability to walk or talk. Rett’s Syndrome has been categorized as an autistic disorder and is characterized by teeth grinding and hand “jiving” and complicated by osteo problems such as scoliosis. Many parents disagree with the autistic disorder diagnosis. Our team has worked with several girls who have the syndrome and they have an exceptional beauty that is easy to identify.

Our child/adult client had a cold this day and coughed intermittantly during the session. Her constant hand jiving was slower than usual and she frequently lay her hands upon my arms and let me place my hand on top of hers during our time together. I used to think that our goal was to calm the hand jiving in which she clasps her hands together and hits either side of her face, back and forth, back and forth. But the mother of the first child in Arizona who was diagnosed with Rett’s Syndrome, finally at the age of 10, explained that this was a communication gesture. She also pointed out that our client has very good upper arm muscle tone because of her jiving. Over the years, this particular client has come into her body to the point that she can maintain eye contact, and slow the jiving when she relaxes. Reclining her arms on mine inbetween jiving is a new development.

In our notes after our session in which she received sound therapy as well as Healing Touch and Reiki, Lisa and Kate both recognized that our young adult was stuck in her second chakra, and I was very aware that she was finding it hard to continue interest in living. Being sick with a cold didn’t help.

Kate’s notes: Her spirit says don’t worry.  Treatment filled chest cavity with warm golden light, relieving some congestion.  I could not get beyond the physical difficulty of breathing.  Spirit busy on ethereal plane, negligent attitude toward body. Tuning forks make connection with etheric plane by lifting her consciousness to that plane rather than by bringing spirit into the body.  She appears to  have a much weaker attachment to the physical  plane than she did last time I saw her.

In my next posting of Conversations with Healers, I’ll share a couple more sessions so that you continue to get a sense of the perspectives shared by a team of energy workers. Even more importantly I hope to convey the need that everyone has for a bit of healing grace in their lives.

Psychic Sunburn?

Years ago I read a book on becoming psychic, which warned against going too fast and risking the equivalent of a psychic sunburn. That concept stuck with me and seems as relevant today as it was when I was a 20 something. How many workshops do that very thing to their unsuspecting participants? The Reiki workshops that promise to teach you levels one through Master all in a weekend. Psychotherapy workshops that raise the kundalini of participants who didn’t even know they had one, all they know is that they are out of their minds and their shreaking is threatening to topple other precarious mental states in the room. There are no shortcuts to enlightenment, but there is the possibility of road rash and road rage if you unwittingly speed past the steps that provide wisdom. In this post we are going to continue our conversation with Therese Beavers about the developmental stages of becoming a Reiki therapist.

Cheyenne MacMasters: So many students of Reiki are now being taught levels 1&2 at the same time. Probably because that is how their teacher was taught. Do you have an opinion about that teaching method?

Therese Beavers: We were given our Reiki attunements at separate times. There was no combining. Our teacher was strict about it. She was very serious about Reiki. It is not just some fun “New Age” thing to get. We received our Reiki  Level 1 attunement and had to work at that level for several months. Then, we received the Reiki 2 attunement. Only 3 of us in the class received the Level 3 attunement.

CM: I have to admit that I have little respect for the all in one Reiki workshops. Some go from beginning to masters in a weekend. 1) I don’t think the body can incorporate that much energy shifting without getting a psychic sunburn. 2) Therefore the student is probably still at level one.  And, 3) the teacher must not trust the power of level one if they are in such a hurry to impose the next steps.

TB: I totally agree with you on the all-in-one weekend deal. I frequently see Reiki classes offered at Jr. Colleges. It’s like boom-boom-boom you’re it!!! I feel you have to learn, to use, to practice, and to feel the energy at each given level before you can go on to the next level. Like my teacher said, “the sh*t will hit the fan!” Indeed, it does. There’s a lot of soul work involved in being an energy worker.

CM: The soul work, as you say, seems to be a need to clear out as much dross as possible in order to appreciate the incoming light. I was put on a fast track to becoming a master, slightly less than a year after my first attunement. That’s when my empathy went on overdrive. It is not likely that I will ever allow that same pace to one of my students. Even when they are doing lots of sessions and volunteering in clinics, it’s at least a year between attunements.

TB: Can you explain empathetic tendencies? I know a lot of light workers are very empathetic and it can cause problems in their human lives. I met a psychic once who told me that one of her requirements for a reading was that the person who was getting the reading be feeling fine. Otherwise, she would pick up their symptoms. My friend went to her and had a headache. The reader got a headache too.

CM: Definitely a problem. Can feel like possession because it feels like you are becoming the other person, which is taking that “all is one” idea to an uncomfortable level! My Reiki teacher wouldn’t attune me to the Master level until I got a grip on controlling the empathy.

TB:  I know what you mean about the empathy. My Reiki Master had 5-6 students in her Reiki 1 class. (I use the word “class” but it was more than a learning experience. It was not held in a college classroom like so many nowadays. She invited only a select few into her home.) However, she stressed that the sh*t would hit the fan when you became a Master. She said it was not for those who merely wanted the title nor the faint of heart. Only those who possessed a sincere desire for healing were allowed Reiki 2 and then Master degree. Out of the 6, she would only perform the Master attunement on 3 of us.

CM: My Reiki lineage is through a mixed blood tribal perspective and our attunement process is different, and therefore the angst of being an energy worker is slightly different also. Instead of being given symbols for the second attunement, because my teacher thought they boxed us in instead of focusing on healing, we were attuned to sensitivity to the emotional bodies of our clients and ourselves. Level 2 is the difficult, empathic, behaving emotionally badly time for our lineage. It was at a gathering of tribes that my teacher received the admonition “know your place between Earth and Sky” and that became the foundation of our Earth Sky Energy Medicine lineage.

painting by Therese Beavers

TB: Spirit works with me. Spirit works with all of us, if only we stop and listen. Although I am what people call a “Reiki Master”, I do not teach others. I don’t know why. I have had one pupil, Kathy, then, she sort of blossomed on her own path. I do not even call my healing “Reiki”. I just call it energy work. I am merely a vessel of the Creator’s healing energy. PLUS, I BELIEVE IN PRAYER. I do a lot of praying. I love to just go by myself out in the woods and feel God’s presence. The forest is my church. I find myself not only praying and doing energy work on people but also on animals, plants, our Mother Earth, and the Universe. We all need prayer, healing and love.

CM: You are probably teaching many people unawares. Teaching can be a formal, easily recognized exchange, or can be by example. Some of my most memorable teachers didn’t even know I existed. I remember seeing several Asian monks get out of a car many years ago. One among them was so light within his body and so appreciatively aware of his arrival that he became a model of how to be that is still instructive over 30 years later.

TB: You know, I agree with you about the teaching by example. I know I have a close working relationship with spirit, but in a somewhat different way than Kathy. I think my job is part of my spiritual work. I also think my art is part of my spiritual work. I definitely feel spirit with me as I paint. I know spirit is with Kathy as she writes and takes photos. She is amazing. Her curiosity is one of her assets. She is always asking questions. Me? I just kind of “I wonder?” I do, however, channel for Kathy.  Many times, we’ll be having a phone conversation and I will inadvertently help her with her questions. I guess we make a good team.

Thank you readers for stopping by Conversations with Healers. Giving wing to your desire to be true to the healer’s path is a worthy endeavor and a humbling experience. Take it slow and you will begin to soar to places not even imagined when you first began to seek healing for yourself. For, if you weren’t looking to heal yourself, how could you heal anyone else?

Meet a Reiki Therapist: Therese Beavers

I met Therese Beavers through my other blog, Orbs Delight, when she became enthusiastic about finding orbs in her photographs. When I discovered that we were both Reiki Masters, we began having e-mail conversations about the path that Therese took to becoming a healer. We will be talking about that over several posts, but first Therese will describe for us one of the highlights of her life as a Reiki therapist.

Therese Beavers:

My attendance at a mixed-blood Sundance was one of the most spiritually uplifting experiences I have had in this lifetime. My friend, Jackie, had been following the Red Road for several years. She asked me to attend with her and another woman who was to dance. We were there for support. It is a very sacred ceremony that lasted ten days. I will not go into much detail about the Sundance out of respect for the Creator. I will, however, relate the specific healing sessions in which I was involved.

The pre-dawn mornings were cold. I thought of the dancers and how their physical bodies must feel. They were so inspiring. They dealt with whatever physical discomfort or pain came their way and continued to dance each day.

On one particular morning, I was approached by a healer from Florida. She asked me if I would help with a man who suffered from much pain. He and his wife were from Montana. She was a dancer. His one thought was to be near his wife to support her during the ordeal. However, his physical and spiritual body were broken and filled with pain. He could not even sit up, let alone walk up the hill to see his wife.

The other woman began moving energy around his body and using some kind of technique in which she moved and stretched his muscles and joints to release pain and fear. I began Reiki. We both worked on him for quite some time. After awhile, he began to cry. We kept working. Later, after we had finished, he felt calm. He attended the dance.

The man had been a victim of severe child abuse. So much so, that he had several bones broken during his childhood. then, as an adult, he participated in rodeo. He had injuries during his rodeo days also. He not only suffered physically due to previous injuries, he also suffered severe emotional and spiritual injuries. I felt the Creator pouring love and healing to this man through my hands. I was merely a pipeline between God and this man who asked for help.

There was another man there. He was a Chief from Canada. He was a tall man with long gray hair. I have no idea how to say his name. He was “my project.” This man had participated in many Sundances in his lifetime. His knees cause him much pain. The leader of the women dancers asked me if I could help him. At one point, I was performing Reiki on his knees. I could feel the energy steadily coming through my hands. He suddenly flinched. I asked if he was in pain. He replied that my hands were HOT!

I would go up the hill to the tree where the dancers danced during the day and stand in back of the Chief. I used my hands to direct energy from God to keep him moving. I could feel his energy field against my hands. At times, I actually had to push. I would close my eyes and push his energy field. One time, he seemed so weary that he would not be able to continue. I prayed and prayed. I put my hands up toward his back and he practically ran toward the tree. Everyone around me smiled. It was not me doing the work, it was the Creator. I was merely his vessel.

I cannot go without ending with a story about Dan, a man from Canada. He, too, had participated in several Sundances in his life. He knew what he was about to experience. It was not easy being a dancer. The morning the dance was to begin, he sat by his tent with tears in his eyes. I asked if he was ok. He replied, “It’s a good day to die. To change from one personality to another.”

Although I did not dance at the event, it changed me forever.

For those of you interested in learning more about the Sundance ceremony, this book may be of interest:

Thank you, Therese Beavers for sharing such an exhilarating experience. In our next post we will be looking at the discipline of becoming a Reiki therapist.

 

An Award for the Newborn Blog!

 

This newly born blog of mine has received a very gracious encouragement from Julianne Victoria who has awarded me The Very Inspiring Blogger Award. When a new creation is just trying out the first steps on a path towards an unknown destination, every little bit of encouraging nods and applause keeps the toddler motivated to take a few more steps, hoping to acquire the skill of walking. Please take a look at this wonderful motivator at: http://juliannevictoria.com/about/the-very-inspiring-blogger-award/

The rules for accepting the award are:

1. Display the award logo,

2. Link back to the person who nominated you,

3. State 7 things about yourself,

4. Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them.

Seven Things About Myself:

1. I have met wonderfully creative and inspiring people through my other blog: Orbs Delight.

2. I tend to think that “now is good” but have to adjust my expectations to meet the timeframes of other people.

3. Therefore, this blog will not be everyday, or even once a week, because I am in conversation with people who have their own time schedules to meet. And, surprisingly, my own time schedule does not allow for frequent posting.

4. I really enjoy encouraging others to be the best that they can be.

5. I prepare for careers that haven’t even been invented yet. Wedding orb photographer? I can do that.

6. I’ve been a mystery at a traveling school, and a comedian at a mystery school.

7. I am really grateful for the opportunities and insights to be had in the wonderful world of blogging!

Now for my nominations of those whose blogs have been inspirational to Conversations with Healers:

http://lifeasimprov.wordpress.com/

http://kimberlyharding.wordpress.com/

http://havenholistic.wordpress.com/

http://lightsofclarity.wordpress.com/

http://theothersideofugly.com/

As a fledging blog with three posts, I’ll have to limit my nominations to a third of the wished for 15….

Meet Elvin Meadows, Student of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Elvin Meadows has been a student of Traditional Chinese Medicine since he first read a book “Acupuncture without Needles” when he was sixteen and realized he could sense the acupuncture points. Since then he has broadened his studies to include Jin Shin Jyutsu, Sufi healing practices, and schooling in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Cheyenne: Can you tell us a little bit about Traditional Chinese Medicine? What is its focal reference?

Elvin: First, let’s understand that in Traditional Chinese Medicine “TCM” we refer to points and meridians. Meridians are the energy pathways through the body, points are specific areas along the meridians that are strong  energy stimulates, and major points, what we refer to as the Big Ten Acupuncture Points, are even stronger in terms of stimulating energy flow.

Cheyenne: Many of our readers have been trained in healing energy modalities that reference the chakras. What some Western practitioners call the computer centers of the body. Does Traditional Chinese Medicine deal with chakras?

Elvin: TCM does not include chakras, although there will be some similarities such as the crown of the head. Interestingly there has been a scientific study that did discover a meridian, about one cell thick, that was analog to fiber optic cable.

Cheyenne: You have been studying various spiritual and healing modalities for many years. Please tell us about some of the different systems you’ve learned.

Elvin: It is important to stress that although there are many different spiritual and healing systems, all are effective. Some may conflict intellectually, but only because they are working on different planes.

Cheyenne: That is similar to astrology which has many different approaches to interpreting the same basic information. For instance most people learn that Aries is the starting point of the zodiac, but some systems use Leo as the starting point. I’ve learned both and think of the different systems as residing on a spiral of perspective levels.

Elvin: Exactly. Traditional Chinese Medicine has a number of subsystems that can stand alone as a healing modality. The main thing to avoid is mixing systems, taking a little from this one and then combining with another. It dilutes the integrity and overall effectiveness.

Cheyenne: How do you incorporate your knowledge of astrology and TCM to affect healing?

Elvin: Well, my Sun is at 26 degrees Libra, and Libra corresponds to the Urinary/Bladder channel which has 67 points. The signs of the zodiac are always 30 degrees, however the channels contain different amounts of points. To find out how to strengthen my source Sun, I do a mathematical calculation that includes 26 degrees out of thirty, and x out of 67 in this case. That gives me an answer of UB58 as the point to press to strengthen my source Sun.

Cheyenne: What if someone had a Leo Sun, what would be the point to strengthen?

Elvin: Leo corresponds to the pericardium, so that will be the focus to strengthen the source Sun.

Cheyenne: What do you recommend for those who are not mathematically inclined, and who have not spent years studying Traditional Chinese Medicine?

Elvin: Jin Shin Jyutsu employs a very simple method of holding your fingers to bring you into balance. This is a self-healing system that can be done anywhere, in the classroom, watching TV, wherever.

Cheyenne: Jin Shin Jyutsu is the art of harmonizing the life energy in the body. Much like Reiki, which has thousands of practitioners and thus is a good comparison for many of our readers, Jin Shin Jyutsu uses only minimal pressure with the hands and fingertips redirecting or unblocking flows of energy along pathways.

Cheyenne: We have barely opened the door to the richness of the healing capabilities of Traditional Chinese Medicine. You have been exploring many of those paths for several years in school and in workshops and with mentors, Elvin. Which path do you think has the most to offer you at the moment?

Elvin: The Sufis have a healing tradition that is all encompassing because it also emphasizes the spiritual. Back in the 50’s or 60’s Mao brought together 12 acupuncturists and herbalists in China to develop a non-spiritual standardised practicum to teach Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is very effective with little damage except perhaps too much energy flowing through the system, but I prefer the holistic approach of including the spiritual.

Cheyenne: Many thanks Elvin for an introductory look at a variety of healing techniques. I’m looking forward to our future conversations as you continue your studies in Traditional Chinese Medicine and other healing modalities.

To our readers: more of this conversation with Elvin Meadows is published in the on-line magazine 2bAware.

Thanks also to the Association for Meridian and Energy Therapies for the use of the hand chart.

Kate Bishop, Clairvoyant

Meet Kate Bishop, a clairvoyant who uses her skills to help people recognize the qualities that make them unique. Let’s find out what that means in a healing context.

Cheyenne: Could you tell us what it is to be a clairvoyant in your experience?

Kate: I see images on a non-physical plane. To understand my work, it may be helpful to know what I can’t do. I can’t find lost objects. I’m not a psychologist. I am more like a psychic portrait painter. I see images around you which are generated by your energy. The images tell a story about you that may help you see yourself differently or more clearly.

Cheyenne: How would knowing how we are different be healing? Many people are embarrassed or defensive about their differences.

Kate: I’ll give you an example of why it is important to show people how they are different from everyone else. I had a client whose sense of morality is based in his second chakra. It is a very fundamental part of him. He can only act from a moral standpoint. Almost everyone else’s morality is located in the fifth chakra at their throat. Morality is something that they aspire to, but don’t necessarily act from. This man needed to know how he was different, so that he wouldn’t be taken advantage of by assuming everyone had the same fundamental morality.

Cheyenne: That is a real perspective changing gift you gave that man. Can you give us another example of why it is important to recognize our differences?

Kate: People often come to a reading to discuss their “faults” which I often see as their strengths. For instance one woman was worried that she was the dabbler that her friends accused her of being, always exploring new projects, but never staying with them long enough to excel. I tend to think of us all being part of a wagon train and offering different skill sets for the success of the journey. When I looked at this woman closely I realized that she was a scout. It is her job to explore and discover new paths that the wagon master will get the credit for following. It’s not her job to stay in one place or with one project until completion.

Cheyenne: I can imagine many of our readers having an “ah hah” moment about now as they identify with that scouting drive in their own lives.

Cheyenne: You have been of great assistance to my Reiki team at a children’s clinic in Nogales, Arizona. Could you describe your work there?

Kate: I communicate with children at St. Andrew’s Children’s Clinic who are too severely disabled to be able to speak or sign. My work there is to help the healing team understand their clients by identifying and describing the spiritual condition which manifests on the physical plane as the child’s physical disability. Sometimes I simply relay a message from the child which may be as simple as, “tell my mom I want more potatoes in my diet”.

Cheyenne: I remember one of our client’s who has Rett’s Syndrome being very distressed one winter clinic when her mother had dressed her warmly in a fuzzy yellow outfit that made her look like Big Bird from Sesame Street. She was starting to whimper and you solved the problem by telling us she didn’t like yellow she likes pink. That was a few years ago and she has come dressed in pink ever since with a shy smile for our team.

Kate: The girls with Rett’s Syndrome are fascinating because they are really one being, much like aspen trees connected to one mother root. Very different from the children who have cerebral palsy and are quite distinct individually. It’s one of the reasons it is easy to identify a child who has Rett’s, they all have a similar beauty.

Cheyenne: I stated in the Introduction to this blog that many healers embody the wounded healer archetype. Does that resonate with you?

Kate: I don’t know, I hadn’t thought about it so I don’t have an opinion, explain.

Cheyenne: Well, for instance, when I first studied Reiki it was because I had a hand injury.

Kate: Oh, okay. Actually, clairvoyants tend to develop their skills as a survival technique. We have to read beneath the surface because the situation can’t be taken at face value. It wasn’t until I was in college that I discovered that some people actually mean what they say. When I was young I was always looking for the non-verbal symbols to decipher meaning. Part of my coming to maturity as an adult is to not read people without permission and I’ve had to learn the lessons of respecting privacy. Because, it’s really better that I don’t know what’s in your underwear drawer! But that didn’t come easily and I had to come to terms with taking people at face value, because they weren’t prepared to deal with the intimacy of their non-verbal signals. If I responded to their non-verbal context, then they would deny those truths, which would just reinforce my experience that people don’t say what they really mean.

Cheyenne: How would you like to develop your skills as a clairvoyant?

Kate: I don’t know enough about anatomy and physiology to be a medical intuitive, so I want to take a course in that at the local college. I’m also really interested in how a person can affect healing change through nutrition. I’m very interested in other healing modalities. We are all so specialized, but now I want to find out what others are doing. For instance, I’ve experienced a sound therapy session, but I’ve never observed one. I’m interested in discovering how dowsing is used therapeutically.  There is just so much to consider and learn.

Cheyenne: Thank you very much, Kate, for this glimpse into your work as a clairvoyant. You have given me so much information that we will continue this conversation in future posts. 

Kate: Thank you. I’m really interested in the conversations you’ll be having with other healers.

To our readers: more of this conversation with Kate Bishop is published in the on-line magazine 2bAware.