Reiki For My Son's Sleep and Stress

          It's been another difficult bunch of weeks, and by "bunch", I mean about six.   My oldest son was and still is overwhelmed with continuous long-term projects at school and is attempting to cope with managing them.  He is getting little or no sleep at night, and for this reason he is falling asleep in some of his afternoon classes.  He has undergone two medication increases in six weeks.  He is worrying about the unfair treatment his bestfriend is receiving at the hands of those around him. Of course, looking back on this list, several things come to mind:  This sounds like a normal tween; all of these things would cause any kid to lose sleep; and wow, he's actually doing really good... considering that on top of all of this he still hears and sees our relatives who have passed over.  (Just last week he informed my that my late dad checked in when my car wouldn't start and I needed a jump and subsequent new battery)

          Nonetheless, I felt like there had to be something else I could do to help ease what was causing me the most concern:  sleep.  I decided to try Reiki with him.   While I had a nagging feeling that this was going to help, I have to admit that I was more than a bit hesitant.  You see, I tried Reiki with him in the past for his migraines and the experience was a bit more unusual than I had experienced with anyone else.  Usually when I am doing Reiki, my hands can feeling anywhere from tingly to slightly warm, but when I am doing it with my son, my hands grow so warm that they ache to the point that it begins to move up my forearms.  Concerned, I asked both my medium friend and my Reiki Master who suggested that I might want to focus more on grounding beforehand.

          With this new grounding advice, I decided to give it a try.  I started by spending a short amount of time in meditation then began the Reiki session on my son.  I  focused on his adrenals as well as his crown, third eye, throat and heart chakras.  Again, the sensations that I felt were similar to the times prior, although the warmth and ache were less intense and did not move beyond my wrists.  My son commented that he thought he felt the energy "move with my hands".  He said that was cooler than the warmth of my hands.  The most exciting and encouraging part was that he slept through the night for the first time in a long time.

          Through this process, I have learned that Reiki can be very beneficial in helping children in preparation for bedtime, easing children out of phases of nightmares, spurring creativity, assisting with ADD/ADHD, autism, and assisting as they process emotional and physical traumas.  I also found out, which should be no great surprise, that children respond to Reiki much more readily than adults because they have less of that, shall I say "baggage" to push through and negative energies.  Below are some articles and websites that I've found helpful in this endeavor:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Reiki-Therapy---5-Ways-Reiki-Assists-Children-to-Be-Happy-and-Healthy&id=2693265

http://www.reiki.org/reikinews/reikinews.html

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/ART02746

May you sleep well...

A Gift for You

We hope your family enjoys this holiday season and finds some peace sitting by a crackling fire, cuddling with your family, enjoying a good book, sipping hot cocoa, taking a long walk...  You get the idea.  We took a trip to see the tree in NYC and brought this back for you.

          This weekend I found out why my youngest son sleeps in his father's Kingsize bed when he could be sleeping in his own double bed, in his own huge bedroom and it has nothing to do with the slight differences in the sizes of their beds.

          In fact my son put it very plainly and simply, when his said, "...because the lady that sits in that chair ... all night scares me, and the only one that comes into daddy's room is that man... "  This was so ordinary to him that he never even looked up from his Nintendo DS or stopped moving his thumbs in rapid succession.

          Oh, right.  Silly me.  I mean...of course...the lady, the man.  Truthfully, to the casual observer, their father lives alone.  "Honey, can you tell me what the lady looks like?"

          "Yea," still playing the video game, "she looks a little like you."

          At that point, my older son piped up and explained that he thought he saw someone who might have been the same woman.  He explained that if it was, she has been hanging out there for years.  He had remembered seeing her as far back as when he was about four or five.  He remembered she used to stand in his doorway by the paper-plate spider that hung from the top of the doorway.  Then he told me that sometimes he would even call my name at night, thinking it was me, then give up when "I" didn't respond.

          So, this must be a great grand parent of the boys?  My oldest has been doing this easily for as long as he can remember?  I continue to be astounded at the ease with which they both handle the onslaught of images and information they receive.  My oldest son sometimes describes it like a conference that he has to tune out.  Sometimes I wonder what possesses me to reassure them.  Who am I after all.   I mean really, they are handling this gift with such finesse.  But...it is all they know.

Keeping Cool

     
          Somewhere in the middle of my tossing and turning last night I heard a whispered, "Mom, mom.  Can you tuck me back in?"

          "What time is it?" I mumbled.  I can tell that from where I sit now, I'm not sure I was even totally awake at that point, but I do remember him pushing aside some things on my nightstand to see the time.

          "Almost 3.  Oh, and there's been glowing orbs in my room again."  I could see him now, illuminated by the brightness of the digital numbers on the clock.  He stood by my bed surveying the room, much the same way an eagle surveys the land below, his head moving slowly back and forth.  I assumed he was seeing something, but I don't always ask.  Honestly, I don't always want to know.

          "OK, honey, let's go."  He padded down the hall skillfully as if he'd been up for hours, while I, on the other hand, stumbled down the hall toward his room as if I had just staggered home from the local bar.  Noticing that the bathroom light was still on, I made a beeline to the left, shut the light off, and then headed into his room.

          He had already fixed his covers and arranged the cat in his favorite spot.  My son met me at the foot of his bed and gave me a hug.  "They're right behind you, mom," he whispered into the dimly lit room.

          Again, I realize now that had I not still been in my sleep-induced fog I might have panicked.  My body might have immediately released the adrenaline required for a fight or flight response.  But I was a bit sleepy, so I casually responded with a "Who, honey?"

          "The glowing orbs, mom.  I guess it's Pop Pop and your Gram. They are right behind you."

          I didn't panic.  I simply told him that it was peaceful to know that they were keeping such a close watch over us.

          "I hope it didn't hurt their feelings."

          "How?"

          "Because I tried talking to them and asked if they were angels or spirits."

          Right or wrong, I told him of my assumption that his inquiry was not the kind that would have upset them.  That they were far more forgiving than we could imagine.  I tucked him in and returned to my room to toss and turn some more, thankful for the normality of my life.

          Sweet dreams to you and yours, here and there...

Barometer

          My youngest, having lived with himself and his brother for seven years now, has grown rather accustomed to what he and his brother see.  The morning and evening conversations are so routine that he has started prompting his older brother with the same questions he has heard from me.  It's scary how close our children are listening even when we think they aren't.  He has also, unwittingly, developed into my little barometer for what is going on in the house energetically or spiritually.  This is rather helpful because I have found that my own intuitiveness depend heavily on my groundedness at any given moment.  My own gifts don't feel like they manifest themselves quite as readily as my children's, but that would be a topic for another time.       
          Frequently, I will send my youngest upstairs to change into his pajamas quickly before his "favorite show", which is inevitably some Sponge Bob episode.  Most of the time he will do just that if I can get him focused long enough.  Usually that focus requires a challenge, "Let's see if you can get changed before I can count to 50."  That focuses him just long enough to get the job done, but there are those occasions when challenges like that mean nothing.  He'll make it to the bottom of the stairs and reply, "Can you come with me?" 
          "What do you mean?  You can change on your own.  Besides, I already started counting."  Was my usual reply many months ago.  To wit he would inform me that he wasn't going up alone because 'someone was up there following him around.'  Of course, back then I would forget who I was dealing with and my heart sunk, as I imagined an intruder lurking in the spare room; but then I remembered.  Yep, there very well could be someone up there following him around.   He could sense it even though he might not be able to see who or what it was yet.  He didn't say whether it was good or bad, but he did know that the change made him uncomfortable and that was completely valid. 
          His older brother quickly informed us all that it was probably a dog that was following him around.  It was probably the same dog that sleeps on his bed almost every night.  He described the dog as having long brown hair and whitish tummy.  Tears came to my eyes.  He was describing my childhood dog, Cocoa.
          It's interesting how they see and feel different things, sometimes at the same time, sometimes at completely different times.  Where one child will see something, the other will sense it...feel its energy.  I can only assume that their gifts will be as varied and unique as the gifts of, perhaps two talented musicians.  They are not exactly the same but still very talented nonetheless.