Meditation the “Right” Way

“Prayer is talking to God; meditation is listening to God”
– Edgar Cayce, the Sleeping Prophet

This article is based on Beyond the Reiki Gateway’s podcast “Meditation the Right Way” created by Reiki Masters Kathleen Johnson and Andrea Kennedy.

Welcome to the Reiki Gateway podcast with Reiki Masters Kathleen Johnson and Andrea Kennedy.

Journey with us and let’s explore what lies Beyond the Reiki Gateway.

Kathleen Johnson:
Hello everyone! Welcome to the first full length episode of Beyond the Reiki Gateway. I’m Kathleen Johnson and I’m here with my co-creator Andrea Kennedy and were super excited to bring you our first full episode here in the New Year in 2021.
We thought that waiting until early January to bring you our first full length episode was a great idea. Only because the holidays, of course, get very rushed but also in a symbolic way. It’s turning the page on our previous year, which I think most of you would agree, was really sort of a nightmare for many people.

So, here we are in a brand-new year, a brand-new podcast, and we have a brand-new topic. Andrea suggested the last time we spoke of having our first topic for our podcast being meditation. Which I thought was wonderful, a perfect start.

Meditation is a great place to start your spiritual practice

Now, for those of you who already practice meditation, you already know probably what you need to know about it, at least for now, maybe you’ll have some different ideas at the end of the podcast. But for those of you who don’t know much about meditation and would like to know, we’re going to be talking about that today. But meditation how I always see it, is that it is a foundation, it is a beginning much, like the year we’re currently in.

Meditation is a foundation and a beginning towards spiritual growth. Of course, it is not the only one, but it is one of them. So, when you learn about meditation, what you really are doing is creating a foundation and a base for your spiritual growth. And if you’re interested in spiritual growth, either in general or as a goal for this year, meditation is a really good place to start. Now, don’t be afraid of it. I remember when I first started in meditation it was scary, because I really wasn’t sure if I would be able to do it.

And at that point my idea of meditation was: I have to sit in a lotus position with my hands in the OM symbol and be super uncomfortable and basically channel something. Well, of course, that’s not the case.

It took me a while to figure out what meditation was really all about. And, I think one of the best quotes I’ve ever heard for describing meditation comes from Edgar Cayce, the sleeping prophet, and this quote has always stayed with me and I like to say this to my clients who are hesitant or concerned or intimidated about meditation:

He said: Prayer is talking to God; meditation is listening to God.

And honestly of all the information out there about meditation, all the articles, all the books, all the practices, I think that one quote from Edgar Cayce distils what meditation is and a beautifully worded one sentence format. And that’s how I look at it, I look upon it as listening to God, and hopefully by the end of this podcast you’ll have a better understanding of what meditation is and what it can do for you.

Reiki is a form of meditation

Andrea Kennedy:
I agree, Kathleen. I have to tell you, when I first started on my spiritual journey, and maybe some of the listeners know, I was all about science. When you offered your quote there, while it really resonates with me today, back then I don’t think it really would have very much, because I came to Reiki with that background and I, to be honest, my mantra all those years ago was: I think therefore I am.
I was all about thinking, I was so in my head all the time, and I have to say after learning Reiki, you know… This is kind of the idea of the podcast, right? We learn Reiki and then this world opens up to us and then I thought: Oh, now I know Reiki, what am I supposed to do now? You know, as a person, and what came to my mind was: Oh, Reiki is a spiritual practice. Maybe I need to be more spiritual. How do I do that? Meditate! And I think a lot of new Reiki graduates and students taking Reiki – I think a lot of them might have similar inklings about meditation. I’m sure, like you, I have had students ask me what’s my meditation practice.

Maybe they want an example to follow or something like that. What I really tell my students, now I’ve come to the awareness that meditation might not be, well, let me back up, meditation the way we often think about meditation, may not be for everyone, but there are many different ways to meditate and I know we’ve talked about that in the past and we’ll get into that here during the show.

Why you don’t need to make meditation a regimented and strict practice

But my impression, my understanding of meditation is very much broadened through the years. I have to say, in my early days, guided meditation was just a huge part of my success with meditation. But I’d have to say, I was pretty not good at keeping a regular type schedule about meditating, and that’s what a lot of us think, is that it’s got to be a regimented regular strict practice in order to get the benefits out of it. I must say, back then that’s really why I was motivated to meditate, I wanted the benefits about it and one of which was spiritual.
But I knew about physical benefits and being less stressed and that it’s just good for the physical body. So, that’s a lot of what drew me to it back then. But it was also for me about striving, you know, striving to be a better Reiki practitioner, because that’s what I thought I needed to do back then for sure.

So, to circle back, what I often tell my students that ask me how I meditate today, I tell them I really don’t have a regular meditation practice. Confessions of a Reiki Master, right? But I just don’t. I meditate when the idea resonates with me and then I select how I might want to meditate. Again, we’ll talk more about that here coming up, but I just have found for myself that if I try to schedule meditation or if I try to have a regular routine or structure there, it just becomes another should in my life, something I should do, and then that just doesn’t really work out well for me. I am much better in the flow and I ask myself instead: Oh, what, what I feel like doing today or right now in this minute? and I try to listen to whatever that is, sometimes it’s meditation, sometimes it’s something else, that’s also beneficial or could be meditative.

So, Kathleen, what kinds of things do you do to meditate? And, I guess the first question to ask, do you have a meditation practice? What would you tell your students?

Kathleen Johnson:
I’m like you, Andrea, I don’t have a regular meditation practice. What I learned, and I think you touched on this as well, is that Reiki is a form of meditation. I started meditating before learning Reiki, several years before as a matter of fact, but I never felt like I quite got the hang of it, if you know what I mean.
It has became almost like a struggle, a chore and I knew that that wasn’t the way to approach it. Once I had Reiki though and I realized what I was feeling while I was channeling Reiki, I knew that that was a form of meditation. So, I think Reiki came to me when it did and as it did for a variety of reasons, but I also think it was showing me a way where I could meditate and could listen to God, if you will, or Source, or Creator, or whatever name you choose to use, but it is not the traditional way of meditating and that’s ok.

There is no one right way to meditate

And I think one of the most important things about meditating is that there is really no one right way to do it. When I was starting out with meditation, I used guided meditations, because that definitely kept me focused. If I was left to my own devices, I would just sit there and think about if I did the laundry, what I was going to make dinner tonight, did I remember to make the dogs a vet appointment, those kinds of things and it became an exercise in frustration and then I started doing the shoulds, as you said, I started should-ing myself.

Don’t pre-programme yourself with what you should do, stay in the flow.

My first Reiki teacher had a wonderful saying that I’ve kept all these years and I remember she said to us: Look, the most important thing you can do when you’re practicing Reiki is don’t should all over yourself. And that really stuck with me and I love that, it’s the truth, we should all over ourselves constantly.
So, when I removed should from my vocabulary about how to approach meditation, it was very liberating. I found the path of meditation that was right for me and that is with Reiki. Nowadays because I am a crystal healer, I meditate with crystals which I find very, very valuable. I also like guided meditations still.

So, I don’t meditate in a certain way every day at the exact same time. Like you Andrea, I do it when I feel I need to. However, I will say this, for me, Self-Reiki is my best form of meditation, that is when I really feel that I am listening to God.

Self-Reiki for me is the best way to meditate, speaking for myself personally.
So, I’m glad you mentioned that though.

If you’d like to listen to the “Meditation the right way” podcast from the Beyond the Reiki Gateway, please click here.

Give yourself Reiki every day

Andrea Kennedy:
So, the next question Kathleen to put you on the spot would be: So, do you do Self-Reiki regularly?

Kathleen Johnson:
Oh yes, oh yes, and honestly, I am a real nag with my students and clients who have Reiki, about staying up with self-Reiki. I think it is the most important thing a Reiki practitioner or just someone who has Reiki even, if they are not practicing it professionally, but anyone who has Reiki. I think the most important thing they can do for their health, their spiritual, their mental, their emotional, and their physical well-being is to practice self-Reiki every day.

And I sometimes get the deer in the headlights look if I mention that to students or clients, but I’m quick to assure them that it’s not about spending an hour or so every day giving yourself Reiki. I know that probably most of us, myself included, don’t have that kind of time.
However, I have found a way that works for me. I do self-Reiki first thing in the morning, before I get out of bed, I recite the precepts to myself and I really feel them in my heart, and what they mean and what they can do for us if we would abide by them. I feel them and then I may do 5 to 10 minutes of self-Reiki and I get on with my day.
I do the same thing at night, before I fall asleep. Sometimes I fall asleep before the treatment is over, but that’s ok. I’ll wake up a little later and I have my hands folded across my solar plexus, but that’s alright, you know, no harm done, right?

I do think that self-Reiki is the gold standard for maintaining the health and the growth of Reiki practitioners.

Andrea Kennedy:
Yeah, I totally agree. I suggest that to my students as well. The morning, because the world doesn’t know you’re available yet, so, that’s a great time. Also at bed, you know, when we retire, when we shut that bedroom door, the world is on the outside. So, I think we have a bit of solitude at both of those times.
But what really got me to chuckle too was another way that we’re so similar. Back in the day, I wasn’t good at meditation either, and so I have a tendency that I’ll want to make everything perfect, I might want to make everything perfect, so I need a meditation cushion, I need a meditation journal, I need … So, I would come up with all of these external things that I would have around me or whatever it was. I would make this routine and so regimented and I look back on that now and I just think: that was just really me sabotaging myself probably.

Meditation gives us the space and the time to respond to events

But speaking about Reiki as a meditation, this is so funny to hear you say that, because for myself, I would meditate for a bit and then I would peter out, you know, it was less and less often. And, I was in the should zone there and so I would sort of beat myself up about it.
I’d make myself feel like I failed at it or something and when I felt enough motivation again, I would restart, recommit. And I did that over and over through the years and then, one day, I decided to go to a mindfulness meditation group.
I just showed up one day for the first time and the leader of the group that morning had the regular attendees go around the circle and she asked them to offer what their regular mindfulness meditation practice had offered them, what benefit had that provided. And I sat and I listened and it was all the things that we normally would hear about with meditation, you know, feeling less stress, less worry, some people had health benefits like lowering blood pressure and things like that.
But there was this one woman in the group and she said that, she had a great description, she said that it used to feel like life was happening like right at the tip of her nose. She was reacting to everything, about happening, coming at her and her life, and through her meditation practice what ended up happening for her was life felt like instead it was happening at a greater distance not right in front of her and that space that perceived space between her and the events allowed her to observe, be separate, and then decide how to respond.

I will never forget that morning, because as she was describing that I thought to myself. Not only have I seen the benefits that everybody else has mentioned here, but that one when she said that, it resonated so deeply with me, and I thought: Wait a minute, I’ve had that realisation in my own life exactly how she put it and I had regular clients that would mirror that back to me. They would even say: Oh, yeah, I know that when it’s about time for my Reiki appointment, these regular clients, because they’ll say I got really, my buttons really got pushed the other day and I reacted. I’m thinking of this one client in particular and he said: Oh, a driver made me really mad. And he said: Oh, it must be time for my Reiki appointment! When is it? Oh, it’s on Tuesday. So, you know he could always tell when things were getting to him that it was time, his Reiki appointment was coming up.

And, so not only as a practitioner I had seen that, but I’d seen it in my clients as well. And it was that morning that I had that realisation, I have been a successful meditator all these years and it was through Reiki, it was through Reiki. How sad that I would beat myself about not having this, I don’t know cross-legged lotus position on the mountain top in Tibet practice and I was doing it the whole time.

So, my message to my students is, do what resonates with you, do what resonates but Reiki, like you said, Reiki is a foundation and it is meditative and, oh my goodness, there’s just such benefit to it. And, because it’s subtle and gradual I think that it’s easy for us to overlook or to view Reiki as meditation but it is, it is for sure.

Why Reiki is a meditative practice

Kathleen Johnson:
Oh, it most definitely is, Andrea! I came to that realisation not in quite such a dramatic way as you, but it was subtle, as you said. I think sometimes we were expecting the thunder clap and the lightning bolt and oh, my gosh, I’m now meditating and, as far as I know, it doesn’t work out that way. It surely didn’t work out that way for me.

I struggled with meditation for a few years, but then when Reiki came along, I knew, I said: Wow, I’m actually meditating with Reiki by my side, Reiki was going: This is what you do. Ok, I guess I should have known that and then I immediately rejected that.

It’s funny when we talk like this, I know we’ve known each other for a couple of years now, but when we talk about things like this. It’s always still somewhat startling to me how much we agree about these things, which is awesome, I like that.
We can talk about these things and get our different perspectives, but I always feel as if we’re on the same page and that’s great, it really is. And I feel that collaboration and connection with you is a big help and especially since we’re doing this podcast together. I think it imparts a certain vibe in the podcast that we’re trying to achieve and that is: Hey, it’s just us here, you know, sitting here in my yoga pants and a sweatshirt talking and talking to you folks. We’re just, you know, average people trying to figure life out and trying to be good humans and grow spiritually in the process.

So, I think the fact that Andrea and I seem to click on so many levels, makes that possible. I really am grateful for that and I know that Reiki brought us together. When we first came together, it was during a Reiki panel in which we were both members and here we are a couple of years later here, we are doing a podcast.

Find what resonates with you: Walking meditation, Crystal meditation, Vipassana and Exercise meditation

Anyway, very much like you Andrea, when students ask me how to meditate, more often than not, my answer is whatever resonates with you. A lot of people don’t realize and I didn’t know this either until I started delving into it, but a lot of people don’t realize that there are so many different ways to meditate and if you don’t have Reiki that’s fine. I’m not here to sell you on Reiki, but if you ever want to talk about it, I’m your girl.

There are so many different ways to meditate. For example, guided meditations as we both already mentioned very helpful for me initially but one thing that I have mentioned many times to clients and students is walking meditation which is kind of a big thing now.
I think there’s still a lot of people out there that have not heard of that, but a walking meditation is very effective. Plus, if you’re into connecting with Mother Earth and you like being out and among nature, in feeling that energy, a walking meditation can really enhance the whole process.
Also, exercise meditation. When I exercise and it’s nothing earth shattering, I’m usually on an exercise bike, but more often than not, I go into what I call a zone and I’m kind of in that zone, I’m exercising, but my mind… I’m in an altered state and I feel very peaceful and centered. So, that’s another way. But there are probably as many ways to meditate as there are individuals. There is no right or wrong way, and as Andrea said earlier, whatever resonates with you is the right way. Don’t feel like you got to turn yourself into a pretzel to do it or that you need a meditation cushion. I am one of those too, Andrea.

I thought it was going to help but it is gathering dust, I have to be honest. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ve ever used it, it just looked kind of uncomfortable to me.

Andrea Kennedy:
Well, we’ve talked guided meditations. And I think everybody really knows what those are. I’m a very visual person and I like a great guided meditation because I like to form those pictures and feelings in my imagination, but you mentioned two others, you mentioned a walking meditation and that you meditate with crystals and so for those people listening now I mean I have this question maybe they do too. Can you explain a walking meditation? So, you go out I would imagine, it’s you by yourself and you go outside. How do you do a walking meditation?

The walking meditation

Kathleen Johnson:
That’s a good question, because a lot of people have never heard of that. There are actually walking meditations that are guided and that is usually what I do. I’m like you Andrea, I like to have a visual base, I am very visual and I like getting those images, it just helps me to focus and I enjoy that.
I use a guided walking meditation and I don’t do it throughout the year, because the weather is not always favourable for that, but what I do is I will go outside my home, and I live in the country, so it’s a very rural area, and I have my headphones on. And I am a huge fan of Mother Earth, so anytime I could be close to her in a way that I feel her connected beneath my feet is a good thing for me.
So, you’re just walking along, you feel that connection to Mother Earth and as you focus on your feet touching the ground and the way your body feels when you walk and how all the muscles and the bones and everything within your body is working in harmony to move you along and conduct this walk. It becomes very powerful because you start to think about how much is going on within you and around you on a simple walk and something we just take for granted. We are just walking, ok? No big deal! But during the meditation, the meditative part of that, it becomes a big deal, it becomes a very powerful force.

I start to feel this deep gratitude for having that ability to walk and to feel and to sense that connection to the Earth Mother beneath my feet and to sense so much more than myself while I’m doing this. That is one of my favorite ways to meditate other than self-Reiki, of course. But I have a few, I mean, there isn’t anyone that I would say I do more than others, well, I guess, self-Reiki, but in terms of just straight meditation, I like them all.

Walking meditation is great when the weather is nice, not so much fun when the weather is not nice. So, I hope that answers your question.

Andrea Kennedy:
Your answer was a little surprising to me because I was expecting a more outward view. Perhaps looking at the leaves of the trees or the blades of grass or hearing the crunch of the pebbles beneath your feet, I was thinking more externally. So, your perspective of looking inside the body and going in, that was actually kind of surprising to me. I like that.
So, now I’m thinking I’m going to go out there and do that, but it’s really hard for me, because I just love nature and the beauty of nature, I mean just the bark of a tree. Oh, my goodness, I could just get lost and just looking at that, admiring that. There’s just nothing at all like nature, it’s truly a blessing for you to be out in a rural place, but if somebody doesn’t have that, even if they’re in the city, the perspective of looking within and feeling within the body, you never lose that, you always have the ability to do that. So, that’s amazing, you just don’t need anything fancy at all and just the act of walking.
I have such gratitude for that. I guess I have done walking meditation, I just wasn’t aware of it. So, that is really interesting.

Meditating with crystals

The other thing I was wanting to ask you about was the meditating with crystals and I know that you do a lot with crystals. I was a little bit late to that party, as a Reiki practitioner, but I know a lot of Reiki people love crystals. And I think, like meditation, crystals are one of the big subjects that people new to Reiki, coming through that Reiki Gateway, I think they love the idea of crystals and how to incorporate crystals in their Reiki practice. So, while we’re talking about meditation, can you offer just an idea of a simple meditation that our listeners could do, you know, to try it out?

Kathleen Johnson:
Sure! I like to meditate with my crystals. I use crystals in all my Reiki sessions. As we’ve already established, channeling Reiki is a form of meditation. But there are times when I feel a need to or guided to meditate with a crystal or crystals and it’s a very simple way to meditate. And again, there’s no right or wrong way. I can share with you the way that works for me and the way I tend to do it most often. First of all, whenever I meditate, even if it’s just sitting in a chair, I always invite Reiki in. But, if you don’t have Reiki, that’s ok. I mean, I just do, because that’s what I do, but it’s not necessary. You can certainly meditate on your own or without a crystal and not have Reiki, is perfectly ok.

What I like to do is just get somewhere comfortable, usually is just a nice comfortable chair, and I will take the crystal that I chose to meditate. Sometimes I think they’ve chosen me to meditate with them and I will get myself comfortable.

I will center myself, take a few deep breaths in through the nose exhaling through the mouth; centering, grounding. I like to ground myself as well, and the way I normally do that is to envision roots coming from the soles of my feet down into the earth, very deep down into the earth, that are anchoring me there, and holding me, and supporting me. That’s how I ground. For me, that works very well.

How to listen to your crystals

And then I will hold a crystal in my palms. I put my hands in front of me, in my lap with the crystal in my hands and I will then ask it if it has any messages for me. And then I just wait, I allow any messages to come through that need to. I don’t force it. I don’t should myself. I just allow it to unfold. More often than not, I will receive a message from the crystal that may have something to convey that it can’t, unless I am actually focused on it and intending that I meditate with it.

So, my focus is on the crystal. I usually look at it. I don’t close my eyes in a crystal meditation. I like to look at the crystal and look at the way the light plays upon all its facets and anything else that strikes me, any nicks or breaks, or any kind of imperfection. It’s all fine! It doesn’t have to be a perfect crystal. Actually, most of my crystals are not perfect, they are perfectly imperfect like all of us.

Honestly, the meditation doesn’t take that long. Usually, I will receive a message of some sort within 10 or 15 minutes, but it’s a very peaceful way to meditate.

I enjoy working with crystals so much, I consider them part of my… not just a tool in my toolbox for working with clients and on my spiritual path, but I consider them my friends, they’re allies and they have been great allies on my path. And so, I like to do them the honor of meditating with me whenever I feel the need or whenever I sense that they would like to do so.

I encourage any of you who enjoy working with crystals, whether or not you have Reiki, to sit and meditate with them from time to time and see what comes up. I think, you may be surprised. And, especially for those who are just new to crystals, I know that there’s all kinds of information out there about crystals like: “Oh, Rose Quartz is for this and Clear Quartz is for that and Amethyst is for this.” But what I have found is that when I meditate with the crystal, very often that stone will tell me its properties working with me. So, it may be entirely different than what the “experts” say, but again the crystals are going to work with us in the way that is right for us.

So, maybe Rose Quartz for the rest of the world is about emotional balance and instilling harmony and love and compassion, which it is, I mean, it’s wonderful for that, but maybe it has something more to offer to certain individuals or maybe a completely different purpose. And that’s what I really love about meditating with crystals, because I always learn something new about them. It’s not just what’s written in the books, the crystals themselves will tell you what they’re all about and how they can work with you and how they can help you.

So, I really encourage you, if you have an interest in crystals, to give it a try. And let me know how it works out. I would love to hear from you, you can email me or send a note to our website. I would love to hear from you and I’m happy to offer any suggestions if you run into any snags. So, happy to help in that.

I love crystals, I love sharing my knowledge of them and I’m always open into learning more about them.

Andrea Kennedy:
So am I. I love your answer to that. It’s so straightforward and easy. And I would say, I know we are going to have many episodes here on the podcast about the different aspects of crystals, crystals and healing, properties of crystals, and things like that. I’m all about not labelling things and that resonated with me when you said: “The book might say what the properties of Rose Quartz are, but you just can’t put anything, I don’t think, in a box.”
Everything is, I don’t want to get too out there, but, you know, everything is energy and energy doesn’t know a boundary. And, I think, if we look upon each other and also crystals, anything at all, if we can just keep an open mind and want to experience life in the flow, we’ll learn things. And so, I love to just not label. And so, that really resonated with me.

Listen to your body: Vipassana meditation

I remember years ago when I was trying, when I was should-ing myself about meditating, I remember there was one style that I liked and it wasn’t really guided. I’ll mention it here because it might help somebody. I believe it’s called Vipassana.

It’s been so many years since I did this practice but what it really was, I was just sitting still and bringing awareness to the body, to the interior of the body, similar to the walking meditation, but anywhere your attention was drawn. So, anywhere that got my attention in my body, you would just name it.
The idea was you wouldn’t try to explain it or anything, but you would just name it. And what that would look like is, the thinking process in my mind would be something like: You know, I’d have some quiet in there and then my right knee might have a sensation and I would notice and I’d say knee and then I might notice a pressure in my head so I might say head and you would just name the different locations in the body where you had awareness that something was happening.

Let your thoughts pass, like drifting clouds

And I liked that. I felt it was concrete, you know me being who I am. It was concrete, I could kind of explain it and the big, big message that I want to make sure that we convey is that, I believe we’ve added some quotes today but so there’s a quote by Deepak Chopra and I believe it is: “The natural state of the mind is turbulence,” and so I would offer that as a big message to everybody interested in meditation because it is not about having no thoughts. The mind will have thoughts and there’s nothing at all wrong with that. It’s natural. But, in meditation the idea is awareness. So, in my example I just offered, awareness of sensations within the body and I would notice those.

Now, when thoughts arise, and they will, the triumph is in becoming aware that you’re thinking. It isn’t not having the thoughts; it’s noticing that you are having them. And at that moment we do not judge, we don’t get upset with ourselves, it’s a party, because we’re like: “Oh, I was thinking and I noticed.” And then, we can just release that and let it go. Like clouds drifting across the sky, we don’t have to investigate every cloud and find out if there’s rain in there or lightning or anything. It’s just clouds, just clouds. Letting them just go by.

Be gentle on yourself

And so, please always be gentle with yourself no matter what sort of meditation you do. There is no perfection. That’s why they call it a practice. They call Reiki a practice and if you think about it, it’s the practice of medicine as well. Everything is really a practice.

And, I just would hope that you would be kind and gentle with yourself and just finding what works and what feels good. And if you gravitate to one sort of meditation or you don’t meditate at all, but maybe you are Reiki practitioner and you just do your Reiki, then that is meditation. And I think it’s wonderful, I think we’ve spent far too many years, at least I know I have, thankfully I’m not like this anymore, but being so hard on ourselves and judging ourselves, “Oh, the time!” measuring up, do we measure up and scrutinizing ourselves.

And I would just invite you if that resonates, if that’s reminding you of something that you have a tendency toward, let’s let that go, let’s just let that go, and be a little bit more in the flow and be forgiving. And I guess what I would say about that is, I have met so many people through the years, so many clients, and what I would say is that they’re often so judgemental in regards to themselves that they’d never be that judgemental with anybody in their whole life, but, yet, they are with themselves. So, I would invite you to really treat yourself as if you are your best friend, keep love in your heart for yourself.

Kathleen Johnson:
Absolutely! I think that’s so important, Andrea.
In fact, that’s something I’ve been considering a lot the past several days, that, exactly what you said, how we would never think, I would hope not anyway, of saying to someone the things we say to ourselves. And I forget who said this, and here we go with a quote again, but quotes can be so effective I think, but, there is a quote and I’m paraphrasing “Compassion is incomplete if it does not include yourself.” And it may have been the Dalai Lama, it may have been Buddha, I’m not sure. But that has always resonated with me, because I’ve always been a champion of beating myself up.

And I’m slowly turning that around, emphasis on the word slowly, but as you said we must be gentle with ourselves. This is a journey, we’re on a path, we’re not rushing to a destination, the destination is the journey. That’s what it’s all about. And healing and learning about ourselves is lifelong. It’s not like: “Ok, I’m perfectly healed! I’m good. I’m whole. I’m authentic to the max.” No, it does not work that way.
So, be gentle with yourself, be patient as Andrea said, that is so important. And that is a very hard lesson for most of us to learn because we do tend to be hard on ourselves.

And that’s where meditation can really help. And, something you said earlier Andrea really resonated when you talked about how you were able to basically observe your response: Oh, head! Oh, there’s a thought. And that’s exactly what it’s all about, taking that step back and observing ourselves just like the woman in your mindfulness meditation class, as she said everything seemed to be at a distance, because at that point she had stepped back, got out of herself and was able to observe. And when we’re able to observe ourselves, it brings in a lot of awareness, a lot of self-awareness which is very, very valuable.

Also, I want to touch on something else that your words made me think of; meditation ultimately gives us the ability to respond as opposed to reacting; and it was pretty much what you said and again the classmate you had in the mindfulness course. But when we’re so caught up in our own stuff, we react to everything that’s happening around us.
But a regular spiritual practice including meditation – and there’s a whole lot of others that will eventually get to our podcast – but a regular spiritual practice gives you a different perspective, it allows you that distance, it allows you that space in which to respond to what’s happening, as opposed to reacting out of fear, emotion going on pure you know just that adrenaline. And I think that’s one of the most valuable aspects of meditation, it affords you that distance.

And I would encourage anyone who is interested in growing both as a good human and spiritually to give it a try, just try meditation in a way that feels right for you. The good news is there is no shortage of information about meditation out there, there are thousands and thousands and thousands of articles, videos, opinions, all that, out there. So, it’s a good chance you’re going to find something that works for you and I encourage you to do so. I think you will find it to be very beneficial.

Andrea Kennedy:
Yeah, I totally agree. And having the ability to observe as you said and to not react.
For as long as I can remember, I have visualized my body and my aura and when I’m communicating and I don’t do this in the moment, but, overall, I have this image that when I communicate, the sound waves emanate from me and they go through my aura which is a filter, it’s got all of my stuff in there, right? And so, the energy of the sound waves goes through my aura and they’re bouncing off and ricocheting off whatever I have out there and then… Guess what? Then they enter into the auric field of whoever I’m communicating with and they did the same thing in their field, right? And that can kind of distort the message that we’re sending each other through these energies between the two of us.
So, misunderstandings can happen for so many different reasons and I think that we can be so quick to respond, because it’s sort of that programming… that given our experiences and our histories and things like we do, we have these knee jerk reactions.
But, this spiritual practice, this Reiki, meditation, whatever, and what we want to define that as, maybe, is anything that sort of gets you out of your normal thinking stream of consciousness.
Anything that’s different than that, maybe we would call that meditation, because you’re not in your normal stream of thinking and so that can afford new perspective, objectivity, and space, space to give other ideas a chance, because you’re just not listening to the chatter in your own mind.

To react versus to respond

I feel as though the key to a better world is really not reacting, but responding. When we respond, we have felt it through, we’ve not only thought it through, but we felt it through.
We are really about feeling our way through life, many of us, and when we can feel, when we can imagine responding and feel what that feels like, the power in that is huge.
And we could talk about the philosophy of all that forever probably, but I really see that as the hope, the hope for us to build a better life not just for myself, but collectively. And in my life, I credit meditation for that. I just cannot really stress enough (Oh, that’s funny that I would say the word stress there) the importance of it!

Kathleen Johnson:
I agree, Andrea! I think it is very important and being able to step outside of ourselves makes all the difference.
One of my recent articles addressed this whole react versus response. Most of us react and that’s just the way it is. We react to what’s happening around us, but when we have a regular practice, regardless of what that spiritual practice is, it does afford us that ability to move out of ourselves, because we get so caught up in our day-to-day stuff and in our heads.
I know sometimes my head can be a very weird place to be, and I imagine I’m speaking for many of you when I say that. And it helps to just get out of that head space, that mind space, that monkey mind that never ever stops the turbulence, as Andrea said that Deepak Chopra has said. It’s very true, the mind’s natural state is turbulence. And, constant turbulence is exhausting, it’s debilitating, and that’s why meditation is so beneficial, because it removes us from that turbulence, it shows us that there’s a better way to be, a more healthy way to be, more compatible with who we are, and that is calmness and peace, inner peace, and serenity, and tranquillity.
And when we allow ourselves to step out of ourselves and give ourselves some distance from the monkey mind that never stops, it can be powerfully healing and not just spiritually.

Practical and immediate benefits of the meditation

Meditation, since we are talking about meditation in this instance, meditation is helpful on all levels of our being, physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. It is not limited to spiritual growth.
The physical benefits of meditation have been proven over and over again as well as the emotional and mental benefits, and it can lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, reduce anxiety, alleviate depression, I could go on and on and on. The benefits are astounding and one of the good things that’s happening nowadays is that mainstream medicine is prescribing meditation for their clients who may be having difficulties in certain areas, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or anxiety, or depression, they are prescribing it now.

So, meditation has really arrived, and it has arrived because it works, and it has worked for thousands and thousands of years, that’s why is still with us.

So, in conclusion I guess, I’m just going to say it one more time, I encourage you all, if you haven’t already, to give it a try, see which way works for you and give yourself some time, as Andrea said, it’s a practice. We’re all practicing, you know?

Give yourself some time, be gentle with yourself, be patient with yourself, and just see the benefits that meditation can provide for you.

Andrea Kennedy:
I just find it so exciting that the medical community is prescribing meditation more and more and more. There are no chemicals involved, anything that you have to inject or anything like that, it’s purely natural. But I have to say I love when you said mainstreaming, that’s what I’m all about.
If doctors are prescribing meditation because it’s so helpful, I just sort of like to circle back and underscore how Reiki is meditation, and so I’m super excited, because if Reiki is meditation and the medical community is prescribing meditation.
I think that speaks very positively to the continued acceptance and practice of Reiki on a more wide scale, stage or platform, and it can reach more people and that is really one of my missions here in my work. I’m sure Kathleen would agree, there’s no downside to Reiki, there’s really no downside to meditation, and in my book, they’re really quite the same.

With that I will wrap up this first episode of Beyond the Reiki Gateway and invite you to interact with us. Head over to wherever it is that you listen to podcasts and look us up, subscribe so that you never miss an episode, and we’ll be back rather shortly, in a couple of weeks, with the next episode. Also, you can head over to the website (beyondthereikigateway.com) and subscribe to our email list if you’d like and submit questions to us or topics that you would like us to address in future episodes.

We are building a community here of like-minded, spiritual seekers and would love to interact with you, welcome you here, and have what you are interested in featured, so that we can reach more people, because if you have the questions, I’m sure other people do too.

Kathleen Johnson:
Thank you, Andrea, it’s been fun I look forward to our next one, and I hope that we can have everyone back who is here today and a lot more from there. Thank you all, we appreciate you listening.

Andrea Kennedy:
Thank you again for joining us and we would invite you to return to another episode as we journey Beyond the Reiki Gateway with Kathleen Johnson and Andrea Kennedy.

Episode Show Notes:
If you’ve ever felt pressured to meditate the “right” way, take heart! The only right way is the one that works for you. Listen as Kathleen and Andrea discuss methods and approaches to create a successful and beneficial meditation practice.
Although meditation has been in existence for thousands of years, it is now part of the mainstream – simply because it works. Given the stress and strain of everyday life on Earth, now is the perfect time for a new meditation practice, or perhaps an enhancement of your existing one.
Listen as Kathleen and Andrea talk about what has worked for them, and offer practical suggestions that are available to you.

Connect with Kathleen and Andrea:
Website: www.beyondthereikigateway.com
Kathleen’s Website: universoulheart.net
Andrea’s Website: www.mainstreamreiki.com
Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/beyondthereikigateway