Reiki Classes for Women with Cancer: Wellness Scholarships are being funded now for Reiki class offerings in 2024. Come read about the fundraising campaign and find out more. A woman you know might benefit from a scholarship nomination. She might even be you!
Introduction
Empowering Resilience is our Giving Tuesday 2023 fundraising campaign. We are raising funds to offer scholarships for women on a cancer journey and their allies. Recipients can use these funds to access nutrition coaching [link], clarity catalyst [link] (a scientifically-based mindfulness workshop), and Reiki classes. Our programs are offered online in real-time (not recorded), and we meet in brief sessions over varying amounts of time.
Watch our 60-second video for an overview. Check recent blog posts highlighting the fundraiser and Giving Tuesday to find out more, or visit our campaign here to donate. You can also text CANCERSUX to 44321 anytime to donate from your phone.
Please take a moment to discover why this campaign matters to us and how your generosity will help others.
We need to catch up on our targeted goals and could use your help! It is a simple process, and small donations are very welcome. Send us $5, or make a more generous offer. We are grateful for your support. Your generosity will make a difference in lives. Thank you.
Campaign Overview
The Empowering Resilience campaign is Whole Self Unity’s primary 2023 fundraiser. We are a 501C3 nonprofit organization. The purpose is to collect funds so that women on a cancer journey and their allies can access self-care classes in the coming year. In addition to Reiki classes, we offer Nutrition Coaching and mindfulness training through Clarity Catalyst (links provided later).
Our campaign is active from November 12, 2023 (our organization’s birthday!) through January 3, 2024, with a push for donations on Giving Tuesday. If you are finding out about this and Giving Tuesday has come and gone, it is not too late to add your support!
We hope sharing our coming attractions will inspire you to:
attend a Reiki class with us next year (calendar link coming soon!) OR
all of the above.
Women on a Cancer Journey and their Allies
Our wellness scholarships are also for women supporting those on a cancer journey as caregivers, support systems, and healing sounding boards. We call this out specifically because we want to help those healing from a cancer diagnosis AND the team of loved ones surrounding each patient, making the healing road possible. Cancer affects far more than the body, and we believe that offering tools to improve self-care benefits all facing the seriousness of this disease.
We also recognize that the work of procedures, scans, treatments, surgeries, and medications is plenty to do at the peak of treatment. Therefore, we do not stipulate when someone is eligible for these scholarships. In fact, we will primarily be seeing our recipients after most of the medical treatments are complete, and the healing process is about adjusting to a new life on the other side of the journey.
Wellness Scholarships
Our organization offers access to integrative and holistic therapies as an addition to medical care. We concentrate on facilitating connection to other like-minded individuals, fostering growth from the techniques and tools we work with, and connecting in community with others. We offer these services online, in real-time (not recorded), to all interested in the experience.
Each practitioner offers these services at a discounted rate as part of our commitment to increasing access and exposure to these tools for those who otherwise might not be able to afford them. With the help of generous donations, we hope to offer scholarships that further defray these costs or provide classes for free.
Cancer is hard enough and always taps the ones on the healing journey physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially. We hope to raise $2,000 to defray costs for qualified applicants. We urgently seek your help to accomplish this goal.
Follow this link to access our campaign to donate now, or text CANCERSUX to 44321 to donate from your phone.
Reiki Classes and Scholarships
We offer two primary ways to learn Reiki as part of the Wellness Scholarship campaign: Reiki Level I and Reiki Level II. If someone needs access to Reiki sessions and does not want to learn Reiki, this is also available as an option. In addition, if an applicant is already a Reiki practitioner, we have additional offerings that could be accessed using this scholarship on a case-by-case basis (as funds allow).
Reiki I is a beginning class that meets weekly for a month. Meetings are 3 hours long via Zoom and include weekly practical assignments to help solidify skills. This level of Reiki is primarily about giving yourself Reiki daily to strengthen your immune system and encourage contemplation of intentions that drive our thoughts, words, and actions.
Reiki II is an intermediate Reiki class that teaches skills needed to hold positive energy for others–allowing students to offer Reiki sessions to friends and loved ones. Part of this training is also about offering distance healing sessions and excellent techniques for an online class. This class requires six sessions, which may be provided weekly for six weeks or every other week over three months.
Reiki Classes for Women with Cancer: Wellness Scholarship Nominations
If you are interested in applying for a Wellness Scholarship or want to nominate someone else, then please follow this link to begin that process. If you are interested in taking a Reiki Class, please let us know in the form what interests you or your loved one.
Remember that we are interested in those who are or have been diagnosed with cancer of any form (whether they await treatment, are in treatment, or have completed treatment). Outcomes are unimportant to us, as we know the tools and techniques we teach can and will be helpful at any time–before, during, or after treatment–regardless of treatment or medical outcomes.
In addition, if you are part of the support team for someone navigating cancer, especially if that loved one is no longer with us, we want you to access these essential self-care and self-love tools. Again, we are unconcerned about outcomes, results, or where you and your loved one are on the journey. We are more concerned with supporting and offering respite to all affected by this disease.
Once our fundraising campaign is complete, this nomination form will remain open until funds are no longer available or all 2024 classes are full.
Reiki Intention Bowl
Since this is a post about Reiki, one thing in our campaign is more explanation. Our $25 donation level qualifies donors to place intentions in a 33-day Reiki intention bowl. Our practitioners will give this bowl a continuous flow of Reiki energy 24 hours a day. It is a beautiful way to release worries to the universe for resolution with love and Reiki. At the time of donation, we will collect names for dedications or memorials. However, we will also send a form allowing donors to place up to 3 intentions in the bowl.
If you cannot donate but want to leave an intention in this bowl, contact me at amy@wholeselfunity.org.
Conclusion
Thank you for reading! I hope you learned more about our Empowering Resilience Wellness Scholarship campaign. Please consider donating to defray the costs of self-care therapies, workshops, and classes for women on a cancer journey and their allies. Text CANCERSUX to 44321 to donate now OR follow this link. We need your help!
If you cannot donate now but know someone (even yourself!) who could benefit from a Wellness Scholarship or a Reiki Class or treatment, please use this link to fill out the nomination form.
Feel free to connect with our socials and check out our calendar to register for Reiki shares, treatments, workshops, and classes. We can’t wait to meet you in heart space!
Thank you for making this campaign successful. Your generosity means so much to the recipients and the practitioners at Whole Self Unity. Thank you for joining hands with us!
Better Sleep–something we all need right now. Insomnia is a product of our uncertain and changing times. We can cope with it. Here are some tips for getting the rest you deserve.
What is Insomnia?
Insomnia, according to WebMD, is a trouble falling or staying asleep. It can happen to many of us at times (short term), or plague some over the long term. Doctors classify insomnia as either primary (no underlying health-related causes) or secondary (caused by physical issues like depression, asthma, arthritis, heartburn, etc.). In other words, sometimes your body keeps you awake because it doesn’t feel well, and sometimes your mind is unable to rest.
Insomnia causes
Photo by Mat Brown from Pexels
Causes of primary insomnia include things like stress (hello 2020!), environment (light in the room, noise), and temporary physical issues (jetlag). Depression and anxiety (oh, hello again, 2020!) are considered causes of secondary insomnia. If you are trying desperately to sleep, looking up this article at dark-thirty, I can offer some tips, and you can talk to your medical provider later. The Sleep Foundation also points out that things like irregular sleep schedule or poor nutrition can be causes of insomnia as well. If you haven’t figured it out yet, our unpredictable lives during the pandemic of 2020, and the uncertainty now is a ripe environment for losing sleep. If you’re tired…you aren’t alone. Also, if you’re trying hard to cope, lack of sleep is just making that harder. So let’s get back to sleep.
Here are some recommendations suggested by both WebMD and the Sleep Foundation on how to deal with your insomnia:
Get a consistent sleep schedule–wake up at the same time.
Get some exercise–physical activity helps you rest better.
Disconnect from electronics at least an hour before bedtime.
Get comfortable: emphasize relaxation (lavender essential oil, vetiver balls/mats, and hops pillows can help).
Avoid foods that create distress in your body. You may wish to limit or avoid caffeine or alcohol.
Wind down gently before bedtime (read a paper book, meditation, a warm bath, sex).
If insomnia continues, keep a sleep diary and talk to your doctor.
As a Reiki practitioner, who also has Autism/ADHD/PTSD, I regularly use my Reiki to curtail stress, anxiety, depression and all the sleeplessness these things can cause.
Reiki Can Help
The Sleep Foundation has published information on relaxation, and how to put yourself into an environment designed to aid falling and staying asleep–including meditation, mindfulness, and consciously breathing.
Practitioners and teachers have offered testimonials to the International Center for Reiki Training (ICRT) about how their students began to sleep better right after taking an initial Reiki class. Another student of William Rand wrote an article for Psychology Today about how her Reiki practice helped her sleep more soundly. That’s all well and good, and I hope those of you reading this in the middle of the night will consider us for an online Reiki class when you are ready. If you aren’t ready to learn Reiki, maybe it is time to attend a Reiki Share and try a little Reiki or learn more about it. We have regular Reiki Shares on Tuesdays, 5-6:30pm pacific time. Reach out to a Reiki practitioner to receive a session. We do have practitioners available for online services, and Reiki works very well this way. If you live where personal services are safe to receive, feel free to reach out and book with a local practitioner–but know that distance services will be just as effective.
This meditation is infused with Reiki, by me (Amy). Just click here, and let the meditation play.
Close your eyes.
Breathe.
Relax.
Sleep well.
The times we live in, Friends, they are enough to make a Saint throw tantrums. Sheltering in place, business closures, unemployment, virus, politics, climate change…oh, now I have you all stressed out. Oops. Sorry. At least you know you have come to the right place? Take a breath; I can help.
Reiki is a way to smooth the energy that runs through you and around you. It is a Japanese technique that has been around for about hundred years–longer if you look into ways that “laying on of hands” has been used throughout history. Stress reduction and relaxation are the hallmarks of any Reiki session. Some people get much needed rest from the troubles of daily life; some experience far greater healing.
Stress reduction and relaxation are very healing for the body and the mind. Taking a little break allows the body to reset the immune system, dropping respiration, heart rate, blood pressure, brain waves, and altering hormonal levels in the body. The body gets a much needed break, and returns to the world refreshed. This allows the mind, emotions, and spirit to also come more fully (and mindfully) into wholeness. The result is that Reiki can bring you into better resonance with yourself, and allow all the parts of you to work more effectively on living a good life or solving problems.
Really, you are the healer. I’m honored to witness your transformation when I facilitate this energetic shift for you.
I know, I know, it sounds like I am describing a nap. A good Reiki session often works like a power nap, but it is a little different:
1) Reiki usually takes you deeper than a nap, with greater healing,
2) Reiki usually works faster than a nap–a 20 min session can feel like a full night’s sleep and
3) Reiki usually works even when you are super keyed up and stressed out. I’ve given sample sessions to people in the middle of bustling, chaotic tents, heard them say they won’t be able to relax there, and heard them snore within 30 seconds. (Although, I call it Reiki purring, not snoring–because going deep enough to fall asleep in a Reiki session just means the Reiki can go deeper).
Okay, so I hope I have convinced you that Reiki sounds nice. That the benefits sound like something you need. That you can grasp how it could help both your body and your mind right now. BUT…you say you don’t want to go into a room with someone new right now? No worries!
Remember when I said that Reiki works with the energy flowing in and around your physical body? The thing about that energy, it isn’t bound by time or space. I can work on you from three time zones away, tomorrow, and you will still experience the effects. I promise. But we can start a little easier–I can give you Reiki over the phone, over zoom, over Facebook Live. We don’t need to share air or swap microbes during global pandemic for Reiki to help you restore balance and harmony in your life right now.
I know that is a lot to process. And it sounds too good to be true. Believe me, I get it. I and many other Reiki practitioners had loads of inner tantrums as the pandemic closed our businesses, and curtailed our community activities. We wanted to keep doing business face to face as we had been. From our study and practice, we know that Reiki is very effective on distance healings, but just like the rest of the world, we wanted our world to move forward without changing. That’s pretty normal. We’re all moving through the loss of our old communities and ways of life right now. Wanting to throw a tantrum and needing time to grieve is SUPER normal right now.
Recently, I held a Distance Reiki Share. That means several Reiki practitioners gathered via Zoom and gave each other Reiki. That evening I heard, “wow! that really works!” and “I could feel it just like I was in the room with you!” several times. I even found myself saying similar things. I think, in our grief, we had forgotten how effective Distance Reiki can be (even though we KNEW better). We were all feeling a little guilty that we had needed to send to one another, and had been too wrapped up in the tantrum to just get to work via Distance. What can I say? We’re all human. And the unwelcome interruption of the virus has effected us all.
Still, if I had to have this experience to really remember how potent, and present Distance Reiki is and can be–my guess is there are many others out there who also need a reminder. Or even others who have never experienced Distance Reiki, and are very skeptical. Tell you what, let’s just give it a try. Be bold enough to come experiment with me online.
Follow this link, and like my Reiki Nomad Facebook page or the Whole Self Unity Facebook page. I offer Live meditations and Reiki regularly. In fact, here is a link to a recent Reiki Share . Let’s just see if it helps you. What have you got to gain? Reset. Health. Wholeness. A calmer outlook. And much more.
In light of the pandemic, I am moving my business primarily online. That means I will be teaching Reiki and Self-Healing Classes online. There will be weekly Reiki Shares for practitioners/students and for all community members (no need to know anything about Reiki). I will also be offering Distance Reiki Sessions: 30, 60, and 90 minutes via Skype, Zoom, or Messenger. Let me know when you are ready to help yourself, and I will be honored to witness your transformation. Yes. It really works.
The Empowering Resilience campaign is Whole Self Unity’s primary 2023 fundraiser. We are a 501C3 nonprofit organization. The purpose is to collect funds so that women on a cancer journey and their allies can access self-care classes in the coming year. In addition to Reiki classes, we offer Nutrition Coaching and mindfulness training through Clarity Catalyst (links provided later).
Our wellness scholarships are also for women supporting those on a cancer journey as caregivers, support systems, and healing sounding boards. We call this out specifically because we want to help those healing from a cancer diagnosis AND the team of loved ones surrounding each patient, making the healing road possible. Cancer affects far more than the body, and we believe that offering tools to improve self-care benefits all facing the seriousness of this disease.
We offer two primary ways to learn Reiki as part of the Wellness Scholarship campaign: Reiki Level I and Reiki Level II. If someone needs access to Reiki sessions and does not want to learn Reiki, this is also available as an option. In addition, if an applicant is already a Reiki practitioner, we have additional offerings that could be accessed using this scholarship on a case-by-case basis (as funds allow).
If you are interested in applying for a Wellness Scholarship or want to nominate someone else, then please follow this link to begin that process. If you are interested in taking a Reiki Class, please let us know in the form what interests you or your loved one.
Thank you for reading! I hope you learned more about our Empowering Resilience Wellness Scholarship campaign. Please consider donating to defray the costs of self-care therapies, workshops, and classes for women on a cancer journey and their allies. Text CANCERSUX to 44321 to donate now OR follow this link. We need your help!
