Reiki News
	Reiki Master Diane Lynn Gelinas, M.S.W., C.H.
	104 Douglas Drive, Candia, NH 03034
	(603) 483-0132
	Debtwise@aol.com
	diane@reikienergymedicine.com
October 2005

Just Be

Have you ever taken a walk in the forest or by the ocean and just be in the moment? No thoughts, no planning of events, or thinking out conversations in your mind....just being in the moment.  The Dali Llama suggest that we don't have to take out a special segment of the day to meditate, but rather instead we should be in the moment and meditating through out the day. This means when we are doing the dishes, taking a shower, brushing our teeth, or walking in the woods we can be in mindfulness.  All of these can be powerful spiritual experiences. 

I am a daily meditator and have learned through discipline, and application to sit and go into the gap every morning.  Since I walk my dog every morning, rain or shine, I have also wanted to add this time as a walking meditation.  I gave up on using it as a form of exercise, at least  for the most part, as my dog Scooby loves to stop to sniff every thing in sight or everything in "smell" I should say.  So it is rather hard to get a good pace going with her.  I even went as far as to tie a yellow Velcro ribbon on her leash in hopes that every time I saw it, it would remind me to go back to just being.  Most of the time all I completely forgot about the ribbon.

Then this summer I tried again.  Actually Shirley Maclaine inspired me when I read in her latest book, "Out on A Leash" that she tries to do this every day for her morning walks with her dog Terri.  This time I tried a different technique.  Instead of the Velcro ribbon I now do Chakra Activation as I start my walk up the hill toward the path in the forest near my house.  By time I am at the end of the hill I have visualized all my chakras flowing fully and expanded with color.  I then spend some time thinking about all the things I am grateful for that day and things I am grateful for in my life.  I include things that have not occurred yet as I also start to "Create My Day." as described in the movie "What the Bleep Do We Know".  (If you haven't seen this yet, I highly recommend it.). By time this is done I have set the preparation for a remarkable hour experience every morning and I am able to be in the moment.

I have walked this path many times yet each day I see something new or see it in a different way.  When I remain in the moment I am able to see new flowers, or trees or hear different birds.  Often there are a flock of geese on the golf course or flying over head that I might have missed if I was lost in thought.  I have not been able to spend the entire hour without thoughts.  Just like a quiet, sitting meditation there are time when the chatter of the mind will begin.  Since Scoobs likes to sniff or pee a lot that is my focus to check to see where I am.  I use the time as a reminder to Just Be.  I will often look up and see a beautiful tree I didn't notice before.  Many times right at that moment a bird will fly over head or maybe several birds.  Often they are bright colors of yellow or blue.  I have come to believe this is no coincidence and that adds to the sacredness of the moment.  More often than night my third eye is expanded enough to see the energy flowing in the air above the trees.

Carrying this over in to other parts of the day have been challenging but rewarding and often astonishing.  I often read a chapter from Deepak Chopra's "Seven Laws of Spiritual Success" every morning before I meditate.  This week I have been reading the Chapter on "The Law of Least Effort."  Some of the direct quotes you will find below in "Thoughts for the Month."  Last Sunday as you may remember was a beautiful Indian summer day.  I had plans on working all day in my garden, however, by the time I got home from my daily walk with Scoobs I threw that idea out of the window as it was too glorious of a day for even the garden work that I Loved.  It had to be an outing day.  My husband and I call them "Scooby Sundays" as the three of us take off for a picnic or walk in the woods or a drive to the coast.  I knew that if I did this it would serious put my schedule off the next week as I had to get some fall planting down on another day. I was astonished at how easy it was to find the time with just some minor adjustments of my schedule in the next few days.  Because I took the time for rest, relaxation and fun, I was able to harness more energy to get more done the rest of the week.  I was also more creative in how I used my time and tweaking what really needed to be done and deciding what didn't need to be done.  Most importantly I found that not only did I get the things I needed to done, I had more time than I thought I would and I wasn't stressed.

I am referring to more than time management skills here.  Time management skills can be helpful, however, they often can make us more stressed if we don't check things off our list.  I am referring to balance in life.  Taking time out for exercise, play, meditation and relaxation.  Most of the time we all think that it will create more of a havoc on our schedules and we might get stressed out thinking about taking time for this.  When in fact, the opposite happens.  If we routinely do this on a daily basis, we find we have more time on our hands and are using our time better and are more effectively.  It is very hard to imagine this until you experience it.  Believe me I know as I didn't understand this for years.

Take some time to read the quotes below for a deeper appreciation of this concept.  Also, if you haven't read "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success" by Deepak Chopra this is another book to add to your reading list.  Life is short.  Ask yourself, when is the last time you sat with a butterfly?