First Aid with Reiki and Remedies that Work

Healing an Injured Knee

This weekend I had a couple of small “accidents” that made me so grateful for my home first aid kit and Reiki!  Saturday, while walking my dog Tilly, I tripped and landed with full force on my left knee.  I knew it could be serious, as I felt it swelling quickly. I sat down immediately and applied Reiki directly for about 5 minutes, until I could feel the pain and inflammation recede. My sweet little dog was confused, but after a minute lay down in front of me and waited.  We were able to continue our walk, though I made it a short one.  I mostly rested it that day, and took Arnica homeopathic remedy as soon as I got home to help relieve the swelling and bruising.  I also took Rescue Remedy, a flower essence that is excellent for any physical or emotional trauma or stress.  It helped my body release the trauma quickly, so the healing can begin quickly.

I continued to give Reiki to my knee off and on all day, iced it, and took Arnica 30C a few more times before bed. When I woke the next morning, I had no pain at all!  I could see and feel a bruise where I’d landed, but I could tell it was mostly healed already and that it would continue to resolve easily.

Remedies to Keep on Hand

  • Rescue Remedy – I carry a bottle of drops in my purse, have one in my medicine cabinet, and always travel with it as well. It is invaluable for any situation where you have a physical trauma (accident, cut, burn, fall…) and for an emotional stress or trauma as well (frightening news, an accident, any kind of shock, etc) Costs about $10-15/bottle.
  • Arnica 30c Homeopathic Remedy – this is excellent for anything involving bruising or swelling, especially if you start when you first become aware of it.  It can be taken if you sprain or strain a muscle, fall or have an accident with any force, before and after many medical or dental procedures (surgery, tooth removal, etc.)  Costs about $10-15/bottle.
  • Flexible frozen ice pack – you can reuse these flexible ice packs endlessly. It helps when you need to apply ice to a curved part of the body, which applies to most parts! If you don’t have one in the freezer, frozen vegetables work well too (peas, corn…) Costs about $5-10 for a reusable ice pack.
  • Reiki! Once you have taken a Reiki class and are attuned, you have the healing energies of Reiki available to you forever.  This universal healing force is available at all times, at no cost and has amazing abilities to bring healing on the emotional, physical and spiritual levels.  The sooner a trauma is addressed, the easier and faster it is to heal.  See here for more about learning Reiki to use for healing yourself and others.
  • Lavender Essential Oil – this is an all around fabulous healing oil for so many things! It is excellent applied directly to the skin for burns, small scrapes and bug bites.  It also helps to relax, can be used at bedtime to calm and create a relaxed environment for sleep. It’s an adaptogen, meaning it will give you what you need, so if you need to wake up and have more energy, it can help with that as well. Therapeutic grade, organic essential oils are important – Young Living is one brand I use and recommend.  See here for more about using Essential Oils. To order Young Living brand essential oils, sign up as a member and use my member number: 553228.
  • Coconut Oil – this is excellent for the skin, for soothing and moisturizing dry skin.  It’s a good soothing, healing oil, useful for burns and small cuts and I’ve known people to use it for healing tattoos too. I also use it for cooking and put a big spoonful in my morning smoothie, as it has so many health benefits I can’t list them all here.  I like to use organic, raw and unrefined coconut oil. If you don’t  like the coconut smell and taste, you can use the refined coconut oil on your skin or in cooking.

Healing a Burn

The next evening, I was hungry and in a hurry, and reached in to the (hot!) toaster to retrieve a small piece of delicious nut/seed bread. Somehow my thumb pressed onto a burning hot piece of metal, and I leapt back quickly. I immediately stuck it under running cold water, as my thumb had searing pain. i could tell right away this was a worse burn than I’ve had before from just quickly touching a rack in the oven, as the cold water didn’t begin to take away the burning sensation.

Next, I got an ice cube wrapped in a clean paper towel and applied that, while I went to get my Lavender Essential Oil. I applied a couple drops of Lavender Oil directly to the area – I could see the skin raised and red about a half inch long.  It started to cool and the pain started to subside.  Again, I took Rescue Remedy, as when we have physical pain, our body registers it as trauma and shock.  I gave Reiki around my thumb, without touching the skin since it was tender, and continued off and on whenever it started to heat up. About an hour later it was much better, but still burning when I took off the ice, and I was concerned about being able to sleep comfortably.  I put another drop of Lavender EO on it, and also some pure coconut oil, which brought some soothing relief.

I gave Reiki to my thumb and did a full Reiki treatment on myself before going to sleep.  I do this most days anyway, but felt it was especially important after these two separate accidents! I clearly wasn’t being very present and aware in my movement, and an overall Reiki treatment helps me get more grounded, more relaxed, and more “in” my body.

When I woke the next morning, I had NO pain, and it was still a tiny bit red and raised, but MUCH less than the night before.  Today, the second day, it looks like this, and it’s hard to see.

healing, Reiki, essential oils, home remedies,

One day later, the burn is almost completely healed!

I hope these simple remedies are helpful to you! They’ve been my daily companions for many years and I am so grateful to have them. I’d love to hear if you would share your own remedies that you find especially helpful.

Alternative Methods of Healing That Help You Physically and Mentally

While I have been focusing my writing on my other blog, Luminous Blue, about the healing journey I’ve been on through my daughter’s illness and transition from cancer, I am delighted to welcome back guest blogger Marcela De Vivo.  Today she writes about the benefits of alternative methods for healing mind, body and spirit, including Reiki, aromatherapy, yoga, meditation and nutrition.

Alternative Methods of Healing That Help You Physically and Mentally

While traditional medicine does have its place in terms of health care, real healing often takes place outside of a doctor’s office. Whether you have a physical ailment or a mental block, or a combination of both, prescription drugs, people in white coats, and a dizzying array of tests often don’t provide the healing you seek.

Healing, within and without, requires more than modern medicine can provide. Often people recover from a major illness, but suffer psychologically after the trauma of the experience. Whole body healing requires time, good health care, and occasionally, alternative methods of healing.

The methods suggested below have demonstrated some healing benefit, regardless of the physical or mental complaint. If you find that your doctor’s care, while good, is incomplete, consider trying some of the alternative options to support your current healing practices.

Reiki. Reiki is often lumped in with other forms of body work like massage therapy. However, Reiki involves very little physical touching, if any at all, and you remained fully clothed throughout the session. It induces deep relaxation through the help of a Reiki practitioner, who will help channel life force healing energy to aid in your healing by holding their hands over specific positions over the body, and treats the whole body, mind, and spirit. If you have a particular area of weakness, the Reiki practitioner may spend more time channeling Universal Reiki Energy into that area. Reiki has seen some success with treating Post-Traumatic Stress syndrome in soldiers.

Reiki, Lucia Maya, Reiki treatment,

Reiki Session

Aromatherapy. Linked with increased feelings of relaxation and well-being, essential oils aromatherapy is an easy and inexpensive way to immediately improve your mood. Certain oils like chamomile and lavender are associated with stress relief, going so far as to slow down brain waves. Grapefruit is considered an uplifting scent, and can help improve anxiety and depression. Peppermint, tea tree, and eucalyptus are antiviral and antibacterial, so using these essential oils can bolster your immune system in warding off illness while you’re in the process of healing.

Young Living, essential oils, aromatherapy, Lucia Maya,

Essential Oils used in aromatherapy

Yoga and Meditation. While these two are separate practices, they are so inexorably linked (yoga is sometimes considered a moving meditation) that they should both be practiced for best results. Depending on the type of yoga you choose, you can improve heart health, muscle strength, while gaining clarity of mind, improved focus, and reduced levels of stress. Healing requires a lot of mental energy—yoga and meditation helps you learn to channel that energy, while also giving you a much-needed mental break. Meditation is proven to reduce stress and can be used to help your body heal itself.

Lucia Maya, heart center, meditation, Reiki,

In a heart-centered meditation

Nutrition. What you eat during the healing process can have a major effect on the outcome. To ensure that your body has all the necessary nutrients in the best possible form, focus on whole, minimally processed or cooked foods. Getting plenty of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants helps boost your immune system and provides your body with the building blocks it needs to improve. Plus, what you eat can affect your mood and energy levels. Too much sugar and refined carbs and you may suffer from mood swings and energy crashes, neither of which is good for you mental well-being.

These are just a few of the alternative methods of healing that can help support your current practices, or fill in the gaps that modern medicine leaves. If you’re looking for a holistic healing experience, consider adding alternative healing options to what you’re already doing.

Marcela De Vivo is a freelance writer from Los Angeles and longtime Reiki and yoga enthusiast. As a mother of three children, one of whom suffers from Cerebral Palsy, she knows how alternative therapies can help with healing your body as well as your mind. You can follow more of her journey on PrayforNathan.org.

{ Email Lucia Maya to schedule a Reiki Healing Session with essential oils }

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins

I was so happy to read this, as I have felt much (maybe all, except the part about chocolate!) of this to be true for many years, and I live my life with these principles in mind.  I don’t think this is simply about preventing cancer, but about creating wellness and enhancing our overall well-being, through our food, our beliefs, our habits.  Whatever you do choose to take into your body – ENJOY it!

This is not to say that everyone who follows these guidelines won’t have cancer, or that for one who does have cancer, you will be cured if you do this.  I have known many for whom that is not true, and we can’t always know what healing looks like, sometimes the illness itself is the medicine we need!

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer
cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have
multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients
that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after
treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the
cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable
size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a
person’s lifetime.

3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer
cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and
forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has
nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic,
but also to environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing
diet to eat more adequately and healthy, 4-5 times/day
and by including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing
cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells
in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc., and can
cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars
and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often
reduce tumor size.
However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from
chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either
compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb
to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to
mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy.
Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer
cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of
digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the
intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By
refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes
to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the
body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system
(IP6, Flor-essence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals,
EFAs etc.) to enable the body’s own killer cells to destroy
cancer cells.. Other supplements like vitamin E are known
to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s
normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or
unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit.

A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior
be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put
the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to
have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated
environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to
get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

*CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc. are made
with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute
would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small
amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in
color Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the
gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based
diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little other meat,
like chicken. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole
grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into
an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked
food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live
enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to
cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance
growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building
healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most
vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw
vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at
temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C)..

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high
caffeine Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer
fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or
filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap
water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave..

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don’t freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food.