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Reiki offers a gentle path to healing that many find deeply transformative. When you explore Reiki education and healing, you open a door to understanding energy, balance, and wellness in a new way. Whether you are just beginning or looking to deepen your practice, a comprehensive approach to Reiki education can guide you toward greater confidence and skill. In this post, I will share insights into what makes Reiki education thorough and effective. I will also highlight some

As I have been slowly working through my work as a doctoral student in the somatic psychology program, I have begun to realize a dream from long ago, that of a mental wellness clinic, one where there are many options to assist individuals in their body and mind care. And so begins this next endeavor, […]

Newscast of protest My name is Eileen Wurst and I am a psychotherapist Ph.D. student and researcher. I have lived and worked in West Seattle for 14 years. I love Lincoln Park for its towering evergreens, abundant wildlife, and quiet clean spaces. I have been coming here for over 20 years to enjoy this gift […]

For more than half of my life I have existed with the skin depigmentation condition of vitiligo which affects between .5-1% of the world’s population (Khuld, 2019). When the first albino white spots began to appear on my arms and hands when I was 26, I went into a panic, not wanting to appear ‘other […]

We are living in a time of immense technological advancement. In just the past few years, we have seen huge leaps forward in how we interact with technology, from virtual reality to artificial intelligence. And these advancements are having a huge impact on our lives, not just psychologically but socially as well. One of the […]

In the illustrations of my ancestral form, I had trouble recognizing what I had grown to think of as “myself.” Blechschmidt’s (2004) pictures of the growing embryo reminded me of a science-fiction novel about the evolution of an extraterrestrial species. I found the unidentifiable early growth both fascinating and alarming. I’ve seen comparable photos throughout […]

Here is an excerpt from my Somatic Psychology class exploring the spinal developmental structure known as the notochord. Even though the sensation of the spinal pattern is subtle and invisible, in my experience, the energy that goes through moves at the speed of light. Since I have channeled Reiki energy through this structure for a […]

Insight Reiki Meditation (IRM), developed by Eileen Dey Wurst, is a mindfulness and somatic-based practice that has been found to increase embodiment. This enables access to the transliminal state of consciousness, which has been shown to have beneficial effects on mental health. To date, however, IRM has not been part of a formal study. The […]

In thinking about how Qigong practice permits the exploration of the transitions between formless to form, I found it helpful to remember the Taoist image of Yin/Yang. Each aspect of that symbol, whether dark or light flows into and out of each other, yet it seems they are separated by some sort of boundary or […]

The 5-element system and yin/yang theory imported to Japan from China provided a view of the body interacting with the greater world both around and within it (Picone,1989). Maintaining the balance of each element in the system and the equilibrium of yin and yang, is both a responsibility of the individual self and of the […]

Taking the dive into Hinduism and Ayurveda studies this week rekindled my own multiple decades of practice in the energetic bodywork methods of Polarity therapy and Reiki. In Asad & Coakley (1997), I was reminded of the innate balance in the composition all bodies have: satva, rajas and tamas. Polarity therapy emphasizes balance between these […]

In the sema, the whirling motion permits a Sufi to use their body as a way in which to connect with the cosmos, to enter an altered state and to both symbolically and somatically become one with all that is spinning, the planets, the cosmos and the cells within the body (Sabra, 2013). As this […]

The central energic channel, or sushumna in the yogic/Ayurvedic tradition, is what a Reiki practitioner utilizes when working with healing Reiki energy. In our earliest development as embryos, we have the forerunner of this channel. It is called the notochord. The notochord is an embryonic structure that serves as a central column by which other […]

Welwood (1984) defined spiritual bypassing as the tendency to try to avoid or prematurely transcend basic human needs, feelings, and developmental tasks through the use of spiritual practices and beliefs to ameliorate the suffering from past wounds. Sheridan (2017) concluded that “From a psychological perspective, such bypassing cuts off the opportunity to address and resolve […]

Excerpt from my own personal story of cultivating an embodied life: The practitioner begins the Insight Reiki process with curious inquiry. The first observation in beginning the practice is in attention. What is occurring right now. What’s the state of mind like? What’s the physical body doing? Is there a sense of urgency, lethargy, or […]

It feels to me as if I have been ‘surfing’ on the waves of my past experiences this week and standing up tall and not falling off and being able to give concise, meaningful and even provocative thoughts and comments on how I relate to the idea of language as a mirror through which one […]

Over the last decades, each time I offered myself Reiki, I also incorporated what is known as the Reiki principles or precepts. They could be considered a point of view and have permitted me to achieve both personal and collective change. The Reiki principles all begin with “Just for today…” The first one is “Just […]

In my adulthood, the process I undertook was more internal through my personal experience and evolution during many hundreds of individual bodywork sessions I experienced as part of my own self-care and self-discovery. Each session was both transportive and transformational. Some sessions were purely for pain and stress relief, but most were to facilitate further […]

In my course on origins of somatic psychology, this week we focus on the breath. I am reminded of my experience when I completed my scuba diving certification and through this process I came to tangibly experience what I’ve come to embody as a Reiki practitioner and teacher. My discussion became a channeled essay. In […]

The plants in the forest grew wild with abandon. Overflowing with the force of life. Then death suddenly came on the wind. A fire spreading with each exhale. Charred. Empty. Still. Those that survived became scorched by the flames. Blackened bark with life. And then, slowly…month by month…a layer of skin was laid down to […]