Since January, 2011:

Relaxed

After reading the book on Meditation and Dreamwork, I have gone from what a doctor labeled as “chronic hyperventilation” to breathing deeply into my diaphragm.  It was not until I read the book that I was even aware of how I was breathing – very shallow, very quickly and into my upper chest.

My mind, for the most part, is a lot quieter and I feel as though I am not letting fear stop me from doing anything.  Every once in a while there is a panic that sets in about money and needing to find a job.  I can thankfully calm my mind and remember that all I need in life will come to me when needed.

Money

The biggest fear in leaving my “high paying, secure, career” for the unknown, was money.  Around the time I was making the decision as to whether or not to return to work post LTD, I came across the following horoscope:

This is one of the best times of the year for you and it is about to get even better.  Whatever risks you take you will succeed brilliantly.  What would you do if you knew you could not fail? Do it now.

Taking the leap of faith I did has really paid off for me.  I may be able to take most of this year off, leaving me the time necessary to take courses and get the practice in I desire for the adventures into my new career.  The small piece of citrine I have in my wallet has helped draw money to it.

Happiness

The only glimmer of I hope I had was in learning more about Holistic Healing and Energy Medicine.  I knew a magic pill was only going to deal with the symptoms and not the underlying problem that was causing my dis-eases.  As an analyst, I was gifted with the knowledge that you often see symptoms of a problem and not the real problem itself.  This is also knowledge that was relayed from the various chiropractors I have had over the years.

A year ago, I was really down and out to the point of wondering if I would ever find happiness in any area of my life.  It was really hard to believe that I would ever crawl out from under that dark rock I was under.  Here I am now, atop the rock, enjoying life and having so much appreciation for what I have in my life.  As if I didn’t already have enough admiration for Mother Earth and all her wonders, last year I watched a documentary on the past 40 million years of the Earth and how it came to be as it is today.  Ever since then, even more, I really love and appreciate this beautiful planet we live on and marvel anytime I look at something that came out of the Earth.  Especially rocks and crystals because of how many thousands or millions of years it took those several layers to form.

Depression

Last weekend I did my first two Crystal Chakra Healings a few days apart.  I need to write a separate blog post about this but I was over the moon after the first one and don’t think I stopped smiling for a few days afterwards.  It has awoken something inside me that I have not seen in I don’t know how many years.  It has been since then, that I have started wondering if the last of my depression is gone but I don’t want to jinx myself in thinking it is.  I do feel very encouraged to know that all the dedication and hard work I have put into the last year of my life is paying off and life does have the potential to get continue getting better.

Anxiety

I saw a cardiologist about five to six years ago because of the heart palpitations I was having which was after undertaking some major changes in my life.  He gave me a clean bill stating I was “pretty healthy for a fat guy” and told there was absolutely nothing wrong with my heart and the palpitations were either from caffeine or anxiety.  Turns out it was anxiety since after removing caffeine from my diet, the palpitations continued and I was since diagnosed with anxiety.

The anxiety started going down after primarily learning breathing exercises (from Meditation and Dreamwork) among other tools to help reduce symptoms but they were still there.  It was not until the Fall when I decided to move forward in my life that the anxiety symptoms almost completely went away.

Inner Peace

There are things in my life that have made it hard for me to find peace within myself and body but this has changed in the past few weeks.  I have been waiting years for surgery that is finally coming up this year that will require at least 6-8 weeks to fully recover from and fearing it will interrupt my Touch for Health courses.  I have been programming for the surgery to happen in May, after my courses, and hoping I will be rewarded from finally pushing forward in my life over the past few months after putting my life on hold the past 5-6 years awaiting this surgery.

Voice

Before certain changes in my life started, I was a lot more talkative and open to those around me, including people I did not know.  Even when around people I do know, I have been very closed off and just not wanting to be interact with anyone.  I have noticed in the past few weeks that I have started opening up to and talking with people again.

I am very excited and really looking forward to the year ahead even though there is a lot of uncertainty!  Especially when all the above has changed and happened in 2011, all from me stopping fear from moving forward in my life.

For the past several years, I had started to wonder if I either needed glasses or if there was something wrong with my brain that I could not read something in its entirety.  I am happy to report that I have read several of my new books, cover to cover, over the past year and no longer feel like there is something wrong with me when it comes to my inability to read.  Apparently I just was not reading the right subjects for myself!  Three of the books I have read through three times from cover to cover and a couple of them twice through!  This (among several other things) is giving me further validation for the path I am walking in life.

A few of the books I have picked up are a bit terse (more medical based and/or written by academics) but I am plugging through them anyways.  They have been the best sources of information behind how Energy Medicine and Holistic Healing works, backed by both science and scientific research.  A year later (and especially after reading those terser books), my understanding of Energy Medicine and Holistic Healing is starting to come full circle!

As wonder as the readings have been, I really want more experience in the “hands on” portion of my endeavor to becoming a holistic healer.  That’s not to say I have done no work outside of reading, just that I would like to be practicing a lot more then I am.  Volunteering for a local organisation using Touch for Health has not yet panned out due to my contact there being extremely busy over the holiday season which reminds me that I need to follow up with them again.

I had been getting antsy and needing to find something to do until the end of March since the Levels 3 and 4 of Touch for Health were postponed from late November/December to March/April.  I made the decision at the end of 2011 to focus on Crystal Healing and pulled the books on Crystals, Crystal Healing and Crystal Chakra Balancing off my shelf to read, study and take notes from.

There were a few hours over a few nights that I searched for local, online and correspondence courses that would be affordable, a reasonable time commitment, make sense to do using the given delivery, issue a certificate and most importantly, give me something to focus and ground myself into.  There is a website that offers three different crystal healing courses totaling $40USD.  I am skeptical about the quality and credibility of courses priced at $25 and $15 but figured it was not much money to lose should the courses not provide much value.

Then I came across another website that has three different levels of Crystal Healing, over 30 weeks, 10 weeks per level, new material each week and an exam at the end of each level.  I registered last Sunday after counting and seeing it would be exactly 10 weeks until Touch for Health Level 3 at the end of March.  The fact that this website charges you weekly, allowing you to cancel (and resume, both thru PayPal) the coursework at any time, made me feel that this site and its course material has some credibility.  I will work for a few weeks through the course before offering much insight into it and whether or not I would recommend it to others.  I may also at some point also do the other course.

Wish me luck!  Looking forward to unlocking the next week of material on Sunday!

We were headed to a crystal shop where the interpreter there used five clear quartz crystals the size and shape of marbles to do her readings.  I was to pick up the five crystal balls, swirl them around in my hand as you would a pair of Baoding Balls and then drop one at a time for her to read.  These crystal balls would not stay in my hand!  They scattered about the room, in opposite directions and rolled under tables.

We walked around the room to collect them.  I soon discovered that any time I put my hand near the crystal balls, they would either shoot across the room or they would move with the energy in my hand.  I could pick them up using my energy, not needing to touch them.  I was able to pick up one particular crystal ball and marveled looking into it.  There was so much imagery coming and going, each of which I said out loud as it came across the crystal ball.   Eventually the imagery stopped and my curiosity drew me to other crystals within the room that I could also move and pick up using energy.

There was one very large, heart shaped amethyst that I had tucked under my arm while I also had several other crystals in my hands, including some of the crystal marbles I had picked up.  I started feeling energy moving throughout my entire body which lasted several minutes.  The strongest of the vibrations came near the end with very large and powerful ones across my chest and thru my heart.  The sensations felt as though the crystals were tuning my body.

My eyes lit up the room which had other customers.  I excitedly said, “So, THAT’s what it feels like!”  As I looked around the room, I could see that the other customers knew that something amazingly powerful and transforming had just happened.  They smiled warmly at me as I came back into my own being.  I wanted to buy the heart shaped amethyst and looked for a price on it but couldn’t find one.

Then I was awoken from the dream and could hear my family getting up.  My black cat Jynx came in to lay with me.  He seemed excited as I pet him.  He sat down beside me with his upper body and paws across my heart, purring.

Amethyst

To see an amethyst in your dream signifies peace of mind and satisfaction in your professional and personal life. You are content with where you are in your life. It does not take much to make you happy.

Crystal

To see a crystal in your dream signifies wholeness, purity, healing, development and unity. It represents your higher Self. The dream may be a metaphor for something in your life that is crystallizing or taking shape.

To dream that you are looking into a crystal represents how you are looking within yourself to find your true destiny. Alternatively, it indicates your outlook of the future. 

Crystal Ball

To see or look through a crystal ball in your dream suggests that you are looking for guidance and direction in your life. It represents your outlook of the future.

http://www.dreammoods.com

The problem with using this method for gathering information, is that often between multiple sources, there are contradictions.  In a discipline such as chemistry, I imagine it could be potentially dangerous to mix the wrong quantities of chemicals together.  But when it comes to the field of Energy Medicine, I feel that unless you are intentionally trying to harm another being, there is no wrong way to do something.

I mention somewhere else on my website that I feel that there is no such thing as “wrong” – just what is right for yourself which may not be right for someone else but that does not make it “wrong”, just that it is not right for that individual.

Slowly but surely over 2011, my bookshelf grew, overtaking books from my prior career.  I only have one book on certain topics while others there are multiple books such as in the areas of Tarot, Acupressure, Crystals and Chakra’s.   I received the first of three shipments from orders placed over the holidays and also bought and downloaded audio books.  I am eagerly awaiting next weeks package that includes two books on finding Crystals within a few hours of where I live.  I even ordered some business cards that include appointment date and times on the back because the boxing day deal was too good to pass up.

I am starting to think I may have too many books on Crystal Healing but every time I pick up a new book, there is almost always new information – if even a chapter or a sentence – that is a new tidbit of information I did not have before.  Could I ever have too many books on Crystal Healing?  I don’t think so, but, I am starting to realize I need to practice and spend more time with my crystals and less with just the books.

Having so many books on Crystal Healing (which is my main area of focus these days), I have decided that I need to sit down and really embrace some of the crystals – both in working with them but also learning about them:  What are they?  Where do they come from?  What do they look like?  Why do they look like that?  and most of all, What do they help heal?

Last year, I purchased several Crystals including two sets for chakra healing.  Because I also have a lot of books on Chakra Healing (including Crystal Chakra Healing), I have decided to work with them.  Of course, as soon as I pull out my books, they all differ in which crystals to use for each Chakra.  When I was first deciding, I was doing up a list to compare and would then choose which ones to use for myself and keep to one Crystal per Chakra.  As I sit here and write this, I am feeling that perhaps instead I should use the varying crystals and see how each of them differs and feels as part of my Crystal Chakra Healing.

I will need to also pull out the sewing machine to work on creating pouches for storing my crystals in.  Which is also reminding me, I need to purchase some sandalwood incense and start looking for a fishing tackle box to store them in.

My partner has been invited to several social gatherings by her friends, family and colleagues but I would almost always stay home.  During the Winter of 2010, I shocked us both by going to a gathering.  While we were walking down the driveway, my partner slipped and fell down, landing on our son who she was carrying down the very slippery driveway.  Both of them were upset and crying.  A woman I had not met before, came over to comfort them, asking if it was okay to place her hands on my partner.  After this encounter with our family, I felt myself drawn to her and spent most of my time talking with her even though there were a lot of people there I had met before and should have been more comfortable talking with.  Early into the conversation, I realized why I was drawn to her and why it was this gathering out of all others that I actually went to.  As we spoke, it came to light that she was a Crystal Healer.  We exchanged emails because I was interested in learning more about Crystal Healing and setup a time to meet at her place to chat.

After our first meeting and finding out about two places in town that sell crystals, I made my first trip to buy crystals at one of the local metaphysical stores (at that time, I could not find the other store).  The crystals they had for sale were mainly on three shelves with more spread throughout the store.  There was also a section within the store that had various gemstones which I never noticed until leaving.  There was not much that grabbed my attention that day but I did buy my first two pieces of quartz crystal:  one was a small wand that fit perfectly into the folds of my fingers; the other a much wider but shorter quartz crystal.

When I lived in Vancouver, my sisters and their kids would come to visit me.  My sister wanted to go to check out Granville Island (something I had yet to do myself) and we discovered the Crystal Ark (where my niece loved being out in the ark looking for crystals) as well as my other favourite store there, Dragonspace.  Even though after a Reiki session and my partner was sent there to pickup some Rose Quartz to put under our bed, I had not thought much of The Crystal Ark until after my Crystal Healer friend showed me some of the gorgeous pieces she had bought there and my interest in Crystal Healing was piquing.  Of course, after our visit and even more so after the visit to the local store, I was itching to get to The Crystal Ark and made my way there on the next trip to visit family on the coast.

Before our trip, I had been reading about Crystal Healing and had made up a list of the gemstones that I wanted, including a list of basic Chakra Crystals.  Although this was not my first trip into The Crystal Ark, it was the first time I went there with a purpose.  I must have spent well over an hour in there marveling over everything while taking note of all that caught my eye.  It was February so the store was not very busy because it was raining and tourist season had not yet started.  I introduced myself to Sonya and told her the journey I was on and mentioned my Crystal Healer friend in Kelowna who she knew and remembered.  Of course she lit up and was excited because she is a Crystal Healer herself and I am sure usually sees a lot of tourists in the shop because of it’s location on Granville Island.

Sonya has always been a great help in the store, guiding me on what types of pieces I might want to start using in my Crystal Healing adventures.  On my first trip, she helped guide me to picking up a large piece of black tourmaline, amethyst (which is the photo in the banner of this website) as well as some other crystals I might want to start out with learning.  I also picked up what I could from my list of Chakra Crystals (the few they didn’t have, I got locally in Kelowna).  I kept marveling over the malachite but for some reason did not pick any up.

Although I did pick up a few nice pieces on that first trip, I ended up going back a few days later to pick up the malachite that was calling me.  I also got a black tourmaline necklace that was recommended by Sonya.  During this second trip, I must have been in there well over two hours there.  Unlike the first trip, I was alone while my partner was working for a few hours so I was not feeling rushed.

I visited my friend back in Kelowna and took the pieces I had bought between the two stores and since cleansed.  The crystals I bought at The Crystal Ark were apparently very good ones, full of life, good energy and generally good pieces.  The ones from the other store, not so much but still nice to look at.  My friend told me I have good intuition with Crystals and had picked out some great pieces from The Crystal Ark.

I manged to make two other trips to The Crystal Ark in 2011 and was able to add several more gorgeous pieces to my collection.  The latest of which is a gorgeous Blue Lace Agate crystal ball.  The Crystal Ark is a store that I could probably spend days not to mention tens of thousands of dollars in if given the chance to.  although through 2011, I did not do a lot with my crystals (other then grow my collection), it is through 2012 that I see myself doing a lot more with them.  My next Touch for Health courses will not run again until March.

In the meantime, I have decided to focus on Crystal Healing, particularly with the Chakra’s and will post more about my journey into Crystal Healing on my blog.

Now, on to 2012!

Happy New Year!

What does that mean?  It means as of three days ago, the Holiday madness was over in our house.  The rest of the city is out crazily shopping today for those last few gifts on the busiest shopping day of the year in Canada while I sit here, stress free, sipping on my tea.  From time to time, there are major rushes of people busily shuffling in/out buying their bevvies, some stressing, others not, about the holidays, while I sit calming listening to Pachebel Canon in D and work on this website.

Further validation into my changing careers into Holistic Medicine and Energy Healing.  What a great Christmas present for me!

Happy Holidays!