put your money where your mouth is

I placed an order for a massage table today.

This one, in fact. (Except…mine will be “amethyst”. I mean, why not?)

I’m letting this unfold. No, not the table. Having a table. Meaning, I have not formally set an intention to “become a Reiki practitioner, with at least X number of paying clients, and Y number of students, according to the following timeline”. My intention is more along the lines of “allow Reiki to flow in my life and see where it leads me.” Depending on how you’re wired, that’s either going to sound all perfect and beautiful and right, or awfully wishy washy and perhaps even…dare I say it… woo-woo. Ahhh, so be it. Welcome to my world.
As I commented to a friend on Facebook about it earlier today, who asked “does it come with a masseuse?”…

I know – from running – that sometimes, the only way you’re going to lean into your growth edge, rather than paddling around in the shallows of your comfort zone, is to set some improbably wild-ass goal, go public with it, and then use the resulting terror to get you out of the door and working towards it.  That’s how I ran my first half-marathon.

(Also from Facebook…)

gulp.

The great thing about running, oh my, there are so many great things about running, so let’s back up: a great thing about running is that it lends itself to goals, if that’s what rocks your boat. Things like running a new distance, or faster splits, or being able to get up a particular hill without puking. And you can also totally enjoy yourself and derive great benefits from running without ever bothering to even think about goals. That’s what I did for twenty years, before finally deciding to train for my first 10K in the summer of ‘09.
Reiki, on the other hand…should I define Reiki here for you? One of my Reiki Masters defines it as “spiritually guided life force energy”. Yes, it’s a form of hands-on healing. But on a deeper level, it’s about opening up your connection to your own divinity and clarity, and creating the space for the person you’re treating to access their own body’s wisdom. Folks, it just feels… tacky, to try and quantify an intention around it.
So how is a girl to put herself out there, and take a risk on behalf of something that makes her soul sing, if she can’t set a flippin’ goal??
Well…it occurred to me this afternoon, that just putting a picture of a massage table on this here blog is, for me, kind of taking a risk. Now you know I’m all woo-woo and have a purple massage table! Heaven forfend!
Once the thing arrives, it will open up possibilities. If a friend says “hey, I’ve heard about Reiki, but I’ve never experienced it…” I’ll be able to actually offer a for-real full on session. Sure, I’ve put my hands on people’s shoulders plenty of times, and they’ve invariably said “oh my god, your hands are so warm…”…and that’s lovely. Really. But now I’ll be able to offer the whole nine yards, melt into the table experience.
Plus it gives me an excuse to redecorate the bat-cave.