Never Stop Learning...

Thought I'll share a little of my philosophy, what has been learnt so far in my journey of life, my passion in learning and staying curious. Hope you don't find it too boring :)

There’s a reason why when I post in Instagram, Twitter or Facebook I usually put #studentforlife and #studentinlife - I’ll forever be a student because there will always be someone or something teaching me something new and no one will know everything in every subject. I love how life sneakily gives us these little gifts of knowledge and treats. Even in a single human body, no matter how boundless our anatomy and physiology knowledge are we will always come across someone who has something different. By different I don't mean just physically, but also their life story and their non-physical aspects (emotions, thoughts...). Therapy is not cookie cutting concepts applied to every individual who step through our door, it’s not one size fits all. We integrate our knowledge and adapt them to the individuals that come to us for assistance. Therefore, it is important for us to stay curious, keep learning, analyse the things we learn, integrate it all and embody the concepts that we churn out.

It can be hard to do in some ways, because often people read and learn things without questions, leading them to believe that the content must be correct or must be factual. A selection of society is aware and analyse; where is the boundary of over-analysing and under-analysing? It's the practise of being in the middle ground like the Chinese teaching of being like bamboo - it is strong yet flexible. Not so strong that it cracks when it's bent, nor so weak that it gets blown over by the weakest breeze. So, when you are given information whereby you need to be open-minded enough not to judge and dismiss it, yet close-minded enough to not believe in every word. Some may argue that it makes one indecisive, but I see it more as being open to different perspectives, allowing the 'out-of-the-box' thinking as well as possibilities.

Through my personal energy and Reiki practice from when I was young, I've always enjoyed it as it allows the grounding and clarity when I live every day. Things I've been practising includes meditation and visualisation techniques. After many years of practice, I found that I wanted to delve deeper, connecting and learning from others. As a result, I went and learnt Reiki I, II and Masters (respectively Shoden, Okuden and Shinpiden level) with a teacher. I really enjoyed the learning and experience, however, although I was already practicing somethings that were taught, it felt like I still had lots of question marks and something missing in general. This led me onto being introduced, resulting in me reading the teachings of another Reiki Master. From the first article, I was already nodding away (like those toys with a wobbly head) and felt that when he/she wrote the articles the knowledge and belief as well as the curiosity in delving in deeper flows through each piece inundating the reader with their passion.

May 2019, I went through Shoden and Okuden again, this time with Frans Stiene from International House of Reiki, one of the passionate authors of the articles mentioned above. I really enjoyed his teaching and his style as it resonates with how I've always envisioned energy works and Reiki - Not just a form of hands on healing but an embodied philosophy, which frees the practitioner of life stresses and worries through understanding and learning the life challenges each of us endure, allowing them to epitomise compassion from within, extending out to the people around. The repetitive affirmations of the important foundations of practice is so basic and crucial for all individuals to understand, those that are impatient I'm sure will hop, skip and jump along as opposed to slowly building up and walking each step. But it is a learning curve that each person will take on their journey.

It has been just under a fortnight since I took the Shinpiden course. True to his way and understanding, he gracefully spirally through the basics, layering on the foundations before he taught us some very deep practices laced with some humour during this time full of stress and worry by many; stirred up by the tidal waves of coronavirus-19. I have been somewhat lucky how things had come about in my life. This Shinpiden course has been very timely, allowing me to come out grounded before the storm hit. With continued work and grounding, hopefully I'll remain strong and continue to shine out to those who need help physically or mentally.

You can find International House of Reiki on https://www.facebook.com/IHReiki

I find their posts quite motivating and inspiring sending out messages of love like the below:

They also share wonderful thoughts and tips on Reiki, meditations, chanting and other things relatable to everyones lives via Youtube videos and live Facebook videos:

The physical isolation that has been imposed on us all, was very much needed to help us open our eyes and learning to see how materialistic, vain, selfish, needy, obnoxious etc... Some of us are. I won't say I'm an absolute saint myself, very few in this planet are unmoveable by the temptations and storms of life. But I am trying by best by providing tips, sending love and Reiki across the globe and offering those in need and staff of critical sectors my services, which many others are doing so too. One thing I have noticed is how people are becoming more socially connected from their physical isolation and how fresh the air had become in London even just after a day of physical isolation, which I will miss very much when everyone starts travelling en masse again. Which begs the question, what else does Mother Nature have in store for us? What other things are we going to learn from this? Has everyone learnt the lessons? Will some people finally learn to see people beyond their colours and cultures, accepting each human as an individual?

So many more questions... So much to learn...

Therefore, always remain open with a curious mind and share the wealth.

I hope everyone are safe and well, especially those who have corona and other diseases. My sincere condolences to those who have lost family and friends though this pandemic. It has rocked the world. I hope people working in health services globally, carers, the police force, the army, food suppliers, community forces and anyone else I’ve missed stays safe and healthy. It's very sad to see some people taking their frustrations and anger on those listed above. I’m so grateful for their work at this time and it’s wonderful to see some people are finally acknowledging their work. It’s a shame there has to be a crisis for others to show love and compassion to others. I long for the days to return where strangers of all races in villages, towns and cities are able smile and greet each other with a “good day” or a “good morning” or even a simple “hello”. Offering help when needed instead of just staring and photographing/filming when they see someone is in need of help or criticising others who act a certain way without knowing their life story or why they are behaving the way they are.