Getting to know each other

[saffy]

We all have been finding more and more with these questions. So here's mine. Was there a life change that you turned to a more spiritual path, Or is something that has always been a part of you life.

[veggiechef]

Hmmm....what a great question.

I suppose I have always been spiritual...I was born and raised in a town called "Bethlehem" how's THAT for spiritual? lol. I was raised Catholic and did all 12 years of Catholic school. Went thru that "I wanna be a nun" phase that all second grade Catholic school girls go through. However, I ended up turning away from that path somewhere around the age of 11. I started to question what I was being taught, and, being the ever rebelious girl, I shut that part of my life down.

Fast forward 11 years later. I was 22 with a 2 year old child. Being new to motherhood, I began to search for a path that suited me. Didn't find one, and shut it down again, for several more years.

Finally, around age 33, I started to wake up, slowly at first. I moved to a new state, which meant a new cable TV provider, and new cable channels. I found myself watching a channel called Wisdom TV. There, they covered all things body mind and spirit. I was exposed to a whole new world of topics which I had always been interested in, but never knew where to find the info. Alternative health became a passion for me. I started to take better care of myself. Then, I began to experience some rather daunting health challenges, which I have covered in previous posts. (Funny how things come into your life only when you are ready to deal with them!) Anyway, the health issues eventually lead me to Reiki, and a very gifted teacher. Since then, I have learned so much about the body/mind/spiritual connection, which, in my 20's, I thought was a bunch of baloney. The last 6 or seven years have really been a time of growth. I am grateful for all of my challenges, and the changes that have resulted from them. And, of course, I am grateful for all of the great Reiki pals I have met on this forum!

[yogagurl]

Wow Joanie, we have some things in common. Interesting how we both came to Reiki in a similar way.

I was raised Mormon, and left that church when I was 20 years old. Shortly after that I was injured in a car wreck that has caused health problems ever since. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia 6 months after the wreck, and told by the doctor that I would just have to learn to live with it, because there was nothing he could do for me except give me medications for pain and sleep. I was 21 years old. I refused to except that I would feel that way forever, and started researching alternative health. In the process I learned about crystals, aromatherapy, homeopathy, herbs, etc. Along the way I discovered spirituality that was part of alt health. I started practicing yoga and meditation, and my research eventually led me to Reiki.

Kristi

[♥Starlene]

Wow Kristi, as long as I have known you I didnt know all that about you.... This was a great topic Saffy.... How is the fibro now Kristi? I hope better.... I know thats something that a lot of people have...

I know I have about my spiritual path a lot so I will make this short,,, if i can.... It was in 7th grade when I first started learning about metaphysical things. My science teacher taught part of her class on ESP, telekinesis, and all sorts of "mind" stuff like that. Ever since taking that class I questioned about God and religion. When I was in my pre-teens and early teens I was fortunate enough to have my Dad also be searching for God so we went to several different types of churches, ranging from Jehovah's Witnesses to Unity and we studied with Mormons and others religions in between. We usually stayed at one church for several months (some longer some shorter) and learned some stuff only to decide that wasnt what fit us.... In all fairness though I think Unity resonated with me more then anything....

Then I pretty much kept to my metaphysical studies (decided not to think too much about God or spirituality) as an older teenager and into my 20's. Then about 22 I almost married a Catholic guy, (VERY devout)... He really forced the Catholic religion down my throat and not really seeing that to accept that faith (at least by his standards) I had to give up all the things I believed in, astrology, tarot, Reiki etc....
Well I decided to break it off just before we married. I have to say that was a major thing that I needed to go through even though it was one of those really hard things to happen.... After that I was lost a little while and started studying Wicca, Paganism and other earth based religions, Hinduism, Buddhisms, not all of them to a major extent, but enough to know the gist of them... I needed that time to reflect on my own thoughts...

Now I believe there is one God, Goddess, Spirit, or whatever you would like to call the Supreme Being, sometimes I refer to "God" as "The Universe", because I believe that everything in the Universe is an extention of the Supreme Being.
I see God as encompassing ALL religions and having manifested ALL of them so that everyone could find their own way to the same thing,,, whether that be through Christianity, Buddhism, Paganism or whatever. I believe there is ONE source to all,,,, however you interpret that is up to you and everyone is right for that particular moment. I actually feel like everyone should have their own connection to The Universe, and how they interpret that is not for me to decide or judge!

I like to call it Starisim because I believe my thoughts on Spirituality are very personal to me,,, but thats just me

[yogagurl]

Star,
The fibro is much better now. I became a vegetarian and went off all meds, which changed everything. I still have flare-ups, having one now due to season change, but for the most part I am much better. I have been seeing a chiropractor/massage therapy office for over a year which has resulted in having pain a few days per week rather than everyday. Before I went there I had a headache for 10 years, literally. They discovered some pretty serious misalignment issues in my x-rays, and have fixed those problems. It is something I have to stay up on, and I can really tell if I have been eating badly and not getting enough rest. Fibromyalgia is much better understood/accepted now than when I was diagnosed. It took 5 years to settle the lawsuit over the car wreck because many doctors back then believed fibro was just hypochondria. I actually had a doctor tell me once that I was a hypochondriac, and there was nothing wrong with me. It was devastating, and I turned away from Western medicine completely then. Reiki is very effective on day to day pain, as is accupuncture and yoga, for me anyway. I have been very frustrated with my diabetes meds because I don't like taking prescriptions, and I think they give me headaches. I just ordered a supplement called Diamoxol that I believe will replace my rx meds. I am very excited about the prospect of getting off the meds again, and hoping to reduce the headaches. Anyway, there's my ramble....lol
Kristi

[♥Starlene]

I really agree with you about the food thing, I dont think most people are really conscious about what they put into their bodies and how it effects the rest of them. For me I had to go through different stages in eating to learn that. People had told me "you are what you eat" but until I discovered that for myself through experience I didnt really get it.... So I know what you mean! Of course I am not perfect so I have my chocolate moments, but for the most part I try hard to eat healthy even if it is a little more work on my part, I generally feel better when I do. I have often wondered if fibromyaliga is somehow associated with food actually... I never thought that for any reason other then just an idea, but I always wondered that...

I am glad your fibro is at bay now, that is a good thing to know... I hope you have more success with your diabetes meds, I know they are tough to be on... I used to get headaches all the time from my overloaded carb intake but now that I watch that, I dont get headaches because of the food I eat.(from other stuff, sometimes, but not food) I am a firm believer that what we eat effects the rest of our bodies in every way, which I why I suppose I have been leaning towards the more organic side of things lately....

I am sorry you had to go through that with your Dr, telling you are a hypochondriac, thats terrible! When the insurance company sent me to their Dr to get an opinion on surgery for my back, because I was emotional and I cried while telling him what was wrong with me, he put in his report, "She doesnt need back surgery, she needs a shrink!"
Can you imagine? Some of the Dr's have no compassion,,, I was glad I heard that second hand from my lawyer and not the Dr himself because that would have really made me feel worse. My lawyer laughed it off and said that he has no place saying that but at the same time I thought how thoughtless of a caregiver like that, to just judge someone because they cried over a life altering, painful situation... You know you have to wonder what runs through peoples heads sometimes!

[Christine]

UG that is terrible, Star! I'm glad you finally found the right doc and that you are on the road to recovery...

My own story goes like this...

I only realized recently how lucky I was to be born into my family. My mother's mother and her family were all deeply spiritual people, some of them did hands on healing which I learned from my grandmother when I was in high school. They were very into prayer, healing with herbs, and spirits. They had many real stories of miracles they had experienced. My mother herself is also very psychic although I think she is kind of afraid of her gift...Anyway, it wasn't until recently that I realized that most people don't talk about these kinds of things with their families.

I also went to Catholic school from kindergarten through college. In 4th grade we read about the Fatima apparitions and I was SO into that. I built an altar in my room to Mary. Around the same time I think I was reading palms and cards sometimes with my grandmother. I kind of set aside my interest in psychic things for a long time and was mostly into mainstream Christianity/Catholicism and Buddhism. My senior year of high school we took a world religions class and learned about Buddhism. We even had a Zen meditation group that I went to. I think I might be the only person who became Buddhist from Catholic school LOL!

I also remember being into New Age in high school but in mostly a superficial way...thinking that crystals were cool but not really believing in their energies.

College and beyond I pretty much alternated between being Catholic and Buddhist (practicing Zen mostly on my own). When I found Reiki in 2002 (oddly, also through the Catholic Church), I started to meet more New Age people. I was very fearful of psychic stuff at first because I thought that readers could take away people's free will by making predictions. I got to be friends with a lot of the readers at the store I practiced Reiki at...I learned that readings give us a picture of where we are headed and are meant to help us make good choices not to tell us what must happen.

I didn't start to get really into crystals, cards, etc. until I met my friend Tania through Craigslist. She was looking to meet other pagan/new age people so I met up with her in Boston and we went to the Tremont Tea Room (one of the oldest psychic salons in the US). After that I was totally into cards, crystals, etc.

I feel blessed that I had so many opportunities in my life to experience the spiritual with supportive & open-minded people.

Thanks for letting me share this here,

Namaste,
Christine

[veggiechef]

Cool, Christine..I have always felt very connected to the Divine Feminine.(Hence the Quan Yin avatar!) I had a Blessed Mother altar too.. for a couple of years in the corner of my bedroom. And, my mother tells me that when I was three, I walked around for a week with a dish towel on my head after my father's aunt (who was a nun) visited us from out of town. LOL

My own parents were, and still are, very devout Catholics. They never put much stock in anything alternative or New Age. Most of my early info came from my older sister. But now my mom tells me that there is a group of nuns in her town who offer "holistic health retreats" which involve all kinds of alternative things, including reflexology and Reiki...

So many paths to God....How great it is!

[♥Starlene]

How very interesting that we all have studied traditional religion and found spirituality through that in so many different ways. I totally believe that all my studying and looking for the answer led me to where I am now. I have always been one of those people that needs to do it, see it, feel it, etc to believe it... So I think all the "religion" hopping I have done in my life created what I believe to be true in my heart. Without all that experience I dont think I would feel the same way I do now!

Your right Joanie,,, so many paths,, to God!! How great it is!

So what about you Linda,,, whats your story morning glory?

[caleb002]

reading all of this was very interesting..

thinking back i am so glad my mother is a medium and has passed this on to me...
i was raised in a very alternative environment, i was also taught allot of natures secrets. My mother had a gift to commune with plants and animals, so me and my siblings got to know a great deal of things.

When i got older i started to look in other directions like christianity, but it felt wrong. Then i droped the theme for some years, repressing what i saw, felt end heard from the spirits, plants and animals around me. I was told by my teachers in school that i was crazy and they sent me to see a psychiatrist.
i remember one time i was in his office talking to him, something just popped out of my mouth, he looked at me and asked "how did you know that" i said " i don't know" i don't remember what i said to him, but he was scared. He picked up the phone and called my teacher and i was never to speak to him again.
from that day, i started to open up again, started to accept what i saw, i remember frightening some of the teachers at my school.
i started too study wicca and other pagan religions, and it felt like coming home.

Then i started what we in Norway call a folkehøyskole. this is like a private school. i learned reiki, massage, how to sing from the chakras, shamanism, tarotm palm reading and so on.

now i work in a store in Lillihammer where i do reiki classes and treatments, readings and massages. And i love it..

thanks for letting me share this here. Thank you..

---Kim Are---

[caleb002]

sorry for the bad english writing i am not that good..

[yogagurl]

Welcome caleb002, thanks for sharing! By the way, you're English is great!
Kristi

[veggiechef]

Hello Caleb002! Glad you could join our little group!

[clearquartzhealing]

My story started just this year...
I grew up in a typical family environment. We did not go to church, we did not talk about religion. I was excused from all religious things in schools. My mother did not believe in God and as such let me believe what I felt was true for me. I felt there was "something" beyond but didn't understand it at the time.
My big push came when my father died in January this year... I came back after the funeral and just knew without any knowledge that I NEEDED to do reiki. I had no idea what reiki was, but i knew that i had to do it!! and so here i am!

Thanks for the reiki today

[saffy]

It is great to hear the stories and thanks so much for sharing.

[♥Starlene]

Nice to meet you Kim,, did you get my email because I seem to be having email issues... I sent my number so we could talk on the phone, let me know if not and I can send it again
Namaste!
Star

[♥Starlene]

Oh yea, glad your here too!!

[Christine]

Welcome, Kim! Great story!!!

And also thanks for sharing clearquartz.

Namaste all,
Christine

[caleb002]

thank you for welcoming me...

[Sloan]

Welcome Kim, sorry I'm late in doing so. I hope you enjoy the forum.

My story seems to run very similar to almost everyone else. I was raised Anglican and served as an alter server and taught Sunday school, the whole nine yards but it never seemed "just right" and I stopped going. It's not that I stopped believing that there was a God, I just felt there was something more out there..." There is more to heaven and earth then are dreamt in your philosophy..."
I always knew there was something else there for me. Growing up I also saw spirits around - the one in the house I grew up in particularly. My mother never discouraged me when I wanted to look into other things growing up, she actually showed me her deck of tarot that she had had for many years. My grandmother on my dads side had the "sight" I'll never forget watching her all of a sudden her face going blank and then saying how a boy was going to fall through the ice, and sure enough a short time later we heard on the radio about a boy who had fallen in.
Crystals have always been a draw for me. I have collected them for as long as I can remember. Use to carry them all the time (what am I talking about I still do! teehee) and even used to do gem cutting which was a passion of mine until the school sold everything because of funding.
Its really only been in the last few years that things have really started to fall into place for me. I've read, studied and collected books on wicca, crystals, palmistry, numerology but it wasn't until I learned more about reiki that I really felt that I had come home. That things felt just right somehow.
And now I am forever greatful that I have found all of you and I can learn, share and grow as a person.
Ok I've rambled enough here!
hugs and stuff.