Giveaway: Reiki Healing Energy eBook
We are giving away one eBook copy of Janice’s book “Reiki Healing Energy” and the giveaway is open to anyone with a working email address. The eBook will be emailed to winner by Janice after we pick the “winner.” This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to the winner.
The Interview
Janice Lodato, MA, RMT is a Reiki Master of Masters, Approved Provider, NCBTMB and a Certified Creative Grief Coach and Meditation Instructor. As one of our alumni of the Creative Grief Studio Certification Program, she is doing very creative work linking Reiki and grief experiences together to provide healing space for clients and fellow practitioners. One of our co-founders Kara Jones had the opportunity to ask Janice a few questions about her practice, Reiki, and the book:
Q: Your work as a helping professional fascinates me, Janice. I am wondering first though if you could say a bit about how has Reiki helped in your own personal grief experiences?
Janice: Reiki is a constant support in my life. It has guided me through many dark times and constantly uplifts and amazes me. Combining it with the grief support tools was really powerful for me and allowed me to fully experience my grief through awareness and acceptance.
Q: So can you say more about how Reiki and grief become connected for you in *both* your personal life and professional work?
Janice: Since 2011, I have been providing Reiki sessions to cancer patients and their families at The Wellness House in Hinsdale, Illinois. Through that experience, one of the things that I noticed was the significant amount of grief that they brought to the sessions — grief around the loss of their health, sometimes a feeling of loss of control over their lives, and, of course, the loss of those close to them. This observation lead me to seek ways to support them more fully and I found the Creative Grief Studio program. During the program, I learned tools for helping my clients with their grief and also experienced a lot of personal healing.
In my personal journey with Reiki and grief, the Creative Grief Studio practices perfectly aligned with the self-Reiki practice that is the foundation of Reiki in my life. I use a technique that I teach to practitioners in my level 2 classes called the Reiki resolution technique. When using this technique, practitioners learn to sit with a strong emotion and fully experience it with the support of the universe. The Creative Grief Studio tools take a similar approach to that sitting with/delving into the emotions and the experience of grief. There is an embracing rather than an avoiding and in that way we experience healing and wholeness.
Q: As you took the Creative Grief Studio Certification Course, what sparks did you discover that informed how you offer Reiki as part of grief support?
Janice: I loved the creativity and openness that are central to the Creative Grief Studio Certification Course. I have always felt with Reiki, that there are no bounds to its application and relevance. That openness is at the heart of the Creative Grief Studio teachings and I found acceptance of how I would apply and create with the tools that I was learning. That flexibility in turn is of great benefit to my clients as I can customize their grief support sessions to their current needs.
Q: Is there anything tricky about offering Reiki as grief support? Like do people generally not connect those together? How do you help people understand benefits of Reiki during grief experiences?
Janice: Generally, people see the connection. However, there is often a bridge that needs to be built from the talking and creating part of the grief support session and any Reiki that is offered. Before I would offer Reiki to a client who has come in for grief support, I would ask their consent to offer them Reiki. There are some clients who want to end every grief support session with a brief hands-on session of Reiki to round out our time together and provide them with a centeredness to bring with them outside of the office.
Q: I know you are also teaching others, both practitioners looking for professional development and people using it for personal experiences. How are those trainings going? How are Reiki and grief interweaving in those teaching experiences?
Janice: Reiki students bring their “whole selves” to classes. They are often experiencing a transformation or are on the cusp of a transformation in their lives when they come to a Reiki level 1 class. Grief is found intermingled there. For instance, recently some students have expressed grief over living a life that is inauthentic to their true selves. This insight can be particularly heart breaking and can feel like the ground is being shifted out from underneath them. Reiki and creative grief tools can be so helpful in supporting them through this journey.
In addition to working with cancer patients and their families, I work with many women who have experienced pregnancy loss. Reiki helps them enter into that space of “dunno” – of sitting with the unknowningness of their loss – of the part of their experience that makes no sense, that leaves them disconnected from themselves and others and brings them to a place of connection and peace.
Q: Thank you, Janice, for giving us some insights into how you are using Reiki in terms of grief experiences. And an additional thank you for so graciously offering an eBook giveaway with this interview. Can you tell us a little about the book?
Janice: I’m happy to offer the eBook! The Reiki Healing Energy eBook is a compilation of blog posts about Reiki and related topics. It covers some material that is part of my Reiki classes as well as reflections on our experiences with emotions and everyday challenges. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it!
About Janice
Janice Lodato is a dedicated and caring Reiki Master and Certified Creative Grief Support Practitioner. She employs a client-centered approach to bring about the highest healing good using Reiki, coaching tools, visualization, or a combination of all three. Janice’s clients report a decrease in pain, accelerated healing, and better mood management. In addition to Reiki sessions and Grief support, Janice also teaches Meditation 1:1.