When a gram is not what it seems...

I want you to bear with me a little, because instead of answering the question in the headline immediately, I would like you to imagine the sticky ball plant, Goosegrass; this is believe it or not, highly relevant.

The Goosegrass plant is known by a number of names, such as Stickyweed, Stickyjack, Robin-run-the-hedge, you probably have your own name for the stuff; I'm too polite to write what I call it. In the summer its long sticky tendrils wrap themselves around the dog, trapping him and tying him in knots (the look of confusion on his little face is quite amusing to be honest) and in autumn the hooked hairs of the burrs lodge themselves deep in his shaggy fur - by the trillion! Anyhow. Imagine the plant and recall how at some point in your life it has stuck to you. The plant itself can irritate your skin as it tends to be scratchy and is annoying because once you have the prickly burrs stuck to you it takes time to stop and remove them, which generally speaking we do.

Now imagine you can't see the burrs, there is no physical representation for them, but they exist. They exist in the form of the things we encounter on a daily basis: irritations, anger, disappointment, annoyance, impatience, ignorance, arrogance; in the language of Reiki these are the characteristics of disconnectedness. You may start the day with a trifling irritation and throughout it you may collect further irritations, this can lead to a build-up of annoyance, impatience etc. you get the picture, disconnectedness begets disconnectedness. However, because there is no physical representation for these adhesions, we tend not to take the time to pick them off and discard them. We therefore carry them around with us each day and the cumulative effect of these adhesions hinder us and weigh heavy; gram+gram+gram.

But how do you discard something you can't see? In real terms, you can't, this is all about how you respond and it is about self-care. It is about rising above the discomfort you face to lessen your burden, healing yourself first, then others in the process. By taking time to remove the burrs -those additional grams which serve you no purpose- you will be taking responsibility for yourself. You will be looking after yourself holistically; and when you make time for healing yourself you will naturally have a positive impact upon the world around you.

I am confident in telling you that by taking the time to discard the adhesions you notice, there will be a shift from disconnectedness to connectedness. In Reiki, connectedness is about being calm, having patience, acceptance, knowledge about the self, and humility. With practice you will begin to notice and discard more and more of the prickly burrs that try to attach themselves to you and at the end of each day your spirit will weigh less, it is the ultimate weight-loss programme.