Reiki Classes Now Open For Sign-Up

The Reiki class dates for this year (at least through August) have been set, and are now available for interested people to sign up. The hotel has cleared the dates and the room is available. There will be a Reiki 1 class in February, Reiki 2 in March, Reiki 3 in April, and a Reiki 4 (crystals class) in May. There will also be Reiki 1 and Reiki 2 back to back in August in case any massage therapists want to get there last minute continuing education before the renewal period ends. And while this August class is timed for massage therapists, anyone can come, no matter what they do. 

The cost for each class is $150. You can sign up on the website under Classes, Reiki, Register for Classes. Caring Palms is no longer taking deposits. The full class amount must be paid at the time of signing up.

Caring Palms has secured a small conference room at the TownPlace Suites on Beach Blvd near Hodges Blvd. Because of the cost of the room, we must have a minimum of four (4) students to hold a class there, and we must have this number one week before the class date or it will be cancelled. 

A class can be taught to two people at my house should that need arise. But there is only room enough to put up one table. So, if you are interested in any of these classes, please sign up early or you risk the possibility of cancellation.

Caring Palms looks forward to passing on this remarkable method of healing to anyone that wants to learn.

Clean Slate

by Brian Dean

It’s a new year. Time to wipe the slate, to erase anything from the past and move forward anew. The problem is that we can’t.

Everything we have been through in our lives is part of us. They made us what we are today, formed our psyche, our resolve, our sense of being. We just can’t leave all that behind. It would be great if we could, but then we wouldn’t be the persons we are now. 

But we can remove the emotion that ties us to it, the thing that claws at us and causes us fear or regret. By letting go of this emotion, we release the hooks that keep us looking at these traumas or situations. That leaves nothing but fact. It is. It was. We don’t have to remember being sad, or angry, or depressed. We simply need to know things happened. We lived. We learned. We lost. But we moved on, and can continue to do so as long as we let go of those niggling little things that keep us going back there. Release them, let them be free. And in that moment we let ourselves be free.

We can also drop the “what if” decisions that we made in our lives. These decisions we made in our lives were made with information and emotions we had at the time. Having more information later only causes us doubt, or regret. Looking back and saying “I should have done it this way” will only cause regret. The point is that we made decisions based on where we were then, physically and mentally. It is time to quit going back and revisiting these decisions. The decisions happened, and they set us on the path we are on today. Regretting it only causes pain, something we all probably have enough of in our lives. So stop. Let that go.

There is a comment about moving forward, and it has to do with being unable to do so carrying all the baggage we’ve accumulated in our lives. And it is totally right. But that baggage isn’t the decisions, the mistakes, the trauma. That baggage is the emotion and second guessing that ties us to it. 

Once you let that go, you’ll be surprised how much lighter you feel. Remember, you’re not wiping the slate clean, you’re simply removing what you don’t need so you can take that next step forward. Look ahead, not back, as that is where you are going.

Possible Newsletter Frequency Change

This newsletter has been coming out monthly since we started writing them in 2007. That may change due to the cost of mailing it. Right now, there is no money coming in, and I’m hoping it changes when classes start. But after doing some research, I found that it costs about $52 each time I send out the monthly batch. I could cut that down by reducing the number of contacts. I intend to do so when I get time as there are some 1,400 names that it gets sent to (many of which do not open it), but I would have to reduce it to less than 500 contacts for the rate to change. Right now over 600 people are opening it, so I don’t see the cost changing. That means that there are 600+ people interested in what is presented here, and i appreciate that. So depending on how things go, we may move to bi-monthly or quarterly. If so, I will try to add more content. We’ll see how things go. Right now, I am expecting to send out the next one in February.

Whom We Touch

by Brian Dean

We spent the holiday vegging out on classic Christmas movies. They included Scrooge, White Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life, and of course, Die Hard. But it was the end of It’s a Wonderful Life that had a profound statement, we really don’t know how many lives we change, just by touching. And I’m not talking about physical touch, (although that is included) but what marks we leave through our interactions, our teachings, our aid, or our ability to listen.

I have never thought of myself as a person that changes worlds, and at one time, I felt I could count on one hand the people whose lives I have changed. But that has increased with doing healing work, helping others through massage, energy work, teaching, and just listening and channeling spirit to give sound advice.

There are many whose lives have changed around from what I have done. I remember a chaplain at a local hospital who was afraid to go out of her office until she learned shielding. I remember others that couldn’t deal with people until they learned a new way of thinking. Or people that were always upset or angry until they could employ some meditation techniques. Yes, these are touches on people’s lives that made a difference. But what about the little things? 

It is easy for someone to see that as a healer, I can do these things, but everyone makes an impact on others. They leave impressions, they leave marks. 

Looking back on George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart’s character), if he had not been born, a great many things would have been really bad. He changed the scope of everything around him just by being himself. But so do you.

You change everything around you simply by existing. You make things better through your actions. You are pleasant to people. You smile at the cashier at the grocery. You tell a joke that makes someone smile. You listen to a friend tell you about their problems. Or sometimes, you are simply that quiet calming force in the room. You made a difference, and some of those differences lasted a few minutes, some a lifetime.

While it is easy to ignore what you do, and put aside any change that may have happened, it is because you were there doing it that made that change. And while you may not see that change, it may happen later, and end up making a huge difference in someone’s life. 

You make a difference whether you notice it or not. So, go, make that difference. Leave marks. Be a force for light. 

Holiday Poetry

Each year, my wife and I do a version of A Christmas Story (also known as The Night Before Christmas). This is the 30th anniversary since we began doing them, and we have created 45 stories. This year, we created two stories, one for the sci-fi geek (all are welcome, but you might need to be a geek to understand all the references). The other is the decades wrap-up. Now, these are too long to post here, so I am leaving a link to the sub-site of the Caring Palms website that has them. Bypass the first page, and follow the index down to 2024. Enjoy.

The Night Before Christmas Poems

My Dog's Better Than Yours

by Brian Dean

There used to be this commercial for dog food where the kids sang this. The point being that their dog is better because they eat that brand of dog food. The real question is why are we always comparing things? Another is why do we have to be so competitive, to prove we’re the best or that our point of view is the only one? 

Businesses do it all the time as they want you to buy their goods so they stay in business. Capitalism itself is based on competition, everyone trying to promote their products to increase their income. If you work harder, do more than others, you reap more rewards (or you’re supposed to). It promotes the hard worker. Communism (yes, there’s that evil word we were warned about in the 60s) is an economic system where everything is done to help the country survive. And it is a noble idea. But it has its flaws. Say four people make bricks. Three of these people make more bricks each than the fourth person, but they all get paid the same. In a way the lazy person is getting rewarded. But what about other areas?

We have sports, competitive cooking, axe throwing, knife making, and so many more. But there’s more. We compete for better grades in school. 

We’re competitive when we compare ourselves to others. We compete at work to prove our work is the best. The problem that I have seen too many times is that too many people go out of their way to not only prove their work is good, but to prove that the person they are competing against is bad. Why isn’t it good enough to simply prove you are good? Why do we have to put down someone else in the process? I’ve been in groups like this, and I left them. 

But what about religion (yes, I’m going there)? There’s that dog food song again but this time it is saying my god’s better than yours.

How many religions are there in this planet and how many gods do they worship? And how far do they come from the original teachings of the founders? 

Muslims worship Allah, Christians and Jews worship Yahweh, Wiccans and other “Pagan” faiths worship Isis and Horus and take into account the earth elements. (Wouldn’t it be interesting if they were all the same being, just using different names?) Even Spiritualism and Jedi Knight are accepted religions. Each of these compete with others, but each has come far from the original teachings. 

Even in the Christian religions, there are many divisions, and within each of those many more divisions. The Westboro Baptist Church hates the LGBTQ community. The Muslims (or groups within) believe that if you don’t follow their religion, you should not be here. And each believes that if you do not believe as they do, you are going to hell. I guess only time will be the judge of that.

Each faith was founded on the same principles… love everyone. Be kind and generous. Get along with others. Treat others as you like to be treated. What happened? Well man, and his agenda came along. He used his desires to direct people to his wishes. He used these religions to vanquish his enemies. All too many wars were fought over religious beliefs. Mohammed said that if you die in battle for Islam, you will go to their version of heaven. Even the Bible says “Thou shall not kill.” But elsewhere in the book (or some version thereof) it says “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” So what do you do with a witch? 

So what do we do? Well, first, take a look at what your faith/religion/church is telling you to do. Are their messages of love or of hate. Are they telling you to hate or convert this or that group? Is this morally correct according to the teachings of the religions’ founders? If you feel they are not, change where you go. Maybe it is as simple as changing to a different church. Maybe it is a matter of finding a new faith.

Secondly, quit competing with each other over beliefs. Accept what others believe and think. They have that right to do so. It doesn’t mean that you have to change to what they do, or convert them to your beliefs. Just allow them to be them as long as they are not hurting anyone.

I have my beliefs, and I teach (or preach) some of them when I teach my classes. But if you find comfort in what you believe, I’m not going to tell you different. If you think God is a big fluffy muffin that wants you to love everyone, then by all means keep with it.

We need to stop judging others, period. Once we start to do this, we can stop competing. Accept others for the type of persons they are. Then you can truly be free of the madness.