Laughter is the best medicine.

Do you ever have one of those days that don't go the way you expect?  I was hoping for a long lie in bed today but instead the three dogs I have in my house this weekend woke me up at 6am. One of them belongs to a friend. After letting them out in the garden I did manage to go back to bed till 8am so all was not lost.

The day started to go downhill when I went to make breakfast. I put some Hash Browns in the oven and cooked some eggs to go with them. When they were ready I took them out of the oven with a towel and then without thinking went to grab the tray with my bare hand. As you can guess I burned myself as the tray and Hash Browns went all over the floor. Don't worry, Calendula  cream and running my hand under cold water very quickly did the trick. I sat down and ate my lonesome eggs after cleaning the floor. I then realised I had left my coffee in the kitchen so went to collect it. After taking a mouthful I realised it was cold. I had forgotten to switch on the kettle.  Duh!

I then decided it was time to take all the dogs out for a walk and play but before that the bath needed rinsed after my shower. I'm sure you can guess what I did next. I turned the shower on me instead of the bath. After going and getting dry clothes to replace my soaking wet ones all I could do was laugh at myself. I  promise you I'm not going senile, even if it sounds like it. I obviously had not wakened up properly. At least that's my reasoning. I thought I would give you all a laugh as it does us all good to laugh at ourselves sometimes.

My day has got back on target after walking the dogs and letting them play. I even managed to get my friends dog to come back to me eventually. Mind you it may go downhill again when I try to wash her if I can pluck up the courage. My 2 are happy getting washed and brushed but this little beauty hates both so I may end up getting scratched. Of course I could just give her back to my friend tonight as she is as I know she will get just as mucky tomorrow too.

I hope you are all having a better start to the day than I did. Out of it though I have given myself such a laugh so I  must have produced loads of feel good Endorphins. Just a thought - maybe I should star in a remake of Fawlty Towers!

Feel free to give me company and tell me what funny things you have done and if you managed to laugh at yourself.















Joy Fraser
Usui Reiki Master / Teacher

Peace Harmony and Joy Edinburgh

CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE

I recently had a client who spoke of her Grandmothers positive attitude. She died a couple of years ago aged 100!  The client mentioned that she used to feel uncomfortable if she was complaining about a bad day at work as gran had been on her own all day, but then she only had positive things to say back to her granddaughter. The Grandmother had always been like this and the client thought this was what had made her live so long and contentedly. This made an impact on my client and she now tries to think positively in many more situations she finds herself in.

It may have taken some time to break through but the connection was finally made.  Now this client is going on to bring her children up in the same way. This is the way I  believe that children should be brought up, knowing they can look for the best in things as well as knowing they are loved. It is important to be aware that how we talk and what actions we take will all make a difference on how our children grow up
.

We have to remember that the greatest thing we can do is give them a life of happiness by instilling them with joy of life. Interacting with children on a daily basis by doing things such as painting or baking is a great way to bond with them. It is not the amount of time you spend with them that is important though, rather the quality of the time you have together.  Giving them lots of hugs will make them feel loved too. Children are our future so we want them to learn how to raise their vibrations and those of people around them from an early age. This way they can impact on the world to be a much better place as they grow older as well as being confident and happy. I saw something recently that said if everyone had the heart of a dog, the world would be a happier place. That surely would be a great thing to see.

 Help children to see the magic that is all around them. See the world through your children's eyes and teach them to observe the colours and sounds all around them. Make sure they spend time outdoors. Another thing is to help them learn to be still. More and more times these days we are being told children have ADHD. I do not believe this is correct. The problem is children no longer take time to be still. All you need do is talk to a primary school teacher. They find children fidget and are restless much more now than in previous years when they are having either quiet time or story time.

Many children also no longer get to sit or lie still while adults read a story to them, which is a shame as reading is a great bonding time for both adult and child. Too often they are busy playing games on computers or watching television and then they are expected to immediately wind down and go to sleep. It's like you watching a horror film then trying to sleep. No wonder many children play up at bedtime. 

Meditation is a great way to help still the mind and can be started at any age. A great book I have come across is Calm Kids by Lorraine Murray. Lorraine is soon to release another book on meditation for children with special needs. I remember listening to a meditation cd a few years ago with my young Grandaughter. She was so involved in the meditation that she wanted to know where the Unicorn had gone to. Another time I took her on a meditation journey that I had made up after reading Lorraine's book. Watching as her head moved following the journey was a beautiful experience. Children have great imaginations if we only take the time to help them use it.

Remember that children are our future and help them grow up to be happy, thoughtful, positive and grateful members of our society.  They will thank you for it!




Joy Fraser
Reiki Master / Teacher
www.peaceharmonyandjoy.co.uk

Raising our vibrations.

How are you feeling today?

Here in Edinburgh we have had sunshine for 3 consecutive days. To some of you that may not seem like much but you can see the difference in people here as everyone goes about their day. You can't walk down a street without seeing someone gardening, washing their car or even sitting in a sun lounger in their garden. Most of all you see a lot more people smiling. If you smile at someone they will usually smile back so why don't you join in and keep the cycle going.

When the sun shines it lifts our vibrations. We  feel happier and more communicative with others. We go walking more and often people are to be found in the parks that they have not visited since last summer or autumn. It's like everyone comes out of hibernation. All the fair weather dog walkers can be seen again, joining those of us that are out in all weathers. This is a great way to meet people rather than shutting yourself away during the colder months. I can't believe that my 2 x15 month dogs have now owned me for just over a year. It's amazing how fast time passes when you are having fun.

Our Winter in Scotland has not been too bad. We have had lots of rain and cold winds but nothing like it was a couple of years ago. For some though who suffer from Seasonal Affective disorder it will seem as if there is light at the end of the tunnel with the ending of Winter. I often wonder if raising their vibrations with reiki  energy would help these people get through Winter easier. If anyone has treated any clients with SAD I would love to know what impact it has had on them.

I actually find things to love in each of the 4 seasons and just make the most of whatever the weather is like. In Scotland we can have 4 seasons in one day so we just have to adapt to what we get delivered to us. There is really no point in complaining about the weather when we cannot do anything to change it so it's much better to find things to do that suit the weather type. In Edinburgh we are very lucky with all our free museums for the rainy days and our beautiful parks for the sunny ones.

Now that we can all look forward to warmer days (with I'm sure wet and windy ones in between) I'm wanting to connect more with nature and visit places that my dogs can come with me. I was checking my diary today and can see that it is already getting filled up. The amount of people finding reiki this year has made me very happy, especially when they come back to me to tell me how much it is changing their lives. This often happens if I have trained them on how to use it for themselves. Life is all about balance though so I make sure that I have plenty time for clients and also myself. That is the way to enjoy life.

Although it's nice to do things on the spur of the moment, why not look at all the places in your own neighbourhood that you have forgotten about and plan to pay them all a visit over the next few months. It may be that you last saw them when you were a child but you can really enjoy them just as much as an adult. If they take you outside with nature then you will find your feelings of well being growing which in turn will make you have an even happier day. Now that it's warmer, take time to appreciate what you see as you walk more slowly down the streets too.

I appreciate watching all the gardens coming alive with colour especially as my dogs wrecked all the plants in my garden. I am very lucky though that I have a neighbour who is rebuilding a garden for me that the dogs will not be allowed access to and it's coming on great so I can look forward to colours in my garden again. I know, they look like they would never do anything wrong but looks can be deceptive.

If you live in the Edinburgh area and are interested in learning reiki or just having a relaxing session,you can contact me through my website:Peace Harmony and Joy

The Social Media Effect

I was thinking today about what social media has brought into my life. I then found myself in a collage photo on a special persons page. This person Lives in India and I connected with him through a lovely lady who lives in  Spain.  Please check out his website and share it. He is a Heart surgeon and has already operated on 100 children for free due to his charity efforts.You may remember my blog last September when I holidayed with the author of the children's Skellee Rescue series in Spain. In fact back then she was on book number one but has since made a few more. You can find out more here and download a free book if you have young children.

This got me thinking that through her and others, I have connected with people all over the world that enrich my life daily. I have to say that previously I  had paid attention to what was just in my own locality, unless a major catastrophe was brought to my attention elsewhere in the world. Now I get information from all over the world and some of it speaks to me so that I also end up sharing it. This is one of the perks of social media. When someone shares something interesting it can go viral within hours and spread all over the world. Of course we need to make sure the information we share is correct before posting!

I have also read some fantastic books that I would never have considered before when some of these new friends have recommended them. The latest one took me three days (in between work) but I just did not want to put it down. It was called Bouncing Back:The life of Bill Bartmann and is all about Bill's life making and losing millions and at one time  he was even a Billionaire. I won't ruin the story but I loved the outcome. I have been able to read a lot of books on Positivity through these new friends and a lot about overcoming adversity. Today I read a story about how determined a  10 year old was to get  his first book published in India which took him 3 years so he became a publisher at 13 and by then he had written 4 books! Check this out here.. It put into perspective how much work can go into getting a book published although now it is easier with Ebooks but you then have to get your books noticed.

The internet has certainly opened up the world of communication and I love it. I would rather spend time on it than watching Television. In fact in the last few months my TV viewing has consisted of only switching on to watch the UK XFactor. Don't feel sad for me though as I love my life and don't really have time to watch TV. These days I would much rather be playing with or walking my puppies. I am also blessed to be able to pass the gift of reiki on to others which can make a big impact on both my life and theirs. If I was asked what had made the biggest impact on my life, the answer would be reiki but social media comes a close second. Through social media I have also met many people in person who have enriched me in many ways and for that I am most grateful. To everyone that I have connected to both online and in person I would like to say "Thank you for being in my life".

What does social media mean to you? Post in the comments box to let me know.


p.s. In the UK the clocks just went back last night so that means it gets darker earlier. Please everyone take more care and make sure you are able to be seen (especially cyclists).




You can find me on these sites. Feel free to like my pages if you would like to connect with me.
http://www.peaceharmonyandjoy.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/peaceharmonyandjoy
https://twitter.com/Mistyspice

How to Accept Constructive Criticism and Improve Yourself

I wrote this for something else but decided I would rather share it on my blog so apologies if you have read it already.

I had an interesting day recently. I went to the Edinburgh Body and Soul Fair and listened to Dr David Hamilton. If you have not heard of him can I suggest you look him up. He speaks from both the spiritual and scientific sides and amazingly they both have the same outcomes. One of the things he spoke about was people who feel they have to be positive all the time. We are only human so of course we can feel down at times but do we criticise ourselves when we have a bad day? Do we feel we are letting ourselves and others down when we do not seem as positive as usual? I know that in the past I have thought like this but in the last couple of years I have changed my way of thinking. I now accept I am having an unsettled time and then move on from it. I often find myself looking back on whatever the situation was to see if I could learn anything from it too as we are always in learning mode.

Another thing he talked about was becoming more aware of who we really are. One way to do this is to take an elastic band and put it on your wrist. Every time you think something negative you need to swap it to the other hand. It has been found that even positive people can still need to swap it up to 21 times in an hour! It is all about becoming more self-aware and stopping these thoughts as they develop. I am going to try this out and see how I get on.

One of the things you often hear, especially from people that have lost their temper, is "You made me do it!" Have you ever said this to anyone? I caught myself out recently. I have 2 puppies that had just been neutered. As they are one of each sex I was having to separate them at times including the night time to help them heal. This one night the female would not settle and after the third time of coming down the stairs to settle her I found myself saying that she was making me angry as I was so tired. This was because I had received only 5 hours sleep the previous night. As soon as the words were out of my mouth I realised what I was saying so I apologised to her. It was me that had the problem in not having the patience to help her with the problem she had. She did not understand what was happening to her. Suddenly she was being kept away from her brother for the first time and could not cuddle into him. It did happen again but I coped better now that my self criticism had kicked in. I was aware it was my decision how to react to this situation and I chose from that time to have more patience. In a short time things changed and are now almost back to normal.

This came to me also in a conversation with a friend who teaches Toddler calm. How many times do people lose tempers with their children and then say the children know what they are doing or saying and are winding the parent up? My friend advised at toddler age the brain is not wired in the way parents think and the children do not have the control we attribute to them. It is up to the parents to accept that they have to change the way they react to certain situations to change the outcome. Getting mad at the children is not the answer!

Sometimes we cannot change the outcome so need to change the way we deal with the problem. For instance we may be planning an outdoor event and find it is going to rain. This is not something we can stop from happening so rather than going in a strop and cancelling the event,we can take all the steps we need to change things around such as getting more items under cover for the evening so the event can still be successful. It just needs us to change our mindset. What may have started out seeming as a disaster could turn out that people had more fun under cover. It would probably also made more people come together to help with the extra work involved.

It is really important for us to be aware that how we react to a situation is down to only us. Every emotion we have comes from us not the external situation. One of the biggest emotions we have at our disposal is self -love. A good way to increase this is to run a critical eye over the way you live your life and see what changes you may be able to make enabling you to love both yourself and your life even more. We can be our best critics but we should also be looking for all the things we are good at as well. There needs to be balance

Fill your life with gratitude for all the things you have that bring joy. Every morning when I wake and in the evening before I go to sleep I think of my family, animals, job, friends, and all the wonderful sights I get to see on a daily basis. I am lucky to live near the sea and to have wonderful green spaces around me where I can walk and listen to the birds singing. Before I made reiki a part of my life I would walk quickly to wherever I was going. Now I take my time and appreciate everything I see daily. It makes a much more fulfilling life, believe me. It's amazing what you can see when you really look.

Homework for the week:- Set yourself a target of finding at least one thing to be grateful for every day. After that try every hour and see how much more lighthearted you feel by the end of the day.
You will find that the more you do this it will become automatic to see so much that you can be grateful for. Improve your life starting from today.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7811918

How to spread positivity far and wide

I have had a website for a few years without knowing what I was doing with it. Initially it was built to stop a friend who kept telling me that there was a reason everyone would start talking about reiki  around me and I should set up a website so I said I would take action to get one built. I remember saying that I would not promote it as everyone who was meant to come my way would find me anyway. Things have moved on since those days.

 Eventually I knew that I wanted to promote my reiki workshops  and therapy sessions but did not know how to take it forward. I had learned that I wanted more people to become aware of what help there was available for their health and wellbeing. A great friend had built my first one as a favour and it was only her second website. It was fantastic but we only added  a few basic tag words on the site. I then had a foreign language student a few years later who redid it but never felt that it was right after that so decided to take some action. By this point I also wanted to let more people know about the Sun Ancon Chi machine that had come into my life. I had such a response from using it that I wanted more people to have the same opportunity to relieve their pain.

A couple of years ago I signed up on a beginners web design course. My idea was if I could get someone to re design my site I would then understand what needed done to keep it all updated. It started well with the lecturer talking a lot about Photoshop but by week 5 I felt things going over my head a bit. Just when I was starting to struggle with the course I was asked if I would like a website built for me by a friend of my Son. Of course I jumped at it and have never looked back but I learned so much more than I had ever known during the process of it being built.  I am a great believer in Synchronicity and each time I needed a website built the right person at the time came forward without me asking!

Until then I had only used Google for finding information on the web as a search engine but did not know what else it could do. I was then advised that if people liked my website they could click on the google plus icon at the bottom of the page and this would increase my visability on the world wide web. I have been very remiss in passing this information to friends so if you would like to help me out in this I would love you to click on the google + icon at the bottom of the home page for me.

I also learned about Google Places and have had some lovely reviews added to it. Then facebook and Twitter came into my life. Facebook started off as a business profile and then I made a Facebook page. I can honestly say this felt as if it opened up the world to me. I was suddenly connecting with friends and making new friends in many countries. It is also a great place for networking and finding out lots of information that can help you in business. In fact I met a wonderful lady who helped me immensly and talked me through lots of things to do with using the internet.Through her I also came in contact with lots of people that I look up to and have learned from. I have in fact found facebook very addictive as it is full of so much positive inspiration.

I find that Twitter has been harder for me due to the lack of space for writing but I am gradually becoming more comfortable using it.  One of the things about social networking is how fast things change and I know I am not keeping up with it all. This is why many people have experts that they pay to run their sites. I am lucky to have my Son who tells me when I should be doing something important.

I was introduced to Ezine articles and wrote a few posts for them and then went on to open a Blog first on my website and now on Blogger.com which is linked to my website. Blogger is owned by Google so as you see it is more than a search engine! In fact I am just becoming involved in Google plus circles so if you would like to add me please do. It is not always business that I blog about. I like to talk  also about events in my life and how each change can help me. Talking only about business all the time can put some people off.

The latest kid on the block is Pinterest and I hold my hands up that this has had my least attention so far. Note to self "This has to change!" When it first came out I like many others though it was just for sharing photos but it is so much more than that. You can even sell your products on Pinterest. Also if you link your photo's to your website this will give you more traffic to your site.

Of course with all the social networking sites you need to remember that once you put it out on the world wide web it stays there. It could be retweeted or shared anywhere in the world so you have to be careful what you put out there. Always be professional and do not do or say anything that could lead you into hot water with either people or other companies. I like to put out lots of positive thoughts and pictures so usually make sure it is alright to share others work on my pages as you also need to be aware of copyright.

When you see what I have touched on, this is only a tiny amount of the places where you can highlight your work. I also add any of my reiki workshops on therapy sites and Gumtree. This often shows up if I type my name or company name into google and I am amazed at how many times it finds events that I have run in the past or am running in the near future. You can easily see how this can become a full time job updating all the sites.

As well as all the above your website needs to have enough information in it to be found on the web. A good SEO expert can help you with this. I have recently had 2 orders from The United Arab Emirates for the Sun Ancon Chi machine that I am a distributor for. I love the fact  people that far away can find me. Who knows if it was one of the above sites that they found me through or another that I have not mentioned but I know that I will never be finished writing and promoting my products. The more I put into the web the more I get back in return from it.

I love my work and want to spread the word about what Reiki and the Sun Ancon chi machine can do to help others. In fact today I have been advised that someone is visiting Scotland from Australia and she is unable to bring her Chi machine with her but cannot do without it so wishes to pay me a visit while she is here. I often feel that way if I am on holiday . Luckily most of my breaks are in the UK so it's easy to take the Chi machine with me as it's portable.Of course with reiki I need no equipment as it is with me always.

I will keep on blogging and telling people how they can help themselves and if you are reading this then feel free to have a look at the links on this page and join me on any of the sites I have mentioned. Let me help you to increase positivity into your life.

I wish you prosperity and happiness in reaching your goals.

www.peaceharmonyandjoy.co.uk


I am a Reiki Master / Teacher member of the  UK Reiki Federation in Edinburgh, Scotland