Author Archive: andy

Serendipity

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A flock of cockatoos land in the liquidambar tree next to our balcony.

The Macquarie Dictionary defines ‘serendipity’ as ‘making desirable but unsought-for discoveries’.

I quite like this word.

The idea of fate is too strong for me, that we’re pulled in one direction without any choice in the matter. I understand superstition but am not completely convinced about the lucky signs that people find in the world.

But I have found something… unexplainable… about the last week or so in terms of reiki. My teacher, Frans Steine, was hosting a Reiki 2 course up at his beautiful place in the Blue Mountains. He allows former students to resit classes for a much-reduced rate, which I think is great in so many ways: it recognises that learning is a continual process and gives us the opportunity to keep in contact with his teachings. I think it’s also good for new students to be in the energy of past students, and hopefully we can help out in the class too in some way.

In any case, I signed up to do the course last Sunday. The only people who knew were two of the other students (who had done Reiki 1, which I’d resat at the same time), and my partner, perhaps a few friends. One of the other reasons I wanted to do the course is that I was feeling a bit out of touch with Reiki and its energy. My last client had come over six weeks before that, where usually I have a client every two weeks or so.

What happened next? Well:

  • The day before the course, an acquaintance from the gym I attended years ago saw me walking through a nearby park. He looked me up on the internet, saw that I did reiki and decided to book in immediately for a treatment.
  • While I was at the course, a new client called, wanting to book in a treatment. She eventually booked in yesterday, a week later.
  • The same day of the course, a client from a few months ago sent by email a testimonial for me to use on my website and Facebook page.
  • And on Monday, a client I hadn’t seen in about a year booked in for another treatment…

This all seems rather… serendipitous to me, surprising and wonderful.

So, as we start a new month, here’s wishing you some serendipity too…

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Clients come from all over Sydney to see me, and I’ve also had clients who are visiting Sydney from Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast come and see me while they’re here for business, conferences or meeting families. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney. SMS, email or call me if you’d like to make an appointment.

Learn Reiki in Surry Hills

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If you’ve been a client of mine, you’ve been to the suburb of Surry Hills in Sydney.

And if you’ve ever wanted to learn Reiki, here’s a great opportunity:

My teacher, Frans Steine, is teaching Level 1 of Reiki, in Surry Hills on 30–31 May 2015. It’s from 10am to 5pm both Saturday and Sunday at 99 Crown Street.

More information is here.

Frans is known as one of the world’s leading reiki teachers and practitioners and we’re really lucky to have him here in Australia. He travels the world where students are anxious to learn with him. These days, after the International House of Reiki’s studio in Newtown has closed, Frans teaches less often in Sydney (and more often in the Blue Mountains where he lives).

So, it’s a really good opportunity, if you live in Sydney, to be introduced to reiki from one of the best teachers around.

There are three levels of teaching in Reiki. This level, Shoden, is the first. You’ll learn meditation techniques and to treat yourself and others.

Reiki has been a great gift to my life; I’m clearer and stronger in myself, more able to deal with external problems, and my internal life is richer and more at peace. If you have any questions, just ask!

And there’s more information about reiki and Frans’ teaching at their website at the International House of Reiki.

Frans Steine

 

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Clients come from all over Sydney to see me, and I’ve also had clients who are visiting Sydney from Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast come and see me while they’re here for business, conferences or meeting families. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney. SMS, email or call me if you’d like to make an appointment.

Introduction to Japanese Traditional Reiki

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One of the things that surprised me when my brother first taught me Reiki, many years ago, was how many different types of reiki there are. I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me by now that human beings are always expanding and arguing and that any school or movement or set of teachings is going to diverge into many branches, as it has with religions and schools of thought.

I feel lucky then to have discovered a Reiki teacher here in Australia who was running weekly practice sessions on the same street that I was working in Newtown – and that I connect with his philosophy of Reiki. Frans (and his wife Bronwen) questioned early on in their Reiki path why the hands-on healing seemed separate from a spiritual practice. Their research, study and exploration have lead them to the conclusion that the Reiki practised in Japan by its founder had many components, all of which aimed at spiritual health and development, a way of uncovering and nurturing the ‘Great white light’ that we are made of. The hands-on healing part is only a component, but it is what became known and popular in the West.

When I explain this to my clients, they understand immediately. As a healer, I can’t do work on them unless I have done work on myself. If all of the energy is focused outwards towards them, without having done spiritual development work myself, the package is incomplete (and I would argue the treatments will not be as strong).

I read an old post from the International House of Reiki, a transcript of a talk Frans gave in Washington in 2009, and it’s a great story of how Frans and Bronwen came to reiki, and came to want to explore and spread the idea of Japanese Traditional Reiki. I also like the concept or metaphor of us being made of Great Bright Light and that meditation and healing is all in the aims of uncovering that light that has gathered dust and obstructions in our daily lives.

Here’s the post!

In other news, I’ve not found a need for regular blogging on my website. Blogs used to be so much more popular, and also served as a way of showing one’s expertise and legitimacy, as well as making connections with readers. But these days of information overload, people use the Internet in a much different way. I don’t feel a need particularly to add to the writings out there, when there is such good stuff to be found already at the International House of Reiki website and elsewhere. What I sense is that if clients or potential clients drop by my site, they won’t want to spend much time reading about reiki, when it’s much better to experience a treatment in person! Still, I’ll blog occasionally… or repost links from IHR, just to make sure there’s a little new content on my website from time to time. Feel free to comment and ask questions, here or on my facebook page!

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Clients come from all over Sydney to see me, and I’ve also had clients who are visiting Sydney from Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast come and see me while they’re here for business, conferences or meeting families. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney. SMS, email or call me if you’d like to make an appointment.

 

Reiki Surry Hills on holidays, 27 Sept – 13 Oct 2013

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Reiki Surry Hills is on holidays 27 Sept – 13 Oct 2013.

I’m off on holidays to Scandiwegia from tomorrow until 13 October. Back starting work on 14 October, possibly with a Swedish, Finnish or Danish accent, but probably not.

(I didn’t come back with an accent, but I loved the trip!)

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Clients come from all over Sydney to see me, and I’ve also had clients who are visiting Sydney from Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast come and see me while they’re here for business, conferences or meeting families. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney. SMS, email or call me if you’d like to make an appointment.

Reiki and Pop Sugar

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I gave a reiki treatment to an editor and journalist from the website Popsugar, which they call ‘women’s lifestyle media’.

The main focus is on entertainment and gossip, but they also include lifestyle items, i.e. health and beauty.

Alison was lovely, and with a stressful job, was the perfect person to experience reiki.

It was actually part of a series where she tried different ways to slow down and deal with stress.

You can read the whole series, ‘The POPSUGAR Diaries: Alison Seeks the Motivation to… Slow Down’.

Her description of her visit to Reiki Surry Hills is here.

But I’ll quote it here too!

‘I went to see Andy Quan at Reiki Surry Hills and I must admit, I was a bit nervous. He talked me through process and although I didn’t have to do anything other than welcome the energy, I was a it worried I wouldn’t be able to switch off (a big challenge for me).

Our session went for 50 minutes but I only felt like I was out for 15 minutes, it was quite surreal. I woke up feeling like I’d slept for a year. When I say “out”, I don’t mean asleep. I was fully aware of Andy’s palms hovering above different sections of my body, but I kind of felt like I was floating.

He assured me he was helping spread my own energy where it needed to go, and move me into a state of deep relaxation. I must admit I haven’t felt so calm a very long time, and I’d go back for that feeling alone. Reiki is also used to treat and heal different illnesses and ailments, something to note if you’re having back problems or the like.’

Nice, huh?

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Clients come from all over Sydney to see me, and I’ve also had clients who are visiting Sydney from Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast come and see me while they’re here for business, conferences or meeting families. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney. SMS, email or call me if you’d like to make an appointment.

Testimonial: A clearer mind and less stress

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‘The session really helped release some of the stress and I did find I had a great sleep that night. After the session, going back into work, I did find I had a clearer mind and seemed to really enjoy the rest of the day.’ – Aleen

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Clients come from all over Sydney to see me, and I’ve also had clients who are visiting Sydney from Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast come and see me while they’re here for business, conferences or meeting families. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney. SMS, email or call me if you’d like to make an appointment.

A good overview of Reiki

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As I’ve mentioned elsewhere on the site, I regularly practice reiki with the International House of Reiki in Newtown with my teacher, Frans Steine. In this article, he’s being interviewed for a yoga magazine by another of IHR’s students, Molly Furzer.

The article gives a good general overview of reiki including why it’s important for reiki practitioners to meditate and ‘work on themselves’ in order to give effective treatments:

‘The clearer our own body, mind, and energy becomes, the clearer we are to help others. You could see yourself as a garden hose – if there are lots of knots and bends in the garden hose hardly any water will come out of it. These knots and bends are our anger, worry, attachments etc. The more we undo these knots and bends, the clearer we will be as a vehicle for helping others.’

It also discusses similarities between reiki and yog, helping with the flow of energy and discovering one’s own ‘true self.’

Well done Molly and Frans for an excellent article.

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Clients come from all over Sydney to see me, and I’ve also had clients who are visiting Sydney from Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast come and see me while they’re here for business, conferences or meeting families. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney. SMS, email or call me if you’d like to make an appointment.

 

A client describes her treatment

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Natasha came for a treatment with Reiki Surry Hills in March 2013, and had a particularly powerful experience, which she’s allowed me to share with you here.

‘During reiki, it felt very powerful. I felt very relaxed and it felt like I was sleeping sometimes, because I could hear myself snoring. At times, I saw colours, like a kaleidoscope and I had lots of visions.

When you were at my feet, I could feel energy coursing through me. I had some small pains, in my left ear and at the front of my right shoulder. Afterwards, it felt as if I was made of a completely different material.

One of the things that I was hoping that reiki would address is that I’ve lost some sensation in my feet lately. I can knock my foot and it will take time to feel anything. After the session, I could feel sensation coming back to the area of my feet. The first day after the session I could occasionally feel a light pain in the certain spots on my body – one spot in the middle of the left knee, and another in the middle of right foot.

The treatment was very successful and beneficial at so many levels. I noticed that afterwards, I was more energised but also more serene and grounded since the treatment. It was very obvious because over the last two days, I have been in intensive professional training, a  situation that usually triggers my anxiety and social phobia. I have noticed that my response has been much better than usual – I was focused, relaxed, receptive and very sociable, which is, I am sure, a result of the session.

My main goal is to learn how to be at peace and balance with myself, and my intuition tells me that reiki is good way of achieving it. You’ve definitely got a follower and admirer in me.

One more thing – I was in some special state of mind after the treatment, as if I had just woken up or come out of meditation. So, I was not quite “on earth” yet. I didn’t notice the glass door at the exit from the building and hit my head against it. It was painful and awakening!’

As a note from me, sometimes reiki can bring up sensations (or small pains) that are uncomfortable during or after the session, but I believe this is something in the end healthy, as the negative sensation arises and works its way out of the body.

Thank you Natasha for letting me share your experience!

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Clients come from all over Sydney to see me, and I’ve also had clients who are visiting Sydney from Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast come and see me while they’re here for business, conferences or meeting families. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney. SMS, email or call me if you’d like to make an appointment.