This 8-week series explores enduring practices that steady the mind, expand the heart and support us to engage our lives with kindness, awareness and wisdom. You will learn the step-by-step techniques that will allow you to incorporate meditation into your daily life, and experience its many benefits.
Audience: People interested in learning how to relax or reduce stress through meditation.
Class Length: 1 1/2 hour sessions, once a week for eight weeks
Description: Meditation can bring balance, rest, and a growing inner peace to those who practice it. The benefits to both the mind and body can impact a person on many levels – mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual. In this eight-week series, you will be taken step-by-step through techniques that will allow you to incorporate meditation into your daily life, and experience its many benefits. You will learn how to:
Reduce tension and stress
Feel happier, more relaxed, and at peace with yourself
Improve your health, mental clarity, and vitality
Discover and explore your inner spiritual nature
Each one and half-hour session will include a talk, guided and silent meditation, interactive practices including time to talk with each other.
This series is designed for those with no meditation experience.
“A seed that sprouts can never be a seed again; it must have nourishment to grow, or it will die. This is a universal law, and it applies to the spiritual quest. We all hold the seeds. Once aroused, we have no alternative but to continue the process”.
To provide access to people of all income levels Eileen offers this 8 week “Learn to Meditate” course on a sliding scale for those who need it to be. Please contact her directly to discuss pricing options.
ABOUT YOUR FACILITATOR:
Eileen Shaw, BA, MA has been a pioneer & innovator in the practice of meditation since the 1970’s. She has studied with Sharon Salzberg, Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MBSR course and with several other teachers. She sparks the enthusiasm of her students for the powerful difference that meditation can make in their lives. She creates a deep connection with her students. Using cutting edge neuroscience in her teaching and spreads the joy of mindfulness practice in community settings ranging from schools to professional healthcare centers, and corporate offices. She offers three 8-week courses, Meditation levels I, II & III, Retreat Workshops, as well as individual coaching on meditation for the busy professional.
This 8-week series explores enduring practices that steady the mind, expand the heart and support us to engage our lives with kindness, awareness and wisdom. You will learn the step-by-step techniques that will allow you to incorporate meditation into your daily life, and experience its many benefits.
Audience: People interested in learning how to relax or reduce stress through meditation.
Class Length: 1 1/2 hour sessions, once a week for eight weeks
Description: Meditation can bring balance, rest, and a growing inner peace to those who practice it. The benefits to both the mind and body can impact a person on many levels – mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual. In this eight-week series, you will be taken step-by-step through techniques that will allow you to incorporate meditation into your daily life, and experience its many benefits. You will learn how to:
Reduce tension and stress
Feel happier, more relaxed, and at peace with yourself
Improve your health, mental clarity, and vitality
Discover and explore your inner spiritual nature
Each one and half-hour session will include a talk, guided and silent meditation, interactive practices including time to talk with each other.
This series is designed for those with no meditation experience.
“A seed that sprouts can never be a seed again; it must have nourishment to grow, or it will die. This is a universal law, and it applies to the spiritual quest. We all hold the seeds. Once aroused, we have no alternative but to continue the process”.
To provide access to people of all income levels Eileen offers this 8 week “Learn to Meditate” course on a sliding scale for those who need it to be. Please contact her directly to discuss pricing options.
ABOUT YOUR FACILITATOR:
Eileen Shaw, BA, MA has been a pioneer & innovator in the practice of meditation since the 1970’s. She has studied with Sharon Salzberg, Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MBSR course and with several other teachers. She sparks the enthusiasm of her students for the powerful difference that meditation can make in their lives. She creates a deep connection with her students. Using cutting edge neuroscience in her teaching and spreads the joy of mindfulness practice in community settings ranging from schools to professional healthcare centers, and corporate offices. She offers three 8-week courses, Meditation levels I, II & III, Retreat Workshops, as well as individual coaching on meditation for the busy professional.
This 8-week series explores enduring practices that steady the mind, expand the heart and support us to engage our lives with kindness, awareness and wisdom. You will learn the step-by-step techniques that will allow you to incorporate meditation into your daily life, and experience its many benefits.
Audience: People interested in learning how to relax or reduce stress through meditation.
Class Length: 1 1/2 hour sessions, once a week for eight weeks
Description: Meditation can bring balance, rest, and a growing inner peace to those who practice it. The benefits to both the mind and body can impact a person on many levels – mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual. In this eight-week series, you will be taken step-by-step through techniques that will allow you to incorporate meditation into your daily life, and experience its many benefits. You will learn how to:
Reduce tension and stress
Feel happier, more relaxed, and at peace with yourself
Improve your health, mental clarity, and vitality
Discover and explore your inner spiritual nature
Each one and half-hour session will include a talk, guided and silent meditation, interactive practices including time to talk with each other.
This series is designed for those with no meditation experience.
“A seed that sprouts can never be a seed again; it must have nourishment to grow, or it will die. This is a universal law, and it applies to the spiritual quest. We all hold the seeds. Once aroused, we have no alternative but to continue the process”.
To provide access to people of all income levels Eileen offers this 8 week “Learn to Meditate” course on a sliding scale for those who need it to be. Please contact her directly to discuss pricing options.
ABOUT YOUR FACILITATOR:
Eileen Shaw, BA, MA has been a pioneer & innovator in the practice of meditation since the 1970’s. She has studied with Sharon Salzberg, Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MBSR course and with several other teachers. She sparks the enthusiasm of her students for the powerful difference that meditation can make in their lives. She creates a deep connection with her students. Using cutting edge neuroscience in her teaching and spreads the joy of mindfulness practice in community settings ranging from schools to professional healthcare centers, and corporate offices. She offers three 8-week courses, Meditation levels I, II & III, Retreat Workshops, as well as individual coaching on meditation for the busy professional.
This 8-week series explores enduring practices that steady the mind, expand the heart and support us to engage our lives with kindness, awareness and wisdom. You will learn the step-by-step techniques that will allow you to incorporate meditation into your daily life, and experience its many benefits.
Audience: People interested in learning how to relax or reduce stress through meditation.
Class Length: 1 1/2 hour sessions, once a week for eight weeks
Description: Meditation can bring balance, rest, and a growing inner peace to those who practice it. The benefits to both the mind and body can impact a person on many levels – mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual. In this eight-week series, you will be taken step-by-step through techniques that will allow you to incorporate meditation into your daily life, and experience its many benefits. You will learn how to:
Reduce tension and stress
Feel happier, more relaxed, and at peace with yourself
Improve your health, mental clarity, and vitality
Discover and explore your inner spiritual nature
Each one and half-hour session will include a talk, guided and silent meditation, interactive practices including time to talk with each other.
This series is designed for those with no meditation experience.
“A seed that sprouts can never be a seed again; it must have nourishment to grow, or it will die. This is a universal law, and it applies to the spiritual quest. We all hold the seeds. Once aroused, we have no alternative but to continue the process”.
To provide access to people of all income levels Eileen offers this 8 week “Learn to Meditate” course on a sliding scale for those who need it to be. Please contact her directly to discuss pricing options.
ABOUT YOUR FACILITATOR:
Eileen Shaw, BA, MA has been a pioneer & innovator in the practice of meditation since the 1970’s. She has studied with Sharon Salzberg, Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MBSR course and with several other teachers. She sparks the enthusiasm of her students for the powerful difference that meditation can make in their lives. She creates a deep connection with her students. Using cutting edge neuroscience in her teaching and spreads the joy of mindfulness practice in community settings ranging from schools to professional healthcare centers, and corporate offices. She offers three 8-week courses, Meditation levels I, II & III, Retreat Workshops, as well as individual coaching on meditation for the busy professional.
This 8-week series explores enduring practices that steady the mind, expand the heart and support us to engage our lives with kindness, awareness and wisdom. You will learn the step-by-step techniques that will allow you to incorporate meditation into your daily life, and experience its many benefits.
Audience: People interested in learning how to relax or reduce stress through meditation.
Class Length: 1 1/2 hour sessions, once a week for eight weeks
Description: Meditation can bring balance, rest, and a growing inner peace to those who practice it. The benefits to both the mind and body can impact a person on many levels – mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual. In this eight-week series, you will be taken step-by-step through techniques that will allow you to incorporate meditation into your daily life, and experience its many benefits. You will learn how to:
Reduce tension and stress
Feel happier, more relaxed, and at peace with yourself
Improve your health, mental clarity, and vitality
Discover and explore your inner spiritual nature
Each one and half-hour session will include a talk, guided and silent meditation, interactive practices including time to talk with each other.
This series is designed for those with no meditation experience.
“A seed that sprouts can never be a seed again; it must have nourishment to grow, or it will die. This is a universal law, and it applies to the spiritual quest. We all hold the seeds. Once aroused, we have no alternative but to continue the process”.
To provide access to people of all income levels Eileen offers this 8 week “Learn to Meditate” course on a sliding scale for those who need it to be. Please contact her directly to discuss pricing options.
ABOUT YOUR FACILITATOR:
Eileen Shaw, BA, MA has been a pioneer & innovator in the practice of meditation since the 1970’s. She has studied with Sharon Salzberg, Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MBSR course and with several other teachers. She sparks the enthusiasm of her students for the powerful difference that meditation can make in their lives. She creates a deep connection with her students. Using cutting edge neuroscience in her teaching and spreads the joy of mindfulness practice in community settings ranging from schools to professional healthcare centers, and corporate offices. She offers three 8-week courses, Meditation levels I, II & III, Retreat Workshops, as well as individual coaching on meditation for the busy professional.
This 8-week series explores enduring practices that steady the mind, expand the heart and support us to engage our lives with kindness, awareness and wisdom. You will learn the step-by-step techniques that will allow you to incorporate meditation into your daily life, and experience its many benefits.
Audience: People interested in learning how to relax or reduce stress through meditation.
Class Length: 1 1/2 hour sessions, once a week for eight weeks
Description: Meditation can bring balance, rest, and a growing inner peace to those who practice it. The benefits to both the mind and body can impact a person on many levels – mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual. In this eight-week series, you will be taken step-by-step through techniques that will allow you to incorporate meditation into your daily life, and experience its many benefits. You will learn how to:
Reduce tension and stress
Feel happier, more relaxed, and at peace with yourself
Improve your health, mental clarity, and vitality
Discover and explore your inner spiritual nature
Each one and half-hour session will include a talk, guided and silent meditation, interactive practices including time to talk with each other.
This series is designed for those with no meditation experience.
“A seed that sprouts can never be a seed again; it must have nourishment to grow, or it will die. This is a universal law, and it applies to the spiritual quest. We all hold the seeds. Once aroused, we have no alternative but to continue the process”.
To provide access to people of all income levels Eileen offers this 8 week “Learn to Meditate” course on a sliding scale for those who need it to be. Please contact her directly to discuss pricing options.
ABOUT YOUR FACILITATOR:
Eileen Shaw, BA, MA has been a pioneer & innovator in the practice of meditation since the 1970’s. She has studied with Sharon Salzberg, Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MBSR course and with several other teachers. She sparks the enthusiasm of her students for the powerful difference that meditation can make in their lives. She creates a deep connection with her students. Using cutting edge neuroscience in her teaching and spreads the joy of mindfulness practice in community settings ranging from schools to professional healthcare centers, and corporate offices. She offers three 8-week courses, Meditation levels I, II & III, Retreat Workshops, as well as individual coaching on meditation for the busy professional.
This 8-week series explores enduring practices that steady the mind, expand the heart and support us to engage our lives with kindness, awareness and wisdom. You will learn the step-by-step techniques that will allow you to incorporate meditation into your daily life, and experience its many benefits.
Audience: People interested in learning how to relax or reduce stress through meditation.
Class Length: 1 1/2 hour sessions, once a week for eight weeks
Description: Meditation can bring balance, rest, and a growing inner peace to those who practice it. The benefits to both the mind and body can impact a person on many levels – mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual. In this eight-week series, you will be taken step-by-step through techniques that will allow you to incorporate meditation into your daily life, and experience its many benefits. You will learn how to:
Reduce tension and stress
Feel happier, more relaxed, and at peace with yourself
Improve your health, mental clarity, and vitality
Discover and explore your inner spiritual nature
Each one and half-hour session will include a talk, guided and silent meditation, interactive practices including time to talk with each other.
This series is designed for those with no meditation experience.
“A seed that sprouts can never be a seed again; it must have nourishment to grow, or it will die. This is a universal law, and it applies to the spiritual quest. We all hold the seeds. Once aroused, we have no alternative but to continue the process”.
To provide access to people of all income levels Eileen offers this 8 week “Learn to Meditate” course on a sliding scale for those who need it to be. Please contact her directly to discuss pricing options.
ABOUT YOUR FACILITATOR:
Eileen Shaw, BA, MA has been a pioneer & innovator in the practice of meditation since the 1970’s. She has studied with Sharon Salzberg, Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MBSR course and with several other teachers. She sparks the enthusiasm of her students for the powerful difference that meditation can make in their lives. She creates a deep connection with her students. Using cutting edge neuroscience in her teaching and spreads the joy of mindfulness practice in community settings ranging from schools to professional healthcare centers, and corporate offices. She offers three 8-week courses, Meditation levels I, II & III, Retreat Workshops, as well as individual coaching on meditation for the busy professional.
The Future of Reiki, Martial Artists, Spiritual Based, & Holistic Therapies in MA & USA
Your freedom to access or practice any of these therapies is being threatened with regulation.
What’s the threat?
The threat is coming from the private sector, organizations which stand to benefit by controlling from whom you can receive treatment, from whom you can learn any of these therapies, how you practice professionally, and what you teach.
That control can be gained by manipulating state governments that write licensing laws, ostensibly to protect the public from harm.
Do I have your attention? Are you ready to protect Reiki and other affected therapies?
Although this proposed bill affects ANYTHING that is deemed a holistic therapy or a spiritual therapy through “word or touch”, I am going to stick to my lane of knowledge in the realm of my extensive experience in trauma healing & recovery especially for domestic violence survivors and sexual assault survivors as well as spiritually based therapies such as meditation & reiki.
For more details on what is happening, please check out my prior post here.
If you teach or are a practitioner who uses other therapies such as
meditation,
yoga,
personal, business, spiritual coaching,
Thai chi,
martial arts,
acupressure
You are being called to TAKE ACTION
If you receive any of these therapies especially for/or a part of a:
PTSD, mental health or trauma
terminal illness, dementia, cancer
senior care, volunteer programs, homelessness
Military vets
addiction
battered women’s shelter
or the like
Your access to services may become adversely affected … ACTION is needed NOW
Holistic healers are fighting “An Act Regulating Bodyworks,” the latest bill filed by State Sen. Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford) and Attorney General Maura Healey to allow authorities regular access to establishments they say are often fronts for trafficking.
Reiki practitioner Rita Glassman (Staff Photo By Chris Christo/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
I recently spoke with Rita Glassman who is heading up the lobbying efforts in Massachusetts to object to regulation of reiki that is beginning to sweep through many states in USA.
She and other practitioners from the National Health Freedom Action have been working to protect their right to professionally practice their respective modalities.
Montigny’s bill defines bodywork as a large swath of practices including touch, words or directed movement, from reiki to reflexology to meditation or martial arts.
For practitioners, you were you able to choose from among diverse practitioners and found the one you thought was the best fit for you.
When you started your professional practice, did you assume you’d always be able to practice according to your understanding your unique practice, without interference from your state government?
All of those choices will be taken away if we allow state legislatures to be manipulated by the private sector into requiring unwarranted licensing.
If you missed my prior blog post on what is happening, please click here to read it for information & background. Above all … please
share it,
take ACTION.
Pamela Miles https://reikiinmedicine.org
More recently, Pamela Miles (Reiki, Medicine & Self Care), who was instrumental in helping bring reiki on the map in the medical community in NYC and has been featured on Dr. Oz has jumped on the anti-legislative board due to the dangers this widespread legislation poses to folks in gaining access to specifically reiki.
She wrote a fabulous piece on how the threat of regulating reiki would affect you that I will NOT redo as it is perfectly executed.
You can read her wonderful article here where she talks about
WHO stands to profit from this regulation,
how this regulation can affect you,
the reiki diversity,
the reiki spiritual practice,
what states are under attack NOW,
and what you can do about it.
Pamela Miles has been a national voice and featured on the following:.
Pamela has hosted multiple webinars and sent out numerous emails on how to address what we are faced with in regards to legislation. Her voice is one highly credible and respected in the industry.
You can listen to her recent webinar, Protect Reiki from Regulation, with Rita Glassman. You can access it here.
It is imperative that we start writing and calling legislators NOW to oppose this bill.
Laura at the Ma State House to testify against the harmful bills & supporting the Safe Harbor Bill.
The MA attorney general has filed the identical bill in the house and senate to ensure its passage. It is going to take a miracle to stop it.
We need an army of practitioners to contact their legislator and senator to establish a relationship with them and to let them know how this proposed bill would affect their income and family. They are elected officials and they listen to their constituents.
Rita and her team has made it easy for us to take ACTION. It is all done for you to make it easy for you to help stop this legislation.
Sample letters & talking points
Click on the links below for:
Draft of an email to students, practitioners, teachers and consumers
I STRONGLY suggest that you blind copy (BC) me on your emails to their legislators, so I can present all the letters to the committee it is assigned to at the public hearing.
You can bcc: your letters to healingwithspirit1@gmail.com.
Results?
Last year, Rita Glassman presented the list of over 20,000 who signed the an online petition she had created to oppose the legislation as well as copies of letters that were sent to legislators.
KEY RESULT: When NH tried to pass licensure legislation, they had a strong turnout of over 400 at the public hearing and over a thousand letters to legislators. They never filed another licensure bill for holistic practitioners. We need to do the same and just flood them.
WE NEED YOU.
If we learned NOTHING else from the election in November 2020, it takes the rise of us ALL. Please do NOT rely on someone else to take action. We can NOT do this alone. This does NOT only affect reiki, but other spiritually based practices as well.
To defeat this will require ALL of us to step up to the plate.
As for me, regulating these services will prevent folks in vulnerable communities I serve from gaining access to these therapies which in turn would harm my mission to break the cycle of abuse through healing the unrecognized unhealed epidemic of unresolved trauma that plagues our communities and over burdens our broken health care system.
Please share your thoughts and comments below in regards HOW this may or may not affect you. Thank you for reading.
Doing a full moon ritual or a ceremony are sacred practices that date back to ancient times. These moon rituals are found in almost every ancient culture where worshiping the moon was part of their culture as we have seen in Celtic traditions, Babylonian, Egyptian, to Shinto in Japan and more.
There is tremendous power in learning to harness – what I like to call – moon magic, which is the energies, flows, rhythms. However, like anything else, this is NOT a one shot deal and poof, it’s magic. It takes dedication in learning these sacred rituals, implementing them, getting into vibrational alignment with them, and more.
The moon is our teacher and we are her students. Over time, we learn how work WITH these natural flows and rhythms in all her phases. Tuning into these phases of the moon can help provide us with a framework or guide to work from. This can be immensely empowering.
Working with the moon in a ritualistic or ceremonial way is needed more than ever in our technological driven culture that is ever increasingly losing connection to the greatest influencers, creators, and destroyers in life – the moon, father sun and mother earth.
What Does The Full Moon Represent?
pixabay
This is when the moon is at its peak energy – a time where there is a build up of energy accumulated – both illuminating and shadowy – light and dark.
She represents the receptive energies or what others might call the feminine.
She reflects back to us a strong full illumination from the sun where she is the brightest. She highlights all that needs to be illuminated in your life in this lunar cycle. This is where the energies are most potent and a time for strong creative and intuitive influxes.
The full moon is all about endings and completions of a cycle and in this case the lunar cycle. This is a good time to:
reflect
evaluate
access
cleanse
recharge
Here are three things to consider when doing a full moon ritual
1) Focus on what you have done in the past 28-30 days. What transpired in this time? Where are you stuck? Reflect. How have you utilized the energies in this lunar cycle?
2) What have you reaped – gained? Reflect.
3) What needs to be leg go of? Purified? Cleansed? Reflect.
Photo by: Laura Joseph, (c) 2021
Preparations For Full Moon Rituals
This is a great time to take a hard look at what has come into fruition and what has not.
It is a time to get quiet, connect, and honor the sacredness of the moon, all she offers us and the other elementals harnessed. Implementing these rituals should show clear respect with proper cultural appropriation.
This includes asking for permission of the ancestors of the land you occupy to guide you. For me, that would be asking permission from the Massachusett People, the original stewards of this land I reside on, to be here. Asking the ancestors forgiveness for those who may have come before me and asking for them guide me today in this sacred ritual so I may become a better steward for all future generations to come.
Here are additional tips to prepare:
1) Get centered & calm – so yes, meditate in preparation
2) Write it out – (see three things to consider when doing a full moon ritual above for prompts)
3) Take a sacred bath – you can use epsom salt or Himalayan salts with some herbals like roses, lavender or essential oils. The intention here is asking the moon and waters to cleanse and purify the mind, body, and spirit.
Photo by: Laura Joseph (c) 2020 All Rights Reserved.
Here are 7 simple rituals to maximize the full moon energies.
1) Cleanse – Clear, cleanse, purify your mental and physical space. Clean out those closets. If you choose to smudge, please consider avoid using white sage or palo santo due to the increasing poaching of these items leading to imbalances.
2) Put out a bowl of moon water. Let the bowl of water bask in the radiance of the full moon energies. Create intentions and rituals. Sip it daily as a reminder of the intentions created and the full power of the moon.
3) Releasing Ritual – Write whatever you wish to release, let go of on a small piece of paper. Whatever you wrote down, you can say a prayer, intention, or the like. Then with things you want to release either place in a bowl of water and sprinkle pink Himalayan salt to purify/cleanse or burn in a ceremonial sacred fire.
4) Meditate – This is one of the most important things you can learn, do, and incorporate as part of your daily rituals. This is the space we can access the wisdom and answers we seek. However, this is NOT something you want to initiate on a full moon as a new practice if you have not already been practicing meditation.
5) Dance – Physical release is a good way to purge stuck energies that need to move and filter out.
6) Gratitude Ritual– Write whatever you wish to be grateful for – successes, opportunities, etc on a small piece of paper. Whatever you wrote down, you can say a prayer, intention, or the like. Then bury it in the garden and wait til the next new moon to plant any seeds and watch what grows.
7) Charge your stones/crystals – Put them in the moonlight to bask in the energies of the full moon to cleanse, charge, and purify these stones and crystals.
Approach these rituals from a soulful place and less from the egoic earthly place with honor, respect, and sacredness.
You’ll be amazed at what shows up for you when you adopt these flows & cycles into your life. Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment below if you find these tips helpful.
*** If you provide or receive benefit from alternative, holistic, or spiritual based therapies and/or practices, this is a MUST read. ***
There are currently THREE pending legislations in Massachusetts that could have an impact in your rights of access to holistic and spiritual based therapies.
Two of the bills are potentially harmful and the third is a Safe Harbor bill to address the concerns of legislators while protecting the rights of Americans to access as well as protect many sacred teachings that fall under religious practices without government interference.
Holistic and spiritual practitioners in the state of Massachusetts who do not otherwise fall under professional or national licensing requirement (like Acupuncture, Chinese Medicine and Massage therapy) have been under potential threat of being controlled by the state.
According to the folks at this group, “Massachusetts previously introduced Safe Harbor Exemption legislation to protect the right to practice for, and the right of consumers to access, health care practitioners and healers who do not have conventional medical licenses such as herbalists, homeopaths, traditional naturopaths and many more.”
It was looking favorable last time we checked in early 2020. Unfortunately, like everything else, Covid slowed down the process of the Safe Harbor Bill going through. View the Bill here SD.1085/HD.1169
NEW Concerning Developments
Laura in Meditation
Since then, there have been interesting and concerning developments.
1) There is an (alleged) federally sponsored organization that is working toward creating a mandatory licensing for a variety of modalities, including shamanic practice. They have developed standards, certifications and applications that would force certain practitioners to become licensed under them. They plan to get this passed in 8 applicable states, beginning with Massachusetts.
2) At the state level in Massachusetts, there were bills filed on Wednesday, co-sponsored by the Attorney General that would require a variety of modalities (listed below), to be licensed and overseen by the state and/or individual towns. From what it looks to me, they are putting these “alternative healing therapies” into a similar category as massage therapy.
These are the categories that I am reading about in the Massachusetts bill that was filed on Wednesday, February 10, 2021:
Feldenkrais Method
the Trager Approach
Ayurvedic Therapies
Polarity or Polarity Therapy
Qi Gong
Body/Mind Centering
Reiki, levels II and above
Laura at the Ma State House to testify against the harmful bills & supporting the Safe Harbor Bill.
Here’s where I need your help:
This bill referenced in the Call to Action below, known as the Safe Harbor bill, would work to protect the rights of the practitioners listed. This would work in favor of these practitioners and allow them sovereignty over their healing art.
PLEASE SIGN HERE as this gets emailed directly to our legislators. It takes one minute.
Only Massachusetts residents can sign this.
You do NOT need to be a practitioner to sign. If you run a volunteer program or you have benefited in any way from these modalities, you are encouraged to sign.
Please share with clients or groups you work with who benefit from these therapies too.
** This is NOT a petition, it’s a direct email to legislators that can help us. **
What Else You Can Do NOW
Get Involved.
Protect YOUR rights and Access
Please do NOT expect someone else to do it FOR you. As we have witnessed in the last year, and if we learned nothing else from 2020, EVERYONE must rise and take action.
1) Read about the Safe Harbor Bill that is designed to protect you and your rights.
Key provisions of the Health Freedom Bill include:
Greater access to healing arts practitioners by the acknowledgment of its inherent benefits
Strengthened consumer protections to ensure public rights and safety
Enhanced practitioner safety underscoring the right to practice
Required disclosures relating to services and skills
HFAM “has worked to advance an initiative that balances consumer protections and public safety with the rights of those practicing healing arts. With the recent passage of health care reform on the state and national levels, it is now more important than ever that consumers have the right to safely access healing arts.”
Become a member
Donate to support this expensive legislative process to protect our rights and the groups mission.
Volunteer
Submit a Testimony in support of Safe Harbor Bill. Click here.
3) Learn About the Parent Group: National Health Freedom Action and their work nationwide and in grassroots organizations in various states where legislation is pending.
The Mission: “To ensure that the people of this nation have access to the broad domain of healing and health care information and services, to ensure the right of practitioners of the healing arts to practice, and to educate the public, promote health and well-being, conduct surveys and research, and participate in legislative, regulatory, legal, or public policy-reform and lobbying to accomplish the goal of health freedom.”
In full disclosure, I am a paid member of this organization and of their chapter HFAMA.
4) Know the other 2 bills presented for legislation that are potentially harmful especially towards vulnerable populations, interference with religious practices, discriminatory, and culturally targeted.
The other one is still pending as it is being re-written, but you can read about MA Bill 168 here prior to the pending re-drafting.
Laura (right) with Tadao Sensei, Representative of The Jikiden Reiki Institute, Koyto, Japan, and Iku from JRI in 2019 at an International Congress.
Please protect these sacred practices targeted.
Please develop a stronger back bone and self police unethical professionals to minimize harmful impacts to our communities.
Why Do I Care?
You can read about MY VIEWS as to WHY I support the Safe Harbor Bill and why I do NOT support the other 2 bills by clicking here. You can scroll towards the bottom of the post for the MY VIEWS part of the post.
Here I speak as a survivor of rape and domestic abuse who was subsequently diagnosed with CPTSD taking decades to reclaim my life as well as someone with years doing advocacy work in Massachusetts for victims.
The two harmful bills would also have a significant harmful impact on those faced with end of life too and not to mention low income communities.
So YES, I am quite passionate about THIS.
I will update you all as new information comes to light.
Thank you for reading and supporting the sacred arts.
Eileen Shaw, BA, MA has been a pioneer & innovator in the practice of meditation since the 1970’s. She has studied with Sharon Salzberg, Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MBSR course and with several other teachers. She sparks the enthusiasm of her students for the powerful difference that meditation can make in their lives. She creates a deep connection with her students. Using cutting edge neuroscience in her teaching and spreads the joy of mindfulness practice in community settings ranging from schools to professional healthcare centers, and corporate offices. She offers three 8-week courses, Meditation levels I, II & III, Retreat Workshops, as well as individual coaching on meditation for the busy professional.
or trauma
You can listen to her recent webinar, Protect Reiki from Regulation, with Rita Glassman. 
As for me, regulating these services will prevent folks in vulnerable communities I serve from gaining access to these therapies which in turn would harm my mission to break the cycle of abuse through healing the unrecognized unhealed epidemic of unresolved trauma that plagues our communities and over burdens our broken health care system.
According to the folks at this group, “Massachusetts previously introduced Safe Harbor Exemption legislation to protect the right to practice for, and the right of consumers to access, health care practitioners and healers who do not have conventional medical licenses such as herbalists, homeopaths, traditional naturopaths and many more.”
