Episode 71
Episode #68 - Tapping Into Universal Energies For The Greater Good: An Interview With Rickie Meryl Freedman
We are all made up of different energy levels and expressions of how we can contribute it are up to our own decision-making. There are a wide variety of practices and methods that can be used to create an aura of showing that energy in a wide variety of ways, which we often think about in the physical sense. However, when tragedy strikes, how we use that energy can be a determining factor of how we move forward in our lives. Today's guest, the owner of Reikispace and Learning Place in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, shares her over 3 decades of experience in the practice of Reiki, a healing technique for our energy levels and expression, and how she has influenced thousands of people as a result of one decision she made to use her energy. Our journeys are dictated by the choices we make, and this captivating interview shows that we can use our decision-making powers for the greater good.
Guest Bio
Rickie Meryl Freedman is a Reiki Master/Teacher, PT for almost 30 years with her focus on Integrative Medicine. Rickie is Certified in ReikiSound and ReikiVoice, and is also a Certified Holistic Wellness Coach, speaker, author, and mentor. She created and opened “Reiki by Rickie ~ ReikiSpace & Learning Place” in Harrisburg PA in 2013 and has a full-time Reiki Practice offering Heart-centered Energy-based sessions, classes, workshops and events. Rickie shares her Mentorship program entitled “Follow your Heart AND Do it Smart!” with other practitioners and healers desiring to take their next step “From Passion to Profession”. Rickie teaches Reiki classes all levels including Reiki for Healthcare Professionals and ReikiKids. She authored “ReikiRickie shares ReikiKids” Coloring/Activity Manual, and will be launching her second book "Radiating Our Reiki Light ~ Reiki Healing through Real Stories from Clients, Students, Practitioners and Teachers"
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/reikibyrickie
YouTube Page: Rickie Meryl on YouTube
Website: https://reikibyrickie.com/
- Reiki Rickie Shares ReikiKids - One of the books referenced during this episode that is available for purchase on Amazon by our guest, Rickie Meryl Freedman.
Visit Our Website: https://speaking-from-the-heart.captivate.fm/
Visit Our Business Website: https://www.yourspeakingvoice.biz
Support The Mission Of The Business! Donate Here: https://speaking-from-the-heart.captivate.fm/support
Intro/Outro By: Michael Dugan, Podcast Host: Voice4Chefs
Transcript
Welcome to the podcast where relationships, confidence, and
Intro:determination, all converge into an amazing, heartfelt experience.
Intro:This is Speaking From The Heart.
Joshua:Welcome back to episode number 68 of Speaking from the Heart.
Joshua:Today we have Rickie Merrill Friedman.
Joshua:She is a Reiki master and teacher for almost 30 years with her
Joshua:focus on integrative medicine.
Joshua:She's a certified in Reiki Sound and Reiki Voice and is also a
Joshua:certified holistic wellness coach, speaker, author, and mentor.
Joshua:She created and opened Reiki by Rickie, which is a Reiki and learning place in
Joshua:Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 2013, which we talk about in this episode, and has
Joshua:a full-time reiki practice that offers heart-centered energy based sessions.
Joshua:In addition to sessions, she offers classes, workshops, and events.
Joshua:Rickie shares her mentorship program entitled Follow Your Heart and Do It
Joshua:Smart with other practitioners and healers desiring to take their next step
Joshua:from passion to profession, which is why she's known synonymously as "Mama
Joshua:Rickie" amongst the Harrisburg community, which we also talk about in this episode.
Joshua:Rickie teaches Reiki classes of all levels, including Reiki for healthcare
Joshua:professionals and also Reiki Kids.
Joshua:She has offered Reiki Rickie Shares,, Reiki Kids Coloring Activity Manual,
Joshua:and it'll be launching her second book, Radiating Our Reiki Light: Reiki Healing
Joshua:through Real Stories From Clients, Students, Practitioners, and Teachers.
Joshua:Now, if you thought that was a tongue twister, imagine all the different other
Joshua:things that we're going to talk about in today's episode that aren't so much of
Joshua:a tongue twister, but I will say this, despite all the things that she has
Joshua:been through in her life to get to this point, she is definitely a soul that
Joshua:is self-healing and grows from all the different things that she has learned
Joshua:from being not only a self-proclaimed mom, not only from herself but also
Joshua:the different practitioners that are around the community, but she has lived
Joshua:up to having that relationship with others that are so important in order
Joshua:to build upon the best version of all healing and of all different backgrounds.
Joshua:With that, let's go to the episode.
Joshua:All right, we're here with Rickie Merrill Friedman.
Joshua:Rickie, thanks for sharing your heart with us today.
Rickie:Oh, that's awesome.
Rickie:That's where I live-
Joshua:I love that you said that-
Rickie:I live right from my heart, and Rickie is total unconditional,
Rickie:heartfelt, non-judgmental love, so when I saw the title of your podcast, I just
Rickie:knew that this was something for me, and I'm so thrilled to be here with you.
Rickie:Thanks, Joshua.
Joshua:I'm so thrilled that you're here too, Rickie, because I have been looking
Joshua:for people that have this authentic story, and when you reached out and I was
Joshua:checking you out, I was like, "Oh yeah.
Joshua:She's got something from the heart too, especially with what she does."
Rickie:Absolutely.
Joshua:So, that actually leads into my very first question because some people
Joshua:don't know what this is, and I was telling you a little bit about the fact that
Joshua:I have never done one of these before.
Joshua:Can you explain the concept of Reiki and how that works, because I'm
Joshua:sure some people are thinking, "Huh.
Joshua:That's an interesting sort of technique.
Joshua:I wonder what that's all about.", so can you explain a little bit about that?
Rickie:Absolutely.
Rickie:Education is part of my mission in the world, so Reiki means
Rickie:universal life force energy.
Rickie:In other words, it's the energy that we are all made of, connected by,
Rickie:supported by, and that we all can choose to tune into once we remember,
Rickie:because in our Western culture, we don't educate about the energy of us.
Rickie:We grow up learning about the physicalness of us, and that is just one portion of
Rickie:who we are in the world, so many people when they hear Reiki, think of Reiki
Rickie:sessions, and that is of course, the bulk of my practice here, where people can
Rickie:come in and they get to lie down on a very comfortable massage table, fully clothed.
Rickie:It's a very comfy, cozy nurturing session, and it consists of
Rickie:gentle, light, stationary touch.
Rickie:There's no manipulation like massage.
Rickie:It's very gentle and also balancing right in your energy field, which radiates from
Rickie:all of us, and many people can feel that, even though I'm not touching with them.
Rickie:The essence of a Reiki session, which originally was from Japan, is to
Rickie:help balance your energy because we all have natural healing responses,
Rickie:and when our energy is balanced, our bodies can work like they are meant
Rickie:to do and help us heal naturally.
Rickie:We feel more centered.
Rickie:We feel more of a sense of inner peace.
Rickie:We feel more grounded so that we can be more productive and creative in our
Rickie:lives, and it's really, for many people, world changing and non life changing work
Rickie:because for many, it's the first time that they've had their energy attended to, so
Rickie:Reiki sessions are a beautiful, gentle, peaceful experience, but the essence of
Rickie:Reiki is to use Reiki sessions and the other things that we learn to move forward
Rickie:with being and living Reiki in the world, and what that means is being conscious
Rickie:of the energy of all our thoughts, our words, our actions, our emotions, and how
Rickie:that affects not only our own well-being, but because our energy does radiate, it
Rickie:affects everyone around us and literally out into the world, so it becomes a way
Rickie:to live a very authentic life in integrity and making the choice to come back to
Rickie:your place of inner peace so that we, and we all have the potential for this,
Rickie:can be a healing presence in the world.
Joshua:I love that because, for me, and I was even sharing this with you a
Joshua:little bit before we started, about some of the energies that I have going on in
Joshua:my life and even because of doing this podcast, how that's really contributed
Joshua:to the positive energies, but I love the fact that you focus on that more
Joshua:discreetly and more intimately when it comes to just understanding how the
Joshua:body, how our thoughts and feelings, interact with so many different people,
Joshua:because for me, as a life coach myself, I have to worry about that with some
Joshua:of the clients that I even had through my business too, and that really leads
Joshua:into what I was thinking about when you were talking about the definition.
Joshua:What actually got you involved in this field?
Joshua:Was there somebody that helped you with this or maybe there was a life
Joshua:experience that happened to you?
Joshua:Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Rickie:Sure, but I do want to say one thing about your comment though
Rickie:is for people who are sensitive, and I suggest that you are, Joshua, and
Rickie:many people who are sensitive are very attracted to the energy of Reiki.
Rickie:It becomes a way of staying very heart-centered and connected, and
Rickie:learning how to manage your energy in the world, so that you're not taking on
Rickie:everybody else's stuff and you're not being drained of your personal energy, and
Rickie:that is one of the real gifts of Reiki.
Joshua:That's a good point to make too, because I think that we have to kind of
Joshua:create that understanding for ourselves that this is about what our energies
Joshua:are and what that's contributing, but we need to take care of what is internal
Joshua:to us first before anything else.
Rickie:Absolutely.
Joshua:Good point.
Rickie:So I would love to share my story and then if you don't mind bringing me
Rickie:back to that, taking care of yourself point, because that's really important.
Rickie:I am a physical therapist by background, which is another form
Rickie:of hands-on healing, of course, and my physical therapy background
Rickie:continues to serve me well every day.
Rickie:I'm a very full-time Reiki Master teacher now, and I have my own Reiki
Rickie:center and such, so my physical therapy background gives me that left brain
Rickie:logical thinking balance and allows me to present Reiki to any audience in a
Rickie:way that is grounded and relatable, and I'm also very involved with a lot of
Rickie:healthcare professionals, specifically because I can relate in that world.
Rickie:In 1994, friends of mine, they were husband and wife, took a Reiki class.
Rickie:I was living in a small, rural, conservative college town at the time.
Rickie:I never heard of Reiki, but they asked me to babysit for their son, so I was
Rickie:just doing them a favor, and they came home and practiced on me, so I had a
Rickie:really intense personal reaction to the Reiki because I had been holding
Rickie:a lot of stuff inside personally for a very long time, and it was time for
Rickie:me to start to look at those things, because I felt the Reiki so strongly
Rickie:and dramatically, I initially took Reiki One for my own personal healing.
Rickie:The essence of Reiki one is about self-healing because it
Rickie:always needs to start with you.
Rickie:Every level of Reiki class that I took, I really thought would be as far as I would
Rickie:want to or need to go, but when something is for you on your path, you are just
Rickie:drawn along every step of the way, so I moved slowly through the path of Reiki to
Rickie:gradually become a Reiki Master teacher.
Rickie:I initially started sharing Reiki from my home; didn't charge a fee.
Rickie:I just had a love donation box in my room and people could share whatever
Rickie:they felt comfortable to, and that was a great start for me, and then I was
Rickie:actually doing physical therapy in a nursing home locally, and one of the
Rickie:nurses there who was one of my regular clients, opened a little wellness center
Rickie:and asked me to come in and share Reiki, so that was kind of the start of my
Rickie:professional Interaction with Reiki.
Rickie:I was still doing physical therapy at that point, and I gradually started to do less
Rickie:and less physical therapy to fit it in around my growing Reiki client schedule,
Rickie:which just really blew me away because this was very new to that community.
Rickie:However, when I share Reiki and share about Reiki, I love it so much.
Rickie:I'm very passionate about it, and people feel that, and people were
Rickie:attracted to that, so I continued to grow my Reiki practice, and in 2008 I
Rickie:was very clearly guided about coming to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania where I
Rickie:live now was the next step for me.
Rickie:Once I worked through a little bit of my own internal resistances about making the
Rickie:move, I finally got here and I got another really strong, intuitive guidance that
Rickie:said it's time to let go of the security blanket and really do this, and the
Rickie:security blanket for me was the physical therapy work, so I trusted my guidance.
Rickie:This was a total step forward in trust because when I first moved to Harrisburg,
Rickie:I basically knew one person, and no one in this area really talked about Reiki.
Rickie:There were some massage therapists that had learned some Reiki, but no
Rickie:one promoted it, talked about it or had it as their main practice, so I had a
Rickie:lot of work to do to have people feel and experience Reiki, educate them,
Rickie:and get myself known and establish my own credibility, so that was in 2008.
Rickie:I went into someone else's practice initially while I was building
Rickie:and growing, and in 2013, I was told it was time, so I created
Rickie:Harrisburg's first Reiki center.
Rickie:It's called Reiki by Rickie: Reiki Space and Learning Place.
Rickie:It's a beautiful, peaceful, healing center and we celebrated our 10 year anniversary.
Rickie:We're continuing to grow and blossom.
Rickie:There are now many Reiki practitioners and teachers out in the community, and
Rickie:probably 90% of them have received Reiki training with me, so I'm kind of called
Rickie:the "Reiki Mama", not just because of my age, and that's awesome just to see this
Rickie:grow and spread around the whole community because you know it was needed here, and
Rickie:that's why I was attracted here, so we continue to grow and blossom and there's
Rickie:more coming and that feels awesome, yeah, so that's it in a very nutshell because
Rickie:there's so many details of the story.
Joshua:Yeah, I appreciate you sharing it because for many of us, we sort of
ave that barrier ourselves of:can we really do this if we open a business
ave that barrier ourselves of:and we put ourselves really into that position, and I had that sort of
ave that barrier ourselves of:imposter syndrome, which is really the expression that I like to use when it
ave that barrier ourselves of:came to even opening my own practice here of coaching earlier this year.
ave that barrier ourselves of:It's almost been a year since I opened, and it's crazy to see that growth
ave that barrier ourselves of:potential just come to where it is now for you, because when you were doing it
ave that barrier ourselves of:in 1994, I was seven years of age and just getting into elementary school-
Rickie:So was I.
Joshua:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Joshua:There you go.
Joshua:I knew that you were young at heart, so that made sense to me.
Joshua:I'll go with that answer.
Joshua:I was going to ask you about what you were mentioning earlier
Joshua:about taking care of yourself.
Joshua:You asked me to remind you about that because I think it is something too that
Joshua:we often forget about when it comes to even doing a business like yourself.
Joshua:You have to take care of yourself, especially so-
Rickie:Right.
Joshua:Do you mind elaborating a little bit on what you wanted to share,
Joshua:but more specifically when you do, I'm kind of curious about what your
Joshua:personal experience is with taking care of yourself, being the owner,
Joshua:and also a mama to so many of these instructors now out in the community.
Rickie:Yes, that's right because you need to live your work, right?
Rickie:It needs to be in total authenticity and integrity, and I know the reason
Rickie:Reiki space continues to be successful, besides the fact that it's a beautiful,
Rickie:grounded professional practice, is it is entirely managed based on the
Rickie:love and service principles of Reiki.
Rickie:There is no emphasis on dollars, numbers, competition, or fear here, so in order
Rickie:for something like that to manifest literally, it all starts with you,
Rickie:and with Reiki we have what I have now endearingly called our Reiki aerobics,
Rickie:our daily work in this, right, because we need to stay, open, connected, and
Rickie:in balance in order to radiate this energy and allow the healing energy
Rickie:to flow through us and not from us.
Rickie:It's not our personal energy, so we need to stay as clear as humanly
Rickie:possible because we all are having a very human experience, so for Reiki,
Rickie:that means doing our self-healing every day, which is a very simple practice
Rickie:that you learn in a Reiki One class.
Rickie:It means finding, and this will relate to you, Joshua, a grounding practice, right-
Joshua:Mm-hmm.
Joshua:Yep.
Rickie:So that we can take all those wonderful ideas and visions and
Rickie:inspirations and literally bring them to life in a concrete real and lasting
Rickie:way, so that requires grounding, right, and for Reiki, it also requires a breath
Rickie:work and meditation practice where we actually fill ourselves up with the
Rickie:light and healing energy and practice radiating that bigger and brighter so
Rickie:that we lead the way with our light and people can really feel that, and that
Rickie:becomes a healing energy, a healing presence, and so these are the things
Rickie:that we need to do for our own daily work.
Rickie:In addition, we need to get on each other's tables, right?
Rickie:There's only so much we can do ourself because we still need
Rickie:to be active in that process.
Rickie:Part of the gift of a Reiki session is allowing yourself to be open
Rickie:and vulnerable and just receive.
Rickie:We have all received some very old messaging, especially women, that
Rickie:our jobs were to nurture and take care of everyone else first, right?
Joshua:Mm-hmm.
Rickie:And then maybe if we had a little time or energy left over, we could do a
Rickie:little something for ourselves that we'd probably feel guilty about it, right?
Joshua:Mm-hmm.
Rickie:So through reiki and just a forward progression of knowledge, we
Rickie:know that we need to fill ourselves up first, right, so that when we
Rickie:choose to share, we don't become drained, burn talent and resentful.
Rickie:We are able to let that energy flow through us in a very heartfelt way,
Rickie:and that helps to heal us as well as the people that we're sharing with, and
Rickie:I don't mean sharing Reiki sessions.
Rickie:I mean sharing within our life and our work in any way that we
Rickie:choose, right, and because if we don't take care of ourselves, our
Rickie:bodies will eventually speak to us.
Rickie:Our energy directly connects to our physical bodies, and if we are out of
Rickie:balance for a length of time, our bodies help us learn that by symptoms, and
Rickie:it'll start out with really small little messages, but if we don't pay attention,
Rickie:we can get bigger messages until we finally acknowledge and make the changes
Rickie:that we are supposed to make, right?
Joshua:Yeah, and from what you've said to me, I even shared this with you before
Joshua:we started too, about the fact that I was out of balance for a long time in
Joshua:my life, and when I had that shutdown of my body, I realized that was a big
Joshua:negative energy coming out of me as a result of not taking care of the signs,
Joshua:because there were certainly signs of burnout and just retreating into more
Joshua:inward thoughts as opposed to sharing those thoughts with other people and
Joshua:having that conversation where needed, and from a practical standpoint, even
Joshua:when it comes to just having that verbal communication, it can be very tough, but
Joshua:you're talking about essentially too, not only removing that energy, which yeah,
Joshua:you mentioned it, we're all humans, that it's really tough to kind of extract that,
Joshua:but letting that positive energy come through you can be a healing principle
Joshua:in itself, which as I heard you say that, it makes me really think that there has
Joshua:to be something in your own life that maybe Reiki has been something that has
Joshua:helped you to get through a tough time, and I'm wondering if there's something
Joshua:that you could share personally that has allowed you to practice this technique
Joshua:so much within your own life, because I know that we're not all perfect and we
Joshua:all have our stories of where we are able to come from to have our rise from the
Joshua:ashes, the Phoenix moment in our life.
Joshua:I'm wondering if you could share a little bit about maybe something that
Joshua:has happened where you've been able to practice Reiki in your own life.
Rickie:Oh, yes.
Rickie:Very many what I call choice points along the line in smaller ways for sure.
Rickie:Am I ready?
Rickie:Am I worthy?
Rickie:Is it time we all come to those decisions, but, as you're speaking,
Rickie:probably the biggest and most impactful thing that happened, and luckily I
Rickie:was already Reiki at this point is I had two adopted sons, 11 weeks apart.
Joshua:Wow.
Rickie:I had a four day old and an 11 week old at the same time, and my
Rickie:first child, Ryan, and this is public knowledge at this point, chose to leave
Rickie:this world when he was 20 years old.
Rickie:He was, by traditional medicine, labeled bipolar, schizophrenic.
Rickie:He had a very, very challenging life, and the way I look at it now is he chose
Rickie:a path of peace for himself because he couldn't find it here, so the story that
Rickie:I would like to share about Ryan, because he encourages me to share his story, even
Rickie:still when I had to go back to work very quickly, I had another son and this was
Rickie:my main means of support at this point, and I remember very strongly the first
Rickie:day that I went back to my Reiki space and I stepped over the threshold from
Rickie:the office area into my healing room, literally one step in there and the Reiki
Rickie:words, which in Reiki we call the Reiki healing principles, which I'm happy to
Rickie:talk to you more about that also because that's about living Reiki but they really
Rickie:just literally came right to my face and they said, "Are these just words?
Rickie:Are you going to really choose to live by this now?"
Joshua:Mm.
Rickie:And I was very strongly still in my grief process, right, but
Rickie:when I share Reiki, it flows through me also and helps to heal me every
Rickie:session, and I knew in that moment I had a choice and I could choose.
Rickie:Not living was not never a choice for me, but I could choose to live my life as a
Rickie:victim because as a parent who's lost a child, society would've condoned that,
Rickie:right, or I could choose to step forward, do the work I needed to do, and become
Rickie:a healer, a healing presence for others, and in that moment, I needed to make that
Rickie:choice, and right after that, in that same moment, the inspiration of a workshop
Rickie:that I would eventually come to share, and I've shared it several times now, called
Rickie:From Grief To Gratitude, came to me.
Rickie:I was nowhere near ready to even think about it, but I just kind of tucked that
Rickie:seed away, and actually about five years later, I was finally ready to share Ryan's
Rickie:story, so that was a really impactful moment with Reiki, and I had lots of
Rickie:people sharing Reiki with me at that time, and I just really knew, I knew so strongly
Rickie:that I was going to make it through this, and I wanted to do it in the healthiest
Rickie:way possible, looking at and releasing whatever feelings I needed to from the
Rickie:depths of my being, so Reiki was kind of lifesaving for me during that time.
Joshua:I wanted to pause you there for a second because it
Joshua:sounded like it could have been really, like you said, two choices.
Joshua:It could have been-
Rickie:Mm-hmm.
Joshua:Living in that grief and not really overcoming it and letting that
Joshua:be, become part of your identity, or, in a way, be liberated from it so that you
Joshua:can be not only a healer, but also be a communicator to those that are going
Joshua:through those sort of aspects in their lives, so I have to commend you for
Joshua:taking that path of just wanting to help others to understand and to feel that,
Joshua:and again, I know that for Ryan's sake, I want to say sorry for your loss, but
Joshua:in a way you have used this to not only redeem him, but also yourself by just
Joshua:helping so many countless people, and I'll let you continue, but I'm really
Joshua:curious how many people do you think you've made an impact because of that?
Rickie:Well, thank you.
Rickie:I'm not a numbers girl, but I do need to tell you about two years ago, I was
Rickie:connecting with someone who was actually giving me a mentorship session and she
Rickie:made me go back in my calendar and count how many Reiki sessions I shared in a
Rickie:year because I never keep track of that.
Rickie:It's not about the numbers for me.
Joshua:Yeah.
Rickie:But it really literally blew me away too, so I shared in that
Rickie:particular year, almost a thousand Reiki sessions, and that doesn't even include
Rickie:the ones at events or health fairs.
Rickie:These were just Reiki sessions in my Reiki space, so when I say I
Rickie:have a very full-time production-
Joshua:Yeah.
Rickie:I'm not kidding, which is amazing in this area it totally is, and-
Joshua:It is.
Rickie:I see clients every day, usually about five clients every
Rickie:day, plus I manage the center and I create and share workshops and teach
Rickie:Reiki classes, including Reiki for healthcare professionals and Reiki kids.
Rickie:Jumping back to Ryan, from what I really know and believe about energy,
Rickie:the science of energy is that energy cannot be created or destroyed, it just
Rickie:transforms or transmutes, so I still feel like the energy, the essence, the
Rickie:soul, the spirit, whatever you choose to call it of Ryan, is with me every day,
Rickie:especially when I'm sharing this work, so what helps me is I look at it as if
Rickie:I still have a relationship with him.
Rickie:It's just on a different level now.
Rickie:He sees things from that higher perspective, so I have to tell you,
Rickie:I don't have it right here with me, but I do have fluffy puppy.
Rickie:Oh, you can't see anyway, we're on recording.
Joshua:I can see him.
Joshua:Just for my listeners, she is holding up a stuffed puppy
Joshua:that is really cute, adorable-
Rickie:Very soft stuffed puppy, but I'll tell you why.
Rickie:Several years ago, when I was in Sedona, which is a very powerful energy place in
Rickie:Arizona, Ryan came and inspired me because I was already teaching Reiki kids class.
Rickie:He inspired me to create this Reiki kids coloring activity manual, which
Rickie:is basically my whole Reiki kids class that is written for the kids, right,
Rickie:so it's very interactive and just really unique and I'm very, very proud of it.
Rickie:It's on Amazon if anyone is interested, and periodically I share a workshop
Rickie:for parents and teachers and other Reiki professionals if they want
Rickie:to learn how to use the workshop to share Reiki with kids, because that's
Rickie:really the future in my perspective, so Ryan continues to inspire me.
Rickie:The little puppy goes along the manual is taught by Reiki Rickie,
Rickie:which is kind of like a teenage version of me, and Fluffy Puppy.
Rickie:Fluffy Puppy is Ryan's original stuffed dog from when he was a
Rickie:little boy that I still have.
Joshua:Oh my gosh.
Rickie:I use him when I share Reiki two classes, so I have found these little tiny
Rickie:versions that look much like Fluffy Puppy.
Rickie:They're called Baby Reiki Fluffy Puppies that people can get with their coloring
Rickie:books to follow along and they're all blessed with the Reiki, so the kids
Rickie:are magnetized to them, literally, and they can use them to hold and comfort
Rickie:themselves or even in their hearts, to share Reiki through Fluffy Puppy
Rickie:to grandma or whoever they can't be with in that moment, so that's been
Rickie:really wonderful, and I'm actually getting ready to publish my second book.
Rickie:You want me to mention that now?
Joshua:Yes, please do.
Joshua:Yes, please do.
Rickie:I'm very excited about this too.
Rickie:It's called Radiating Our Reiki Light: Reiki Healing Through Real
Rickie:Stories From Clients, Students, Practitioners and Teachers.
Rickie:I've gathered other people's stories, not just my students and clients, so
Rickie:when people read these stories, these inspirational messages, how Reiki
Rickie:has changed and saved people's lives, they can resonate with their words.
Rickie:There's lots of books on Amazon from other Reiki masters, right, but this is
Rickie:from every day people from every walk of life, including Reiki professionals.
Joshua:Glad that the book came out and you know it is available
Joshua:for those that are interested.
Joshua:I'll put a link in the episode notes.
Joshua:Yep.
Joshua:I'll put a link in the episode notes in case you are
Joshua:interested in checking that out.
Rickie:Thank you.
Joshua:Rickie, we're almost out of time, but I just have one more question for
Joshua:you that I really would like to have the audience listen to your response, because
Joshua:I feel like you have a profound response to it and a lot of people probably are
Joshua:hearing you today and saying, "Yeah.
Joshua:She has a lot of experience doing this over three decades.
Joshua:That's incredible, but I'm not buying into this.
Joshua:What energy and all these different sort of healing principles and dealing with
Joshua:the different aspects that can help me in my life and that I need to be more
Joshua:positive; ba humbug!", to use the Scrooge sort of term, especially since we're in
Joshua:that time of season, but for somebody that is thinking about it and maybe has some
Joshua:curiosity about it, but is just not quite sold, what would be one piece of advice,
Joshua:I'm just asking for one piece, that would help them to point them into the right
Joshua:direction of at least checking it out, or at least asking more questions, especially
Joshua:if they're skeptical of how this works?
Rickie:Well, we could talk about this odd infinitum for hours and hours on
Rickie:end, but really, if you are open to having a personal experience, once
Rickie:you feel this, it becomes undeniable.
Rickie:I work with a lot of healthcare professionals, doctors, other
Rickie:professionals that come in curious, but skeptical, and that's perfectly
Rickie:fine because Reiki works on a very deep, subconscious level.
Rickie:Deep down within our bodies know exactly what we need, and it doesn't have to
Rickie:do with our thinking minds, so if you are willing to feel this energy, have
Rickie:your personal experience, even if it's just a little mini session that
Rickie:will answer many of your questions.
Joshua:Awesome.
Joshua:Thank you for that, and I encourage my listeners to go check that out,
Joshua:especially if you are in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area or if you're not,
Joshua:definitely check into any local instructors or even practitioners
Joshua:for that matter that could help you with getting into the Reiki practice.
Joshua:Rickie, I-
Rickie:And we can also share Reiki long distance, so-
Joshua:Well, there you go.
Rickie:If someone you know is not local, I mean there's nothing like getting under
Rickie:someone's hands, having face-to-face personal interaction, but people can
Rickie:feel that energy just as strongly.
Joshua:Thank you for sharing that because what I was going to lead into is
Joshua:actually giving you the last few minutes to talk about your business, and that
Joshua:is probably something that many people would've wanted to know too, if there was
Joshua:anything virtual available for something like this, so thank you for sharing that,
Joshua:but at this time, I want you to describe where you're located at, if there's
Joshua:something else additional that you offer.
Joshua:If people have questions, how can they get in touch with you, especially since
Joshua:I know you have mentored many of those since you're the mama around here when
Joshua:it comes to this practice, I'm sure that some people might be interested in hearing
Joshua:a little bit more, but at this time, Rickie, I'm going to give you the last
Joshua:few minutes to pitch your business and let us know how we can reach out to you.
Rickie:Okay, well, Reiki Space and Learning Place is located off the
Rickie:Linglestown Road in the Harrisburg area, which is a really nice area.
Rickie:I'm in a professional business building, and the space itself
Rickie:is very peaceful and healing.
Rickie:I also have other reiki practitioners here with me that have all received
Rickie:Reiki training with me, and we all bring other skills and abilities to the work,
Rickie:so for example, I'm also certified in Reiki Sound and Reiki Voice, so I can
Rickie:blend in those vibrations, and I'm a certified wellness coach as well.
Rickie:We have someone else who does reflexology in Reiki.
Rickie:We have what we call Reiki Massage, which is more traditional massage
Rickie:with the Reiki blended in, and we have several other things.
Rickie:We offer lots of classes and workshops and events, so I would suggest that you
Rickie:get on my Reiki by Rickie email list, and the easiest way to do that is to go to
Rickie:my website, which is reikibyrickie.com.
Rickie:R E I K I by R I C K I E.com and on the homepage you can
Rickie:sign up for the mailing list.
Rickie:I will not bombard you.
Rickie:We send emails twice a month.
Rickie:I know that's important to some people.
Rickie:I'm also very active, especially on my personal page on Facebook,
Rickie:and I invite you to join me there: Rickie Merrill Friedman.
Rickie:I do post a lot of my events and workshops and classes, but they are all on my
Rickie:website and you can just scroll down and you can register for most of them
Rickie:right through the site to schedule your own personal session, reach out to me.
Rickie:I'm very communicative, so you can do that through Facebook.
You can call me:(717) 599-2299, and you can email me: rickie@reikibyrickie.com
You can call me:and I will be happy to reach out to you and figure out what works for you.
Joshua:Wow.
Joshua:Thank you, Rickie, for sharing all that.
Joshua:I'll put all that information also in the episode notes in case anybody wants
Joshua:to have the hard reference to that, including even the phone number, if
Joshua:you like to just call directly and have that conversation, but I want to wrap up
Joshua:by saying, Rickie, Thank you for being so open about your story about Ryan and
Joshua:just how, essentially, 30 some years ago-
Rickie:Mm-hmm.
Joshua:It got to the point of where you're at today, just by hearing this,
Joshua:you have me excited about being the prospect of heading into a direction
Joshua:myself as somebody that works in somewhat a different field, but also works
Joshua:among the same energies, if you will.
Rickie:Absolutely.
Joshua:Relating to it, and I think just hearing it definitely
Joshua:makes you my adopted mom, so thank you mom for being part of this.
Rickie:Can't wait to get you under my hands.
Joshua:There we go.
Joshua:You heard it now folks, I will now be under the hands of this mom.
Joshua:Rickie, I want to say thank you for being on Speaking From The Heart.
Joshua:I really enjoyed our conversation and getting to learn a lot about you
Joshua:along with my listeners as well, and I really enjoyed our conversation today.
Joshua:Thank you.
Rickie:Thank you.
Rickie:I did so much.
Rickie:Appreciate you, Joshua.
Joshua:I want to thank Ricky for being part of the show today and really sharing
Joshua:her skills as it relates to not only the healing energies that are around us, but
Joshua:being able to use that healing energy to help others see it within themselves.
Joshua:I think this was really a profound interview and that allows us to understand
Joshua:that the universal energy that we use and what's involved with it requires
Joshua:us to also understand that there's some balance that goes through; not only
Joshua:the things that we do in order to build our business, but also to build our own
Joshua:personal lives, but I think the biggest underpinning and the biggest takeaway
Joshua:I could ever mention about this episode is about taking care of yourself.
Joshua:It's really about the consciousness so that we have of our thoughts,
Joshua:our feelings, and all the personal aspects that are involved.
Joshua:Because if we're ever going to understand those three things, we also have to go
Joshua:under the microscope, if you will, and look at how self-healing is impacted
Joshua:by those three things, and I think that for many of us, we often have to take
Joshua:a step back and breathe just to be able to understand that quite a bit, and
Joshua:that's why it's so important to breathe, especially when we have that sort of
Joshua:experience happening to us, because really when we grow and we share and we
Joshua:breathe, we're able to understand how to foster what's really needed in our lives.
Joshua:It's really about centering the energy levels that are all around us, and
Joshua:with Reiki with Rickie, I know that for that love and service, despite
Joshua:being such a tongue twister, as I mentioned even when we opened this
Joshua:episode, it helps us to understand that practice of starting with you.
Joshua:That means that Reiki by Josh might be coming to you in the near future,
Joshua:especially after I get certified by the mama of Reiki, but with all
Joshua:kidding aside, I think that's why her practice is so important in order
Joshua:to help instill confidence in the ability to do such practices with
Joshua:other people, because it isn't just about another fad, quote unquote.
Joshua:It's about leading the way with her light; being able to understand that
Joshua:we have a contribution that we can do, not only centered around the practice
Joshua:or the skill sets that we have, but knowing that we are not the only
Joshua:ones that can do it by ourselves, and that is why it's so important to just
Joshua:understand, with great magnitude, about how we can make that impact just by
Joshua:the sheer aspects of our own lives.
Joshua:We have to understand that we're not the only ones that are situated in this world.
Joshua:I'm not the only life coach or business coach or whatever
Joshua:coach you want to call me.
Joshua:I'm not the only one that's setting goals for other people.
Joshua:How boring is that?
Joshua:Yes, I am saying that about myself and my own business, Your Speaking Voice.
Joshua:It could be boring, but that's the thing.
Joshua:Some people will see it that way and never want to walk through my door or
Joshua:even have that confidence to talk about it with me, and that's perfectly okay.
Joshua:That's almost saying that your neighbor, who is next door to you comes over every
Joshua:night and helps themselves to some cookies from the cookie jar, and by the way, has
Joshua:some coffee and tea to go alongside of it.
Joshua:Do you let them in your house every single day?
Joshua:Absolutely not.
Joshua:As a matter of fact, I hope your Ring camera doorbell is picking up every
Joshua:single step of that footage that's happening, but that's the thing.
Joshua:We're out of balance.
Joshua:We're out of commission sometimes when we are not in that universal
Joshua:energy level that we need to be in.
Joshua:That's really, in my terms and my association with this concept,
Joshua:about centering ourselves into what the real expectation is that we
Joshua:typically want to have, and then we also understand that we might need
Joshua:to go to another sort of thought or feeling to be able to understand that
Joshua:all things are not created equally.
Joshua:Going back to my example of why people don't come to me for coaching, it
Joshua:isn't because they don't like me.
Joshua:I think I'm a pretty likable person.
Joshua:It isn't because that I'm very tough, but I am, but some people
Joshua:prefer that I'm very tough.
Joshua:It isn't because I have some sort of personality disorder; at least last
Joshua:time I checked, but the thing is that we have to understand the stories that are
Joshua:surrounding our energies, our lives, and I think that the death of Ryan, which
Joshua:Rickie talked about in this episode, is really what motivated her to continue
doing what she's doing today:taking that energy that Ryan would've had on this
doing what she's doing today:Earth and be able to apply it to something that she knew had to be a calling to
doing what she's doing today:help so many others, which by the way, after we talked about this on the actual
doing what she's doing today:recording, we talked more afterwards and was impressed by the fact of how many
doing what she's doing today:people she has served over three decades of doing this, but that's the point.
doing what she's doing today:She could have lived as the victim of Ryan's death and
doing what she's doing today:not done anything about it.
doing what she's doing today:She could have let neighbors come into her house and let her raid her
doing what she's doing today:refrigerator and her coffee machine.
doing what she's doing today:She could have been a very despondent coach.
doing what she's doing today:She could have not had to do any of this, but yet she chose to do it.
doing what she's doing today:She didn't live as the victim.
doing what she's doing today:She works now to heal others, because she knows that the power of healing comes
doing what she's doing today:not just from inside, but from others as well, and I think that sometimes we
doing what she's doing today:often associate that with the relationship we might have of a higher power.
doing what she's doing today:It can pay off massive dividends if we have that sort of opportunity.
doing what she's doing today:I'm sure that many of us are believers of whatever faith that might be, and again,
doing what she's doing today:Speaking From The Heart appreciates all the different types of backgrounds and is
doing what she's doing today:always willing to listen to any sort of background that we have because in order
doing what she's doing today:to speak from the heart, you need to have a different perspective on everything, so
doing what she's doing today:I'm waiting for you, those that are devil worshipers, to please come on my show.
doing what she's doing today:I would love to have a conversation with you, but this
doing what she's doing today:isn't about devil worshipers.
doing what she's doing today:This is about Rickie.
doing what she's doing today:This is about her not being skeptical and just trying it once to see what's
doing what she's doing today:involved, to see what's needed, and she took a chance on this Reiki, this
doing what she's doing today:concept of healing within inside of ourselves, using that energy, being able
doing what she's doing today:to understand that we can be able to take care of ourselves if we're just willing
doing what she's doing today:to share that energy with others, and that's really the essence of what this all
doing what she's doing today:episode's been about because we can heal.
doing what she's doing today:We can have love and service through a practice such as what she does in
doing what she's doing today:Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and she can create that start with you aspect so that
doing what she's doing today:you can appreciate and enjoy the wellness that has yet to come in your own life.
doing what she's doing today:I think that we often get in our own way with the light that we shine on the world
doing what she's doing today:because we often are looking at other people and other places in which they're
doing what she's doing today:successful, and then you look at yourself in the mirror and think, "I can't do this.
doing what she's doing today:This isn't worth it.
doing what she's doing today:I can't have these healing powers.
doing what she's doing today:That's all mumbo jumbo", and for those that are thinking that
doing what she's doing today:this is mumbo jumbo, why are you still listening to this episode?
doing what she's doing today:You should have turned it off a long time ago because it is, to you, but
doing what she's doing today:to me, as I've gone through my life, especially the last three and a half
doing what she's doing today:years of my own existence, and now have gotten to the point that where
doing what she's doing today:I'm at now, I have realized that this has been something so much more.
doing what she's doing today:This has been something of power, conviction, and strength, not just
doing what she's doing today:about taking care of yourself, not just about the self-healing that we need to
doing what she's doing today:do so that we could stay away from our own consciousness of our bad thoughts
doing what she's doing today:and feelings, and even the personal aspects that invade our very life, but
doing what she's doing today:I think it's about understanding that we can't do it always by ourselves.
doing what she's doing today:Believe it or not, I had to revisit some of my previous episodes to think
doing what she's doing today:about this because I know I've had some Reiki practitioners and now I often
doing what she's doing today:think about those people that I've interviewed and wonder if they were
doing what she's doing today:influenced by the mama herself, but I will say this, that mama was influenced
doing what she's doing today:by many different other things in her own life, and even with the adopted sons
doing what she's doing today:that she has, she decided not to be held back from what she could potentially
doing what she's doing today:be to others, and that's why she's been truly successful for over three decades.
doing what she's doing today:That is the most defining success of it all because that's the
doing what she's doing today:story that she wanted to share.
doing what she's doing today:That's the energy level that she wanted to create.
doing what she's doing today:That is why she's radiating that power through her books, through her talks,
doing what she's doing today:through all the different things that I would do, even in her shoes, and
doing what she's doing today:what I continue to build in even my myself, for that matter, but we have
doing what she's doing today:to think about the positivity with it.
doing what she's doing today:We have to think about the aspects in which we can create not only the
doing what she's doing today:best version of our relationships, but also how we can tell our voice
doing what she's doing today:in this ever-changing world, that it's okay to keep helping others
doing what she's doing today:because we don't do it alone.
doing what she's doing today:We do it with a team, and through that universal energy, we can have
doing what she's doing today:balance, we can help others, and we can be something that maybe the universe
doing what she's doing today:will heal ourselves in, over time, if we're just willing to give it a chance.
doing what she's doing today:Thanks for listening to episode number 68 of Speaking From The
doing what she's doing today:Heart, and I look forward to hearing from your heart very soon.
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