Meditation, La’au Lapa’au and Reiki

Zen Meditation

There are different levels to the practice of Hula.  One level is very spiritual.  Meditation is a wonderful way to strengthen and deepen that spiritual experience.  Our minds can be very busy and create a lot of suffering if gone unchecked. Meditation helps to work with our minds skillfully.  And it helps to integrate and weave the many strands of our lives: family, work, hula into a beautiful lei of aloha.

Meditation is not about stopping thinking.  Rather it’s a way of touching something that is beyond words, something that is whole and complete.  It requires courage and heart.  And in the process, you will connect and open to your own wisdom and the wisdom of Hula.

If you are interested in learning how to meditate, The Zen Life and Meditation Center (the Halau’s parent organization) has a wonderful Core Curriculum of classes about living a Zen-inspired life of openness, empathy and clarity with mindfulness meditation as it's foundation.  That translates well to living a hula-inspired life of grace, strength and lots of aloha.

La’au Lapa’au

La’au Lapa’au is the study of healing through spirituality and native Hawaiian medicinal plants.  La’au Lapa’au practitioners were the medical doctors of old Hawaii.  June Tanoue had the great fortune to study for five years with master La’au Lapa’au practitioner, Papa Henry Allen Auwae.  Papa Henry always said that healing was 80% spiritual and 20% the plants.

Papa Henry had five expectations of his students, along with understanding and embodying the concepts of pono, lokahi, discernment and forgiveness. Today, all of these concepts are important to practice in daily life for anyone who seriously studies hula with Kumu June.

These five expectations are:

• Ho’olohe – to listen
• Ho’omakaukau – to be prepared
• Ho’omaika’i – to respect all
• Ho’olauna i ka mea maika’i – to sacrifice
• Ho’omanawanui – to be patient

Reiki

People use Reiki for relaxation, stress reduction, and symptom relief, in an effort to improve overall health and well-being. Reiki has been used by people with anxiety, chronic pain, HIV/AIDS, and other health conditions, as well as by people recovering from surgery or experiencing side effects from cancer treatments.  Reiki is a wonderful complementary healing method.  It is safe and effective.

According to the National Institute of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Reiki is a healing practice that originated in Japan. Reiki means “universal life energy” and is based on the idea that there is a universal (or source) energy that supports the body's innate healing abilities.

Practitioners seek to be a clear channel for this energy, accessing it to help a person balance and heal themselves.  Reiki practitioners place their hands lightly on or just above the person receiving treatment.

Current Reiki practice can be traced to Dr. Mikao Usui in Japan during the early 20th century. Usui's teachings included meditative techniques and healing practices. One of Usui's students, Chujiro Hayashi, further developed the healing practice and taught an American from Hawaii named Hawayo Takata.  Takata introduced it to Western cultures in the late 1930’s.

June Tanoue is a Master Teacher and Practitioner in the Usui Tradition of Reiki certified by Rose Mattax, LCPC of Forest Park, IL in 2006.

Testimonials

Immediately following the treatment, I climbed the stairs to reach my apartment and realized that my arthritic knees were not aching.  Yeah!  I  certainly didn’t expect that. In the days following treatment, I tried to pay very close attention to my body, and my emotional state.  My sinus and digestive systems seemed to purge themselves for a couple of days.  This left me feeling healthier than I have for a long time.  The past year and a half have been very challenging. I went through several biopsies, surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatments.  Just a week before the Reiki session I was in a serious auto accident.  I believe that the Reiki has helped me find balance again, and I believe that my immune system is working more efficiently as a result of the treatment.  I believe I am healing and am on the road to recovery, and I feel hopeful and happy. --Theresa Gilbert, Berwyn, IL

June's presence is very peaceful and spiritual. During Reiki I felt as if beams of light were coming from her warm hands. My thoughts detangled as my body and spirit were nourished.  - Mary Susan Chen, PT, FELDENKRAIS teacher, River Forest, IL

Since 2006, I have had occasional pain in my right foot and hip joint.  When it’s very bad I limp and have difficulty sitting, using stairs or bending, and my feet feel numb.  On one of those bad days I had my first reiki session ever. By the time it was over I was refreshed; the numbness in my feet was gone as well as the pain in my right foot.  The limping was gone and the pain in the right hip joint was barely noticeable. I was able to walk comfortably right away and participate fully in a 6-hour dance class the next day.  Even my breathing had improved!  - Erika Comrie, Jamaica, NY

June is a generous spirit with a special gift for transmitting healing energy. 
I feel blessed and humbled to have spent an hour in her care… - Kevin Kennedy, Chicago, IL

I had never done a reiki treatment before but I had always heard very good things about it.  I came into my treatment very scattered from events earlier in the week.  June placed her hands under my head and I felt a very gentle pulsation under my head.  Almost like I was in the water.  Similar sensations followed in the rest of my body.  I had never experienced a feeling like that before but it was both relaxing and invigorating at the same time.  Afterward I felt focused and ready to face the rest of my day.  I will definitely be returning to June in the near future!  - Jasmine Quintana, Maywood, IL

I received a wonderfully relaxing and invigorating reiki treatment from June after arriving in Chicago from a long overnight train ride. June's gentle, healing presence as well as the beautiful setting of her treatment space -- an oasis of calm in metropolitan Chicago -- helped to re-align my energy and prepared me for the next stage of my journey. I am very grateful. - Maia Duerr, Santa Fe, NM

If you are interested in learning more about Reiki or scheduling and appointment, click here.