How do you get rejuvenation into your life?

As a Reiki practitioner I am very interested in rejuvenation.

I know how it feels to be rejuvenated, restored and renewed. I am also keenly aware of how it feels to be exhausted, worn out and depleted. Many of us learn to live with a constant state of exhaustion or a low level of energy. At certain times in life, surviving a hectic schedule is unavoidable; while raising our babies, while attending graduate school, while serving in the military and numerous other life experiences.

As a fellow human, I am always searching for ways to rejuvenate my self and others.

I have been blessed to be able to travel internationally and to accompany my husband on his business trips and to visit many sacred and ancient sites throughout the world. When you visit a sacred site, you are immersed in all the prayerful and healing energy that has built up there over time. Of particular interest to me, are the Mother Mary or Virgin Mary sites.

Finding the sacred in the sacred sites

Exploring places where either Mother Mary has appeared in the past, such as Fatima in Ourém, Portugal or visiting the Jasna Góra Monestary Cathedral in Czestochowa, Poland where the Black Madonna painting is on display or experiencing the House of the Virgin Mary near Ephesus, Turkey, where she spent her final days; each provided an amazing opportunity to witness the faith of the pilgrims and the power of prayer. While all three of these sites are considered to be top Pilgrim sites of the world, much is lost in translation for me when you are sharing this experience with hundreds of thousands of other believers, simultaneously suffering from the baking heat of the day and / or fearing being trampled in the rushing crowd of religious fanatics.

I am a sensitive person and I am easily overwhelmed by the masses of humanity coming together in the name of the Divine and the Sacred.

Somehow the crowd mentality takes precedence over the Spiritual experience and it is everyone’s task to remain centered in the Divine in the midst of all the chaos. Not always an easy task. While I do feel I received healing and that my prayers were heard in Fatima and in Czestochowa, the static of the masses diluted the experience for me. What I do have though is the ability to tap into those locations remotely by memory, remembering their healing essence. Anyone can do this, we may not realize it yet.

Visiting the Mary House near Ephesus Turkey may be the highlight of my sacred experiences

What made my visit to the House of the Virgin Mary so miraculous was that I not only got to pray for healing alone in the chapel for 15 min, but that I was also weak from a near miss of an intestinal disturbance, so that once I walked out of the chapel, I could feel the contrast of how restored I then felt. The miracle of restored health was quite palpable as was the energy coming in through my head as I stood and prayed inside the chapel.

Local sacred sites exude healing prayer energy

Surprisingly, yesterday, in my own country, outside the town of Emmittsburg, MD, about 90 minutes away from Shepherdstown WV by car, I have once again been renewed and rejuvenated through a visit to a Mary shrine. The National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes was last visited by me in the 1990’s. At that time it was a very rustic hike through the woods up a small mountain path to the sacred spring and tiny chapel. Now, it is a modern shrine with paved walkways, numerous statues, a visitor’s center and a beautiful, easily reached spring and tiny chapel. Wednesday afternoon was a quiet day to visit the shrine and I suspect that the weekends are crowded due to the size of the parking lot we parked in.

The sweetness of this little shrine provided easy access to praying while strolling through the natural setting of statue-filled alcoves. Having the spring to ourselves for 15 minutes made all the difference, speaking with friendly fellow pilgrims and sitting in the tiny chapel alone amidst the stained glass reflections added to the loving ambiance held there.

I prayed for all my loved ones to receive healing, prayed for the world, the leaders and everything I could think of. Again, I prayed to receive all the Divine Blessings of healing that were available to me and again, I have received what I have asked for. Feeling depleted from our recent travels to Poland and to visiting family in Germany, I was in definite need of rejuvenation. Waking today, with renewed energy is a gift I am deeply grateful for and wishing to inspire others to seek the same. Rejuvenation is available, closer than you think and well worth a little drive down the road.