Sai Rapture
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Swami came in a dream ~ HEAVEN!!!!
“I was in an auditorium and Sai Avatar was on a stage. He looked at me and said that I should continue to do the hand therapy I do with my hands (reflexology) because it is very helpful to others. But that I should be take care to not let any evil enter me. I got up and walked towards Him. I was holding a folder looked like my SSE teacher’s folder. When I got on stage with Him. He asked me what I was doing. I said I wanted to take padanamaskar. He said no padanamaskar. And then something to the effect of being Self reliant and strong with the Self within. At that point the dream started to fade.
Baba is so GREAT!!!
Therefore I am continuing my practice of Reflexology with sessions by appointment only. Another interesting dream surrounding this healing practice came years ago:
I was in a room with a long table. Swami came in and moved slowly down the opposite side of the table to where I was standing. Then our beautiful Avatar raised both His Divine Hands and rays of bright white light radiated outward covering my hands.
I studied Reflexology when I lived in New York City and received certification from Laura Norman and Associates. I practiced Reflexology at the Whole Life Medical Center for a period of time. I have seen the healing effects of Reflexology and know that it is an effective healing treatment. The following is a description of the healing art and science of Reflexology taken from the The free dictionary site:
“Reflexology
Definition
Reflexology is a therapeutic method of relieving pain by stimulating predefined pressure points on the feet and hands. This controlled pressure alleviates the source of the discomfort. In the absence of any particular malady or abnormality, reflexology may be as effective for promoting good health and for preventing illness as it may be for relieving symptoms of stress, injury, and illness.
Reflexologists work from maps of predefined pressure points that are located on the hands and feet. These pressure points are reputed to connect directly through the nervous system and affect the bodily organs and glands. The reflexologist manipulates the pressure points according to specific techniques of reflexology therapy. By means of this touching therapy, any part of the body that is the source of pain, illness, or potential debility can be strengthened through the application of pressure at the respective foot or hand location.
Purpose
Reflexology promotes healing by stimulating the nerves in the body and encouraging the flow of blood. In the process, reflexology not only quells the sensation of pain, but relieves the source of the pain as well.
Reflexology applied properly can alleviate allergy symptoms, as well as stress, back pain, and chronic fatigue. The techniques of reflexology can be performed conveniently on the hand in situations where a session on the feet is not practical, although the effectiveness of limited hand therapy is less pronounced than with the foot pressure therapy.
Description
Origins
Reflexology is a healing art of ancient origin. Although its origins are not well documented, there are reliefs on the walls of a Sixth Dynasty Egyptian tomb (c. 2450 B.C.) that depict two seated men receiving massage on their hands and feet. From Egypt, the practice may have entered the Western world during the conquests of the Roman Empire. The concepts of reflexology have also been traced to pre-dynastic China (possibly as early as 3000 B.C.) and to ancient Indian medicine. The Inca civilization may have subscribed to the theories of reflexology and passed on the practice of this treatment to the Native Americans in the territories that eventually entered the United States.
In recent times, Sir Henry Head first investigated the concepts underlying reflexology in England in the 1890s. Therapists in Germany and Russia were researching similar notions at approximately the same time, although with a different focus. Less than two decades later, a physician named William H. Fitzgerald presented a similar concept that he called zone analgesia or zone therapy. Fitzgerald’s zone analgesia was a method of relieving pain through the application of pressure to specific locations throughout the entire body. Fitzgerald divided the body into 10 vertical zones, five on each side, that extended from the head to the fingertips and toes, and from front to back. Every aspect of the human body appears in one of these 10 zones, and each zone has a reflex area on the hands and feet. Fitzgerald and his colleague, Dr. Edwin Bowers, demonstrated that by applying pressure on one area of the body, they could anesthetize or reduce pain in a corresponding part. In 1917, Fitzgerald and Bowers published Relieving Pain at Home, an explanation of zone therapy.
Later, in the 1930s, a physical therapist, Eunice D. Ingham, explored the direction of the therapy and made the startling discovery that pressure points on the human foot were situated in a mirror image of the corresponding organs of the body with which the respective pressure points were associated. Ingham documented her findings, which formed the basis of reflexology, in Stories the Feet Can Tell, published in 1938. Although Ingham’s work in reflexology was inaccurately described as zone therapy by some, there are differences between the two therapies of pressure analgesia. Among the more marked differences, reflexology defines a precise correlation between pressure points and afflicted areas of the body. Furthermore, Ingham divided each foot and hand into 12 respective pressure zones, in contrast to the 10 vertical divisions that encompass the entire body in Fitzgerald’s zone therapy.
In 1968 two siblings, Dwight Byers and Eusebia Messenger, established the National Institute of Reflexology. By the early 1970s the institute had grown and was renamed the International Institute of Reflexology.
In a typical reflexology treatment, the therapist and patient have a preliminary discussion prior to therapy, to enable the therapist to focus more accurately on the patient’s specific complaints and to determine the appropriate pressure points for treatment.
A reflexology session involves pressure treatment that is most commonly administered in foot therapy sessions of approximately 40-45 minutes in duration. The human hand is the primary tool used in reflexology. The therapist applies controlled pressure with the thumb and forefinger, generally working toward the heel of the foot or the outer palm of the hand. Most reflexologists apply pressure with their thumbs bent; however, some also use simple implements, such as the eraser end of a pencil. Reflexology therapy is not massage, and it is not a substitute for medical treatment.
Reflexology is a complex system that identifies and addresses the mass of 7,000 nerve endings that are contained in the foot. Additional reflexology addresses the nerves that are located in the hand. This is a completely natural therapy that affords relief without the use of drugs.
Preparations
In order to realize maximum benefit from a reflexology session, the therapist as well as the patient should be situated so as to afford optimal comfort for both. Patients in general receive treatment in a reclining position, with the therapist positioned as necessary—to work on the bare feet, or alternately on the bare hands.
A reflexology patient removes both shoes and socks in order to receive treatment.
Precautions
Reflexology is extremely safe. It may even be self-administered in a limited form whenever desired. The qualified reflexologist offers a clear and open disclaimer that reflexology does not constitute medical treatment in any form, nor is reflexology given as a substitute for medical advice or treatment. The ultimate purpose of the therapy is to promote wellness; fundamentally it is a form of preventive therapy.
Reflexology employs the principle that the reflex points on the feet, when hand pressure is applied, will reflexively stimulate energy to a related muscle or organ in the body and promote healing.People with serious and long-term medical problems are urged to seek the advice of a physician. Diabetes patients in particular are urged to approach this therapy cautiously. Likewise pregnant women are cautioned emphatically to avoid reflexology during the early phases of pregnancy altogether, as accidentally induced labor and subsequent premature delivery can result from reflexology treatment.
A consultation with a reflexologist is recommended in order to determine the safety and appropriateness of reflexology therapy for a specific health problem or condition.
Side effects
Because reflexology is intended to normalize the body functions, the therapy does not cause a condition to worsen. Most patients find that pain diminishes over the course of the therapy. It has been noted, however, that some patients experience greater discomfort in the second session than in the first session, because a significant easing of pain and tension is generally associated with the initial therapy session. As a result, when pressure is reapplied to the tender points of the foot during the second session, the sensitivity has been heightened. This increase in sensitivity may cause minor additional discomfort for the patient.”
While practicing Reflexology in New York City I was interviewed by Prevention Magazine a prominent Health oriented magazine. Subsequently I was included in a book published by Prevention Magazine entitled Hands On Healing under the Reflexology chapter.
If you would like to schedule a Reflexology appointment please contact me: (321) 327-2195. Email me: Devakki3@cs.com
Check out my website: sairapture.com
The Awakening Flower
ASTRAL FLIGHTS
My dance with God officially began in my early twenties. The birth of my daughter heralded my true initiation into the life of a seeker of knowledge and the journey to God. Disillusioned with the hypocrisy of conventional Christianity, I had abandoned the church and its religious practices. I was like a boat without a rudder, drifting aimlessly in a sea of intellectual agnosticism. What happened in the delivery room was so life-changing and self-altering that I must attempt to describe the circumstances in detail.
I was forced to go into the hospital a week or so before term. It seemed my water had broken and I sat amid the wailing, blood curdling screams of women in labor; my immature 22-year-old mind shuddered in fear of what was in store for me. At some point, the physician administered an IV of oxytocin to induce labor. He made me promise that I would not shout or scream. As the medicine was quick working, my contractions started with a vengeance, very close together, indescribably painful. At one point I remember telling the doctor that I had to leave. He asked me where I thought I was going, my legs were strapped down and my arms too. But I just kept insisting that I had to go. I was wheeled into the delivery room; a few doctors surrounded me asking seemingly simple questions about my telephone number and address.
They seemed to be discussing the possibility of forceps delivery. Then quite unexpectedly, as if all the drama and noise of a television program going full blast was suddenly switched off, I found myself clearly out of my body standing across the hospital room watching my body give birth. I thought to myself, “What am I doing over here?”
The absolute serenity, tranquility and above all painlessness I felt in that surreal moment was incomparable. After a while, I felt myself whirling back into my body and all the lights, camera and action that goes with physical existence flooded my consciousness. I made a special note in my mind to remember this experience for it was a crucial turning point in my life. I realized that I was much more than this physical body. There was a dimension to my existence that transcended the boundaries of the five senses and the earthly material plane.
After the birth of my daughter, I found volumes on the fascinating phenomena of astral and etheric projection. The following online definitions of the experience sum it up, although there are other interpretations.
Astral projection (or astral travel) is a paranormal interpretation of an out-of-body experience achieved either awake or via lucid dreaming or deep meditation. The concept of astral projection assumes the existence of another body, separate from the physical body and capable of traveling to nonphysical planes of existence. Commonly such planes are called astral, etheric, or spiritual. Astral projection is often experienced as the spirit or astral body leaving the physical body to travel in the spirit world or astral plane. (Wikipedia contributors, 2001)
Popular term for the ability to travel outside the physical body during sleep or trance, also known as etheric projection or Out-of-the-Body Traveling. There is excellent evidence for the reality of this strange phenomenon and the British scientist Dr. Robert Crookall has collated hundreds of cases from individuals in all walks of life. (Spence, Lewis, 2003, 60)
On the other hand, the “Linga Sharira” is the Sanskrit term for the invisible double of the human body. It has been called by many other names such as etheric body, etheric double (or astral body in the original Theosophical concepts by Blavatsky). It is one of the seven principles of the human being, according to Theosophical philosophy. It serves as a model or matrix of the human body form, thus it is often called the “double” since it has the same shape and appearance as the body. The body conforms to the shape or condition of this double. It is a vehicle of prana or qi, thus its other name, pranamayakosa. Its effusion of energy can be observed through Kirlian photography or Kilner screens. Such glow around the body is called the human aura. (2009-2011, Cryer, AB)
Since I worked evenings, generally the graveyard shift, I slept during the days, juggling the care of my daughter with work and a return to college. It seems to me that the interrupted sleeping patterns made it easier for me to access what is known as a borderline state of consciousness. This is a period between waking and actual sleep that helps precipitate astral projections. Thus, the out-of-body experiences became a regular occurrence for me.
My body would become rigid, cataleptic. There was a loud, thundering, frightening vibrating sound like a thousand winds rushing at rocket speed through a tunnel. In the beginning, I had to calm myself down, mentally whispering, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, God help me.” Then as the winds died down, I would urge my body to “Get up” slipping out of the physical coil. Sometimes this was easier than on other occasions; difficult projections would leave me wriggling around on the floor trying to free myself from some psychic mass.
What distinguished astral travel from ordinary dreaming was that there was an acute conscious awareness that my other body was lying inert on the bed and I was connected to it by what appeared to be an ethereal elastic filament or cord. Also, there was only a certain amount of time allowed in this psychic state. I could go through walls and windows and at a thought, travel to distant places instantly.
In addition, I found that it was important to maintain a positive attitude and aura. This ensured a more beautiful and elevating astral flight. Soaring high through the cobalt heavens, far beyond clouds, planets and stars repeating, “Higher, higher.” Deep into the celestial realms I rose, reaching an unknown peak, “I” shattered, a brilliant star into a trillion glittering fragments. After which, the familiar rubber band tug of the astral cord snapped me back into my body, as it lay reposing in its bed, totally oblivious to my astral adventures.
A SECOND BIRTH
Immersing myself in mystical exploration, I embraced Eastern philosophy, Yoga and other such disciplines, joining the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC. The following profound spiritual experience happened around this time. I was feeling upset over an incident that had occurred earlier in the day and retired to my room falling into a fitful sleep. As I drifted deeper, I found myself walking outside on a dusty, deserted road. A feeling of impending doom began to surround me. Something dark and sinister loomed. I took off running, yelling to God for help. Looking up at the sky, I beheld what appeared to be a white, dazzling whirlwind forming directly above me.
The whirlwind had millions of eyes, mouths, ears, legs, hands, voices revolving inside its wondrous vortex. Waves of protective energy emanating, I felt myself being lifted up, levitating in mid-air. Then a most peculiar sensation: all the air was being vacuumed out of my body, beginning with my toes and swirling out through the crown of my head. I surmised that I might be dying. Then just as rapidly, a fresh blast of air entered the top of my head and filled my whole body as I gradually floated back down onto the bed. When I woke up from this enigmatic incident, I thought immediately of the biblical description of God in Ezekiel’s Wheel, (Ezekiel 1:1-28).
I wondered about the significance of this remarkable event. Somehow, I intuitively felt it was some sort of rebirth, a renewal of Spirit. Little did I realize that something spiritually unique, awesome and life-changing was about to dawn just beyond the newborn, rosy pink eastern horizon.
Source: Sai Rapture: The Ecstatic Journey of a Modern Day Gopi, Sonya Ki Tomlinson
heaven is in our eyes~
Sai Ram
I recently visited Badrinath in the Himalayas. This was my second time traveling there. I wanted my husband David to experience the resounding beauty and splendor of this very holy place on earth. Although I swore I would never again ascend those winding, treacherous roads that lead to this Shangri-la, the breathless Himalayan horizon called to my Soul. And in mid May I went with a group of Sai Baba devotees to this wondrous locale.
As we ascended the mountain one heart-pounding vista after another embraced our saucer wide eyes.
The majestic Himalayan mountain range rising up from the depths of Om welcomed us with hands
folded in Namaste. My husband now realized why I wanted him to experience this as he stared at
the God-kissed peaks.
There is a very special place in Badrinath that is literally in my opinion the threshold of heaven.
After we arrived in Badrinath the next day we climbed roughly 3 kilometers to this celestial portal ~
Vishnu’s Paduka.
Vishnu’s Paduka
earth dwindling from view
it seems I’ve trekked this golden highway
before
maybe somewhere in my dreams
I gaze speechless at God’s colossal Footprints
and the long procession of sadhus, saints and sages
following
like the Pandavas I feel I too could
keep walking towards the blinding light
and heaven’s open door
~sonya ki tomlinson
Dear Friends
I am very happy to announce the completion of my book Sai Rapture ~ The Ecstatic Journey of a Modern Day Gopi. This book is an offering at the Lotus Feet of our most beloved Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Swami’s sweet, nectarous presence has guided me every step of this journey.
Sai Rapture highlights my spiritual journey beginning with the birth of my daughter to the many breath-taking experiences, leelas, dreams and divine contacts I have had with Baba. It also includes interviews with devotees I have met along the way: Mr. R. Padmanaban, Sai Baba’s past photographer, Father Charles Ogada of Nigeria, Dr. Gnana Bhaskar Tenali, a former student of Sathya Sai University, and Gloria Blake, a nurse at the General Hospital in Puttaparthi to name a few.
Swami has been my unfailing support and friend in my darkest hours and most joyous of times. It is an ongoing journey – one that never ends. The book is 321 pages and includes a number of color photographs. Also please visit my website:
The book is available on Amazon.com:
It is also available on Etsy.com:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/EcstaticArtPoetry
Lots of Prema ~ sonya ki
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