Defining Your Reiki Practice - The Reiki Business Book chapter 2 with Cami Coté, LRMT

The Reiki Business Book Launch - chapter 2 with Cami Coté, LRMT

This series of podcasts will bring us through "The Reiki Business Book" chapter by chapter.  The book I was inspired to write to help people share the gift of Reiki is almost ready!  

How can you share Reiki with others?  Or talk about Reiki?  What is an elevator pitch? Join us as we discuss chapter 2 of "The Reiki Business Book" and answer these questions then help you develop your script so you can easily explain Reiki and what you do to others.

Pam's Information
List of ICRT Classes: https://www.reiki.org/users/pamela-allen-leblanc#classes
Website: https://www.reikifromthefarm.com/
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email: pam@reikifromthefarm.com

Cami's Information
Website:  www.heartrhythmreiki.com
Email: cammron.cote@gmail.com
Facebook: Heart Rhythm Reiki - Cami Coté
Instagram: camicote_lrmt
Tiktok: ceecee_406

Article: Holy Fire®Reiki and Yoga

thank you to Music from Pixabay for the intro music

Pam Allen-LeBlanc is a scientist, a businesswoman, and a Licensed Reiki Master Teacher with the International Center for Reiki Training.  She is an internationally renowned speaker and one of the co-authors of the ICRT Animal Reiki training manuals and courses.  Pam teaches Reiki, Animal Reiki, and Animal Communication online and in-person in Canada, the US, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

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Transcript

Pam: 0:55

On this week's podcast, I am talking with Licensed Reiki Master Teacher, Cami Coté, and we're actually talking about chapter two of the Reiki Business Book. Chapter two is all about creating an identity for your business. Even if you're not at the point of being ready to start your own business right now, I think you'll find some of what we cover in this chapter to be of interest in some of Cami's wonderful stories and experiences. So I'm really glad that you're here. And I, before we begin, I just like to let you know that what we have coming up in the March time zone in the March time zone in March we, I have some Reiki Level one and two and Master and Animal Reiki level one and two, and Masterclasses in an Australian friendly time zone, which means that it is evenings in North America and early mornings in Australia. And it often seems to work for people in Asia and other spots as well. So go ahead and check those out. And in May, for those of you, who've wanted to study here at the farm, I am going to be offering my first ever hybrid classes, which means that I'll have a combination of online and in person. So if you want to come here and join us, please check out those classes. I've got. Animal Reiki Level one and two and Master level one or two and Masters in Usui Reiki. Then I think they're followed by a Karuna Reiki class and Animal Communication. They'll be in the Atlantic time zone and they will also be in addition to being in person, they'll be available for people online, who can't make it here. So hopefully you'll join us. If those speak to you. Cami, what have you got coming up in the next little bit?

Cami: 2:52

Let's see. So I am actually teaching Animal Reiki next weekend. Here in Montana, actually it will be an online class, but I live in the mountain time zone. So mountain time zone, I Animal Reiki one and two. And then in March, I'm teaching all levels. I'm teaching a Corona class and that one is online. And then I'm teaching a Reiki master course, that's in person. So I'm still teaching in person. I here in Montana where our numbers are quite low, all things considered. And then I have a in-person Reiki, one and two classes as well. Yeah, a busy month in, in in in March, it's always a good time to teach it's for

Pam: 3:38

sure. Cammie, I want to learn a bit about your journey, but before we do I'm going to just invite everybody to bring their hands together and Gassho activate their Reiki energy and invite any symbols to join them. Bring them in today. We're just defining the way that we are stepping forward in the world with Reiki, whatever that looks like to you. So just be open to the guidance of Reiki, let your Reiki energy guide you as you move forward, just finding and defining your own path and way to share this wonderful heart-based modality with the world and just feel the energy surrounding you leading you forward. Understanding that it's okay to approach this with baby steps. Just opening yourself to listen and listening with every part of yourself, listening to the guidance of Reiki. As we walk you through this, and you begin to learn to step forward and explain Reiki to others. Share your gifts with the world. Want to thank you for the bright light that you are for being the bright light that you are on the planet. You're an anchor for love in the world. Thank you for saying yes to Reiki and for being willing to share this beautiful gift with others, whether you have a business idea or whether that's still a ways away. Thank you for being open and thank you for listening. Considering what we have to say today, we are blessed to be at a lineage of light bringers who are creating wellness on the earth today. And that begins with you creating wellness within you. Aho Mitákuye Oyás'iŋ, Namaste and Amen. Thank you, Cami I think you had a chance to look at this chapter. Did you think about it and were there any, was there anything that stood out to you?

Cami: 6:24

Yeah. I did look through the chapter and so many wonderful things, of course stood out to me. I'm just looking here again to remind myself basically a lot of what came forward when I was looking at this was the information about creating a business identity and your helpful hints and, meditation and exercise around that. And then helping to identify your clients. That's actually a really important thing and something that I talk with my students quite a bit about as well, because some states. I want to have a bride, a broad range of clientele, and then some really want to ideally focus in on maybe the. The maternity type of like someone that's going to be working pre and postnatal, that type of thing. So I think it's really important to get clear on if you want to specialize or if you're going to be more of a broad spectrum type of practitioner. And then, oh, I love the name because I as we probably will talk about a little bit more creating your business name is so important. I went through a business name, change in my time here. And that was a really interesting thing. And having to shift from a different website to a new website and change over my contacts and business name with the state and with oh my gosh, there were so many changes. It was something that I had put off for a long time, because I knew what a, major thing that was going to end up being. But I finally did it and it's been a good thing to be done in and through that And then one of the other things I really loved reading about was creating a, your elevator speech. And in my own terminology, I call it creating your script. And just like how it is that you're going to talk to people when they ask you about Reiki. Because oftentimes as a newer practitioner, especially that can be really challenging to get your words together and to be able to speak as eloquently as we want to. And oftentimes feel like that little deer in the headlights, oh, I don't know some, I forget. And I can even say as a master now and having practiced for some years, sometimes I even still get the deer in the headlights a scenario, because like you maybe just aren't ready for that question. And so it's, great to have a little script and things that you can tell someone that is interested.

Pam: 9:18

Yeah. I think we'll spend a little bit of time today just to helping our listeners think about that and think about maybe what they want to use as their script. And I stumbled around about when people ask me what's Reiki, oh my goodness. I would go over here and over there. And how do you do, describe what Reiki is in words, they seem almost to inadequate, but at the same time so at one point and I was a lot more than a few years. I was quite a wastage. And what I used to say is turn it around and I'll just, and I put my hands on their shoulders and would you like to try it? And so eventually when it came time to talk about Reiki, I have a number of ways that I described what it is. Now. A lot of times I use a definition from our pamphlet about Reiki from the ICRT pamphlet, which says Reiki is a Japanese form of stress reduction that often promotes healing. And but, and I'll, use a more basic description like that. And then I'll wait for wait. And if somebody is really tell me more. Then maybe I'll tell them a little bit about my story and how I get into it and what I've noticed it's done. But if they say move on, I know that's really all they needed to know if they really have questions and really seem interested, I'll usually turn the conversation to would you like to see what it feels like? And I will have them turn around. This is usually talking with friends or such and just place my hands on their shoulders. And usually once people get a feel for Reiki, then they want more. Yeah. So I think that, that, has been fascinating. But thank you for coming on to talk about this chapter, which is about defining your Reiki business. Because one of the things, when I was guided. When I was in England and just saw the chaos and realized how much Reiki was, helping me and realized that the world really needs Reiki at times like this. And this was, I was just in Heathrow airport. The borders were closing and flights were being canceled and airports were being shut down. And, I realized, Colleen Benelli had said that that every family needs a Reiki practitioner. And I got a very strong nudge from Reiki to teach the teachers. And so that started the Reiki mentoring class and led to this book. But one of the things that came in right away in the first two chapters of the book are around the fact that a Reiki business does not have to look like what we all think of. When we think of a Reiki business, people think of people like me and like you who offer sessions in classes, but it might be very different for you. And. The energy was very clear right away that everyone needs to work with Reiki in the way that works for them. And so maybe if you've been a Reiki practitioner for a while and have and would like to share it with the world, but haven't maybe that's because you need to define the way that you do that a little bit differently. Maybe it can be done within your current career or within within your hobbies within your daily life, the way you raise your family, the way you just talk to people, there are so many ways that we can share Reiki. And in this book, even though it is the Reiki business book, and it will also teach you how to teach classes and do sessions and so on. And, the ins and outs about a business, really the first part of the book is just about getting clear about how it works for you, because the way that it works for you might be completely different from the way that it works for me or the way that it works for Cammie. And it, and that's okay. There are people that weave this into their medical practice, their artwork so many things and Cammie, your you, do a lot of things and you weave Reiki into a lot of things. So I thought you were an excellent person to talk about this chapter. Can you tell me a little bit about how you got started and then about the modalities that you work?

Cami: 13:58

Yeah. My step into Reiki was actually through yoga. So I was a yoga practitioner and eventually became a yoga teacher and was a loved and still love to teach yoga. And it was actually through a student, a yoga student of mine that had continued to tell me, oh, I took a Reiki class a few weeks ago. I think you would really love it. Why don't you consider taking a class and her mentioning it multiple times. And, then a few other people mentioning it, you know how that always happens. Like that time leading up to you finally making a decision to do something. Everybody was suddenly talking about Reiki. And, then I guess the final. Push for me to do it was having an astrology birth chart reading done. And that was my, astrologer saying you're a healer and a teacher. What are you doing about that? And that was a a final push because I said I'm a yoga teacher. And I worked in the medical field at that time. And that was what I thought was the mission in life. And, really there was just so much more to it. So that got me going towards Reiki. I took Reiki one and two in 2012 and then took master training in 2014. And I was still quite very happy being a yoga teacher and all of these different things. But in 2015 I had a pretty life-changing injury for me. Had my Achilles tendon detached from my heel. And it was a long journey of healing and getting back to walking, let alone practicing yoga again, or even teaching. And during that time, my, my energy and my focus really shifted to Reiki. First, first and foremost, even I had a, challenging time. Coming to terms with the changes happening in my life. And I went through a bit of a depression, and had my, what I call my coming to Jesus moment, where I was like, what do you want me to do out of frustration? Because I was just in a state and the answer was Reiki and it wasn't anything specific about. Practice Reiki, teach Reiki, whatever it was just Reiki. And I was like, okay, interesting. Because I had been doing a lot of self healing through that process. I'd been receiving from others, thankfully and all of that. And that's where I really started having the calling to teach other friends of mine were asking me to teach. And though I tried to pass them off to other teachers. Finally I had one particular student take me by the shoulders or one friend that became a student. Take me by the shoulders. Cammie. I just want to take Reiki from you. And that was that final recognition of okay, we gotta make this happen. Wow. Yeah.

Pam: 17:20

And you know what those students that want to learn from us don't want to learn from somebody else. Just so we're listening to people. If somebody asked you, I always tell my, students, if somebody asks you to do a session for them, To do it. And they don't want a session from me or from anybody else. They want it from you. You're the right person for them. And if somebody asks you to teach them, you're ready to teach and they don't want to learn from me or anyone else they want to learn from you. So please listen to the universe, giving you that. I'm glad you listened well. And when. When you did start teaching that's not, you didn't quit everything else. Like you, you really you work with a lot of different modalities. How do you define your Reiki business and, how does the modalities all work together?

Cami: 18:10

Yeah, that actually, interestingly shifted as I mentioned, my, I had a business name change and, really a big business shift in general. So my original business name had been river city yoga. And I, when I started getting more into the healing arts, I started I changed the name to river city yoga and healing arts. But then when I entered into the ICRC licensed teacher training program, or was actually preparing to do that, I had a conversation with a Colleen who is our mentor, Pam's on my mentor. And she had said W curious about your business name, and I'm wondering if maybe a different name wouldn't serve you. And we talked a bit about that and I said my name I've been considering switching to my name. And though. For me, my name is, seems so simple. It's literally four letters I'm on both Cammy CHMI and then yeah, it's naturally that's not necessarily the easiest name to to spell or pronounce for people hearing it. And so she had actually really cautioned me not to go with my, name and to come up with a different name. So I was actually in Portland taking Kaurna Reiki from Coleen and th that whole class, I think I was driving the other students crazy Colleen as well, because every time we'd go into a meditation, a name would come up and I would be like, oh, what do we think about this? And then I would like, look, I would look online and the name had already been taken. Literally if you go through a Kaurna Reiki training, you go through, I think. Six or seven different, meditations. So every time I would be like, oh, what do you think about this? In the very final ignition the name, heart rhythm Reiki came through and I I thought, oh, surely that's taken. And I didn't say a word like I'd done and all of the other share cause you come out of the meditation and you share. So I didn't say a word and I was over there checking on it. And my heart just kept getting fuller and fuller with this name. And finally, as we were like all gathered, getting ready to say goodbye. I said, okay, I just have to share this name. And I said heart rhythm Reiki. And everybody took it. Big exhale. And I was like the sensei and everyone calling was like, yeah, that is it. And everyone was like, yes, this is it. So it was really a divine shift and very guided by Reiki that name came through. But it wasn't necessarily an easy process.

Pam: 21:11

Yeah. Cammie, I haven't named Marie too, and it's not, so it's not like completely different from yours, but I'm also in the process. And we'll talk about that process of shifting payments because some of the people listening might be but actually Reiki worked into my business, which was mostly my primary business was the horses and the farm and hidden Brook farm. And I created a hidden Brook farm line of essential oils. And people would come to hidden Brook farm to study Reiki that was, or to, do Reiki sessions. Those were the three businesses and And then it was this podcast. I was trying to find a name for this podcast and I actually had a cup. I had, I think, two other names that I was really considering. And one of the things that I read about was send this out to. Your people and see what they say. So I have a private Facebook group for everybody who's ever studied with me and we stay in touch pretty regularly. And so I, thought, oh, I'll do a Facebook poll. So I, just learning about Facebook polls. I did a poll with the two names and I thought I'm only giving them two names to think about. I should throw in a third name. And I just looked around and went Reiki from the farm. And I didn't like it or anything. It was breaking from the farm and put it in and it was hands down, like almost unanimous. Everybody like raking from, I still didn't like it. I liked these other names and I, too, I talked to Colleen and. That's who you are. Like, you're literally doing Reiki with the farm already. It just I can see a heart that, that is who you are, that name. That's just exactly. And, so I just let it settle in and, it's true. Oftentimes I'm, this is my Reiki room, the horses come up and surround me. And sometimes on my break I have to run out and get them some hay or check their water or whatever, like it is Reiki from the farm. And I'm actually in the midst of changing my website because it became the podcast. But then I realized it was the whole thing. And it began to define what we were doing, that what I'm doing with Reiki had outgrown the hidden Brook farm and hidden bur farm is still here and they're still, and the horses are here in the riding lessons, but really Reiki from the farm became the thing. So I'm in the midst of the website chain right now. A little bit about that. Like the big change and what that was like.

Cami: 23:56

Yeah. It, wasn't just an easy shift to go from river city yoga to heart rhythm, so I had to come completely create a new Facebook page, for example because it wasn't a close enough name that I could shift it. Like Facebook's parameters wouldn't allow me to do that. So like I was letting go of a page that had a reasonably big following. I in fact for a minute, I'll just mention I didn't let go of river city yoga for a while. Actually I was maintaining two pages for a long time. I had my river city yoga website. I had my heart rhythm Reiki website. I was taking care of both of those. I do all of that, my own self. So like updating on two websites posting and updating on two Facebook pages all of these different things. And finally it came down to a realization that it was like, I have too much energy scattered here. I've got energy leaks going out and I really and we can talk more about when you had said how I incorporate other modalities into Reiki. What I really began to realize was that heart rhythm Reiki was like my umbrella. And then all of these other offerings that I bring in, come in under my umbrella my my heart rhythm Reiki. It was at that point, I officially decided to close my, river city yoga Website. And I decided to close my Facebook page and I officially decided to close my river city yoga bank account and, go into a heart rhythm Reiki bank account, which all of that then meant that I had to migrate contacts and all of these different business changed names with all of the different companies that I'd worked with and all of that. So it was a process without a doubt to change a business name completely. Yeah.

Pam: 26:00

Was it, has it been worth it? What have you,

Cami: 26:02

yeah, it's definitely been worth it. I think it's now been fully two and a half years since I really, just made the transition and let river city yoga go. And it's been great to not have to maintain all of that different electronic information and, all of that. Yeah, definitely.

Pam: 26:28

Yeah. I, yeah. And I something I, know I talked to Jill teal and she said that she also found she needed to do rebranding and really get serious around Reiki. And that, actually had a big impact on her on her business. Like it began, it allowed her to be more focused. And I think like you said, we can be scattered and. But like you said, I know the hidden Brook farm is still there, but it's, falling under the Reiki from the farm umbrella now. And, that feels really right. Get that website updated very soon. Reiki business book is, wrapped up. Tell me a little bit about the modalities that you incorporate and how that works.

Cami: 27:22

Yeah. Yeah, from the beginning, of course I realized that Reiki is an extremely powerful technique all on its own. However part of what I was initially doing was I was teaching yoga classes and bringing Reiki into my yoga classes. So Reiki has often always been a very tandem type of energy for me. It was, it pairs very well is, complimentary. So with yoga, for example, I would give Reiki to the students hands-on while they were in Shavasana. For example Shavasana is the final pose where people lay down, if you're not familiar with yoga and the students really love that. What that may be equated to was a minute of Reiki per student, because I would often have classes of 16 or so yoga students. And so I would have to move around the room fairly quickly in order to get to everyone. And the feedback that I got from the students. Wow. That one minute of Reiki really shifted things for me. And so I kept doing this and hearing this and that was wonderful. And then I started intentionally actually incorporating more Reiki into my yoga classes. I am known for a specific type of yoga class called a restorative yoga class. And I technically people have told me I should call it a luxury yoga class. That's a two hour. And the it, and they are very decadent. Yes. Very desert and you'd spend two you spend 20, some odd minutes and oppose, and you're all supported on blankets and bolsters and all of these things. And it's very, queenly or kingly. Depends. The men come to class and it's a lot of work on my end. I D I really take care of people in those classes. And so naturally in there, I started learning about how I could do specific hem positions. For example, if someone was in a pose called child's pose, I could come in and do Reiki on the back of their heart, or if they were in a pose where I could easily get to their head, I would give Reiki to their head same with the feet. So even with that, I was maybe giving someone three, four or five minutes of Reiki maximum within a class. And yet I was still hearing all of this amazing feedback. And so that was the start for me. And then one quick, little funny story. I'll mention when I went to first take Reiki one and two, I didn't really know anything about Reiki. I'd actually never received a session and this happens like some people

Pam: 30:14

say you are not the first person that

Cami: 30:17

I have students that told me this regularly. And So I had done a tiny bit of online research and I had seen somewhere that this Reiki practitioner use tuning forks. And for some reason I got it in my mind that certainly everyone must use tuning forks in their breaky practice. I've always been really interested in sound. I sing and I lead a type of music called keratan, which is a yoga kind of music. And so I was like, Ooh, this is exciting. I can incorporate sound into my Reiki session. So I bought a set of tuning forks and I go down to the Reiki class and I pull out my Reiki, my tuning forks. And I was like, I've got my tuning forks. And my t-shirt. Yeah, I don't use those. So then I'm like tucking them down beside me oh goodness. I didn't really know. So anyway that was that. And then during a similar time I was actually doing Chemonics studies as well. I really tend to be one of these people that like to really immerse myself in too many things at one time. And I was drumming. With the Chemonics study stuff. And it was after reading Michael Michael's article about Reiki drumming. I was like, oh this was a great article. Like I can do that. And so I started doing Reiki drumming and all of a sudden the clients were like, oh my goodness, that was amazing. They just felt all of this energy shift with the addition of sound. And then that just again, the rabbit holes start and I got deeper into sound. I, ended up signing up for a sound therapy program and that was a year and a half long. And during that time I was learning about multiple instruments. So singing bowls, tuning, forks, gongs drums, and the voice all of these things really up my alley as a musician and During that ex exploration. I found myself the most drawn to the singing bowls into the gongs. And so that's where I've though. I still do drum and I, do sing and all of these things and I still have my training first and use them. My, my energy has moved more towards the balls in the gongs. And and so I do oftentimes incorporate the music or the sound therapy in with the Reiki sessions. So that works really well. And again I can say as easily, I love to just do regular Reiki sessions and I love to just also do regular sound sessions. There's a benefit in doing them separately and there's also benefit in doing them together. Yeah,

Pam: 33:22

it's pretty seamless. It sounds, it just really came in organically and, then also blended very quickly. And I think you still offer all of these Madame.

Cami: 33:34

Yeah. Yeah. I'm not currently teaching many public yoga classes. I do still do some private yoga work. My Reiki teaching schedule developed and got quite busy and it became a challenge to, to hold space for a weekly class or that sort of thing. And what my my public classes go because I just was feeling bad. People do sign up because I was the teacher and they liked me. And I was having to sub out so many classes that I just felt bad about it personally. And I I stopped teaching the yoga classes in order for the, Reiki practice to grow.

Pam: 34:21

I had to do the same and step back from teaching the riding lessons, but fortunately my apprentice was there and she does a fantastic job with them, but I just couldn't fit it all in. It was wet as the Reiki practice expanded it, it got really busy, they worked they worked for a lot of. Yeah, side by side without too much difficulty. And one of the things I loved about because I, incorporate a lot of Reiki into my horse business, into the oils and, into the Reiki, of course, but one of the things I loved about it was that I was doing three part-time jobs and so I never, ever felt too much pressure to make money in any of the areas. And if so it, seemed if I wasn't getting a lot of Reiki students or clients, I was getting a lot of horse clients. And if either one of those were a little low that I got a lot of essential oil sales, so it really helped balance things. And, it didn't put pressure on me to make money from Reiki, which I appreciated because then it could just grow organically and. That's one of the things I encourage people. Some people think I have to quit my job and, do Reiki. And I always encourage them see if you think, keep your job and start doing Reiki and start your Reiki practice. And then at some point your Reiki practice will build up enough that you may want to see if you can go part-time with your job, but it's always nice to have that to fall back on so that you, don't have the pressure to with something that you love. I think sometimes the pressure to make money with something that you love can, erode a little bit of that love from it.

Cami: 36:09

Yeah, that's actually a very similar advice I give to my students as well. It's just it's a lot of pressure to Take a weekend class and suddenly think, okay, this is going to be my life and this is going to be my business. And this is how I'm going to support myself. And there's a big let down when, people realize that it takes a lot more work than they think it does to build a business and to build a clientele. And there's actually this I don't know the source of the quote. I saw this on Facebook that said that it takes 10 years to become an overnight success. All the time I get that in my mind,

Pam: 36:54

Tracy with hay house says that all the time. Yeah. They became an overnight. It only took 10 years. And I've been teaching Reiki. This is June 21st will be my 12 year anniversary of my first Reiki class.

Cami: 37:09

Yeah. I started in 2015, technically teaching. Few more years till I get to my 10 years,

Pam: 37:19

it does take a lot of work. And if you can do that without putting the pressure on yourself of having quit everything and whatever. So I think that, when I say define your practice, that works for you it doesn't mean that you have to get. Everything and quit everything and start in fact, it usually works better if you incorporate Reiki into what you're already doing and then maybe reach out and start something on the side and let it grow. And do you have any other examples, Cammie, of some people that work within other modalities that have defined their practices differently?

Cami: 38:01

Yeah. One of the things that I always say in my classes is it really gets me excited to see how people incorporate Reiki into their daily life. And that doesn't necessarily mean to, hang a shingle and become a practitioner and to become a teacher. How are we going to incorporate this? How are we going to live our Reiki essentially? And I have some students. And I think we all probably have, stories about our students. I have a couple of students that are actually physicians MDs that are working in child psychology. And so they're not intending to do Reiki practice yet. Of course they use it for themselves. They use it in their spaces for clearing their space. And the one physician in particular that I talk to and see the most has said that it has created just a huge shift in her work environment, have Reiki and that kind of thing. And she deals with really challenging situations in the child psychology area. So that's really been helpful for her. Interestingly, I also have at least three different lawyers that have taken my Reiki trainings and that seemingly an interesting combination, but the more I think about it and the more they talk about their experiences, it's really a very, cool thing. One in particular, a practitioner is a mediator. So she's like mediating divorces, sadly and, various things like that. But these are very real world things that we deal with. And so she's able to bring Reiki into these situations and help people with these big, massive decisions that are happening in their lives. And then in turn also, Helps her at the end of the day, too okay. I'm going to do my Kenya Yoko after this day and give myself some Reiki to get back to her own life and not be up in that a couple other students, one of my very best friends, actually, Alicia, she creates these wonderful potions that are like sprays and the essential oil type of thing. And so yes, with Reiki, she has built this incredible business now. All of her, oils are infused and in fact, we have come together and created two oils that are like my, oils. We have one called Reiki, cherry blossom, which is a roller that you put on and it's just so beautiful and it really just helps people get into the, Reiki space. And then I told her we needed to get. Pray for Karuna. So we created a spray called Kwan yin, and a Kwan yin is one of my guides and for guiding forces. And so it definitely just brings in the energy of Karuna and Kwania and with, this particular oil. Yeah, Alicia is my friend and also student, so that works out nicely. And another one that started creating Reiki dolls and she actually sells Reiki dolls. Again I, always to just say to the students, like the sky is the limit as far as what do you do in your daily life? Do you cook? Do you, so do make concoctions like you can bring Reiki to every facet of your life. And that's really amazing. I love

Pam: 41:43

that. And I love it. And I have similar stories with, lawyers and with one nurse manager of a medical clinic said when they started using Reiki in the clinic, it just, and that's where every N a few of her acute people that worked in the clinic actually came and studied with me. The just not only did the atmosphere feel better, but they, but everything was smoother, like with the personnel and the people weren't out sick as much. She just said everything that drama dropped and huge impact that can make. And in all of these areas. And it seems to me, Cammie, I thought of a few more areas. Oh, teachers, I love teachers that teach in schools and as you, as they bring Reiki into their classroom the students really notice, and I have one teacher in particular who noticed, especially her children on the autism spectrum as the stress dropped and they became more comfortable in their parents noticed. And one of the parents said to her. Do you do Reiki or something by any chance? And she said, yes, I do. And she said my daughter is really responding very well to it. So thank you. So, I just love that you can be a mountain climber and incorporate Reiki into what you do, and how do you. How did you overcome any of the obstacles as you were defining your practice and bringing Reiki into everything? What did you do

Cami: 43:29

there? Yeah. The interesting thing that happened in, in my story is after, in 2015, I got laid off from my job that I had for 15 years. I had this I got to make this business happen or go back to work and, I had this moment of thinking like, gosh I've, spent really the last 10 years, because if you like at that 2015 timeline, I had been practicing yoga and all of these things had been put into place at that point. I'd spent the last 10 years trying to create a life outside of actually working in the medical field. And so it felt like this. The divine timing situation that came up that was like, okay, now you don't have a job anymore. So what are you going to do about that? And now I don't necessarily recommend this. This is just what happened in my life, but that is what prompted me to really get more, even more serious about my Reiki business. And at that point I started actually scheduling classes. I started getting more On it with my my promotion and I've always been the person that I know that in some cases, people will maybe look down their nose about this, but something that really worked for me in those days was doing specials. And as I was building a practice, I would oftentimes say especially after I learned Corona for the first time, I really wanted to be practicing Karuna. And my clientele wasn't quite built to that point yet. So I said, I'm going to do 10 Kareena sessions for$25. And I actually ended up having 15 people sign up and I just went ahead and kept signing people up because I wanted to practice more than anything. And Even still, I only made$15 working at the hospital,$15 an hour, working at the hospital. So I figured if I'm doing 60 minutes session for$25, I'm doing better than I did at the hospital by quite some amount here. And it that's really how it worked for me. And now I don't run as many specials. I have my, price up there. I've built the clientele but, honestly the specials worked for me and I do now also we're all I'll say. I'll incorporate a little extra time, for example, I'll say, oh, an hour long session is 75, but then I'll do a little reflexology for 30 minutes for free that type of thing. That'll come in every once in a while. And it just it helps attract, clients. So if ever I'm feeling a little bit low and. Bolster up my business a bit, then that's been a, useful thing for me. That's really great

Pam: 46:43

to know. And I've always worked specials. William mentioned that when you're just getting started, you might like to do specials. Yeah. I've always looked at them as a way to take the pressure off of yourself when you're getting started. But I really liked that idea of just bringing in new people and, people lift chance to, and I didn't know, you incorporated reflexology as well. That's

Cami: 47:04

fantastic. Yes. I took reflexology training too. There was this timeline where I was just, I, and I love to be a student Eva still, I just love to learn. And so I had taken the Reiki training I was doing the Chemonics studies. I was, I learned reflexology. I was and then started getting deeper and deeper into the sound therapy and reflexology. It's a, it's an amazing, practice. I really love it. It's not my biggest calling. I will often tell people, I said, you, will you be? I tell them my. I'm not the greatest reflexologist in the world. I'll just say that right now, people love to have their feet rubbed and all of the things. And so it's like they, so it's it's, a great little offering.

Pam: 48:05

We're going to talk about. How to talk about Reiki and how to create your own elevator pitch. That's what we're going to do with our our guests today, our listeners before we do, is there anything, and I know you've got a neat story there that I want you to tell, but is there any other suggestions that you have for people as they are working to define what the business should look like for them and what are some of the things you would suggest? Yeah,

Cami: 48:37

the number one thing I always think about is just to really not work so hard. And that's maybe an interesting thing to say. Because we do work hard in our lives, but sometimes we work so hard to make things happen. And in many cases we need to allow things to come to us. And so yes, there, there is an equal part of working hard. And then there is an equal part of knowing that what is meant to be is going to be in allowing the universe to support you in that. And so that would be, I guess my main thing. Relaxed don't work so hard.

Pam: 49:23

Wonderful advice. Take the pressure off of yourself and allow it to happen in divine timing because they will even I've put pressure on myself to finish the book and finish my website in certain timelines. And I've blown through a few of the timelines that I originally set for myself and had to realize that, look, this just, this needs to have its own timeline. I need to allow it.

Cami: 49:46

Yeah. I think one of the best realizations with that has been for example, when animal Reiki was coming forward. And I first heard about animal Reiki when I took training with Coleen in 2016 and I was like, oh yes, I'm ready to take that class. And then it was not until what, 2020 that it actually came truly came forward and was ready to be shared. And so it is a process to to allow these energies, to make its way through and, Going back to that quote of it takes 10 years to become an overnight success. It's just yeah, take the pressure off of yourself. It's you know, th there's just not any reason to drive yourself into the ground for anything. In my opinion, I

Pam: 50:35

couldn't agree with you more. And one of the things you're just reminding me, I think I have to add it to this chapter. That one of the things I told my Reiki mentors is you're bringing form to the forum. That takes time. You're bringing in a whole new energy, you're allowing it to take form. And be gentle with yourself. I guess I did talk about that, but be gentle with yourself as you do.

Cami: 51:04

That's I guess another little tip that I'm working with a mentor group as well right now. And one of the first little tips that I gave them was the, I do understand how, in some cases, there's this urgency to really get this business started and everything, but not to forget the self in that. And I can say that in my own personal experience, I have scheduled myself to the point of being far, over-scheduled. And what I've learned actually during this pandemic is that I need to. Make more time for myself, because if I'm going to really help people, I need to be imbalanced and all of that. So that looked like for me, that I needed to take Mondays off, for example, and I needed to create more time in my schedule to not be working all the time. And yeah, I guess like I often try to, as our parents would do to us, they wanted us to learn from their mistakes and, do life better than they did. And so I try to impart that wisdom on my students as well.

Pam: 52:15

By saying that to my students, I'm like, it took me four years to learn this. So I think I can explain it to you.

Cami: 52:24

I just listened to me, although I think sometimes though I'm not a biological parents I think it's oh, who are they to I'm not going to listen to them. I'll do it my way.

Pam: 52:44

Story about we were talking just a bit before we started recording. And you had a great story about the section in, chapter two, where we talk about creating an elevator pitch. And I wonder if you can share that and just share how you would do that with with.

Cami: 53:04

Yeah. Just with different, wording I call it, create your script. So create your scripts about Reiki, because so often we will stand in front of someone, my own self. Even today, this happens on occasion where someone will ask me what Reiki is and I'll be like the deer in the headlights and sometimes it's not always so easy to say, let me show you like you've, actually got to be able to speak and, speak eloquently in order to talk to someone. And so this part of creating your script really came in for me and what stemmed that was actually it was my second Reiki class ever. One of my students was taking the class and she took Reiki one and two or take took Reiki one. And then we were continuing on to Reiki to the next day. And she had gone out with her family for dinner, and they were at a place where there were many of her friends and that sort of thing there. And she was very excited and talking people had asked, what are you doing this weekend? And she says, oh, I'm taking a Reiki training. And they were asking her what it was. Naturally she's only been through one day of class and it's really hard at that point to articulate what Reiki is. And a lot of the people were on the more conservative side and really talked to her about what. Are you sh what are you doing? Is this really? Yeah. They're like, oh I don't know about this. And so she actually came to class the next day and she said, I don't think that Reiki is for me. I don't think I can take, this class. Interestingly, I had traveled to teach that class and I was teaching in her studio. So I used to teach Reiki and yoga studios. And so there I was teaching in her studio and I said I do understand if. You're not going to continue those classes, certainly Reiki, honors freewill. And I said I do need to finish this class for the other students that signed up for this. And she said, yes, that's fine. And in that moment of being a new teacher and all of the things like in my mind is just pounding. What am I supposed to do here? And I'm asking Reiki and I was guided to go back to the first chapter. And we had covered that in day one, but we had lightly covered it. And so where I was guided to was that we actually went back to the first chapter in the healing touch book. And we just read it word for word, like we literally round Robin read it. Thank you for that. Or what's that sorry to stay for that. She did. She did. She said she would stay until lunch, but she wasn't sure that she wanted to do the attunement and So, we round Robin taught or talked our way through the whole first chapter. And I, afterwards I said, we were getting close to lunch break, and I said, why don't you? Because there was a a little bit deeper into the story. There was a concern about her religion and, combining with her practice and that sort of thing. And I said, why don't you go on lunch break and do some research and see what you can find about your specific religion and Reiki. Cause I, I bet that there are other practitioners from that. That religion, that practice. But I didn't have any specific experience with that particular thing. So she went on her lunch break. She actually found some support groups of people that practice Reiki and her religion. And she came back and she like, I'm ready to do this. Let's go, and she, so she did come in and she had the Reiki two attunement, and then eventually she took master training and she's, very happy, Reiki practitioner. But yeah, it was really quite the moment. So that, really led me to Like we have to create a script for us to be able to explain what Reiki is. And those times when we feel intimidated, maybe by someone that might be questioning because of religion or questioning because of thought forms or belief systems or whatever. And so I created a little card. I should have grabbed it. But anyway, I created a little card about what is Reiki and it has all the information and it has. Contact information on it as well. So it's a nice little promotional tool. And so in those cases, when someone asks me, I can say, oh, here's this look at this. And then I can also look at it myself. If I'm feeling that moment of anxiety about whoever I'm talking to, or maybe my mind is just going blank. And I can, oh yes. Okay. Reiki said a technique that helps us re reduce our stress and reduce our pain and all of those different things, then I can go more into. The script versus having to just recall as something that I've memorized, because in those moments of you feeling a bit diminished or something like that the, memory is just not going to serve you most likely.

Pam: 58:50

Yeah. That's wonderful. And it's okay to change your language, who you're talking with. I'll, I notice if I'm talking with medical professionals, I'll say Reiki is a Japanese form of stress reduction that has been shown to promote healing. And I'll maybe start talking about some of the research and some, because there's a lot of research and a lot of oral, maybe talk about some of the hospitals that teach Reiki in their hospitals and that offer Reiki programs within the hospitals. But if I'm talking to a more spiritual. I'll talk about how Reiki is spiritually guided life force energy that works with every religion and that provides guidance and helps us toward enlightenment because we've also known that or seen that Reiki actually goes together with every religion. And you were mentioning that I just had somebody in the class. Who's oh my gosh I'm Roman Catholic. I don't know. And I said let's do, let's just look. And I went right on the reiki.org website and there are whole bunch of articles about Roman Catholics who practice Reiki and, how wonderful it is and that sort of thing. And it made her feel a lot better, but it is such a big step when people are stepping into their Reiki journey that sometimes they do. Question it or a step back. I've noticed that happened a lot. Yeah. What are some of the descriptions that you use or how do you, teach people to do their elevator pitch and then we'll bring people through getting their own together today?

Cami: 1:00:37

Yeah. I feel really called to say this right now. While we didn't necessarily talk about Reiki and religion I think it's important just to say that Reiki does not have a dogma and it, doesn't there's, it's a spiritual practice, but it's not associated with any specific religion. So anyone that might be listening or watching later and are now hearing this conversation about religion. I think it's just helpful to, to remember to say that the guys are telling me to say that you

Pam: 1:01:12

just finished my thought I started to, and I went off in another direction, but yeah. But I'll explain that it doesn't go with it. That it goes with every religion that it works together with every religion. And yeah, I really will sometimes change what I say about Reiki, depending on who I'm talking with. And of course, if I'm talking to an animal lover, I'll actually talk a little bit about animal Reiki. Yeah. And what we noticed about that. And yes. Thank you, Kimmy for finishing the thought that I started and didn't finish.

Cami: 1:01:50

Yeah. Yeah. On a similar level, now that I'm more of a practiced practitioner, I also have different ways of you just have a knowing of who you're talking to and, what you're going to present as far as maybe it's going to be more on the spiritual or, esoteric side, or maybe it's going to be more on the scientific side and, that kind of thing. And I can go into talking about that. So getting back to your question about how I help my students go into their finding their elevator speech in the back of the Reiki one and two manual, there's that short description of Reiki. And I always say, start with that. And then I also take in the, master manual, there is the, what is holy fire Reiki. And I say take, pieces and parts of that. And like you can plug and play these different things into your. Your script and then put in also, what does Reiki, what is Reiki for you? And you can kinda it's, a bit of a process to like really put it all together. But once you have a script, you have like the, first little part, what is Reiki, the short description, and then a little bit more about specifically holy fire Reiki, and then a little bit more about what it is to you. And then you've got yourself a nice script. And then the next thing to remember is it can change as time goes on and you learn more about Reiki and more about yourself, be open to the knowing that might shift a bit, and you may not have to rely as much on the specific wordage that is said in the manual or whatever the cases may be. You'll rewrite it to your own knowing and understanding, and that type of. I love that.

Pam: 1:03:48

And the important thing is to have it in something that's two or three sentences. And and if you also have a business to be able to describe your business in that way you can choose to be whether you feel that you need to have a way to explain to people what Reiki is, or if you're already leaning toward a business and you've got something in mind, then go ahead and focus the exercise that we're going to do on the business. And I'm just wondering Cammie, if I should grab the level one and two manual,

Cami: 1:04:24

I actually don't have one here with me, but I it's towards the back of the manual. Oh, I have the digital manual here but it would be in the. Second part of the thriving Reiki practice towards the end of that particular article that William wrote, there is the short description of Reiki.

Pam: 1:04:53

I'll have to, I will

Cami: 1:04:56

I think I can pull it up really quickly. That'd be great. Cause I'm sure aware,

Pam: 1:05:04

but I'm not opening to it

Cami: 1:05:06

now. Yeah. I, it it's so funny. Pam and I, we used to talk about when we would take Coleen's classes, how she would teach without looking at the manual. And now here we are, we're both teaching without looking at the manual. And in some cases I can almost tell the person, the exact page number without even looking at the manual,

Pam: 1:05:31

our first class with Coleen we, did that together. Do you remember that? And are we looking at each other? And we're like, how does she, didn't even look at the manual. I know before we knew what we were teaching the same way.

Cami: 1:05:49

It's really quite amazing. Oh, let's see. Oh, here it is right here. So it's on page one 11. I was

Pam: 1:06:00

almost

Cami: 1:06:01

sure explanation of Reiki and it says Jap Reiki is a Japanese technique for relaxation that also promotes healing. It is done through touch a warm and soothing energy flows through the hands, into the client, promoting relaxation and releasing tension. So that is an excellent elevator speech. That is an excellent PR piece of your script. If you can memorize that. Great. However, I have tried to memorize that. I feel like I have it memorized, but again, in some tie, in some cases, Even still get that point of I don't know. So like I said, having it written down and having something to give to someone makes it so much easier to take that pressure off in those times when you don't remember. Yeah. Thank you.

Pam: 1:06:58

Guys, we're going to lead you in a little bit of an experience today and like all of the experiences so far with the Reiki business book, if you've been, I guess following us last month or last week and next week, it'll be the same. If you don't already grab yourself some paper and a pen because that's the way that we're going to go through this one today and we'd like to help you make an elevator pitch so that if somebody asks you, what do you do? You'll have a ready reply. So if you want to put us on pause and get, grab that, that's fine. And when we come back, I'm just going to invite you to bring your hands into Gassho activating your Reiki, energy, and your symbols, and then place your Reiki hands on your sacral chakra, just below the belly button to activate your creativity. We'll spend a few moments here. Okay. And now bring a hand or both to your third eye to activate your intuition. And finally bring your hands to your throat chakra to activate your authentic voice. I spent, as long as you need on each chakra, until you feel that they're balanced and empowered and now place your hands comfortably, wherever you feel guided. As you ask the Reiki energy to help you create your pitch to people in a language that they can understand, you might even decide to create a few of these elevator pitches for different audiences. It's completely appropriate to speak about Reiki, using different language for different audiences. Mrs. Takata had to do this after Pearl Harbor. She even painted over her sign for Reiki and began calling it short wave therapy. So we know that it's okay to talk to each audience in the language. They understand. Now take a moment to invite the Reiki energy, to show you who we are. Different audiences are. If you were with us in last week's podcast and you have a sentence created that it's around your life purpose and your path with Reiki. Please feel free to incorporate that into what we're doing today and understanding that we're just going to start, but we will find tune this sentence and our definition of what we do and what Reiki is. We will continue fine tuning it so that it is simple, succinct, and interesting. Something that will grab people's attention and cause them to want to learn more something, to help initiate a conversation about what you do, something you may want to use in your marketing material, something that allows you to quickly and efficiently in a few sentences, accurately describe Reiki or your business or what you do. Now, go ahead and use automatic writing and write a sentence that describes what Reiki is

Cami: 1:11:30

to you.

Pam: 1:11:39

And does it need to be perfect? Go ahead and just let it flow. It doesn't need to have punctuation. That sentence feels mostly complete. Go ahead and take a moment to describe what Reiki has done for you or what it means to you or what you mean to Reiki. Now take a moment and just allow this to flow from you. If you have an intention to work with Reiki, go ahead and create a sentence that describes how you will do that. It describes your business or how you work with Reiki. And when this feels complete, I invite you to come back, knowing that you can continue to refine and define these until they feel exactly right to you until the words feel like your words, and they feel like they will flow for you. I found myself doing that exercise along with you. And it was very interesting. What I came up with is Reiki as a Japanese form of stress reduction that often promotes healing. I discovered it years ago when I had a health issue that medical professionals could not understand or figure out, and it helped me immensely. Now I teach it and offer Reiki sessions for people and animals. And becomes my elevator pitch that I can base everything else off of. I thought I noticed you doing it. Cammy, do you, can you

Cami: 1:14:41

I was typing here cause I didn't have a notebook with me, but not quite as yours is, but of course we're individual. So that's okay. It's supposed to be I wrote Reiki is love warmth. Enjoy Reiki is life. Reiki has healed me and helped other others heal. Reiki sees me as a divine light and channel to deliver its energy. Reiki is grateful for me. Reiki is my umbrella. It is my shelter. Reiki is my life. Like making me cry.

Pam: 1:15:20

I'm going to put that in the book as a quote from you because that's where just. I want to thank you so much for speaking with us today. And I want to thank the viewers and the listeners who joined us. Thank you for just being willing to see the light of Reiki in the world. That is the first step. And we all started somewhere. And even if you're a little bit further along in the journey I expect, we probably still touched on a few things that were useful or helpful to you and maybe had you chuckling as you reminisced. I certainly I chuckled when Cami said that she has trained lawyers. Cause I was like, oh me too. That's the story in chapter one, which of course Cami hasn't seen yet was about the lawyers that I trained. So thank you so much for all of you and for you Cami, and just look forward to seeing you next week when we will be talking about removing the obstacles for you so that you can begin to practice in whatever way that looks for you. And it may just be feeling comfortable talking to people about Reiki, or it may be setting up a full fledged practice with a website and a sessions and classes wherever you are on that spectrum. We hope you'll join us. So that we can have a look at some of the obstacles and how to remove them for you. Namaste

Cami: 1:16:51

Namaste.

Pam: 1:16:52

Thank you. Thank you..