Nathanial Kaplan, Reiki Master

07/10/2017

I am excited to announce that I am moving to British Columbia later this month. Spirit has been pushing me in that direction for a couple of years now, but it was only very recently that I felt ready to follow Spirit’s guidance.

Making a big change can be scary. Sometimes it can be terrifying. I became all too familiar with my fear as I agonized over whether or not to follow the guidance I was receiving. Could I trust enough to leave everything behind and start fresh? What would I do if it didn’t work? Would Spirit really be there, supporting me all the way? For that matter, how could I know for sure that this was truly guidance from Spirit, and not just an ego-based desire to run away from my life?

I created a lot of suffering for myself as I agonized over this decision. Despite everything I’ve taught in my meditation classes, and despite all of the guidance I’ve provided to my clients, when it was my own life in question, it was difficult to drill down to the core.

Luckily, I’ve had help from a few amazing teachers/healers/coaches/rays of light, who helped me to go beyond my own ego. Funny enough, it was my own husband who made the comment that set things into motion. One night in August he said to me: “Why don’t we just set a date and go?” I still remember looking over at him in that moment, with a feeling of abject terror in my gut. But I don’t have a job out there, I thought. I have responsibilities here. I can’t just up and go! But, even deeper than the terror, was a feeling of relief. Could it be that it’s actually okay to just up and go? It was as if someone had given me permission to let go of all of the fears that were holding me back.

The next time I met with my Spirit-Life Coach (Sita Dookeran, who many of you already know), there was a noticeable shift in my energy. I had become serious about moving. I was ready to commit.

So my husband and I set a date. And the pieces began to fall into place. Looking back on it now, it’s kind of crazy to think about how much suffering I caused myself. Had I known that things would simply fall into place once I decided to put my trust in Spirit, I could have done so two years ago. But I just wasn’t quite there yet.

I don’t know what’s waiting for me in the Okanagan Valley. I don’t know if I’m meant to continue teaching meditation and offering Reiki. Perhaps I will go even further with that kind of work. Perhaps I will begin offering services online. Perhaps what I’ll end up doing is so fantastic that I can’t even fathom it yet. Perhaps it’s best to stop speculating and just be open.

So all I can say is, stay tuned. The way things have fallen into place, I know Spirit is pulling me out to BC for a reason. I just can’t say what it is yet. What I can say, however, is that if there’s a decision that you’ve been grappling with for a long time, maybe it’s time to stop creating suffering for yourself. Maybe it’s time to just say yes.

It’s been an honour to be a part of your journeys, and I hope that you will continue to grant me that honour as I make this transition. I’m always only an email away. (New phone number to be posted on my web site once I know what it is.)

With love,
Nathanial

10/11/2016

Yesterday was a difficult day for many of us. Especially so for our American brothers and sisters. In the last 24 hours I have encountered many people who are feeling sad, depressed, scared, even downright terrified. This has prompted me to give everyone a reminder: All that ever exists is this moment right now.

What everyone is worrying about is an imagined future. It’s true, President-Elect Trump has made many unfortunate (and yes, in some cases downright racist) comments during his campaign that would lead us all to worry about his future actions in office. But please remember, Trump has not actually done anything yet. He is not in office yet. He won the election, and the world didn’t end. In this moment, you are okay. Why waste your time and energy stressing about things that haven’t happened yet? Even in life in general, most of the things we worry about never actually come to pass.

Is it possible Trump will do things we don’t like, or even find reprehensible? Yes. Actually, that’s true of many people we might encounter. If Trump in fact does any of those things, we will observe them and find a way to deal with them. But why try to deal now with things that haven’t happened? Why create the added stress and perhaps even make ourselves feel sick by projecting our worst fears into an imagined future?

Our egos (read: small selves) lead us to believe that we need to plan for every contingency in order to remain safe. This goes for every situation in life, not only what has just happened in the election. But if you think back carefully over your life, and really take the time to go inward and observe, you’ll find that (1) most of the things you worried about you didn’t really need to worry about, and (2) you were never actually any safer for having planned for every contingency. Any yet, (3) right now you’re still alive and you’re still doing fine.

Don’t waste your energy creating inner resistance to the present moment; it already exists and opposing it doesn’t change it. You’ll just make yourself feel worse. Instead, I invite you to take a few deep breaths, remind yourself that in this moment you are okay, and that this moment is all you ever really have because all that ever exists is the Now. Make the choice to live from your highest self instead of your small self. Doing so will help you tap in to the peace that lives deep within you.

Namaste,
Nathanial

15/06/2016

I just finished reading a thought-provoking blog post regarding the recent tragedy in Florida: http://bureaudisco.com/blog/2016/06/14/who-do-you-pray-for/

I've talked about how you can touch the world around you on a day-to-day basis. Have you thought about how you affect the world when a tragic event occurs?