Reiki Day 6 - Unintended consequences

I am fascinated by the changes in everyday things. For example, I find myself saying grace far more regularly as I pick up food and feel my hands tingle. I don't believe the prayers are any more effective, but having a tangible association sure makes it easier to really allow myself a moment to be grateful for the bounty in my life.

I'm hitting an odd challenge, though. My body has a problem with temperature regulation. When overly warm, my blood vessels over-dilate and press against nerves - resulting in a migraine. When chilly, my blood vessels over-constrict, straining the muscles that control them - another type of migraine.

When I feel a migraine coming on, I check my hands. If they are cold, I'm over-constricted and I soak them in warm water which has a biofeedback effect of relaxing all of my blood vessels. If my hands are warm, I soak them in cold water to constrict the vessels. Alternatively, I can use Coca-Cola (a constrictor) and Aspirin (a regulator).

Today I dressed warmly for the cool day ahead, but the office was warmer than usual. And then I had Reiki flowing all over, warming my hands and triggering the biofeedback response to dilate all my blood vessels further. I went through 2-1/2 cans of Coke with ice and washed my hands in cold water whenever I could take a break, just barely staying ahead of the migraine. That much caffeine had me wired most of the afternoon. And that had coughing consequences when I got home and tried to wind down. Though Reiki did help with the wind down, it only exacerbated the problem during the day.

I have to figure out completely new habits to re-balance my migraine management. And I have a pretty compelling driver for learning to control the Reiki flow.