A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF REIKI PRACTITIONERS AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF REIKI AS IT RELATES TO THEIR PERSONAL HEALTH

The purpose of this study was to understand the essence of becoming a Reiki practitioner and Reiki’s relationship to an individual’s personal health. The phenomenological research perspective utilized in this study allowed the data to speak for itself and represented the essence of Reiki and Reiki practitioners in Missoula, Montana. Ten Reiki practitioners were interviewed about their personal experience with Reiki. Interviewees were all volunteers, over the age of 18, who were trained in Reiki II or higher and had more than three years of experience practicing Reiki. Participants had practiced Reiki either on themselves or someone else regularly, which was defined as at least three times per week. Collection of the data was limited to participant disclosure of the phenomena to the researcher, and by memory recall of given events. Analysis of the interview transcripts produced comprehensive data from which several themes emerged. The themes that emerged were as follows: 1) Reasons for becoming a Practitioner, 2) Balance as Health, 3) Personal Growth, 4) Facilitator & Conduit, 5) Trust & Intuition, 6) Self-care, 7) Addressing Doubts and Validation, 8) Attunements and, 9) Sensations during a Reiki Session. These themes provided a context for examining health and healing outside the biomedical model. Reiki is grounded in Chinese medicine and provides an Eastern perspective to view health and medicine. Results of this study revealed that Reiki enhances the relationship between mind, body and spirit, and initiates a redefinition of health for practitioners. Results were consistent with previous research demonstrating a relationship between Reiki and decreased stress, anxiety, and increased coping skills. Consistent with the literature, results of this study illustrated that Reiki is an effective tool for self-care and primary prevention. Reiki is a health strategy that can be invoked by anyone, anywhere at any time. Reiki would be best modeled by Health Educators as a strategy for self-care and primary prevention in conjunction with Health Behavior theories such as the Health Belief Model. It is the hope of the researcher that through the application of Reiki, the shift in Western society from secondary and tertiary prevention to primary prevention and self-care will increase. Further research is suggested in the area of Reiki and self-care and healing practice

International students' lived experiences seeking ICT assistance: Just click here

This thesis explores the lived meaning of requiring, requesting and receiving information and communications technology (ICT) assistance for international students with limited or no background with ICT. The anecdotes and reflections shared by the participants delve into a range of feelings, from uncertainty, distress and condescension to fascination, determination and affirmation. They reach into places where the participants built their sense of competence and potential with and through ICT and felt indebted to their help providers in the process. The participants’ help seeking with ICT emerged as being a self-conscious search for discrete, non-judgmental, patient demonstration and guided practice, reliant upon the formation of reciprocal, helping relations with others. As a phenomenological study involving 10 participants, analysis sought for depth of meaning, contemplated in relation to philosophy, literature, art and personal experience. The theme of being lost in the logic of ICT and the maze of help seeking in a foreign environment emerge as a potent metaphor to guide tactful ICT help provision in diverse, post-secondary institutions marked by ubiquitous ICT integration

Re/Turning to Her: An A/r/tographic Ritual Inquiry

This article reaches into the depths of a collaborative a/r/tographic ritual inquiry between two women artist-educators-priestesses. Within this we reflect on the intersections of research, art, spirituality, and education as thresholds of collaborative learning. Throughout the ritual-infused research process, we generated source material and imagery from trance, Authentic Movement, the labyrinth, reflective writing and co-interviews. Each of these process practices took us outside of ourselves, and attuned us to Spirit, offering a larger perspective on the inquiry while simultaneously bringing us closer to actualizing the performance ritual. In co-creating what became a performative ritual narrative of the loss and restoration of the Divine feminine in Western culture, we reclaimed a lost part of our Spiritual lineage as women through the performance ritual Re/Turning to Her, a teaching parable performed for the larger community

Beyond Economic Interests: Critical Perspectives on Adult Literacy and Numeracy in a Globalised World

This volume reflects the many faces of the adult literacy and numeracy (ALN) field since the introduction, more than two decades ago, of OECD surveys that define and measure ALN as a contribution to economic productivity, efficiency and growth. The book highlights the transition to statistical tools as the only legitimate form of knowledge about literacy and explores a range of alternative visions and creative practices that focus on ‘the meaning of literacy and numeracy in people's lives’ (Yasukawa and Black 2016: 21)

Pain Interference Patterns

Advocates for community participation and quality of life issues may benefit from a better understanding of how pain intensity and environmental barriers influence participation outcomes. Unfortunately, little evidence exists on how the interaction between personal factors (e.g., pain) and environmental factors (e.g., physical accessibility) influence participation. To address this gap, we studied Pain Interference Patterns (PIP) by collecting both longitudinal and ecological momentary assessment (EMA or real-time) data to explore these factors and outcomes. Through better understanding of these interactions, we hope to inform interventions, policy, and services that can promote full participation in community life. This fact sheet reports on preliminary data and analyses from this study

An analysis of the effects of social class, mother\u27s working status, mother\u27s occupation and mother\u27s education on the educational and occupational inspirations of female grade ten students in an Ontario community.

Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 40-07, page: . Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1972

Online career learning: integrating ICT for service transformation

Reflecting the historical, social and economic shift away from bureaucratic, hierarchical organisational structures, careers have more recently been described as “the evolving sequence of a person’s work experiences over time” (Arthur, Hall, & Lawrence, 1989, p. 8). While the definition may evoke a linear sequence, career theory has developed to account for the “evolving sequence” of one’s career changes across social and economic spaces and impacted by the decisions and actions an individual takes as they respond to the external environment where they live their lives. As the understanding of careers has evolved, so too has the way in which career practitioners engage with individuals to support their career development needs. This doctoral study aimed to increase understanding of technology-enabled career practice. Specifically, the research goal was to explore how clients and practitioners engage in an online career intervention utilising multiple modes of communication and engagement. Through the participation in a purpose-built online career intervention in Canada, the primary aim of the study was to understand how the design and delivery was experienced by the study participants (the clients) and their practitioners. Building from a constructivist perspective, the study sought to understand how the intervention “encourages individuals to actively reflect on, revise and reorient their life-career relationship” (McMahon & Patton, 2006, p. 7). Through a qualitative approach, utilising the Grounded Theory Method, the study queried numerous data sets to uncover the impact of design and practice factors within the online intervention. From the data an emerging theoretical model was developed, referred to as the Relational Intra-action Model of Online Career Learning. The relationship between the client participant and practitioner was found to be central to the experience of the intervention. A strong working alliance was formed online which was a central quality of the relationship, just as it is in face-to-face practice. The key finding of this study is the inextricable link between design and practice. Specific design factors were identified as the foundation upon which the practice engagement occurred. Working at a distance from each other required that new structures and pathways were created to allow meaningful engagement to occur. No longer was any of the practitioner’s time spent conveying content; all of their time was spent engaging with their clients in a co-constructive process, supporting their meaning-making and application. It appears that the mixing of the content, activities and interactions is what enabled the intervention to provide a deep and rich experience to unfold. This suggests that engaging in online career practice requires far more than endeavouring to replicate existing practices through technology; it suggests that we need to bring new approaches and practices to a new space (Magnusson, 2015)

Teaching computer science principles using StarLogoTNG

Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 81-83).This thesis outlines the development of a 3-module set of lesson plans implemented using StarLogoTNG. The purpose of these lesson plans are to serve as a vehicle for teaching and reinforcing specific learning objectives of the CollegeBoard's Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles course, which has 7 main themes. Each lesson plan has as its focus a subset of learning objectives from one of the themes of Creativity, Data, or Internet, while simultaneously incorporating additional learning goals from the themes of Abstraction, Programming, Algorithms, and Impact. These interactive lesson plans go beyond the use of StarLogoTNG to complete specific tasks by integrating meaningful class discussions and occasional peer instruction and peer review activities. Such activities become catalysts for students to develop a deeper understanding of the course materials. By connecting learning goals from different themes of the course and packaging them in cohesive lesson plans that utilize methods of teaching for understanding, this thesis aims to provide a useful and effective set of a materials for the instruction of computer science principles.by Tamika P. Tannis.M. Eng

Rural Self-Management Support

The Rural Self-Management Support research project used an individually-focused health self-management support intervention to help people with disabilities locate resources for health support in rural America. This intervention led to better long term maintenance of health self-management behaviors compared to the control condition which did not include a focus on locating health resources. Future research will continue to look at how local communities impact long term health