© 2018 - Reprinted with permission from Shining Lotus Metaphysical Bookstore newsletter July 2018
by Bob Romero
About ten years ago, I had developed severe pain in my shoulders so that I couldn’t lift my arms above my shoulders. My wife had gone for a Reiki session and suggested that I try it. So I did, and I felt extremely calm and peaceful. After such a wonderful experience I went back for a few more sessions. I noticed that the pain was completely gone. I also noticed that during each session, because my eyes were closed, I would see purple splotches fade in and out, and I felt a tingling in the center of my eyebrows. I had never come across anything like this before, and so then I began to explore holistic medicine and spirituality, and came across the Shining Lotus Metaphysical Bookstore. My Reiki Master also encouraged me to meditate, and thus I began my journey in Metaphysics. There were classes offered at the bookstore as well as guided meditations. The meditations made me feel great, and I experienced the same sensations as in the Reiki sessions.
Then one night a little over five years ago, I fainted and was rushed to the hospital. It turned out to be Atrial Fibrillation, which is commonly called Afib. The doctors decided that I needed a pacemaker, which would not let my pulse go below 60, but it was not able to prevent it from going way higher than normal. Having read in a couple of books, about how angels can give us signs, by finding feathers, coins, or seeing a long lost friend, I asked Archangel Raphael for a sign that I was going to be okay before I began my usual walk at Wash Park. Specifically, I asked to see a feather. Not long after starting my walk, I saw several goose feathers on the grass. Well I thought, there are plenty of geese at the park, and the books stated that the feathers were to be found in places where it would not be usual to find feathers. So I stated, “I want to see a great big white feather!” After I walked a few hundred yards, there hanging from a rear view mirror in a car, was the biggest white feather I had ever seen in my life!
I was dumbfounded, and my jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe what I had seen. I stumbled forward on my walk not knowing what to do. I finally gathered my senses, and I thought I’d check the car on my second lap around the park, but it was gone. I kept asking for signs and a couple of months later, I saw on old colleague friend whom I hadn’t seen in 15 years. We chatted about the good times we had, and then departed. Then I remembered that seeing an old friend was a sign, and it was right where I had seen the feather. So I kept asking for signs, and again in the near proximity of where I had seen the other signs, was a bright copper penny sitting on the curb. I thought hmm, and got the feeling that someone was telling me in a stern tone, “Well Robert, have you seen enough.”
Over the next couple of years when I would have my pacemaker checked, and at first there were only a few events of Afib with each lasting a few seconds. Then the episodes got longer and I could feel my heart racing. The cardiologist tried a couple of medications, and I would feel faint due to low blood pressure from the side effects. To make matters worse, a friend of mine that I had worked with many years ago, and was two years younger than I, died from a heart attack. He was in excellent shape because he was a runner and did a lot of hiking. He was just out walking with his wife and keeled over and died. At his funeral, his younger brother talked about how his older brother was the calming influence in his family. When he was facing a dilemma, his older brother would put his hand on his shoulder and say, “Everything will be okay.”
I did research on Afib and found that it can be triggered by alcohol and caffeine. There were positive studies that came out by using acupuncture and yoga for several months. These results were outside of the medical establishment. Proper nutrition and exercise also helped. I had been going to yoga and using acupuncture, and so when I told my acupuncturist about it, and she began treating me for Afib. Around the same time, the cardiologist prescribed a new medication. He said that if this didn’t work, I would have to undergo an expensive ablation procedure.
The next time I had my pacemaker checked, which was about a year later, there were no episodes of Afib at all. The cardiologist immediately took credit for the great results. So I asked him, “Is that the way the medication is supposed to work, or does it regulate my heart when it goes out of rhythm?” He answered with “Let’s just say that you’re doing excellent.” So I replied, “Aha, so maybe the abstinence from alcohol and caffeine, along with acupuncture, yoga, nutrition, and exercise, are helping. I didn’t dare mention Reiki, because I didn’t want to see his head to explode. Then he told me to just keep doing what I have been doing.
Just recently, I took a class on “The Spiritual Messages of Life’s Challenges”, in which the message was to understand the purpose of these challenges. These disorders move us off of our center and block our progress. It’s hard to be centered when the situation seems hopeless, there is a lot of pain, or your heart is pounding in your chest. I look back now at having Afib, and I think that it was telling me to live a better lifestyle, so that I could advance on my spiritual path.
Last month I went in for my pacemaker check up, and it had been three years since my last Afib event. When the device specialist looked at her computer screen, I asked “Any Afib?” and she replied, “Nope, you’re doing wonderful!” When I walked out into the waiting area, there was no one around. The end wall was actually glass that was about two stories high with a beautiful view of the majestic Rocky Mountains. I took time to look at the mountains and reflect. I had this great feeling of stillness. I just felt so good, and I got this feeling of someone putting his or her hand on my shoulder, and saying, “Everything is okay.”
Bob Romero has been a diligent student of esoteric spiritual subjects and metaphysics for many years, with a life-long quest for answers. He has submitted new and original articles that focus on life lessons and experiences he wishes to share with our readers and the world.
