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Lesson 3: The Reiki Principles  

 

The five principles woven deeply into the mission of Reiki are simply spiritual phrases, or ideals, that will help you toward your healing on a daily basis. They reaffirm how you can start to detox negative energy from within you, even just in small amounts, each day. They promote progress, because following the spiritual ideals is something anyone and everyone can do, and all ideals bring about a greater sense of calm. These ideals come in a set of statements, that function to guide you through your journey of achieving harmony within yourself and between you and the lives around you. They are as follows:

 

Just for today…

…I will not worry.

…I will not be angry.

…I will do my work with honesty.

…I will give thanks for my plentiful blessings.

            …I will be kind to both my neighbors and all living things.

 

So now that we have our five principles outlined, what are they for and how do we use them as part of the process of healing through Reiki?

 

These five principles are used with meditation to jumpstart your journey. They can also be used throughout your quest to ground you once again, to redirect your efforts when you’re feeling a little out of balance, and to consult in general when you need a little bit of a reminder. In other words, you will want to use these phrases as a compass toward harmony while you become more attuned to the overall concept of Reiki: balance in life and energy restoration.

 

Not sure how to use these as a form of meditation? Here’s how it works.

 

Meditation usually works to attain peace through focus. The goal of meditation is to calm your thoughts, which will in turn calm your body, as you narrow your focus to how you’re feeling. This increases your overall “consciousness” of what’s going on with your mind and with your body. To achieve the calm and quiet, meditation should be done in a sequestered area where you’ll feel safe, free of stress, and where you can enjoy a few minutes of comfortable silence without interruption. Once you’ve found your space, assume a comfortable sitting or relaxing position where you can close your eyes and focus on your thoughts.

 

Take a breath in, hold it, and then let it out. Repeat. Be aware that you are taking each breath. As what tends to happen to humans with busy brains, thoughts will start flooding your mind. What you’re worried about that day, an upcoming deadline, and trying to remember the name of the person you just met may all be among them. This is okay – the point of meditation is to accept and acknowledge these thoughts without any positive or negative emotion. Each time a thought pops into your head (make sure you are taking your breaths), repeat the thought to yourself, accept that you are having that thought in that moment, acknowledge it, and then put it from your mind.

 

How To Start Incorporating Reiki Into Your Life

 

Going full-force into using Reiki to your advantage will be developed throughout this training, but for now, let’s begin with the Five Principles we just discussed and how to use meditation to create a good foundation for you to build on.

 

Now, you may read about the process of meditation and think such a practice is easier said than done, but you might be surprised once you give it a try and see for yourself – by acknowledging your thought, you are validating it. You are NOT telling yourself not to have the thought, you are not putting yourself down for thinking such things, and you are not avoiding it. Once you have validated your thought by simply acknowledging that it exists, it actually becomes surprisingly easier it is to simply cast it away, knowing that you will be able to deal with it once your meditation is finished. You’re not resolving your issue right then and there, but just saving it for a more appropriate time when you can really do something about it.

 

If emotions accompany certain thoughts, validate them too by acknowledging them. If you are scared or anxious, accept it, and then soothe yourself by casting these emotions away, knowing you will get to them when you are done here.

 

When you find a respite from validating all the thoughts that come into your head, focus on one of the five Reiki phrases and repeat it, to yourself, in your head. Let’s start with the first one: “Just for today, I will not worry.” In your meditative state, you should focus on how this makes your body feel. Continue to breathe. You may begin to feel anxious once again, thinking, “Of course I’m going to worry, this is stupid!” or “What if I fail and end up worrying about something?” or “Okay, I need to do this right, I need to not worry, I NEED TO NOT WORRY!.” Accept these thoughts by acknowledging them. Breathe. Now, cast these thoughts and worries from your mind too, and repeat to yourself, “Just for today, I will not worry.” Assure yourself that you will worry at a later time, and that these problems will not snowball simply because you chose not to give in to anxiousness. Today, you will not worry, and that will be okay!

Once you’ve continued breathing and reassured yourself that today is the day you will not worry, open your eyes and let out that last breath. Feel to your core the affirmation that today you will not worry.

 

Once you have solidified this idea in your mind, you must be motivated to make the choices that will allow this to happen. That means that in order to ward off worrying, you must act in a way that will bring your focus on the positive and make you happy. If this seems like a big feat to accomplish, just remind yourself: it’s just for today. So, what can you do to beat your worrisome thoughts, stay happy and be carefree? For the purposes of this example, here is what you can do during the remaining hours ahead of you to minimize worry, just for the day:

 

• Indulge in a fun activity

• Spend time with a light-hearted, fun friend

• Do something that you love (paint, go for a walk, listen to music, read a book, or watch a movie or just some TV)

• Laugh!

 

Each time you live the statement from one of these five principles, you are working closer toward restoring the balance and adding a deeper, more substantial meaning to your life. If you’d like some insight into incorporating the other four principles of Reiki into your routine, we’ll include some tips and tricks for staying on track and keeping yourself attuned to the healing powers of Reiki.

 

To Soothe Anger:

 

When you decide to focus on the principle of, “Just for today, I will not be angry,” you must also accept that the choice to feel anger occurs naturally in all of us, and is a very common human emotion. Anger swells inside us, as a response to our surroundings, and at a manageable level it is actually a helpful survival tool. Anger has the power to motivate us to make a change, speak up for ourselves in a bad situation, or make the decision to get away from toxic people in our lives.

 

However, this is only if we are greatly attuned to what makes us angry and are vigilant about not letting it spiral out of control. For most of us, this is not the case, and so anger is predominantly, in fact, a destructive force. Anger is not a state to remain in, but was only meant as a tool to clue us into the fact that something was not right in our lives and we must change it. Deep anger burdens the soul, and keeps us in a hyper-responsive state that greatly raises our tension and stress levels. In other words, if you don’t address and let go of your anger, it’s going to hurt you in the long run.

 

There is also an exchange of energy happening when you add anger into any interaction. As the concept of energy relays, indulging in anger is an act of “losing control.” This is why it has the ability to motivate us – because once we lose control, we seek to gain it back and have sole domain over our lives. When you get angry with someone, you are losing your energy, and transferring it to him or her, because they are where you have directed your anger. In essence, they are stealing your energy! In turn, when someone directs their anger toward you, they too lose control, and transfer their energy to you. The ultimate goal when considering anger: do not let others steal your energy; you need it for yourself!

 

So, when you choose to focus on the principle of eliminating anger from your day, what can you do with your time to make it happen? How can you keep your energy under your control? Following we have a few suggestions for eliminating this toxic emotion from your day.

 

• When someone triggers your anger response, take a deep breath and say to yourself, “I’m not going to give my energy away to negative people, I’m going to use it for me to make my day better.”

• Remember that anger is a choice, and if you choose to not feel anger as a response to your surroundings, you will retain more energy. Choose not to feel anger, and find a positive spin to put on each situation.

• Use the chakra method (discussed in the next section) for healing anger by placing one hand over the third eye chakra and one over the root chakra. Hold your hands there until you feel your anger has been soothed.

 

To Do Honest Work:

 

Dishonesty has become somewhat of a daily norm in many peoples’ lives. Being dishonest can range in extremity from telling a white lie, to plagiarizing someone’s work, to saying, “I love you” to someone when you do not mean it. Everyone has his or her own personal gauge for what is acceptable and what is unforgivable, but at the end of the day, dishonesty is dishonesty. It’s not good – both for us, and for everyone we interact with. For there is also an exchange of energy happening here as well.

 

Dishonesty mostly indicates lying and not telling the truth, but another aspect of doing honest work is being honest with yourself. Part of this is working up to your potential, and using your gifts the way they should be used: to help or inspire others. Not only are you cheating yourself out of your purpose, but you are also stealing the opportunity away from others who would benefit from your talents, your encouragement, and your wisdom. Doing honest work is so much more than being honest; it’s about being true to who you are what your intuitive purpose tells you to do. This means making the most of your time, cutting down on procrastination and laziness, and staying motivated. Here are a few things you can do to make sure you do your work honestly, just for today:

 

• Set goals and work hard to meet them, even if you cannot do it all in one day. Take breaks if you need to, but make as much progress as you can.

• Minimize distraction. Distraction is what takes us away from our purpose. Work in a quiet area where you can focus, make a list of steps to complete so you’ll stay on track, and give yourself mental reminders of why your goals are important to you.

• Keep the time dedicated to TV watching and pleasurable activity to a reasonable level. Don’t zone out for hours – give yourself time to unwind or to regroup, but make sure you’re really doing all you can to meet your goals and deadlines. Many people find it helpful to allow themselves these activities once their daily goals are met, so you have something to look forward to and extra motivation to stay focused!

 

To Give Thanks For Your Blessings:

 

Across the board with almost every world religion and philosophical ideology, the ability to feel and give gratitude is one of the most important things to possess. Life and the work of God (or the higher power you believe in) have already made sure to provide everything you need in life to reach spiritual enlightenment and a contented nature. We may strive to acquire and learn more depending on what we want out of life, but at the bare minimum, we will have all that is necessary to thrive.

 

This works to make us humble, to know that even when we have no material objects or things to physically own, we will still have so much to be thankful for. God has given us life; He has given us a heart and our eyes and our mind. God sometimes blesses us with family, friends, and good health. Think of all the things in life that come without a price, which cost nothing to enjoy. The warmth of the sun, the breeze in the air and the cooling powers of the ocean are all among them. Think of how witnessing a beautiful scene, such as Mt. Fuji, the Grand Canyon, or Niagara Falls or the birth of your first child are all priceless, beautiful moments that we can enjoy in this lifetime. These are the things no one can take away, and that only a firsthand account of life can give you. These are the things for which to be thankful.

 

Here are some ways you can incorporate thankfulness for your blessings into your day:

 

• After your meditation on the principles, “Just for today, I will give thanks for my plentiful blessings,” make a mental note to say thank you for every single thing you encounter that day that brings you joy or makes you appreciative. You may simply say ‘thank you’ in your head, to practice the act of gratitude. When you make a pointed effort to do this, you may encounter hundreds of things during the day that prompt you to appreciate what you’ve been given.

• Keep a journal. Make a list of five things you are thankful for, and as the day goes on, add to the list. Another way to do this activity for the day is to simply bring the journal with you and write inside it every time you see or realize something new that you are thankful for.

• Reach out and thank the people in your life for all they have done. In contrast to the first method of practicing gratitude, in this method you will actually be saying thank you out loud to the people who have supported you.

• Give back. Giving back is the best way to show thanks and to put more positive energy back into the world. This will also open up the opportunity for you to do things that others will be thankful for!

 

To Be Kind:

 

Kindness can be one of the foremost ways to heal. By being kind, you are putting positive energy into the world, and are replenishing the positive resources for all the living things around you. This also gives you a greater reason to be thankful, for you have the emotional and spiritual capability to do good. Not only this, but whatever you give to the world, it gives back (often much more than you put in). So to give kindness ensures you will receive it back… and it may come back to you just when you need it the most.

 

Kindness has a very important energy exchange. What you give, you will receive. Whatever you want to attract into your life, give it. If you want more money, be generous with yours. If you want good vibes, give good vibes. Alternately, if you put out negativity, criticism, and anger, it too will come back to you. Remember, kindness not only affects the individuals you help, but it helps you, too. Just as any harm you dish out to others, it will surely come back into your life as well.

To stay on the right track in being kind to your neighbors as well as kind to yourself for the day, take a look at all the possibilities:

 

• Be generous, with your time, your money, and your emotions. Give back what you would like to receive.

• Pay a compliment to someone.

• Ask someone who seems down is they would like to talk, or invite him or her out to lunch. Offer to help someone.

• When someone asks you for a favor, do it for him or her.

• If you see someone struggling, or you have something that would help someone else more, give it away today.

 

You should hold these principles close to your heart, and make them something to remember at a moment’s notice; make them something you can recall from memory. If you like, you can create a framed poster or wall decoration outlining these five principles, and put it somewhere visible in your home or office. If you see them often, they will be easier to remember, and a visual reminder might brighten your day and help keep you focused on your goal toward healing, as well as increase your memory of these powerful phrases. Remember, meditation and acceptance of these principles will be the key to your healing success.

 

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