In the moment with the five Reiki principles…
For me, one of the most powerful aspects of Reiki energy work has always been the five Reiki principles. Put forth together by Mikao Usui in 1922, embodying these five principles allows a practitioner to center themselves and become an open channel for universal life force energy to flow.
Mikao Usui taught that reviewing the five principles should be a daily exercise, and added the words: “Just for today,” prior to the principles. This is meant to reduce pressure to adhere to each principle on a consistent basis all throughout a lifetime—we are human, and going through all the vast emotions through an ebb and flow is simply a natural part of living. “Just for today” is easier to manifest on a day-to-day basis.
As much as I enjoy the healing way Mikao Usui chanted the five principles, intuitively I created my own version of the principles. I encourage all Reiki practitioners to do the same.
Just for today, I will let go of unjustified anger;
Just for today, I will let go of worry;
Just for today, I will be kind to all living creatures;
Just for today, I will be grateful for everything in my life, every opportunity and blessing, every hardship and lesson;
And just for today, I will follow my spiritual path with honesty and integrity.
I pray these words on a daily basis, it does help me ground and be in the moment, and I do believe it helps me become a humble, yet effective energy worker. Sometimes though, when those big, difficult feelings come up for me, it is very challenging to believe that for the whole entire day, I can adhere to these five principles. Sometimes I just feel angry, and sometimes I worry about certain things, like my child. Reiki helps me to work through these feelings eventually—sometimes it takes a day or so. However, for the times I really want to channel Reiki or need to for someone else, I realized that saying, “In the moment now, I will let go of anger and worry….I will be kind and grateful…I will be honest with integrity…” helps me center for a brief time; enough to channel Reiki and feel satisfied.
Emotions are important messengers, and honoring each emotion, even if burdensome, helps us to learn more about ourselves and allows us the opportunity to improve our life in some way.
So, if believing that for a full day you can adhere to the principles is too much for you at this time, I encourage you to try maintaining them just for the moment you are in. With practice, I am sure you will be able to incorporate the principles for longer periods of time.
Article written by Val Artamonova, BSN, RN, CHPN