The Five Reiki Principles.

12 years ago, on the first day of my Reiki Level 1 we learnt the Five Reiki Principles.

They have stuck with me ever since and I do try to live my life by them each day.  

Tools that anyone can use for personal development

You do not need to practice reiki or even know what Reiki is for them to work for you. The Reiki Principles are good for anyone looking to develop themselves, become more mindful and have a general sense of harmony with yourself, your surroundings and others. 

Remind yourself of them!

How you use them is up to you- I personally remind myself of them each morning and evening- saying them out loud or in my head so I am mindful of my emotions, reactions and actions during the day – whatever it may bring!

Start small – remember just for today…

Just for today… when you stop looking at the bigger picture and live in the present moment it is much easier to follow and stick to these principles.

Just for today I will let go of Anger

I do want to emphasise the importance of taking control of this emotion because once you have believe me your life will change for the better in many ways.

Anger most of the time hurts us more than the person or situation we are angry at. It is an emotion that often causes us anxiety and stress. To not let go of anger feeds the anger and can cause us to feel jealous, hold grudges/disappointment, stress, anxiety and worry, these emotions if felt over a period of time can have detrimental effects on our mental health, physical health and overall well-being.

It’s important to remember we are humans and anger is a human emotion we will feel at times, that’s ok, it’s the way we respond to anger that is key. By stepping back from the situation, addressing the problem that is causing us anger, recognising it, rationalising it and not immediately reacting with anger we are on our way to letting it go.

There are many techniques out there to help you let go of anger and take control of it.

We are not responsible for or in control of the way other people behave or certain life situations that may arise but we can be in control of the way we react to them and the emotions we feel towards them, this in turn makes us in control of our life.

What we are is what we attract- to let go of anger makes space in your life for emotions such as love and kindness.

Just for today I will not worry

Like with anger there are many techniques out there to help train your mind to let go of worry and its important you try to do this because like with anger, letting go of worry and controlling this negative emotion is vital in maintaining our wellbeing and mental health.

To worry means we are concentrating our energy on something that hasn’t happened, may not happen and even if it does happen it may not be all that bad anyway!

If you are worrying about a situation in the future such as a presentation at work or a job interview- do what you can in the present to help you in that situation rather than focusing all your attention on worrying about it.

If you live your life in the present moment making sure you do the best you can with that day then you are insuring you have prepared as much as you can for your future, the rest is up to the universe.

Again, remember we are what we attract- If we worry about all the things that could go wrong we are concentrating our focus on them actually going wrong instead of using that energy to manifest everything we want in our lives.

Just for today I will be grateful

Wowee what a game changer this is towards improving the quality of our lives and wellbeing!

Right I’m just going to go into listing some of the MANY benefits being grateful has…

Being grateful helps us become more present, gives us purpose, Improves our mental health, reminds us of the positives we already have, improves our self-esteem, makes us feel happy, improves our sleep, improves our friendships and relationships and helps us to be more resilient and bounce back from difficult situations quicker. Blimey!

I’m not sure I need to say anything else on this after all of that! With so many benefits why wouldn’t you start practising gratefulness straight away!?

You could start my writing down 5 things about your day you are grateful for no matter how small they seem.

Today I will do my work honestly

Truth brings clarity, purpose and meaning to our lives- it projects honesty onto others.

If you do your work honestly, you will be more productive and feel a sense of achievement.

Living honestly in every aspect of your life brings a sense of integrity to yourself and others.

If you are slacking off early, taking longer than you should on tasks and chores look to the reasons why this is happening. Its only when we look to these reasons, we can start to change them to positives.

Even if you love your job there is bound to be a task that you are not so keen on or a day when your productivity is lacking. Look at ways you can tackle those tasks or days so you are prepared and can work to the best of your ability always.

If you are unsure of something don’t ignore it- be honest, that way your boss or colleague can help to bring clarity to the task and thus help you to move forward with it in a positive way.

Today I will be kind to every living creature

It’s nice to be nice! When we are kind to someone it makes us feel good, however your own personal benefit shouldn’t be the driving force for being kind, that’s counterproductive.

Instead look at what reaction you get from the person you are being kind to- how your kindness puts a smile on their faces, makes them feel good -who knows you may end up on their grateful list for the day!

By being kind we experience a sense of unity- we are all of the same source. By not being kind to someone we are not being kind to ourselves.

So it’s time to use my favourite phrase in this post- We are what we attract!

You can see this quite literally in the case of being kind. When someone is kind to us it reminds us to be kind to others. If we think someone is unkind we are less likely to help them and would rather focus our attention to someone who we think more worthy- this isn’t necessary the right thing to do (the unkind person, may be dealing or more to the point not dealing with their own negative internal emotions) 

This principle isn’t just about kindness to other people, its kindness to all living things. Be it animals, birds, plants, trees, insects including my personal fear Spiders!

In fact I am reminded of this principle every time I see a spider in my home- the act of being kind to every living creature forces me to confront my fear, rationalise it and do my absolute best to resolve it in a kind reasonable way.  I’ve gone from screaming and crying and totally letting my emotions and fears control me to mostly being able to catch the spider in a glass and take it outside to be free in the garden- I’m not saying my fear has gone but my determination to be kind is stronger, I still jump and let out a squeal at times and it can take me ages to do the task and sometimes the spider is just too big and hairy that I just have to get someone else to help me!

Acts of kindness can be as simple as holding the door open for someone, feeding the birds or pruning a branch to encourage growth. 

Introduce them into your life

Living your life this way may seem a little overwhelming at first but with some commitment and practice the easier it will become- eventually the principles will be second nature to you and previous unhelpful reactions to situations will no longer be there.

We are all human!

We all have our down days and setbacks, if you have one of these days don’t let that deter you, don’t give up.

Be kind to yourself, we are all human nobody is perfect all of the time!

The Reiki Principles will help you to live your life to the best of your ability day by day, moment by moment.

You can start introducing them into your life slowly and see where they take you and how they can enhance your life.

 Remember ‘What we are is what we attract’