Reiki Principles at Christmas

Dr Usui, founder Reiki, offered us some principles to assist living a happy, healthy life.  I find them especially useful at Christmas!

Just for today do not worry   There can be lots of worries at Christmas: who to spend the Christmas holiday with, what presents to buy, what food to eat, if the weather will be OK for travelling.  All this at a time of year when what I feel most like doing is hibernating!  So how do I not worry about all these things?  I have found the solution is in my Reiki practice.  Treating myself or receiving treatment reduces the stressful feelings and in a more relaxed state of mind I am able to find creative solutions to the apparent problems more easily.  With a calm mind I can think of the perfect gift for my loved ones.  Self-treatment also helps me to tune into the needs of my body, helping to make food decisions.

Just for today do not anger – While it is often lovely to spend time with people at Christmas it can also be frustrating and irritating.   It can also be a time when we confront our history.  Each family has its own culture, with unspoken assumptions and rituals.  These Christmas rituals can be comforting but they can also be difficult when they do not fit with the person I have become.  My Reiki practice has helped me to become more conscious and aware of my responses and rather than behave according to unconscious programming I have a choice about how I respond.    So when someone makes a comment that angers me, I take a deep breath, give myself Reiki and look for the underlying causes of my pain.  More peaceful relationships are often the result!  

Honour your parents, teachers and elders Putting the needs of others first to show respect to elders is imbued in Japanese culture.  Takata saw that this was not a cultural understanding when she started teaching Westerners, so added this principle.  As I come together with older people in my family this principle reminds me to show them respect – and also to be deserving of the respect of those who are younger by respecting them too!

Earn your living honestly has been useful around the question of money.  Buying Christmas gifts, I have often gone into of debt because I wanted to buy more than my financial situation could really support.  I have realised that this was a kind of dishonesty – pretending to myself that I had more income than I had because I didn’t want to look bad in front of others.  However, some of the most appreciated gifts I have given were not the most expensive, but the ones that were the result of recognising the need of another and finding something that would address that.  

Show gratitude to every living thing is a particularly relevant principle at a time of growing consciousness about the effect we are having on our planet.  I spend a moment before eating the Christmas feast being grateful for the living things that provided the meal.   I am also grateful for the living things that surround me: the people who are important in my life.  

Thank you for being connected with me through Reiki.  I wish you a happy, healthy and peaceful time at Christmas and for the year to come.

Reiki Energy, Reiki Way

The word 'Reiki' is often translated as 'universal life energy'.  However the word 'Reiki' has also come to refer not only to this energy, but also to the way or system of practicing. 

All Reiki ways of practice begin with the founder of this healing art: Mikao Usui.  He offered Reiki healing to beggars in Kyoto, but discovered that some of them became sick again.  This led to one of the first understandings about the Reiki way: that the healing of the mind, emotions and spirit are important for lasting healing.  So Usui developed the Reiki principles, to remind us to pay attention to our non-physical aspects.  These principles have also become part of the Reiki way. 

An essential part of the Reiki way Usui developed subsequently was the initiations (or attunements) by which the connection to the Reiki energy and way can be given by one person to another. 

The next person in my lineage (line of teachers) is Chujiro Hayashi who developed a sequence of hand positions that offer a comprehensive treatment.  His successor Hawayo Takata brought this teaching out of Japan, creating another aspect of the Reiki way: that it is available to anyone who wants to learn.  She gave us her interpretation (rather than translation) of Usui's meaning and intention behind the Reiki Principles.

After Takata's death, the Reiki way evolved further: some chose to maintain unaltered the system she had taught, others made changes such as re- translating the Reiki Principles.  One thing that remains common to most Reiki systems, however, is an understanding that Reiki practice is guided by spiritual principles.

In all Reiki ways people's hands are used to apply the energy of Reiki to the recipient (unless the practitioner has no hands in which case the feet can be used).  Frequently, including the Reiki system as Takata taught it, the healing is delivered through touch - although it can also be given with hands off the body for particular circumstances.   In other Reiki systems the treatment is given without touching the body.

There is no right or wrong Reiki system: each one has a particular quality.  It seems that Reiki wants to connect with as many of us as possible, so is available in a variety of flavours that can meet the wide range of people's attitudes and beliefs!  My personal taste is for simple Reiki practice, honouring tradition (like a Sunday Roast!).  Others may like their Reiki flavour to have added spice, such as the Indian chakra system, angels or crystals.  If it were not for the appeal of different Reiki systems, Reiki might be ignored by people who can benefit from it.

The Reiki way common to most (if not all) Reiki systems is the intention to live healthier lives through natural healing.  People who come together to share Reiki often notice a feeling of connection that goes beyond our differences.  Perhaps this is because we are caring people, wanting to live better lives, to help others and to see more healing in the world.

So the word Reiki refers not only to the energy but also the way that it's practiced.  When you are deciding who to receive a treatment from or learn Reiki with it's important to find the right flavour for you: a way you feel inspired by, so that Reiki (the energy) can support you in living a long happy and healthy life!