The Transformative Power of the Reiki Precepts in Everyday Life

The Precepts

The Reiki Precepts are the blue print of the system of Reiki. These simple yet powerful principles were introduced by Mikao Usui, the founder of Reiki. Each of the Precepts serves a unique purpose in helping to bring greater clarity, sense of purpose, calm and harmony into our lives.

Just for today

I will not anger

I will not worry

I will give gratitude

I will be true to my way and self

I will be kind and compassionate to everything, including myself.

This blog will help give you a better insight into the how, what and why of these guiding principles. As with all things, when delved into, they take on deeper nuances as personal practice evolves and your direct experiences shine the truth of all things more brightly. But for now, lets take a look at how these beautiful few words can transform your life:

Just for today:

This refers to and emphasises the importance of living in the present moment. It is the enhancement of awareness, some may call this mindfulness. Some of the key aspects to this include:

Awareness: by bringing focus to 'today' you are encouraged to be aware of where your thoughts and concentration go - your underlying emotional tone. It is a gentle reminder to remain present rather than worrying about the past or projecting into the future. Being 'present' and in the moment is the seat of gratitude, which in turn fosters a deeper sense of peace and clarity.

Daily practice: just for today is about the present moment, it is neither yesterday or tomorrow, and therefore points to Reiki as being a daily practice. It helps to reinforce that every day is a golden opportunity for growth. Taking this approach to life helps with the management of stress, anxiety and the tendency to dwell within arising thought patterns. Thus, it is a compassionate embrace that promotes emotional and spiritual well-being.

Spirituality: regular daily practice will foster a deeper connnection with the self, and open awareness to the interconnectedness of all things. It will assist in the understanding of the true nature of the self, which is Reiki; love, light and compassion. We are 'beings' of light.

When we are 'present' it is a gfit, it is the place where our life is truly happening, it's the only place. All things are transitory, they come and they go. Even the words that you have just read are in the past. When truly in the moment, time as we know it, dissolves; there is nothing but joy and harmony, everything is easy. There is pure flow, for nothing else matters, you feel invigorated and energy abounds - there are no distractions to get in the way!!

Just for today I will not anger:

This Precept is asking you to stop living your life in the past - for anger, guilt, frustration, resentment and jealousy are all emotional tones of events that have already happened and are no longer present. The mind feeds the thoughts that arise from a trigger and as a result makes the emotional response stronger leading you to believe that what was yesterday's news is today's.

This precept is encouraging you to be patience and understanding as unmanaged anger can cloud judgement and relationships. Awareness of triggers and the resulting emotional undertone is a big step forward to easing the grip of your response. Take a few deep breaths and pause, this is a powerful tool in helping to dissolve how you respond. It will also help give you a bit of clarity and a broader perspective. Choosing not to anger creates space for empathy and compassion.

Releasing the propensity to anger eases the grip of distraction and the attachments we make to our emotional hard wiring. Every time you take action as awareness kicks in, you accelerate growth to a happier more peaceful you.

Just for today I will not worry:

Worry is common place in this modern era, life is full of 'what ifs'; these what ifs are robbing you of the joy of being present. Worry, fear, and anxiety are all emotions that arise from projections into the future. They have not happened yet......Again, as with anger, the mind feeds the underlying emotional tone, the more that emotion is fed, the stronger the response.

This Precept is inviting you to bring yourself back to 'today', to set aside your fears of the future and enjoy being in the moment. A good question to ask yourself is 'Is this concern rooted in reality? Is it actually happening right now? What practical steps can I take right now to ease this emotional response?

Meditation and focused breathing techniques are all proven to help ease these emotional undertones. Daily practice is a powerful ally that will help with grounding. Doing so will help change perspective. Taking prompt and early action, and heightening your awareness to your emotional responses, will ease the attachments of your conditioned response.

Just for today I will be grateful:

Gratitude is the seat of joy and harmony, it is the here and now and has immense power in shaping perspective. Glass half full? Half empty? Or are you just grateful to have the glass.......This Precept encourages you to recognise and appreciate the blessings in your life and to embrace and embody them. When you are in this state of emotional equilibrium that sense of lacking disappears and a deep sense of love and compassion washes over, in and through you, like sun kisses at a cellular level - you are open.

Your default to make attachments to the past and or into the future lessens and or dissolves more readily. When you are in a place of gratitude your energy and life force is free and abundant and you experience a fuller more rounded holistic vitality that amplifies that deep inner sense of peaceful harmony.

Just for today I will be true to myself and way:

This is an interesting one for it asks you to reflect deeply on who and what you are. Are you the sum product of the name label you were given at birth? Are you defined by your job role/title? By your age? By the colour of your hair, skin, body shape etc? The list of these deep searching questions is bottomless but I am hopeful that you have answered, 'well no, I am more than these things'

If you are more than this, what is the more?

You are a beautiful 'being of light' whose essence is luminous, full of radiance and vitality. You are the seat of love and compassion. When you live life in the presence of gratitude, you begin to get glimpses of your true self and your inherent peaceful nature. It can feel a little daunting to begin with, but that is the product of all the attachments you have made. Attachments? These are your cultural, family, schooling etc biases that shape your perspective and thus your response to all things. Attachments are like clouds on a cloudy day, they cover the sun (the light), yet when they are shed the sun shines bright and reveals its true self.

This Precept is encouraging you to see the transparency of all things and to show authenticity in the face of that transparency.

Just for today I will be kind and compassionate to everything:

This includes YOU

This precept highlights the interconnectedness of all things - do not do unto another what you do not wish to be done to you - for if you do - you are doing it to yourself.

True kindness, love and compassion has no expectation or judgement attached. Ask yourself a few pertinent questions to discover if the compassion you give is truly authentic. Does the kindness, love and compassion you give come with strings attached? Are you expecting something in return? Do you give or not give kindness and compassion based on judgements you may have made? Do you tend to only be kind and compassionate in return to receiving kindness and compassion from others?

When you learn to be kind and compassionate to yourself, when you've learnt to love yourself, giving these to others comes more naturally and without bias. When this is the case, love and light flows more abundantly, you become more radiant, have a happy disposition, a calmness about you and most importantly you will have an exuberant joy for life. This sense of vitlaity is hard to match; but what's even more beautiful is the powerful effect it has on those around you. Kindness and compassion enhances relationships with the self, with others and enhances collective well-being.

Bringing it all together:

Embodying the Reiki Precepts is giving yourself permission to have a more joyous, harmonious and fulfilled life.

The more we practice and embody these Precepts the greater our awareness. When awareness is heightened you can see and feel more easily when your emotional undertone changes. At this point we have a choice:

Continue to feed the underlying emotional tone, or not.

By bringing yourself back to the present, 'Today,' with a few mindful breaths, you create the space for greater clarity and increase your propensity towards love, light, kindness and compassion. The more you do this, the greater the amount of joy and harmony...... and in turn the greater the abundance of free flowing energy within you and radiating from you.

Will you still get angry or worried - Yes you will, you are a human being. However the amount of time that you hold onto these emotions and or the amount of times you attach to them, lessens. You return to your inner sense of calm and peacefulness more readily. Moreover, you do so whilst being more loving and compassionate to yourself and those around you.

Awareness is an essential ingredient in bringing the Precepts to life within your daily life. They are the key; you maybe putting the key in the lock daily, but it's awareness that turns it.

Libby is the Founder of Libaura

Reiki is truly transformational - it has profoundly changed my life to a more harmonious and joyous existence. I hope that this blog helps unravel some of the potential mystery associated with Reiki.

Reiki is about the state of the mind, which hopefully you have picked up from this blog. The other elements of Reiki are: Meditation, Mantra's, Hands on Healing and Reiju. These are all practices to help with your mindset, to create space for calm and stillness, to realise your true-self and the free and abundant flow of energy and vitality.

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