In this article I thought I would set down ten things that you can do
– ten principles to take account of – to benefit your practice of
Reiki. This is not something that has come from Japan, or from early
practitioners of Reiki: it is just something that I have put together
myself. I hope that this article will be of interest to people at all
Reiki levels.
(1) Reiki is all about you
Although Reiki is sometimes presented in the West as a sort of
complementary therapy, a hands-on treatment technique, or a form of
Japanese spiritual healing, that is not what Reiki is all about. If your
practice of Reiki consists mainly of treating other people then you are
missing the point because Reiki is all about you! Reiki is a personal
practice for your self-healing and your spiritual and self-development.
You are the priority here.
In Usui’s time the treatment of others was not focused upon or
emphasised, in fact treatments were a bit of a distraction from the main
thrust of his teachings, which Usui Sensei referred to as a “system to
achieve personal perfection”. Right from the start, the system was about
personal development, not working on others.
So to gain the greatest benefits for yourself through Reiki, you need
to establish a decent routine of working on yourself in whatever way
that you were taught. If you were taught Western-style then do your
hands-on self-treatment regularly, if you know about Japanese-style
Reiki then practise your Hatsurei ho; if you know about Usui Sensei’s
original system then add his self-treatment meditation to your regular
Hatsurei.
I know that some people seem to have the view that working on
yourself is in some way ‘selfish’, but if you cannot look after yourself
properly then how can you help other people? By working on yourself
regularly you make yourself a better channel and more effective at what
you do in terms of treatments, so there are plus points all round for
those who make themselves their Reiki priority.
(2) Base your practice on the precepts
Usui Sensei established a simple spiritual system that was rooted in
his precepts, his ‘rules to live by’. Rather than being an interesting
set of instructions to read on a course and put to one side, Usui’s
precepts are at the very heart of his system, and it was said that as
much spiritual development could come through following the precepts as
would come through doing any of the energy work. If we are consider
ourselves as ‘practising Reiki’ then we will follow the precepts.
So we need to think deeply about the precepts and how they affect our
lives. We need to consider each precept in turn and reflect on how that
precept might impinge upon and guide our thoughts and behaviour and
relationships and priorities. And we need to do this regularly, using
the precepts as an ongoing source of guidance, the effects of which will
make a real difference to us, and the people around us, over time.
The precepts are something that you we drip-feed into our lives,
something that we refer to regularly and reflect on regularly, for our
own benefit and for the benefit of the people with whom we come into
contact.
(3) Practise mindfulness
Although not referred to on most Reiki courses, the practise of
mindfulness was as important part of Usui Sensei’s system as were the
precepts, and in fact mindfulness is hidden in the precepts! Mindfulness
is a form of meditation that one can perform at any time, when carrying
out ordinary, mundane activities like walking somewhere or washing
dishes or sipping tea, and involves becoming consciously and fully aware
of your thoughts and actions in the present moment, non-judgmentally,
existing in the moment.
When you are living ‘in the moment’, fully engaged in what you are
doing, fully aware of the present moment, then you are existing in a
state where there is no anger and there is no worry. By not dwelling on
the past or speculating about the future, by embracing fully the present
moment, you are living the precepts, and mindfulness brings with it
humility, honesty, compassion and forgiveness.
So mindfulness is a way of experiencing Mikao Usui’s spiritual principles.
(4) Work on yourself daily
Reiki isn’t something that you can pick up once in a while, play
around with for a bit, and then drop again… not if you are looking to
receive the many benefits that are available from the system, anyway. If
you are looking for consistent benefits then you need a consistent
practice. The precepts say “just for today”, and that is a good starting
point: just do something with Reiki today. You can manage that. It
doesn’t have to be hours and hour’s worth. Just do something for 10
minutes: you have ten minutes. Do something for 20 minutes. And if you
don’t have ten minutes, get up 10 minutes earlier: problem solved.
Don’t worry about what you will do tomorrow: just focus on today.
When tomorrow comes, do the same. Just do something with Reiki, even
for ten minutes. Don’t worry about tomorrow: just do something today.
(5) Commitment is the key
There are spectacular benefits to be enjoyed through practising
Reiki, and all you need to do is to work with the energy consistently,
focus on the precepts and practise mindfulness. The benefits build up
cumulatively, you see, and sporadic and occasional practice isn’t enough
if you want the very best out of your Reiki. You will get out of the
system what you are prepared to put into it, so Reiki deserves a little
of your time each day. You need to plug away at a few simple things, a
few simple exercises or routines, and make them a regular part of your
day, as regular a part of your routine as brushing your teeth or your
hair.
And once you have established a regular habit of working on yourself
with Reiki then you will find that it is difficult to stop: you will
find that you really miss your hatsurei session or your self-treatment
if you miss a day. That is the sort of position you are looking to get
yourself into and by committing yourself to working with Reiki each day,
even if it is a little inconvenient, you will reach that point.
(6) Don’t try too hard
While we do need to commit ourselves and establish a decent routine
of working on ourselves in order to obtain the many benefits that are
available to us through Reiki, we should at the same time make sure that
we do not try too hard, work for too long, or take our practice too
seriously. Reiki is best enjoyed in a gentle, laid-back and
light-hearted fashion rather than in a fists-clenched, furrowed-brow,
tense, ‘ready for a lot of hard work’ sort of way. We do not force Reiki
and we do not force a fierce practice on ourselves.
Reiki is rather like a flowing stream of water, and we are a rough
rock sitting in that stream. The rock will become smooth, of course, but
this will be achieved gently, through having the water flow
consistently, and this will be done in its own time.
We might read about some of the experiences that other Reiki people
might have when working on themselves, or receiving
attunements/empowerments, or treating others (seeing colours, feeling
particular things) and we may not notice all these things ourselves; we
may notice very little. We may then think that if only we tried a bit
harder then we would notice these things and then we would then be
‘doing it properly’.
But trying hard and trying to force things is the best way there is
to put a great big block on your progress. You will progress fastest
when you give up trying and just be. Stand aside (metaphorically), do
the exercises, treat people, and don’t think or worry about what you do
or do not experience. Be a bystander, be neutral and empty, have no
expectations. That is the best approach, the approach that will lead you
to progress at the right speed for you.
(7) You don’t need to be perfect
Along with the need to be relaxed and laid-back and light-hearted
about your practice, you should also make sure that you are not beating
yourself up for not being perfect! You do not have to be perfect in
order to obtain benefits for yourself through Reiki, or to treat other
people successfully. No-one else is perfect, so you don’t have to be
either.
So perhaps your mind wanders when you do a treatment or work on
yourself. So what? This happens to everybody else. Don’t worry about it
(there is something in the precepts about worrying). It you make a big
thing about it and try through ‘force of will’ to have an empty mind,
you have just made things worse: now you have two lots of thoughts… the
first thoughts and then all the new thoughts about getting rid of the
first lot of thoughts! Don’t worry. Pay the thoughts no attention. Let
them go. Bring your attention gently back to what you were doing. Feel
the energy flowing through you; imagine yourself merging with the person
on the treatment table. Over time your mind will settle, and you’ll
spend more of your time in a nice empty meditative state, but thoughts
may well intrude again, and some days will probably be better than
others. That’s ok. You’re human. It will sort itself out with time.
(8) Don’t keep trying to puzzle out ‘why’
To get the best out of your Reiki I recommend that you don’t spend
too much time trying to puzzle out why you are - or are not –
experiencing a particular thing. Don’t keep trying to work out what a
particular colour that you or the recipient saw during a treatment
means, or ponder the significance of a colour that you saw when
self-treating. Don’t keep wondering what a particular sensation in your
hand means or why you felt a lot of energy flowing into a particular
area of someone’s body, or why you didn’t feel any energy flowing into a
particular place. It doesn’t matter.
Your head can really mess up your experience of Reiki if you keep on
frantically thinking about, analysing and questioning things. Don’t
think! Just be. Empty your mind, merge with the energy, if you are
treating someone then merge with the recipient, and let it happen.
Follow the flow of energy when you are treating, yes, and allow your
hands to stay for longer in areas where more energy is coming through,
but don’t start frantically trying to puzzle out what is going on: Reiki
works on lots of levels and you won’t know what’s happening so you may
as well give up thinking about it and let go: enjoy the process, enjoy
your treatments and give up the mental effort! It makes it so much
easier that way!
(9) Trust your intuition
Along with not questioning everything that you feel or don’t feel,
you should also not keep on doubting the things that you are feeling and
noticing. If you feel something, you feel it: you are not making it up.
You cannot make yourself feel something.
So if you notice that energy is flowing into you more strongly in a
particular area when you are self-treating, accept that and go with it,
self-treating for longer there than in other positions. The same applies
when treating someone else: if you feel that there is a ‘hot spot’ or
‘fizzy area’ then accept the sensations and treat for longer there. You
are not making it up.
Neither are you making it up if you feel strangely drawn to a
particular area of the body. You are intuitive and you can work
intuitively straight away. All you need to do is to stop second-guessing
and doubting yourself, be still, and simply accept what comes to you.
It doesn’t need to make sense. Don’t try and puzzle it out: just accept
it and treat in the way that feels appropriate.
(10) Ignore silly rules and restrictions
While we are making sure that we are not cluttering our practice with
endless thoughts, questions and doubts, we should also thrown out as
unnecessary the various rules, regulations and restrictions that we may
have been taught. Reiki does not need to be controlled, blunted and
restricted by man-made rules that have no basis. Reiki is safe and Reiki
is simple, and simple approaches are usually the most effective.
So we do not have to slavishly follow a prescribed set of hand
positions when treating ourselves or other people and we do not need to
say a set form of words for our Reiki to work. We do not need to follow
ritualised sets of hand and body movements in a particular sequence to
be able to treat someone and we do not need to refrain from treating
people with various medical conditions. Reiki is safe and Reiki is
adaptable. It allows many different ways of working that are all valid.
There is no ‘one’ way that Reiki has to be used, and we should ignore
admonitions that we should ‘always’, or ‘never’, do a particular thing.
So, to get the most out of your Reiki, I recommend that you make a
commitment to yourself to work on yourself each day as your top
priority, but not beating yourself up if you miss the occasional day.
Use Hatsurei ho and self-treat, focus on the precepts and drip-feed
mindfulness into more and more of your daily activities. Don’t try too
hard though: be light-hearted and forgiving towards yourself because you
don’t have to be perfect. Try not to clutter your mind with lots of
thoughts and doubts and questions: just be neutral, have no
expectations, be empty and content. And make sure you keep it simple.
http://www.reiki-evolution.co.uk/taggart-king-reiki-articles-24.html
Kristin
Marie Breheim has been practicing yoga for 12 years. To compliment her
RYT certification, she continually studies at home and local studios.
Breheim has taught over 4,000 yoga classes in 5 countries. Her
inspiration comes from her dog, Obie, hiking mountains, and eating way
too much cake batter. Her practice and free yoga classes can be found on
YouTube: 
