You Don't Have To Be Happy All The Time ~ The Reiki Principles

It's so important to honor what you authentically feel. Your emotions are a part of your body system, designed to help you stay both safe and productive. Modern western culture often tells us to suppress or avoid our feelings. Tv shows and movies popularized ideas that "crying is for sissies," or that we should just "get over it" when life rubs us the wrong way.

In Reiki, the first thing we learn is that our bodies are not just physical. We have mental, emotional, and spiritual components that also work within the body system. We weren't created to be mindless, emotionless robots! Learning to work with your true feelings will give you access to more strength and core power in creating a life you truly enjoy.

The Reiki Precepts are in fact a poem, written in calligraphy and hung from a scroll in Mikao Usui's dojo in Japan in the early 1920s. The most common English interpretation follows along the lines of:

Just For Today,

Do not worry.

Do not anger.

Be grateful.

Do your work with diligence.

Be kind to all life.

This is a simplification of greater concepts, some of which is lost in translation. For example, Usui is not telling us to ignore our worry, or lie about our anger. Rather, the poem includes a cultural idiom that in fact entreats us to engage with these aspects of our life experience, until we feel truly clear, and can move forward with our day from an aligned and peaceful place.

Usui hung this poem in the center of his dojo because he felt that these ideals were an important part of life. They were a part of his personal belief system.

Mikao Usui created Reiki as a system for cultivating joy. He meant for it to be for all people. If you struggle with being with your emotions, and working with them in productive ways, the very first step is to acknowledge to yourself how you are feeling. Here's a version of the poem I've interpreted, and often work with:

Feel free to print and save this, put it on an altar, add it to your Pinterest, or whatever else will help you reconnect to your inner truths.

Knowing your feelings, you can then begin to work with them, and create more moderation in your life where needed. We explore this in Reiki 1Training, along with learning how to lay hands on yourself and others for healing. Reach out to me if you have questions! And have a blessed day!

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DAILEY LITTLE is a healing practitioner, transformational life coach, ordained Priestess, and teacher who founded Healing Heart Reiki to help others navigate life with joy. She offers private sessions, and teaches classes in healing and mindset from a magical peaceful corner of the world in Northern California. For more info see: www.SantaRosaReiki.com