INNER LIGHT – A REGULAR NEWSLETTER FOR REIKI PEOPLE
Volume 2 Issue 1
Welcome to the Newsletter for 2020. The theme for this first quarter of this year will be “Back to Basics” – and this will be true of the Reiki Share in March too.
Starting the Year Well
Zen Buddhism – which is derived from the Sanskrit word Dhyana or quiet contemplation – offers some useful daily aspects that can help us to be more peaceful.
- Become an early riser and wake up 15 minutes earlier. When you get out of bed, lengthen your spine and slow your breathing. Breathe into your Hara. This will settle your brain and your Mind will settle into stillness. Creating Space in your Mind first thing in the morning allows you to look out of the window, listen to birds as they get up, and notice the sky – even in the winter, it will provide stars, planets, Moon as well as sunrises
- Buddhism suggests that ‘all days are good days’ and that each day is precious because it never comes again. The goodness or happiness of each day is determined by your own Mind and not what happens
- Try not to label yourself as this or that kind of person – your True Self is freer than you think and knows your full potential. Labelling yourself holds back this freer self through self-limiting beliefs
- I have often spoken in Reiki classes of ‘clapping corners’ to clear stagnant Energy in the room, – it also works if you feel stressed or ill at ease during your day. Just clap your hands in front of you and you instantly take a new frame of Mind
- It is important in our working lives to make sure that we have boundaries between our work and our home life. Create a ‘Mind Gate’ that you enter when you pass through your front door so that you do not think about work when you are at home
- Tidy your shoes – if you are disordered in your Mind then it shows in your feet. Placing your shoes neatly wherever you store them helps you to cultivate a habit that helps you take the next steps to where you are going in your journey
- Before you go to sleep, offer yourself just 10 minutes where you can empty your brain and settle your thoughts. This will bring a sense of peacefulness from where you can relax into deep, peaceful sleep
ART
In Western Reiki, ART is Advanced Reiki Training – or in Japanese Reiki, Shinpiden.
Every year, many people make New Year Resolutions and dive into them wholeheartedly – well, until the third week of January, when research shows most people have fallen by the wayside.
Making changes with Kaizen – one tiny step that will lead to a bigger difference – is a more confident way of making changes – floss one tooth a night and when that is a habit, floss two teeth, etc.
How about we Japanese Reiki Practitioners adapt ART to make advancing our Reiki practice achievable this year?
Let’s go back to basics to start with. It is achievable to have Mindful Moments – as many as you remember to do a day, building up to 100. Set triggers that are realistic, such as one deep cleansing breath when you switch on the kettle, one deep cleansing breath when turning on the tap to wash your hands, or on the in-breath silently say “I am peaceful” as you pause before answering your phone. When walking into your bathroom to start your day, remember “I am radiant with the Great Bright Light of Reiki” – I am sure you are getting the message!
Nobody but you measures your practice – it is not about being ‘perfect’ it is about transforming into the Reiki way of life you want. It is unique to you.
To make it realistic for you, why are you doing this? What do you want to achieve? Are you looking to develop your own skills; to heal yourself; to be a better Reiki Teacher; to provide beautiful relaxing sessions for others; to be a role model for your children; to have a better grip on your emotions – why do you want to change what you are this year?
Now decide your first Kaizen step and take it and then work on what the next step will be – and when. It is not necessarily tomorrow; it is when it feels right to begin the next step. Progress is measured best at snail’s pace – one step a week is 52 steps forward in a year you may think, but progress is exponential, initially it seems slow. For instance, at this time of year we have only seconds more daylight every day. However, those of us with SAD know it is about 15 minutes lighter at the end of January and then daylight lengthens more and more through February until we begin to see SAD really lift in March when day and night are equal length.
Think small. Know Reiki will support you and will noticeably enhance your life – one Gokai at a time, one Reiju practice at a time – and most importantly, one breath at a time.
Change
As most people know I love the life story of caterpillar to butterfly. Many of you will be familiar with the children’s story of A Caterpillar’s Refusal to Change by Maria Ashworth – some of you may have heard me read it at CPD training or some such. Despite other caterpillars telling Zee he will have to change (or grow up!) he refuses and just continues munching away until …
It is instinctive for the caterpillar to trust that life has to change and it is rewarded with a pair of wings to take flight and be free. Reiki people can get their wings too – metaphorically anyway.
For Practitioners of Reiki the cocoon stage is our ability to take ourselves into a quiet place and meditate or work through one form of Kokyû Hô or another. However, change is very often not something we choose – it chooses us! We can feel helpless and vulnerable, or we can put our trust in Reiki and in our Higher Selves and watch the process evolve.
Change is challenging, but it can also be exciting. We can Trust (Reiju says Faith is all about Trust) and we can explore what needs to be transformed in our lives and then set our intention to work with Reiki in some way or another to support that transformation. It is futile to resist change! It just leads to unhappiness and pain. Trusting in the practice of Reiki Ryōhō and allowing change to flow through us will be for the highest good of all.
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