For decades, I used Reiki more like a first aid kit than a personal practice. It was handy when needed but not much thought given to it otherwise. I did brief Reiki sessions for myself weekly, for my family as needed, occasionally for friends, and infrequently for remote requests from my teachers hub.
When the COVID quarantine was issued, I used my work slowdown and my time off the road to explore how I was going to reinvent my professional career. I knew I needed to a career change and the quarantine presented the time to move forward.
I took a walk around my history to find an ember worth fanning. Reiki rose to the top. I revisited some earlier training. I read books to understand the migration of Reiki from Japan to other countries and different interpretations of what a personal Reiki practice was.
The tradition in which I was trained and which I follow is Usui, after the founder, Mikao Usui, by way of the lineage from Hawayo Takata, the Japanese American who brought Reiki to the United States in the 1938. I am grateful to Takata for packaging Reiki into a form that could be accepted in the United States at that time and be carried forward to many people with the least distortion to present day.
I remain within the Usui practice, but I have introduced myself to some spiritual features that Takata’s method mutes. In Japan, Reiki is foremost a meditative practice for the self. The emphasis is on self-refinement before offering Reiki to others. And so, this is what I did during the quarantine.
I began by contacting my teacher to review earlier training. Then I revisited the precepts as I was taught. The precepts are 5 statements of daily intentions.
The beauty of the precepts is the simplicity. There is variability in the translations and I felt not at home with the version I was taught. I found Hiroshi Doi’s translation from the Usui memorial at Saihoji Temple in Tokyo to have a good cadence, so adopting this was my first edit. My second edit was to change the negation in the brief statements into positive brief statements, following best practices for crafting intentions.
There is a preparatory statement I was taught, when coming into gassho, the meditative posture of palms together at the heart. I do this, then I say the precepts. I speak each line at a rate that follows my bodily sensation that the words are integrating. I have been doing this every morning since putting the precepts into words that resonate with me.
Today
Have Peace
Open Joy
Do what I am meant to do
Give Gratitude
Be Love
The last line is often translated as “Be Kind” or “Be Compassionate.” It is my sense that agape love is the concept meant, so I say “Be Love.”
Reflecting on these past 5-years with my daily spiritual practice, Reiki has been a gift of a hundred pleasures delivered throughout the day. I find that my heart and mind are more connected, and I am a clearer provider of Reiki for others. From this I gained the confidence to open a Reiki practice, which served as a bridge from old career to my new career, while I did training in massage therapy and life coaching.
Now that my somatic toolbox includes craniosacral therapy, acupressure, breathwork, meditation, sound therapy, some Trager, and yoga, and my coaching toolbox includes ICF principles, PSCYH-K and the Energy Codes I remain rooted to my personal Reiki practice.
In my business, I still offer standalone Reiki sessions, but I can let my clients know now that Reiki is a part of the touch in every somatic session. It is the nature of Reiki to flow from the universal source. As an attuned practitioner, I serve as the holder of the space where Reiki can be received by the client.
This is a wonderful aspect of Reiki. Reiki comes from source to the client. I am not delivering my energy to the client. This strikes me as respectful of a client’s sovereignty and I carry this principle forward in all modalities.
Ki is the vital life force or spirit, which is also known as prana in India and Qi in China.
Rei means universal.
Thus, ReiKi is universal vital energy. It pervades everything, everywhere, and through all time.
© 2025 Lisa Patrell