Reiki: A Self-Practice To Live in Peace with Self and Others

By Elise Brenner

How is Reiki practice like a snow globe, a palm tree, and an anchor? As we navigate life's unpredictable squalls and waves of adversity, we aspire to settle like the snow in a snow globe, feel rooted like the base of a palm tree in a storm, and be anchored like a steady ship. Reiki: A Self Practice to Live in Peace with Self and Others provides readers with self-Reiki how-tos for putting these metaphors into action to build an inner mind-body unshakable foundation, and to relieve the suffering of others. This book opens a door to a mindful way of living with ease rather than struggle. Whether it is fear of coronavirus, receiving texts in ALL CAPS, a frightening diagnosis, or worry over a child, the self-Reiki practices introduced here will alleviate pain and overwhelm, ushering in mindfulness, resilience, and recovery capacity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: O-Books
• Release date: Jan 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781789047103

Elise Brenner

Elise Brenner, PhD, Reiki Master, Mindfulness Meditation Teacher, Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health & Sociology at Simmons University in Boston, provides Reiki training and presentations to health care professionals and to the public. She lives in Auburndale, MA.

Book preview

Introduction: Welcome to the Possibilities

We welcome you here to discover the possibilities that self-Reiki practice has to offer. Whether you are new to Reiki or not, let’s start with a helpful definition: Reiki is a mind-body-spirit healing and meditation practice from Japan that promotes health and well-being, mindfulness, resilience, and aliveness. All of us can draw on Reiki mind-body skills to claim our strengths, sustain our well-being day-to-day, and address challenges, both big and small, personal and societal. The self-practice of Reiki is an integrative mind-body-spirit approach that is accessible to people of all ages, backgrounds, and health conditions.

In our hearts, we all want to live on purpose and with purpose. The teachings and practices of self-Reiki give us an essential resource we can incorporate into our everyday lives to bring in, reach for, and claim our inner qualities and awareness so that we can live intentionally. By living intentionally, we invite physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. You will learn how self-Reiki practice brings a sense of balance, aliveness, and peacefulness into everyday moments, as well as into moments when we feel physically and emotionally depleted or overwhelmed. An experience of balance and peace is not something we attain, it is something we reclaim. And when we do, we feel at home in our bodies, more connected to our vitality, to our purpose, and to those around us.

You will discover that self-Reiki practice provides you with a compass for navigating through the complexities and uncertainties of life. This compass points us in the direction of well-being and resilience as we traverse the deep depths, narrow straits, as well as the passages through them. Self-Reiki mind-body skills are a natural, non-pharmacological, strengths-based approach to both (i) building resilience in order to sustain our ongoing well-being, and (ii) utilizing that resilience in moments of difficulty. Let’s briefly explore the two faces of resilience, both of which Reiki self-practice addresses. When we think of resilience, what often comes to mind is the capacity to bounce back after adversity. While this is true, there is also another aspect. Resilience is not only reacting to challenges after they occur. Resilience involves purposefully building our own inner strengths, reserves, and capacities to feel courageous and whole despite disappointments, struggles, and social forces beyond our control. Resilience is not solely about claiming our inner qualities and wisdom, but also connecting with wisdom that lies in