Be Kind

Be Kind 

"Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret,
how to acquire without meanness."
~George Sand

    Just for today, I will be kind to every living thing. This is the next Reiki Precept that we will examine. When I wrote the article, Principles to Live By, I tied each precept to the Jin Shin Jyutsu practice of holding fingers to harmonize limiting beliefs and bring balance to BE-ing. Read more about each of the previous Precepts,  "I will let go of Worry" , "I will let go of Anger" ,  "I will do my work honestly"  and "I will give Thanks for my many blessings".

   Just for today, I will be kind to every living thing. Kindness creates connections in a way that nothing else can. The Buddhist practice of Lovingkindness has been called the "healer of fear." According to Wikipedia, "Loving-kindness is a very specific feeling – a caring for the well-being of another living being, independent of approving or disapproving of them, or expecting anything in return.  A few recent psychological studies suggest that loving-kindness meditation may impact health and well-being. One study done at Stanford University suggests that a short 7 minute practice of loving-kindness meditation can increase social connectedness. Loving-kindness meditation has also been shown to reduce pain and anger in people with chronic lower back pain. Researcher Barbara Fredrickson at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that loving-kindness meditation can help boost positive emotions and well-being in life, fostering the personal resources that come from experiencing positive emotion."


In the initial article I said that holding your Index Finger would support this precept. To my way of thinking, this precept relates to the attitude of Fear.  Kindness builds community and ends loneliness and isolation. When we feel that connection to others, the negative aspects of fear have no place to hook in to our BE-ing.  It is easy to see that adopting kindness as a practice will counteract the effects of Fear and Isolation.  Fear is a paralizing force that hinders the body's natural-motion principles. Fear includes feelings of mental confusion, frustration, depression, timidity, perfectionism, and criticism. Fear is also associated with drug addiction. Fear brings disharmony to the muscular system and affects both bladder and kidney function energy which together are responsible for the regulation of the movement of water throughout the body. Fear is limits the body's ability to move freely and translates into back discomfort and stress, and affects the functions that revitalize bones and bone marrow.

The INDEX finger is the key to FLOW. When you are in the FLOW, you are in HARMONY. There are no obstacles, no limitations, no feelings of lack, no judgement. There is perfect circulation and balance. To balance Fear, HOLD your INDEX finger for 5 minutes or until you can feel a gentle rhythmic pulsing. Even and clear. Breath easily. Relax the shoulders and smile from the very heart of you. As you hold the index finger, you ease back tension/stress and facilitate the flow of life energy throughout the body. All fears begin to melt away. Assimilation and elimination functions begin to improve. Toothaches and teething issues are eased and healthy circulation is restored. Exhale. Smile. Relax.

"When you operate from the Higher Self, you feel centered and abundant—in fact, overflowing. When you experience this abundance, your fears automatically disappear."
~ Susan Jeffers 

Give Thanks

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."
~G.K. Chesterton

    Just for today, I will give thanks for my many blessings. This is the next Reiki Precept that we will examine. When I wrote the article, Principles to Live By, I tied each precept to the Jin Shin Jyutsu practice of holding fingers to harmonize limiting beliefs and bring balance to BE-ing. Read more about each of the previous Precepts,  "I will let go of Worry" , "I will let go of Anger"  and "I will do my work honestly".

   Just for today, I will give thanks for my many blessings. I have always known that cultivating an attitude of gratitude would bring good things into my life but in doing research for this article I found that while many emotions and personality traits are important to well-being, there is evidence that gratitude may be uniquely important.

    According to Wikipedia, "A large body of recent work has suggested that people who are more grateful have higher levels of well-being. Grateful people are happier, less depressed, less stressed, and more satisfied with their lives and social relationships. Grateful people also have higher levels of control of their environments, personal growth, purpose in life and self acceptance. Grateful people have more positive ways of coping with the difficulties they experience in life, being more likely to seek support from other people, reinterpret and grow from the experience, and spend more time planning how to deal with the problem. Grateful people also have less negative coping strategies, being less likely to try to avoid the problem, deny there is a problem, blame themselves, or cope through substance use. Grateful people sleep better, and this seems to be because they think more positive thoughts just before going to sleep."

    Gratitude enhances our sense of satisfaction while balancing the attitudes of greed and entitlement. Practicing gratitude is a workout for the soul: repeated awareness of the blessings in our lives helps us to dwell on the positive and wonderful in our lives. Our positive attitude helps us to master the change instead of being controlled by it.  When we choose to focus our attitudes on the good stuff we find that we indeed have more.

    In the initial article I said that holding your Ring Finger would support this precept. To my way of thinking, this precept relates to the attitude of Sadness and Grief. It is easy to see that adopting an attitude of gratitude will counteract Sadness which corresponds with attitudes of negativity, fear of rejection and grief. These limiting attitudes disrupt the flow of life energy to lung and large intestine functions. It is mucous producing and causes us respiratory distress. When the lungs are overcome by sadness and grief, they are weakened, and this leads to tiredness, breathlessness, depression and dry skin. When we grieve, our ability to release and let go is significantly restricted. Sadness often manifests a smoking addiction which further depletes the lungs.

    The opposite of sadness is the all encompassing feeling of joy and laughter.  When we are in balance, we experience deep trust and the ability to let go of emotions and experiences that are holding us back. It is indeed up to you how you choose to look at life. My hero, Joseph Campbell, reminds us to "Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy."  Yes, the choice is up to you. Happiness isn't something that just happens to you, but rather, something you can choose at any time, in any situation. Our happiness is dependent on our ability to feel gratitude for our many blessings.

    To balance sadness, HOLD the RING FINGER for about 5 minutes or until you can feel a gentle rhythmic pulsing. Even and clear. Breath easily. Relax the shoulders and smile from the very heart of you.  As you hold the RING FINGER, sadness begins to melt away, mucous conditions are eased, breathing distress is reduced and you facilitate the vital flow of life energy and joy throughout the body. With the restoration of harmony, it becomes easier to trust, to let go and to appreciate. Smile. Breath easy and revel in your many blessings.

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts
are conscious of our treasures."
~Thornton Wilder

I Will Work Honestly

"Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts.
This is the secret of success."
~Swami Sivananda

    Just for today, I will do my work honestly. This is the next Reiki Precept that we will examine. As I was thinking about the precepts as Principles to Live By, I wanted to tie each precept in to the Jin Shin Jyutsu practice of holding fingers to harmonize limiting beliefs and bring balance to BE-ing. The Precepts of  "I will let go of Worry" and "I will let go of Anger" were easy to connect to the corresponding finger. Work Honestly, does not on the surface, talk about a limiting attitude, but with a little thought it was easy!

    Just for today, I will do my work honestly. Look at the definition of Honesty:  1. uprightness and fairness. 2. truthfulness, sincerity, or frankness. 3. freedom from deceit or fraud. TO my way of thinking this precept is about what Mary Burmeister refers to as Pretense, Laughing on the outside while crying on the inside, Try-to's. This attitude was a hard one for me until I realized that its positive attribute is "Speak your truth, be honest with yourself and all others". So it becomes easy to see how this precept relates to the attitude of Pretense!  Honesty is to face the truth in all things starting with your self and the things that you choose to do with your time and energy. It about our potenial to live an effortless reality, to do our work with honesty and  integrity, to speak our truth in all things.

    The attitude of PRETENSE is destabilizing to our skeletal structure, heart and small intestine functions. Pretense includes feelings of insecurity, effort, selfishness, overdoing it, and cover-up (crying on the inside while laughing on the outside). This attitude speaks to our effort, our "trying to" do whatever. The effort that it takes just to get through the day. This attitude tells us that there is a conflict of desire that is incompatible with who we really are.

    Pretense can manifest in a work addiction. The opposite of Pretense is BEING. It means being true to who you really are, not who you think others need you to be. It means speaking your own truth, speaking out. To balance PRETENSE, HOLD the LITTLE FINGER for about 5 minutes or until you can feel a gentle rhythmic pulsing. Even and clear. Breath easily. Relax the shoulders and smile from the very heart of you.

    As you hold the LITTLE FINGER, nerves are settled and the need for pretense is diminished. Stress is eased, bloating reduced, and sore throats are relieved. Remind yourself that we are Human BEINGS not Human TRYINGS. Let go of effort. Allow the universe to unfold spontaneously before you. Revel in the effortless reality that is your life.  
 

"To live in truth is to be aligned with your inner knowingness and is the simplest,
least complex way to live."
~Unknown