We need two types of discipline for Reiki practice.
Discipline to start
It takes a little discipline to start our Reiki practice. A little. Just enough to get hands to body.
Not so hard.
Discipline to continue
A little more discipline keeps us comfortably still, hands on body, while the response to our practice arises from our inner depths, opening a sense of ease and timelessness.
The benefits — and pleasure — of daily Reiki self practice are felt early on, and motivate us to keep practicing. Discipline quickly becomes habit.
Still, some days we just don’t feel like practicing, or we flirt with the delusion of not having time.
If we’re smart, we go back to our discipline, moving hands to body while we entertain those (stupid) thoughts. Discipline creates a bridge that keeps our practice alive while we remember how much we benefit from our practice — and how much we enjoy it.
Not that discipline
If you chafe at the word discipline, please consider we’re not talking about that discipline.
Discipline is sometimes confused with rigidity, or with punishment, as in disciplining rambunctious children. The discipline of Reiki practice is different — proactively creating our future, not reacting to the past.
The discipline of daily self practice lifts us out of the cycle of reward and punishment. It creates the opportunity to settle into our timeless core and remember who we truly are, every day.
That remembrance helps us avoid the punishments that arise all too quickly — from life, from others, from ourselves — when we don’t follow the discipline of daily practice.
Did you overcome some resistance to discipline in your practice? If so, please go to the comments section below to share how you did that, so that people who are still working it out will be inspired and supported to stick with it.
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Thank you Pamela, your words are always so helpful to me. I have been practicing since receiving 1st Degree Reiki from you in September (2014), and I am proud to say I haven’t missed a night yet! I do encounter some resistance now that I have healed so wonderfully and I’m continuing to heal, but the “results” are no longer staggering, and this makes my practice feel less important. However, I also notice that my practice has done more than just moved me toward a healthier body — it has also helped me calm the storms that arise emotionally within me; it helps me navigate my life every day now. I use it on the subway, while driving, while walking, while talking on the phone, while I am getting acupuncture, while I am reading, and while talking with my family. It has been the single most important part of my healing process, so now that I mostly feel great, I sometimes want to do something else with the hour I spend on it every night, and then I remind myself how powerful it is, and so I quickly realize I am not ready to move beyond it — there is no beyond. There is only now, and now I choose Reiki every time! xoxoxoxo thank you!
Thank you for putting up this post. This is one aspect that needs to be brought to people’s attention. However, many people get out of practice just because they expect overnight results for their problems which demotivates them and they stop using Reiki. They don’t seem to understand the deeper and long lasting effects that Reiki brings to them and to their lives. But if they give themselves some time, and feel the love Reiki gives, they will understand… and that needs discipline.
Dear Pamela,
I am a new practitioner, having completed “Reiki 101”. I do practice daily though and intend to take more classes. The reason I am writing now is to let you know how very impressed I am about (a) the way you explain Reiki and (b) the depth of your writings. It is your writing that nudges and reinforces me to exercise self-discipline for self-practice, to find a Reiki share group, and to learn more. It was one of those coincidences that lead me to your e-mail. Needless to say, I am very grateful for that.
Namaste, Barbara
Hi Pamela, I really like what you have shared in this post. It brought to mind so many of the challenges I have faced over the years and how I have moved through the resistence. I often admired those who adhere to any practice on a regular basis and often felt the lack of “self-discipline” to follow through on any form of practice on a daily basis for myself. Then one day I told a friend of mine I really respected her self-discipline to write every day no matter what because she saw it as a Spiritual practice and part of her well being rejieme. She wrote me back and said she preferred to think of it as devotion rather than discipline. That changed how I saw things too. I am devoted to practicing Reiki with others and with with myself because of the connection I feel when I do. So when I allow the energy of devotion and love to be expressed I am then inspired every day to practice Reiki with myself. Sometimes a word like discipline has an energy about it that no matter how hard we try to empty it of it’s meaning and attach a new meaning to it, the energy does not resonate with us. So finding a new word that has an energy/feel that is more in alignment with and connects us to what we are truly seeking it helps to shift things.
So for those having trouble with the word “discipline” you could try replacing it with the word “devotion” and see if that feels any better. For me, that made all the difference. I now have a “daily devotional” Reiki Practice that I am dedicated and committed to.
Hi Pamela
I think I need discipline to continue reiki practice.I started many times ..did few days and then stopped .I learned reiki 8 months back.
Thank you, Pamela! Beautiful article and picture:)
I often sit in meditation for just a couple of minutes with my hands off after my daily practice. It allows me to more consciously feel that safe and peaceful space that my Reiki Self Care created.
The discipline to use Reiki Self Care daily has allowed me to develop a relationship with this practice. I know how to access this safe and peaceful space anytime.