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Reiki for the Heart and Soul

The Reiki Principles as Spiritual Pathwork

Published by Healing Arts Press
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

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About The Book

How the principles of Reiki can be used not just for healing but also for spiritual growth

• Explores how to practice the Reiki values of peace, serenity, gratitude, integrity, and kindness in everyday life, despite the challenges of constant change and frequent crises

• Provides tools for spiritual growth for practitioners of all levels and lineages

• Includes exercises and meditations to deepen the practice of Reiki using the five Reiki precepts: do not anger; do not worry; be grateful; do an honest day’s work; be kind

Reiki practitioners and teachers recognize Reiki as a gentle and powerful healing method. The path to becoming a Reiki practitioner, however, is more than just a commitment to energy healing. It is also a commitment to personal growth. In Reiki for the Heart and Soul, Amy Rowland details how reflection on the five core Reiki principles presented in both the Western and Japanese traditions--do not anger; do not worry; be grateful; do an honest day’s work; be kind--can be used by practitioners of all levels and lineages as powerful tools for personal and spiritual growth.

Living the five core principles reinforces Reiki’s subtle energy healing: it heals wounded self-esteem and builds healthy self-respect; it demonstrates the creative power of a positive attitude; and it presents a way to peace. Rowland discusses various translations of the Reiki principles, demonstrating how to integrate their practical value through stories and interviews. She also offers specific techniques and exercises for healing anger and fear as well as living with gratitude, integrity, and compassion. These techniques will help maturing practitioners discover a healthy, happy way of being in the world and to see the way forward on their spiritual path with a sense of clear guidance and grace.

Excerpt


CHAPTER 6

Integrity

“Do an Honest Day’s Work”


The word integrity may be defined as the quality of rigorous adherence to the highest professional standards or moral, ethical, or spiritual values. Yet there is another definition that bears consideration here. In its earliest meaning--and one it still retains--the word integrity means “wholeness.” The fourth Reiki principle may be understood as inviting us to do our best, whatever our occupation. However, alternate translations hint that to do our best, we must know ourselves and work hard to become whole, healthy in body and mind, heart and soul.

At a Reiki Principles Workshop: Exploring Integrity

“I’m going to ask you a few questions,” I told the class, “which I want you to pose to yourself. You can easily answer all the questions in more than one way. Write down your first thoughts, the first half dozen words that pop into your mind in reply. Then I will ask the next question. Are you ready?”
Everyone nodded, pens poised above blank pages.
“This is the first question for you to ask yourself: Who am I?” I waited as the practitioners wrote.
One by one, I raised more questions, pausing after each one to allow the students to respond: What is my soul’s purpose? What is my passion? What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses? What is my heart’s desire?
Some of the questions required clarification. One student asked, “Is pursuing your passion the same as satisfying your heart’s desire?”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “Let me pose the question another way: What would it take for you to feel completely happy and whole, completely in love with your life right now?”
The students lowered their heads, eyes focused on the moving pen on the page, the next word they were revealing to themselves.
After they responded to all six questions, I asked them to share the answer that seemed most true for them to each of the questions in turn. The final question, “What is your heart’s desire?” generated a lot of discussion. A widow in her forties was convinced that she could only feel happy and complete if she found a man who would love and marry her.
“I hope you do find your soul mate and achieve wedded bliss,” I told her. “But what if you don’t? Are you willing to delay happiness just because he’s not around?”
“I just know that I will feel happier when he is in my life . . .” she said, fidgeting in her chair.
“You very well may,” I agreed, “but please don’t postpone happiness. Open up to the possibility that you can feel happy today. Claim it.”
She pursed her lips, as if considering.
“Look,” I told her. “When I did this exercise with you, I wrote down something similar for my heart’s desire, but my guess is that the gentleman I’m hoping to meet is probably herding sheep on a mountain in Scotland.”
Ellen, my co-teacher, interrupted. “Wearing a kilt?”
“Probably,” I agreed, “and playing the bagpipes.” We all laughed. I returned to my point: “So as long as he’s there, and I’m here, I’m going to claim as much happiness as I can without him. I’m not waiting! I want to live a good life and feel as much contentment, as much peace, as much joy as I can right now. That’s part of the reason for this workshop: the practice of Reiki and the Reiki principles offer us a secret method of inviting happiness. It is possible for us now. Do you really want to postpone it?”
She relented with a smile. “Okay,” she said, “I get it.”
There was one more question I wanted my students to ask themselves: “If you never achieve your heart’s desire, can you still commit to doing your best today and every day that follows? Put another way, if your dream for your life doesn’t ever manifest, can you live with integrity anyway?”
They listened, sitting back in their chairs, thinking about the implications. There were only two possible answers. A clear “yes” reflected self-knowledge and commitment to the soul’s purpose; a “no” signaled a need for further self exploration and healing. The commitment to live with integrity requires wholeness; it can only be made with surety by someone who is self-respecting and who wishes that self-respect to remain unassailable. The commitment cannot be allowed to waiver despite a lack of success in achieving other goals. Whatever our circumstances, whatever crises we face, we need to live by our own highest values in order to stay on course for health, well-being, and happiness. Integrity is the light within us, allowed to shine; it illuminates the path we travel like a miner’s headlamp, even when we travel through darkness. It shows us the way ahead, sometimes one step at a time. It keeps us on safe ground.

Now You: Find Your Way to Wholeness

You may easily adapt this workshop exercise for your own use. Find a quiet, comfortable space where you will not be interrupted for about forty-five minutes. In a notebook, answer the following questions, taking five minutes or so to respond to each one. Jot down your first thoughts quickly, allowing yourself to generate at least a half dozen answers to each question. The more responses you have, the more likely you are to go beyond the surface, revealing something of your true nature. Be fully present in the moment as you reply to each one. In this way, the exercise becomes a kind of meditation. The pattern of your answers may help you to see your priorities, not as you think they are, but as you actually live them throughout the day.
Who am I?
What is my purpose?
What is my passion?
What are my strengths?
What are my weaknesses?
What is my heart’s desire?
If I never achieve my heart’s desire, will I do my best anyway?

About The Author

Amy Z. Rowland is a certified Usui Reiki Master with more than 30 years of experience. She has taught the Western tradition of Reiki (Usui Shiki Ryoho) since 1994 and also teaches workshops on the Reiki principles and on Reiki and intuition. She is a certified hypnotherapist and has worked as a clinical therapist. The author of The Complete Book of Traditional Reiki, Traditional Reiki for Our Times, Intuitive Reiki for Our Times, and Reiki for the Heart and Soul, she lives in Pennsylvania.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Healing Arts Press (November 24, 2008)
  • Length: 256 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781594772528

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Raves and Reviews

"Reiki for the Heart and Soul is a gift to us from a remarkable woman who lives and breathes her work. The book literally loves us into each and every precious principle, weaving its magic as we read, bringing us into a deeper understanding. I feel it should be required reading for all dedicated practitioners and teachers.”

– Mari Hall, founder and director of International Association for Reiki and author of Reiki for the S

"This excellent book shows how the five Reiki principles can be used for personal development and spiritual growth. Suited to practitioners of every level, it is packed with insights and techniques invaluable to anyone wishing to deepen their understanding and practice of Reiki."

– Chris Parkes and Penny Parkes, authors of 15-Minute Reiki: Health and Healing at Your Fingertips

“Amy Rowland’s compassionate journey into Usui’s world offers the reader a catalyst for a deeper connection with Usui the man and his Way of Being. She has captured the very essence of his spiritual teachings, creating a bridge between Eastern and Western Reiki teachings.”

– Dave King, Reiki instructor and author of O-Sensei: A View of Mikao Usui

“Amy Rowland elegantly and eloquently shares how we may each ‘walk our talk’ by offering riveting, real-life examples of how present-day Reiki Masters and esteemed Reiki Masters of the past have utilized, and continue to utilize, the Reiki principles in a dynamic and living way, every day. This is a must read for humanity!”

– Sensei John King, R.M., D.D., author of Breathology: How To Breathe Yourself To Better Health

“This is a well-written Reiki book that weaves together many important details with a wonderful spiritual sentiment. It grounds one in the here and now and inspires practitioners to look deeply into their own healing and to help others.”

– William Lee Rand, author of Reiki: The Healing Touch and director of the International Center for Re

“A joyful read! Amy Rowland provides a heartfelt guide for living Reiki in our daily lives. This book will help you open to Reiki as a spiritual path.”

– Carolyn Musial, teacher/practitioner with the International Center for Reiki Training and author of

“Amy Rowland has once again written an invaluable and insightful book. Reiki for the Heart and Soul not only provides an excellent overview of the Reiki system but also explores, for the first time, the Reiki principles from a place of depth and authenticity. This book exemplifies the very essence of Reiki and provides us with a map of how we can genuinely use these teachings for the betterment of ourselves and humanity."

– Lawrence Ellyard, author of Reiki: 200 Questions and Answers for Beginners and Reiki Meditations for

“An in-depth book on the principles of Reiki and mindfulness of their values--recommended both to newcomers and established practitioners.”

– Tanmaya Honervogt author of The Power of Reiki: An Ancient Hands-On Healing Technique

"As someone who was attuned to reiki almost two decades ago, I was delighted as I read Amy Rowland's discussion of it as spiritual pathwork. . . . Her account of what she learned is written clearly, directly, and with a sense of joy."

– Anna Jediziewski, New Age Retailer

" . . . Amy Rowland takes the practice of Reiki to the next level by sharing the secrets behind really integrating the Reiki principles into your personal and professional Reiki practice."

– Zach Keyer, author Reiki Marketing, Reiki Leadership, Nov 2008

"Whether you use Reiki only for yourself, or if you have clients, you will treasure this book and the energy it carries. It brings the practice of Reiki to your daily life in a practical and grounded spiritual way."

– New Spirit Journal, Vol. 4, No. 8, Dec 2008

"If you are interested in going deeply into the Reiki principles and aligning with them in your daily life, this book is a valuable resource. I haven't seen any other Reiki book that devotes such care and commitment to illuminating these principles and helping us all appreciate their power."

– Jed Shlackman, reviewer, Nov 2008

"Chapters cover the five core Reiki principles presented in Western and Japanese traditions which can be used for both personal and spiritual growth. New Age and general-interest spirituality libraries will consider it a winning acquisition."

– The Midwest Book Review, March 2009

"Anyone with a curiosity regarding Reiki should come away from this book with a basic understanding and should know if Reiki is something they wish to pursue further, or not. . . . Even a reader that is not interested in learning Reiki could learn a great deal about how to incorporate these principles into his own spiritual practice."

– Rovena Windsor, The Henge of Keltria, Issue 82, May 2009

"Rowland obviously does write from the heart, offering many helpful suggestions and practical ideas on how to attune and deepen ourselves--and thus discover a happier, healthier way of being in the world."

– Keila Swan, Alaska Wellness, Vol. 15, No. 1, Jan/Feb 2010

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