A Simple Self-Reiki Exercise
Photo by Dorota Dylka on Unsplash
Many years ago, during a stressful time of my life and before I even knew what reiki was, I learned a simple breathing/movement exercise that I now recognize was inviting reiki energy into the body. Being before YouTube, I learned this from what would today be an unlikely source for many of us — a library book. A beginner’s yoga book, namely.
I still find myself doing this exercise at the end of a home yoga session or occasionally when I need to ground myself. Today, I thought I’d share so that you, too, can do a bit of self-reiki when you need it. It can be completed in under 5 minutes, and takes no special training or experience.
Self-Reiki Visualization
Lie on the floor on a mat or blanket with your arms by your side.
Slowly inhale as you lift your left arm up and above your head, laying it on the floor above you as you reach the top of the breath. While you do this, picture the air entering your lungs as purple healing energy that is filling the entire left side of your body.
Slowly exhale as you lift and move your arm back down to your side. While you do this, picture the purple energy leaving your body, taking any negativity or pain with it.
Repeat on the right side. Slowly lift your right arm as you inhale, picturing purple healing energy filling the right side of the body. As you exhale and move your right arm back down, imagine that energy clearing and healing your body as it leaves, taking stress and negativity with it.
Now do this with both arms. Lift both at once as you inhale, picturing the purple energy filling the whole body, uniting the two sides into one as it does. Exhale and move your arms back down to your sides.
Pause and notice how you feel.
That’s it! If you have time, I like to do 2-3 rounds of each arm, followed by 2-3 rounds of both arms.
If lying on the floor and/or lifting your arms in this way are not accessible for you, you can also do the breathing and imagining portion of the exercise in a sitting position, omitting the arm movement. If you are able to do the arm movement, I think of the arms as levers pulling the healing energy in and out.
I hope you’ll try this and find it helpful!