Reiki and a Return to Center
How do you find peace when it’s not on offer? The demands upon our time and attention are constant. The potential to be available and distracted is exponential, between our increasingly integrated relationship with technology, and the responsibility of any plates we have spinning. It can be easy to lose yourself, especially the most empathetic among us, to be drawn into the needs or demands of others in work, family and friends.
In this scenario we are reacting to external factors. We can find ourselves, depleted, restless, unhappy. Maybe we get away from our routines or the things that make us feel good. This is a sign to bring our focus inward, to tend to our own needs. The Japanese art of Reiki offers a method of balance and reflection, reconnecting us to our inner world. Here, even with the simple intention of finding balance, we find our center and begin.
In healing, there is a point at which we have to stop letting the world influence us more than we are influencing the world. With the self awareness that Reiki, or any other awareness practice offers, we can instead tend to our inner imbalances or expand our own felt centeredness into our home and relationships. This doesn’t mean we lose sight of the needs of others, but we are tending to the balance between ourselves and others. Sometimes a dramatic redirection is needed if our focus has been outward for too long.
The Hara
In Reiki, the Hara is the energetic center in our abdomen, and can translate as abdomen, mind, or the center of a person. It can speak to our motives as individuals, conscious and unconscious, and is a source of our vitality and attention when practicing Reiki.
I often describe the Hara as the roots of a tree- the stronger our roots, the less likely they will be ripped from the ground. This does take practice and tending, depending on your sensitivity. Some periods of change or transition require checking in with ourselves several times per day to see that we are acting in accordance with our center in order to create the balance that is needed.
Practice makes Presence
Whether or not you are attuned to Reiki, this simple practice of connecting to the Hara can help increase your focus and allow you to feel more composed and clear.
Pause. Take a slow breath. From the top of your head, consciously release the muscles from the top of the head, jaw, neck, shoulders, belly, etc.
Place your hands gently on the lower belly. Feel the warmth of your own touch. Imagine the Hara as a ball or pool of light.
Breathe into the Hara, keep your attention on the Hara as you breathe, expand and contract the Hara. While maintaining attention on the Hara, practice placing attention at the top of the head, keeping the muscles released.
Feel yourself supported. Notice your seat, what is supporting you? Feel gravity drawing you toward the earth.
Ground an intention. For Reiki practitioners, this can be reciting the precepts. You can also take a moment of gratitude.
Practice daily, starting with 10 minutes. Don’t worry about doing it perfectly, simply show up to the practice.
Living with Intention
When you are living with intention, you are cultivating a life that reflects alignment with your values, and Reiki is a reflection of nature’s own desire for balance. When we place ourselves in the flow of that greater wisdom, we can experience the true magic life has to offer.