How to Live With Peace, Presence, and Purpose—One Reiki Principle at a Time

What happens when you stop just doing Reiki—and start living it.

If you’ve been around Reiki long enough, you’ve probably heard the principles before. They sound simple. Poetic, even. But I’ll be honest—they used to feel like lofty aspirations I could pin on my wall and forget about the moment someone cut me off in traffic.

That changed when I stopped treating them like affirmations and started treating them like anchors.

Because here’s the truth: Reiki isn’t just energy work—it’s a way of being. And these principles? They’re the blueprint.

First, a quick refresher.

In case you’re new here, these are the Five Reiki Principles, originally taught by Mikao Usui, the founder of Reiki:

Just for today,I will not be angry. I will not worry. I will be grateful. I will do my work honestly. I will be kind to all living things.

They’re simple. But simple doesn’t mean easy.

Let’s unpack how each of these is more than just a nice idea—and how living by them creates a life of more presence, peace, and integrity.

1. Just for today, I will not be angry.

Anger is often a mask. It covers fear, disappointment, hurt. But when I hold on to anger—whether it’s loud or simmering—I disconnect from myself.

As a Reiki practitioner, I’ve learned to observe my anger as energy: potent, hot, directional. Instead of pushing it down or lashing it out, I breathe with it. I sit with it. I ask what it’s trying to protect.

This principle reminds me that peace isn’t the absence of emotion. It’s the presence of awareness.

2. Just for today, I will not worry.

Worry feels productive. It’s like the mind’s way of trying to protect us by anticipating worst-case scenarios.

But energetically, worry scatters us. It pulls our attention into a future that doesn’t exist yet—and may never come. In Reiki, we work with presence. With now.

So when my thoughts start spiraling, I gently say to myself: Just for today. Not forever. Just now. And in that softness, my nervous system exhales.

3. Just for today, I will be grateful.

This isn’t about bypassing hard things with toxic positivity. It’s about remembering: even in grief, there can be grace.

Gratitude brings me back to what’s real. The sun warming my skin. The client who left our session lighter. The breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

When you live with gratitude, you expand your capacity to receive—and to give.

4. Just for today, I will do my work honestly.

This one hits deep.

It’s not just about being truthful with others. It’s about being truthful with myself. Am I showing up from alignment, or from obligation? Am I honoring my own energy, or just hustling to please?

Living this principle means I say no more often. It means I rest without guilt. And it means that when I do offer Reiki, it comes from a place of integrity—not depletion.

5. Just for today, I will be kind to all living things.

Yes, this includes other people. Yes, it includes the planet. But most importantly—it includes me.

This was the hardest one to learn. Kindness to self when I felt I’d failed. Kindness to my body when I wanted it to look or perform differently. Kindness to my own healing process when it didn’t move fast enough.

Reiki taught me that kindness isn’t a performance. It’s a frequency.

A Daily Invitation

The power of these principles isn’t in how many times you recite them—it’s in how you live them.

Some days, I mess up. I get annoyed. I worry. I forget. But the beauty of “just for today” is that it always gives you a chance to begin again.

These words are not a rulebook. They’re a compass. And every time you return to them, you return to yourself.

If you’re navigating stress, searching for alignment, or simply wanting to show up with more integrity in your life—start here. Not by mastering them. But by letting them hold you.

Just for today.

Want to experience the Reiki principles in real time?

I offer 1:1 Reiki sessions and gentle energy support for those who want to realign, reconnect, and remember who they are.

Email me at celinevelosoreiki@gmail.com or follow along @reikiwithceline on Instagram for quiet reflections and practices you can carry into daily life.

Living in Reiki, just for today!