The Five Reiki Principles and How to Live Them

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The five Reiki principles — Mikao Usui's Gokai — are five precepts recited and practised daily: just for today, do not be angry; just for today, do not worry; be grateful; work with dedication; be kind to others. They are not self-improvement tips. They are the heart of the system, the part practised without hands.

You can live them without ever receiving a session or taking a course. They are free and they require no initiation.

What the five principles are

Usui left these precepts as a daily practice for his students. Tradition says they were recited twice a day, morning and evening, with the hands joined at chest height — the posture called gasshō.

The traditional Japanese formula introduces them as "the secret method of inviting blessings, the spiritual medicine for all ailments". That is an expression of its time and culture, and it should not be read as a promise of cure: "ailments" here speaks of affliction of spirit, not of medical diagnoses.

I would rather say that now than leave you with the wrong idea.

Why "just for today" changes everything

Each precept begins with kyō dake wa: just for today.

That phrase is the key to the whole thing. It does not say "never be angry". It says: today, in these twenty-four hours, this is what I will attempt.

Nobody can promise never to be angry. Almost anyone can hold a day.

And tomorrow you begin again. No guilt, no countdown, no ledger of failures. It is a practice without punishment, which is exactly why it works where large resolutions fail.

The five, in Japanese and English

Japanese	Common translation	What it trains
Kyō dake wa, ikaru na	Just for today, do not be angry	Your relationship with reactivity
Shinpai suna	Do not worry	Your relationship with an imagined future
Kansha shite	Be grateful	Attention to what is already here
Gyō o hageme	Work with dedication	Devotion to the ordinary
Hito ni shinsetsu ni	Be kind to others	The bond with another person

Translations vary between schools. What matters is not the exact word but the inner gesture it points to.

The five principles, one by one

Just for today, do not be angry

This is not about swallowing anger. That is not serenity, it is repression, and the body collects on it.

It is about placing a space between what happens and what you do with what happens. One second of air before you answer.

In Medellín, morning traffic is a demanding teacher here. A queue of cars on the Regional can teach you more about your reactivity than a whole book.

Just for today, do not worry

Worry is imagination applied to the future with a minus sign.

This precept does not ask you to stop caring about your life. It asks you to distinguish between attending to something — which is useful, which is action — and worrying, which is suffering in advance over what may never arrive.

When someone comes to me with insomnia, what keeps them awake is almost never what happened. It is what might.

Be grateful

This is the one that shifts mood fastest, and the most underestimated.

Gratitude is not denying the hard part. It is widening the frame so that what is also there fits: the house, the hot water, someone who called, the fact that today the body responded.

I practise it concretely: at the end of the day, three things. Not five, not ten. Three.

Work with dedication

Sometimes translated as "do your work honestly". It speaks of devotion to whatever is yours to do — sweeping, raising children, attending, building.

There is a dignity in doing small things well. And a particular rest in no longer dividing life between what matters and what has to be dispatched.

Be kind to others

And to yourself, I would add, because that is usually the missing half.

I have accompanied many people who are hard and demanding with everyone, starting with themselves. Kindness turned inward is not softness: it is the condition for holding others without resentment.

How to practise them in real life

No ceremony required.

Choose one. One, not five. Put it where you will see it: the mirror, the phone screen, the fridge door.

Recite them twice a day, hands joined if that feels natural. Thirty seconds in the morning, thirty at night.

And at night, one question without judgement: how did I do with this one today? Not to grade yourself. To see yourself.

If you want a wider practice, there is a self-healing guide on the site, and a piece on conscious decisions that stands on the same ground.

What I see in the treatment room

When someone returns for a second or third session, I always ask what happened during the week.

The most common answer has nothing to do with symptoms. It is this: "I noticed I was about to snap and I didn't." Or: "I remembered the principle in the middle of an argument."

That is the work. Not the hour on the table — the second of awareness in the middle of the day.

I have also seen the opposite. People receiving session after session, waiting for the change to arrive from outside, never touching their relationship with anger or fear. The relief comes and goes. And they return, tired, asking why it does not last.

I tell them warmly and without detour: the session opens the door; the principles are the path you walk afterwards.

A necessary note about health

The principles do not cure illness and do not replace any treatment.

If you are living with sustained anxiety, depression, or grief that will not move, "do not worry" is not the answer, and it would be irresponsible to offer it as one. Seek professional mental health support. The principles can accompany that process; they do not replace it.

And if you are in serious emotional crisis, or thoughts of harming yourself appear, please reach out for professional help today. That is not something to carry alone — not with Reiki, not with anything.

A three-minute practice to start today

On waking, before the phone:

Sit on the edge of the bed. Join your hands at chest height. Three slow breaths, feeling the air go down.

Recite the five, slowly, without hurrying to finish.

Choose one for the day. Just for today.

At night, same hands, same posture, and three things to be grateful for.

That is all. Three minutes. Hold it for a month and then we can talk.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to receive Reiki to practise the principles? No. The principles need no initiation, course or teacher. You can begin today and you owe nobody anything for it. In fact this is the part of the system I most often recommend to people who have doubts about Reiki: it asks you to believe nothing and it is verified in your own life.

What is the correct translation of the five principles? There is no single one. The Japanese original is very brief and allows different shades: "do not be angry" also appears as "do not give way to anger"; "work with dedication" as "do your work honestly". Schools differ. The inner gesture matters more than literal wording.

What if I fail every day? Start again tomorrow. Literally that: "just for today" exists precisely because nobody holds them permanently. If you got angry today, the precept was not broken — your day simply ended. Practising this without punishing yourself is itself the principle of kindness toward oneself.

Are the five principles religious? They belong to no religion and require no faith. They were born in a Japanese cultural context, Buddhist and Shinto, but they ask for adherence to nothing. I practise them from my Christian-mystical path, and I have accompanied people who practise them from a very calm atheism. They work the same.

Can they be taught to children? Yes, with good results if translated into their language: "today I'm not going to shout", "today I'll say thank you for something". The important thing is that they do not become one more list of demands. Kindness is taught mostly by example, not by recitation.

If you would like to accompany this practice with sessions, write to me on WhatsApp at +57 314 811 7561 and tell me where you are. I work in Medellín, in Santa Elena, and at a distance. Sessions can be given in English.

Just for today.

Disclaimer

This article is for educational purposes and does not replace diagnosis, treatment or follow-up by a healthcare professional. Reiki is a complementary practice: it accompanies, it does not substitute. If you are under medical or psychological care, continue it and talk to your treating professional before adding any complementary therapy.