Hands on heart,
A Yushi Self-Reiki guided meditation for you and your animal companions.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose,
And let it go through your mouth.
Feel the weight of your body,
The places where it meets your chair,
The floor,
The earth beneath you,
And let gravity do its work.
You don't need to hold yourself upright.
And imagine a beam of warm light traveling from your heart,
Down your spine,
Down through the floor,
And all the way into the center of the earth.
And feel it anchor there,
Deep and steady.
And then feel it return,
Rising back up through the ground,
Into your body,
And filling you up with the quiet strength of earth itself.
You are held,
You are safe,
And you are here.
We begin with a traditional Yushi technique called Kenyoku Hou,
Or dry bathing.
It's a purification practice used before any energy work.
We are washing ourselves clean,
Not with water,
But with intention and breath.
So bring your palms together at the heart,
In the gaso,
The prayer position,
And take a few slow breaths here.
And set this intention silently.
I am clearing anything that prevents me from being an open and loving channel.
Now place your right hand on your shoulder,
And with a gentle sweeping motion,
Stroke all the way down.
And then put it back,
And then go across the chest,
And release it all the way down until your hips.
And just let that energy move.
And then we'll do the other side.
Now just sweep it down,
And then sweep across the chest,
And release it all the way down to the hip.
And take a breath in.
Let's do one more circle,
The right hand sweeping across the body and down,
And the left hand across the body and down.
Now extend your left hand and your palm facing upward,
And sweep your right hand over from the shoulder,
Over all the way down to the hands,
Onto the fingertips.
And as you leave the fingertips,
Let go of anything you no longer need.
And now do the right arm.
Extend the arm,
Palm facing up,
And sweep all the way over to the fingertips,
And release.
One more time.
Shoulders all the way to the tips of the hands,
And let it go.
And the other side,
All the way down to the fingertips,
And let it go.
And now bring your hands back together and cussle,
And take a breath in of gratitude.
You are clear,
You are ready.
Keep your palms pressed gently together at your heart,
And feel the warmth beginning to build between them.
That warmth is Reiki.
You are not creating it,
You are simply remembering it.
It has always been there.
And as you breathe in,
Feel white light traveling from your hands,
Through your arms,
Into your heart.
And as you breathe out,
Feel it rise again and flow back into your palms.
So with your in-breath,
Let the light flow into the heart.
And with the out-breath,
Let the light return to the heart.
Let your hands become warm,
Alive,
Ready to give and to receive.
With your hands here on your chest,
Let us speak the words that were given by Yushu as the living heart of his practice.
The Goikai,
The five precepts.
No rules,
But an invitation.
And let them land into your body.
Just for today,
I will not be angry.
Just for today,
I will not worry.
Just for today,
I will be grateful.
Just for today,
I will do my work honestly.
Just for today,
I will be kind to every living thing.
And then rest for a moment,
Especially with the last one.
Every little living thing.
You,
The animal companion in your home or your heart.
Every creature that breathes,
That loves,
That simply wants to feel safe.
And gently bring both hands flat on the upper chest,
Your heart center.
You may use both hands side to side or one resting over the other.
And let them settle until you feel their full warmth against you.
And just breathe.
Feel the weight of your hands.
Feel the heat that begins to pass between the palm and the chest.
You don't need to do anything else than this.
Beneath your hands lives the anahata,
The heart chakra.
The place where the physical world and the spiritual world meet.
The bridge.
And settled in your upper chest,
Your thymus gland,
Known in healing traditions as the seat of immunity,
Of vitality,
Of your sense of safety in the world.
With each breath,
Reiki flows from the universe through your crown.
Arms,
Palms and into your chest.
You are giving Reiki to yourself.
You are receiving Reiki from the universe.
In this moment,
You are both the healer and the healed.
Now bring your awareness to something this chest has been quietly carrying.
Not to analyze.
And not to fix.
Just to notice.
Perhaps there is grief there.
Perhaps a longing.
Perhaps an old ache of rejection.
Or a particular weight of love that has nowhere to land right now.
Whatever it is there,
It is welcome.
Your hands are resting on it and Reiki is touching it.
You don't need to name it or solve it.
Simply let your hands be warm and present.
The way a trusted friend might rest their hand on your shoulder and say,
I'm here.
And with an in-breath,
Let your hands receive everything your heart is holding.
And with an out-breath,
Let the earth below take what you no longer need to carry.
Without lifting your hands from your own heart,
Gently expand your awareness and think of the animal companion in your life.
Your dog,
Your cat,
Your horse.
The one who rests beside you.
Who is watching your face.
Who comes to find you when you are sad before you have said a word.
Hold their image clearly.
The warmth of their body.
The rhythm of their breath.
The way they look at you.
And notice,
The bond between you and this animal runs deeper than affection.
What you carry in your heart,
They feel in theirs.
And what you release right now,
Ripples outward to them.
Your healing is their healing.
As Reiki flows through your hands and into your own heart,
Let it continue outward.
Like the ripples of a stone drop in still water.
Travelling through the room,
Across whatever distance lies between you.
Coming to rest gently over the chest of your beloved animal.
A soft green light,
Steady and warm,
Expanding over your heart and meeting theirs.
You don't need to be touching them for this to be real.
And if your animal companion is physically with you right now,
You may bring one hand to rest gently on their back or chest.
Just as you have rested it on your own.
Let them feel what your hands now carry.
Warmth,
Stillness and love without condition.
Begin to gently deepen your breath.
Feel your hands still resting on your own chest or on the body of your animal.
And feel the heartbeat beneath them.
Yours and theirs or both.
Then bring your hands back together in Gasso.
Palms at the heart.
And offer a simple,
Wordless thank you to Reiki.
To Mikao,
Yushi and the lineage of all who preserve this practice.
To your own heart,
Which has kept beating through everything it has ever known.
And to your animal companion,
Who has loved you without ever asking you to be anything other than what you are.
Just take a deep breath in.
And let it go.
When you are ready,
Simply wiggle your fingers and toes.
And open your eyes in your own time.
If you feel a little spacious or floaty,
Express your hands,
Both palms,
Briefly to the earth or the floor.
Until you feel steady and present again.
Your hands are instruments of healing light.
And just for today,
Be kind to everything living,
Beginning with yourself.
Welcome back and welcome home.
And know that Reiki is a complementary practice and it's not a substitute for medical or veterinary care.
